~*~

Big Parties equal big messes to clean up but it’s always worth it
~*~

Stepping back to admire his handy work, Yongguk smiled to himself and nodded, “There all done.”

Popping his head out of the kitchen where he was in the middle of preparing a virtual feast for everyone, Himchan moved to the wooden conservatory which they had built onto the side of the house a year after moving in so that they could have a space to host the large family get togethers and let out a gasp or surprise. The room had been transformed from its usual plain, neat and orderly state into something that almost looked like a palace with fine silk drapes hanging from the ceiling to create the illusion of a tent with diamante stars hanging from small strings to enhance the light from the modest little bulb chandelier that they had.

The rest of the room had been also covered with the fine silk to keep up the tent theme and the large dining table had been treated with a new coat of varnish and covered with a lacework tablecloth. Each of the seats had deep red tiebacks on them, fashioned into some kind of elegant formal bow and the old tired cushions had been replaced with new softer ones which were sure to make many people happy. There were three table centrepieces, fashioned glass vases in the shape of horses which they had found in a junk shop and immediately bought, that had been filled with fresh flowers in bright pinks and purples that looked simply wonderful and carefully selected favours had been scattered amongst the vases to give something for the kiddies to grab and swipe whenever they got bored. Granted all of the kids got on despite their age difference and Himchan couldn’t feel more proud of that fact.

Letting out a happy sigh, he beamed the most beautiful smile towards his finance and tried to hold back the tears that wanted to fall from his eyes, “Are you sure that you really belong in the construction industry? This is beautiful and more than I ever imagined that it would be.”

Yongguk blushed, “I’m only this good for you, and everything else I try usually ends up a right mess.”

“It does not,” Himchan argued back immediately, wanting the other to have no doubts in himself.

“Remember Zelo’s fourth birthday party?” Yongguk said with a grimace, trying to hide the fact that he did not want to remember anything of that event in the slightest.

Amazing Himchan just burst into laughter, “Oh come on, he loved it and you know it. True it wasn’t quite what he wanted but he was still happy to be the pink prince of the kingdom and it’ll be great blackmail material for when he’s a bratty teenager.”

A groan escaped Yongguk’s lips, “Oh please don’t let me start thinking about that, I really don’t want to know what he’s going to be like.”

“Well we’ll find out together,” Himchan said cutely placing a kiss onto Yongguk’s lips, “Now come and help me finish off the Chapssaltteok before the guests start arriving and we have no time to get changed.”

Nodding Yongguk hurried inside and made sure to grab hold of the wildly running Zelo so that he would not get inside the conservatory for the time being. Whilst he trusted his son to not make a mess or misbehave, trouble was attracted to the five year old like a magnet and he really did not want to see all of his hard word destroyed before anything even began. Zelo wasn’t too fussed on the matter, quite happy to spend some time with his father and mother and help out with the food preparation, even if he was just adding sugar sparkles to the cupcakes but it was more than enough to keep him happy and occupied and that was something that both parents were very happy with.

By the time seven o’clock rolled around both Himchan and Yongguk were ready to go with their matching hanbok’s and Zelo was proudly bouncing around in his bright pink one pretending to be a very happy prince once again which was just plain adorable. Though Yongguk looked a little on the embarrassed side every single time that someone happened to mention it. To save any confusion or not to give the game away too early, everyone had been requested to attend in traditional clothing of hanbok’s for those who lived in Korea and Changshan for those who lived in China. No one had questioned the request in the slightest, just presuming everything to be part of a theme for a large gathering and everyone did look completely splendid in their formal wear.

Thankfully Henry and Zhoumi were more than responsible enough to keep an eye on Zelo and the three girls so that they did not fall over and ruin their pretty little outfits in the slightest or pester the hell out of the newest addition to their ever growing family in the form of Gisung who was Sungmin and Kyuhyun’s son. Naturally the children were drawn to the new baby because everyone was drawn to him as he had only been born around two months ago and this was the first large family event that he was attending.

Himchan smiled as he finally got a chance to hold the youngster after passing off table laying duties to Jongup and Kangin who did not appear to be doing overly much in the grand scheme of life right now. “Aww look at him, he’s sure to be a handsome boy when he grows up,” he cooed happily.

Sungmin chuckled proudly, “I hope that he gets my good graces rather than Kyu’s though, or we’ll be in for a wealth of trouble.”

Himchan couldn’t help but snort at that, shaking his head, “Oh trust me, you’ll have a little devil here too, you can see it in the glimmer of his eyes.”

Zelo chose that moment to come wandering up, “Mummy! Can I have a look at baby?”

“Sure you can sweetie” Himchan said, moving a little so that Zelo could easily get up and stare at his new cousin with wide eyes.

“Why is he so small?” Zelo asked, blinking.

“Because he’s a baby,” Himchan said, hoping this wouldn’t lead to many more questions revolved around the ‘why’ word, he was sure that Yifan and Luhan were about to enter that stage and they had three toddlers all at the same time, “You were once this size too.”

“Really?” Zelo asked looking at the baby with surprised eyes, “Will he grow bigger?”

“Yes,” Himchan said with all of the patience in the world whilst Sungmin looked on with a confused expression on his face, “One day he’ll be as old as you but you’ll be older so you’ll have to look after him and help him out.”

The boy blinked, “Like I protect the girls?”

“Yes,” Himchan nodded and giggled as the boy was called away by the happy sounding calls of the said three year olds who wanted Zelo to save them from Henry’s teasing.

Sungmin shook his head, “I’ve got all of that to look forward to haven’t I?”

“Yup,” Himchan said, blinking when Gisung started to wriggle and let out a slight cry, “Though I think it’s time that you went back to Daddy. Great thing about them not being yours, once they start to cry you can give them back.”

A playful scowl was sent his way but Sungmin who happily accepted back his son before quickly realising just what was wrong with his new baby and immediately heading up to the changing station in order to sort out the soiled nappy whilst yelling for Kyuhyun to bring the bag.

Smiling brightly, Himchan went back to his hosting duties and it wasn’t long before everyone was seated at the table and enjoying the mountains of food that had been created. There were no fights and squabbles as there was more than enough for everyone to have a try and the children shared smaller portions of the adult’s food as was proper. There were no turkey dinosaurs in sight at all tonight but not one of the children complained in the slightest.

Once all of the food and pudding had been consumed and carefully tidied away, Yongguk cast a glance towards Himchan and nodded his head towards the man. A slight blush crossed the youngers face but he smiled and nodded back squeezing the elders hand in order to give him an extra bit of courage. Not that Yongguk needed it of course, he was more than sure about this whole situation and simply couldn’t wait to see the response on everyone’s face.

Picking up a spoon, he rapped it gently against the side of his glass to get everyone’s attention and then rose up to a standing position with a smile on his face once the conversation had died down. Gently he cleared his throat, “Thank you all for coming tonight,” he started which caused a ripple of confusion because this level of formality was never really needed between this large family in the slightest, “I know that some of you may be wondering why me and Himchan have set everything up in such a formal manner and requested traditional outfits well now the time has come to explain.”

Through the crowd of expectant faces it was easy to spot the knowing smiles from his immediate family and Yifan who was currently bouncing one of his daughters on his lap at the moment and the ex-General found himself rather enjoying it all. Carefully he took hold of Himchan’s hand to tug him up because this was just as much about him as well and smiled, “Me and Himchan have a formal announcement to make, one that is sure to cause a ruckus but please remember that there are children present and we do have to tidy up after you all tonight.”

Yongguk glanced towards Himchan once again who nodded, a happy smile on his pretty little face, “As of the 16^th of May this year, me and Himchan have formally become engaged to be married and with a little luck we should be wed on November 5^th if all present here will be inclined to attend of course.”

There was a few seconds of silence before a series of cheers immediately rose up and everywhere was instantly filled with happy chatter, excited remarks and hundreds upon hundreds of messages of congratulations, people wanting to see the ring, dates being confirmed and booked in and a whole host of offers for help and questions about traditions and other things that quickly turned into a complete blur. Champagne was opened and drank in heavy quantities and the kids ran about chasing the streamers from some well-placed party cannons with squeals of laughter and joy that just helped everything to go stronger and flow beautifully along.

As the sun rose the next morning, Himchan awoke with a banging head and was mildly surprised to find himself resting on top of Yongguk on the couch whilst Zelo was being gently guided into eating his breakfast by Leeteuk who had clearly stayed the night. “Morning,” Leeteuk said brightly, looking as though he had barely touched a drop of alcohol last night, “How’s the future Mr. Bang?”

“Feeling like his head has been banged in,” Himchan said with a grumble, looking around, and “I guess the party went well?”

“Very well,” Leeteuk said, “There’s a lot of mess to clear up but I’ll give you a hand once you’ve had some of Hank’s hangover cure and Yifan has Tao already sorting out the conservatory so that’s all under control.”

“Why is he doing that?” Himchan asked, feeling as though he was missing out on something.

“He and Hyukjae went a little bit crazy with the chocolate fountain and made a mess,” Leeteuk said, “Hyukjae is in the process of sorting out the bathroom since his hangovers are hell and there is no way that you should be subjected to it.”

Himchan smiled, “You’re the best Leeteuk-Umma.”

“Thank you,” Leeteuk said with a smile before turning back to Zelo, “Now come on mister, if you want to play with your cousins in the tree house you have to eat all of your cereal and drink your milk else you won’t have the energy to play.”

Shaking his head, Himchan looked down towards Yongguk who was smiling up at him blearily before leaning down to press a kiss to his lips, “I take it we won’t be drinking for a while?”

“No,” Yongguk said, shaking his head, “Not until the wedding day at least.” 

Authors babbling:

Oh the fluff but I needed to write some fluff so that makes me happy. Hope this chapter was worth the wait