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61. LIMITS

When the coffee was finally served, I didn’t let Puppy move from my lap and we ended up sharing a single cup of coffee, till we drank both the cups together. Byong and Duckie checked on the sleeping twins and then called Joongie and Junsu for a late night snack. When the boys came to know the twins were staying with us till next day, they pestered their father to stay as well.

Minho talked to Leeteuk and Uncle, but kept stealing glances at us. When he couldn’t stay away any longer, he came over to sit on my other side. It was the nearest that Minho had sat to me since I left him. He touched Puppy’s shoulder and gently asked, “Are you alright Jonghyun? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Puppy smiled and I couldn’t help touching his sweet lips, glad to see them curved upwards again, “I am alright now. Sorry for the emotional outburst.” When Minho smiled in understanding, he continued, “There is one thing you can help with, but I don’t know if it’s possible for you.” When Minho raised his brows in question, Puppy explained, “Can you believe that Jinki never cheated on you? As long as he was with you he was faithful to you. Even when he left you and met me a year later, I had a hard time persuading him to give my love a chance. It hurts him deeply every time you accuse him of cheating on you, even after all these years. Please don’t hurt my Tokki anymore.”

Minho was silent for a moment before responding very quietly, “I know he never cheated on me.”

“Then, why the accusations Minho?” Puppy was genuinely confused.

“How do I explain it?” Minho struggled for words, “Maybe it was because I could never believe that he loved me. Lee Jinki, the golden boy whom the entire college wanted to be with, fell in love with me, ordinary Choi Minho. It was so unbelievable. I kept pushing him away. Kept testing him, waiting for him to fail and prove me right that he couldn’t really love me. When he left me after 10 years of living with me, there was a brief sense of jubilation at the proof of his lack of love. Then it hit me. In order to prove I was right, I had lost the most precious things in the world to me – Jinki’s love and my family.” I could feel Minho’s eyes on me as he explained. But I pretended to pay attention to Minx and Sehun on my other side.

Puppy touched Minho’s eye and his finger came away with a single tear drop. He pressed it to my lips. His actions puzzled me. He looked sadly at the tearing man, “You are a fool Minho. To satisfy your ego you lost the best thing that ever happened to you. You did not have to suffer more than a few days to receive Jinki’s beautiful heart. I am sure your mouth must have healed in less than a week at best. I had to suffer for months to prove that I loved him and Minx. But it took me many, even longer, years to heal the wounds you left on his heart and mind. To satisfy your ego, you shattered into pieces a very strong man.”

Puppy picked up another stray tear from Minho’s eye and again pressed it to my lips. This time I understood what he was doing. He was healing any remote corner of my soul that still remained wounded by Minho’s actions. It was unnecessary. Puppy had made me whole many years ago. With Puppy’s love, I was a man reborn. I softly kissed his fingertip.

Pressing the same fingertip to his own lips, he continued to speak his mind to Minho, “Jinki is a strong man again, much stronger than before. Don’t try to break him now. You won’t succeed. What I am living with him is the life Jinki dreamed of when he fell in love with you. But it became a reality only with our love. This is our family. If you want to continue to be a part of it, get used to it. Jinki is mine and mine alone. I am not saying this out of jealousy. I am simply stating a fact which you need to get used to real fast. We don’t do anything with a thought to hurt you or seek revenge. This is how we are. And we won’t change for you. We became one the day Jinki accepted my love.”

This time when Puppy brushed away Minho’s stray tear, he brought it to his own lips and then touched his lips to mine. He spoke again when he straightened and looked at Minho, “You must be wondering why I am telling you all this. You see, Jinki made me a promise tonight. I have released him from it. Uncle believes he’s decided. What do you think Minho?”

Minho who had looked on silently at Puppy’s way of disposing his tears spoke thoughtfully, “Jinki will do what he wants. He’s not too much into kids actually and the whole pregnancy thing makes him feel uncomfortable. He agreed to another baby only to keep you happy.” Minho continued to look at me as he gave Puppy his opinion.

Puppy tsked and gave a small chuckle, “Minho, you are so much older to me but I want to give you a whack on your head right now. Jinki adores kids, little babies especially. But, if it was just a question of taking care of babies, then we wouldn’t even think of having our own. Our family has one or more babies every couple of years. Even now we have two little bundles of joy sleeping in another room and Jinki is with them all day long during work. Do you really know so little about Jinki’s heart? Did you ever really make an effort to find out his deepest desires? Maybe you just wanted to live a life filled only with your own desires.”

I stopped my pretense and looked at Minho. His eyes were big round orbs of shock. Puppy pecked my lips and touched my surgery scars again. He really knew me inside out, my every thought. I nodded and he nodded in return, understanding my unspoken message.

Puppy looked at a still-shocked Minho again, “Tell me Minho. Would you be able to live with the sight of Jinki carrying my baby?”

“But he can die,” Minho had not blinked for some time.

Puppy retraced his fingers on my delivery scars, “He thinks he will not. I trust him to keep himself alive for me. He did promise to be there when I take my last breath on this earth. Jinki never breaks his promise. You see he also promised us a baby. I just thought to give you a heads up so you can prepare yourself for the event. Jinki has decided to have a baby and no one can change his mind now, except a threat to his life. So, we will have long and deep discussions with Teukkie hyung and Sehun to find the best way to make this pregnancy safe for Jinki. Not as safe as possible Minho, but totally safe.”

“But Jinki does not like being pregnant,” Minho choked out a strangled response. “I had such difficulty getting him to agree to have Minx.”

Puppy softly smiled, “You really know so little about him Minho.” Then he leaned over and whispered directly into his ear, “Do you know, he fed Minx and Byong?”

Minho gasped and shook his head in disbelief, “That’s not possible.” His voice was a mere whisper, barely audible even to us.

“Jagi, don’t say anything more. It’s too much info for him. This is private,” I tried to silence Puppy who was on a roll. I attempted to understand why he wanted Minho to know all the details. As far as I was concerned, if Minho didn’t like the way we did things he could either bear it or leave us alone. But Puppy was too soft-hearted. Minho’s loneliness had hit the mushiest part of my Puppy’s heart.

“Minho, don’t think I’m enjoying giving you pain. I am not. I can understand how it must be hurting you to see us together, so much in love and so happy together. But it’s the price you pay to be a part of this family. We are not going to change to make you happy. You have to find your own way of remaining happy around us,” Puppy tried to neutralize the pain for Minho. “The Jinki with me is not the same Jinki you remember. If you think of my Jinki as your friend rather than your ex-lover you will find it easier to be around us.”

When Minho became silent in deep thoughts, Puppy turned his attention to our daughter. He warned Minx to not believe anything Sehun told her about our alleged love affair or stories of her conception and birth. She looked dreamily at Puppy and sighed, “At least for one night let me believe them appa. It would be so nice.”

Puppy leaned over and kissed her forehead, “I love you babygirl. I hope you know that you are the best girl in my life?” For this he earned a kick on his legs from Duckie.

“What am I then? A troll in your life?” Duckie pouted as she made Minho move and sat on my other side. Minho shifted to a nearby chair where he could see and hear us clearly.

“Forget your Puppy appa. You are the best girl in my life Duckie,” I leaned over to kiss her forehead.

Byong sat down on the arm of the couch and put an arm around his girl, “Ummappa that’s not true. My sweetheart can only be my best girl. You go find another best girl.”

Puppy grinned at that and winked at me, “Are you sure Byong that your ummappa should find another best girl?”

“I am certain that you both have made up your minds and that’s why you didn’t argue with imobu-harabeoji. Don’t take any chances ummappa, not just appa but we need you too,” Byong leaned over Duckie’s head to kiss my cheek. “By the way, Duckie and I claim the rights to name the baby.”

“No way pipsqueak, you don’t. As the eldest kids in our family, it is our right,” Sehun wagged a finger at Byong. Minx whispered something in her husband’s ear and both of them looked at Puppy and me and began grinning naughtily.

“What did you tell the beanpole? I want to know too sis. You can’t keep secrets from us,” Byong’s curiosity was peaked.

Sehun took out his phone and messaged something to Byong. Puppy pouted at that and whined, “Not fair Sunshine. You can’t turn our habit against us. Texting is only for Tokki and me.”

“You mean ting right?” Minx giggled again. I blushed and Puppy just looked at her awkwardly. The evil cat continued, “Come on you two. Did you think we will remain kids forever? Ummappa your phone is not even password protected and appa ‘yeobotokki’ makes for a poor password. That’s how you store ummappa in your contacts.”

Before Minx could say more, Duckie and Byong doubled up in quiet laughter. Duckie managed to gasp out, “Oppa you are so right. Even we were wondering the same earlier but you whacked Byongie for it.”

“Stupid morons, imo-halmeoni was standing just next to you. She is a little baby in such matters,” Sehun winked at the younger couple on my other side.

While they bickered, Puppy snatched the phone from Duckie’s hand and we held it protectively between our bodies to read the message Sehun had sent to Byong. Our eyes opened wide in shock when we realized what the kids knew about us.

We wonder how appa and ummappa will live without for two months it takes to recover after surgery for delivery. Ummappa will survive pregnancy but the -less weeks will surely kill them both. They are at it every day, sometimes more than once!!!! Any idea how they managed when YOU were born? I’ve heard Hee umma call them encyclopedia!!?? They advice him regularly!!!! And appa calls ummappa on legs. Both are s!!!!!!!!

I flushed red and moaned “Puppy” before hiding my burning face in his chest. Puppy was making choking sounds, clearly struggling with his own embarrassment. The four devils around us began laughing loudly. In our shock we dropped the phone on the floor, and Minho must have picked it up because his strangled groans were even louder than the kids’ crazed laughter.

A minute later I heard Joongie join the laughter and Junsu ask his brother, “What does on legs mean? Do they stand and do it Joongie?”

There was a shocked silence in the room except for the five who were too busy laughing to care. I carefully peaked out from the safety of Puppy’s chest and saw the phone move from hand to hand till it reached Leeteuk. As imo, who was the last person in the room reached for it, Sehun’s hand grabbed it before she could, making her pout, “No imo-halmeoni, it is not for you.”

Puppy and I had no idea where to hide our red faces. I continued to hide mine in his chest and he hid his in my neck.

Soo asked Jaejoong, “Why are you laughing? How can you possibly understand what it means? And why is Junsu asking you such nonsense questions?”

Joongie sat on the couch arm next to Sehun and put an arm around his only brother-in-law’s shoulder. “I am 12 umma!” He announced as if that explained everything. “And who else should Junsu ask? Yoochun?”

Junsu immediately perked up, “Good idea Joongie. I will call and ask Yoochun. If not him, then Yunho will know.” He repeated ‘ on legs’ a few times in a whisper to remember the phrase.

“Junsu are you sure you are my older brother, not younger? Don’t be an idiot. Check the meaning on the net. Wait let’s do it together, we might get to see some pictures or videos,” Joongie reached out and pulled Junsu to him, then fished out his phone to check.

Leeteuk and Uncle groaned loudly at the two boys and Soo sat stumped only for a second before getting up and snatching away Joongie’s phone. “It means ually attractive. There, no need to search for it.”

“Is that all?” Junsu sounded disappointed. “I liked my definition of it better. Then what do you call it when you do it standing up?” He asked his mother.

“Aaargh!” Uncle and imo groaned together. They were not the only ones. There were desperate groans from Leeteuk and Soo also. Minho was speechless in shock. It was a literally great shocking Seollal for him.

“Junsu idiot, why are you asking umma about it? Do you see how sober appa is? I am sure they don’t know anything about it. You should ask Sehun hyung.” Joongie was exasperated with his brother and parents but hopeful that their brother-in-law wouldn’t disappoint him.

Now it was Sehun’s turn to choke on his laughter. The brothers patiently waited for him to recover from his coughing fit. “So hyung what is it called?” Junsu obediently asked Sehun.

Sehun’s face turned tomato red and he groaned out, “ is , doesn’t matter how you do it.”

“Do you do it standing up with noona?” Junsu was even more curious.

Joongie quickly whacked his head, “Shut up Junsu. You do not ask such questions when women are present.”

“But I already asked similar questions to umma and hyung. Why is it wrong now?” Junsu rubbed his head and whined. Duckie and Byong stood up to herd them upstairs and away from the wrath of their parents and grandparents. As they led them upstairs we heard Junsu ask Byong, “Will you do it standing up with Duckie noona?”

Byong’s quick answer was too eager for our liking, “Of course.” In the next instant he yelled, “That hurt sweetheart. Can’t you punch me gently?”

There was silence for a long time in the living room. All of us were trying to recover from the shock of either the message, or questions from the teenage boys, and in some cases both. There were only the sounds of pain from the two boys upstairs as Duckie punished them by twisting their ears.

“Dae Hei, I think it’s time we went to bed. Minho, you can stay the night if you want. Puppy, take care of the arrangements,” Uncle got up and the two elders left the room almost at a run.

The seven of us sat immobile for a while and then except for Minho there were titters of shocked laughter. After a few minutes, all of us were laughing hard, again except Minho who continued to stare speechlessly at us.

“Unnie your boys are very dangerous,” Minx said to Soo and then went back to laughing her heart out.

“Teukkie gomobu you need to redeem your image. I can’t believe Joongie thinks you don’t know anything else except missionary,” Sehun teased his uncle.

“Jonghyun gag your son-in-law,” Leeteuk groaned in response as he turned red in embarrassment. “Appa is right. You are a family of shameless creatures.”

“Don’t blame us gomobu, we learnt it from Key umma and Tae appa.” Minx rolled her eyes at her uncle. “I am sure if they were here, they would have certainly shown what it means to do it standing up.” The evil girl continued to laugh with her equally devilish husband.

“Who knows they might be doing exactly the same thing right now,” Soo muttered but an elbow poke from her husband made her change the topic. “Jinki oppa are you really going to have another baby? Puppy oppa how can you allow him? You just made such a big scene about his previous pregnancy.”

We both nodded and Puppy explained, “Little Soo I was really scared. You know I can’t live without my Tokki. But he made me realize that he knows how important he is to me and I trust him to not put his life at risk. He had promised me when we visited Teukkie hyung for the first time to ask about Tokki getting pregnant again. You should have seen the scene I created then. I think that’s the only time I ever yelled at him. Tokki just reminded me tonight that he had already promised to never risk his life for our baby. His surgery scar is a reminder of my faith in his words.” Puppy’s fingers traced my surgery scars again.

“But, Jjong, the risk is much higher now. I am certain of the damage to the heart muscles this time,” Leeteuk was aghast at our bold decision.

“Leeteuk, you told me that you are 90% sure that the new hormone mix will work without any damage to the heart,” Minho’s deep voice wavered with the strength of his emotional turmoil.

“That’s only a theory hyung. I cannot risk it,” Leeteuk addressed Minho.

“How sure were you when Kibum came to you first time for the procedure?” I asked quietly. “What percent risk did you give him?” I already knew the statistics when I had first talked to Leeteuk but I wanted him to tell everyone else present.

Leeteuk looked at Soo and then at the floor. He sat mute for a while before whispering, “60% safety, 40% risk.”

“And what percentage safety did you give Jinki?” Minho asked in disbelief.

Leeteuk looked at me and I nodded giving him permission, “Same as Kibum, 60-40.”

“What was the safety-risk ratio when we came for Byong?” Puppy asked curiously trying to make sense of the chain of events and my convoluted thinking.

“90-10, same as any female pregnancy. I was more confident and had worked out more hormone combinations,” Leeteuk looked Puppy straight in the eye and answered. He wanted Puppy to know there was no deception and I was indeed safe when I carried Byong.

“Why did you refuse Key umma next time?” Sehun asked with a curious tilt of his head.

“Because he has mild asthma which got seriously aggravated by pregnancy. His ratio remained 60-40 second time also. Not because of possible damage to the heart but due to potential lung problems,” Leeteuk explained. Everyone nodded except for me and Puppy because I had already guessed it and told Puppy. I was glad no one asked because I couldn’t have explained how I knew. I had simply pieced together various facts and reached my own conclusions which Puppy concurred with.

“But then Jinki suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum and low hCG production, why did you accept him for second pregnancy?” Minho was quite confused.

Leeteuk looked at Puppy and me, not quite sure how much to reveal to Minho. Puppy shook his head while I nodded. Puppy again shook his head to emphasize who Teukkie should follow. We knew that the main problem with my first pregnancy was my depression due to marital problems. Soo rubbed her husband’s arm knowing how uncomfortable he felt giving out incorrect information to anyone.

She responded on his behalf, “Minho oppa, Jinki oppa was given hCG injections to compensate for the low amount of hormones produced by the placenta, which increased his natural pregnancy vomiting to the point where he was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum. hCG levels differ for each pregnancy of the same person.” Soo’s diplomatic explanation satisfied Minho and he did not dig deeper.

Minx was assimilating everything silently and came directly to the point, “If with Byong, ummappa’s safety was 90:10 certainty and the new hormone combo also has the same safety ratio then why are you hesitating gomobu?”

Leeteuk was silent. It was Soo who answered Minx, “What if he is wrong? What if the combination does not work as expected? Jinki oppa suffered from high blood pressure after your marriage.”

“My blood pressure is normal for the past six years. There has not been a single episode of it. And my general health is good and I live a medication free life,” I counted the reasons in my favor.

“Tokki, you are forgetting your diabetes,” Puppy reminded me.

I pecked his lips and smiled, “Not a deliberate omission jagi. Because I have become used to my low-calorie diet and I don’t take any medication, I sometimes forget I am still diabetic. You know my blood sugar is always within normal range.”

“Jinki you had gestational diabetes with Minx,” Minho reminded us again.

“What is this? Is there any problem that you did not have when carrying me, ummappa?” Minx pouted and whined in annoyance.

“You are my miracle baby,” I hugged Minx to me and kissed her head. “You were worth everything. I would have walked through hell for you. The physical problems were nothing in comparison.” Minx remained silent but her arms that tightened around me spoke volumes.

I turned back to Leeteuk, “Even your first procedure began with a theory. The new combo is theoretically safe. I understand that my age and medical history go against me. But before giving your final decision, can you test me? Run your tests every week for a month. Only if you are satisfied with the results, accept me as a candidate for the new combo. What do you say Teukkie?”

“And I suppose his royal highness also would want the elimination of a female donor this time?” Leeteuk answered me sarcastically. I nodded excitedly only to have him bite my head off, “You are a total and utter moron Jinki. The craziest person, apart from Kibum, that I have ever met in my entire life. Next you will tell my genetic team to create a female zygote.” I again nodded my head ignoring his outburst. I always believed in going full blast, in for a penny in for a pound.

“So, we won’t need a female donor this time yeobo? Our new baby girl will be a part of both you and me only?” Puppy began to excitedly wriggle in my lap. But, after a minute remembered something. He looked at me seriously and extended his pink finger in the very old memory of pinky promises with Minx. “Promise me that if the results of your test are unfavorable, you will not push to get pregnant. You will be honest with me and we will decide together. You will tell me even if there is 0.5 percent risk to your health or life.”

“God you both are sickeningly annoying,” Leeteuk complained. “Jonghyun he is already at a minimum 10% risk. Where is the figure of 0.5% coming from?”

“Hyung I meant 0.5% more than the 10%. Why do you need so many words of explanation? Tokki understood me immediately,” Puppy looked at me adoringly. “I meant any more risk than he faced when carrying Byong. There, satisfied now? Now make yourself useful and work hard to make it possible. We want another baby girl this time.”

Sehun whispered something in Minx’s ear. She hi-fived him and both began laughing again. When Sehun saw Minho looking at them with full curiosity, the evil boy did not hesitate before speaking aloud what he had told Minx. I knew then that though he accepted Puppy’s decision to make Minho a part of our family, he liked punishing his estranged father-in-law.

Sehun looked at Minho with a straight face and announced, “I told Minnie that appa wants another daughter so he can enjoy what he missed out during her infancy – ummappa feeding his babygirl.”

Puppy jumped up from my lap in shock. I pulled him back down on my lap so I could hide my flaming face in his chest. He quickly buried his face in my neck again and whimpered in embarrassment. I could hear Minho choking once more. I briefly wondered if he’d survive the night at our place or die of heart attack in the next few minutes.

Soo and Leeteuk joined the laughter of the two devils. In between loud hilarity Teukkie somehow managed to speak without choking, “Jinki, if you are serious about another baby, then better get used to this. I can already see the headlines when you deliver.” He laughed again and then announced, “JinHee Hagwon co-owner becomes co-parent at 54.” He laughed again before telling another headline, “JinHee Hagwon delivers another baby at 54.”

“Wait wait gomobu, I have a better one,” Minx stopped Leeteuk. “World record by Lee Jinki for having a baby at 54.”

The four of them laughed for few moments before Soo came up with another diamond, “Lee Jinki makes Guinness record by becoming the only male in the world to deliver 3 children. Do we hear cheers for fourth?”

Byong and Duckie rushed into the room, “Why are you laughing so loudly? What are we missing?” They assumed their places next to us.

“We are talking the newspaper headlines when ummappa delivers,” Sehun updated them.

“Lee Jinki, man or supermom?” Duckie came up with her own masterpiece.

Puppy and I groaned aloud in embarrassment, “You all are supposed to be on our side.”

“How about this?” Soo crowed delightedly, “Supercop Jjong’s wife Lee Jinki pregnant again at 54. Did Supercop wed Superman?”

Now there were six of them laughing their heads off. Puppy whispered in my ear, “I really like this one.”

“I am not your wife,” I groaned in despair, “I am your husband. Partner. Not wife.”

“Mother of our children, Superman,” Puppy kissed my ear. The embarrassment was getting easier to bear with each joke.

“Grandpa Supercop has another Superbaby,” Byong teased his father. The focus had shifted to Puppy now.

“Are you calling yourself a Superboy pipsqueak?” Sehun teased Byong.

“Nah, I am calling noona a Supergirl,” the imp winked at his sister.

“Cinderella is going to kill me for missing out on this. I can already hear him whining – Jinx you are so mean. You had to go and have all the fun on your own. Couldn’t you have waited till Sunday evening so Simba and I could also join?” I suddenly missed my best friend.

“How about Key umma? ‘Tae hyung I am going to punish you for making me miss the fun Jinki hyung had on his own. Just wait, you won’t be able to sit for a week. Jinki hyung you don’t love me anymore.’ I can already hear him whining,” Sehun winked at Byong and Byong fell off the couch arm laughing at Sehun’s mimicry.

Duckie rolled her eyes in mischief, “You are going to love this news. I hope none of you have been doing anything downstairs that you shouldn’t be doing outside your bedrooms.” All eyes turned to her curiously. Byong continued to roll on the floor in laughter in anticipation of everyone’s reaction. “Soo unnie, your dear Joongie has placed remote controlled camcorders in this room and the dining room. He’s recording everything that happens in these two rooms since last Sunday.”

“What?” Soo was shocked.

Leeteuk sat stumped at this new audacity of his younger son. Suddenly he exploded, “I am going to kill him. He has gone too far this time.”

Sehun rushed and caught him by the arm before he moved out of the room, “Don’t do anything rash gomobu. Look at the bright side; we have great family videos to share with everyone. Isn’t Ji noona complaining all the time about missing out on crazy family meetings? Now everyone can have memories of the great time we all have together or when any one misses something important, like tonight.”

“But, its complete invasion of privacy. He should have taken permission before placing the cameras. This goes beyond the limits of simple mischief, Sehun. Jaejoong must be punished so he knows the difference between right and wrong.” Leeteuk anger was not calmed and he was correct that Joongie had crossed the invisible limit of mischief.

“Talk to him tomorrow morning in that case, when you have better control over yourself,” Sehun made his uncle sit down again.

Minx looked at us, “Did you two do anything in the past week that Joongie shouldn’t see?” Puppy hid his face in my neck again. Minx looked at us queerly, “You do know that we all use these rooms and we try not to enter your bedroom when both of you are there?”

I whacked her head, “Get your mind out of wherever it’s gone tonight. We just kissed. We are trying to remember whether the lights were off or on at that time.”

“Simple kiss or your type of get-into-each-other’s-skin kiss?” Byong asked from where he lay comfortably on the floor. Duckie was hitting his thigh with her toes. Minho gave Byong a slightly stronger kick. Byong winked at him, “Don’t worry uncle, we will ask Beagle gomobu to create a dvd of ummappa cuts for you. You can watch it every night.” Minho looked at him in horror and kept shaking his head in a silent no.

“Come on uncle, you can’t mean to say that you are not curious how these two kiss,” Byong winked again at the poor horrified man. “I learned to kiss and make out by watching them. Mmm, and Duckie absolutely loves it.” Byong turned to his fiancée and threw her a kiss, “Don’t you sweetheart?”

Duckie looked at us speculatively, “So they’re the source of your expertise. Hmmm, you did well, moron, in choosing your teachers.” She nodded in appreciation.

“How did your shy parents end up with such an exhibitionist daughter?” Minx looked at Duckie in wonder.

“This house is full of shameless creatures. I am not surprised our son is recording their activities. Soo you have passed on these genes to our Joongie,” Leeteuk who was still upset stared at his wife in accusation.

“He’s got his curious brains from you. You are the researcher. I am the plain MBA. You are the one who is always encouraging him to research and record. We shouldn’t have conceived him in Australia. Wait, we’d better check our bedroom at home. Who knows if next he’ll get into his head to find out how much you know about ?” Soo was even more worried about their bedroom than anything Leeteuk said.

Leeteuk suddenly turned pink. We looked curiously at him. As we watched, his whole face became red and he began gasping for air. Soo thumped his back to get him breathing again. It was odd to see the normally calm and collected doctor loose all control over himself. “Oh god, oh god, oh god,” Leeteuk moaned and fell apart. He turned to Soo and hid his face behind her back and began mumbling something that was too faint for us to hear. But Soo heard him and she turned white in response.

Byong and Duckie began laughing again only to be joined a moment later by Minx and Sehun. Byong fearlessly asked, “Don’t tell us gomobu that your monkey caught you both on camera, kissing in these rooms.” He began rolling on the floor again, “Our straight-laced gomobu, who we thought never did anything inappropriate outside the bedroom, was kissing Soo noona in our living room. I’ve got to see this.”

From white, Soo slowly turned pink and then red. That could only mean that Byong was spot on with his conclusion.

Sehun tried to look sympathetic at the couple’s distress but failed, “Don’t worry gomobu. We have all kissed in this room, some time or the other.” Then he looked at Minho with impish eyes, “Except Minho uncle here. We must find him a girl friend so he can join our ranks and kiss here.”

“Why me? Why does everyone begin teasing me? I am just sitting quietly, not even saying a word. Then, why me?” Minho groaned in misery, trying to make sense of our nonsensical family.

“Because you make such an easy target,” Duckie pointed out the fact. “You have no place to hide your face and we love to watch you go pink or red. Your eyes become so big and round that you look like a cute chibi character. When you are shocked, your mouth opens and closes soundlessly, just like a fish. You are so much fun to tease uncle.”

True to Duckie’s words, Minho turned pink again. His eyes widened like a manga cartoon and his lips began opening and closing wordlessly. Duckie quickly snapped a picture of his and named it ‘Grandpa Pororo’. It was immediately sent to all the phones in our family, including Beagle and Ji in Seoul, Kris and Gina in Canada, and Luhan and Xing in Beijing. I wondered if the image had made its way even into the phones of their children.

Puppy again took pity on the harassed man, “Minho you want to spend the night or return home?” I pinched Puppy’s belly for that. It was impossible to understand why Minho couldn’t simply drive back to his own home. How could Uncle and Puppy even think of his spending a night in our home? “If you stay you will have to share a room with Byong.” Minho nodded and accepted, afraid to open his mouth and say something wrong. “Byong, loan him some nightwear and then clothes for tomorrow, you are same heights.” I detected a hint of satisfaction in Puppy’s voice that we had a tall son.

Byong immediately looked at Minho and grinned, “Come one uncle let’s go. I will show you all the candid videos I took, without their knowledge, of appa and ummappa kissing and making out.”

Minho blanched and Puppy struggled to keep calm, “I will confiscate your new w-flex phone before you even get a chance to use it, if you even think of such things.” Puppy’s tone made it clear that our son shouldn’t try to play any tricks on Minho that night.  

Duckie pouted, “Why must I sleep alone? Everyone is doubling.”

“Sweetheart, when everyone is asleep, we can always make Minho uncle exchange rooms with you and you can double with me,” Byong wiggled his brows at her and then winked at his father to rile him up even more.

“Minho, kick him for me,” Puppy asked the older man who was sitting nearer to the still prone Byong. When Minho hesitated, Puppy got up and kicked Byong’s leg himself. “Yah! Why are you hell bent on making your parents lose their face in front of her parents? Do you even know what Super will do to me if he finds out you two make out, forget about sleeping together tonight? He will skin me alive. Then he will come after you with all his guns. Think of your poor ummappa. How painful it will be for him to see us both suffer for your idiocy. I don’t want to die before I see my new baby. I want to have the long life that your ummappa promised to have with me. Is there no end to this embarrassing night? Yeobo what did we do to deserve such wicked children?”

When Sehun and Minx began laughing at his outburst, Puppy turned to them and wagged his finger, “Stop laughing, you have three. And that Taeyong is equal to three more. It will be us enjoying the show when some hapless girl’s parents come after you two and him because he learns every non-sense from his uncle. God forbid should any of your three hellions fall in love in childhood and then harass you for intimacy privileges till they are old enough to marry. You will bow to us ten times for every moment of worry you gave to-”

Sehun interrupted Puppy’s tirade to whisper loudly, “Ummappa I think appa is in dire need of your personal attention in private. Take him away before he bursts a blood vessel. Don’t worry, we will take Duckie to our place to sleep.”

“Oppa? How can you punish me like this? This is my home too. I am not going anywhere. Why can’t you people take a joke?” Duckie whined and reached across me to hit Sehun repeatedly on his shoulder.

“Since we came to know you and my out-of-control brother-in-law are not only kissing but also making out. What will ummappa say to Hee umma when he finds out? Ummappa promised that you both will only kiss,” Sehun spoke seriously as he took hold of Duckie’s hand to stop her from hitting him.

“Well we are only kissing hyung,” Byong chuckled unrepentantly. “It’s only a question of where.” Before Puppy could aim another kick at him, the young man sprang up from the floor, pulled up Minho by holding his hand and ran out of the room. Both looked back and wished a loud goodnight to us before Byong ran up the stairs pulling Minho behind him. We were left to stare at their retreating backs and then turn as one on Duckie.

I twisted her ear and spoke very very softly, “Explain quickly.”

Duckie looked into my hard eyes and gulped, “Yes ummappa.” She suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck and hid her face in my neck. Sensing her tears I enveloped her in my arms and patted her hair in comfort. She explained in a tearful voice, “We were really joking about making out. I am deeply hurt that you thought I would ever do anything you told us not to. We know you worked hard to convince umma and appa to allow us to kiss. I might do things to tease umma, but I would never do anything to embarrass you ummappa. How can you have so little faith in me?”

I pulled her into my lap and rubbed her back and head to calm her down. Kissing her hair I began softly comforting her, “Babygirl, you know we love you. But you both took the joke too far tonight. You knew that Joongie’s camera is recording it all and yet you repeatedly talked about making out and sleeping together. What will your parents or anyone else who watches the recording think? To whom all will you explain that it was only to tease us? One must know their limits in everything. Like Joongie crossed his limits in placing the cameras, you and Byong crossed your limits in your teasing tonight. Do you understand what I am trying to say my sweet baby?”

Duckie nodded and lifted her head to look me directly in the eyes with her own teary ones, “Yes ummappa. I understand perfectly what you’re saying about our teasing. But, we can’t understand why you need to push your body beyond its limits to have another baby? Aren’t we enough for you ummappa? Is our love lacking in anything that makes you want to have another baby to fill that void? You were lucky twice already. Why do you have to push your luck a third time? We love you very much. We don’t want to lose you ummappa. Whatever you decide, Byong and I will always support you. Everyone in our family will support you. But do think of your body’s limits ummappa.”

I sat stunned at her words. She got up from my lap and hugged Puppy who was still standing near us. She kissed his cheek and whispered, “He will do anything for your happiness. Even give up his life. You must take care appa in what you request from him. He makes it his mission to give you everything you desire. Be really sure that a new baby is what you desire appa. Your happiness is in Him.”

Duckie quickly bowed to everyone with a soft good night and went upstairs, leaving Puppy and me with a lot to think about. Sometimes youngest can say the wisest things.

“Jinki, Jonghyun you are very lucky to get such a wise daughter-in-law,” Leeteuk was very happy with Duckie’s parting words. “Heechul and Siwon will really miss her when she leaves their home after the wedding. For the first time I am feeling happy that we have two sons Soo, even if the younger one is the bane of my life.”

“You must talk to him in the morning and explain to him right from wrong, otherwise I will ground him for life and with that his ambition of having dozen kids,” Soo put her head on Teukkie’s shoulder.

“Unnie, how will he have even three kids, unless gomobu perfects his hormone combination?” Minx worried for her young brother.

I made to pull Puppy to sit down again but he pulled me up instead, “Come yeobo, its time to hit the bed. Joke or no, we must be perfect chaperones for Duckie.”

Sehun grinned, “Are you going to sleep with your bedroom door open? With Minho uncle sleeping in the same house? Appa, keep ummappa handcuffed to you all night or you might wake up alone in the morning.”

“Don’t worry Sunshine, I plan to keep him tied to bed all night,” Puppy said too softly for any camera to catch. He winked at our son-in-law and moved me out of the room, leaving it to Soo and Leeteuk to lock up for the night.

I could hear shocked gasps from the living room as Puppy and I climbed the stairs to go to our room. We checked in Junsu and Joongie’s room first and found them fast asleep. Byong and Minho were in bed too. Minho was reading a book that Byong must have given him from my bedside and Byong was busy talking to Duckie on the phone. We kissed him and wished Minho good night before closing their door.

Duckie was also in bed with her phone to her ear. She slept over so often that she had all varieties of her clothes in the room’s closet. The other half of the closet contained clothes for Ji, Chan Yeol and their family. We tucked Duckie in and kissed her good night, not interrupting her conversation with Byong. Picking up Chen and Ren who were sleeping in her bed, we switched off her light, closed her door and went to our room.  

Settling the sleeping babies on our bed near the wall, we patted them back to sleep when they squirmed a little to settle in our bed. They had been changed out of their tiny hanboks earlier by Duckie and Byong. We changed ourselves and Puppy opened our bedroom halfway before joining me in bed. Turning off the bedside lamp, he pulled me in his arms.

We kissed lazily, waiting for the house to settle down and the kids to sleep.