As soon as Leeteuk was back at the table again Ryeowook stretched his chubby arms towards the male, signalling that he wanted to sit on Leeteuk’s lap. Leeteuk scooped the toddler up readily and sat down with him on his lap, holding the toddler close to his torso. Ryeowook just snuggled closer as he laid there, looking sideways at his brothers and friends as they finished their ice creams as well. 

Kangin looked thoughtfully at the two while eating the rest of Ryeowook’s ice cream. The toddler hadn’t really been hungry and he was getting tired and fussy, so Kangin had taken the ice cream from him and wiped his fingers and mouth clean before the ice cream went flying somewhere. He’d noticed that his youngest son had a profound love for throwing things. He watched as Leeteuk let his fingers run through the toddler’s soft hair and pressed a kiss to his temple. He smiled inwardly when he thought of how Ryeowook had called Leeteuk umma without any kind of influence from Hyukjae, and he once again praised himself for his choice of nanny and thanked the heavens for letting him have that choice in the first place. Ryeowook was already so attached to Leeteuk that he seemed to prefer the younger male to his appa most of the time, though Kangin couldn’t say that he minded. He was just happy that someone could be the mother Ryeowook needed even though said ‘umma’ had a too much to fit into what society saw as a mother. 

Ryeowook yawned tiredly, screwing up his tiny face in the process. Both Kangin and Leeteuk smiled a little at the sight. “Come on, bunny, let’s get you tucked in so you can have a nap,” Kangin said gently as he approached Leeteuk and the sleepy toddler. 

“No!” Ryeowook shouted immediately, tears filling his panicked eyes. Both Leeteuk and Kangin were startled by the strong reaction that seemed to have come like a lightning from a clear sky. “Wookie stay wif Teukie umma!” he insisted with a choked sob and pressed his body as close to Leeteuk’s torso as he could, completely squishing Kiki in the process. 

“But you are tired and you need a nap, sweetie,” Kangin tried to reason with the small boy who seemed on the verge of hysterics. 
“Teukie umma leave if Wookie sleep!” the toddler cried, fear and panic painted in his every feature. 

Kangin felt as if he had received a slap to the face. 

“Umma leave when Wookie no look,” the toddler whimpered as he clung to Leeteuk’s shirt and hid his face in his shoulder. 

“I’m not going anywhere, Wookie,” Leeteuk promised once he had collected himself, his voice as soothing as it could be, as he the toddler’s back gently, rocking back and forth slowly. “I am right here.” He stood up and made his way out of the cafeteria. Once he was outside he began pacing back and forth with the whimpering boy while whispering soothing words to him. 

Kangin sat frozen in his chair, not having moved an inch since Ryeowook’s outburst. Once again he was shocked by how much his ex-wife’s leaving had affected his boys, and he felt tears well in his eyes. It seemed like he was on the verge of tears constantly these days, what with each new revelation of just how deeply hurt his sons had been. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up.

“It is not your fault, Youngwoon,” Heechul said quietly as he looked straight into his best friends eyes. Seen from the outside the two males seemed completely incompatible. No one who didn’t know them would believe that they were best friends. But even so, it was Kangin Heechul had come to with tears in his eyes when his and Hangeng’s application for adoption had been finally refused, simply because they were gay, many years ago. It was Kangin who had stood by his side as his best man when Heechul and Hangeng got married in America. It was Heechul who had stood by Kangin’s side when he had married his wife. Despite protests from their mother, Heechul was the godfather of all Kangin’s sons, while Kangin was the godfather of his two sons. When Heechul and Hangeng had received news that they had been approved as parents and that Yesung was waiting for them at an orphanage, Heechul had called Kangin in the middle of the night due to the time difference between America and Korea, and they had both cried from pure happiness over the good news. In the beginning of his and Heechul’s relations, Hangeng had even gotten jealous because of their close relationship, but he had learned over time that all they were, and would ever be, was best friends. He now saw how Kangin needed Heechul and quickly guided the boys outside to play on the playground that was just beside the cafeteria before they noticed that their father and uncle was on the way to have a minor breakdown. 

“Chullie… Did you hear him?” Kangin asked, completely broken hearted as he gave into his tears and buried his face in Heechul’s neck when the older embraced him. 

“It is not your fault, Youngwoon,” Heechul repeated, holding his friend close. “It’s that bloody who decided she didn’t have the balls to be a mother. If she ever comes back, I swear, I will castrate her with a rusty teaspoon, I’ll dig out her uterus and feed it to flobberworms so she can never have kids again,” he seethed, beyond angry with the woman who caused his best friend and his nephews so much pain. 

At his friend’s violent statement, a watery giggle with a slightly hysteric edge escaped the larger man. “He sounded so scared. He looked terrified of losing Leeteuk now that he sees him as his umma,” Kangin said with a sniffle and tried to dry his tears as he withdrew from the hug. 

“Can you blame him? He might not remember Sora, but he remembers the feeling of being abandoned. He remembers that his umma disappeared while he was sleeping, so of course he is terrified of sleeping and waking up to find his new umma gone as well,” Heechul explained. Suddenly it clicked for both males why Ryeowook had refused to go to sleep and slept restlessly on