“Calm down, calm down!” Jinki said, laughter clear on his face as he tried to come through the door. All four of his boys were crowded around him, effectively reducing his chances of going anywhere else in the house. He finally sighed, grabbing Roo from Jonghyun and holding her hostage. “Calm down.”

Jonghyun had stopped talking instantly, and Minho fell silent a moment later. Their silence caught Taemin’s attention, and he fell silent, Key copying him a second later. Minho had his arm around Jonghyun’s shoulder, seeing that the boy was obviously upset at having his pet taken away. He had calmed down a lot over the two months since he had come home from the treatment center, laughing at more and more of the jokes, and in general relaxing, but there were just some things that he still took personally or seriously when the others were only playing.

Jinki looked around at all of them, wondering what had happened to make the mood so heavy so suddenly, when he caught sight of Jonghyun’s quivering lip. He felt guilt wash through him as he handed the puppy back to the eldest of his sons. Jonghyun took her gratefully, but remained just as silent and sad eyed. Jinki bit his lip, pulling him closer to him and crouching slightly so they were face to face.

“Hey.” He said. Jonghyun looked up at him, keeping Roo close to him. “What are you so upset about? I’m not gonna take her away.”

“Ok.” Jonghyun said, nodding slowly.

“So what’s all the fuss about anyway?” He asked. Jonghyun blew out, his hair fluffing upwards.

“We made you dinner.” Jonghyun said. Jinki’s brows went up.

“You did? Why?” He asked. Jonghyun looked uncomfortable, and his eyes darted over to Key. The bossy mom-type boy stepped in right away.

“We felt like it.” Key said, grabbing the appa’s arm and tugging him toward the kitchen. “You work all the time, and when you’re not at work you take care of us. We wanted to try to take care of you a little bit too.”

“Oh.” Jinki said, surprised.

Jonghyun and Minho lingered in the coat room as Key and Taemin ushered the appa into the kitchen to see the work they had all put into the food. It wasn’t that Jonghyun was hyper sensitive anymore, nor was it that the others babied him too much. It was just one of those things - Jonghyun still had a lingering fear of being alone again. Any small thing that he did wrong, he would immediately fall silent and start looking for a way to fix the situation. It was something Minho wasn’t sure he would ever overcome, but it was fine. He would prove to Jonghyun that he would never be alone again if it took the rest of his life.

“Come here.” Minho said. Jonghyun did as he was told, sliding easily into the taller boys arms. Minho kissed his nose, then pet Roo. “I love you, Jonghyun.”

“I love you, too.” Jonghyun said. Minho smiled, holding his hands out for the puppy. Jonghyun reluctantly handed her over, and Minho smiled, kissing the dogs head before setting her on the ground. Her tail wagged quickly from side to side as she ran circles around them. Jonghyun laughed, watching her. “You silly dog.”

“It’s learned behavior.” Minho said, nodding in such a way that implied he knew what he was talking about. “He picked it up from Taemin.”

Jonghyun snorted, his hand covering his mouth as he shook his head. Minho put his hands on Jonghyun’s waist, pulling him closer to him with a smile. Jonghyun met his boyfriend’s gaze happily and leaned up to meet the lips he knew were coming to capture his own. Minho’s thumb brushed against the skin on Jonghyun’s waist as the shorter boys arms went around Minho’s neck. The taller of the two smiled, pulling back from the kiss and staring at his boyfriend.

In four months his stomach had gone from being caved in and scary to look at to being something most guys would be jealous of. Toned muscles had formed quickly in place of the flat space that had previously been his belly, and Jonghyun was endlessly proud of that fact. He did just about everything he could to remove those pitying and sad stares that he had gotten so used to seeing, and he did just about everything the same as anyone else would. The only thing he refused to do was climb the trees in the backyard, and no one could really blame him.

“Are you guys coming or what?” Key called from the doorway of the kitchen, the small dachshund in his arms as he stared at them.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” Minho said, pulling his hands off of his boyfriends waist in favor of holding his hand. He pulled him along toward the kitchen, knowing that things would be loud, and crazy, and absolutely perfect in their family, no matter what.

At some point during dinner Key had disappeared into his room, only to return with an old polaroid camera that looked like it had seen better days. He insisted on taking pictures of everyone, no matter how their hair looked or what face they were making, and by the time dinner was over there was an intimidating stack of photos on the counter.

“Just what do you plan on doing with all of these, Kibum?” Jinki asked, hugging his son from behind and resting his chin on top of his head.

“I want to make a photo album.” Key said simply. “I want to get all the pictures off our cell phones too.”

“Why do you want to do this so badly, hm?” Jinki asked. Key shrugged.

“Because...why not?” He said. And it was that simple.

Over the next few days Key collected all of the photos he wanted, including Minho’s random photos of household items (and the one picture he apparently took of the inside of his pocket), and went with Jinki to have them printed. He was overly excited about it, and Jinki was just glad to see his son so happy.

Jonghyun was laying on the couch with his head in Minho’s lap when they got home, Taemin sitting on the floor with Roo in his lap as they watched television. Jinki had stopped to get the mail out of the mailbox, and he sat on the couch with his boys and started sifting through them. He was surprised to find one addressed to Minho, and handed it to the tallest boy without comment. Minho raised a brow and tore it open, pulling the folded paper from the inside. As he read it his eyes widened and a look of excitement came over his face.

“What is it?” Jonghyun asked. Minho laughed softly.

“It’s a letter inviting me to a camp.” Minho said. “No charge. It’s to help me graduate early. There’s a test at the end of it to determine if I can get my diploma or not.”

“Let me see.” Jinki said, holding out his hand. Minho handed it to him, and Jinki read it over silently for a minute.

“Do you want to go?” He asked. Minho shrugged, looking like he wasn’t sure how to answer. Jinki rolled his eyes. “It’s simple, Minho. You’ll only be gone for two weeks, and it’s a good opportunity.”

“I know...I’m just-” Minho started to come out with an excuse, and Jonghyun sighed.

“Go.” He said, smiling up at his boyfriend. Minho bit his lip, then nodded.

“Well, alright then. I’ll make the call.” Jinki said.

-------------------------------

There we go! Last chapter, and things are looking up!