I break if you do
but I will use my pieces
to fix you again
-Tyler Knott Gregson

“Daddy, can you tell us how you met Papa before bed?” Zhiyu asks, her bottom lip jutting out.

“Again?” Luhan laughs, sitting the six year old on his lap. Haowen, his eight year old, sits next to them on the couch, and his one-year-old daughter Jinae is already sleeping upstairs.

“It’s a good story!” Harowen insists, curling into Luhan’ arm.

“Okay, okay, only because I like this story,” Luhan smiles. “Papa and I met during university. He was in my English class and on the first day he sat next to me. He made silly faces at me and made stupid jokes to try to make me laugh. He took me out to dinner, well, the place only served breakfast, so we ordered pancakes. Papa has always been like that, wanting to be different. You know how silly he can be.” The kids laugh at that, knowing exactly what Sehun is like. “But those pancakes were the best pancakes I’ve ever had. After that, he dropped me off at my dorm and kissed me goodnight. And that’s it, we fell in love, and we got married, and now we have you lovely kids.”

Luhan kisses them both on the forehead, making them smile.

“You and Papa really love each other a lot,” Zhiyu giggles, and Luhan grins.

“Yeah, we always will. C’mon, loves, bedtime.”

Truth was, that's not how they met, exactly. There was a bar and there were drinks and there were drunk kisses, but the pancake house the next night was true, and the falling in love part was more than true. The kids don’t need to know all the details quite yet.

Luhan stares out the window, his knees to his chest and a blanket over his shoulders. It’s started to snow lightly, and Sehun isn’t home yet. He sighs, glancing at the clock: 12:07 in the morning. Sehun’s shift was supposed to be over at 11.

Luhan knew this would be difficult when Sehun told him back in uni he was planning to be become a doctor. Luhan was okay with it, because he would be saving lives and making good money and doing what he loved. But sometimes, it gets lonely.

“Daddy, why isn’t Papa home yet?” Haowen asks quietly while Luhan tucks him in. Luhan smiles softly, pushing Haowen’ hair back.

“Well, Papa is kind of like superman,” Luhan tells him.

“What?!” Haowen exclaims, his eyes wide and bright.

“Yup. Papa goes out and saves lives every day, that’s why he can’t be at home as much. But he always comes back home, and he’ll always be our hero.”

Haowen was only four at the time, but Luhan used that explanation for all of his kids, even now that Haowen was 15. Sehun has always been superman, and Luhan knows he’ll be home soon; he has to be.

“Babe?” Sehun calls softly into the room, closing the door behind him. Luhan looks up quickly, sighing in relief.

“Hi,” Luhan answers quietly. “You’re home late.”

“I know, I’m sorry. Patient died on me today,” Sehun says nonchalantly, and that scares Luhan so much. Sehun’s gotten so used to watching people die he’s becoming desensitized to it.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“He was terminal. We knew it was coming,” Sehun shrugs, tossing off his shirt and kissing Luhan quickly. “Gonna go shower. You look tired, so don’t wait up for me, okay?”

“Oh, alright,” Luhan smiles weakly. “Goodnight, then, I guess. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“I have an early day tomorrow, love. Give the kids a kiss for me in the morning. I’ll try to be home for dinner,” Sehun murmurs, kissing Luhan again. “Goodnight.”

Luhan watches Sehun walk into the bathroom and bites his lip, forcing himself not to cry. He drags his body into bed, curling into the sheets and shutting his eyes. Superman is just busy, Luhan tells himself, he’s got lives to save, but he always comes back home.

“Dr. Oh? I brought you a coffee,” Jeongwu smiles, walking into Sehun’s small office. Sehun looks up at the male nurse, smiling gratefully.

“Thanks, I needed this,” Sehun hums, taking the paper cup and sipping from it.

“You look exhausted, Dr. Oh,” Jeongwu notes, walking around his desk and rubbing his shoulders and Sehun freezes. Jeongwu just started a few weeks ago and he’s been following Sehun around, sparking up conversations and bringing him whatever he can. Sehun just assumes he’s been looking for a raise or a good rep.

“Um, kind of. It was a long night with my newborn,” Sehun admits, trying to move out of Jeongwu’s grip.

“Newborn? You’re married?” Jeongwu asks, shocked. Sehun holds up his left hand sheepishly, showing off the gold band.

“Yeah. We’ve been together for almost 20 years,” Sehun says.

“Oh, she’s a very lucky woman,” Jeongwu says softly, running his thumbs over Sehun’s shoulder blades.

“Um, man. Luhan is my husband,” Sehun coughs awkwardly.

“Oh, Dr. Oh. I had no idea you swung that way,” Jeongwu smiles. “I guess he hasn’t been treating you well, then?”

“No, no, Luhan is great. But we have five kids and he just gave birth a few weeks ago so he’s been tired. It’s stressful at home right now, but he’s doing a great job,” Sehun insists.

“Dr. Oh, can I ask you a personal question?” Jeongwu asks, bending close to Sehun’s ear.

“Erm, I suppose.”

“When’s the last time your husband Luhan made love to you?” Jeongwu whispers in his ear. Sehun