“Hey Minghao, are we free this Saturday?” Junhui calls from his seat on the sofa, turning to face towards the kitchen where his husband was sat helping Renshu with his homework.

“Uhhh. I don’t know,” he replies, unsure because the last time they had truly been “free” was five years ago, way before the kids were even in the picture. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it’s just that Lianne is hosting a little shindig Saturday night, and I just got the e-vite now.”

Minghao quirks an eyebrow. “First of all, please never say shindig again,” he tells Junhui, who rolls his eyes in response. “Second, who is Lianne?”

“Lianne Wang.” Minghao still looks confused, so he clarifies: “The head of the theater department at the high school.”

“Oh.” He turns back to Renshu to help him with a problem.

“She’s always wanted to meet you,” Junhui adds on. “We always talk about you and your dance showcases.”

“Oh, well, uh,” Minghao blushes. “That’s, uh, that’s cool.”

“Is it a party?” Renshu asks excitedly, looking up from his math homework.

“Yup,” Junhui says. “But you and Chunhua would have to stay at home. Only Baba and I are invited.”

Renshu’s face falls. “Aw man,” he sighs, sadly averting his attention back to his worksheet.

Minghao pats his head. “It’s okay honey,” he says.  Thinking of what more he could possibly say, he goes with: “One day you’ll be an adult too and you can come with us!” He immediately cringes; surely he could have offered a better condolence but it works (the last thing he wants to think about is his five year old turning into an adult). Renshu brightens and nods happily, finishing up the last of his addition problems before scampering off to his sister’s bedroom so they could play tea party together.

“I feel bad,” Minghao says as he joins Junhui on the couch. “He really hates being left out of things.” He turns to face him. “Remember when he got upset that one time ‘cause Chunhua’s friend didn’t invite him to her birthday party?”

Junhui chuckles at Minghao’s worried expression and puts an arm around him to pull him closer. “Oh, stop it, you’re worried too much. He’ll be fine.” He leans over and places a quick kiss on Minghao’s forehead. “Plus, they gave him one of their extra gift bags anyway, so he definitely got over it.”

Minghao sighs, lacing their fingers together. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Junhui smiles. “Of course I am!” he says, eliciting a groan from Minghao who stands up to return to his seat at the kitchen table.

“You’re such a nerd,” Minghao quips, picking up his phone so he can check his email.

“I know I am,” Junhui sings from the sofa. “While you’re on your phone, my dearest, could you please check our calendar to see if we’re free on Saturday?”

“I will if you stop using those cheesy nicknames,” he says back, but he opens his calendar anyway to find that they are completely available on Saturday.

“Great! I’ll tell Lianne that we’re going!” Junhui says, already opening up a new message on his phone.

“Wait, no,” Minghao stops him. Junhui shoots him a look.

“The kids,” he reminds him. “You know, our kids. The ones you birthed. We need a babysitter.”

“Well, duh,” Junhui says. “We’ll just get Joshua to do it.”

“Um, I don’t think we should,” Minghao reminds him. “In case you forgot, he’s got his own kids to worry about now.”

Junhui falls back onto the sofa. “Ohh, crap. You’re right.”

The last time Joshua had babysat for the Wen family was about a year and a half ago when Minghao was out of town for a dance showcase and Junhui had a teacher conference that he couldn’t get out of. Minghao absolutely hated leaving his kids; he hated not knowing how they were doing and he just really missed them when they weren’t around, and there was no doubt that they missed them too.

Fortunately, it had worked out; the kids loved Joshua and Minghao had felt at ease knowing he’d asked the right person to watch them. But now, they’d have to ask someone else; Joshua now had his twins, Jangmi and Yujin, to take care of, and the last thing Minghao wanted to do was put an extra burden on him.

“Aren’t Seungcheol and Jeonghan taking care of them too? I’m sure Joshua would be able to stop by for one night and watch ours.”

Minghao shakes his head. “I don’t want to trouble him. We should think of who else to ask.”

They banter back and forth for a few minutes, one suggesting a member and the other countering as to why that wouldn’t work out.

“Mingyu and Wonwoo could come by,” Junhui suggests nonchalantly. “All they have is their dog. I’m sure the dog can handle itself.”

Minghao turns to him, a look of distress on his face.

“Uhhh, what?”

“Babe, are you forgetting the one thing our daughter is allergic to?”

In truth, he did forget. Junhui says nothing, only offering a lame shrug in response.

“DOGS!!!! Chunhua is allergic to dogs! What if they come in, with dog on them, and she gets an allergic reaction when we’re not here and she dies?”

Minghao looks like he’s about to cry over all the stress, so Junhui gets up and joins him at the table and tries soothing him. “I don’t think she’ll die, Hao,” he says, taking his hand. Minghao scoffs and puts his face down on the table anyway.

“We’ll uhh, not get Mingyu or Wonwoo then.” He pauses for a moment, thinking of other members he can ask.

Junhui says, “What about Chan?” Minghao looks baffled at this suggestion.

“Huh. I almost forgot about Chan.”

“You see him every day at the dance studio, hun.”

“Pfft, well yeah, I do,” Minghao says. “I don’t know if he’s ever babysat before though.”

“Well, let’s see!” Junhui chimes, picking up his phone to dial Chan’s number.

He picks up on the third ring and Junhui turns on the speaker.

“Hey Jun, I’m on my way to the gym right now, how’s it going?”

“Channie!” Junhui sings. “So happy you picked up.”

“Hey Chan,” Minghao says. “It’s Minghao.”

“Oh, hey guys! What’s up?”

“My lovely husband and I have a job for you.”

“Oh, really?” Chan says, sounding confused. “What is it?”

“Can you babysit Renshu and Chunhua for us this Saturday? We have a shindi-” Minghao gives him a light shove, mouthing “do NOT” and Junhui says “Sorry, gathering to attend.”

“Hold on, I’m pretty sure I can, lemme check my schedule.” He starts humming to himself on the other end as Minghao and Junhui exchange hopeful looks.

“I can!” Chan exclaims. “I’m free all day. And night. Whenever you need me to come, I’ll be by in a jiffy!”

Junhui fist pumps. “YES! God bless you, Lee Chan. See you Saturday!”

Chan laughs. “No problem, bro!”

Junhui almost hangs up when Minghao grabs the phone. “Wait, Chan!”

“Huh? What’s up?”

“Do you own a dog?”

“Uhhh, no. Why?”

Minghao breathes out a sigh of relief. Junhui’s eyes roll to the back of his head. “No reason. See you Saturday. Love you man!”

“You too! Bye!” And on that note, he hangs up. Junhui and Minghao high five.  From behind them, they hear the door open, followed by a little pitter-patter of footsteps.

“Who was that, Daddy?” Chunhua asks while running into the room and onto Junhui’s lap.

Junhui hoists her up and says, “Your Uncle Chan! He’s coming over on Saturday to watch you and your brother.”

Chunhua gasps. “Really?”

“Uncle CHAN?” Renshu bursts into the room. “Uncle Chan is the coolest!”

Chunhua nods. “The coolest!” she repeats.

Minghao knows they’re only saying that because they saw him do a backflip once. But hey, at least they were reacting well to it.

“And you guys are going to be okay without Baba and I for a night, right?” Junhui says, looking from one kid to another. “With just Uncle Chan?”

The kids exchange a look, and let out an enthusiastic “YES!” in unison.

Junhui gives Minghao a look, one that reads see-I-told-you-so-they-will-be-fine and Minghao can only hope for the best.

________________________________________________________________

“Okay, and don’t forget, Renshu will only eat the dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, and Chunhua doesn’t like ketchup unless it’s on the side-”

“Yes, I know, you’ve told me this like five times already!” Chan laughs, patting Minghao’s shoulder in attempt to comfort him.

Minghao nods nervously. “And you’re sure you don’t own a dog?”

Chan blinks in confusion. “What kind of question is that?”

“Chunhua’s allergic,” Junhui says, coming in from their hallway. “Minghao thinks she’ll die from a reaction if she comes in contact with one,” he adds, switching to a hushed tone so that the kids wouldn’t hear.

“Ohhh,” Chan says, even though he still looks puzzled.

Minghao, who was dressed in a denim jacket, plaid shirt and khakis, looks over at Junhui’s much fancier ensemble of a white dress shirt, black pants and a navy blazer. He’s also styled his hair up, while Minghao just left it down and wow, Junhui looks super good and fancy. Suddenly, his mind starts going haywire; it’s been so long since he’s gone out to a social event. Was he too casual? Should he put on a blazer too?