March, 2016 [Dahyun: 10 months old; Chaeyoung and Tzuyu: Not born yet]

"What was that again, baby?”

"Darling please, eomma needs a little help understanding what you want.”

"Doobie honey, what language are you speaking and who taught it to yo-”

"How long have you been at this, babe?” Jeongyeon interrupts from the doorway behind two of her favorite sweethearts. Her voice is low and laced with small giggles she’s trying to hide, afraid that her laughs will disrupt the flow of the scene. She’s got her arms crossed under a zip up hoodie thrown over her shoulders to hold her warmth close despite the late winter air that’s settled into the apartment. Though she’s confused, she can’t say she’s not completely amused at the situation she stumbled upon.

Jeongyeon mindlessly itches her elbow, the scratching movement a surprisingly useful vehicle for more efficient thinking, or at least she thinks so. Nayeon teases her about it sometimes. She’s just trying her best to figure out why Nayeon’s squatting in front of the bathroom sink with a bewildered expression at their little Dahyun.

As Jeongyeon takes the two of them in, she understands why her girlfriend looks so puzzled. Baby Doobie is standing in front of the toilet, facing her squatting eomma with one hand pointing at the toilet and one hand pointing at the floor. Her little hamster pajama pants are pulled high up over her swollen tummy and because of that, you can see that both of her bunny socks have slipped under her heels.

Dahyun’s eyes are bright and commanding. However small they may be, they fight for space between her furrowed brow and her full, pillowy cheeks. And she’s talking. A lot. Kind of?

She just… keeps making noises like she’s trying to tell me something, but dear God above, I am not getting it.” Nayeon, with her elbows on her knees, pushes her palms into her cheeks in growing frustration. Dahyun raises her pudgy little hands to cup her eomma’s cheeks as she continues to babble on. At this point, Jeongyeon can’t hold in the giggles.

"You’ve got your thinking frown on. It’s cute. Doobie seems to think so too,” Jeongyeon comments as she moves carefully around the scene to sit on the edge of the bathtub. Dahyun watches her eomma come closer, her face lighting up when she hears her pet name. Jeongyeon flashes a great big smile back and joins the fun by placing her hands over her daughter’s, Nayeon’s cheeks now protected by two layers of warm, loving hands.

Nayeon pushes her bottom lip out for an adorable pout to show Jeongyeon that she’s not helping. The unhelpful one scrunches her nose in response and pokes at Dahyun’s swollen cheeks instead. “Can Jeongie eomma help too, Doobie?”

Doobie’s gaze turns, for some reason, completely blank, as if she’s only now processing that her other mom is there in the bathroom with them. The next second, without even the smallest acknowledgement of Jeongyeon’s question, little Dahyun and her pudgy baby legs start waddling out of the tiny space they’ve cramped themselves in.

She wanders out into the hallway, babbling even louder at no one in particular. “Doobie baby, hold on!” Nayeon yells out into the hallway. She gets up, pushing on her knees with a grunt, and Jeongyeon laughs heartily at the sound of Nayeon’s ankles cracking on her way up.

"You take a break, sweetheart.