“I want Mummy!”

Yugyeom sighed. He was sitting on the living room floor, legs crossed, his four-year old daughter Bona in front of him as he tried to make her hair look halfway presentable and he’d lost count of the amount of times he’d heard the words so far from her that morning. “I told you,” he said, a handful of her hair bunched in one hand, hairbrush in the other, “he’s sleeping.” What he was aiming towards was a neat ponytail in order to keep it out of her eyes but every time he thought he had it she would start fidgeting or turn her head and he’d have to start all over again. That was probably what had brought on this most recent demand for her mother he mused as he tried to catch the strands of hair that kept escaping him. Jinyoung would probably have had her hair in two perfect braids by now, ribbons tied and hair clips in. Bona was clearly bored with how long it was taking her father in comparison.

“We can wake him up!” She suggested, turning her head to look at him, causing half of the hair Yugyeom had so meticulously gathered back up to fall from his grip.

“No we can’t.” Yugyeom informed her, trying not to let his frustration show. Again this was something he’d already told her but she was only a child he reminded himself, getting annoyed wasn’t going to help. “It wouldn’t be kind when he’s so tired.”

“But…” Bona started to say, pout forming but her father didn’t let her finish.

“No buts. We’re not waking him. Now sit still. The sooner we get your hair done, the sooner we can go to the park. You want to go on the swings, don’t you?” It might only be half past eight but they’d been up since six thirty and Yugyeom was more than ready to get out of the house.

“Yes. I want to go high in the sky.” Bona informed him with a nod, pout fading and expression turning determined.

“Then turn around.” Yugyeom told her, unable to help a smile. Whenever she narrowed her eyes like that she looked so much like Jinyoung that he just wanted to squeeze her. But there wasn’t any time for that, if they wanted to get out the house before his husband woke up and demanded to go with them, they needed to get a move on.

“Fine.” Bona said with a sigh, reluctantly turning back around

“Good girl.” Yugyeom told her, hoping she’d sit still long enough for him to at least get the hair bobble tied. He didn’t even care about her hair looking neat anymore, he just wanted it out of her face then they could go.

And this time she did it. Bona sat still just long enough for Yugyeom to get the hair bobble off his wrist and around the ponytail gathered in his hand. Almost as soon as he did though Bona was moving again, kicking her legs this time in impatience. “But I really want Mummy to come.” She whined. “I miss him.”

“You saw him last night.” Yugyeom reminded her, nudging her to stand up so he could get up too. “He put you to bed after your bath. He read you a story too.” Yugyeom had told Jinyoung that he’d do bedtime last night since he was home and that he should put his feet up but Jinyoung had refused to hear it. He’d told Yugyeom that he knew how hard he’d been working lately and that he wanted him to relax. Yugyeom had tried to argue, had tried to tell him that if anyone deserved to relax then it was him, he was the one who’d been running around after Bona all day while eight months pregnant. But Jinyoung had just rolled his eyes and told him that he might be pregnant but that didn’t mean he was incapable. Then he’d dragged Bona into it, asking her who she wanted to help her with bedtime and Yugyeom had given up. No matter how ridiculous Jinyoung was being he knew he couldn’t win against both of them.

“I haven’t seen him today.” Bona pointed out. “And Mummy likes the park.”

“He does.” Yugyeom agreed once he was on his feet. “But we should let him rest. He didn’t get to sleep until very, very late last night.”

“Why?” Bona asked, head tilting in curiosity.

“Because it’s hard to get comfy when you have a baby in your tummy.” Yugyeom explained.

Bona thought about this for a second then nodded. “The baby is wriggly.” she agreed. “She doesn’t stay still.”

“That’s right.” Yugyeom confirmed. “Your baby sister is almost as wriggly as you are and that makes it hard for Mummy to sleep sometimes.” Their second daughter really was an active baby and that was a big part of why Jinyoung hadn’t been sleeping well for the last few weeks. And if that was all it was then maybe wouldn’t have been so bad. But that wasn't all it was, if the baby wasn’t kicking then it was heartburn keeping Jinyoung awake, if it wasn’t heartburn then he was tossing and turning, mind running riot. It had happened with Bona too, the closer he got to his due date the stranger and more vivid his dreams had become to the point where they sometimes jolted him awake. This time around, with this baby being planned his dreams weren’t as tinged with anxiety as they had been during his first pregnancy but they were still pretty odd leaving Jinyoung tired before he was even up and out of bed. So yes, when Bona had come in to wake them up that morning and Yugyeom had realised that for once Jinyoung was sleeping soundly he’d whisked their daughter out of the room before she could start jumping around. Jinyoung deserved rest and he wasn’t going to get it with an overly energetic four year old in the room.

And Bona had been asking for her mother ever since. “But maybe the baby wants to come to the park too…” she tried next, not giving up on getting Jinyoung to come with them.

“The baby will be tired as well.” Yugyeom told her. “She was awake way past her bedtime.”

He knew this because he’d woken up at around three that morning and found the bed empty. Worried, he’d gotten up to look for Jinyoung and found him pacing the hallway, a grimace on his face and one hand pressed to the small of his back. ‘I’m fine.’ Jinyoung had told him before he could even open his mouth, ‘the baby’s just restless that’s all, but I’m on my way back to bed now.’ Yugyeom had been glad that was all it was, with Jinyoung being only a few weeks away from his due date he’d thought the pacing might be a sign that a trip to the hospital was on the cards and that would have meant calling his parents in the middle of the night so they could come watch Bona. It was something they’d said they wouldn’t mind doing but he still would have felt bad about disturbing them. Not as bad as he’d felt for Jinyoung though, seeing him so clearly uncomfortable. He’d guided him back to bed and helped him get settled, then he’d rubbed circles on his back until he’d fallen asleep, feeling terrible for not being home enough lately. He’d planned ahead and cleared his schedule closer to when the baby was due, booking a whole two months off work around that time so he could be with his family but that had meant he’d been working a lot more over the last few weeks to make up for the time he’d be taking off. He felt like he’d barely seen Jinyoung and this was the first time in a long time that he’d been home when Bona had gone to sleep and still been there in the morning. It was no wonder really that she kept asking for Jinyoung, Yugyeom thought, feeling guilty. He was the parent she was most used to having around.

And yes, there she went again, “But it’s daytime Daddy,” Bona said, sounding frustrated now,  “they need to get up and have breakfast.”

“Once we’re done at the park we can bring them back some breakfast.” Yugyeom suggested. Maybe if he promised they were going to do something nice for Jinyoung she’d get on board and stop arguing. “What do you think Mummy would like?”

Bona thought about this for a second, brow furrowing in concentration. “I don’t know.” She said at last. “Maybe pancakes… or pizza… he likes pizza. The one that comes in the box all cooked already.”

“We’ll see what we can do.” Yugyeom promised, not sure where he was going to find take-out pizza so early in the morning but knowing that if Bona decided that was what her mother wanted then he’d have to work it out. His daughter could be ridiculously stubborn once she set her mind to something. “Now come on, let’s find your jacket and your shoes,” he said, holding out a hand.

Bona didn’t take it. Instead she