Youngjae had told him he could go. In fact he hadn’t just told him he could, he’d insisted he make the trip.

“He’s going to be devastated if you don’t turn up.” He’d scolded when Mark had first suggested telling Jackson he couldn’t make it.  “In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if he decided to move the date just so you could. And I can’t let him do that. I’m not having him rearranging his wedding just because we failed to use a .”

Mark had almost choked on the pizza he’d been eating. But as blunt as the statement had been Youngjae wasn’t wrong. Jackson had booked the venue well in advance. It wasn’t his fault he and Youngjae had failed at basic family planning. As it was though they had and now Jackson’s wedding date fell on the same day that Youngjae was going to hit week thirty seven of his pregnancy meaning that while he could probably fly into Hong Kong for the wedding he wouldn’t be able to fly out again.

So Youngjae had been forced to decline the invitation. And while Mark hadn’t been forced to he’d thought he should decline too. The thought of leaving Youngjae at home, heavily pregnant and alone had not been a thought he liked. But yes, Youngjae could be very persistent. Meaning he was now in Hong Kong without him and he would be for the next four days.

And he was looking forward to Jackson’s wedding, he was. Jackson had been his friend for such a long time and he was incredibly happy for him. But Mark was also missing his family beyond belief so after meeting Jackson at the airport and being dragged somewhere to eat he’d headed straight to the hotel and connected his tablet to the hotel wi-fi.

It had been about a minute since he’d hit call though and the screen was still showing ‘Calling Youngjae…’

Mark frowned. He’d told him he would call him as soon as he could. Why wasn’t he picking up?

Had something happened? What if something was wrong?

Youngjae was so close to his due date. The baby could put in an appearance at anytime in the next few weeks. He’d told Youngjae this before he left saying it would be just their luck. He’d leave and as soon as he did the baby would decide he was bored in there. But Youngjae had told him not to be silly. The baby hadn’t even dropped yet. He’d be fine. But what if he’d been wrong? Oh God… what if Youngjae was in labour? He was miles away, he didn’t know when the next flight back to Korea was, what if he didn’t make it back in time? What if he wasn’t there to see his son come into the world?

But before he could have a complete nervous breakdown at the thought of Youngjae being at home and alone and in labour the call thankfully connected. And he was met by the sight of his living room ceiling and the faint sound of Twice playing in the background. He knew it was the living room because of the mint green lampshade, what he wasn’t so sure about was why he was looking at the ceiling. “Youngjae?” he ventured, confused.

And a face came into view. Or the top of someone’s head and some Youngjae shaped eyes did anyway. But while the eyes were Youngjae shaped it wasn’t his husband Mark was looking at. “Daisy?” he asked, wondering why his three year old daughter was answering the call instead of her mother. His heart wasn’t beating quite so fast anymore now the call had been answered but the worry hadn’t faded completely. Just because Daisy had answered that didn’t mean everything was okay. There could still be something wrong.

“Hi Daddy!” His daughter chirped, and tablet in hand she pulled back so he could see her face and the wide smile that was on it properly. “Was the airplane fun?”

“Lots of fun.” He told her, smiling back. He was still feeling a little anxious but his daughter’s smile, much like her mother’s was contagious. But back to why he’d called in the first place… “Where’s mummy?” he asked.

“He’s not here.” Daisy shrugged, making the pigtails he’d tied her hair in that morning bounce against her shoulders. Then she immediately changed the subject. “I did swimming today. Uncle Jaebum took me and I wented in the water and under the water and I didn’t drown.”

“That’s good…” Mark said slowly, not drowning while swimming was indeed a good thing. But she hadn’t really answered his question. “But where’s…” he started to ask again but he didn’t get to finish.

“Wait!” Daisy was shrieking, some kind of realisation dawning and he found himself staring at their living room ceiling again.

Mark listened as the thump of Daisy’s feet on the carpet faded away and waited. It wasn’t as if he could do anything else. Then the thump of socked feet on the carpet was back and the screen turned blue.

“Look!” He heard Daisy exclaim, “Uncle Jaebum buyed me a whale. Whales are good at swimming like me.”

“That’s lovely.” Mark told her once she’d moved the toy whale out of the way of the camera and her face was back on the screen. “But where’s….”

Again he didn’t get to finish.

“Oh, oh, oh!” Daisy was saying excitedly. “Wait!”

And again Mark had no choice but to do as he was told.

This time when Daisy returned it was a piece of paper she was waving in front of the camera. “I did drawing Daddy.” She informed him. “It’s for you cause I love you a lot.”

Mark couldn’t quite make out what he was looking at, because she was still waving the paper all he could make out were flashes of blue and red but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. “That’s beautiful.” He told her. “I love you too.” And he did, that was what was making this harder. Four days might not seem like very long to most people but he’d never been away from his daughter for more than a couple of days before. Couple missing his daughter with worrying about his husband and the next few days were going to be hard for him, he knew that and he wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

“Mummy let me use the good pens.” Daisy told him proudly.

“That’s awesome.” This was indeed something to boast about, Youngjae only let her access the good pens when she’d been good and he was one hundred per cent sure she wasn’t going to decorate their couch cushions in felt tip. And speaking of Youngjae…  “Where is Mummy?” he asked, hoping to get an answer this time. “Can I speak to him?”

Daisy thought about this for a second and then slowly shook her head. “No.” she said. “I don’t think so.”

“Um…” Mark found himself saying, lost for words. She didn’t think so? Why didn’t she think so? “Is he busy?” he asked her.

Daisy shook her head again. “No.”

If he wasn’t bu