Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude” - Martin Luther King Jr.

Sehun rings the doorbell, holding the leash tightly in his hand. The Pomeranian puppy is wagging her tail excitedly. It’s been an entire week since Sehun has last been to the house, a week without talking to Luhan, a week without seeing his kids. Seven entire days without them. He can’t handle the separation any longer, so he’s here, with a dog, hoping to see his family and spend some time with them.

Haowen answers the door, and his face is void of emotion when he notices Sehun. Before either of them can say anything, the dog pounces at Haowen’ leg and paws at him.

“Oh! Hi, puppy!” Haowen says excitedly, kneeling down to pet her. “Whose puppy is this?”

“Yours,” Sehun smiles. “I went to the shelter, and she needed to be adopted, and I figured this would be a great home for her. She’s got plenty of people to love her here.”

“Does she have a name?”

“Not yet, no.”

“Jinae is going to flip! She’s always wanted a puppy,” Haowen grins, and it feels like nothing has changed. For that moment, Sehun’s life is still perfect, his husband and kids still love him, and he’s still happy.

That bubble bursts when Luhan walks over holding Joshua on his hip.

“What is this?”

“Hi,” Sehun tries to smile, but Luhan isn’t smiling. He looks mad. This is apparently the only emotion Sehun is capable of making Luhan feel. “It’s a puppy. I got her from the shelter. I know the kids were always asking for a dog, so I figured I would get them one. I…also wanted to come visit. It’s been almost a week.”

“Haowen, please go into the living room with Joshua,” Luhan asks quietly, handing over the baby. Haowen looks visibly uncomfortable, but listens to Luhan and takes the baby, walking into the living room.

Luhan looks at Sehun and crosses his arms over his chest. “I cannot believe you. You’re really unbelievable, you know that?”

“What?” Sehun’s face falls. Honestly, Sehun thought he’d love a dog. He was not expecting Luhan to be angry about it.

“Don’t you think something as major as bringing a dog into my house should have been something you talked to me about? I don’t want a dog. You know why? Because I’ll be the one stuck taking care of it. The kids won’t do it, and you don’t live here, so all the responsibility is going to fall on my shoulders, as usual. Having a dog is like having another kid, and the last thing I want is another one of your kids.”

The words sting. He could have said “another kid”, but he said another one of Sehun’s kids. It’s a personal dig, and it hurts.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to give the kids something they wanted. I didn’t think-“

“Yeah, you didn’t think,” Luhan snaps. “You know, for a doctor, you don’t think much at all lately, it seems.”

“I just…I wanted to see my kids, Luhan.”

“Well you certainly didn’t have to bring a ing animal with you to do that, did you?” Luhan snaps. “I’m certainly not going to be the one that has to break their heart by telling them we can’t keep her, so you’re going to do it. I have to break their hearts every day by telling them papa isn’t coming home, and that’s on you. So, go in there, and break their hearts. I’m done doing that.”

Luhan walks away, and Sehun groans. He keeps ing this up more and more and he doesn’t know how to fix it. He’s so tired of disappointing his kids, disappointing Luhan, but no matter what he does, he continues to disappoint them. After gathering up the courage, he steps into the house holding the active puppy and following the voices of his children. They’re all around the coffee table, board game laid out, all of them giggling and laughing and clearly having a great time. Normally, Haowen and Zhiyu wouldn’t want to be part of this, would say they’re too old, but it’s obvious that now that Sehun is gone, they’re trying to make up for it. They’re trying to keep the atmosphere of the house happy for the little ones, and Sehun is so grateful that they can do this. Joshua is obviously too young, but sits on the floor giggling along anyway, his own toys splayed out in front of him.

“Hey, guys,” Sehun greets quietly. They all look at him, and their faces light up when they see the puppy, so Sehun speaks before they can get too excited over it. “Um, this is my new dog. I just wanted to introduce you to her, and I wanted you to give her a name. I couldn’t think of anything good.”

Since he’s already saved this little pup from the pound, he can’t very well take her back and let her suffer. His apartment is lonely, anyway. He could use the company.

“We should name her Lady, like Lady and the Tramp!” Jinae says excitedly.

“I like that name,” Sehun agrees.

“That’s a great suggestion, love,” Luhan smiles at her. “We love that movie.”

“I do, too,” Sehun murmurs and gives Luhan a fond look. The two of them, back in their uni days, would spend rainy weekends in a tiny dorm bed and watching Disney movies. Actually, watch might be a strong word, since more often than not, it turned into kissing, which turned into . Sometimes, he wishes they could hit the rewind button, go back to those days before everything got complicated. They were always so good together, and Sehun isn’t sure when that stopped.

Luhan doesn’t return his look.

“Is she going to stay with us?” Zhiyu asks.

“No, I’m sorry, honey, she’s going to stay at my house, but you can always visit her, if daddy says that’s okay.”

“Yeah, of course you can visit her,” Luhan tells them. “She’s very cute.”

“Yeah, she is,” Sehun smiles at the dog and pets between her ears. “She’s had a rough life so far, so we have to make sure to love her a lot and take good care of her.”

“Are you going to be able to handle that?” Haowen challenges. Sehun knows it’s a dig.

“Haowen,” Luhan warns gently.

“I’m going to do my very best,” Sehun assures him.

*Luhan*

“When I’m fighting with you, I’m really fighting for us. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t bother”-Anonymous

Luhan opened the door at the sound of the doorbell a week later, expecting it to be the Thai food he had ordered for himself and the kids. However, when he saw the person on the other side, he had to fight the urge to slam the door shut.

Sehun. Sehun with a guitar. No good could come of this. None whatsoever. Before Luhan has a chance to get any words out of his mouth, Sehun begi