Here's some XiuChen requested by alelealee ♥
Hope you like it~

 

 

 

 

 

Minseok knew something was up the second his son entered the room and sat down at the table, not moving, not saying a word. It was unusual for Baekhyun to be that quiet, especially since he got all his energy and this loud organ from Jongdae.

Sighing, the father prepared himself for his son telling him that he had broken or destroyed something. Baekhyun was like that. Somehow the boy always managed to break or ruin stuff. Only yesterday he tried to hide the fact that he had accidentally cut a hole into his shirt while crafting. However he managed to do that without noticing. "Okay," Minseok said, putting the newspaper down. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Baek said, flashing his father a smile.

"My dear son, I can tell that there is something lying on your heart, so spill it. Did you break something again?"

"No," the boy shook his head. "I didn't break anything, I swear," he quickly added. "I want to ask something."

Raising a brow, Minseok leaned back into his chair. "Okay and what do you want to ask?"

Shifting a little in his seat, Baek pursed his lips. "You know, Chanyeollie got a puppy and it's so cute and fluffy. His name is Toben and he's so small and he's black and has curly fur and Chanyeollie's Appa got him a red collar and he has a lot of toys and he's really, super duper cute and h-" "Baek, don't forget to breathe," Minseok cut his son off as he noticed his face getting all red. "Also, just to get straight to the point. I don't care how super cute and fluffy Chanyeol's puppy is, you won't get a dog."

"Ahh, but why?" The boy whined and Minseok swore that Baekhyun definitely got way too much from Jongdae.

"First of all, dog needs a lot of attention. You have to take it for walks at least three times a day, you have to clean it's poop and all in all, a dog means work. Who do you think will do all this?"

"I?"

"You will walk the dog three times a day, pick up it's poop and feed it?"

"Yes," Baekhyun said, nodding his head.

"Baek, what's over there?"

Following to where his father was pointing at, Baekhyun found himself looking at the big glass tank that sat on the top of the white dresser near the window. "Uhm, Bubble's tank?"

"Exactly, Bubble's tank," Minseok said. "I'm surprised you remember his name."

"Of course I remember his name," Baekhyun huffed, puffing his cheeks.

"Of course?" the father repeated. "Baekhyun when was the last time you fed Bubble? Or the last time you cleaned his tank?"

"Uhm.."

"Do you even know that Papa took him to the vet last week?"

Baekhyun's eyes widened dramatically. "Why? Why? Is he sick?" Quickly, he jumped down his chair and rushed over to the tank to check up on his pet turtle. "Is he sick, Appa?"

"No, he's not. He had hurt himself but he's fine now."

The boy sighed in relief, tapping onto the glass, causing some of the fish Bubble was sharing his home with to hide.

"You see Baek, you wanted to have Bubble so baldy and now you don't care about him anymore. It's Papa who takes care of him now and the same will happen with a dog. You'll lose your energy and excitement about it some time."

"That's not true," Baek whined. "I'll love it forever."

"I don't doubt that but a dog needs more than just love and some cuddles and I think you don't realize that."

Slowly realizing that his father won't allow him to get a dog, Baekhyun puffed his cheeks. "Please," he begged. "I promise I'll look after it and I promise to feed and clean Bubbles again. Please Appa, please."

Shaking his head, Minseok mentally prepared himself of the tantrum his son was going to throw. "No dog for you."

It didn't even take five seconds for baekhyun to cry out a loud, high pitched "I hate you." Minseok watched as his son, sobbing with his hands balled into fists stormed out of the room, banging the door of his room.

The boy's outburst didn't remain unnoticed and only a couple of seconds after a crying Baekhyun had left the room, a very surprised Jongdae entered. "What happened?"

Getting up, Minseok walked over to his husband and took away the shopping bags he was holding. "He's mad at me, I guess," he chuckled as he brought the bags to the kitchen.

"Well, I heard him but why is he so mad?"

"Chanyeol got a puppy and now our son wants to have one, too."

"Wait, Yeol got a puppy? Wow, I didn't think Kyungsoo really would gave in."

"What?"

"You know, Yifan played with the thought of getting Yeol a puppy but Soo actually didn't like the idea of Yeol getting a dog because, you know, they have like a zoo at home. I'm truly surprised he gave in. What kind of dog did he get?"

"I don't know, Baek only said tiny and black with curly fur and super duper cute."

"So and now our son is mad because you won't get him a super duper cute puppy?" Jongdae chuckled, unpacking one of the bags. "You're so mean, Appa."

"Do you want to get him a puppy?" Minseok asked, giving the package of toast he held onto a light squeeze. "You'll be the one taking care of it, in the end."

"Isn't that normal? Don't all parents do that, taking care of their kids pets?"

"You know exactly what I mean. I don't want him to get everything he wants just because we can afford it. Also he has to learn to take care of the things he want to have. A dog means work and in other circumstances I'd might have said yes but I know that he sees it only as a playmate and cuddle buddy but that's not what a dog is. Plus, he changes is interests like every ten seconds."

"He's a kid, that's normal."

Sighing, Minseok placed the toast away. "When he asked if he could have a turtle we told him that a turtle is not a pet he can play or cuddle with. We told him that he has to help feeding and cleaning it and now look at it. It's you who feeds and cleans the turtle. He got bored of it and doesn't care about it anymore."

"Are you really comparing a dog to our turtle." Jongin snickered. "You can't do that."

"I somehow have the feeling you don't see the whole thing the way I do."

"Then tell me how you see it."

"Babe, getting a dog is a big thing. We both work, means the dog would be alone until you and Baek come home. And what about vacations? We just can't jump into the plane and fly somewhere when we have a dog at home. You have to find someone who takes care of it and in most of the cases you have to pay good money for it. And just to remind you, Baekhyun will eventually get bored of it, some day. And as lucky as we are probably when he gets hit by puberty. It'll be good enough for some cuddling but as soon as you remind him to take it for a walk he'll push this task away from him."

"I'm amazed how far you think."

Minseok rolled his eyes at the comment. "I'm 100% sure it'll be like this. If we get a dog now, it'll be there for the, at least, next 10 years. Baek's getting older and soon he'll be hanging out with friends. Do you want the poor dog to be alone the whole day?"

Closing the fridge after storing everything he'd bought, Jongdae turned to his husband and stepped to him. "I see where you're coming from but would it be that bad to get him dog?" He brought his hands up and fixed Minseok's collar before slipping them behind the man's neck.

Minseok sighed feeling of Jongdae's fingers curling in his hair. "It's just, I wish he'd be more like Chanyeol in this case. I mean, Yeol shows more interest in Bubble when he's here than Baek does in general."

Jongdae nodded, humming. Minseok was right with this, Chanyeol was way more matured than Baekhyun when it came to this point. "We'll meet Yifan and Kyungsoo for dinner on Saturday, right? Just let's ask them why they decided to get Yeol a puppy and how they make it work. I don't ask you to change your mind but maybe it'll help to get a clear decision."

"You'd like to have a puppy too, am I right?"

"Maybe~," Jongdae sang, showing off his stunning kitten smile before he leaned in to steal a kiss from his husbands lips.

"You're unbelievable."

"You love me for it."

"Only sometimes."

"Ba happy that I chose you," Jongdae mocked, playfully tugging at the hair of the back of Minseok's had. "I could've chosen the wealthy snob with the benz."

"Then I'd have taken the cute Chinese exchange student," Minseok smirked, knowing that Jongdae still hated the guy for flirting with him. Scowling, Jongdae pulled away but Minseok was fast enough to catch his husband and pin him against the fridge, tarpping him. "How comes you're still mad at him. Do you even remember his name?"

"Yes, I do," Jongdae huffed. "His name is Luhan and I swear to god, if I'll ever meet him again, I'll kick his for going after you."

Minseok had to laugh at the frowny pout Jongdae was giving him. So, me choosing you, marrying you, building a house and having a child with you was not enough to make you forgetting about him and what he did in college?"

"Obviously not."

"I'm not sure if I should be amused or scared of how unforgiving you are."

"I just don't like when someone tries to gets what's mine."

"Oh, I was already ours back then? Because if I remember it right, we barely started dating."

"I knew you'd be mine. I always get what I want."

"Yeah, and you very obviously gifted this 'I always get what I want' gene to our son."

Giving a proud smile, the younger tapped his fingers along his husbands chest. "Speaking of what he wants. He wants to marry Chanyeol when he's older."

"Ah, I probably should warn the poor boy that there's diva blood running this family."

"Oh, you," Dae whined, slapping Minseok's chest. "I'm not a diva."

"But a drama queen."

"You knew that before you proposed, so bear with it," Jongdae said, snapping his finger.

They both broke into giggles at the action and eventually Minseok stepped back to release his husband. "Do you want to take a look at him?" He asked after nipping at Jongdae's lips.

Shaking his head, Dae stepped to the stove. "Let him calm down. He'll come down soon again."

Together the couple prepared their dinner and baekhyun indeed came down to the kitchen sooner than Minseok had expected. The boy was probably lured out of his room by his Papa's high pitched shriek when Minseok used a tentacle of a squid to tickle Jongdae's neck. "Oh, hey there honey," Jongdae smiled at his son, opening his arms when Baekhyun hopped towards him. "Are you hungry? Dinner is ready, soon."

Nodding, Baekhyun hugged his father around the leg. "Why did you scream like that?"

"Appa tickled me using a tentacle of a squid," Dae laughed. Baekhyun also broke into a giggle but it faded away when he met eyes with Minseok. Jongdae noticed and quickly changed the topic. "Baek, would you be so good and set the table?"

Nodding, Baekhyun turned away and started to gather bowls, chopsticks and all other necessary things to set the dining table. Dinner itself was unusually quiet. Baekhyun didn't talk much, only answered a few questions Jongdae was asking him.

That the boy really was avoiding his father was showing when it was time for him to go to bed. Normally, Baekhyun demanded for his Appa to read him a bedtime story but this time he sneaked to bed even without saying good night.

"Wow," Jongdae muttered when he sat down next to Minseok on the couch. "He must be really mad if he doesn't even say goodnight to you."

"It's okay," Minseok said, meaning it. He was used to being ignored by Baekhyun when he was angry and it didn't bother him anymore. "This is what you get for being the strict parent. He'll get over it."

Jongdae pouted. "Yeah, but he has never said that he hates you, before."

"I guess he just really, really wants to have a dog and me saying no to it is hard to accept for him."

"Hm, since he really, really wants to have a dog, I think you should really, really think about it again."

"Yeah, maybe, but not tonight."

Later the evening, when Minseok and Jongdae went to bed and Jongdae just had fallen asleep the door to their bedroom opened and a tiny figure crept into the dark room. Minseok listened to small, feet shuffling over the floor until they came to halt. "Appa?"

Moving away from Jongdae, Minseok turned to his on. "Yes?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"Of course," the father said and lifted the covers.

Baekhyun climbed into the bed, laying down between his parents. "I'm sorry, Appa," he whispered into the dark. "I don't hate you."

"It's okay, honey," Minseok said, smiling. He his son over the head and leaned forward to press a kiss to the boy's forehead.  "Sleep now, it's late and you have to get up early."

Nodding, Baekhyun snuggled into the pillow. "Good night, Appa."

 

♥

 

It was the Saturday afternoon, the Kim family was invited for a BBQ at the Wu's house and Minseok found himself sitting in his chair with a glass of home made lemonade in his hand, watching his son and friend, together with Chanyeol's little brother running around the garden, playing with the family's puppy. Baekhyun obviously had fun playing with the curly dog, but the father was still not sure if getting his son a dog would be the right decision.

"So, how did it come that you said yes to the puppy?" Jongdae asked as Kyungsoo stepped onto the terrace with a tray in his hands. "He's incredible cute by the way."

"Thanks," Soo smiled, placing the tray onto the table. He looked over to the kids for a second, calling out for Chanyeol to be more careful and watch his little brother after two years old Sehun had tripped over his own feet. "And to answer your question, I don't know. I just thought we should give it a try. And it works perfectly fine until now."

"Does Chanyeol have tasks like feeding him and such?"

"He does," Kyungsoo nodded. "He has to feed him in the morning as well as in the afternoon and he has to take him for walks. He doesn't go alone, of course, but he has take him for walks in the afternoon right after school and before dinner. I take him for the very first walk in morning and Yifan goes for the last one but in the afternoon it's Yeol's task."

Minseok nodded. "What about the other pets?"

"Well, he wanted to have them so he has to take care of them," Kyungsoo said while setting the table for their BBQ. "We made a list of what he has to do every day and he's learned pretty fast that it doesn't take that much time if he works it off point by point."

"You know, Baek also wants to have a puppy now but Minseok is a little sceptic." Jongdae said, chuckling a little. "He worries that Baek will lose interest in the puppy once it's there for a while."

"Like he's lost interest in his turtle?"

"Oh, how do you know?"

Kyungsoo snickered. "Yeol told me. He was rather sad that Baek doesn't seem to love it anymore and asked if we could take it."

Jongdae wasn't able to hold back a laugh. "Oh my, he really did?"

"I don't get why you're laughing," Minseok uttered. "It's kind of sad that our son's best friend wants to take his pet home because he noticed that Baek doesn't seem to be interested in it anymore."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry," Dae said. "Still, I think Baek won't lose interest in a puppy."

Kyungsoo hummed. "Maybe you should set some rules, like we did. It may sounds really mean but we've told Chanyeol that we can give Toben away just as fast as we've gotten him."

The Kim's eyes widened. "You really said that?" Jongdae gasped.

"Well, Yifan did," Soo said. "But yes, we did. We've told him that we, of course, will help him taking care of Toben but that all in all the puppy is his pet and he has the main responsibility."

Minseok made a sound. "I don't know, Yeol is the whole opposite to Baek when it comes to things like this. I think he's more aware of the fact that an animal needs him to live."

"Maybe a dog will help Baekhyun to become more aware of this, too."

"You think?"

Kyungsoo nodded. "A dog is not living in a cage or a tank and it also is not silent. When a dog needs something, it'll tell you. I think it's a good way for Baekhyun to learn that he's in charge of a living individium. Toben for example might be still a young, playful puppy but he clearly shows Chanyeol when he needs rest or simply doesn't want to play anymore. We had it a few times that Toben ran away to hide and it took Yeol a while to figure out that Toben didn't want to play anymore but now he got it. And it changed him, too. He's less loud and wild."

"So, in other words, the puppy has tamed your child."

"Yeah, you can say it like this," Kyungsoo laughed. "A dog is a pet with personality. it has it's own character and a strong will and a kid has to learn to accept that those kind of pets don't always do what you want."

Minseok hummed, nodding. He turned his head to look out for the kids. All three boy's sad in the sandpit, building a castle. The good big brother Chanyeol was, he helped his baby brother scooping sand into a small bucket. Baekhyun was busy digging a deep hole and Puppy Toben lay next to the pit, chewing on a blade of grass. It was a peaceful sight and Minseok had to admit that he wouldn't mind having such a sight in his own garden at home.

"Aww," his husbands cooing pulled him out of his thoughts. "You really think of giving it a chance, do you?" Jongdae who had gotten up from his chair, stepped behind his husband and hugged him around the shoulders. "It's nice to look at, right? Wouldn't it nice to such a view at home? Kids and dog playing in the garden."

"Kids?" Minseok chuckled. "Is there something I don't know yet?"

"No," Dae said, pressing his face into the other's nape. "But I won't mind having a second child. Just saying."

"Then go and discuss this with our son because I'm not willing to get both at the same time."

"Practically seen it wouldn't be the same time."

"Let me formulate it differently," Minseok said. "I'm not willing to get our son a puppy while you're pregnant."

"Too bad," Jongdae pouted. "Maybe we can talk about this tonight again?"

Minseok had to laugh at the featherlight touches his husband with. "We'll see," he said, closing his eyes when Jongdae's nails delightfully scratched along his nape.

 

♥

 

A couple of weeks had passed and after a long time of thinking and consulting Kyungsoo and Yifan once again, Minseok had decided that getting Baekhyun a dog would indeed help the boy to grow more fond of having responsibility.

When he left the house in the morning he didn't tell Jongdae that he was actually had made a decision and would go and get a dog after work. He wanted to surprise him just as he wanted to surprise their son.

With the trunk full of everything a puppy would need, Minseok a few minutes to five in the afternoon entered a local shelter. From an ad in the newspaper he had gotten the information that the shelter offered a couple of Corgi puppies for adoption. On the same day, he had called the shelter and got an appointment.

He let out a short "Aww," as the was brought to room where the puppies were in. A bunch of tiny puppies came run towards him, hopping around his legs. "They're cute."

"They are," an employee of the shelter smiled. "The puppies with the red collars are reserved, by the way. All yellow ones are still looking for a home. Today is a good day for us. One of the puppies has left not even half an hour ago."

"That's good to hear," Minseok smiled.

Half an hour later one of the tiny fur babies had captured the man's heart. The tri-colored puppy had the most incredible sparkling eyes Minseok had ever seen and it somehow reminded him of his son. Even before the employee could ask it was set, this was the puppy he'd take home.

The ride home was a little adventurous with the puppy hopping back and forth Minseok's lap and the passenger seat and once the financial manager was close to crying when the puppy jumped into his lap, hitting precious territory.

Finally arrived at home, Minseok tucked the puppy under his arm and grabbed the fully stuffed bag from the pet shop. After unlocking the door and stepping inside, he dropped the bag and kicked off his shoes. "I'm home."

"Appa," Baekhyun's voice came from the living room. "Appa, Appa, come here. We have a surprise!"

"Oh, really?" Minseok laughed. "I have one t-ah," the word go caught in the back of his throat as he stepped into the room, immediately spotting the surprise Baekhyun had spoken of. His son sat on the floor in front of the couch with a little, cream colored Corgi puppy. Right away Minseok spotted the yellow collar around the puppy's neck. "Oh, no."

"Appa," Baek gasped, jumping to his feet. "You bought a puppy, too? So we have two puppies now?"

The boy's eyes were sparkling like little diamonds and Minseok couldn't say anything as his son reached out for the little dog in his arms. He gave it to him, watching as Baekhyun walked over to the couch so the puppies could meet.

"Uhm, would you?" Minseok asked, gesturing towards the kitchen as Jongdae's and his eyes met. "Do you have a second?"

Jongdae gulped before he stood up from the couch and followed his husband to the kitchen.

"You bought him a puppy? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry," Dae whined. "I know you said you'll think about it first but..."

"But, what?"

"I had to get him a puppy before you could say no."

Confused, Minseok raised a brow. "What are you even talking about? What does this 'before you could say no' mean?"

Jongade took a deep breath and gazed to the floor. "There might has happened something, which is not only my fault, just to say this a-" "Jongdae," Minseok cut him off. "Just tell me. What has happened?"

"I'm pregnant," the words slipped past Jongdae's lips as fast as a lightning. "You know, I just found out and since you made clear that there's either a puppy or a baby and definitely not both at the same time, I thought I just get Baek a puppy and tell you about the baby later so you can't say no."

"You're pregnant?"

"I swear I just found out a couple of days ago," Jongdae said, whining when Minseok took a step towards him. He backed away, whining again when his back hit the fridge and he was trapped. "I.." He was close to crying and opened his mouth again to say something but kept it when Minseok broke into a smile. "Y-you are not mad?"

"Mad?" The man asked. "Hell, why should I be mad? You're pregnant, that's amazing."

This time Jongdae cried out and let tears of relief escaping his eyes. "Oh god, I really thought you'd be mad."

"Silly," Minseok smiled and cupped his husbands face to kiss him. "I might be a little mad that we're now obviously stuck with two puppies but I'll get over it. More important now is when did you find out? And how?"

"A couple of days ago I had to throw up after eating cucumber and at first I thought my stomach was just irritated but then it happened again and I remembered that I had the same thing when I was pregnant with Baek so I bought a test and when it came out positive, I bought another one to get sure."

"Why did you take two tests?"

"The first one seemed off because the second line showed up way too fast so I thought it might be false alarm."

"But it wasn't."

"No," Dae said. "The second one showed it's result just as fast so I went to see a doctor on Tuesday."

"So and what did he say except you're pregnant?"

"That our baby is healthy and already 13 weeks old." Jongdae smiled, eyes curving to crescent moons.

"13 weeks already?" Minseok gasped. "Wow, that's quite a time already."

Jongdae hummed, nodding. "And you're really not mad at me for getting Baek a puppy? You know it was his biggest wish and he shouldn't have to put back because of us. Even though the baby is quite a surprise I was afraid that you might decide against a dog."

"I don't know what I'd have done but it doesn't matter anymore," Minseok smiled. "They're both here now."

"So, you really want to keep both of them?"

"Would you rather break your son's heart?"

"No~"

"That's what I thought," Minseok chuckled. "We'll do it, somehow," he added.

"Thank you," Jongdae smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

"I assume Baek doesn't know that he's going to be a big brother, soon?"

The younger shook his head. "No."

"Well then let's go and inform him," Minseok said and took his husband by the hand. "I'm sure he'll be excited."

 

 

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