"Hey." Jonghyun whispered as he slowly slid into bed next to his husband.

"Hey." Kibum replied with a smile before snuggling up to his husband.

"I didn't get to see you much today." Jonghyun pouted.

"I know," Kibum said, his voice dripping with regret. "That meeting took forever. You know how King Yixing can be."

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I didn't miss you though."

"I missed you too. I was so depressed the entire time." Kibum admitted.

"Why?"

"Because all I could think about was you and Taeminnie."

"Ah," Jonghyun said in mutual understanding. "He missed you too. He kept asking for you but we had to explain to him that you were busy."

"Sometimes I  wish I was never king." Kibum whispered.

"What? Why?" Jonghyun asked in disbelief. Kibum never said things like that.

"Because then I could stay at home with my baby and you wouldn't have to constantly be making up excuses as to why his own dad couldn't be there to play with him more. It kills me." Kibum buried his face in his husband's chest as he cried.

"Kibummie, he understands. There is nothing you can do about it other than be the best daddy in the world which you are. He knows you love him more than anything else and he always is telling people how much we love him." Jonghyun whispered, kissing his husband's head. Just then, the two kings heard the door to their bedroom open. They knew who it was before they saw them. Who else would dare enter their bedroom without knocking?

"Daddy, Appa?" A little boy squeaked. Kibum immediately untangled himself from Jonghyun's arms and raced over to his baby.

"Hey, Minnie." Kibum smiled at his son, leaning down and opening his arms wide for him. The boy wasted no time in hurdling himself into the king's arms.

"Daddy!" A two year old little boy cried, snuggling into Kibum's chest. "I missed you!"

"Hi, baby. Daddy missed you today too. I'm so sorry I couldn't be with you today."

"That's okay, Daddy." The boy said. "I had a bad dream."

"Oh, no. Would you like to sleep with Daddy and Appa?" Kibum offered, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

"Yes, please." Taemin said into Kibum's chest.

********************************

The boys spent hours talking with the three mermen. Onew asked the most questions which was not all that uncommon for him. Onew tended to be curious by nature which ended up making him one of the best students in the school. They asked endless questions about the kingdom and how it was run.

"So, I know this is a random question but, why is Taemin so much smaller than the rest of you?" Onew asked.

"Well, he's only about five years old in our time. He's bound to be smaller." Jonghyun answered, pinching Taemin's cheeks.

"Oh." Onew said. "So....are all mermaids this affectionate with each other?"

"What do you mean?" Jonghyun said, a little confused by the teenager's question.

"Well," Onew hesitated for a moment while he thought of how to word his question. "Most humans wouldn't be snuggling their child like you guys do. They would hold them but they wouldn't be constantly kissing them or their hair like you guys are."

"Yes, we are a very affectionate species. We prefer to have frequent contact with one another, especially our mates and children." Kibum answered this time. "It's much more constant with our children though. The parent that gave birth to the child has a much stronger desire to be constantly with their child. So when we are around our child then we are always cuddling and kissing them. They are our miracle after all."

"So, what happens if you aren't in contact with your child?" Minho asked this time.

"We become anxious. After a while all we can think of is our children. If we go more than six months without our child then we slowly start to die. It's a defense mechanism we were instilled with." Kibum answered him solemnly.

"Defense mechanism?" Onew questioned.

"Well, our children are rather helpless until they are pretty much full grown. They aren't fast enough to hunt on their own, their claws haven't grown in, their abilities haven't developed yet, and they need us for comfort. So for a mother to leave her child alone for long periods of time could result in the child's death. This basically makes it impossible for a mother to leave her child."

"Oh." Was all Onew could say.

"Yeah." Jonghyun laughed at their faces. Suddenly, a deep voice was heard throughout the room. The voice was not one that Taemin had ever heard and it certainly wasn't one that his two fathers heard either. Both Onew and Minho looked panicked.

"Minho!" The  voice called.

"! It's my dad!" Minho cursed under his breath.

"." Onew hissed. "Quick! Hide!" He gestured to the mermen.

"Minho?" The voice was getting closer to the door. Minho turned around to check on the mermaids. The mermaids were completely gone; there was no trace that they even existed at all.

"Dad?" Minho said when his father finally opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"I got home from work early. What are you doing in here? You never come in here." Minho's father asked.

"We were just playing a game and ended up in here." Onew covered for Minho.

"Ah, I see." Minho's dad said. "It's getting late; shouldn't you two go get ready for bed I'm assuming that Jinki is spending the night?"

"Yes." Onew said. "We're gonna clean up and then we'll head to bed."

"Alright." Minho's father said before turning around and leaving. The boys waited for a few moments before turning towards the pool.

"You guys can come out now." Minho said. Only a few seconds later, Jonghyun and Kibum surfaced once again. "Where's Taemin?" Minho asked.

"Right here!" Taemin said, poking his head out of a hidden pouch on Kibum where his chest met the tail. Minho chuckled while Onew outright laughed at Taemin's cuteness.

"Hey, Minho?" Jonghyun asked.

"Yes?" Minho responded, shocked that the merman had addressed him directly.

"I have something for you that we found at the bottom of the pool if you don't mind coming over here to get it." Jonghyun said.

Minho nodded his head and slowly approached the edge of the pool. He felt uneasy being so close to the deep edge of the pool but he didn't dare deny the mermaid's request. As he approached the water, Jonghyun held his hand out for Minho. As soon as Minho had reached the edge of the pool, Kibum reached up and gripped Minho's wrist with an unbreakable grip. Before he knew it, he was being thrown into the pool.

"Minho!" Onew shouted.

"Hyung!" Taemin shouted from Kibum's pouch.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

A/N:

OOOOOOHHHHHH what's gonna happen now (E/N: ) I'm like majorly dragging this out aren't I? Well, we shall find out what's going to happen next time!!!! I've already written that chapter too so all we gotta do is wait for Bre to finish editing it for us (I'm workin' on it, okay?). You guys have been awfully quiet lately :( . We likes it when you talk ya know. But we love you guys anyway :) 

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