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63. LUNCH

We still had difficulty falling asleep and only managed a couple of hours of sleep before the doorbell woke us up at 7 in the morning. Puppy was right. Ji and Beagle couldn’t stay away from visiting us, even if it was for a day. We could hear loud chattering of little Baekhyun trying to wake up his grandmother. We weren’t the only ones to wake up by Baekhyun’s screeches. Both Chen and Ren wailed in fright at being woken up so suddenly. Hearing baby cries, Sooyoung and Baekkie knocked on our partially open door and entered before we could invite them in.

Both kids climbed onto our bed and began cooing to the wailing babies, silencing them in a matter of seconds. Puppy and I scooted up in bed to sit and watch them. Having slept even later than me, Puppy put his head on my shoulder sleepily and I wrapped an arm around him, patting his shoulder. Yixing followed his siblings in a leisurely manner. He kissed our cheeks and climbed onto the other side of the bed to join the cooing.

I smiled and kissed Puppy’s sleepy head knowing that the parents of the three would soon follow them. I wondered if all families were as baby crazy as ours. Puppy moved his fingers to count with me. We had only raised nine fingers to signal 9 seconds when Jiyeon and Chan Yeol bustled into the room telling Uncle to wake up imo as they were hungry and wanted breakfast. Chan Yeol sat down on the bed near Puppy, and Ji crowded in with the kids to enjoy the gurgling babies.

“Umm, just to give you a heads up so you don’t freak out, Minho is in the house. Sleeping in Byong’s room,” I mumbled out to Beagle.

“Huh? Why? How? Puppy appa how could you allow it?” Beagle expectedly whined at Puppy.

“You are yelping at the wrong person. I only invited him to spend Seollal with us. It is your father-in-law who invited him to stay the night,” Puppy mumbled lazily. “And tone down your yapping. I hardly got any sleep last night.”

“Of course with him under the same roof, you would have stayed up all night guarding ummappa,” Beagle grinned naughtily.

“Nah, it was more a case of stopping Tokki from using Minho as his punching bag. Soo and Teukkie hyung are also here,” Puppy suddenly became alert and looked speculatively at Chan Yeol. “Did Joongie talk to you recently about spy cams?” Yixing heard about Jaejoong and Junsu’s presence and ran off to talk to them. 

“He did about a month ago. Told me it was a school project about the technological advances in spy cams and their civilian uses. Why? He’s come to you for further advice?” Beagle smiled at the mention of his youngest nephew.

I laughed at Joongie’s ingenuity, “He placed two spy cams in our dining and living rooms to record our family in some intimate moments and watch with his neighborhood boys.”

Ji and Beagle were shocked momentarily, but then laughed. Beagle followed Yixing to question the sleeping brothers. I pushed Puppy back to lie down and helped Ji to change the babies’ diapers while Baekkie and Sooyoung kept them entertained with constant chatter. When I put Chen in Puppy’s arms, Baekkie went to lie down on Chen’s other side, squeezing the baby between the two of them and began telling Puppy everything that happened to him since he left his home in the early morning.

Suddenly Joongie ran into our room, shouting for us to save him. Beagle was trying to spank his with a heavy book. Joongie hid behind me and wrapped both his arms around my waist, keeping me in between Beagle and himself, “Imobu stop hitting me. I was not the only one. Why is no one saying anything to Junsu? He is the one who talked to Yoochun, Yunho and Changmin to handover their pocket money. Why only my should be on fire? You are all so unfair. I am going to run away. Just watch.”

“Don’t threaten us kiddo,” Chan Yeol thundered at him. “Your bum is going to be completely red today. How dare you try to make a fool out of me? What am I going to explain to your parents now? If you have it in you to be so bold, then why hide behind ummappa now? Come out and face me as a man, not a coward.”

“Imobu, I am not a man. I am a little boy only a year older than Lay. Beat him and Junsu also. All are getting a copy of everything the cameras record,” Joongie pointed a finger at Yixing who was entering our room.

Hearing his cousin’s words, Yixing turned around and ran off as fast as his legs allowed him. But he forgot that his father had the longest legs in the family. In just a few steps, Beagle caught up with his oldest son and held him tight in his arms.

Ji put Ren in my arms and took our hair brush to give the struggling boy a hard whack on his , “How could you shame us like this?”

Immediately Joongie’s arms tightened more around me. “Ummappa, save me. I don’t want to get hit like that. I promise I will not do it again. I swear I will discuss everything with you first. I am sorry, ummappa. Please save me.”

With Ren smiling in my arms, I moved to stop Ji. Joongie duck-walked with me, still attached to me with his hands clutching my t-shirt in the front. I held Ji’s arm which was raised to hit Lay once again. Puppy moved Chen to the middle of the bed and quickly stood up to remove the brush from Ji’s hand. She immediately whacked Yixing with her open palm. Puppy lost no time in taking Lay from Beagle.

“Stop it both of you. Beating children is not the way to get your point across. Beagle, you of all people should know better,” Puppy put Lay down and tucked the frightened boy behind him. “I understand how upset both of you are. It is truly disappointing and frustrating when kids behave like this. Scold them. Yell at them. But don’t hit them.”

I pulled Joongie out from behind to the front to face me, “We are confiscating your cameras from the clocks.” Jaejoong’s mouth opened in shock that we knew the locations of their spy cams. “Every day for the next three months you and Junsu will work in my office after school till you have earned enough money to pay off your neighbors.”

“And this is aside from any punishment your parents give you,” Puppy wagged his finger at the shocked boy and then turned to Yixing. “Lay, I would have never thought you’d participate in such activities. You will apologize to everyone in the family and give all your Seollal money and gifts to your parents to decide what to do with them. One peep or mischief from you and I will personally make sure you do not go to Canada next month for the music study program. Beagle, tear his ticket if he does not promise to behave.”

“No, appa, you can’t do that. You know how hard I have worked to get selected for the scholarship. I was going to use my Seollal money to buy gifts for everyone in Kris uncle’s family. But you can keep the money. I will borrow some from ummappa and then work for him, on my return, to repay him. I promise I will never do anything to shame you ever again,” Yixing sobbed huge tears at the thought of losing his cherished dream. “I am sorry umma. I am sorry appa. I will never do anything like this again. I promise. Please don’t stop me from going to Canada.”

Beagle and Ji pulled him out from behind Puppy and hugged him, drying his tears. Beagle was very upset not only with his son but with themselves also, “We have never had to even scold you before Yixing. We hate what we are feeling today. How do we send you to live Kris hyung now?”

“I promise appa this was the only time. I will never shame you again. I am very sorry, please let me go to Canada. I will not give any trouble to Kris uncle and his family,” Yixing continued to sob.

Ji ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his head, “We are also sorry for hitting you. I still can’t believe you would do something like this. How will we face Kris oppa and Gina unnie if you do anything like this when staying with them?”

Lay hugged her tight and sniffled, “I won’t umma. I won’t. Believe me. This was the only time. I will be a good boy. I will not do anything to embarrass you and appa.”

“Ummappa, will appa beat me?” Jaejoong huddled behind me and whispered into my back, trying to imagine his soft-spoken father raising a hand on him.       

“Thank Sehun later for stopping your father last night. But we don’t understand why you had to do such a thing,” I honestly couldn’t understand how these little boys could conceive such mischief.

“What’s to understand ummappa, little Joongie is a big time ert. It’s as simple as that,” Beagle hugged Yixing and poked Jaejoong. Baekhyun was still talking nonstop to Chen. Sooyoung made me put Ren beside his brother so she could talk to him.     

“Imobu, I am not a ert,” Jaejoong turned red and protested vehemently. “I thought of this to help Junsu get together with Yoochun since Junsu refuses to confess his feelings to him. I thought if they saw some videos together it might help them along. But no one in this family wants to cooperate. One full week of recording and all we got to see was some kissing. And both Junsu and Yoochun were too shy to watch it together. Why has god given me such a dumb brother?”

“Poor Joongie!” Puppy teased the upset boy. “Why were you trying to put the camera in our room then?”

“Oh Puppy appa, that Yunho is a big ert. He and Changmin are asking for their money back. Changmin wants one entire month of free lunch from us. Yunho says if we cannot get him a decent recording, then he will take Junsu for his boyfriend because Yoochun does not want to do anything but hold hands with him.” Joongie’s eyes spread wide in horror at the thought, “Can you imagine Junsu with Yunho? He will die if he has to give up his dreams of Yoochun and take up the reality of Yunho.”

I couldn’t help myself from laughing at his words. “Call Yunho after breakfast and we will sort out the money matter for you. But your punishment remains. Next time don’t cook up such nonsense schemes and involve the kids in them. Leave Junsu alone and he will resolve his non-existent love life with Yoochun on his own.”

Joongie nodded for everything I said, except at the end his eyes got that mutinous gleam. Puppy and I looked at each other wondering what to do with the pretty boy. He was such a strange mix of innocence and mischief. Add to that his intense protectiveness and loyalty for his older brother.

All the noise in our room had woken up everyone else. Byong tried to make a beeline for Duckie’s room but Uncle caught hold of his t-shirt and held him back and sent him to the kitchen to make tea and coffee for the adults and milk for the children. He grumbled and tried to take Joongie and Junsu with him. Leeteuk and Soo intercepted the trio and herded the boys into their room, no doubt to hand out their own punishments. Having no other option, and refusing to work alone in the kitchen, Byong pulled Minho with him. Yixing followed them to heat up some pre-breakfast snacks.

Imo and Ji took the twins into imo’s room feeding and bathing. Beagle sprawled out on our bed and dozed off. Puppy remembered my request for inviting his team for lunch and started making brief calls. By the end of half hour, he had managed to invite two superintendents and four officers. The rest of his team was not in Daegu. Next he called Kibum, Siwon and DongHae.

Heechul and Siwon were the first to arrive, apparently Heechul wanted to help prepare breakfast. Beagle thought differently.

“Hee hyung, I am sure it is to poison us with your cooking,” Chan Yeol teased as he closed the door behind the couple.

“Umma. Call me Hee umma. How many years have I repeated the same? If Jinx is your ummappa and that stupid Puppy is your appa, then I am Hee umma,” Heechul’s annoyance could be felt even in the kitchen.

“Hyung,” Beagle was equally hell bent on teasing him, “Guess who stayed the night here?”

“Don’t tell us you arrived at midnight Beagle?” Siwon asked.

Chan Yeol laughed, completely enjoying himself and the news he was about to deliver, “No, we came an hour ago only. But, ummappa’s ex spent the night here.”

Heechul responded predictably to Beagle’s needling and yelled from the living room, “Jinx, have you gone certifiably mad now? How could you allow that creature to spend the night under the same roof as you?”

I smiled at my best friend’s concern and met him in the dining room, “Lower your volume Cinder. That so-called creature is our willing slave labor in the kitchen today.”

“I am not a creature,” Minho loudly asserted himself as a human being.

“Puppy you taught him too much last night,” I grinned at Puppy who was supervising the four slave laborers for the day – Minho, Jaejoong, Junsu and Yixing.

“I don’t care what the stupid puppy taught him. I want to know what is Minho doing here at this early hour of the day. Are you planning to get back with him? Let me tell you Jinx I will kill you myself before I will allow you to go back to him,” Heechul glared at Minho and began shaking me by my shoulders. Was he planning to rattle my brains into place? If so, he was targeting the wrong man.

“Siwon, take your old princess away from the kitchen. Just the sight of him turns the food inedible. He is shaking me like he mixes cocktails – hard and without feeling. I have to make breakfast. Imo has closeted herself into her bedroom with Soo and Ji. And if I don’t serve the food soon, Beagle and his horde will begin nibbling the plates,” I laughed as I attempted to extricate myself from Heechul’s strong grip.

“I want to you shake you myself. But I know it is Jjong’s doing. Cinderella you are attacking the wrong man. Your target should be that silly shorty,” Siwon guided Heechul to the right man and glared at the tall man cutting vegetables for the stew, “Minho what the hell are you doing here, dressed in Byong’s clothes?”

“I spent the night with Jonghyun and Jinki?” Minho raised his eyebrows in counter-question and stared coolly at Siwon. I wanted to kick the idiot for behaving as if he had every right in the world to be seated at my dining table. Why did Puppy have to give him lessons in assertiveness? He was already too cheeky, if anyone was bothered about my opinion.

“What?” Siwon, Heechul and Chan Yeol screeched together in various degrees of loudness.

“Oh yes, they were all hugging each other in the bedroom,” Jaejoong couldn’t sit quiet any longer.

“What?” The three banshees screeched again.

Heechul returned to me and began shaking me harder. I thought my teeth would fall off and my bones would never function again properly. For the sake of my health, it was best to put him out of his misery, “Calm down Cinder. We were only talking and feeding the twins. And you will be happy to know that I made Minho cry and Puppy had his arms around him to calm him down. There was nothing more happening. We have three youngsters, too erted for their ages, jumping to wrong conclusions.”

“You made him cry Jinx? Did you take any video of it? I want to watch it daily till I die. Umm, correction, till he dies,” Heechul crowed in joy.

“Yah, what did I ever do to you? All you’ve done, since I met you, is harass me and call me names. I am also a human being. I also have feelings. You cannot treat me like a robot,” Minho put down his knife and gave a sour look to Heechul.

Heechul turned to Minho with an angry glare and a fist ready to punch him. Siwon quickly moved his husband out of punching range, making the punch swing uselessly in air. “Cinderella, you cannot go around hitting people. Especially, when they are guests in this house. You must respect Jonghyun’s wishes in this case and let it go. That reminds me, where is our little princess?” Siwon easily diverted Heechul.

“More to the point Simba, where is Byong?” Heechul immediately got worried about a different matter. Both of them rushed upstairs to check on the engaged couple.

Beagle bent close to Minho and whispered, “Don’t think of any nonsense about ummappa or I will make you regret it till the day you breathe your last.” When he straightened up, I made him bend again so I could kiss his cheeks. It was difficult to treat him like my youngest brother-in-law when I felt like a father towards him. And to see him threatening Minho with a menacing expression was the sweetest thing.

“Don’t worry about me Chan Yeol. It’s your ummappa whose thoughts should worry you,” Minho muttered as he bent his head back to the chopping board and began work on the onions Puppy slid in front of him. “Heartless people, giving an old man like me onions to chop. Why does Jinki always have to make me suffer to be with him?” He looked up and pointed his knife at me. “You kissed me for the first time when I burned my mouth with your evil tea snacks. Now my eyes are burning, go to work quickly and soothe them with your kisses.”

“Yah, what is this nonsense I am hearing? Ummappa you are not going to kiss Minho uncle ever. Do I make myself clear?” I heard Sehun’s loud shriek, before anyone else in the room could react.

Beagle pulled me a good distance away from Minho as if I was going to jump and do Minho’s bidding. Puppy began laughing hard and continuously thumped Minho’s shoulder in either sympathy or triumph at how well his one-night student had learned.

Junsu’s small eyes became quite large in surprise, “Ummappa kissed Minho uncle? But how is that possible?”

Jaejoong hit his older brother on the shoulder, “Stupid, they were married before. Married people kiss and do so much more.”

Yixing preferred to watch silently. He didn’t want to get in any more trouble with us. He stirred the eggs in the bowl in front of him without looking at what he was doing. His eyes were on the drama in front of him. Then his brain clicked and he asked in a small voice, “What are evil tea snacks?”

Everyone was silent to ponder the question. Puppy doubled up in laughter. I was certain his laughter could be heard even at the end of the street. Minho’s eyes danced merrily at me. I couldn’t stop myself from going pink.

“Ha, you call me evil all the time. But you made evil tea snacks to kiss Minho appa? By the way what are evil tea snacks?” Minx wagged her finger at me and repeated Yixing’s question, as she gave a rice cake to each of her triplets to munch on.

Hyemi noona and Sunwoo hyung sat down at the dining table to listen to our nonsense with keen interest. I saw the rest of our family come down the stairs on hearing puppy’s crazy laughter.

Minho looked strangely at Puppy whose face had gone red with his uncontrolled laughter, “Why are you laughing so much? You don’t know what I am talking about?”

Puppy wiped his tears that had leaked out due to his endless mirth. He had a more difficult time speaking coherently in between laughter, “Oh Minho. I know much more than you think. I know everything that happened, you stalking better.”

Minho’s jaw hung open in shock. He hugely rounded eyes moved from me to Puppy and back again. His head shook in denial trying to convince himself that he hadn’t heard what he just did. “Not possible,” He mumbled to himself. “Jinki wouldn’t. He’s too private a person. They are teasing me again.”

By now everyone had sat down at the dining table to watch us silently. Well, almost everyone.

“What is the meaning of stalking better?” Junsu asked Soo who tried to hush him silent.

“So Minho, are you still placing bets?” Puppy poked Minho’s cheek with his finger to regain the older man’s attention.

Minho shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Puppy had deflated all his cockiness. “Umm, you know I don’t gamble.” He stated primly with as straight a face as he could manage, which wasn’t much actually.

“Oh really?” Puppy’s laughter had softened a little, “I wonder whether you considered yourself a winner or loser of that bet? Somehow, Jinki never asked you about it.”

“What bet?” Taemin asked as he entered our dining room.

Kibum was only a step behind him already pouting, “What bet? How come no one ever tells me anything?”

“There is nothing to tell, Bummie. Ignore the idiots. Come, we need to prepare breakfast, children must be hungry,” I tried to pull Kibum into the kitchen but he stood rooted to his spot next to me and refused to move.

Imo grinned at the thought of catching a new juicy tit-bit, “I will give fruits to the kids. You can cook later. I want to know too. What bet?” keeping to her words, she picked up oranges and began peeling them. She quickly handed some to Baekhyun before he could open his mouth. Kai and Amber picked up their twins and sat down hugging them tightly, but facing us expectantly.

I glared at my Puppy who smiled sweetly and pulled me to sit on his lap. My knees touched Minho’s thigh and I tamped down the strong urge to kick him for starting the topic. Beagle and Sehun moved to stand behind our chairs. Beagle even went as far as to place his hands on Minho’s shoulder and squeeze lightly in warning. Kibum and Heechul wrapped their arms around each other’s waists in consolation for not knowing anything about the bet.

“What bet?” Kai prodded us, when the three of us remained silent.

I watched as Minho began to turn dark pink in embarrassment. “There was no bet. Puppy was just shooting off his mouth,” I tried not to blush myself as I lied.

“Sweet Tokki, come on,” Puppy tightened his arms around me and winked at Kai. “Your ummappa was not only top-of-his-class in academics but also quite ferocious in college. During the first semester, he broke the nose of a classmate for spreading rumors about him.” He rubbed his nose in my neck and softly whispered, “Ooh I just love my soft and wild Tokki.”

“Sweet talk to him later. Tell us about the bet first,” Siwon got irritated with Puppy’s slow narration.

“Mind your own business all of you. There is nothing to tell,” I glared around the room, not at all happy about the situation.

“Keep quiet Jinki oppa or we will tape your mouth shut,” Soo brought out the tape from her pocket. The children snickered at her words and actions. Evil woman!

“Umm, let’s see if I remember it right, Minho’s friends dared him and placed a bet. He would win if he managed to speak to Tokki for some time and touch his hair without getting decked in the face.” Puppy continued the explanation with his nose rubbing my cheek. I heard a lot of soft whistles and “oooh” from around the room.

“I canceled the bet,” Minho interrupted with a red face.

“But only after attempting to win it first and failing, right?” Puppy moved his chair away, preventing me from kicking Minho. But I managed to get one kick in before the move.

“You can’t tell me you never placed any bets in college,” Minho pouted in annoyance and rubbed the leg I had hit.

“Of course I did,” Puppy grinned at Minho and went to the heart of the matter. “So tell me Minho what other bets did you place with your friends and where are those friends now?” Minho blanched.

Chan Yeol’s face hardened in understanding. Then a slow smile spread on his face and he turned to wink at us. Puppy had explained to him a few years ago about the reason they had broken the law to put the two doctors in jail. Chan Yeol pressed hard on Minho’s shoulders, “Why don’t you answer Minho uncle?”

Heechul suddenly pushed Minho’s face down into the chopped onions and shouted, “How could you? My sweet Jinx!” Sehun quickly pulled him back and away from Minho. Siwon moved to hold back Taemin who jumped from his seat to assist Minho. Heechul continued to flail in Sehun’s hold and yell at Minho, “Just you wait. I am going to poison your food today. And I am going to kill the idiot Puppy for letting you stay. God only knows what evil things you are planning with my sweet Jinx now.”

“I am a reformed man Heechul. Stop screaming at me when you know nothing,” Minho turned to look at Heechul and defended himself.

Beagle again bent down to whisper into Minho’s ear, “Don’t be so sure Minho uncle. Some of us know exactly what Puppy appa is talking about. You see, Puppy appa and ummappa might have forgiven you, we have not. Better watch your back when Hee umma or I am around.” Minho turned paler but tried not to show how much Beagle’s words affected him.

Puppy started laughing again, “Don’t forget your manners Beagle. At least take him out of the house before you threaten him.”

Minho looked at Puppy and at last he felt he could behave normally with someone in the house. He threw his hands in the air before waving a finger at Puppy, “You are a devil in disguise. A few hours ago you were comforting me. Now you are provoking people to torture me. Make up your mind what you want to do with me and be done with it. I don’t want to spend the remaining years of my life wondering what new way this family will find to torture me.”

“Don’t worry maehyung. I will watch your back,” Taemin spoke up and glared at Siwon who was still holding Taemin down in his chair.

“You’d better watch your back first. You promised me in the car,” Kibum rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “Jinki hyung you are keeping the babies tonight also, right?”

“Kibum, you have no idea what havoc the twins created here last night,” Uncle looked sternly at him as if it was Kibum’s fault that Puppy and I had gone baby crazy.

“Harabeoji, they are such sweet little things. What problems can they create?” Amber did not like Uncle’s words.

Seeing how our family was quickly diverted from Minho’s misdeeds, I got up from Puppy’s lap and pulled him up as well. Heechul sat down in the chair vacated by us and pulled Kibum to sit in his lap. They both listened very carefully to Uncle as he started recounting the events of previous night and how he stopped us from having a baby. I motioned Duckie and Byong to follow us to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

The four of us softly laughed and joked together in the kitchen, ignoring our family outside. Minho brought in the chopped vegetables and Puppy put him to the task of making coffee when he showed an inclination to stay and watch us cook. We worked quickly to put breakfast on the table and feed all the hungry mouths. By the time food was ready, DongHae and Hyukkie were also seated, playing with the twins. They wanted to take Chen and Ren home with them for the night and Kibum nodded. Taemin was not bothered who kept the babies as long as someone kept them out of their bedroom. Puppy wondered how Taemin planned to get out of his promise to Kibum.

After breakfast, we lazily began working towards lunch. We men were turned out of the kitchen which was taken over by imo, Soo, Ji, Minx and Hyemi noona. Duckie flitted between working in the kitchen and talking to us. Amber was shooed out when she went to help and almost added powdered sugar in the stew instead of salt.

Relief was quite evident on Minho’s face, when no one anymore. We had more important things to discuss.

The Singapore Convention had succeeded. The South and North Koreas had signed a peace treaty, declaring an end to all hostilities. There wasn’t going to be any unification but active deployment of troops was going to reduce. There were loud cheers from everyone on hearing the news. We all hoped that military service would become voluntary before Kai and Byong received their conscription notices. We did not want our boys to suffer for our lifestyle choices. Even Sehun was facing some harassment in the army hospital because his parents-in-law were gay.

When Puppy’s six invitees for lunch arrived, it was a pleasant surprise to see only two men among them. Puppy introduced his two Superintendents to us – Kim Jong Woon and Park Hyo Jin. They invited us to call them Yesung and Narsha. Then there were four Officers – Song Victoria, Kim Jae Kyung, Son Ga In and Oh Jong Seok.

It took them half an hour and a soju each, to get over the formality of meeting Puppy, Siwon, DongHae and Chan Yeol in an informal, family setting. They were in equal awe of Leeteuk on meeting him. The six were amply helped by the twins who Victoria kept cooing over them. She let go of the twins only to surround herself with the triplets. Jong Seok who preferred to be called Eddy, immersed himself in food discussion with Kibum.

We had fun watching Ga In try to sit in y poses for Sehun and Kai. She stopped only when Minx and Amber joined their husbands. Ji urged the girls to tease Sehun and Kai by flirting with handsome Yesung and Eddy. But the two laughed and shook their heads proclaiming their husbands were the handsomest of the lot.

The three – Minx, Amber and Ji, got into a friendly competition as to which one of them had a better husband. Soon they began talking about the bed room prowess of the three contestants who sat silently watching their wives, but grinning each time the girls awarded a point to any one of them.

Ji laughed and awarded the virility point to Sehun, “He got Minx with three babies at once. Got to hand it to him.”

Amber nodded her head in agreement and Kai pinched her, “How can you forget my contribution to our twins.”

Beagle objected, “Two is not the same as three. Give it up Kai. Sehun is the most virile of us three.”

Sehun stood up and took his bow. Thankfully, Uncle was not in the room at that moment or else we all knew what he would have said. But we forgot Ga In was listening attentively. She began drawing attention to her cleavage, only to meet with complete disinterest on the part of the young husbands.

Yesung grinned and his eyes danced merrily, “This is unfair, if you were going to have a best husband competition than I should have come with my wife. Eddy you are out of the competition because you are not married.”

“Why only you, Yesung-ssi?” Jae Kyung asked. “We also have husbands. They could have competed as well. And mine would have won hands down.”

“I am happy on my own,” Narsha smiled and looked at Minho whom she had understood to be the only unattached male in our family. Minho looked at her and then at me and shook his head. Puppy winked at him. Minho responded by pulling Baekhyun to sit in his lap and talk to him.

Taemin wondered aloud, “If the sole criterion for the most virile husband is the number of kids, then I think I should be the winner. I managed to get my husband pregnant.” We couldn’t help laughing at his words.

DongHae , “Don’t you mean your wife Taemin? Since when do you consider Kibum your husband?”

“Since Jinki hyung taught him all nonsense during our first family holiday together,” Taemin glared at me. I knew he was upset about the upcoming night and his promise to Kibum to let him top. “I have no hankering for sleeping in the guest room by calling him my wife.”

“I think Jjong should be the winner. He managed to get Jinki pregnant twice,” Siwon looked at Minho for reaction.

“Hey, how can you forget that I contributed to the first one?” Minho was quick to remind Siwon.

“Well, then let’s say Jjong should still be winner because he is ready to get Jinki pregnant again,” Siwon’s laughter boomed in the room.

“Shouldn’t I be given the point because I managed to get all these men pregnant?” Leeteuk winked at Siwon. He immediately received a good-natured kick from Soo.

“I think best husband should be Sehun’s father. He is so good at singing lullabies and putting the triplets to sleep,” Hyemi noona smiled at Sunwoo hyung.

“Best husband should be Kai hyung for allowing Amber noona to carry a gun on their honeymoon,” Byong added his nomination to once again tease Kai and Amber. Amber mock aimed a finger at Byong and shot, he pretended to be mortally wounded and begged CPR from Duckie. Heechul got up and whacked his head to make him behave.

“I think best husband should be Cinderella for giving up his life for 10 long years to be with me,” Siwon pulled Heechul closer to him and away from the younger couple.

“There was no giving up Simba. Every moment of my life with you has been the best for me,” Heechul blushed at Siwon’s words. Duckie and Byong pretended to gag at the mushy couple.

Minx went and plonked down in Puppy’s lap, “I think best husband award should be given to my appa for making ummappa smile again and never letting that smile slip.” She kissed Puppy’s cheek and hugged him tight.

Puppy wrapped his arms around her and shushed her in embarrassment, “Baby girl, my team is here.”

“Hah appa, as if that ever stopped us from showing our love for you,” Minx’s sweet smile at her father had Narsha and Ga In snickering.

DongHae couldn’t help staring harshly at them for making fun of Minx and Puppy, “I guess, you are not aware of the meaning of this invitation?” Both women quickly composed their faces and removed all signs of smugness. They sat up straighter and looked towards DongHae silently.

DongHae was not impressed, “If you do not understand how important family is to Jonghyun, then I will not hesitate even a moment before advising Jonghyun to think twice when making his next invitation list.”

Puppy laughed at DongHae’s serious tone, “Boss it doesn’t make any difference to me what anyone thinks. I am what I am. And I have a wonderful team, making me proud of their work on a daily basis. Stop scaring them.”

“I heard Lee Hyori is up for promotion as Senior Superintendent and she might be getting posted to Daegu,” DongHae raised his brows at Puppy. He had heard the details from Amber about Hyori’s crush on Puppy in Australia long time ago.

Puppy looked at me and we both grinned. “Oh goody! When boss?” Puppy rubbed his hands in anticipation.

Yesung looked at Narsha and smirked, “You are going to have serious competition.”

“Our interests move in different circles, what is there to compete about?” Narsha looked at Minho and then winked at Yesung. “I suggest your wife better look out and spruce up. You are just the kind of man to interest her. And if she is posted here, she will be your immediate superior. Would you be in a position to say no to your Senior Superintendent?”

“With Jonghyun here, would she even be interested in any one else?” Taemin teased Puppy.

“I am looking forward to meeting her on a daily basis. Remember to invite her for dinner every day,” I smiled at Puppy who understood perfectly what I had in mind. His return smile was full of anticipation.

“Oh no, they will start again,” Ji groaned as she and Beagle exchanged mischievous looks. “Soo unnie you had better keep Joongie and Junsu away from dinners here once Hyori-ssi arrives.”

“Kris and Luhan will hate to miss the dinners,” Heechul muttered under his breath. “I wonder how Jinki tolerates her.”

“Cinderella, don’t we wonder the same about Minho and Jjong? Jinki and Jjong are the strangest couple,” Siwon replied just as softly.

“Weirdest applies better to them,” Heechul nodded in agreement.

“I wonder who will watch and learn this time,” Beagle joined their whispered conversation.

“Not Kai and Amber. Amber will shoot any woman who’d dare to put her hands on Kai,” Hyukkie added with a grin.

“Of course I will. Kai is only for me to touch,” Amber nodded her head and gazed adoringly at Kai.

“I am all yours babe,” Kai returned the gaze a heated one of his own.

“Yah, I am sitting right here. Don’t talk nonsense in front of me,” DongHae still had not made peace with the fact that his daughter was a married woman.

“Hyung, she is married and has twins with Kai. Stop getting upset with them now,” Hyukkie patted Hae’s shoulder.

Our six guests watched as our family began jumping from topic to topic once again. Actually four watched the conversation, Narsha watched Minho who was studiously trying to avoid looking in her direction. Victoria preferred to play with the babies. I wondered at the small world. Apart from Yesung and Narsha, all the other four guests had been students at our JinHee Hagwons in various parts of the country.

Yesung turned to Puppy and asked, “Is Hyo Jin-ssi correct? Will it be a problem for me if Lee Hyori-ssi gets posted here?”

Puppy patted his back, “I do not condone work-place harassment of any sort. Come to me and talk if you face any issue. Or you can apply for a transfer elsewhere.”

“I like living in Daegu. I can understand why you refuse to move to any other city. My wife’s family is here. Now that she is back near her family again, she absolutely refuses to move anywhere else,” Yesung became thoughtful.

Eddy joined their conversation, “Is it true? I have heard that Hyori-ssi says her heart belongs to you? And that’s why she has never married.” Both Eddy and Yesung looked at Puppy for confirmation of the rumors they’d heard.

“It was and will always be one-sided. I have never shown the slightest interest in Hyori-ssi except as work colleague,” Puppy clarified with a small smile. It suddenly hit him how difficult his position would be as her superior with such rumors floating around the agency building.

“My uncle worked with her in Seoul for many years. She has a photograph of her with you on her desk,” Eddy looked at us as he continued to elaborate. I wondered what the youngster was hoping to learn from observing our faces.

I grinned at him, “Eddy, the photograph must have become outdated by now.” I smiled to comfort Puppy who was beginning to look worried, “Jjong you must let her shoot another picture of both of you to update her photo-frame with the latest image. For all I care, she can click pictures daily when she comes here for dinner.”

“I doubt she will accept our dinner invitation. Duckie and imo scared her away,” Puppy gave me a tight smile while his eyes continued to worry.

“Hmm, I don’t mind visiting you for lunch,” I winked at Puppy. As expected, the worry in his eyes was quickly replaced by lust. He smiled in anticipation.

Eddy said a small “oh” and looked away from us. I guess he must have found whatever he was looking for. He muttered to Yesung, “I wonder what part of ‘happily married’ is beyond Lee Hyori-ssi’s comprehension?”

Yesung whispered back to him, “Maybe it’s the charm of unattainable? I have never heard a whisper of any rumor concerning our Senior Sup G. All everyone talks about or envies is his happy family life. Frankly, if it was my wife, she would have exploded by now and I’d have had a war on my hands. But here they are discussing having meals together with her.”

Eddy nodded, “I feel I have fallen in the rabbit hole of Alice in Wonderland.”

We ignored all the conversations floating around us as Puppy wrapped one hand around mine. We softly smiled and Puppy moved his other hand to trace my delivery scars over my dress shirt. I covered his fingers with mine. I suddenly wished my abdomen was swollen again, the surgery marks stretched out, and our tiny baby girl kicking crazily in happiness on feeling our touch. Our smiles wobbled and eyes filled with shared pain.

“Ummappa, why does Hee umma keep calling you encyclopedia? You have to tell us. We can’t take the suspense anymore,” Sehun’s annoyance was loud and clear to everyone in the room. Our guests gasped in shock at the question.

Puppy patted my surgery marks once more before turning to look at our unabashed son-in-law, “Sunshine, do we ask you and babygirl any such personal questions? We are frank with you but there is a limit to it. Stop embarrassing us. If you want to know ask Minho.”

All eyes moved to Minho as one. He turned bright red and moaned, “Why me? Why does everything come back to me? I am just sitting quietly watching everyone talk. Then, why me?”

“Stop groaning Minho uncle,” Sehun ignored all protests from Minho in his eagerness to learn our secrets. “Tell us why ummappa is called encyclopedia.”

Minho groaned and covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know anything. I have not even done it for many years now. Why me? Why don’t you ask someone else? Why me?”

Narsha perked up the moment Minho mentioned his lack of life. Her eyes took on a predatory gleam as she stared at Minho and waited for him to lift up his face again. Puppy and I smirked and silently wished her luck. We knew that she’d be trying in vain. One of the main reasons that Minho’s wife had quoted for divorce was his complete lack of interest in ual activities with her for the last two years of their marriage. Neither had we heard of any rumors of any extra-marital relationship when Beagle dug into his personal affairs in Incheon. We were certain that, no matter what Minho claimed, he had not been ually active for five years or more.

Sehun’s eyes danced naughtily as he continued to pester Minho, “Come on, I am not asking about you. I want to know about ummappa. If Puppy appa says you know, then you do. Stop hiding your face and tell us.”

I was glad that our day was filled with our rambunctious family. It kept Puppy and me from dwelling more than a few minutes on the pain of not having a new baby girl of our own.