"Taozi will you please calm down, the kid just popped a baby out, I think he'll be pretty exhausted." Kris' legs are substantially long but they're no match for a raging Tao who's barelling his way through the automated glass doors of the hospital and making a beeline straight for the stairs because there's a line at the elevators. Kris sighs heavily when his husband pays no heed to him and he has no choice but to trudge up the steps with Luhan in tow. He's almost certain Chanyeol, being protective of Baekhyun, will tell him to put a leash on Tao if he came charging into the room demanding for Baekhyun to give him some answers. Unfortunately for Kris, Tao does just that. Kris sighs heavily, wanting to bury himself in a hole because of his husband's antics.

"You little brat!" Tao yells as soon as he slams the door open, interrupting the silence and quiet lull of the beeping of the heart monitor. Chanyeol snaps out of his momentary daze just in time to grab onto Tao before he could throw himself onto the sleeping boy. A haggard looking Kris hurries in seconds later with a squealing Luhan clinging like a koala at his side. 

"Dude, keep your lover boy in check will you!" Chanyeol snaps at his friend who sets Luhan on the reclining chair by the window before peeling Tao off of Chanyeol. Tao snarls at Chanyeol as soon as he's deposited into Kris' arms and Chanyeol swears he sees a pair of fangs.

"I wouldn't have to appease my husband if your lover boy hadn't had a foul mouth." Kris counters. Chanyeol disregards the fact that Kris just called Baekhyun his lover and chuckles, knowing exactly what all this hoo-ha's about. 

"This isn't funny, Chanyeol. We have been trying to get Luhan to talk for ages and when he finally does, the first thing he says is a curse." Kris says sternly. Tao has long stopped trying to loosen the grip Kris has on him, limply hanging over the loop of Kris' arms around him. He nods in agreement to his husband's words, eyes still livid.

"It's not our fault Luhan chose as his first word. In fact, he was even laughing when he said it. He likes it."

Baekhyun chose right then to wake up. Expectedly, Chanyeol rushes to his side.

"Hey, Byun Baek." Chanyeol greets, eyes so soft Kris almost throws up the toast he had for breakfast this morning. Baekhyun's lips pull back into a sleepy smile when he looks up to see his best friend peering down at him. The smile fades quickly to be replaced by an anxious frown.

"Where's Noodle?"

Chanyeol chuckles, squeezing Baekhyun's hand. "Relax Baek, he's being treated in the incubator right now. They're checking to make sure if he's fine, since he's out four weeks early. But the doctor says there's nothing wrong with him. He'll be okay." 

Baekhyun nods, letting it all sink in before looking up to Chanyeol with eager eyes. "Can I see him?"

Chanyeol lets out a small sigh. "You have to rest first, Byun Baek. I know you feel fine but... you've just been patched up and if you move around too much the stitches might tear open."

Sure enough, when Baekhyun slips a hand under the hospital gown, his fingers glide over a rough, uneven patch over the skin near his navel. He briefly laments over the fact that his skin won't be flawlessly white anymore, but would forever be marred by the presence of the scar. He pouts slightly at the thought that nobody might really want him now because of the imperfection. 

"It doesn't matter, he's gonna need more after I'm through with him." Tao growls, straightening himself out after Kris released him.

"Taozi," Kris warns in resignation.

"I'm only letting you go this time because you look like ." Tao smirks. "I think that's karma enough."

Baekhyun looks thoroughly confused but he doesn't question Tao's annoyance towards him. His eyes start to droop once more, this time from the toll of the drugs on his body that's fed to him through the IV line. Chanyeol pats Baekhyun's hair affectionately, and the last thing Baekhyun hears before sleep claims him is Chanyeol's soft promise of, "Noodle and I will be waiting for you here when you wake up."

"Hun!" 

Tao's eyebrows furrow deeply as he tries to restrain the bouncing baby in his lap. So far, Luhan's vocabulary consists of the treacherous curse word, and gibberish words that mostly involved Hun. Tao's certainly not happy with this. All he wants is for his baby to call him Mama but Luhan, as he has come to realise, is highly selective. Mama isn't something he is ready to say just yet. Every now and then, Tao would narrow his eyes at the sleeping figure on the hospital bed, silently seething. Until Luhan learns to call him Mama, Tao would continue to hold a grudge against Baekhyun for teaching him nonsense. He knows he's being unreasonable but it's only normal for a parent to want the best for their child, no?

 Kris had gone off to work, duties' call, and Chanyeol had been given the day off so he spent his afternoon with Tao and baby Luhan, awaiting Baekhyun's arousal from slumber.  

"That's the tenth time he's said it today." Tao says in dislike. Chanyeol who had been busy on his phone the whole time peels his eyes away from the website of baby names he'd come across to stare at Luhan.

"Hmm, that's funny. I've been coming across the name 'Hun' for the past six webpages." Chanyeol muses. "It means meritorious deeds. That's great for a name, don't you think?"

"Yeah, whatever. It's not my baby." Tao says nonchalantly as he starts feeding raisins to Luhan to quieten him down. Luhan stares at the piece of black dried grape in his hand as if it's the first time he's seeing it (which he is) before breaking out into fits of giggles as he chews on it. Chanyeol finds that Luhan's, just like all babies', laughter is highly contagious and he joins in the amusement. He certainly could not wait to take care of Noodle, knowing he's going to bring lots of laughter into his and his best friend's life.

"Hun?" Chanyeol coos at Luhan, pinching his cheek. Luhan nods gleefully, shooting Chanyeol a wide toothless smile.

"He likes it." Chanyeol affirms. "Maybe Jung-Hun?"

A tiny frown forms on Luhan's face as he holds Chanyeol's intent gaze, the raisin in his hand being squished from his tight grip. 

"No? You don't like that?" Chanyeol asks. "How about Se-Hun?"

This time, Luhan bursts out into laughter once more and pops the raisin into his mouth as if giving his approval. Chanyeol grins, feeling quite accomplished of having deciphered a toddler's opinion.

"I'll run that by Baek when he wakes up, then." Chanyeol says with a proud smile. "Park Sehun. That actually sounds good."

"Who says our baby will inherit your surname?" A weak voice calls from the middle of the room, and everyone turns their attention to Baekhyun who was slowly trying to get up into a sitting position by propping his elbows up on both sides. Chanyeol rushes to his side and helps to fluff up the pillow behind his back before effortlessly pulling Baekhyun up to sit.

"But Baek, I'm the father. Noodle should have his father's family name." 

"Your couldn't have made it a zygote on its own, Chan. It takes two hands to clap." Baekhyun says condescendingly. "But Sehun sounds perfect."

Chanyeol can't find it in himself to pout at Baekhyun's refusal to register their child under his own last name because Baekhyun had approved of the suggested name. Out of affection, and the overwhelming feeling of having finally reached to where they were now, Chanyeol leans in and places a brief tight-lipped kiss to Baekhyun's forehead, pulling away with a lopsided grin. Baekhyun's cheeks turn a light shade of pink as he returns the grin with a smile.

"Get married already, you two!" Tao shrieks, interrupting the moment the pair of friends were having. Chanyeol and Baekhyun unknowingly roll their eyes at the same time as they stared at Luhan's mother.

"Can't a guy kiss his best friend?" Chanyeol defends his actions. The two continue to bicker and somewhere in between the exchange of sarcastic remarks, Luhan ended up on the hospital bed, crawling up the sheets as Baekhyun joined him in the pretense that the bed was a boat. 

A little later, when it was close to ten and visiting hours were over, Tao had gone home with Luhan, wishing Baekhyun a good rest despite having been mad at the boy earlier that day. Chanyeol was sort of family so he was allowed to stay the night. It's when they're cuddled on the hospital bed, throwing insults to the crappy acting of the crappy actors of the crappy soap opera playing on the telly that Baekhyun is hit by a wave of longing to hold his son.

"I really want to hold him, Chan. Pleaaase," Baekhyun whines, using a finger to continuously jab into the side of Chanyeol's ribs in an attempt to get the lanky boy to give in to his requests.

"I can't do anything about that, Byun Baek. If I owned the hospital I would have seen to it that you are able to hold Noodle by now. But I don't and the nurses specifically told me Noodle needs to be observed overnight. We can only hold him tomorrow." Chanyeol explains in exasperation. 

"But you promised. You said you'll be here with him when I woke up, and he's not."

Baekhyun does that killer pout of his and pulls his arms into a cross. He doesn't budge even when Chanyeol tries to , tickling his sides and cooing for him to stop being mad at him. Baekhyun starts to kick at his blankets, throwing a small fit as he tries to nudge his best friend out of the bed.

"Byun Baek."

"Baeeeek."

"Baeeeekby."

Baekhyun snorts at the stupid nickname but tries to keep from smiling.

"Okay." Chanyeol sighs after what seemed like the nth attempt at trying to get Baekhyun to smile. "How about this? You can't hold Noodle, but the best I can promise you is that you can see him. Through the glass windows, but it's still something, isn't it?"

To be honest, it wasn't allowed. Baekhyun's body was still unstable from the c-section, having gone into labour earlier than expected, and doctors had ordered for him to stay in bed and connected to the IV drip for at least a full 24hours. It's only been 19hours and letting Baekhyun out would be going against orders. But Baekhyun has this upsetting frown on his face and Chanyeol thinks, just a few minutes wouldn't hurt.

So that's how the duo ended up sneaking past nurses down the white-walled hallways to the 3rd level where the neonatal ICU was at. They had to pause a few times going down, Baekhyun's aching body forcing them to take a quick breather but by the fourth time, Chanyeol resorted to piggybacking the comparatively smaller boy on his back. Baekhyun remains perched on Chanyeol's back even when they reach the windows of the neonatal care room, and though the blinds were slightly closed, they could still get a peek at the tiny baby wrapped up in a blanket. Baekhyun knew right away which was their baby Noodle. He used to think it was dumb, the way adults would go "oh, he has your eyes" or "his nose is as round as his father's" whenever they're cooing over a newborn but now that he's finally a mother himself, he finds that there's an inexplicable intuition he has towards his baby boy.

"I can't believe he inherited your ears, Chan." Baekhyun muses in a whisper. "Of all things."

Sure enough, sharp, pointy ears peek out from the small head and it's made even more obvious when he moves his head to the side. Chanyeol's lips curl slightly into a small smile, noticing that Baekhyun was right. Somehow, it made it all so real. That the tiny being in the incubator was a part of him. 

"I can't wait to hold you." Baekhyun says softly, though his son couldn't hear him. His hand flies up to press up flat against the glass as he leans his head into the crook of his best friend's neck. Chanyeol hikes Baekhyun up higher on his back and readjusts his grip so Baekhyun won't fall off, earning himself a small shriek of surprise from the other. They watched their son in comfortable silence, every little movement of their baby eliciting a tiny, subconscious quirk of the lips from them both.

It's when Baekhyun's eyes starts to droop and his breath heavy and slow against Chanyeol's neck that the latter decide it's time to head back. Baekhyun didn't even protest when Chanyeol voiced his suggestion to return, for exhasution was slowly claiming him, but instead, he kisses his fingers and presses them to the glass windows with a quiet "rest well, Sehunnie, I'll see you later". 

Baekhyun falls asleep on Chanyeol's back even before they make it back to the ward.

"So, when's the wedding?" 

"What? Wedding? You've got it wrong, hyung."

Baekhyun awakes to the muffled sounds of deep voices conversing in the distance. It doesn't take much to know it's Kris and Chanyeol, and he keeps his eyes closed, pretending to still be asleep to listen in on their topic of discussion.

"You and Baek aren't gonna get married? Then how will you look after your son?"

"Can't we raise a child together as best friends?"

"It's ridiculous, Chanyeol. It's a bad idea." There's a sense of foreboding in his words and Baekhyun can't help but feel a shiver run through him. To Baekhyun, when Chanyeol had made that promise of raising their child together, everything had seemed so clear cut. But now that the pregnancy is over and hearing their senior's opinion of the arrangement, a seed of doubt begins to take root. 

"It's not. I love Baek, not in the same way you love Tao, but I do. And I love Sehun. We could make it work."

"Could isn't good enough, Yeol-ah. You need to provide a stable environment for Sehun. Something is bound to go wrong, I just know it."

"Kris-hyung, not to be disrespectful, but I really don't want to get married. I'm still young. I want to be free to date, to enjoy life. If you're worried I might abandon Sehun, I can assure you I won't. I just don't want to be tied down to Baekhyun. He has already ruined my chances of going into Medical school, I don't want him to be the reason why I can't meet other people too."

If Baekhyun said it didn't hurt to hear those words coming from his own best friend, he would be lying. Usually he'd feel bad eavesdropping on someone else's conversation but he was glad he did this time. He hadn't realised that he was holding Chanyeol back. Well, he knew he would the moment he found out of his pregnancy but after Chanyeol had assured him he wanted to be there for them both, Baekhyun didn't have any doubt that Chanyeol was fine with it. Not until today.

There's a heavy sigh, presumably Kris', before the senior speaks up again, "Well, you know I mean well. I don't want to see you or Baekhyun hurt. Or worse, Sehun getting caught in a possible misunderstanding between you both."

"Anyway, we should get going."

There's the shuffling of feet before Baekhyun feels a presence looming above him, then a small kiss to his forehead and a hand ruffling his hair. The squeaky sound of shoes against linoleum tiles grows fainter, and there's a click of the door.

"Mrs. Byun!"

"Chanyeol, you're leaving?"

"I have to. I can't get anymore days off work. Kris came to pick me up."

"Ah, I see. Thanks for accompanying Baekhyun last night. I'm certain he didn't want anyone else but you with him. Even his parents are thrown aside when it comes to his best friend Park Chanyeol." Baekhyun hears the playfulness in his mother's tone and the light chuckling coming from Chanyeol.

"We'll take our leave first, Mrs. Byun. Do help me tell Baek I'll be here again to visit tonight after work ends."

 "I will. See you!"

The room falls silent once the door closes and Baekhyun finally chooses to open his eyes to see his mother peering at him from the chair beside the bed. Shinhye brings a hand to cup one of her son's cheeks. 

"How are you feeling, baby?"

"Like I just got hit by a train." Baekhyun says honestly, making his mother laugh.

"Honey, nobody said giving birth was a walk in the park." Shinhye says, affectionately caressing Baekhyun's cheek with a tilt of her head. "But if I were to be honest, you were such a good baby. You slid right out when it was time and I barely had aches days after you came out. You have always been a sweetheart."

Baekhyun scrunches his face in disagreement, and Shinhye bursts out laughing again.

"Now, tell me what's bothering my baby." Shinhye's laughter dies and she retracts her hand, intensely gazing at Baekhyun who tries to avoid his mother's knowing eyes.

"Nothing." Baekhyun shrugs lightly.

"You know I don't believe you." Shinhye frowns. "But I'll let you off this once. You can tell me when you're ready."

Baekhyun fiddles with his fingers, looking to his mother in appreciation. "Thanks, mum."

"Where's my grandson?" Shinhye changes the subject, taking a glance around.

"They didn't let me hold him yesterday. They needed to check his vitals. Can you take me to him?"

"I think it's best if you stayed here. The doctor told me if you get better  by today they can discharge you in the morning tomorrow. I'll go fetch him."

Shinhye pats her son's head once before setting off to get her grandson. Once he's all alone, Baekhyun finds that he's unable to stop the tears from pricking at his eyes. He takes deep breaths, willing for himself to calm down, and fortunately so because Shinhye is quick to return with a wrapped up bundle in her arms. Baekhyun forces a smile as a greeting but it softens when he lays his eyes on Sehun's peaceful expression. Shinhye doesn't waste a second in depositing the baby into Baekhyun's eagerly awaiting arms.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" 

"Yeah." Baekhyun says, eyes never leaving his baby. "Sehun."

"Sehun?" Shinhye gasps, eyes wide in disbelief. "Like your uncle Sehun?"

Baekhyun hums. "It's funny, though, because Chanyeol chose the name but I've never told him about uncle Sehun."

"Uncle Sehun would have loved it, wouldn't he?" Baekhyun looks up to see that his mother's eyes is glimmering with the sudden onset of emotions.

"My brother would have loved it." Shinhye affirms with a smile.

"Maybe you could tell him about your uncle one day."

"I will. I'll tell him the story of the most inspirational man I've ever known." Baekhyun promises her.

"Anyway," Shinhye grabs her purse from her bag, "I'm going to go get some lunch at the cafeteria. Do you want anything?"

"No, thanks."

"Will you be alright alone here with Sehunnie?"

"I will." Baekhyun assures her as she slips out the room. Baekhyun continues to stare at his newborn's adorable sleeping face, and he thinks of how the process of childbirth is such a miraculous phenomenon. He couldn't believe that just mere months ago, this tiny being in his arms had been a speck of dna belonging to him and Chanyeol. Baekhyun sighs internally at the thought of his best friend. A disturbing belief that the conceiving of Sehun is a mistake floats around on his mind but he is quick to dispel the notion. No, their child is not a mistake. He refuses to let anyone, or himself, believe it is.

Baekhyun smooths out the creases in Sehun's forehead with a finger before leaning in to kiss his head as he inhales the sweet pure scent of his baby.

"Sehunnie, your father doesn't want me. But it's okay, because he loves you and that's enough, isn't it?"

The tantalizing smell of kimchi bokumpab wafts into the fourteen-year-old boy's nostrils as soon as he opens the front door. The scowl on his face remains stubbornly etched into his handsome features but his stomach betrays him right away, grumbling incessantly. The man who had been tending to the rice in the pan turns down the fire and heads for the doorway of the kitchen as soon as he hears the jiggling of keys outside. A wide, loving smile spreads across his face when he sees that his beloved son is home for the day.

"Hi, Joonmyunnie. Did you have a good day at school?" Kyungsoo asks in a chirpy tone. He doesn't miss the small scoff the fourteen-year-old lets out under his breath but his smile barely falters.

"It was okay." The boy replies shortly. He begins to make his way up the steps to his bedroom.

"Dinner will be ready soon. Wash up and come down to eat, okay?" Kyungsoo calls to his adoptive son. He doesn't get a reply but the smile remains plastered across his face. When he returns to his cooking, he finds that he has left the fire on too strong and his fried rice has a few burnt parts to it. He tries to get rid of the black grains of rice as best as he could but unknowingly, he misses a few.

As he's setting the table for three, he hears another set of keys jiggling outside and soon, a weary faced Jongin greets him with a lazy one-sided quirk of his lips. On the contrary, Kyungsoo flashes a wide smile, beaming whenever he sees his husband.

"I just finished cooking. Wanna eat first? I'll draw you a bath." Kyungsoo hurries to take the suitcase out of Jongin's hand. Jongin just nods his head, too tired to say anything, and goes to sit at the table. 

Later, when the whole family is seated around the dining table, silence hangs in the air, just like all their usual dinner affairs. Chopsticks against ricebowls are the only sound that accompanies the family as they have their meal.

"Baekhyunnie had his baby yesterday." Like always, Kyungsoo is the one to initiate a conversation. 

"He did?" Jongin asks in between mouthfuls. Kyungsoo beams once again at the fact that his husband is responding a little kore eagerly this time, and not those half-hearted questions and answers he usually gives.

"Yeah, I met Aunt Shinhye and she told me that Baekhyun and Chanyeol have a healthy baby boy. He's a preemie but she says he's doing well." Kyungsoo says with enthusiam, wanting their conversation to last. But unfortunately for him, Jongin accidentally swallows some of the burnt rice.

"The rice is a little too fried." Jongin says playfully, and Kyungsoo decides to pass off the slight sarcasm as a misunderstanding. "Fried rice is supposedly a simple dish, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I went to greet Joonmyunnie at the door just now and I left the fire on for too long." Kyungsoo rushes to explain. 

Joonmyun chooses that exact monent to spit his rice out and he chokes a little at the burnt taste. Baekhyun grabs a glass of water and hands it to Joonmyun, patting his back lightly.

"Are you okay, Joonmyunnie?" Kyungsoo asks in concern. The fourteen year old nods as he stands to take his bowl back to the sink. Jongin loses his appetite after the incident, slowly putting his chopsticks down and swallowing the last gravel of rice in his mouth.

"I'm sorry," Kyungsoo says in a whisper, head slightly bowed.

"No, it's fine." Jongin says as he stands up to follow their son, though Kyungsoo isn't so sure it is. Kyungsoo is left alone at the table, wishing he hadn't messed things up for the umpteenth time.

But it's useless, because Kyungsoo knows that he can never do anything right in Jongin's eyes. At least, not anymore.

A/N: Aaaand here comes the angst. Or at least a glimpse of it. Slightly unbeta-ed. I've just ended my part-time job and I might be starting another next week, but until then, expect updates! I'll try to type some out in this time I have. If any of you were expecting a labour scene, sorry for not including it because I really couldn't fit it in after typing this out beforehand. Expect a little drama in the next update, just a friendly reminder that this story ain't all sunshine and rainbows.  baaaai~