Hyunjin’s warm, soft breath warmed Kyuhyun’s neck as he stepped onto the elevator. As he held him close, still wrapped snuggly in his blanket, Kyuhyun could feel Hyunjin’s breathing slowing, signaling he was moments away from sleep.

The baby’s eyes were the last part of him to slowly surrender and he could barely focus on the reflections surrounding him on the mirrored walls of the elevator. So when the bright light proved too much for him this early in the morning, he instead just nestled his face even deeper into his father’s neck.

Kyuhyun smiled as he felt Hyunjin’s body finally relax, having hoped that he would fall back asleep and make this week better than the last.

When the elevator doors dinged, signaling they had reached their destination, Kyuhyun stepped out slowly and walked down the hall.

With a free finger, he rang the doorbell of one of the identical apartments and waited the few short seconds until it was opened.

“Kyuhyun-ssi—oh, I’m sorry!” a middle aged woman greeted him with a bright smile and a perky disposition until she noticed the sleeping Hyunjin in his arms.

“It’s okay, I think he’s completely out,” said Kyuhyun, though his voice was still soft.

The woman quickly ushered him inside and Kyuhyun walked in, knowing exactly where to go.

About a month ago he had run into this neighbor, a woman that he and Siwon had known almost since they had moved into the building. She was only a few years older than them and the mother of a girl around Daerim’s age and another that was just a few months older than Hyunjin. Having stopped to chat a while, Kyuhyun asked her about babysitters because he thought he was finally ready to start working again, and would need someone to take care of Hyunjin on the days he went in to the studio. The woman had suggested herself, and after a week of assuring him that it would be no problem, Kyuhyun was convinced to try. The first day had been hard, for both father and son, but Kyuhyun knew that it would get easier. Photos on the second day of Hyunjin smiling and laughing had assured him that maybe it wasn’t a bad idea and that both of them were ready.

And so here he was, dropping Hyunjin off once again so that he could go record for a few hours.

Walking into the bedroom of her youngest daughter, Kyuhyun went over to the crib and saw that the baby girl was still sleeping soundly. Pulling Hyunjin slightly away from him, he watched as his baby slightly squirmed, already missing his warmth. But as Kyuhyun placed a soft kiss to his cheek, Hyunjin relaxed again and Kyuhyun lowered him down into the crib beside the sleeping girl.

Reaching out a hand, he Hyunjin’s hair softly before leaning back up again. After watching him for a few moments, he gave a small sigh and then turned to walk out of the room.

“Kyuhyun-ssi, can I get you a cup of coffee?” she asked once he walked back into the living room.

“No thank you Lina-ssi, I better get going. I think you were right about the morning being better. Hopefully he won’t wake up for another hour and by then I’ll be halfway done,” said Kyuhyun hopefully.

“Don’t worry, I promise you he’ll be fine,” said Lina patting his back. “He and Yuri have become good friends. They love playing together.”

Kyuhyun nodded with a smile and then walked with Lina to the door.

“So I should only be a few hours today, but if something happens, don’t hesitate to call. I can stop whenever I need to,” said Kyuhyun.

“Okay Kyuhyun-ssi,” said Lina with a knowing smile.

“And if for some reason I can’t be reached, you still have my husband’s and my mother’s numbers, right?” he asked as he bent down to tie his shoes.

Lina nodded, still with a smile.

“Okay,” said Kyuhyun feeling more confident as he finally rose.

“Have a good time today, we’ll see you later,” said Lina with a wave.

“Goodbye,” said Kyuhyun and he swallowed the rising lump in his throat, thankful that at least this week he didn’t have hear Hyunjin crying for him not to leave.

                                                            ~**~

“Hi Kyuhyun-ssi!” beamed Lina as she opened the front door with Hyunjin resting on her hip. “Look Hyunjin-ah, your Kyu appa is here!”

The moment Hyunjin saw Kyuhyun, he reached out for him, his baby milk teeth showing as he smiled brightly.

“Hello Lina,” nodded Kyuhyun with a smile. “Hi aegi-yah!”

Kyuhyun reached out to hold Hyunjin as he stepped inside the apartment.Toeing off his shoes, he then followed Lina into the living room when he saw Yuri still playing with her toys.

“How was he today?” asked Kyuhyun as he walked over to pick up Hyunjin’s bag.

“Wonderful. We had a great breakfast together and then he and Yuri have been playing ever since,” said Lina. “There were a few tears in the beginning, but then nothing but smiles.”

“That’s great,” said Kyuhyun kissing Hyunjin’s temple as he slung the bag across his shoulder.

“Actually, the funniest thing happened though,” said Lina with a small laugh.

“What’s that?” asked Kyuhyun with a curious smile.

“I guess because Yuri has gotten in the habit of calling for me throughout the day now, Hyunjin has started as well,” said Lina laughing again.

Kyuhyun’s smile slowly fell. “He…He called you? Y-you mean he spoke?”

“Well…yes, he said… ‘ma’. Hasn’t he been speaking at home?” asked Lina tilting her head to the side.

Kyuhyun’s head slowly shook as the realization hit him.

“Omo!” Lina mumbled.

Kyuhyun smiled weakly as he looked down at Hyunjin who was watching the TV over Kyuhyun’s shoulder.

“Jinnie-ah, I can’t believe it…you said your first word,” he sighed sadly.

“Kyuhyun-ssi, I…I’m so sorry, he’s always so vocal and happy when he’s playing with Yuri, I just assumed that he had been speaking already. At least…once,” said Lina softly.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. I’m just…I wish I had been there. I missed Daerim’s first words too,” he said with a small shrug.

Lina’s shoulder’s slumped more, not knowing how to make the situation any better.

“Come on Jinnie-ah, let’s get you home,” said Kyuhyun putting on a happy face for Lina’s sake. “Say…goodbye to Lina and Yuri.”

Lina bent down to pick up Yuri so that she could say goodbye.

“Say goodbye to Hyunjin, Yuri-ah,” said Lina waving Yuri’s hand.

Kyuhyun did the same to Hyunjin and they watched both babies grasp each other’s hands with laugh, before walking to the front door.

“Thank you so Lina-ssi. We’ll see you next week?” asked Kyuhyun.

Lina nodded hopefully, “Take care Kyuhyun-ssi. Goodbye Hyunjin-ah.”

When Kyuhyun finally reached his apartment upstairs he dropped Hyunjin’s bag to the floor sadly and then walked into his nursery to change him.

“Jinnie-ah…why couldn’t you wait until appa was here to say your first word?” he groaned as he slipped him out of his shirt.

As Hyunjin lay back on the changing table, he looked up at Kyuhyun who was preparing his change of clothes.

“All I ask is that I be there for my children’s milestones, is that too much to ask?” Kyuhyun mumbled to himself as he continued searching for items.

As he bent down to grab something off of a shelf, he heard Hyunjin begin rambling as he played with a small toy that he found on the table beside him. When Kyuhyun had disappeared for a while without reappearing, Hyunjin sat up and called out for him.

Hearing one distinct sound, Kyuhyun quickly popped back up, and looked expectantly at Hyunjin.

“-ma,” said Hyunjin loud and clear, as he reached out for him again.

Kyuhyun’s felt his breath catch in his throat as he realized what he had just heard.

“Waah!” he shouted with a gigantic smile on his face.

It somewhat startled Hyunjin as Kyuhyun lifted him up to kiss him, but he soon began laughing at how excited his appa was.

“Aegi-yah!” said Kyuhyun placing Hyunjin back on the changing table so that he was sitting up. “I can’t believe it! You finally spoke! Can you say ap-pa?! Ap-pa?!”

Hyunjin stared at him for a few moments before going off on a tangent with unintelligible babbling.

“-Mmma,” he said reaching out to touch Kyuhyun’s face.

“N-n-no baby, I’m appa. Ap-pa,” smiled Kyuhyun nervously. “Come on, try it, ap-pa!”

Hyunjin sat, frowning a bit as he wasn’t sure what his father wanted from him.

“Ap-pa…ap…pa…Okay aegi-yah, we can try again later,” said Kyuhyun as he lay Hyunjin back down again.

As Kyuhyun proceeded to check his diaper and then change him into his new outfit, Hyunjin suddenly started tapping Kyuhyun’s hand.

“-ma –ma-ma,” he said looking up at him with big eyes.

Kyuhyun pouted as his shoulders slumped.

“Why?” he sighed as he closed his eyes.

~**~

When Siwon got home that evening, he found Kyuhyun in the kitchen preparing dinner and Daerim and Hyunjin playing together in the living room.

After greeting both of them, he walked into the kitchen, where he was slightly surprised that Kyuhyun hadn’t stopped his task in order to meet him, which he usually did.

“Hey baby,” Siwon exhaled smoothly as he wrapped his arms around Kyuhyun from behind. “How’s your day been?”

Kyuhyun cracked his first smile of the whole evening when he felt Siwon kiss the back of his neck. But it was very short lived.

“I’m fine, everything’s fine,” Kyuhyun sighed, barely believing himself.

“Oh, really?” chuckled Siwon, but his face turned serious when Kyuhyun abruptly broke away from him to do something on the other side of the kitchen. A clear sign he wasn’t in the mood for laughs.

“Baby, seriously, what’s wrong? Did something happen today? Is it the kids? Or—oh! How did recording go?” asked Siwon searching his mind for the source of Kyuhyun’s frustration.

“Recording went fine,” said Kyuhyun nonchalantly.

“Okay then, the kids?” Siwon fished for an answer.

“Hyunjin…” started Kyuhyun as he placed his hands on the counter and leaned down on them for support.

“Yeah, is everything okay with him? He seems fine,” said Siwon glancing over his shoulder at their son still playing with Daerim.

“He said his first word today,” said Kyuhyun plainly as he turned to face Siwon.

“Wh—baby that’s great!” erupted Siwon as he rushed forward to hug Kyuhyun. “I can’t believe this?! Why are you upset?!”

“I wasn’t there to hear it,” started Kyuhyun.

Siwon pulled away to look at him with sympathetic eyes.

“Oh, baby, look, I know that it really meant a lot to hear his first word since we missed Daerim’s as well, but the important thing is that he’ll say it again. He still isn’t speaking a lot, so it’ll still be special for us, right?” Cooed Siwon.

Kyuhyun sighed as he slowly shook his head.

“Well, I know you're just still sad now, but what did he say?” asked Siwon curiously as he pecked Kyuhyun’s cheek.

Kyuhyun snorted.

“Don’t tell me it was Hae,” chuckled Siwon.

“No, it was actually worse, if you can imagine that,” said Kyuhyun rubbing his face.

“Well….what was it?”

“I’ll let him tell you,” said Kyuhyun breaking away from him again.

Siwon followed Kyuhyun as he walked into the living room towards their children.

“Jinnie-ah!” called Kyuhyun with a smile as he held his arms out. “Come here baby, come to appa.”

Hyunjin looked over to Kyuhyun and began to crawl quickly over to him.

“—ma!” said Hyunjin happily as he made his way over to Kyuhyun.

“Did he just call you—“ started Siwon as he watched Kyuhyun pick up Hyunjin.

“Yes,” sighed Kyuhyun as he looked at Kyuhyun with a cocked eyebrow.

Siwon paused for a moment before chuckling uncontrollably.

“You think this is funny!” hissed Kyuhyun as he narrowed his eyes at Siwon.

“Oh baby come on! It’s more cute than anything!” said Siwon, still chuckling through his words.

“What is cute about him calling me ‘eomma’?! Do I look like an ‘eomma’ to you?!” asked Kyuhyun shaking his head incredulously. “This is a two appa household. I am not your wife!”

“Okay, okay, I get it baby. But I’m sure it’s just a phase and that everyone will be eomma for now. He’ll catch on to Daerim calling you Kyu appa soon enough and everything will be fine.”

Kyuhyun the back of Hyunjin’s head before sighing and giving Hyunjin a kiss.

“I guess you're right, I mean, how long could it last, right?” he said hopefully.