When Jongin walked through the front door he was met by silence which was as worrying as it was strange. They had six kids, all of them boys meaning the house was very rarely that quiet. And when it was it was usually an indicator that they were up to something they shouldn’t be. Then he heard the faint sound of voices coming from the living room and he breathed a sigh of relief. If they were in the living room, that meant they were under Kyungsoo’s watchful eye and not upstairs by themselves plotting something diabolical.

Only when he entered the living room the boys weren’t being watched over by Kyungsoo because Kyungsoo was fast asleep in the armchair in the corner, their youngest son Sehun curled up beside him. Eleven month old Sehun was also dead to the world, although the frown on his face and the handful of his mother’s shirt he had gripped tightly in one fist were clear indicators that he’d been fighting hard not to fall asleep, something he always did when he was really tired.

Thankfully however his five other children hadn’t jumped at the rare opportunity a sleeping Kyungsoo presented and used it to trash the house, something Jongin would have put money on if you’d presented him with that scenario and asked him what he thought might happen. No, instead they were playing ever so nicely together. They were being so well behaved it was a little surreal he thought as he watched their eldest son Minseok building a tower out of building blocks with Chanyeol, something he definitely deserved some kudos for because there weren’t many eight year olds who would have the time or the patience to deal with a two and half year old as hyperactive as Chanyeol was. And the twins, Jongdae and Joonmyun were at the other side of the room, Jongdae with Baekhyun perched on his knee and Joonmyun sitting in front of them holding up a book as he read aloud to them. It was a pretty adorable sight, three year old Baekhyun wasn’t much smaller than his five year old brother so Jongdae couldn’t be all that comfortable and Joonmyun’s reading level wasn’t quite advanced enough for him to manage reading the book in his hands without help so he was making up the words as he went along. They were all being so cute that Jongin wished he had a camera to hand.

And then the quiet was broken by the sound of clattering bricks and an hysterical shriek of glee and Jongin turned his head in time to see a frustrated Minseok shaking his head at his little brother. “No, no, no!” he said. “I told you Chanyeol, we need to be quiet. Mummy’s sleeping.”

With a laugh Chanyeol picked up the brick closest to him and hurled it in Minseok’s general direction.

“Hey!” Minseok exclaimed as it shot past his shoulder and hit the wall behind him. “That’s not funny! You’re going to break something!”

Chanyeol picked up a second brick and drew his arm back.

And Jongin decided he should probably step in because Chanyeol had a hell of a throwing arm and it was only a matter of time before he ended up hitting one of his siblings. He could really do without the uproar that would cause. “Chanyeol!” he barked and Chanyeol immediately dropped the wooden block onto the carpet, his eyes widening in surprise as he turned around to see his father standing in the doorway.

“We don’t throw things.” He reminded him. “Now say sorry to your brother.”

Chanyeol, not looking all that happy, shuffled over to Minseok and rested his head on his shoulder. Then he lifted his head and looked over at Jongin as if to say ‘Was that good enough?’

“Thank you.” Jongin said. Kyungsoo would probably have told him to use his words but Chanyeol could be pretty stubborn and he couldn’t be bothered arguing with him, not when he’d only been home five minutes. “Now what’s going on?” he asked. “Why is your mother passed out in an armchair?”

“He didn’t pass out.” Joonmyun told him, he’d dropped the book when he’d heard him shouting Chanyeol’s name and had been watching the exchange intently. “He’s asleep.”

“Yeah, he’s definitely asleep.” Jongdae chimed in. “He was snoring before.”

“Really?” Jongin asked. For some reason Kyungsoo refused to believe that snoring was something he did, he’d have to let him know Jongdae had caught him at it too.

“Really.” Jongdae confirmed with a nod.

“He fell asleep just after Sehun did.” Minseok added. “And I didn’t want to wake him up because he’s been really sick today. So me and Joonmyun and Jongdae decided we should look after the babies and keep them quiet.”

“I’m not a baby.” Baekhyun argued, a pout marring his face. “I’m nearly four.”

“You’re not four yet so you’re still a baby.” Jongdae told him and seeing the pout turn to a scowl Jongin quickly stepped in.

“That was good thinking.” He said before Baekhyun decided to retaliate by tearing a chunk of Jongdae’s hair out, hair pulling was his go to response whenever he was annoyed much to Kyungsoo’s embarrassment. Taking him places like the park or to soft play was a nightmare, there was always at least one parent they had to apologise to for their son’s behaviour. “But how sick is really sick?” he asked, turning back to Minseok and trying to bring the conversation back on track.

“Really really sick.” Baekhyun butted in before his brother could reply. “He threw up like a hundred times today. He said he didn’t but he did ‘cause we heard him.”

“It wasn’t a hundred.” Minseok was quick to clarify. “It was only a few times. But he was sick yesterday too. And the day before. He said he doesn’t need to see a doctor but he does though, doesn’t he Dad? If he doesn’t then he’s not going to get better.”

“I’ll talk to him about it later.” Jongin promised.  He was only eight years old but Minseok had always been such a serious little thing, far too grown-up for his age. He was always worrying and fussing over his younger brothers, the last thing he needed was a reason to worry about his mother too especially when he didn’t need to. The reason Kyungsoo had been so ill was because he was pregnant, eleven weeks at a guess. It was something they hadn’t been planning on telling the kids until Kyungsoo had had his first ultrasound and they had something concrete in the form of a scan picture to show them but maybe they could make an exception for their eldest and tell him sooner, if only to put his mind at rest.

“And Sehun’s been sick too.” Jongdae piped up.

“Sehunnie’s loud.” Chanyeol mumbled. Then he was turning back to the blocks on the floor and piling them up again.

“And annoying. Really really annoying.” Baekhyun muttered. “He just screams and screams. I wish we could