Warning: cursing and mentions of ahead

Jongdae scowled and frowned as she watched her children playing on the floor with their new gifts. It wasn’t any of their birthdays. It wasn’t Christmas or Halloween. It wasn’t a special day.

However, the kids had received gifts.

Baekhyun was dancing around in her long, pink dress, the purple flower on her long, black hair was about to fall and the laughing girl didn’t seem to notice as she kept dancing away holding her doll up. She started whispering and laughing with the doll as if they were the best of friends.

Jongdae had to suppress a groan as her daughter turned around, looked at a figure lying on the other side of Jondgae, whispered something to the doll and then giggle and blush madly. She was only six for God’s sake.

Jongdae’s frown intensified and she could feel her cheeks becoming hot. Her long hair was sticking at the back of her neck and she quickly took it in one hand and trapped it into an orange hair tie.

Her eyes moved to her other child, Sehun. The four year old was lying on the floor making plane noises and stretching his hand as if to imitate the plane’s flying. He the floor and fixed himself and lay with his back to the floor, landing the plane on his own forehead. His jet-black hair was covering it and his eyes almost completely.

For a minuscule second Jongdae thought it was time to cut his hair but then remembered how the boy was going through that phase in which he didn’t want anyone to cut his hair.

Jongdae sighed and went back to glaring at the toy in Sehun’s hand as if willing it to burn.

Suddenly, a voice startled her and she turned looking at the source of it, it was that stupid song.

Jongdae knew she sang way better than the stupid owner of the voice but she felt anger bubbling inside her as she saw her daughter blushing madly. She had pushed the button on the dolls palm and it had produced a personalized song for Baekhyun.

When the song ended, the same voice spoke again, “Baekhyunnie, I love you. This doll will protect you always and your dream. I hope someday you will gift me an album with your own song. Fighting!”

Really, Jongdae felt as if she were capable of committing murder. She only had to make a run to the kitchen, grab a knife and run back here. Her children will forgive her.

Oh, who was she kidding? She thought as she saw Baekhyun blush furiously and Sehun walking to his elder sister, with a big grin and blushing cheeks.

“Fighting, Baekhyunnie!” It was another voice that said so and Jongdae softened at this words. Her face relaxed a bit and then she was back to frowning.

She felt a growl coming and she was sure that she resembled a furious dog; her daughter turned to her and ran to her lap.

“Mommy,” she almost tripped on her own dress as she hugged her mother’s legs, “this is the best gift ever, right? Isn’t it awesome?”

Jongdae felt herself bark a “No” and frowned even more when Baekhyun looked at her with a frown of her own.

“Your mom meant to say that yes, it is an awesome gift,” a new voice interrupted Jongdae’s murdering thoughts and then, Joonmyeon was lifting the little girl from the floor and kissing her cheeks.

The little girl giggled, her eyes becoming half-moons and she grabbed her dad’s face to peck his nose. She laughed when he hugged her tightly and then covered to refrain her giggles.

Jongdae felt her face relax and she smiled at the sight, then, she felt someone tugging at her pants. Sehun threw his hands up as if commanding Jongdae to pick him up and so she did.

The plane in his hand hit her on the head and she was back to frowning as Sehun kept playing around in her lap.

Finally, Joonmyeon put Baekhyun down and sat besides Jongdae on the couch. Jongdae felt the weight of her husband as the couch sank a little, but she refused to meet his eyes.

“Darling,” she heard the soft voice make its way to her ear and for a moment, she wanted to whine at her husband, but thought better of it, “you look like an angry dog.”

Then again, she was right about not giving in…Her husband was the same as the other guy who was now talking to her daughter.

Men were pathetic and useless.

“Oppa,” Baekhyun giggled as she sat on the male- if you could call that a human- lap’s and looked up at him, “He’s old, Baek, you shouldn’t call him oppa. Call him ahjussi.”

Jongdae really couldn’t stop her tongue and she regretted it the moment she saw her baby frowning at her, almost glaring and Joonmyeon holding his laughter.

Then, the worst thing happened and for a second Jongdae cursed herself under her breath. So many times had she flaunted the fact that Baekhyun had inherited her attitude and character, so many times had her chest swelled with pride as she saw her daughter acting in some way or the other, but right now, it was turning into her worst nightmare.

She watched as the corner of her little girl’s mouth turned upward, a mischievous smirk forming and a challenging look on her face. Jongdae’s eyes widened but she wasn’t going to back off. Oh, no!

From the corner of her eye she could see that brute’s hands circling her daughter’s waist as he fixed her position on his lap and his eyes were dancing with amusement as he waited for Baekhyun to speak.

Jongdae glared at his daughter, daring her to betray her…”Can I marry you, oppa?”

The room went still for a moment and then, it exploded with laughter as Luhan doubled in a fit of giggles, struggling to hold Baekhyun on his lap. Jongdae was outraged, she felt as if she could kill someone and Baekhyun looked at her still, daring her to say something.

But before Jongdae could make out a word, her fists griping something imaginary, knuckles turning white, a squeaky voice came from her lap, “I want to marry Luhan! Baekhyun, no! Hyung, can I marry you?”

He struggled with Jongdae’s hold on him and finally set himself free. He jumped off from his mother’s lap and ran to Luhan, sitting on his lap too and almost pushing his sister to the floor.

Luhan looked at both of them and spoke, “You have to ask for permission from your parents and Minseok,” he smiled at the both of them.

“Absolutely no!” Jongdae stood up from the couch suddenly but everyone ignored her.

“When you grow up, I’ll be really old,” Luhan said making an funny expression and the continued, “Besides, Baekhyun, Minseok says you have a boy who likes you very much in school and Sehun, don’t you have Tao?”

Baekhyun blushed even more and suddenly screamed, “Ew, Chanyeol is weird! I don’t like him!” She stood up from Luhan’s lap and made a frantic motion with her hand as if to convince him, but she kept blushing and Luhan giggled at her cuteness.

“Tao is my best friend, Hyung! But he’s cute, like a princess,” he smiled widely, at the thought of his best friend.

“I think your mother’s having a heart attack,” Luhan commented looking up at Jongdae, who was shaking and looking with pure hatred at Luhan. Both children looked up at his mother and laughed, walking to her, “Mom, we were just joking,” Baekhyun said laughing and hugging her mother.

“Yeah, we won’t marry Luhan, he has Minnie!” Sehun said proudly and Luhan added, “Yeah, the love of my life.”

And he dared smile like an idiot in love. Jongdae almost scoffed, but then, her children tackled her to the couch and covered her with kisses.

“Mommy, we love you!” They both screamed and soon enough, Joonmyeon was hugging the three of them and the four of them were now screaming and professing their love.

For a moment, she forgot about Luhan and his stupid gifts and how much her children seemed to adore him, enjoying the moment.

“Baozi!” Luhan’s voice cut through the air and the screams, “Jongdae wants to kill me again!”

The male whined as soon as Minseok entered the room, he rapidly stood up from the floor and spotted two figures walking behind his wife, holding hands…

Jongin, Sehun’s twin, was wearing a blue Pororo onesie that Luhan and Minseok had bought him and besides him, with their hands interlaced, stood Kyungsoo wearing a mini doctor’s coat and around her neck, Luhan’s stethoscope.

It was Luhan’s turn to widened his eyes. He felt his breath turning uneven as he looked at Kyungsoo’s blushing cheeks. No. No. No.

Then, Luhan remembered the reason they had visited Jongdae’s house bearing gifts. It was actually pretty normal considering Minseok and Jongdae were the best of friends and Luhan and Minseok were godparents of all their children, but today was special.

Kyungsoo had demanded they visited the house as soon as possible upon hearing her mother talk on the phone with her aunt. Jongin was sick and hadn’t even stood from his bed for two days.

For a five year old, Kyungsoo was very alert of her surrounding and always had her priorities set. She went to pick her father’s stethoscope and put on her coat; then, she went to the living room where her father sat watching the news.

She tapped her father’s leg to get his attention and he frowned upon taking in her attire, “You need to go see Jongin and cure him. He’s sick,” she stated, her big eyes widening as she spoke with determination and Luhan almost laughed at her seriousness, but held it back precisely because she was very serious about the matter.

“Darling,” he said softly as she trusted the stethoscope into his face as if irritated by the fact that he had something to say instead of hurrying to the car, “I already went to see him, he’ll be better in a couple of days, okay? No need to worry.”

She instantly took her hand back and put the instrument around her neck, a frown drew itself on her face, “Why didn’t you tell me?” She seemed offended by the lack of information, as if he were obligated to tell her everything concerning Jongin and Luhan knew they were best friend but…something didn’t feel right.

He shrugged it off and looked at his daughter again. He couldn’t stand the look on her face. And he absolutely hated being the cause of such disappointment. His daughter meant everything to him and he always did everything to please her.

Minseok always said it was unbelievable how she hadn’t turned into a spoiled brat, but Kyungsoo was really well mannered and honestly, Minseok was just as bad as him when it came to spoiling her.

“I’ll tell you what, why don’t you go and check up on him? I’m sure seeing you will cheer him up,” Luhan felt warmth spread across his chest as his daughter offered him a hesrt-shaped sweet smile.

But right now, Kyungsoo’s rosy cheeks and her interlaced fingers in Jongin’s hold had Luhan on edge. Why was that kid holding his daughter’s hand? Why?

He turned to glare at Jongdae. It was the only solution to the problem but then, Jongdae was glaring at him and Luhan couldn’t understand why was she blaming him when it was obvious her son was to blame.

“Luhan hyung,” a raspy voice interrupted the death glare match between Jongdae and Luhan and everyone’s attention was turned to Jongin, “Can I marry Kyungsoo when we grow up?”

Luhan screamed, Jongdae screamed, both looked frantically at their partners as if asking for help and then another voice added, “Please, daddy, it will cheer him up.”

Luhan couldn’t find his voice and to make things worse, Minseok walked to him, a gummy smile on her face and patted his shoulder as if those made him feel better…okay, the smile did.

“It’s war,” he said through gritted teeth and then grabbed Kyungsoo and picked her up from the floor, “We are leaving, Minseok.”

And just like that, they were gone, leaving Jongdae huffing in anger and a confused Jongin looking around for his doctor.

“Ha! Who does he think he is, getting mad at me?” Jongdae snapped, “I hate him more than he hates me! How dare he act as if he can be mad! I’m the mad one! He’s a thief, Joonmyeon; he stole Minseok from me. He steals my children’s attention and love from me and now his daughter wants to steal my son! Oh no, he’s so wrong if he thinks he hates me more than I hate him.”

Jongdae was now panting for air as she looked murderous around the room and for a moment Joonmyeon was scared to open his mouth and when he did, it was only to receive a glare.

“You look hot when you’re mad.”

“Ew,” Baekhyun, Sehun and Jongin said altogether and ran from the living room screaming about how their parents were always nasty.

“Who are you calling hot?” Jogndae glared at her husband. “Why are you even here? Go cook something!” She barked at her husband, standing up from the couch and walking to the kitchen.

Joonmyeon followed her with an amused smile but said nothing. Silently, they took out the ingredients for dinner. Jongdae started cutting up the vegetables and Joonmyeon started on the meet. They worked in silent harmony until Joonmyeon clashed with Jongdae.

“Ouch!” Jongdae exclaimed and Joonmyeon looked at her with a guilty expression. “I’s sorry, baby,” he whispered as he moved closer to her and wrapped her around his arms, his head found its way to the crook of her neck and he hummed softly, “I love you.”

Jongdae shuddered a bit and tried to conceal her smile, “Yeah?” She asked as she leaned back into her husband’s embrace. His strong cologne gave her a sense of familiarity and safety. She felt instantly relaxed.

“I love you too,” she said as she turned around to face her husband, her hands circling his neck and a pout formed on her lips, “I’m sorry about before. I lost it.”

She felt Joonmyeon’s laugh vibrating through his chest before she heard it, “I know, my love. It was rather amusing to be honest, but if it makes you feel any better, I’ll help you plot revenge on Luhan.”

Jongdae had the strangest suspiscion that Joonmyeon was mocking her and hit his chest, groaning, “Don’t laugh at me! This is important. Why do my kids love him so much, he doesn’t have anything special.”

She huffed glaring at nothing, “Baekhyun won’t stop listening to that damn doll and I hate it. I sing better than that stupid brat. I proved it many times during our college days, right?”

She started at her husbands eyes hopefully and threateningly, but all she could see was a glint of amusement sparkling in his eyes and he looked so handsome that she wanted to kiss him, but she needed to stay focused.
“Of course you did, honey, your voice is the most beautiful I’ve ever heard in my entire life; he’s got nothing on you,” Joonmyeon whispered into her ear and she couldn’t help but smile. Of couse she had married a wise man, one that chose to live making the right comments.

If only her kids had turned out a bit more like him!

“I don’t even know what Minseok saw in him! She was always looking at him so dreamily, I hated it, you know that back in school when we were sixteen,” Jongdae started reminiscing and Joonmyeon almost rolled his eyes. He had heard the same story at least fifty times in his live but instead, he listened patiently at his wife.

He was wise, after all.

“Minseok’s parents were awful, like really awful. They were abusive and alcoholic, but Minseok was really bright in every sense. She was always optimistic, pretty and she exceled in every class. Whenever she went to school with bruises covered with make up I’d threatened to call the police, but she wouldn’t let me! So I offered her a place in my house and she always refused saying she didn’t want to be a burden. As if my parents would’ve minded. They are loaded and don’t anything else, just spoiling a child. I mean, look how I turned out. Anyways, she always said no to my offers,” Jongdae scoffed as she got out of her husband’s embrace and threw her hands in the air in frustration.

“But the of course, Luhan came into the story,” she snorted, “an exchange student. Why couldn’t he stay in China?”

“Minseok was sixteen for God’s sake! But she ran away with the bastard,” she huffed and strode to the refrigerator, opening it and grabbing a water bottle, “He was so persistent, nicknamed her Baozi, I would’ve been offended,” she continued after taking a long gulp of water, almost spitting it before it made its way down .

“He followed her all day like a puppy and then they started dating which I thought was okay, because she deserved to be happy, but then, they started having all over the place, all the time and I was thoroughly scandalized!” Joonmyeon snorted at that.

“Like you weren’t having at all,” cue to Jongdae’s glare, “As I was saying, I was worried about Minseok and I was right, her parents found out and they beat the crap out of her. So what did she do? Instead of taking my offer to live with me, she ran away with the bastard to China, okay? ing China. Another country,” she was now panting and her cheeks flushed with anger.

“Then, they came back for college and lived together. As if stealing my best friend wasn’t enough, he now steals my kid’s attention from me,” Jongdae ended and as if on cue, heard Sehun calling her from the living room.

She left to see what Sehun wanted and Joonmyeon sighed, “Why does she always tell me this story as if I hadn’t been there?”

The rest of the day had proceeded in a calm and happy way. They had family dinner and watched a movie, Jongin curled up in his mother’s arm and Sehun and Baekhyun hugging their father tightly. When they fell asleep, Jongdae and Joonmyeon turned off the TV and took them to their rooms, kissed them goodnight and went on to sleep themselves. They were cuddled up together when Jongdae woke up with a start, she thought of Jongin and stood up from the bed. It was almost five in the morning when she made her way to his room.

She sat down on her son’s bed and looked at him sleep; she noticed he was shivering and frowned touching his forehead.

She was startled when she felt his temperature and panicked instantly. She almost ran to her room and woke Joonmyeon up, “Joonmyeon, wake up, Jongin’s fever is worse than yesterday.”

Joonmyeon woke up with a start and stared at his wife groggily. “What?” His eyes widened and he too, stood and went to their son’s bedroom.

Jongin had woken up now and was crying, “Mommy, Daddy,” he cried when he saw them, Sehun had not woken up by his brother’s cries but was stirring up in bed, “It hurts!” He screamed as tears rushed down his face.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby, Mommy and Daddy are here,” Jongdae whispered into his ear as she picked him up from the bed and hugged to her chest, “What hurts?” she asked softly and he spoke through his cries, “Everything,” he was hiccupping as he tried to calm down.

“It’s okay, baby,”Joonmyeon spoke, his son’s head, “Do you want to sleep a but more with Mommy and Daddy?” And Jongin nodded through his tears.

Joonmyeon and Jongdae could not sleep at all, but they had sang a little to their son and positioned him between them on the bed until he fell asleep again.

When the boy was asleep, Jongdae got up and grabbed her phone as Joonmyeon s