Heechul stood back from his bed, tilting his head and frowning thoughtfully. Then his eyes lit up with inspiration.

    “Like this, Heebummie,” he said, carefully climbing up on the bed to rearrange the cat. “There. Don`t move.” He glanced over at Cherry and nodded his approval. “Just like that, Cherry. You`re a natural at this. Clearly you get that from me.” He stepped away from the bed and held up his phone, angled just so, and pressed the button to take a picture. “Oh, look at how cute you are!” He sat down and allowed the cats to climb up onto his lap so that they could see themselves. Baengshin stretched from his spot in the corner and left the room, not having the time to deal with any of this.

Heechul was just about to select an appropriate filter when his laptop emitted a familiar sound, alerting him that he was receiving a skype call. With a heavy sigh, Heechul reached over for his laptop and answered the call. Instantly the members of Super Junior M came into view

“What is it now?” Heechul demanded, when his eyes fell on a baby that Geng was holding.

Before Geng or anyone else could explain, Heechul erupted in a shriek. His frightened cats scrambled for sanctuary under his bed and the equally terrified baby exploded in wails. Geng tried to shush the baby, but the baby only grew louder.

“Someone take him!” Geng shouted, feeling an all too familiar tingle. Siwon snatched the baby into his arms just in time for Geng to transform into a pineapple.

“Who did you get pregnant?” Heechul demanded. “And where is the little ?” Hurt, furious tears welled up in Heechul`s eyes. “Geng...how could you?”

“No, no, hyung,” Donghae said hurriedly. “This isn`t Geng`s baby. We were heading back to the hotel when some crazy fangirl came after us and told us she was going to capture Ryeowook and keep him forever and she would be the only person he would ever need. We tried to keep her away from Wookie, but then she managed to grab his arm and apparently her super power is deaging idols.” Heechul sniffed, but leaned forward to study the baby, then gasped.

“Oh, my little Wookie!” He reached out and touched the screen as if he could one of Ryeowook`s flushed, chubby little cheeks. A fierce determination illuminated Heechul`s eyes. “Don`t worry, tell Wookie that his eomma is on his way! Oh, my poor little Wookie baby, all alone with no one to watch over him and nurture him, he must be so scared.” The other members exchanged glances as they watched Heechul drag out his designer carry on luggage. He haphazardly began to throw clothes and Annas into the suitcase, maintaining a constant murmur as he packed.

He slammed the suitcase shut, stomping on it so that it would close properly, then returned to the computer.

“Eomma`s coming for you, Wookie!” he said, then closed the laptop. He heaved his suitcase up and raced down the stairs, sending dongsaengs scattering out of his path.

“Where are you going?” Leeteuk asked.

“China. My baby needs me!” Heechul declared, throwing the door open. Leeteuk looked over at Kangin, who helpfully held up a beer. Leeteuk hesitated, but Heechul had already disappeared into a taxi at that point. With a shrug, Leeteuk reached over for the beer.

Hours later Heechul arrived at the hotel where his bandmates were staying. The shrill shrieks of a tiny distressed child reverberated through the chilly halls. In any other child, the noise would have irritated Heechul, but the sheer anguish and need in the frantic cries speared Heechul`s heart.

He bolted towards the door, the only barrier left between him and his distraught son. Desperation spiraled around Heechul`s very being as he pounded on the door, demanding to be let in. Siwon opened the door, baby in one arm and pineapple in the other.

“Wookie!” Heechul exclaimed, reaching for the baby and bringing him to his chest. “Shhh, shhh, Eomma`s here and he`s never going to abandon you.” He bit his lip as he rubbed his small son`s back soothingly. “I...I wasn`t here when he needed me,” he whispered, self loathing coloring his voice. He glanced over at the pineapple. “What kind of a mother am I?”

“You`re not actually his mother at all,” Eunhyuk said before his eyes widened and he slapped his hand over his mouth. Kyuhyun took a slow, deliberate step back away from Eunhyuk as Heechul`s eyes took in the insolent boy. “Well….you aren`t,” Eunhyuk continued weakly when Heechul only continued to stare in stony silence.

Then Heechul threw himself into a chair, tears trickling down his face.

“You`re right, I`m not, otherwise this wouldn`t have happened. A real eomma would have protected him and been there for him and--” he was interrupted as Ryeowook projectile vomited all over Heechul. Everyone froze, but Ryeowook finally quieted down, gazing up at Heechul with wide, curious eyes. Heechul gasped, then jumped back up to his feet. “Oh, who is the cutest baby! But oh, did we make a little bit of a mess? Let`s go get cleaned up, ok, Wookie?” He tickled the baby`s cheek, making Ryeowook squirm and giggle adorably up at his eomma.

Heechul disappeared into the bathroom with the baby and his suitcase, returning a moment later wrapped in a bathrobe. He had changed Ryeowook into a giraffe onesie and settled back down in the chair, rocking his baby gently in his arms. Ryeowook continued to gurgle and chatter up at Heechul, who nodded in perfect understanding.

“Absolutely,” Heechul said after a long rambling rant by Ryeowook, complete with emphatic arm waves. “I keep telling Geng, but does he listen? No.” Ryeowook babbled some more and Heechul nodded solemnly. “He is very silly.” He glanced over to the pineapple resting on the nightstand, then carefully scooped it up with his free hand. Ryeowook`s face scrunched up in slight confusion as he took in the strange fruit. “Can you say hi to Appa?” Heechul asked. “It`s  your Geng-Appa.”

Ryeowook continued to study at the pineapple, then reached up to try to wrap his tiny hand around one of the leaves. Heechul`s eyes softened as he watched his family bond and he bent down to press a light kiss to Ryeowook`s head.    

“Pa!” Ryeowook cooed at the pineapple, then turned to Heechul. “Ma!”

“So clever, Wookie,” Heechul said proudly. “Your vocabulary is almost as big as Henry`s

and he`s practically thirty.”

    “I`m a big boy!” Henry grumbled, crossing his arms. “I know lots of words! More than a baby.” Heechul looked rather unimpressed, but then Ryeowook yawned and snuggled deeper against Heechul`s chest, although he did not relinquish his hold on Geng`s leaves.

    “Where is he going to sleep?” Siwon asked. “We don`t have a crib for him.”

    “I`ll hold him,” Heechul said. “But you should probably tuck Geng in.” He went to extricate Geng from Ryeowook`s grip, but Ryeowook`s eyes widened in panic and he whimpered as he felt his appa slip away. “It`s ok, it`s ok,” Heechul murmured. “Appa`s just going to go in this bed. Here, we can tuck him in together.”

    They placed the pineapple on one of the pillows and drew the blankets up around it. Heechul sat down beside the fruit, leaning back against the headboard with Ryeowook arranged so that the pineapple remained in his view. Donghae sat down on Heechul`s other side, leaning over so that he could sing a lullaby to his new nephew.

    “Sweet dreams, Wookie,” Donghae whispered, one of Ryeowook`s cheeks with his finger. Ryeowook yawned once more before his eyes fell shut. One by one the other members left the room to go to bed themselves, leaving the small family in a warm, cozy silence.

    “Good morning,” Donghae chirped as he waltzed into Geng`s room the next morning. “Oh, matching giraffes! That`s so cute!” Heechul cackled. Ryeowook and Geng were both dressed in giraffe onesies, sitting on a thick blanket on the floor and  playing with large blocks. Or rather, Ryeowook was nudging Geng with large blocks and demonstrating how to stack the blocks. Once in a while he glanced up at Heechul, confused as to why the pineapple seemed to be unable to grasp the concept of stacking.

    “He doesn`t have arms, sweetheart,” Heechul said.

    “But I do!” Donghae said, flopping down beside the pineapple and the baby and helping Ryeowook make a tower. They had managed to stack almost all of the blocks when Ryeowook knocked the tower over. He froze as the blocks tumbled onto the blanket and Heechul was about to run to him, but then Ryeowook erupted into giggles. “Let`s do it again!” Donghae said as Ryeowook grabbed another block. “That`s a nice giraffe outfit Geng has.”

    “I stayed up all night making it,” Heechul said. “Wookie loves his appa very much, but I was worried about the spikes hurting Ryeowook or poking his eye out, so I had to make a really thick onesie for Geng.”

“He`s been a pineapple this whole time?” Donghae asked with a small frown.

“Wookie`s kind of frightened of Geng when Geng is human shaped it seems. He started crying and it stressed Geng out so much he went back to being a pineapple and Wookie instantly stopped crying. So we`re kind of stuck like this.”

“Ma!” Ryeowook cried, reaching up for Heechul, who obligingly picked him up. “Ma,” Ryeowook said again, sounding perfectly content. Donghae sighed happily, watching Heechul fawn over his newborn.

“Is Wookie going to be a baby forever?” Donghae asked. Heechul opened his mouth to answer, then frowned.

“I...no? Yes?” He looked down at the dozing baby in his arms. “I don`t know. But it doesn`t matter. No matter how small or how big my Wookie gets, Geng and I will always be there for our baby. Even if Geng can never go back to being human shaped ever again.” There was a thud as Geng flopped forward onto the blanket. Donghae patted him on one of his giraffe horns.