Chocolate and chicken

“Minseok?” He hears as someone runs his hands through his hair. Luhan, he thinks with a smile.

“What time is it?” He can still feel Jongin’s hand on his pajama shirt though the boy is fully awake now.

“It’s almost 5. I’m late,” Luhan tells him. “Lunch today?”

“Yeah… yes. I’ll take the kids and we’ll get something from Joe’s.”

Luhan grins as he caresses Jongin’s cheek. The boy doesn’t say a word but Minseok can feel him leaning into Luhan’s hand. “The kids. I like the sound of that.”

Minseok gives his husband a sleepy smile. “Me too.”

Luhan leans for a light kiss for both Minseok and Jongin before pulling up their covers. “I’ll see you later, then.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

When his husband has left, Minseok looks at Jongin who has sat on the bed, with curiosity. “You ok, bud? Hungry?”

Jongin looks about ready to ask something but Minseok never gets to hear it because the boy clasps his lips tight and lowers his head.

“Sweetheart, if you want to ask something, go ahead,” Minseok tries convincing him. “There are no stupid questions or punishments for asking anything.”

The boy looks at him intently. “Promise?” He whispers.

“I promise.”

Jongin nods before lying back down on the bed. He doesn’t ask anything but Minseok thinks the little guy needs a bit more reassurance before he feeling comfortable enough to do the things Minseok thinks he wasn’t allowed to do before.

Knowing it’s still too early to do start on breakfast, Minseok just decides to relax for a few more minutes before getting up. It only seems like a few minutes later when a hand shakes him awake again.

“Daddy? I’m hungry,” Jinri tells him as she climbs Jongin’s bed and lies her head on Minseok’s shoulder.

Checking his watch on his wrist, he realizes it’s nearly 10am. “How about some breakfast?” He asks looking at Jinri and then at a seemingly very awake Jongin. “Aren’t you tired, kiddo?”

Jongin shakes his head minutely.

“Can we have pancakes?” Jinri asks excitedly.

“How about you agree on something with Jongin while I go freshen up, hm?” He asks them as he gets up and heads into the bathroom.

He suspects Jongin slept next to nothing last night but he tells himself he’ll make him take a nap or something during the afternoon. For now, he’ll attempt to find out his favorite meal and maybe getting him to speak a little more.

As he leaves the bathroom, he’s surprised to see Jongin smiling as Jinri plays with him. Luhan, Minseok suspects, had left the toy cars inside the bedroom and Jinri has taken them all and placed them on top of the bed. He feels his heart warm up at the sight of his children playing.

After waiting a few minutes not wanting to interrupt them, he steps back into the room with a smile of his own and asks them what is the consensus on breakfast.

“Pancakes!” Jinri shouts as she jumps up and down.

Jongin looks as if he’s just broken some sort of rule but Minseok reassures him that if he wants to eat pancakes like Jinri then he just needs to say so.

“Ok,” Jongin answers with a bit more strength in his voice.

“Ok then. Pancakes it is,” Minseok tells them with a big grin on his face.

Breakfast goes smoothly; Jinri chats non-stop about his football team and Jongin drinks two glasses of chocolate milk and a couple of pancakes drenched in syrup. He had been very careful with his meal at first but as he watched Minseok and Jinri being generous with their own pancakes, he’d gone ahead and drowned his share.

Afterwards, Minseok helps Jongin tidy up the cars and choose an outfit for the day as well as make his bed and Jinri’s. Jinri helps Jongin with his grooming and teeth brushing while Minseok opens curtains and windows even thought the chill outside is considerable.

When they are all finished, it’s almost time for lunch. He bundles the kids up in warm coats and scarves and takes them out to Joe’s to get a couple of sandwiches and fries to take to the hospital.

Minseok finds out Jongin absolutely loves the fried chicken they offer at Joe’s when one of the waiters gives him a special treat. The waiter is actually Matthew who lives across the street from them and who’s saving up for college being a waiter. He gives a piece from his own lunch after seeing the boy look at it so intently as he was catching up with Minseok.

“He’s a cute kid,” he tells Minseok before they leave.

“He’s pretty great,” Minseok replies.

Matthew makes Jongin promise to visit for a play date with his own little brother, Sehun, who was adopted when he was a baby.

Minseok lets him know they’ll definitely set one up when Jongin shies away behind Minseok’s legs.

They head to the hospital then, sandwiches and fried chicken in hand, for a short family lunch. Entering the hospital and walking towards the locker rooms, Jongin starts tensing up. Minseok holds his hand tighter in support.

“Hey! You’re right on time!” Luhan says as he closes his locker and picks up his stethoscope. He looks tired which probably means it has been a hectic morning. “Hey Jonginnie.”

Jongin holds on to Minseok’s pants as Luhan kneels to his height. The boy smiles shyly.

“Do you mind if I give you a hug?” He pouts obnoxiously and Minseok can tell what kind of trick he’s trying to pull to get Jongin to like him. He did the same with Junmyeon’s twins. They still only like Minseok, though, occasionally, Jongdae opens up to the doctor.

“Ok,” Jongin says as he let’s go of Minseok’s hand and goes into Luhan’s arms. Luhan is more than happy to pick him up and carry him as Jinri holds onto the sandwich bags as if they were extremely delicate.

“We got your favorite!” She tells his papa as Luhan pulls her into a hug.

“I can already smell it,” Luhan says, grinning.

Minseok takes his husband’s hand and ruffles Jongin’s hair as the boy buries his head into Luhan’s neck.

“Am I going to stay here again?” Jongin asks Luhan as they pass by the nurses’ station in the ER.

“No, buddy. You’re staying with us, remember?”

“Oh.” Jongin frowns as if in deep thought. “Forever?”

“Do you want to stay with us forever?” Luhan stops walking and Minseok nearly collides with him.

Jongin looks at Minseok, who smiles tenderly, and then back at Luhan. “Yes,” he answers quietly as he settles back into Luhan’s shoulder. He loves doing that, Minseok notices.

“Good,” the doctor grins. “Ok, then. That’s settled.” Luhan smiles unabashedly. “Oh, I got Samantha to take the rest of my shift today so how about we go home?”

Minseok nods as he kisses the doctor softly on the lips.

They drive home, Minseok filling in on the night before and how Jongin loves pancakes and warm chocolate milk. “He also absolutely adores chicken,” Minseok informs him. “Got a whole portion just to himself back at Joe’s.”

Luhan chuckles as he looks at Jongin in the backseat. “Maybe we can save some for dinner! Would you like that, Jonginnie?”

Jongin nods in confirmation as he tries to hide his smile behind his teddy bear.

“Jessica called this morning asking if Jinri wanted to go to Soojung’s to play,” Luhan tells the professor. “Want to go to Soojung’s, baby?”

“Yes! Can Jongin come?”

Jongin looks anxious at the prospect, Minseok notices from the rearview mirror. “Maybe some other time, honey.”

“Well, then I’m not sure.”

“No one’s forcing, Jin. You can stay home if you want to,” Luhan reminds her.

“Maybe I can go for a little while; until before dinner,” the girl reasons. “I promised Jongin we would watch E.T. tonight.”

“That’s fine, baby. I’ll tell Jessica to drop you off before dinner,” Minseok tells her.

“Junmyeon said he’s coming over tomorrow to check on Jongin.”

“Tomorrow?” Minseok had guessed Junmyeon would visit soon and he hopes that, if he brings the twins, they don’t upset Jongin. Those two were walking disasters; wonderful children, but a sure handful when excited.

“Yeah.” The doctor yawns widely as he rests his head on the seat and attempts to close his eyes for the remaining of the car trip. “I need to take a power nap. We had an extremely busy morning.”

“We’ll have a quick lunch and then you can sleep all you want.”

He looks at the back where Jongin is strapped to his booster seat and notices the boy struggling to keep his eyes open yet again.

“It looks like our little man back there could use a nap as well,” Luhan comments.

Minseok sighs while turning into their street. “I don’t know how much sleep he got last night but he doesn’t really like closing his eyes.”

“We all have fears we need to get over,” the doctor says as he gives Minseok a knowing look.

After they get home and Luhan takes a shower, they all gather in the kitchen to eat their meal. Jongin devours the chicken after what looks like making sure he won’t get scolded.

When they finish, Jinri runs into her room to get her things for the afternoon while Luhan smiles and just stares at his plate.

“You should go to sleep,” says Minseok as he tucks the wild strands of his husband’s hair behind his ears.

Luhan sighs contentedly and smiles at Minseok. He looks at the little boy holding a cup of juice and looking just about ready to fall asleep on his mug. “Hey, buddy,” Luhan calls. “Want to take a nap?”

Jongin shakes his head fervently as he drinks from his cup.

“Aren’t you tired, bud? You can sleep all you want, we’re not going anywhere,” Minseok assures him.

He looks reluctant but agrees after some more coercing.

It’s Luhan who picks him up and starts caressing the boy’s back as he hums a lullaby. He suddenly remembers when Jinri was still a toddler and had had trouble falling asleep at night. Luhan would sing to her until she couldn’t keep her eyes open while he carried her in his arms. He’d then place her in her bed and ended up falling asleep with her. Which is what happens when Minseok decides to check up on them and sees Luhan asleep on Jongin’s bed with Jongin holding tightly to Luhan’s neck, and asleep, Minseok gladly sees.

He takes the time to clean up the house, making sure to close the bedroom door and not making much noise. He gets the dishwasher to work and the laundry sorted out and starts taking out the ingredients to make Jinri’s favorite chocolate chip cookies. Jessica stops by sometime in the middle and promises to drop off Jinri by six.

A few hours go by and by the time he looks at the clock on the wall he hears footsteps in the kitchen.

“Hey, beautiful,” Luhan greets as he hugs Minseok from behind. “Watcha making?”

“Cookies. Jinri asked me to make some for the movie tonight.”

Luhan hums as he starts leaving kisses on Minseok’s neck and shoulders. “You seem happy. I’ve missed it.”

Minseok grimaces as he leans back into Luhan’s chest. “I’m sorry. I’m trying.”

“I know.”

They embrace for a few minutes, just taking in each other’s presence, and just like when they were rebellious teenagers, making out behind the bleachers in the football field after practice, the world seems to stop. Seconds turns into minutes and minutes into hours when they hold each other.

“How to explain how much I love you,” Luhan whispers into his ear.

“You’ve always been the sappy one in this relationship, I’m sure you can find the words,” Minseok jokes as he turns and puts his arms on Luhan’s shoulders. He kisses the doctor chastely, spreading his kisses into his cheeks.

Luhan cackles as he drops his head into the older man’s shoulder. “You .”

“Language, idiot,” Minseok answers with a slap to Luhan’s buttcheek and it makes Luhan laugh louder; loud enough to wake a small boy who suddenly walks into the hallway, looking at them with wide eyes.

“Hey, buddy,” Luhan says as he goes to Jongin and picks him up.

“Do you…“Jongin whispers but he doesn’t finish the sentence.

“What it is it, bud? You can ask us anything,” Minseok reminds him with a soft caress.

“Chocolate milk,” the boy voices barely loud enough. “Please?”

“All the chocolate milk you want, kiddo.”

Minseok pours him a glass while Jongin entertains himself with Luhan’s hair. He messes it up as Luhan shakes his head to put it down. It’s such a simple thing but it makes Jongin laugh.

“Jinri’s coming home at six,” Minseok reminds them.

“How about some football in the backyard, huh?” Luhan asks.

“Trying to raise another fanatic, Dr. Lu?”

“You betcha.”