‘How dare he? Leaving me for work at a time like this?’ He thought bitterly, pacing around the living room with his coffee mug in hand; it was empty already. He had finally gotten everything that he had always wanted, a nice beautiful home on the countryside, a loving partner, and a beautiful child. But now that he had it all, he was unsure how to handle himself; his lover was always working, his home was empty and quiet, and the child hid without a single sound. He had always been preparing himself for the thought of child running around the home, chaotic and destructive as they screamed for both attention and happiness.

But this child sat silent and afraid in her room, the walls white and empty; she did not express her likes or dislikes. Zitao did not know if she had a favorite color, or if she liked them all. He did not know if she liked to play with dolls, or prefered teddy bears. He could not tell if she was happy or simply indifferent. The child was as hard to read as Sehun, but even he had his tells. Taking a breath, Zitao knew it would be a process to unlock the girl’s personalities. They would have to take it slow and calmly, gently and without a lot of pressure. The process was intense and mostly, a pain; it was worth it.

The child’s birth certificate named her Marie, a delicate and pretty name. But after both Sehun and Zitao called to her, they had come to the conclusion that she hadn’t been called Marie; they didn’t even want to contemplate what she had been called instead. Now they were forced to either come up with a new name for her, or to call her by a name she does not respond to. In the meantime, he had already found himself calling her by nickname; his little flower.

At the thought of his beautiful little flower, he looked around the living room, already feeling like a bad father. He had left her to play, a few various toys and learning items scattered around the floor where she had been moments before. But, having lost himself in thought and debate, he did not notice her leaving. A small sensation of panic rose in his stomach and tickled the back of his throat, his mouth twisting into a grimace of anxiety; he set the coffee mug down so hard he thought it would break as he hurried about. The living room was completely empty of the girl, the dining room, which sat behind the wall of the living room, was just as vacant. With a small shriek, he ran through the dining room and burst through the double doors of the kitchen.

All he could think about, the only things his eyes went to, was every little thing that could have possibly hurt her. His eyes immediately finding the knife block on the far counter, too high for her to reach. Slipping next to the oven and dishwasher, Zitao stupid enough to open both to check that she was not in either. Sighing with relief at the empty appliances, he made a small face as he noted the small amount of filth building up. The relief and note did not last long, a small frantic gasp escaping him as he checked every single cabinet and cupboard door, ensuring she did not find a way to trap herself there. He felt like an idiot, he most likely looked like one as well; his hands placed firmly on the counter as he breathed heavily, eyes wide at the thought of a house with no child protection.

The outlets were uncovered, the wires blatantly obvious, the kitchen accessible, and so many other dangers. Zitao almost couldn’t handle himself, his forehead landing on the counter with a small thunk, taking a breath to center himself.

“Little flower!” He shrieked, bolting up once more when he remembered yet again she was nowhere to be found; though he had been looking in all the wrong locations in the first place. He was a little dizzy from the whiplash inducing emotions, rushing out of the kitchen doors once more to begin his search; it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be.

There she was, in the middle of the hallway, connected blatantly to the living room and dining room. He didn’t know how he had missed her when she was so obviously there, especially at the realization of what she was doing. There was relief in finding her, but finding her also brought about a new anxiety. She had found her way to Sehun’s office, his mesh wire pen holder knocked over by her feet. Sadly, Sehun didn’t just keep pens in that container, markers and highlights of all sorts often found their place there. Their new place was the floor, scattered at her feet.

Correction, that was simply their resting place as she drew on the wall, Zitao’s eyes finding the explosion of colors on his nice white walls. The girl had been drawing on the walls, splotches of green, blue, and pink permanently fixated into the walls. A black splotch a little farther down the hallway also resided on the walls, but he quickly gave up on figuring out what it was. He couldn’t be sure what she had been drawing, his best guess was a landscape of some sort. He couldn’t even be sure what she was drawing at the moment, a black marker in her hand as she marred the picture she had already drawn. A line in the middle, a crooked circle at the top, oddly asymmetrical lines at the sides and bottom with circles attached to the ends. She repeated this again, the next one a little smaller.

He was unsure as to how he should respond to his little flower coloring the walls, it was hard to think of punishing when his eyes finally found her face. Instead of indifference or fear, a smile lit up her rosey cheeks, her own green eyes glittering happily. The small squeals and giggles escaping her was contagious, Zitao smiling before he even realized it. She was almost too cute for him to handle, any thought of punishment fleeing from his mind.

Walking to her side, he slowly sat down next to her, smiling despite her own smile dropping. The fear was back and he almost regretted disturbing her; it was obvious that she thought something bad was about to happen. But he could only smile at her and point to the picture she had been drawing, looking back at her.

“It’s very pretty, what is it?” He approached the situation delicately, the girl had already taken a serious liking to Sehun; though he had no idea why. Zitao was the ‘stay at home’ father, getting to spend every moment with the child, and yet she liked the man that was always gone more. He was determined to win the girl’s affections, he wanted to see her smile at him, wanted her to play with him, to talk with him. He knew he was being selfish, though he felt it was with good intentions.

The girl simply took the marker closer to , her own eyes slipping to the drawing before dropping the marker; her eyes moved to her feet.

“Famiwy.” Her voice was sweet and soft, if not a little high pitched as she looked back at him; she didn’t seem as scared. And best of all? It was spoken in Korean, he could have almost melted with relief at being able to communicate; even if it was a little hard to understand her. He looked back to the picture himself, a soft ‘hmm’ sound escaping his lips as he tapped his chin thoughtfully.

“Family?” He asked with a smile, watching her pick a yellow highlighter. While he was already mourning the purity of his white walls, he was more concerned with his flower’s happiness above all else. He’s not only willing to let her continue drawing on the walls, he was willing to join her.

“Daddy,” she pointed to the taller of two figures, uncapping the highlighter to add some squiggly lines to the top of the face, “Mommy.” She finished, dropping the yellow highlighter to pick up a brown marker, adding a few lines to the top of the other figure’s head. It didn’t look like women's hair though, it looked more like the hair on the supposed father figure’s head; it was male. Art abilities aside, Zitao found it cute, smiling at the figures. The two figures looked happy, connected by their balls for hands and crooked smiles, their hair spiked up as if they had been electrocuted. Chuckling, he looked back to the girl, who now stood with a small smile herself.

He was a little confused at the pictures, the girl’s hair was obviously black, and yet the pictures before him had blonde and brown hair; he was a little too slow for his own good.

“New famiwy.” She dropped the marker, looking at the picture, Zitao a little afraid that she could read his mind. Holding his head a little suspiciously, he eyed the girl before he realized his silly actions once more. Dropping his hands, he finally understood. The blonde figure was Sehun while the brown haired figure was him, though, Zitao was a touch smaller than Sehun if anything. Smiling, he could have almost squealed himself, his stomach flip flopping as if it too wanted to flip for joy.

“This family isn’t complete yet!” Zitao smiled, picking up the black marker himself and drawing his own version of a figure between the two taller ones; he drew his beautiful little flower. Giving her emerald green eyes with a green highlighter and and cute pigtails with the black marker, he finished it off with a big smile. “That’s you!” He smiled, the girl squealing with a smile and he picked her up, setting her in his lap. He enjoyed wrapping his arms around her small body, protective yet gentle. He was happy to have this moment with her, especially when she allowed him to pick her up. Anything at any given moment could scare her away, but she was already trusting him. Nothing could ruin this happiness.

“Hey, wait a minute, why am I the mommy?” He asked out loud before he could prevent his lips from moving, not expecting an answer from the girl. He twisted his lips a little, looking down at his little flower with what he hoped was a goofy smile. “I’m daddy too.” He smiled with a small pout, though he was secretly hoping not to confuse the girl. He did not want her to grow up believing that only one of them was her father while the other was simply there. He wanted her to know that they were both ‘daddy’ and that they would both love her, more so than her ‘mother’ ever did. He did not want to be called ‘mommy’ for the simple fact that her real mother had been so terrible, what if she associated him as horrible, just like her?

Before he could seriously contemplate it though, the girl fell backwards in his lap with a giggle and grabbed his neck in an awkward hug, Zitao having to lean forward in order to complete it. Laughing himself, he pried his neck free from his flower’s hands and turned her in his lap, so she faced him.

“So, little flower, you like to draw?” He asked, his hands laced together behind her back, acting almost as a barricade to keep her from falling out of his lap. She had her own tiny hands in her lap, her lips puckered in thought as her eyes drifted away; she wasn’t paying attention. “Hey,” he whined, drawing it out with a smile, grabbing her attention once more, “You like to draw?” He asked, happy to see her light up again.

“I wike dinoswaurs!” She was a little hard to understand, as comes with the territory of a young child, but he was very confused in that moment. Blinking, he smiled at her, unable to resist a small laugh at her random answer. “Rawr!” She suddenly shrieked, her hands rising up with crooked fingers, baring her teeth with a smile. Zitao laughed harder than he could remember having laughed in a long time, falling backwards a little as he feigned fear.

“Whoa!” He exclaimed, sitting back up as she continued to bare her teeth. He was a little surprised to see her acting so bold, but he was happy at the same time; even if he was a little freaked out that a child was baring her teeth at him while sitting in his lap. His eyes finally found the black blob on the wall again and it finally made sense, it was a rather horribly drawn dinosaur; it’s stick arms were comical.

“Waptor!” She yelled, Zitao blinking a little as he felt the need to shake his head, his ears caught off guard by the volume she was capable of. “Dinoswaurs!” She yelled again, her eyes looking at him as if she expected him to do something; Zitao had no idea what to do. He was sure that his face looked scared and unsure, looking back and forth as an ‘uh’ slipped out between his teeth. But he didn’t have to figure something out, thankfully, he was saved.

“Tao, honey, I forgot my- Oh my gosh.” Sehun’s voice suddenly appeared, both Zitao and his little flower looking up to the blonde haired man; he looked stunned and at a loss. Zitao followed his eyes to the pictures on the wall and snickered before looking back at him, raising his eyebrows.

“You forgot what?” He asked innocently, paying no mind to the uncapped markers and pens on the floor, or the picture blatantly on the wall. Sehun did not buy into the cute act so easily, his hands immediately going to his hips, though his face did not reflect anger. Zitao heard a small ‘uh oh’ come from his lap and looked down to the giggling child who bit her own fingers, for whatever reason, he could never have guessed.

“So, what happened to the wall?” Sehun got right to the point, Zitao feigning indifference, waving a hand at it as though it were nothing.

“Oh, you mean our improvements? We decided to decorate while you were gone.” He blinked with his own snickers, batting his eyelashes at his lover with a sense of amusement. “How would you like your office done?”

“Oh no you don’t.” Sehun’s eyes got a little wider, pointing at him as though that would actually stop him. “Did you do this because I had to work?”  He asked, his head sliding forward in a somewhat sassy way as he looked down on Zitao, tapping his fingers on his hips.

“I wike dinoswaurs.” He mimicked his little flower, who immediately perked up in his lap and ‘rawred’ once again; Tao batted his eyes once more at Sehun. The girl crawled her way off of Zitao’s lap, her knee landing into a very painful location as she did; he fell over with a small groan. He could hear Sehun laughing, though that did last long when the girl made her way to Sehun as well.

“Rawr! Waptor!” She shrieked, Sehun flinching a little bit at the girl’s loud and high pitched voice. He went down on one knee in front of her, smiling as he poked her nose. Zitao, even through his crosse legged pain, could tell he was going to be a good father.

“Yes, you’re a little raptor! Raptors and all dinosaurs belong on paper, so how about we do some drawing on paper today?” He sounded happy, it was nice to see that the blonde haired man had warmed up to the girl so much, that he had accepted her. Sehun had been the one to fight adopting her the most, but it was obvious now that he enjoyed having her around.

“Yes!” She shrieked again, Zitao finally sitting up with a huff, a grimace still heavy on his face. But he still met the eyes of Sehun and smiled a little.

“Since you’re already here,” he paused, taking his time to stand up and brush off his pants, “why don’t you stay with us? Just spend the day with us?”

“I mean,” Sehun paused himself, rolling his eyes with a smile, “I suppose I can, but that means I’ll have to stay up late tonight to finish my work.” ‘Eck, work, again.‘ Zitao thought a little bitterly. Sehun was always working and the worst part about it was, he didn’t even know what the blonde haired man did for a living or where he went for the work day. Everything was classified, or at least that’s what Sehun always said. But for now? Zitao had him for a whole day and he wasn’t going to waste it.

“Little flower, daddy is going to stay with us and draw!” He smiled and scooped the child up in his arms, spinning around in a few circles as she squealed. Being a father was going to be hard for the both of them, Zitao already knew that, but they were already well on their way. Today was going to be fun, despite his worries about Sehun’s work.

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Forgive me, this child is just so much fun to write. Ahem. Sorry, it's not really an eventful chapter, just kind of building. Anyways, hope you still enjoyed it and stay tuned! I have some interesting things planned for this story and KaiLay's~. 

~SnobbyCoffeeAsian