“Thanks, Baekhyun. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“It’s no problem, Chanyeol. Really. I love spending time with the kids.” Baekhyun anchors the phone between his ear and shoulder as he helps Sehun into his jacket. “We just hired a new assistant as well, so Jongdae and Youngjae will be fine without me for a day. Now you just focus on work, and we’ll see you when you get home later, okay?”

“You’re the best, B. Honestly…I don’t know how I even got so lucky.”

“Oh, stop it, you big cheeseball,” Baekhyun teases, kneeling down to tie Sehun’s shoes; but he can’t stop the pink from tinting his cheeks. “Go back to work, Giant.” He hears Chanyeol’s sharp intake on the other end of the line, and pauses, his fingers freezing in the middle of pulling the bunny ears through the loops of Sehun’s laces. “Chanyeol?”

Still nothing.

“Chanyeol, are you okay?” Baekhyun asks again, forgetting the laces altogether as he stands up.

“Y-yeah,” Chanyeol finally responds, his voice hoarse. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure, because you–“

“I’ll see you later, Baekhyun.”

The line clicks and Baekhyun frowns as he looks down at the device in his hands. Worry tugs at his gut as he runs over everything he’d said during the five-minute conversation again, wondering what he could have possibly said to cause such a reaction in Chanyeol. He was still racking his brain for a reason when he feels a slight tug on his pant leg.

“Uncle Bacon?” Baekhyun’s eyes soften at the wide-eyed, open mouth look Sehun gives him from the ground. The toddler has the ends of the shoe laces in his small hands, each leading to loose knots hanging in the middle of his shoe. “Hunnie need help…” he child says, looking at the mess in his hands dejectedly. 

Worry cast aside, Baekhyun chuckles as he kneels down once again, taking the shoe laces from Sehun’s hands. “You did good, Sehunnie. You almost got it!” Baekhyun cheers. “Here, I’ll teach you,” Baekhyun says, taking a lace in each hand. “It’s simple, really. Do you like bunnies, Sehun?”

Sehun nods, looking curiously at the adult as he wonders why Baekhyun was asking him about bunny rabbits at a time like this. 

“Well, if you remember this little rhyme, you’ll be able to tie your own laces like a pro in no time!” Baekhyun exclaims. He begins by crossing the lace over each other as he recites the poem:

“Bunny ears, Bunny ears, playing by a tree.

Criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me.

Bunny ears, Bunny ears, jumped into the hole,

Popped out the other side beautiful and bold!”

Sehun watches in awe as Baekhyun finishes up the rhyme and tightens the knot on his now perfectly tied laces. “Uncle Bacon….you’re so smart!”

Baekhyun smiles as he unties the laces once again. “Now your turn, Sehunnie. You try.”

Nervously, Sehun takes the white laces into his hands, sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth as he begins the rhyme. “B-bunny ears, Bunny ears, playing by the tree… Crissy-crossy the tree trying to catch Hunnie!” Baekhyun laughs at Sehun’s rendition, watching Sehun carefully pokes the loop through the hole as he was taught. “Bunny ears jump into the hole, and POPPED OUT THE OTHER SIDE BEAUTIFUL AND BOLD!” Sehun screams the last line, grinning from ear to ear as he looks at his neatly tied shoes in astonishment. “I did it! Hunnie did it!” the toddler yells, jumping up. “Nini hyung! Hunnie knows how to tie his shoes now!” Sehun exclaims, clapping excitedly as Jongin walks over with his book in hand, peering at Sehun’s shoes.

“Wow! Sehunnie you’re so smart!” Jongin yells, holding his hand up for a high-five. 

“Are you ready to go, Jongin?” Baekhyun asks, smiling fondly at the brotherly affection between the two. 

“Yup yup!” Jongin responds, running back to put his book on the coffee table before coming back with one of his arms in his coat. “Watch me, Uncle Bacon! I can tie mine really good too!”

“What’s that for?” Jongin asks, resting his chin in his hand as he watches Baekhyun cover the chicken s with plastic wrap.

“This is a meat mallet,” Baekhyun says, showing the tool to Jongin and Sehun. “You use it to pound the chicken, to make it nice and thin.”

“Ohhhhh,” both brothers says in unison, watching as Baekhyun gently pounds one of the s until it was about a quarter inch in thickness.

“Do you want to try?” Baekhyun asks, handing the mallet to Sehun. The toddler nods enthusiastically as he took it into his hands. “Just do it like I did, okay?” He then moves down the kitchen counter to stand in front of Jongin. “Do you want to help me dip the strawberries, Jongin?” Baekhyun asks. 

Jongin nods excitedly. 

He sits the bowl of melted chocolate in front of Jongin and watches as Sehun glances over, staring at the chocolate with wide eyes. Picking up one of the strawberries they’d previously washed, he holds it by the stem and dips it three quarters of the way into the chocolate, then pulls it out and rolls it into one of the various toppings arranged on the counter. “Just like that, okay? You can just dip it and put it onto this tray, or you can dip it into any topping you like just like I did,” Baekhyun explains. Jongin nods, and Baekhyun stands by and watches as the boy dipped his first two strawberries before turning to the stove and checking on the potatoes. 

Two hours later, every is done. The food had been cooked to perfection, the chocolate-covered strawberries sat chilling in the fridge, and the dining room table is decorate lavishly with rose petals that Jongin had insisted they buy at the market. Two wine glasses and a bottle of wine sit in the center of the table next to the handmade, heart-shaped center piece Jongin and Sehun had put together, along with two plastic wine glasses for Jongin and Sehun. Baekhyun exhales as he folds the blanket and looks around the room; everything’s perfect. Now the only thing left is to wait for Chanyeol to return home. 

“Come on boys,” Baekhyun says, herding the boys into the bathroom. “Let’s take a bath and get changed before your Daddy comes home.”

“Wow…this is really nice, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo gawks at the profligately decorated private dining area, mentally scolding his boyfriend for wasting so much money on one simple dinner. “You shouldn’t have.” 

“Always the best for you, Soo,” Chanyeol replies, taking his seat and wiping his palms on the leg of his pants. The taller male seems to be unusually anxious and he fidgets in his seat, lo