Leeteuk was having an internal discussion with himself. One part of him wanted to kill Heechul and the other just wanted to hug him. He felt overwhelmed when the first part started to win. 

"I can explain" - Heechul hid behind the kitchen counter- "I had been busy with work and---" 

"How dare you do this to me?" - Leeteuk hissed - "You know how difficult it is to fix something of this magnitude?" 

"Yeah... well, I could do it all by myself but I thought that asking you for help was the best option" - Heechul tried coaxing - "I don't want to do this alone" 

"A birthday party!" - Leeteuk pulled his hair - "Didn't you think it would had been nice to plan it before the day came?" 

"Actually, their birthday is tomorrow so technically we are not in the d-" 

"Shut up" - Leeteuk shook his head - "I think it's cute of you to try making a birthday party for your boys but the day before... it makes me think you forgot until now" 

"I didn't " - Heechul whispered - "Actually, I wanted to skip it" 

"What the...?" - Leeteuk was now even more upset - "Skip it? Really?" 

"Yeah, well, I'm not good at these things" - Heechul pouted - "I thought of buying them toys and playing with them... no celebration..." 

"So? What changed your mind?" - Leeteuk smiled. Heechul seemed too scared to admit his true feelings 

"I think the past months had been hard for them and I wanted to give them a great time..." - Heechul explained - "Good memories... family ones" 

Leeteuk felt his heart softened. He wished as much as Heechul did for that to be possible. 

"I was thinking of a cute party for them... you know, with candy and all their favorite stuff" - Heechul smiled shyly- "The triplets deserve a proper celebration for their third birthday... I mean, I don't want them to pick on me later because they didn't have one" 

"Geez, I can't get mad when you are so cute" - Leeteuk pinched Heechul's cheeks - "Let's do it. I will help you buy the stuff while the kids are at school" 

"Really? That's nice! Thank you!" - Heechul chirped - "Let's take the twins with us and leave the triplets here. I don't want to spoil the surprise" 

It wasn't that easy to convince the triplets to stay home knowing that his brothers were allowed to go with the adults. Finally, Mrs Jung used the 'movie technique' and the triplets ended stuck to the tv. Leeteuk could tell Heechul had been utterly nervous for the past two weeks not only for the birthday but because Yesung and Kangin finally changed schools. 

"I fear my phone will ring any time" - Heechul kept glancing at his cellphone during the whole ride to the mall- "My babies just started a new life" 

"They are fine" - Leeteuk patted Kyuhyun's back as the toddler coughed - "Those two look happier since they started attending the new school" 

"I hope so" - Heechul parked the car carefully - "I took a long time choosing that one. Also, the uniform is just so cute" 

Leeteuk kept giving Heechul cute smiles during their shopping activities. The twins often played with all they could find at their hands reach. 

"Can you keep an eye on Kyu? I need to change Ryeowook's diaper" - Heechul kissed the cute kid - "Again" 

"Is he alright? He had been going through several diapers a day" - Leeteuk held Kyuhyun to avoid the baby fussed - "Are you following the instructions properly? Or you fed him something not allowed?" 

"It's not like that" - Heechul smiled - "His doctor asked me to start introducing him little by little new kind of foods. The list included gluten too... apparently since he isn't allergic but intolerant, we can create resistance if we control his diet" 

"Oh, that's nice" - Leeteuk relaxed - "Be sure to notice if the food gives him cramps or something" 

"Sure, I will" - Heechul nodded - "but judging by his diaper I don't think he is constipated" 

Heechul returned minutes later with a happy boy running around. Leeteuk often scolded him about letting go the kid's hand but the twins grew strong willed and often liked to run around. 

"I'm allowing this because it's a safe place" - Heechul informed - "I have everything under control" 

"Sure" - Leeteuk frowned when Ryeowook crashed and started crying - "What did you say?" 

"Not a word" - Heechul sighed - "Here, here. You are clumsy" 

Heechul carried the upset boy. Ryeowook his thumb annoyed until Heechul made him laugh by tickling his tummy. 

"Cute teeth" - Heechul smiled proudly- "Let me see, now you have fourteen teeth" 

"He has a cute smile" - Leeteuk observed the new teeth - "He has more teeth than Kyunnie" 

"Kyunnie has ten" - Heechul looked at the cute boy hitting his doll against the stroller - "Ryeowook's teeth are growing faster but Kyuhyun's aren't bad either. I just can't wait until they start eating big hamburgers instead of mushy foods" 

Kyuhyun giggled and stretched his arms to Heechul when the adult approached. Ryeowook seemed to be fine enough to explore by himself again. 

"Ryeowookkie, don't go too far" - Heechul called - "Daddy can't follow you if you get out of sight" 

Leeteuk observed how Heechul took care of every single detail. Balloons, clothes, Gifts, wrapping paper, ribbons. He seemed to not only enjoy shopping for those but to take his time to pick the right one. 

"Minnie loves pink" - Heechul showed Leeteuk the pink ribbons he bought - "I... know it may sound crazy but I want to wrap their presents by myself... I think it holds more meaning if I do it instead of a store employee" 

"They are truly lucky" - Leeteuk helped Heechul to put the things inside the car - "I wished I had a parent like you" 

"Oh, right" - Heechul placed the sleeping boys in their baby seats - "You never talked about it before but you... " 

"Yeah, I didn't have parents at all" - Leeteuk fastened his belt - "I grew up in an orphanage. They took really good care of me so it's fine" 

"I always wondered why such a good and bright person wouldn't have a degree" - Heechul pouted - "I didn't know. I'm sorry" 

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the way everything turned out" - Leeteuk smiled - "I used to take care of kids younger than me when I was still living there. I decided to leave not too long ago. I wanted to earn some money to help them pay for a bigger house" 

"You are such a nice person" - Heechul drove slowly- "I bet you were such a good help there" 

"They are like my family so" - Leeteuk smiled sweetly- "Maybe I didn't grow up with a mother or a father but... I had a good life" 

"Yeah... don't get me started. People often overrate having parents" - Heechul replied sadly - "I had the kind of parents that would send you to a fancy private school dorm and see you around five times per year" 

Leeteuk turned to face Heechul with a shocked expression. He knew his relationship with his parents was odd but never expected to be that bad. 

"Yeah... Brother would take care of me most of the time but still, I'm sure it felt like a burden to such a young kid" - Heechul sighed - "Gunhee was born to be their heir... so they raised him like a prince in a very strict way... then, they had me so Gunhee wouldn't be alone. I'm pretty sure Donghee was an accident" 

"Three Hee" - Leeteuk tried to take it in a humorous way not wanting to pity Heechul 

"Yeah, those bastards were laughing when they named us. Hee Hee Hee" - Heechul joked about - "I regret nothing. I love my brothers but my parents... I guess we are family but I don't feel like I really belong to it" 

"That's sad" 

"What is sad is that the cranky old lady sued me after my brother's death" - Heechul rolled his eyes - "She disagreed with me taking care of them and tried to snatch the custody from me. I won't lie, we still have some trials and audiences coming but I won the one related with the kids so, I can live in peace now" 

"She is such a " - Leeteuk left out without thinking twice - "Sorry! Sorry! I shouldn't---" 

"She is a " - Heechul laughed - "Don't worry, we share genes but nothing else" 

Next day, was hell. Heechul had the great idea of telling the kids they would have cake before dinner and the younger kids refused to eat since breakfast. The birthday boys seemed to not understand what a birthday meant but they liked the idea of receiving gifts. As Leeteuk predicted, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun also wanted to receive toys since their brothers were being gifted a lot of things. 

Chaos continued when the triplets refused to share their presents with the twins and even if Heechul bought some toys for the two younger boys; it ended in crying. Heechul felt like giving up when dressing the triplets to look pretty at the picture. Mrs Jung and Leeteuk helped him but even like that, handling triplets was never easy. When Sungmin was done, Eunhyuk was already dirty. Heechul cried when Kyuhyun threw up a bit and stained his clothes too. 

"I surrender" - Heechul shut his eyes trying to endure the biggest headache he have ever had - "I won't celebrate their birthdays until they are old enough to go drinking" 

Leeteuk smiled and offered him some pills for the pain. 

"These will help" - Leeteuk giggled - "Just a few hours until they go to bed" 

"Happy Bedday!" - Eunhyuk hugged Heechul 

"BIRTHDAY" - Heechul corrected - "And you are supposed to say that to the person celebrating their birthday" 

"Uhm?" - Eunhyuk rubbed his face against Heechul's chest 

"Happy birthday, my boy" - Heechul gave up and kissed the kid 

"Biwday!" - Donghae jumped on Heechul- "Biwday to youuuu~~" 

"Happy birthday to you~" - Heechul sang cutely. His kids always made him smile - "Ah... I can't get mad" 

"Kyu bwidey " - Kyuhyun pouted as he held a ribbon he took from a gift - "Mine" 

"You can keep that" - Heechul chuckled - "And your birthday is still a few months apart" 

"Pwewy!" - Ryeowook cheered after Kyuhyun decided to place the ribbon on his brother's head - "Dada!" 

"Yes, you look pretty" 

Maybe it wasn't the perfect birthday. Maybe it wasn't the picture he was hoping for... it was better. It was a chaos, but it was realistic. 

Leeteuk laughed one week later after Heechul framed the messy birthday picture and hung it on the hall. 

In the picture, Donghae had his hair covered with cake. Kangin and Heechul were discussing, Siwon crying, the twins asleep and Eunhyuk picking his nose. At least Yesung was looking at the camera at the right moment and Sungmin just played cutely with a balloon. 

"Uhm" - Leeteuk giggled - "I can't wait for the next birthday"