Heechul’s eyes widened when he saw the teacher before they narrowed to nothing more than thin slits. Even though it had been 11 years he would still be able to recognise that man anywhere. It was pretty clear Mr. Lee hadn’t seen him yet, so Heechul turned and grabbed Kangin’s arm. “I’ll wait in the hall,” he said in a low voice.

Kangin looked at him with a frown. “Why?” he asked in an equally low voice. He had thought Heechul would have marched right up to the teacher to give him a piece of his mind so his best friend’s behaviour made him a little worried.

“I’ll explain later. Just let the scumbag tell the kids that it’s okay to have two appas. He won’t be able to tell them once I’m done with him,” Heechul growled softly, hoisting Sungmin up on his hip.

The toddler looked at his umma with big eyes, clutching his bunny plushie tightly. He didn’t like it when his umma was mad. “Umma angwy?” he asked in a tiny voice, not caring the slightest that he interrupted the two adults. Kangin nodded to Heechul and continued into the classroom, trusting Heechul to tell him if there was something seriously wrong.

“No, sweetie, I’m not mad at you. I just saw an old friend who was very mean to umma once,” he explained as he bounced Sungmin slightly on his hip to release some of the nervous energy that was strumming through him.

Sungmin reached up and hugged Heechul’s neck tightly. “Meanie,” the toddler chided angrily; no one should be mean to his umma.

That message was clear to Heechul and he chuckled and kissed the top of his son’s head. “That’s right, we don’t let meanies get away with being mean to other people. Which is why I will leave you with Uncle Kangin for a while when he comes back again so I can talk to the meanie and tell him to be nice to umma and to other people,” Heechul told the toddler who nodded happily, glad that his umma would tell the meanie to stop being mean.

“If meanie mean Minnie get appa and appa save umma,” he decided with determination, making Heechul laugh.

“Yes, you do that,” he chuckled as he Sungmin’s soft hair.

After reading a book one of the nurses had brought them, Leeteuk had turned to singing to keep Ryeowook occupied while they waited for Kangin to come back with Kiki. He was a little surprised when Kangin came back and brought not only his three oldest sons but also Heechul and Sungmin.

“Why aren’t you in school?” Leeteuk asked after finishing the song about the elephant on a bicycle in the attic.

“Uncle Heechul talked to Mr. Lee and then Mr. Lee ran away so the headmaster came and told us class was cancelled for today,” Hyukjae told him eagerly, glancing at Heechul with so much admiration that it was clear the man was his big hero right now.

Heechul placed Sungmin on Leeteuk’s other thigh so the toddlers could play with each other while everyone else got caught up. “He had it coming,” Heechul shrugged, his expression angry before it melted away when he kneeled down to check on Ryeowook. “Hi baby, how are you?” he asked softly, smiling as he gently pinched the toddler’s chubby cheek.

“Wookie owwie,” the toddler whined dramatically now that he had his uncle’s attention.

“Minnie kiss!” the other toddler exclaimed before throwing his tiny body at Ryeowook, holding his face between his chubby hands and placing a big, sloppy kiss on the younger boy’s lips which made both toddlers laugh.

“Well, that’s a match made in heaven,” Heechul commented with a fond smile directed at his son and his nephew.

Leeteuk and Kangin were equally endeared by the antics of the two toddlers. The twins had quickly found some toys in the corner of the room. That’s when Leeteuk realised that Siwon didn’t have Mr. Lee as a teacher. “How come you are here, Siwon? Did they cancel your classes as well?” he asked, reaching out to gently pet Siwon’s hair. Siwon looked up at his appa.

“It’s my fault,” Kangin admitted sheepishly. “I forgot think, I was rounding up the kids after the talk and I just brought him here as well. We were halfway here already when I realised Siwon’s classes wouldn’t be affected by Mr. Lee being gone for the day so I decided he could have the day off and be here with the rest of us.” With the lack of sleep and proper food, Kangin’s mind wasn’t working quite as efficiently as it used to. He was exceptionally exhausted and felt like he was stretched thin, but he couldn’t be angry about his little mix-up. Now that he thought about it, it seemed like a good thing that Siwon could be here with Ryeowook as well; that way he wouldn’t feel left out or forgotten when they all got home and the twins told him where they had been all day.

“I want to play with Wookie and Minnie,” Siwon decided and took Kiki from his appa’s hand before he went over to Leeteuk. The toddlers seemed more than happy at the prospect of playing with Siwon, eagerly wriggling on Leeteuk’s lap to get down. He quickly complied and lifted them down so they could play. It didn’t take many seconds before Siwon had a toddler hugging each of his legs. He laughed and coaxed them to let go of him so they could play with the toys in the corner and they soon joined the twins in playing, leaving the three adults to talk freely.

“So, what happened, Chul?” Kangin asked softly, frowning in worry. Heechul had seemed off ever since he saw the teacher and Kangin could have sworn that Heechul’s eyes had been red and glassy when he exited Mr. Lee’s office after the latter stormed out of there.

Heechul looked Kangin in the eyes for a few seconds before answering. “Do you remember when you were in the States to get that special degree?” he asked slowly.

“You mean he is…?” Kangin trailed off in disbelief.

“Yep,” H