“She's so little,” Lou mused, his sister's fine black hairs. “Was Regina this little?”

“Maybe not so little,” Allison answered. “She was a pound heavier, but she was a little late, and Ginger was born a little early.”

“She sure is cute, though,” Jackson said, beaming as Ginger grabbed the finger he was waggling in front of her face. “Even though she's not blood related, I still think she looks more like Lou than Regina does.”

Mark glanced at Regina, who was happily playing with some of Ginger's plushies. She definitely had inherited more of Allison's Western looks through her facial structure and lighter brown hair than Lou, who had only inherited his mother's hazel eyes and otherwise had most of Mark's Asian features. If not for the difference in skin tones, Ginger could easily pass for a blood relative of Lou's.

“I feel even more excited to give birth now, since it means I'm giving a new friend to my niece,” Allison said, smoothing a hand over her stomach. “I'd love it if they grew up close.”

“Of course. And Regina, too. She's the only way Ginger can get a taste of having a big sister.”

“And I'm going to be her friend, too,” Lou said firmly. “Even if she wants to play Barbies, we'll play together. And I'll beat up all the guys who ask her out when she's older.”

“She's only a day old,” Allison said wryly. “I don't think you have to worry about that yet.”

The next week, Mark's parents arrived from LA and Jinyoung's from Yangpyeong. The house was such a flurry of activity from the overjoyed grandparents that Mark was relieved that they'd gotten a bigger place. Mrs. Park had brought a suitcase full of additional baby clothes for Ginger, and Mr. Park was determined to get almost every second of Ginger's life on his digital camera. They were excited to tell all their friends back home that they had the most granddaughter in the world, no competition allowed.

Both the Parks and Mark's parents took several pictures holding their granddaughter, but their visit wasn't all fun and games. Mrs. Park gave Jinyoung several stern lectures on the proper way to hold, feed, change, bathe, and burp a baby, and even though Mark already knew the drill from having raised Lou, they insisted that he had to take part in their demonstrations too in case his “American methods” were all wrong. Mark's mother took the lead in teaching them how to prepare formula to perfection if there were ever gaps in their milk offerings from Mei Hui and Allison. Mr. Park and Mark's father mainly chilled out and watched sports on their TV while occasionally taking breaks to rock their granddaughter in their arms and babble to her in Korean and Chinese, respectively.

Mei Hui had been in contact with them since leaving the hospital, but usually had one of them drop by to pick up the milk she offered rather than dropping by to their house herself. “It's easier this way,” she said simply. “No need to complicate matters that are going well.” From Mark could tell, she was in fairly high spirits. After she recovered from her ordeal during the delivery, she had a new project waiting for her overseas. As for Ginger, she seemed to trust that Mark and Jinyoung would handle it well from there on out. “I chose you for a reason,” she said simply. “My mind isn't clouded by worry. I believe all of us are heading towards the futures we need to be heading to.”

It was a huge help for Mark and Jinyoung to have their parents around to help out with chores as they acclimated to life as new parents, but they were also relieved when the house emptied out again and it was just them and their daughter and Lou whenever he came for his half of the week with them. There was something so cozy about it, hearing their son racing his cars in the TV room or grumbling over homework in the kitchen while giving Ginger her bath or helping her drink her bottles. However epic her crying episodes got, she was an angel when she at peace. Her little eyes were always moving, taking in the world around her, and when her tiny fingers grabbed for them, it felt like they were being kissed with her butterfly touches.

“She smells like baby powder,” Lou murmured sleepily one night when they were all sitting together on the couch, watching Spongebob while Mark gave Ginger her bottle. “It's nice.”

“You smelled just as nice when you were a baby,” Mark told him. “Having a baby in the house reminds me so much of you when you were little.”

“That was a long time ago,” Lou said dismissively. “I'm all grown up now.”

“That's true,” Mark said. Sometimes it felt like just yesterday he was a little boy, but most of the time it felt like ages ago. He'd been a different person back then, and so many details big and small had changed in his day-to-day life that he sometimes felt like he was a character in the midst of a long journey with only faint memories of the first sentence that had started it all.

“I like having babies around,” Lou said decisively. “Even when they cry a lot, it's cool that they'll get big like me. I wonder what she'll be like.”

“Me, too,” Mark said, looking down at his daughter, drinking from her bottle serenely in his arms. “I wonder, too.”

Mark woke up at 4 in the morning to the sound of a wail coming from the baby monitor. He heard Jinyoung stirring beside him, glancing at the beside clock. “You got up last time,” Jinyoung said. “My turn this time.” He stumbled to his feet and headed to the nursery. Mark remained in bed—they'd vowed to take turns so both of them weren't losing an equal amount of sleep.

Mark waited for the noises coming from the baby monitor to quiet down from the comfort of his bed. Being a parent was a truly exhausting thing. It wasn't something he resented—in fact, it was a marvel to him that babies didn't spend more time crying consider how big and terrifying everything must have seemed from their perspective, especially when they couldn't vocalize those fears and sensations any other way. All the same, having to be on alert changed both him and Jinyoung in little ways. The usually pristine Jinyoung had to put up with being spit up on and forgoing his hygiene when Ginger's was a more pressing concern. Mark, who liked having as much a down time in his life as possible, sacrificed nearly every second of it to his daughter, who needed him far more than he needed to relax.

It was funny sometimes. Mark would pull Jinyoung closer in bed and find mysterious patches of stickiness leftover from dinner. Jinyoung was always pinpointing new stains on Mark's clothes they were never sure the exact source of. Half the time, they either smelled fantastic, like baby powder and lotion, or they smelled like walking human cesspits.

And he wouldn't take back a single moment of it. The last month had been a whirlwind of activity, but there was beauty in every second of the chaos.

Since Ginger had been born in May, they were fortunate that Jinyoung didn't really have to take paternity leave, since he was already off for the summer. Mark had a long discussion with his boss at work and had arranged a schedule where he could work from home part time during non-peak seasons, provided he still came in for essential meetings, was always reachable on his cell phone, and actually did all of his work by deadline. Thus far, they'd been careful not to overburden themselves, and everything was going as well as they could have hoped. Jinyoung still had to play catch up a little bit in learning the unexpected twists of fatherhood, but Mark was happy to help him every step of the way.

Mark was having a hard time falling asleep again—it was always cold in bed without Jinyoung there, and he'd turned into someone who liked to have something to hold on to before falling asleep. The baby monitor had been silent for awhile, so Mark slipped out of bed to check on them.

Jinyoung was in the rocking chair with Ginger, dozing off. They both looked so peaceful in that moment that Mark paused before stepping into the room, framing it in his mind. Jinyoung had been happy these days no matter what challenges Ginger threw at them, but peaceful moments had been a little bit harder to find. Mark didn't want to disturb him, even though he knew Jinyoung had a habit of lolling forward when he fell asleep sitting up, and that wouldn't be the safest thing for Ginger, who was stationed in his arms.

Mark gently tapped Jinyoung's shoulder. “Come back to bed, baby,” he said. “I'll put Ginger in her crib.”

“Mmm?” Jinyoung blinked his eyes blearily. “Did I fall asleep?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry about that.” He let Mark take Ginger over to her crib where, thankfully, she remained sound asleep. When Mark was finished, he rose to his feet and took Mark's hand, following him back to the bedroom.

“Get some sleep,” Mark whispered, Jinyoung's cheek. “If she cries again, I'll get up.”

“Mmmkay.” Jinyoung snuggled into his arms. Mark pressed his lips into Jinyoung's hair and kissed him. “Ahh, even when we're both tired out like this, you're always so good to me.”

“And I always will be.”

“Except when I have vomit on me?”

“Even then. I'll help you clean up, even if you smell the worst you've ever smelled.” He kissed Jinyoung's hair again. “Get some sleep.”

“I will. See you in dreams, yeobo.”

Mark chuckled lightly—that term of endearment usually only slipped out when Jinyoung was half asleep. “I'll be waiting for you there, baby.”

Ginger squirmed her little legs, kicking up some of the water beneath her. At three months old, she'd grown a lot from the day they'd first taken her home, and Mark was still somewhat in awe of it. Where previously just moving slightly had seemed to be big exercise for her, she was now a Grade A wriggler. She wanted to be in constant motion, which was difficult since she couldn't crawl yet and it mainly translated to her waving her arms and legs when Mark or Jinyoung were holding her, changing her, or feeding her. Luckily her hands didn't pack a powerful punch, since they'd wound up being socked in the face a few times.

“Maybe she's going to be a swimmer,” Jinyoung guessed as Mark lowered her a bit into the water in her swim nappy. She continued kicking sending up water around her and smiling in delight. “She's got the arm movements down.”

“Papa, help me with my sunblock on my back!” Lou called from over where they'd set down their bags. Allison and Jackson were nearby, but they were both occupied, Jackson with getting Regina into a swim vest and Allison with fitting a bonnet on their one-month old son's head. Brendan had been born in July, just a week before Lou's own 10^th birthday.

“I'll do it!” Kit called from behind him. As always, they had their honorary family member along with them for their family outing. It was a ridiculously hot summer, and Mark and Jinyoung's air conditioner was on the fritz. It had been their idea to take Lou and Ginger up to the pool at the local outdoor YMCA, and they'd called Allison and Jackson up to invite them up. Regina was already a veteran of the kiddie pool, and they thought Ginger would like the company. Lou had called Kit from his 'emergency cell phone,' and they'd had to pick him up along the way.

Mark glanced over his shoulder as Kit lobbed a huge portion of sunblock at Lou's back. “It's cold!” Lou yelled, aiming a kick at Kit.

“You're cold!” Kit yelled back, kicking him in return. Now that they were verging into their preteen years, their conversations had gotten particularly eloquent. “Hold still, I'll rub it in.” Of course, that translated into doing some kind of complicated drum rhythm on Lou's back without actually achieving much.

“Boys,” Jinyoung said in his warning voice. Kit snapped to attention and began rubbing it in properly. He'd put so much on that Lou's back wound up looking like whipped cream anyways.

When Jackson finished with Regina's vest, he helped her into the kiddie pool beside Mark, Jinyoung, and Ginger. “Uncle Mak Mak!” she said, kicking her legs. “Uncle Jin Jin! I can swim!”

“You're so good at it!” Mark said in an exaggerated shocked voice. In one more month, she'd be turning three—it really amazed him how quickly the time passed. That would mean it had almost been three years since he'd married Jinyoung, too.

“I taught her everything she knows,” Jackson said emotionally. “Now look at her go.”

“Then why do I have vivid memories of me teaching her and you mainly splashing?” Allison asked. She dipped her legs into the pool, cradling Brendan against her chest. She'd lucked out—he was a very quiet baby, who preferred to sleep over anything. Since Regina was getting noisier as she mastered talking, Allison was lucky that she wasn't dealing with two noisemakers at once.

“We're going to the big pool,” Lou informed all of his parents.

“We'll watch you from here,” Allison said. “So we'll see if you're causing trouble or not listening to the lifeguards. Remember: NO DUNKING.”

“We won't,” Kit said, without sounding particularly convincing.

“It would be nice to have three sets of eyes sometimes,” Allison sighed after they ran off. “One for him, one for Regina, and one for Brendan.”

“That's why it's good our two babies are so well behaved,” Jackson said, lifting up Regina a little and splashing her back into the water. “Right, princess?”

Regina giggled. “Again, again!” Jackson obliged her. “You're such a little frog,” he said laughing.

Regina slowly doggy paddled over to Ginger. “Can Gingey swim?” she asked. “I wanna play.”

“Not yet,” Mark said. “She's still a baby. But you'll teach her when she gets older, right?”

Regina nodded. She paddled over to her mother. “Tiny boy, too?” She'd dubbed Brendan by his physical description rather than his actual name.

“I'm sure he'll love to go swimming with you when he's big.”

“Get big soon,” she told Brendan. Mark wanted to laugh at her command, but the fact was that both Brendan and Ginger would be getting bigger before they knew it. This time of their lives went by quickly and was full of continual growth. And they would just keep growing and growing. Ginger would only be this tiny little thing for a little big longer.

“So how is parenthood treating you two?” Allison asked. “You seem to be doing well.”

“We're enjoying ourselves,” Jinyoung said. “It's like an adventure every day.”

“An adventure with poop pitfalls and dirty bibs,” Mark joked. “But she's such a good girl. I wouldn't trade it for anything.”

“You'll be going back to school in two weeks, right?” Jackson asked Jinyoung.

“Yeah,” Jinyoung said. “But Mark and I worked it out. He'll work from home in the mornings, and I'll come to take over after AM kindergarten finishes. I think we'll be fine.”

“Parenthood is always a juggling act, but it sounds like you have a good plan.” Jackson paused. “Hey, I just realized, Brendan and Ginger are going to be in the same year at school.”

“That will be fun for them,” Mark said. “Getting to go to school with their cousin.”

“They could totally wind up as some kind of legendary troublemaker duo!”

“Excuse me, but we're not raising our daughter to be a troublemaker,” Jinyoung said, glaring at Jackson.

“They can turn into troublemakers on their own, without our help. Duh.”

Ginger kicked her feet again, and Regina clapped in delight. “Gingey's a frog!”

Allison grinned and tilted her head back, to the sun. “I love this,” she murmured to herself.

“What part, exactly?” Mark asked her quietly.

“All of it,” she said. “This family.”

Mark nodded. She didn't need to say anything more for him to understand her. He agreed to the core of his heart that everything here, from Lou and Kit in the big pool blatantly trying to dunk each other, Regina bobbing in the water and splashing Jackson, Brendan resting against Allison's chest, and Ginger squirming away in their arms was indescribably perfect.

Mark came home from work to a lot of crying. It wasn't just Ginger, but Jinyoung was doing his share of wailing too.

“Pleeeasseee stop crying,” Jinyoung begged Ginger desperately. “Your diaper isn't dirty. I just fed you and burped you. There's nothing to cry about!”

Mark quickly hurried up to them. “Did you try the pacifier?”

“She won't take it. I don't know what else to do.” Jinyoung blinked back a few tears. “She's going to cry herself blue at this rate.”

“Can I try?” Mark asked. Jinyoung nodded and passed Ginger to him.

He walked Ginger to where her blankets were folded in her crib. He grabbed one of her swaddles and set her down to wrap her in it. She squirmed at first, but eventually he got her into it. He scooped her back up and pressed her closely to his heart and made little shushing noises as he swayed her gently. It took a few minutes, but eventually she started to calm a little.

“Oh,” Jinyoung said softly, plopping down into the rocking chair, looking exhausted and a little disheartened.

“It's a trick I learned with Lou,” Mark explained. “If they seem like they're crying for no reason, it's a good idea to simulate the womb experience.”

“I was seriously trying for forever, and she wouldn't stop,” Jinyoung said, looking down at his hands. “I feel like a terrible parent.”

“Don't say that,” Mark said gently. “Babies cry. She can't explain why, and you're not some miracle worker who can interrupt what wailing means instinctively. Sometimes you just have to try whatever you can and see what works. And now you learned a new trick, just like I did ten years ago.”

Jinyoung still looked a little upset. “My baby was crying and all I could do was cry along with her.”

“That's why I'm here. You're allowed to get frustrated sometimes, and when you get frustrated, I'll take over for you. And when I get frustrated, you can take over for me. We're a team.” He set Ginger, who was now asleep, tired out from her crying, into her crib and went over to rub Jinyoung's back. “Actually, this scene is kind of familiar. I came home one time when Lou was two, back when he was in his terrible phase. He was crying in his play pen and Allison was sitting beside it, crying herself. She also didn't know what to do.”

“Allison?” Jinyoung repeated. “But she's a great mother.”

“Yeah, and even great mothers have bad days. Not at all helped by the fact that she was realizing at that point that things weren't working out the way she wanted between her and me. It was hard for her to hold herself together emotionally sometimes, and she had to soldier on for Lou's sake. But it was even harder for her, because my support didn't help as much because she wasn't feeling the right kind of love behind it.” Mark knelt in front of Jinyoung. “But you can feel it, right? That there's the right kind of love behind it when I say you're doing a great job as a father, and if you're ever lost or stuck, I'll be right here with you to help?”

Jinyoung smiled slowly. “Yeah.”

“So if you ever come home to find me crying, I hope you'll do the same.”

“Of course I will.” Jinyoung squared his shoulders. “If something like this happens again, are there any other tips you have to get her to stop crying?”

“Babies like gently rhythms like rocking and swaying and heartbeats and chest vibrations. You should bring her to your chest and sing or hum something to her.”

“That would really help?”

“Probably more than you think. I'm a full grown thirty-five year old, and your voice honestly calms me down, too.”

Jinyoung smiled. “Then come here.” He cradled Mark's head and pressed it to his chest and began humming a soft and slow tune.

Mark closed his eyes, listening to the sweet tone of Jinyoung's voice. It really was such a soothing thing, and something he deeply loved about Jinyoung. He could change the mood in so many ways, making it brighter or more vibrant, but this was the mood he brought to Mark the most: a gentle, loving feeling that was both a comfort and a fluttering pulse in his veins.

"What song is this?" Mark asked, keeping his eyes closed.

“It's a John Lennon song I've always found soothing when I'm stressed.” He ran his fingers through Mark's hair. “Oh my love, for the first time in my life, my eyes are wide open. Oh my lover, for the first time in my life, my eyes can see.  I see the wind, oh I see the the trees. Everything is clear in my heart. I see the clouds, oh I see the sky. Everything is clear in our world.”

“Well, that works better on me than Rockabye Baby,” Mark said softly, pressing his ear against Jinyoung chest, listening to his heartbeat. “You know what, I think this will work like a charm on Ginger.”

“A different song though,” Jinyoung whispered, wrapping his arms around Mark's back. “This one's just for you.”