Yixing leaves a few minutes after the talk. He gives Jongdae one last kiss on the lips and Zhihan a quick hug before he is sprinting to the car. He waves at his family one last time before driving off. Jongdae excuses himself with Zhihan for the child's bath and Chanyeol makes a move to give his husband a call.

 

"You didn’t tell me Yixing was scary" He yells out to his husband who picks his call up after three rings.

 

"What did he do?" There's a cute laugh from a distance and Chanyeol knows his baby girl just woke up. Ella's always happy in the morning and gets cranky in the evening. Ella's just like Chanyeol, cheerful and a morning person. Ella is too much like Chanyeol and he doesn’t know if he should be happy by this or worried. Chanyeol's not the best person to be an exact replica of and neither is Baekhyun but the girl's becoming just like them as the days passed. They often wondered where Luhan got the baby from. "Did he threaten you?"

 

"He told me to stay away from his property" Chanyeol plops down the sofa. "And I told him that I have a husband and I wouldn’t dare touch Jongdae. Wouldn’t it be like if I touch him?"

 

"Guess so" He hears the shrug from Baekhyun. "Yixing's just worried. Jongdae has a flirty side, he does it absentmindedly in the confinement of his house, I think Yixing honed it overtime. He's just worried you'd suddenly develop a crush on his husband."

 

"Like how you have a not-so secret crush on Yixing" Chanyeol comments.

 

"It's not a crush. I just want to touch his abs." Baekhyun defends himself. "Minseok-hyung let me touched his. Why can't I touch Yixing's?"

 

"Maybe because Jongdae could bite off your head if you do that"

 

"Nah, Jongdae would probably help me with that." Chanyeol hears the theme song for Spongebob Squarepants play from the other line and he's sure Baekhyun's preparing Ella's bath. "Yixing's just too stingy and feels like the only person allowed to appreciate his hidden abdominal muscle is Jongdae. Like Jongdae doesn't even care if he has flabs or not."

 

"Are we seriously gonna talk about this?"

 

"You opened the topic up. Why are you regretting this?"

 

"I'm your husband"

 

"And? There's no harm in wanting to touch someone's muscles. It's inspiration in honing my nutella abs to perfection" Baekhyun defends himself. "But if you're that worried about I could send Luhan to assist you, I'm sure he wouldn’t mind"

 

"But isn't he in some kind of a witch convention today?"

 

"Then I guess you're stuck alone with Jongdae and your conscience" He could practically hear his husband's smile through the phone. "Now toodles, my dear husband. And also good luck"

 

"Baek--" Chanyeol tries to call out but the line gets cut before he could even blabber more. "Great, now I'm stuck to deal with the unknown"

 

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

 

Chanyeol can't concentrate well when he's under-pressure. He could still practically hear Yixing's venomous voice in his head reminding him about his place and he feels the weight of his daddy duties in his pockets. This was his first time not only as a temporary father but to be in the same vicinity as Jongdae. "You okay, Chanyeol? You seem to be on the edge since Yixing left. Did he say something that scared you?"

 

"No" Chanyeol blurts, taking Jongdae's hands away from his forehead. He repeats Yixing's threats in his head for no reason. "I just… I'm not really sure what I need to do here. Should I just like play with the kids or help you grocery shopping? Or do I have to cook for you like Baekhyun told me Yixing does every night? I'm confused."

 

"You don’t have to do anything" Jongdae smiles in comfort. "You could just sit there and be handsome."

 

"But Baekhyun said I need to do something" Chanyeol insists. "He says if I don’t he'll take my t.v hours away from me"

 

"You're so whipped" Jongdae teases. "But fine. You could start by feeding Cheonsa. You could do that right?"

 

"I think, I could" Chanyeol sighs as Jongdae hands him Cheonsa's food. "She's not as bad as Ella, right?"

 

"Right" Jongdae winks at him mysteriously.

 

No, wrong! Cheonsa's as bad as Ella when it comes to her vegetables and maybe Jongdae had tricked him to this. It's always after two spoonful of mushy carrots that Cheonsa starts spitting on his face before laughing at his misfortune. Jongdae's not paying much attention to them since the other was also busy with the other Zhang offspring. Zhihan is obediently following his mother-father and Jongdae gives the baby a small kiss on the nose after every swallow. Zhihan definitely has Yixing's attitude while Cheonsa…Cheonsa's another story. Baekhyun never told him about this. This wasn’t in his job description. "Come on, Cheonsa. It's not hard to swallow this goo. You just need to chew and then swallow, not spit" Chanyeol softly tells the child, a spoon three inches away from Cheonsa's mouth waiting for her to open . "Here comes the choo choo…"

 

"No" Cheonsa flails hitting the spoon with her fist and the mushy carrots flies to Chanyeol's shirt. The giant tries to hold back a scream of frustration.

 

"Cheonsa, please" He tries again but this time there was a hint of anger in his voice that has Cheonsa squirming in her high chair. "Eat…"

 

"No" Cheonsa shakes her head.

 

"Eat" Chanyeol glares at the child and if Ella would give her father her own glare back, Cheonsa was a different story. It starts with a quiver on her lips and Chanyeol starts to panic. "No, don’t cry"

 

"You need to be gentle with her" He feels a hand on his shoulder and he looks up to see Jongdae smiling at him in comfort. There's a few drops of tears in Cheonsa's eyes that Jongdae wipes away with his thumbs. The giant is amazed that the eighteen month old wasn’t screaming her vocal box away. "Hey baby girl, you okay?" Jongdae gestures for Chanyeol out of the chair for him to sit on his place. "Did this mean giant scare you?"

 

"I'am not mean" Chanyeol huffs. "She just wouldn’t eat"

 

Cheonsa doesn’t nod but there's a glint in her eyes that tell Jongdae everything. Chanyeol thinks it’s the famous mother intuition that Baekhyun seems to lack every once in a while. "Because you're doing those weird train and airport sounds, and its distracting her. Yixing learned that the hard way."

 

"Then how am I supposed to feed her"

 

"She likes being rubbed on her tummy and also she likes sitting on her father's lap" Jongdae stands to take Cheonsa out of her chair. He then gestures for Chanyeol to take a sit by the table facing the side. "Today, you are going to be her father and you have to act like Yixing. Yixing likes to hum a small song to her ears when he prepares a spoonful of this healthy gooey things-- I told Yixing to just buy them cerelac-- it helps the kid relax." Jongdae rearranges Chanyeol's legs before placing his daughter on his friend's lap.

 

Chanyeol holds Cheonsa awkwardly on his lap. "Does Baekhyun know how to this? Does everyone in the--"

 

"No, just you" Jongdae cuts in with a smile as he places another bowl full of mashed carrots. "They usually just take Zhihan and I'm stuck with Cheonsa. You're the first person who actually gave me the opportunity to feed my son"

 

"So you did trick me"

 

"Maybe" Jongdae pokes his friend on the nose. "No one had perfected the art of feeding Cheonsa other than Yixing and I wonder if you could do the same"

 

"Are you challenging me?"

 

"Probably" Jongdae says. "Now feed her and I'll finish up with Zhihan"

 

"Okay" Chanyeol answers and Jongdae turns back to Zhihan again. Chanyeol is never one to turn down a challenge and as Cheonsa continues to behave on his lap, his resolve to be the best wins over his fear. He looks for a lullaby in his head to hum for Cheonsa before he settles on the Zhang's theme song Promise. He tries to hum the song softly at first but as he feels Cheonsa perk up at the sound, he gains the courage he has lost at the sight of Cheonsa's quivering lips. "Now open wide Cheonsa" Chanyeol directs the girl, spoon in hand, while the girl stares at him in confusion. "One bite" he tries.

 

Cheonsa continues to stare at him with tilted head and Chanyeol can't help but see a little Jongdae in her. The part where she gets her stubbornness from and the giant is assured that the girl is really his friend's daughter. There was a part in him, when Cheonsa was born, that refuses to believe Jongdae could ever produce someone as perfect like her. The girl was the reason he wanted his own daughter after ignoring many adoption offers Baekhyun has thrown in his face. "You're so pretty, young one." Chanyeol coos at the child, "but if you want to remain pretty like your Ye Xian then you have to eat. Say ah!"

 

"Ahh" Cheonsa mimics and Chanyeol makes a move to feed the girl. Cheonsa doesn’t spit, doesn’t throw a fit, at the sudden gesture. But she does chew and swallow her vegetables with her first baby teeth. Chanyeol feels much too proud of his accomplishment that it takes all of his self-control not to howl and scare Cheonsa away.

 

"I did it!"

 

"You did it" Jongdae says with a proud smile on his face. "And now you can rub it on Yixing's face."

 

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

 

At one o'clock in the afternoon, when Chanyeol is finally getting settled in, he was tasked to get prepare Cheonsa's bed. Zhihan has fallen asleep not too long after lunch and is now on his crib hugging his orca stuff toy that Yixing had bought after a trip to San Diego. Jongdae's standing beside Chanyeol as he teaches the male how to work things around the baby. "She likes to be surrounded with pillow" Jongdae says as he instructs Chanyeol in making Cheonsa's bed. The girl's on his parent's hold, a bottle of milk on hand, slowly dozing off. "She'll notice if you leave one space uncovered."

 

"Isn't this too princess-like?" Chanyeol says as he places a pink pillow on one corner of the crib. "I wouldn’t be surprise if she notices a mongo bean hidden underneath her mattress"

 

"Yixing treats her like one. I can't really force him to stop on this silly act. She's his only girl" Jongdae responds as he takes the bottle of milk away from Cheonsa's reach. The girl's now nuzzling on Jongdae's chest, hands tightly fisted on Jongdae's shirt. "You would know that with Ella"

 

"Yeah" Chanyeol smiles proudly at the sound of his daughter's name. "I don’t want to think of the future in which she'll find a boyfriend and suddenly forget about daddy"

 

"Aren't all fathers afraid of that?"

 

"Are you?"

 

"Yeah" Jongdae answers, steeping towards the crib to slowly place his daughter in it. "But it's inevitable. Babies don’t stay young forever. They grow, mingle, have lovers, and a family. But even after all of that they're still our baby girl or boy 'til the end, nothing would change."

 

"I guess you're right" Chanyeol suddenly feels sad at the conversation and so he excuses himself to give his family a call.

 

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

 

"Have you ever thought of having another kid?" Chanyeol asked his friend out of the blue. Dinner's cooking at the kitchen and the kids are yet to wake up from their slumber. A cup of tea is sitting right infront of them, cooling.

 

"No, I don’t think so" Jongdae answers honestly. "Have you?"

 

"Once or twice" Chanyeol says, playing with his cup. "I mean…I'm not really the best parent out there. I don't want to add another responsibility but I also want Ella to have a sibling. It's hard being an only child"

 

"I wouldn’t know" Jongdae tells the giant. "I wasn’t really an only child. I have tons of step brothers and all of them low-key hates me"

 

"Heechul-hyung and Ryeowook-hyung doesn’t hate you."

 

"Yeah, I guess." Jongdae doesn’t like talking about his family and Chanyeol respects that, so he doesn’t push the topic any further than it is.

 

"What does Yixing mean when he said he has eyes everywhere?" Chanyeol blurts.

 

Jongdae turns to look at him with raised brow. "Did he give you one of his 'Step away from my property' speech?"

 

"I wouldn’t say it was a speech. It was more like a threat"

 

"Don't mind that rascal" Jongdae shrugs it off. "He's insecure"

 

"But--"

 

"If you want to test his eyes everywhere speech" Jongdae stands from his sit to straddle the giant, locking him in place. Chanyeol's eyes widen at the gesture and his hands spasms when he sees his friend his lip none too innocently. "I could help you with that" he whispers into Chanyeol's ear, warm breath sending shivers to the giant's spine.

 

"I…uh…no, thank you"

 

"But Chanyeol it would be fun" he feels cold hands snaking inside his shirt and Chanyeol doesn’t know if his scared or weirdly by this. "And don't you want to have a biological child of your own?"

 

"ASDFGHJKKKKKKKKKL!! THIS IS !" Chanyeol tries to wiggle away but Jongdae's stronger than he looks. "I'm a good person and I don’t deserve to go to hell"

 

He knows he's overacting. Jongdae's not really doing anything to him other than a few touches in his abdomen but the look in Jongdae's eyes scares him. It's coy, its seductive, it makes Chanyeol's brain turn to mush, and slowly he fills his soul leave his body. Especially when he hears the home phone ring loudly on its place in the counter. "I guess he does have eyes everywhere" Jongdae chuckles before he gets off of Chanyeol to answer the call. "Hi Baby, how's your flight?"

 

Chanyeol tries to fill his lungs with air again. That didn’t happen and he seriously needs to give Baekhyun a call to make amends, and before he could grab his phone he hears Jongdae say his name. "Yes?"

 

"Yixing, wants to talk to you" There's a smirk in Jongdae's face that has him over the edge.

 

"I need to poop. Talk to him later"

 

"Just ANSWER the damn phone, Park Chanyeol!!" He hears Yixing's voice ring through the speaker, it's monotone from restrained anger. Chanyeol hastily grabs the phone before shakily greeting Yixing with a small hey. "Don't go hey with me, young man. I saw what you did and I'am not happy one bit…"

 

"I need to check up on the kids" Jongdae informs Chanyeol before zooming out of the kitchen but not before giving Chanyeol a wink.

 

"But it was your husband's fault. I didn’t do anything" Chanyeol defends.

 

"Of course, you didn’t but you were planning to"

 

"How?"

 

"Look up" Chanyeol's not a wimp but he's afraid on what he might find on the ceiling. It could be Linda Blair waiting to jump on him and claim his soul or it could be a giant spider that Baekhyun had managed to kill off before. There's too much going on in his head and as his head raised up, he sees a lizard staring through his soul. He loves reptiles but they did say it was the spawn of satan. "I can't believe you placed a camera on an innocent lizards eyes."

 

"No, you moron. Turn your head a little bit to the left"

 

"But you just--"

 

"JUST TURN IT!"

 

"Fine-- are you kidding me?!"

 

"Surprise motherer" Yixing laughs maniacally as Chanyeol continues to stare at the camera. A camera hidden behind the American gothic painting. Right at the eyes of the old man holding the rake.

 

"Didn’t actually thought you would be so literal"

 

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

 

Chanyeol's back to his awkward stage again, eyes fleeting from one corner to the next, looking for any suspicious paintings inside the house. It's eight o'clock in the evening and the infants are playing happily by the fireplace, sated from hunger. There's a teddy bear looking right at Chanyeol and the giant wonders if it’s a design or another hidden camera. "It's just a toy, Chanyeol. Relax" Jongdae says behind him.

 

"Yeah, like how the American gothic is just a painting. But really there was a camera hidden inside it"

 

"They did say the eyes is the window of the soul" Jongdae jokes. "seriously, there's nothing here."

 

"I don’t believe you"

 

"Fine, then don't" Jongdae sings as he plops down next to Zhihan. The boy sensing his Nu Wang's appearance, crawls between his legs. "Hi baby, having fun?" Zhihan nods his head. "Sleepy?"

 

"No, not sleepy"

 

"Mama, dada…home?" Cheonsa says, eyes focused on her toy unicorn.

 

"Soon baby" Jongdae offers a smile and Cheonsa smiles back at him. "But until then you have five daddies--no six-- to take care of all of you"

 

"No!" Zhihan exclaims. "Not the same like dada."

 

"Call?" Cheonsa suggests.

 

"Call" Jongdae smiles, taking his phone from his pocket, to call his husband.

 

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

 

"Last task of the day and you're ready to go and rest" Jongdae stretches after he places a sleeping Zhihan back to his crib. It's ten o'clock, Zhihan bedtime and Cheonsa's cranky hour. This is the hour Jongdae hates the most especially when Yixing isn't home and the girl starts to look for her dada to get her to sleep. Jongdae's already in his pajamas and Yixing's favorite shirt. "Operation: Get Cheonsa to sleep"

 

"I…would this take up most of my sleeping hours?" Chanyeol asked as he watches Cheonsa at the side looking at them tiredly, yawning every few seconds.

 

"Depends on her mood" Jongdae assures the giant with a smile, taking Cheonsa into his arms. "She gets cranky whenever it's time for bed and when I mean cranky, she either goes silent or super vocal with her distaste. Today she's the former"

 

"Isn't being silent, good?"

 

"Heck no" Jongdae says. "I would rather have her crying than being silent. It drains her energy easily."

 

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

 

"Music room" Jongdae gestures the male to follow him. The new music room is located near the master's bedroom since  Yixing often stays late trying to make beautiful lullabies for his beloved children.  "She likes piano music and normally Yixing plays it for her but he's not here. And--"

 

"You want me to play a song for her?"

 

"Yeah" Jongdae sheepishly grins. "I could play her some but I'm not really that good. I have limited know--"

 

"You're a music major. You know this kind of things" Chanyeol cuts in.

 

"I gave up on music when my ex-boyfriend, now my husband, broke up with me. I don’t think the past depressed Jongdae remembers anything from those years" Jongdae responds, daring Chanyeol to say anything more.

 

"Yeah, okay, piano music. Got it" Chanyeol snaps, rushing to sit on the piano chair in preparation for his short impromptu presentation. Jongdae's dragging a chair from the side towards the piano sit on. Chanyeol wonders where Jongdae got the bottle of milk from. Cheonsa's still wide awake but every few seconds the baby yawns from sleep slowly creeping in her system. "So what should I play?"

 

"Anything. Your own composition, weird wacky nursery rhymes, just make sure its soft"

 

"Soft?" He cranes his neck from side to side before his fingers glides on the keys of Yixing's precious grand piano. He wrecks his brain for anything soft and suited for a lullaby before a smile forms on his lips. "I call this 'My Answer'. So sit back, relax, and enjoy"

 

Jongdae has heard the melody from somewhere before. The first note invokes a memory from Jongdae that he can't quite grasp. Cheonsa's eyes gradually falls and when Chanyeol spares the baby a glance he sees her trying to fight the sleep away, hands holding the bottle going slack, and Jongdae hums along with the music trying to rock the girl in his arm to sleep. Chanyeol had never seen something this intimate before with a parent and a daughter.

 

Ella wasn’t as complex like Cheonsa even when they were practically the same age. When Baekhyun tells the baby to sleep, she obediently follows. When Ella is getting fed, she tries to behave the best that he could. Baekhyun or Chanyeol never stays up too late with Ella. There was never a music session with the family. There wasn’t that much dedication, Chanyeol thinks, invested onto Ella unlike how much Jongdae and Yixing are investing on both of their babies. Chanyeol doesn’t know how many times he had called Baekhyun in a day but Jongdae's helping him be the father he wanted in a weird way. "Do you want to hold her? She's asleep, I'm sure she wouldn’t mind another person holding her"

 

"I-I guess. I never got to hold a sleeping baby before" Chanyeol awkwardly receives the sleeping Cheonsa in his arms. Jongdae giggles at how contorted Chanyeol arms looked trying to not to drop the baby.

 

"You look to stiff. Loosen up a bit" Jongdae scoots closer, trying to rearrange Chanyeol tangled arms properly. "Her head needs to rest on your chest. One hand should support her head along the back. The other hand should be on her hips and bottom. Like this" He backs away to observe his handiwork with a smile. "Now you're cradling her like a good father."

 

"This is weird but thanks" Chanyeol says, still looking at the child sound asleep on his arms. "Thanks for the help"

 

"Your welcome." Jongdae answers and a few silent moment passes between the friends before the home phone starts ringing and Jongdae excusing himself to answer the call.

 

"You’re so lucky, Cheonsa. You have parents like them to take care of you and your brother. They taught me a very valuable lesson about family today and I think I'm a new person now" Chanyeol jokes as he adjust his hold on the girl.

 

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

 

"So how's a day with the Zhangs?" Luhan and Baekhyun asked when Chanyeol comes home from the war.

 

"It was enlightening" Chanyeol grins. "I got to feed Cheonsa, made her bed, got her to sleep, and…"

 

"And?"

 

"I think I got molested--but whatever-- I think I've become a better man Baekhyun"

 

"You got molested and you think you're a better man?" Luhan raises a brow. "Where's the logic?"

 

"I also realized I want another child" Chanyeol ignores the witch. "And I want it to be biologically mine"

 

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Baekhyun places a hand on his hips. "Luhan's banned from using the magic water and also you are not allowed to donate any or be in the same vicinity with a woman."

 

"Oh I have a way"

 

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

 

"Here have this"

 

"What's this?"

 

"Magic Water. I think you would find it helpful in the near future"

 

"Thanks, Jongdae. I guess"

 

"No problem"