A high-pitched squeal wakes you up from your sleep. You had been up last night wrapping the gifts for the kids. By instinct you quickly get out of bed to check on the kids. With your heart beating fast, your bare ffet dashes out of your bedroom and down the stairs. You arrive in the living room just in time to see your little girl fly up in the air and squeal with that same delightful tone again. Your breath catches in your throat as your hand shoot out to catch her even though she’s 3 feet away from you.

“One more, daddy! One more!” she exclaims after landing safely in the arms of Jinyoung, your husband. He laughs at her enthusiasm and stretches out his arms once again in preparation of the toss. You see his biceps flex as his sleeves roll down to his shoulders. He’s about to throw her when a sudden voice shouts, “Mom!!”

Your son runs to you with a plastic box in hand. Jinyoung’s eyes quickly shift to your direction as he lowers your daughter to the ground despite her protests. He averts his eyes and proceeds to distract her with the doll you got her as a gift. “Here, let’s play with Barbie now. I bet she’s lonely you haven’t been paying any attention to her.” he says with an obviously fake chuckle as he sneaks a glance at you.

“But daddy, daddy, I want to fly again!! Up up high in the air like a bird!” she replies back oblivious to the fact that you’re practically eyeing daggers at Jinyoung. “Shh, baby bird… that’s our little secret right…” Jinyoung replies with a sigh as his back slumps forward.

It isn’t the first time you’ve seen him playing with your kids this way but it always gets your heart racing. You know Jinyoung is more than capable of catching them but you just can’t risk it since there is still a chance that he might not. You’ve been talking about it and he wasn’t supposed to do it again…

Jinyoung stands up as your daughter becomes preoccupied with her doll and walks towards you. Your son stands up from your lap and goes to his little sister, probably to brag about his new iron man robot.

“Hey baby. Did you have a good night’s sleep? We didn’t mean to wake you with our noise.” Jinyoung says as he plants a soft kiss on the side of your temple and dazzles you with a smile.

“Uh-huh. Changing the subject isn’t going to save you mister. My heart almost stopped you know,” you say as you roll your eyes at your husband. He’s always trying to distract everyone with that smile of his.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that she was asking for it so much. She was starting to cry and I didn’t want that to wake you up,” he says as he wraps his arms around you and buries his face in your neck. “But we still woke you up in the end. Sorry baby. Don’t get mad.” He continues.

“It’s okay. I know I’m being overprotective. I’m happy to see her laugh like that.” You sigh as you admit defeat. There was no stopping this father-son-daughter trio. Jinyoung lifts his head and tucks your hair behind your ear. His face breaks out into a smile and immediately you feel happiness radiate from him. His small dimple shows itself.

“Thank you for being such a caring mom. And thank your for being so understanding too. But you need to stop worrying or wrinkles are going to appear on your forehead sooner than you think.” he says as he touches the space between your eyebrows lightly. You hadn’t noticed that your eyebrows were scrunched together in worry but now they quickly relax.

“I’ve been getting wrinkles since the day I married you. White hairs too you know. It’s because you’re a pain in the .” You say. His good mood is contagious and you can’t help but smile in the process.

“Maybe it’s because I like your so much that I keep on being a pain to it.” he says with a wink as his hand gives your a small squeeze. You immediately slap it away and pinch his cheek. “Be careful where you’re touching! And why are you so proud to be a pain in the ??” you say with a laugh.

“I’m not proud of being a pain in the . I’m proud of being the pain in YOUR .” he says with a wink. “And sorry but your stuck with this pain forever.”

­­—End—