You watch from the porch as Chanyeol plays with your children. He picks up your daughter and throws her into the air. You can hear her laughter, breathless and full of joy, mix with his, deep one and, even though he’s facing away from you, you know he has a face-splitting grin. Your twin boys chase each other, circling Chanyeol. Your heart is so full you’re afraid that it might burst.

You definitely thought you were done after your daughter was born, but here you are, enormously pregnant at 7 months. You shake your head and smirk, remembering Chanyeol asking you for another child.

It had been a long day full of parenting mishaps and missteps; nothing seemed to go right. Chanyeol offered to put the kids to bed and you were clearing the table and washing the dishes. Thank god EXO was on a break, you could only imagine what it would be like to raise 3 small children while Chanyeol was traveling and promoting, though the thought that their manager would call them up one day for a comeback was something that was always in the back of the minds of all the husbands, wives and families of the EXO members.

You are caught in this thought when Chanyeol comes up behind you, pulling you into a back hug. You put the plate you were rinsing down in the sink and lean against him. He drops a kiss at the base of your neck, “I love you.”

“I know.” He squeezes you and you smile. He’s quiet for a moment. “I can hear you thinking. Out with it,’ you say and playfully bump your into him.

You expect him to laugh and bump you back, but instead he says, “Let’s have another one.”

You go very still. “Another one of what?”

“A child. Let’s have another baby—“ he against you as a persuasion tactic—“Don’t you think we should have an even numbered family?”

“Hmm, I think our family is big enough. We’re already outnumbered, honey. We’re playing with fire here.” You press your body harder into him. You’re tired, but if he’s feeling frisky, you’re going to play along.

He kisses the top of your head and keeps his mouth there so that what he says next is muffled—“but what happens when we go to the amusement park and somebody has to sit alone on a ride? I just got sad thinking about it—“ he’s working one hand up to your and the other slides under your waistband, so you’re not totally convinced he’s as sad as he says. “I don’t want anyone to be left out. The boys will have each other, but who will our little girl have?” he says in a more serious tone.

“So you want another girl?”

“I don’t care about the gender. I’m just worried.” And he sounds it.

You turn around and frame his face with your hands. His eyes are lowered and he leans into your palm. You can’t reach his lips without his help, so you stand on your toes and plant a soft kiss on the underside of his chin. “Well, I guess we could try…” He smiles, knowing he’s won, and you smile because you can’t help it. He lifts you up and swings you around. You both laugh a little too loudly because the next thing you know the boys are out of bed and standing in the kitchen. You are bombarded with a chorus of questions: why are you laughing? What is daddy doing, mama? Etc.

Your smile gets bigger as Chanyeol and the children head toward you. Chanyeol said he didn’t want to know the gender of the baby, but you thought that maybe you should tell him that it’s babies not baby before you’re on the table giving birth. You decide to tell him tonight and wonder whether or not he’ll try to convince you to try and have another baby after this, just to keep it even.