The first thing Jongdae had said to him when he’d sat down at the breakfast table that morning had been ‘Stop smiling. It’s far too early to be cheerful’, then he’d proceeded to pick at his food disinterestedly, a frown on his face. Sehun had taken it as a warning sign and stayed quiet. Nayeon being a toddler had not, instead seeing the silence as an open invitation to start talking.  And start talking she had, and with her third birthday only a week away there was only one thing she wanted to talk about. And the more she talked about it more excited she became, and at her age excitement levels and speaking volume seemed to directly correlate because by the time breakfast was drawing to a close Jongdae was visibly wincing every time she opened . And her over-excitement had carried on once the meal was over, Nayeon darting into the living room and jumping up onto the couch. She'd then started running backwards and forwards across the cushions, shouting about a bridge and a crocodile that lived under the floorboards as she did so. And something Sehun had recently learned was that if you put an over-excited Nayeon and an irritable Jongdae together it was never Nayeon who ended up getting yelled at, no it was always him for not keeping her under control. Apparently since he was her father it was his job to keep the volume level down and the breakages to a minimum. So he’d grabbed her and taken her to her room to get dressed, deciding to get her out of the house before things got out of hand. He didn't want to end up on the receiving end of another lecture.

And he’d tried his best to tire her out before taking her home again, he really had. He’d dropped in on Jongin and Kyungsoo, they had a son the same age as Nayeon who had just as much energy if not more, so he’d hoped letting them bounce off of one another would speed things up and she’d be passed out by lunchtime. It hadn’t, if anything it had had the opposite effect, Nayeon dragging Yongmin into her ‘crocodiles live under the floorboards’ game which involved a lot of climbing on the furniture and far too much hysterical shrieking. Eventually Kyungsoo had stepped in and told the kids to get their coats because they were going to the park. Then he’d made it crystal clear that when he’d said ‘we’re going to the park’ the we didn’t include him. “He’s your son”, he’d said to Jongin as he handed him his jacket, “You sort him out.” Jongin had whined about the fact that every time Yongmin misbehaved it was suddenly ‘your son’ and not ‘our son’ all the way there but Sehun had just been happy that when it came to their children it wasn’t only Jongdae who switched pronouns when it suited him. ‘She’s your daughter’ had been something he’d heard a lot of recently and it had been starting to get to him but if Kyungsoo did it too then he guessed it wasn’t so bad.

It had taken them a while, what with the kids stopping every two seconds to look at an interesting tree/fencepost/cloud but they'd made it to the park without incident. And Yongmin and Nayeon had loved it, spending at least half an hour running from one piece of play equipment to the next without stopping for breath. He and Jongin hadn’t had quite as much fun, having been ordered to sit down as soon as they’d gotten there. “I can do it myself Daddy!” Nayeon had huffed when he’d offered to help her up the ladder to the slide and Yongmin had immediately copied her telling Jongin that he was a big boy now so he didn't need him anymore. So yes, while the kids were having a whale of a time running around like maniacs they were stuck freezing their backsides of on a park bench, only being called upon when Yongmin got stuck in the middle of the rope bridge. And they’d come to his rescue only to be ordered back to the bench by Nayeon as soon as he was back on the ground.

Then it had been back to the Kim-Do house for lunch and a food fight (instigated by Nayeon, Sehun was fast coming to the realisation that she was a terrible influence on Yongmin and was really hoping Kyungsoo didn’t notice or they'd end up banned from the house for good). Then they’d sat the kids down in front of a film hoping it would keep them quiet. It didn’t, Nayeon deciding ten minutes in that pretending to be lions was more fun than watching them on a television screen. Catching the disapproving look Kyungsoo sent his way when she convinced Yongmin that the space under the coffee table would make a great lion cave Sehun decided it would be best to round her up and take her home.

And now they were back outside their own front door and Nayeon was still bouncing with energy (quite literally, she was jumping around on the doorstep pretending to be a kangaroo, where she got her energy from Sehun didn’t know but he was starting to wish whoever had given it to her would take it back). “Nayeon!” he exclaimed for the fourth time and she eventually came to a stop, a beaming smile on her face as she tried to catch her breath.

“Kangaroos are fun Daddy. You be one.”

“No thanks, I’m good.” He told her and he crouched down so he could look her in the eye. “Now listen carefully. We’re going to go inside and take our coats and shoes off quietly, then we’re going to find something quiet to do…” he trailed to a stop, searching for the right words. What he wanted to say was ‘because Mummy’s hormonal and it’s making him crazy’ but he didn’t think it would go over too well with Jongdae if Nayeon happened to repeat it, and knowing his daughter she probably would. After giving it some thought he eventually settled on “… because Mummy is tired.” and left it at that.

“It’s not night time.” Nayeon pointed out, slightly confused.

“Well no,” Sehun replied, rather impressed by her logic. Night time did mean bed time after all. “But there’s a baby in his tummy.” He reminded her. “Having a baby in your tummy can make you tired sometimes.”

“Oh.” Nayeon said and she frowned. “That’s not nice. Tell the baby to stop.”

Sehun smiled. His daughter could be incredibly cute sometimes. “I can’t really do that.” He apologised. “The baby’s only little, he wouldn’t understand. And anyway he can’t help it. Now come on, let’s go inside. And remember, no running around and no shouting.”

“Okay.” Nayeon promised with a nod of her head.

She kept her promise for about fifteen minutes. Then she spotted something on the table that had her shrieking and dashing across the room in excitement. “Let’s play dinosaurs Daddy!” she squealed, scooping up the questionable looking stuffed dinosaur that she'd just noticed. Luhan had given it to her the last time he’d visited and while Sehun wasn’t an expert on dinosaurs by any means he was pretty sure stegosauruses weren't supposed to be neon pink.

“Dinosaurs isn’t a very quiet game.” He pointed out.

Nayeon ignored him and started stomping around the living room, punctuating every second or third step with a roar. Sehun groaned but before he could tell her to stop there was a crash from the kitchen followed by a deluge of swear words. Nayeon stopped in her tracks, her brow furrowing in concern.

“You just stay here and play dinosaurs.” Sehun told her hoping that she hadn’t managed to make out what it was Jongdae had been shouting. The last thing they needed was for her to pick up that kind of language. If she did there was no way she wouldn’t repeat it and knowing their luck she’d do it not at home but somewhere far more embarrassing, like in the middle of the supermarket or in front of her grandparents. “I’m going to check on Mummy. I’ll be back in a minute.”

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

When he walked into the kitchen Jongdae was holding his hand under the cold tap, still muttering swear words under his breath. Where he’d learned such colourful language Sehun didn’t know, the extent of his vocabularly was pretty impressive though. “What happened?” he asked and Jongdae turned to look at him. He obviously hadn't heard them come in, if he had he wouldn't look so shocked or so guilty.

He got over his surprise soon enough though, the look of wide-eyed surprise soon being replaced by a glare. “What does it look like?” he asked nodding at the upside down cake tin on the floor. “I burned my hand on that thing when I was taking it out of the oven.”

His answer only raised more questions and Sehun didn’t know which one he should ask first. After giving it some thought he went with “Weren’t you wearing oven gloves?” It proved to be a mistake.

“No, if I was then I wouldn’t have a blister the size of a dinner plate coming up on the palm of my hand!” Jongdae snapped.

And while Sehun was pretty sure ‘dinner plate’ was an exaggeration the statement was enough to kick his brain into gear. His pregnant husband had just burned himself and he was standing in the doorway asking him pointless questions. He was a moron. “Here,” he said, crossing the kitchen in seconds and taking Jongdae’s wrist in his hand. “Let me see.” After inspecting the damage he came to the verdict “That looks nasty." before offering the suggestion "We should probably get it seen to.”

“Oh for God's sake, stop fussing.” Jongdae muttered, snatching his hand back and sticking it under the tap again. “I’m dealing with it.”

It was plain to see where Nayeon got her independent streak from Sehun thought with a sigh. “I really think we should get someone to take a look at it. If you don’t want to go to the doctor I can always call Yixing. I mean what if it gets infected?” Jongdae couldn’t afford to end up with an infection, not when he was four months pregnant. And if he didn't want to see a doctor Yixing was the next best thing, he worked as a nurse in the Accident and Emergency Department, dealing with burns and the like was something he did on a daily basis.

“It’s not that bad.” Jongdae assured him. “I dropped the tin pretty quickly and it's already starting to feel better.”

And that reminded Sehun of the other question he’d been about to ask. “What were you making a cake for? You never bake.” Cooking Jongdae could do and do well, which was a good thing really because they needed to feed their daughter somehow and his own culinary skills were non-existent but put a bag of flour and a set of scales in front of him and he tended to fall apart.

“Nayeon said she wanted a proper cake for her birthday, not a shop bought one but a homemade one like Yongmin had at his party. I was practicing.” Jongdae told him, taking his hand from under the tap and squinting at it. There was still an angry red mark on the heel of his hand, the beginnings of a blister forming in the middle. With a sigh he shoved it back under the stream of cold water. “And I thought if it turned out okay we could have the practice one for dessert tonight, it could be an apology of sorts. I know I’ve been a nightmare to live with recently. But then I started on the laundry and I forgot all about it until I smelled something burning. My short-term memory's gone to hell since I got pregnant. It was never this bad with Nayeon.” He sounded well and truly miserable.

Nothing had been as bad with Nayeon. Jongdae had sailed through his first pregnancy, some backache in the third trimester was only thing that had bothered him. This time round though and he hadn’t been so lucky. For the first twelve weeks he’d had morning sickness so bad it had almost been debilitating and while that had gone now the constant fatigue had not. He was constantly tired which meant he was constantly cranky. And his fluctuating hormones weren’t helping. Sehun felt like he was always walking on eggshells around him. He’d tried complaining to Jongin about it but his friend hadn’t had much sympathy saying he’d known what he was getting into when he'd decided to have another baby so it was his own fault. But he hadn’t known, that was thing, Jongdae’s hormones hadn’t seemed to affect him at all when he was pregnant with Nayeon so Sehun had no idea how to deal with the fact that Jongdae seemed to be permanently on edge these days. Something he did know though was that Jongdae didn’t need to apologise, and he most definitely shouldn’t be getting upset over it. It wasn’t his fault his hormones were running riot. “Hey, it’s okay.” He told him, awkwardly patting him on the shoulder. He’d never been very good at consoling people. Jongdae wasn’t an overly sentimental person, more likely to laugh off a heartfelt attempt to comfort him than anything else so it hadn't really been a problem for him before. “I don’t need an apology and I don’t need a cake.” He said at last, hoping that would do.

“I drove you out of the house this morning.” Jongdae argued and he turned the tap off, cradling his injured hand to his chest. “That warrants an apology.”

“You never drove me out,” Sehun told him. “I just thought you’d appreciate a bit of peace and quiet, that’s all.”

“You were making a break for it before I started yelling at you over something stupid again.” Jongdae amended. “Don’t try and deny it. And I don’t blame you, I’ve been doing that far too much lately. I mean yesterday I snapped at you for being too tall. I have no idea where that came from, it doesn’t even make sense. It’s not like your height is something you can control, and I’ve always liked the fact you’re taller than me. I was just so pissed off that I couldn’t reach that box at the top of the cupboard, and then I was even more pissed off at myself for getting worked up over something so trivial and then there you were offering to help, all tall and lanky and not pregnant and I just… I exploded. And I knew as soon as I opened my mouth that I was being ridiculous but for some reason that just made it worse. And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you… I just… I hate this… I hate feeling so out of control all the time… I don’t… I didn’t…”

And oh God, those were tears in his eyes Sehun realised, panic rising in his chest. He’d take being yelled at over this any day. He had no idea how deal with a tearful Jongdae, it wasn’t something he’d ever had to do before. He was completely out of his comfort zone, he couldn’t handle it when Nayeon had a breakdown and she was only two. He was screwed. “Hey, don’t cry.” He said. “I mean yeah you snapped at me but you didn’t actually yell. And it's not like I took it to heart. There’s no need to get upset.”

Jongdae scowled at him. “Don’t be stupid.” He sniffed. “I’m not crying. Why would I be crying?”

“Uh… I don't know, but you are.” Sehun told him. He might not be the best at reading other people’s emotions but he wasn't a complete idiot, he could tell when someone was crying. And Jongdae was definitely crying, tears falling freely now, his breath catching in his throat after every other word. “But I get it. You’re stressed, your hand hurts and your hormones are all over the place. You can’t help it.”

And that was it, Jongdae was no longer sniffling he was openly sobbing and Sehun was patting his shoulder again, not knowing what to say. He’d tried to make him feel better and it had only made things worse. Maybe he should call Jongin, he had a some experience with this kind of thing. Kyungsoo had had his fair share of meltdowns when he’d been pregnant with Yongmin and he’d always seemed to handle them pretty well.

“This is so embarrassing.” Jongdae groaned, he was still sobbing his heart out but at least he was managing to speak in coherent sentences which was more than could be said for Nayeon when she was upset. “And you’re right, I can’t help it. I wish that I could but I can’t…  the more I tell myself I shouldn’t be crying the more I want to cry. It's ridiculous.”

Sehun nodded sympathetically and moved on from patting Jongdae’s shoulder to rubbing it. He had absolutely no idea what to say to that. How was he supposed to calm Jongdae down when he’d already tried to do it himself and failed?

And then he felt a tug on his trouser leg and he looked down to see Nayeon standing there. He hadn't even heard her come in. For someone who was usually so loud she could be unnervingly quiet when she wanted to be. “Why is Mummy sad?” she asked before Sehun could worry about it too much. She looked extremely worried and he felt his heart melt a little. She was such a handful most of the time that he tended to forget how thoughtful she could be.

“He’s… well…” he stuttered to a halt. There wasn’t a concrete answer to that question he realised.

“I don’t know sweetheart.” Jongdae answered for him. “I just am. But don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

After some careful consideration Nayeon held out her stegosauraus. “Here you go. You can cuddle him if you want.”

Jongdae gave a shaky smile and took it from her.

Nayeon watched him carefully for a second and then she was turning back to Sehun. “Cuddle him.” She ordered.

“What?” Sehun asked, a little taken aback by the barked command.

“He’s sad still. Cuddle him.” She repeated, her hands going to her hips.

The look that she was giving him was more than a little disconcerting so Sehun did as he was told, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his husband. And Jongdae instantly melted into his chest and began sobbing into his shirt. Sehun frowned and tightened his hold. With Jongdae’s bump being so prominent now it felt a little strange to be holding him so close but he obviously needed it. And strange didn't necessarily mean bad, as weird as it was knowing that there was a baby between them it was his baby and he still found that kind of amazing. “It’s okay,” he said for what felt like the hundredth time that day as the sobbing gradually subsided. “If you want to cry for no reason you can cry for no reason. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks.” Jongdae sniffed, burrowing even closer still.

“And don’t worry about the cake.” He continued, remembering what had set Jongdae off in the first place. “Since it’s Kyungsoo’s fault she’s asking for a homemade birthday cake he can make it.”

“Yeah, who bakes birthday cakes for their kids these days anyway?” Jongdae asked, tilting his head up to look at him properly. “He’s such a show-off.” He sounded a lot happier now Sehun was pleased to note.

“A total show-off.” He agreed with a nod. “Now are you going to let go of me so I can get the first aid kit? If you’re not going to let me call Yixing to look at that burn you can at least let me put a dressing on it.” Seeing Jongdae so distraught had shaken him a little and he always felt better when he was doing something productive.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

AN: Some Chenhun for itoxo.

This is my third attempt at this idea, I could see it in my head but I couldn't decide whose point of view to tell it from. I started with Sehun, scrapped that and tried Jongdae then ended up with Sehun again. I'm still not entirely happy with it but maybe it will grow on me.

Anywho enough of my whining, here's the list:

Taoris for samoyed
Seho for painkillerxxx
Krishun for mitsuka501
Baekyeol for parkbyun
Krisoo for horadoribabe
Xiuyeol for MidnightMaurader
Kaisoo for xNurulx
Hunhan for anncherry
Sekai for xhigoodbye
Suchan for kookiehs
Krisyeol for Alluma
Suchen for Justanotherfic