A/N:

 

These are getting too long to be drabbles… Are they even drabbles at this point?? I swear…. Tell me if I’m overdoing it… I think I am but… whatever!! If I am, I may have to rename this book…. Just try to enjoy this mess of cats… I mean words….

 

Ages:  

Chanyeol: 35

Baekhyun: 36

Yifan: 12

Yixing: 11

Jongdae: 10

Minsoon: 7

 

~

 

Byun Baekhyun had experienced many questionable events in his life. It was not avoidable considering the fact he has four children, with the between the eldest and the youngest being a mere five years. However, it was times like this that always manage to make its way up the list, next to the Cheese Incident when Jongdae was 5 and the Coffee Bean Bonanza when Minsoon was 4 (Yifan and Yixing were angelic compared to their siblings).

 

It started off as a seemingly normal day. Due to Baekhyun’s occupation as a freelance author, he spent most of his days at home, with the exception of running an errand here and there. That day, he dropped his kids off at the nearby public school with little to no traffic (A rare and valued occurrence) and swung by the publishing company to answer his publisher questions concerning his latest book. Afterwards, he passed by the grocery store to restock (It seemed as though all of the meat and a handful of vegetables in the household had disappeared without a trace within the last week). He went home without a hitch in record time.

 

Upon his return, Baekhyun settled the groceries on the kitchen counter. In an effort to kill time, he found a spot on the couch, and decided to take a quick nap. You can’t blame him though, being the father of four children, all of which take part in extracurricular activities, required a great deal of energy. Finally, he mentally sighed, peace. Although he himself housed enough energy to power the Las Vegas Strip, as well as his husband, there is so much energy a person could have before they require a boost.

 

As Baekhyun shut his eyes, only the sounds of the clock’s tick-tock resonated throughout the room. However, unknown to him, sat four bundles of fur, sleeping in a cardboard box nestled in the room of a certain six-year-old and her nine-year-old brother.

 

~

 

Park Chanyeol knew something strange was happening and the only suspects were his kids. It was his turn to pick up the children from their school. (They had this system where one parent dropped the kids off and the other picked them up, alternating every other week). As each child piled in the family van that had seen better days, the kids, especially Jongdae and Minsoon, had this look of apprehension. Jongdae sent hesitant glances towards his older brothers, as if asking them to save him from an impending death. Yixing was staring at the window while discreetly scratching his head and Minsoon lowered her head towards her lap, where she started to play with her thumbs. On the other hand, Yifan seemed to be the only one calm, with the exception of flashes of wariness and hesitation in his eyes.

 

Yet despite their different positions, they all were showing signs of nervousness.

 

Chanyeol was confused as to why his children were acting like this. It was not like they robbed a bank or failed a test (Though now he thought about it, that was a large possibility). Having enough of the silence, Chanyeol asked, “What did you guys do?”

 

The immediate response was, “Nothing! Nothing happened!”

 

Chanyeol glanced cautiously at the rear view mirror and raised an eyebrow towards his kids. Under his gaze, the kids involuntary fidget in their seats. It was unnatural to see their goofy, outgoing, loving, and smiley dad so serious.

 

“Okay.” Chanyeol turned his attention back to the road and left the kids to their own devices. He needed to have a talk with them with Baek when they returned home.

 

With their dad’s attention now focused on a different medium, the Byun-Park children glanced at each other. Their eyes all told the same story: we are going to be in so much trouble.

 

~

 

Earlier that week

 

The Byun-Park children were enjoying their time in the park, seeing it was a beautiful day and they were complete with all of their assignments. Yifan was tasked with the job of taking care of his younger siblings as they were left to their own devices, especially Jongdae and Minsoon. The park was empty, with the exception of a toddler and her mother in the far corner doing who-knows-what. Therefore, the kids occupied the swing set and started to converse very loudly.

 

In the swing set, Jongdae clutched the railing as he swung his feet back and forth. “Hyung, it’s not my fault that the teacher was a grouch and decided to give me a warning card.”

 

On the pole next to him, Yifan was leaning against its smooth, cool surface. “Jongdae, I can’t be there for you all of the time to save your .”

 

“You love me.”

 

“I’m forced to. You’re my brother.”

 

Yifan’s reply to his brother caused said brother to feign a mock shocked look on his feline features, Minsoon to collapse out of her swing seat due to intense laughter, and Yixing to flash a dimpled smile with a series of giggles. On the side, the ends of Yifan’s lips curled upwards. He loved to hear his siblings laugh in joy.  

 

However, their moment of joy was cut short when a sudden ‘meow’ erupted from a nearby bush. Soon after, a plethora of ‘meow’s joined, leaving four confused children. Confused, Yifan stalked over to the bush and took a glance behind the green foliage. The sight caused him to gasp in surprise.

 

“What’s it?” Questioned Minsoon as she followed her brother. Her brother’s breathless state caused slight discomfort in the Byun-Park siblings. Following in suit, Yixing and Jongdae were curious as to what resided behind the bush.

 

There, hidden deep within the leaves and branches, was a tattered baby blue blanket covering four lumps. With caution, Yifan gently lifted the blanket off of the lumps to reveal four kittens cuddled close together, obviously shivering and whimpering from the exposure to the cool outdoors. The kittens look fairly young, from a child’s point of view. All of the kittens had matted black fur. However, each had their own special detail. One had a white underbelly, another had a white ring around its tail, the next had a white stripe down its spine, and the last had a majority of its right ear bitten off (Judging from the teeth marks surrounding it).

 

All of the siblings were left with open mouths. A few moments passed before Minsoon let out a faint, “Aww.” Then, she turned to her brothers and squealed, “They’re too cute! I wanna take them home. They obviously need one!”

 

The brothers turned to each other. Yifan knew he had to be the bearer of bad news because Jongdae and Yixing seemed to agree with their younger sister’s declaration. Although he admits they were cute, Yifan needed to be the responsible sibling. Who knows what their parents would think if they brought home four cats from the park? Yifan sighed. “Minsoon… we can't. We don't have room for cats.”

 

“You can’t stop me.”

 

“Minsoon… Don't be like that…”

 

“Please!”

 

“No.”

 

“Plllllleeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeee!!!!!!” This time, Jongdae joined in on the whining.

 

“No.”

 

“...”

 

“We can't keep the kittens.”

 

“...” Suddenly, all three of his siblings turned to him and started to pout. Oh no. Not the puppy dog eyes…

 

Yixing, Jongdae, and Minsoon internally smirked as they witnessed their brother’s internal struggle. We are so getting kittens…

 

After a few minutes, Yifan stopped resisting the temptation. “Fine.”

 

As his siblings cheered and gathered the kittens in their arms while exclaiming what they would do with them, Yifan gazed towards their home. Please tell me nothing could go wrong with this.

 

~

 

Now

 

Once the van parked in the driveway, all of the children ran straight into the house. Chanyeol did not even have enough time to lock the van before each child was inside the house. What….?

 

The minute Chanyeol stepped into the house, his lovely husband was waiting for him in the front foyer, his arms crossed and leaning against the wall. They shared a look as Chanyeol threw the keys in the basket near the foyer exit. They then moved outside of the entrance and settled themselves on the living room couch.

 

“The kids have been acting…” Baekhyun started.

 

“Strange?” Chanyeol offered. “Yeah… I noticed too…”

 

“I was going to say different but okay…” A pause. “Anyway, did you happen to notice the disappearing food and blankets as well? I swear we bought enough fish to last two weeks… it didn’t last three days. I’m also missing my favorite cuddle blanket.”

 

“I’m not your cuddle blanket?”

 

“Beside the point…”

 

“Oh! So I’m not your cuddle blanket anymore!”

 

“The kids, Chanyeol! Back to the kids!”

 

“Ah yes… The kids…”

 

After a deep sigh, Baekhyun continued. “We need to find out what's happening with our children before we end up food-less, or worse, blanket-less…”

 

“So… We spy on them.”

 

“I wouldn't call it ‘spying’... More like ‘concerned parenting’...”

 

“Whatever you say, honey…”

 

After a few moments, Chanyeol blurted, “Why don't we start now?” In an instant, both parents rushed upstairs quietly (with minimal tripping and noise… excluding a thundering step here and there).

 

~

 

As their parents had a chat downstairs, the Byun-Park children congregated in Jongdae and Minsoon’s room, the temporary residence of their newly adopted kittens. Jongdae and Yixing found a spot on the former’s bed while Minsoon, and surprisingly, Yifan crowded the cardboard box holding the four precious fur balls. In the past few days, the kids had grown close to the litter of kittens, especially Yifan.

 

Inside the box, each kitten was awake and active. They chased each other in the small box, playfully nipping each other’s tail or ear here and there despite the fact there was minimal space inside the box. The sight left the children in awe. They had never seen a cat up close before. Sure, they played with dogs, fish, and birds, thanks to their dads, yet felines were out of reach.  Apparently, cats they had met in the past are demons from hell.

 

As the kittens occupied themselves, Yixing commented, “It’s been a week and they still don't have names.”

 

After a moment of silent thinking, Minsoon offered, “The one with the white belly should be named ‘Penguin’!”

 

“How about the others?” Yifan raised an eyebrow.

 

“I’m still working on that…” Cue Minsoon’s sheepish grin towards her older brother.

 

“Jongdae,” all eyes turned to the second youngest Byun-Park child as Yixing continued to speak, “Any suggestions?”

 

The ends of Jongdae’s lips curled upwards as replied to his older brother. “I was thinking we name one something cool. Like ‘Thunder’ or ‘Turbo’.”

 

“We aren't naming the unfortunate kitten after a cartoon snail that has superpowers.” Yifan deadpanned.

 

“It’s still a cool name!” Jongdae protested.

 

“You can't deny that, hyung.” Yixing agreed.

 

Before another person could speak, a loud thud interrupted the conversation. Judging from the volume of the noise, it seemed to originate from outside the door and was the result of the heavy footsteps of a person. After the thud, a hiss that awfully sounded like ‘Shush before they hear us coming!’. Upon realization, the Byun-Park children widen their eyes. Oh shoot. It’s Dad and Papa.

 

In a rush, Yifan partially closed the cardboard box startling the kittens inside, and gently shoved it underneath Jongdae’s bed. Yixing, Minsoon, and Jongdae attempted to mask the room to make it appear as though nothing is out of the ordinary. Seconds passed before a quiet knock erupted from the door. The children quickly posed in natural positions: Yifan sat on the floor and against Minsoon’s bed while said person was brushing his hair thoroughly. Meanwhile, Yixing appeared to be speaking with his siblings enthusiastically, perched on Jongdae’s bed, as said person appeared to be resting on his back on the floor while reading a comic book, upside down. Following the knock, the muffled, yet melodic voice of their papa asked, “Are you kids alright?”

 

Before anyone could respond, the door slowly opened, revealing both of their parents in their glory. A chorus of, “Yes…” replied back.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol scanned the room, raising their eyebrows at their children’s questionable positions, especially Jongdae. “Okay… Don't think we didn't notice how strange this household has become in the past few days.” The kids slowly nod to their parents’ words in an attempt to not raise suspicion.

 

Suddenly, a quiet ‘meow’ cut through the air. Every person below the age of eighteen visibly stiffened and had one thought in their mind: oh shoot.

 

“What was that?” Silence permeated the room.

 

“Nothing…” As if luck was not on their side, another meow filled the silence.

 

Following his ear, Chanyeol searched for the cause of the sound, leading him straight to Jongdae’s bed. He kneeled down and reached for something -anything- before his fingertips brushed over a cardboard box. Gently, he pulled the box out of its cavern of dust. The kids unknowingly held their breath. We are in so much trouble for this. In an instant, Chanyeol widened his eyes and a small gasp left his lips.

 

Baekhyun strode over to his husband to see what caused him to become breathless. “Are those kittens? In my house? With my kids?” He turned to his kids, all of which posed a guilty expression.

 

“We’re sorry!” Minsoon blurted out. “They were so cute… and they looked lonely… and they needed a comfortable home… not a park bush…”

 

Baekhyun had to retrain himself from smiling. He was scolding his kids for pete’s sake! Yet it was hard to resist his children’s soft hearts (Don’t even mention their pouty faces). “Darling, you can’t just take animals from their home-”

 

“Papa! It was outside in the cold! I didn’t see their mama around!” Jongdae countered back.

 

Baekhyun glanced to his husband, his eyes clearing expressed a need for help. On cue, Chanyeol subtly nodded. “Kids, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we can’t keep them.”

 

This caused pouts and silent tears to trail down cheeks. (Yup… even Yifan… surprise… I know…). Both parents turned away from their children, knowing that they would crack under the intense pressure. They started to exit the room, with Baekhyun holding the box of kittens. After few sniffles and soft meows, Chanyeol could not take any more. He spun on his heels and gathered all of his children in his arms. It looked somewhat awkward, yet adorable at the same time. “Don’t bust those tears!” He meekly smiled towards his husband. “Can we at least keep one?”

 

All of the children joined their dad by smiling with him, strengthening their argument. Baekhyun set the box of kittens by his feet. “Don’t make me the bad guy here.”

 

“PLEASE!!”

 

“We would need money for supplies and-” It was clear that Baekhyun was starting to break.

 

“Honey, a family pet would be a great addition to the family!”

 

“Please, Papa!!!!”

 

“It requires a lot of re-,” Baekhyun sighed, “You know what. Fine. But don’t expect me to clean the litterbox. And we can’t keep all of them.”

 

Cheers could be heard from all around the block. Let’s just say, three kittens ended up in the local animal shelter and the Byun-Park family had a new family member amongst them: meet Skipper, the kitten with the missing right ear.

 

[“Admit it, Baek, you love Skipper.”

 

“He’s a great influence for the kids. That’s all!”

 

“Yes… and let’s forget the time I caught you cuddling Skipper with a blanket on the couch. I still feel betrayed! I swear you love that cat more than me!”

 

Smooch!]

 

A/N:

 

What is this ending? Forgive me!

 

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