"You can do it, Youngjae! Just a little farther. Come to appa!" Heechul said, cheering his son on. Youngjae crawled a little farther to Heechul, giggling when Heechul picked him up and kissed his cheeks.

     "Good job, Jae. You've been crawling so much."

Miyoung became jealous of the attention her brother was getting (Somehow, eight-month-old babies can feel jealousy. Well, at least if that eight moth old is the daughter of Kim Heechul), and attempted to crawl over to her appa, maneuvering awkwardly on wobbly hands and knees. She wobbled and fell back to the ground, whining in the process.

     "Oh, princess, don't worry," Heechul said, walking over to her and picking her up. "You'll learn soon. Who wants to go see what Baba is doing?"

Since the twins might get confused as they learned to give their fathers names, Heechul and Hankyung decided that Hankyung would be "Baba", the Chinese word for dad, and Heechul would be "Appa", the Korean word for dad. That way, they could differentiate and have both sides of their heritage mixed in.

     Heading up the stairs, Heechul heard Hankyung's voice coming from their bedroom.

"Oh, really? Cousin Li and his wife had a baby? That's nice. Oh-" Hankyung said. "What, Mom? How's he?"

     Heechul tried not to listen, but Hankyung sounded stressed.

"You mean Heechul, my husband? No disrespect, Mom, but he does have a name. Ah, yeah, yes, I know. But, he's good. Heechul is good. And Youngjae and Miyoung are-what? Oh, yes, Mom, they both also have Chinese names. Bohai and Jia...that's what they are. They're growing really fast. Youngjae actually started crawl-"

     Heechul listened as Hankyung fell silent for a few seconds.

"Yes, I understand. Look, Mom, I love you and Dad, and I know you weren't exactly planning for my life to turn out like this, but I won't apologize for being happy with where I am. I know you would have much rather had me settle down back home and marry a nice, local girl, but I guess things just didn't work out that way. And...huh? Of course I'm happy with Heechul. Please stop trying to make him look like a bad person. He's a great person and an amazing father, and I thought you'd accept that by now. He's your son-in-law, and that's how it's going to be until the day I die. Huh? Yes, I know Li turned out so much better, but please don't bring the twins into this. Even if you don't agree with my marriage, can't you just accept your grandchildren? Yes, yes, I know, but...I love you, Mom. I'll talk to you later."

     Hankyung hung up. Heechul had put the twins down for a nap and came into the room. Hankyung let out a sigh.

"Everything alright, babe?" Heechul asked, rubbing Hankyung's back lightly.

     "Uh, yeah. Just my Mom. I think I told you that things with my parents haven't been the greatest lately."

"Is...is it my fault?"

     Hankyung looked at Heechul. "No, Chul. Why would it be your fault?"

"They probably weren't happy that their son married a trampy man," Heechul sighed.

     "Trampy man? Now you're just...wait. Were you listening?"

Heechul held his breath. "Well..."

     "Chul, tell me the truth."

"Fine. I came up here to find you, and you sounded stressed. Happy now?" Heechul sighed. "I'm sorry that you have to deal with a problem like me."

     "A problem? You really think you're a problem?" Hankyung asked.

"Well, I've caused so much trouble between you and your parents. I've really tried to be nice to them."

     Hankyung gently grabbed Heechul's shoulders. "Baby, look at me."

Heechul stared at the floor.

     "Kim Heechul, look me in the face, araso?"

Heechul lifted his face, his eyes shut tightly. "I...I just feel like I've made your life horrible. I'm sorry, Hankyung," he sniffed.

     "Oh, Heechul, please don't blame yourself." Hankyung wiped the tears that began to creep out of Heechul's closed eyes, and wrapped his arms around him. He gently rubbed his back. "Ever since my parents had the slightest inkling that I might like men also, they had an issue with it, and that was when I was a teenager. Trust me, this isn't your fault. I think now they just want to find an object to project their negative feelings onto so they don't feel so bad about it, and unfortunately, I think they targeted you."

     "But if I wasn't here-"

"Don't say that, Chul. If you weren't here, my parents would still dislike my ual orientation, and my life would be so empty. Baby, none of this is your fault. Do you hear me? None of it."

     Heechul fell silent for a moment.

"If anything, I should apologize to you for letting them drag you into this. I should be protecting you and making sure you don't get hurt, and look how that turned out," Hankyung said, sighing.

     "Hannie, this isn't your fault, either. You can't control what your parents say or do."

"I know, but they can't just attack my family like that. This is a blow on my part."

     "Did they say anything about the kids?"

Hankyung shrugged.

     "You mean your mother goes all ape about how your life turned out, and not one word comes out about the twins?"

"I...okay. I knew it would bother you, but if you insist, she mentioned just a little about how they're growing."

     "...And?"

"That's it."

     Heechul rolled his eyes. "Well, she seems to be a PhD in how gay marriages turn out like . Please, enlighten me more as to how she has nothing bad to say about her only grandchildren."

     "Heechul...ugh! You know what? This is going to hurt, but since you insist, here it is. She thinks they're going to get screwed up. She feels that they need a mother and that only so much good can come from being raised by two fathers. There's the truth. Happy now?"

     Heechul clenched his hands. "That...woman thinks she can say those kinds of things about my children?"

"Look, I told her that they'll turn out fine and that she can't forget her only grandchildren, no matter what issues she has with my life. They did nothing wrong."

     "And that's exactly why I have an issue with this. You know what? I tried to be nice. I tried to respect her, and this is what I- no, my children get? Bull...such bull!"

     Small cries came from the nursery.

"I think the twins are awake. Should we go check on them?" Hankyung asked. Heechul let out a breath and nodded.

     "See? I probably scared them with my horrible voice." Heechul shook his head.

"Okay. Will you please stop jumping to the defensive? They probably just need their diapers changed."

     "No. I did that right before putting them down for their naps."

"Maybe they need to be fed?"

     "Every three hours. It's only been thirty minutes."

"Um...pain? Gas?"

     "They both burped after I fed them." Heechul felt their foreheads. "They don't feel warm."

He took one twin in each arm, walking back and forth while singing to them.

     "You're okay, angels. Just go back to sleep, okay?"

The twins soon stopped crying. Heechul put them back in their cribs to go back to sleep.

     "I think they just wanted attention."

"Chul, you just..."

     Heechul cocked an eyebrow. "I did what?"

"You remembered everything you've done for them before their naps. Then you just picked them up and rocked them, and they just settled right down for you," Hankyung doted.

     "And that means?"

"You are an amazing parent. You know exactly what these kids need, and you take such good care of them."

    "So? Your mother doesn't seem to think so."

"Well, I love her dearly but forget what she says. People at times won't accept us, and we've dealt with that before. I'm sorry for everything, baby. Just know that I love you and we can get through this."

     "Thank you for trying to protect me, Hannie, and I'm sorry for getting so angry. I guess I just don't like the idea of people speaking badly of our children."

Heechul kissed Hankyung lightly on the lips.

     "I just need to be alone for a few minutes," Heechul said, going down the stairs.

"Jagi?"

     "It's not you. I...just need some fresh air. I promise I'll be back."