“That’s not how it goes”

“I know” - Heechul replied sassily while Heeyeon kept drinking her cold tea - “I’m doing my best”

“Is this your best?” - Sungmin asked amused 

“Shut up, Minnie” - Heechul basically barked - “I think you are doing more than fine! Tomorrow you are going back to school!”

“Oh no, my head is spinning” - Sungmin faked being dizzy and leaned on his mom - “Mama, please…” 

“Awww” - Heeyeon kissed him - “Don’t worry, my little baby. You are not going back to school until you feel ready”

“Seriously?” - Heechul whined - “He already missed three days”

“It’s kindergarten” - Sungmin retorted - “I bet I haven’t miss anything important” 

“Well, your siblings have declared Zhoumi their enemy” - Heechul complained 

“Like I said, nothing important” - Sungmin was laying on his side on the bed - “They will get along again in no time” 

“I hope you are right” - Heeyeon sighed - “Your aunt came yesterday to bring your homework and she sounded very stressed about this situation”

“Wait” - Sungmin sat up and frowned - “She is the reason why I haven’t skipped homework?”

“I didn’t want you to miss anything” - Heeyeon sulked - “Just because you are not attending school it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your studies” 

“And it’s impossible to decipher what your brothers write on their notebooks” - Heechul teased - “Seriously, they need to work on their calligraphy”

“Can I help with this?” - the kid tried to touch something Heeyeon was holding - “Why not?”

“No, baby” - Heeyeon shook her head - “I’m using super glue. You could glue your fingers by accident if you are not careful” 

“Not even I can use it” - Heechul rolled his eyes 

“Well, you are not careful enough and you would get glued to a wall or something” - Heeyeon stuck out her tongue 

“What’s that?” - Sungmin’s attention switched to the boxes his uncle was carrying- “Are those for Cherry too?”

“Yes, they are” - Leeteuk placed a box on the floor and saw how the boy basically dived in it - “Hey hey hey” 

“Look! Cherry has a pretty mouse doll!” - Sungmin was showing it to Heeyeon - “It’s wearing a pink tutu” 

“Awww, so cute” - Heeyeon smiled pleased - “Is this Angelina ballerina?”

“Who?” - Heechul tilted his head - “I bought it because it reminded me of you”

“So… do I look like a rat to you?” 

Heechul didn’t have time to answer. Leeteuk smacked his head before he could ever think of it.

“FOR THE BALLET!” - Heechul complained 

“He was a punk and she did ballet” - Heeyeon said playfully- “We are such a cliche couple” 

“What’s a punk?” - Sungmin asked amused 

“I wasn’t a punk” - Heechul scoffed - “Mommy is just being silly”

“Hey siri, what’s a punk?” - Sungmin was using Heechul’s phone - “Ohhhhhh… so Papa was a bad boy!” 

“Give me that back” - Heechul snatched his phone back - “Don’t you have anything else to do? Go watch tv or something”

“I can’t” - Sungmin sighed - “Uncle said I was watching too much tv and said it was ‘no screen time’ “

“Why would you do that?” - Heechul complained to Leeteuk - “Screens are magical. They keep them busy” 

“I don’t think is good for young boys to spend so much time watching tv or ridiculous videos” - Leeteuk was sorting some of Cherry stuff on the bed with Heeyeon - “And since he is not attending school, he has lots of free time”

“He sleeps a lot anyway” - Heeyeon folded clothes with skill - “But Teuk is right. Too much Tv is going to rot his mind”

“Is this a dollhouse?!” - Sungmin wanted to play with it so badly - “Can I play with it? Pleaaaaaaaseeeeee”

“No” - Heechul scolded the boy for touching it - “This is for Cherry”

“But Cherry is going to be a baby” - Sungmin tried - “She won’t actually play with it until she is older” 

“Then, we should keep it safe until she can play with it” - Heechul winked - “It’s a very no, Minnie. Yesung and Kangin bought this house using their allowance. They would get really mad if they learned you played with it”

“Oh” - Sungmin nodded in understanding- “I get it. Then maybe I should get one for myself”

“I don’t think you could ever save that much money” - Heechul teased - “You are not that good at saving” 

“That’s true…” - Leeteuk couldn’t avoid agreeing on that one 

“Maybe…” - Heeyeon got an idea - “Wait here” 

“Where are you going?” - Heechul panicked - “Hey, Ahn Heeyeon. We haven’t finished Cherry’s corner yet! You can’t just leave!”

“I’m not leaving” - Heeyeon came back holding a box and Heechul almost fainted - “I just went to get this”

“Next time you can ask me for it” - Leeteuk was also trying to not panic over the fact Heeyeon carried a heavy box by herself being that pregnant- “Haven’t we discussed this earlier? No weight lifting?”

“Cherry is going to be a professional weight lifter” - Heechul was taking a break on the bed. Sungmin was playfully giving him a massage- “That’s it. Exactly right there… good boy… good boy”

“Minnie, come take a look” - Heeyeon took out of the box a cute dollhouse - “what do you think?” 

“WHOAH” - Sungmin was jumping out of excitement- “Where did you get this?”

“It was mine” - Heeyeon blushed a bit - “Nana kept it for me… for us. They kept a lot of our toys thinking that some day our children could play with them” 

“Can I ?” - Sungmin was doubtful - “Are you letting me borrow it? For real?”

“That house is very special to your mom, Minnie” - Heechul warned him - “You better take good care of it” 

“I will!” - Sungmin chirped - “I will go look for my aliens!” 

“His what?” - Leeteuk was amused 

“I suppose the new tenants” - Heechul teased - “At least he will be distracted and will let us work” 

“Mama, Papa, Uncle” - Sungmin was handing them some of his plastic aliens - “You play too” 

“Oh honey, we are b—“ - Leeteuk saw the very moment Heeyeon warned them with a look like saying: you will play. - “I guess we can play ten minutes or so” 

“Yeah…” - Heechul was also wary of the mood 

By the time Heechul had to pick up the boys from school, Cherry’s corner was already finished. Taking into account the newborn baby would need to be look after very often and Heeyeon was more likely not going to be able to separate from her during nighttime… Heechul proposed making what he called ‘Cherry’s corner’ in their bedroom. After all, it made sense their little daughter shared room with them at least during the first year. Henry was two and he still slept in his crib close to their bed. 

Sungmin was sitting on the back humming a cheerful song. He was still playing with some of his aliens. Heechul smiled seeing the boy so happy. He was feeling lucky since the boy was healthier now. He worried when the kid was cranky all time, crying and hitting tantrums unexpectedly. It was clear he wasn’t feeling well before and now was almost back to normal. 

“Daddy! Daddy!” - Eunhyuk crashed with him - “What did Hyukkie take from you?”

“What?”

“Daddy, what did Hae inherit from you?” - Donghae tilted his head - “You don’t play soccer”

“And you don’t dance” - Eunhyuk folded his arms - “I’m guessing we took dancing from mommy”

“Mommy is good at soccer?” - Donghae scratched his head

“Heeyeon? I don’t think so” - Heechul kept talking when they got headed to pick up the older boys - “she likes it but… I don’t think she played. Why you ask?”

“Homework!” - the boys chirped 

“Oh… Well, I guess you guys took dancing from Mom’s side and… I don’t know what you got from me” - Heechul teased - “You will need to find out by yourselves”

“That’s not fair!” - Donghae whined - “You need to help us with our homework!”

“What’s going on? Why are they loud now?” - Yesung covered his ears 

“They want to know if they take after me” - Heechul laughed as he fastened his seatbelt again - “what do you say?”

“I know what I took from dad” - Kangin was cocky - “I inherited his humour sense” 

“And my ability to get in troubles” - Heechul checked the note the teacher gave him - “I don’t know what you did this time, but they are asking me to come… so, you are grounded”

“You don’t even know what I did” - Kangin protested 

“I will adapt the punishment better once I learned what you did” - Heechul sighed - “for the moment, you are just grounded. Like, no videogames” 

“Dad and I are very alike” - Yesung wanted to compete as well - “I share many traits with him. Like being good at studying” 

“True” - Heechul nodded in agreement. He was proud his boys seemed to like the idea of resembling him

“I inherited something from Dad too!” - Siwon interrupted his brothers 

“Yeah, the bed wetting” - Kangin rolled his eyes 

“NO!” - Siwon shouted annoyed 

“But is true…” - Heechul said in a very low voice as he drove 

“I’m good at maths too” - Siwon tried - “I’m a good student too” 

“Dad wasn’t a ‘good’ student” - Kangin scoffed - “He was a rascal. Like me” 

“But he had good grades” - Yesung bickered - “Yours are so low they are about to hit the bedrock layer”

Only Heechul, Siwon and Yesung laughed. Kangin and the triplets were puzzled. 

“What?” - Kangin frowned 

“Daddy, what’s bedrock?” - Donghae asked cutely - “is that where rocks sleep?”

“Do rocks sleep?” - Eunhyuk asked amused - “How?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what it is” - Heechul was messing with them. He loved making up stories - “It’s a huge bed where all rocks get to sleep when they are tired of being hard and sturdy all time” 

“Ohhhhhh” - Eunhyuk and Donghae nodded 

Kangin laughed now. He knew his dad was just making up that one. There was a silence for a few minutes until Sungmin broke it:

“I thought bedrock was a deep soil layer” - the boy sighed - “and that you used the word to refer to the first principles or foundation of something” 

Another silence. Big, awkward silence.

“What…” - Yesung was stunned 

“Nerd” - Kangin ‘coughed’ 

Heechul used the next traffic light to turn around and widen his eyes at the boy like saying ‘what the hell’. 

“It was on the tv” - Sungmin explained - “I was sick at home and I watched a lot of TV… I thought I could use it for when I write my presidential campaign”

“Is any of our siblings normal?” - Kangin asked in a funny voice 

“Maybe Siwon” - Yesung tried 

“Nah, he is just boring” - Eunhyuk shook his head - “What?” 

“Mommy, do you think I’m normal?” - Siwon asked Heeyeon as soon as she greeted him 

“Yeah…?” - Heeyeon wasn’t sure what to say 

“NOOOO!” - Siwon went upstairs crying 

“Did I say something wrong…?” - Heeyeon was confused - “What was the correct answer?”

“Oh, uncle is such a fool” - Leeteuk was holding a crying toddler - “Yeah, yeah, I’m totally guilty” 

“What’s wrong with him?” - Heechul took the crying boy from him - “Why is Ryeowook crying?”

“Because… He asked for the yellow cup” - Leeteuk wet his lips - “And I gave him the yellow cup. It was my bad” 

“Let me guess” - Heechul headed to the kitchen - “Kyuhyun asked you for the ‘blue’ cup?”

“Actually, yes” - Leeteuk leaned on the worktop - “But he haven’t seen it yet because Wookie started crying when he saw me holding these” 

“What about these?” - Heechul was holding another set of cups. One was yellow with a giraffe and another one was blue with penguins - “Better?”

“Bewew” - Ryeowook wiped his tears away - “Thwan u”

“When people don’t understand what we mean, we don’t cry” - Heechul explained softly - “We just tell them they are wrong in a nice way and try again” 

“I’m not sure…” - Leeteuk wasn’t sure of the lesson but Ryeowook apologized to him and gave him a hug - “Nevermind” 

“For the record” - Heechul took out a few funny cups that resembled the other two - “Turtle is Yesung’s, Raccoon is Kangin’s, Horse is Siwonnie’s …and Monkey for Hyukkie, Fish for Hae and Bunny for Minnie” 

“And Henry’s?” 

“Here” 

“A mouse” - Leeteuk squinted his eyes - “It’s a mouse, right?”

“I’m not sure” - Heechul made a face - “But he chose this one. I’m sure is some kind of rodent but… pfff. It could be a mouse, a hamster, a Guinea pig…” 

“What’s a Guinea pig?” - Eunhyuk asked from behind 

“Its a very funny hairy pig that came from Guinea” - Heechul was having fun  again - “They are this small” 

“Cool” 

“You should stop doing that” - Leeteuk scolded half amused - “They believe everything you say” 

“Wrong” - Yesung was there to make it worse - “A Guinea pig is someone you use to test something that it could be unsafe for you… Like in experiments” 

“For real?” - Kangin was shocked - “I thought it was some sort of big hamster… well, I’m guessing our classroom pet will be better than I expected” 

“You are getting a Guinea pig for classroom pet?” 

“I voted for a lizard” - Kangin sighed - “This is the girls fault”

“What?” - Heeyeon just heard the last part - “What did the girls do now?”

“They all wanted that stupid guinea pig” - Kangin frowned - “Girls are ridiculous” 

“…”

“But not you! You are not a girl anymore!” - Kangin gulped down anxiously- “I mean, you are a girl but you are cool!”

“Nice try” - Heechul shook his head 

“Mommy, Minnie is being selfish!” - Eunhyuk came back from their room ready to accuse his twin - “He is not sharing!”

“Mama, Hyukkie wants to play with the dollhouse you gave me” - Sungmin shook his head - “But you and Papa said to play nicely” 

“Yeah, exactly” - Heechul agreed - “We don’t want to break it, right?”

“Well, uhm… We can place it here in the living room and you and your siblings can play with it… without fighting” 

“It’s my turn now” - Eunhyuk raised his hand - “Minnie played with it all morning”

“It wasn’t ‘all’ morning!” 

“I want to play with the house too!” - Siwon was already holding several cars - “I’m going to drive and park around the house!”

Heeyeon was laughing when she spotted the twins carrying their little cute plastic animals. They would join the play date as well. 

“I don’t know what’s such a big deal over a dollhouse” - Kangin rolled his eyes - “It’s just stupid”

“Honey, dollhouses are not stupid” - Leeteuk tried - “It’s everything about imagination”

“You played with those, didn’t you?”

“In fact, I did”

“Gay”

“Kangin” - Heechul scolded - “Don’t call your uncle ‘gay’ “ 

“Sorry” - the boy apologized - “homoual”

“Kangin!” - Heechul scolded again - “He is your uncle! Show him some respect!”

Kangin did a military salute. Leeteuk laughed. Heechul twisted his lips. 

“Hey, lunch is almost served” - Heeyeon looked around - “Where is Yesung?”

“Showering” - Siwon replied - “He said he needed to shower”

“Dad, since Yesung is spending too much time in the shower… maybe I should spend less” - Kangin was trying to use the opportunity to negotiate - “Like, for saving the planet and saving water” 

“You are not going to shower?” - Heechul raised an eyebrow - “It’s not happening” 

“Damn it” 

“Kangin, that mouth…” - Leeteuk sighed - “Go play with your siblings until lunch, ok?”

“And the stupid dollhouse?” - Kangin folded his arms - “I’m not playing with it! It’s like playing with Barbie!”

Heeyeon did a face. Leeteuk chuckled. 

“Oh my, you played with those too!” - Kangin went away highly annoyed 

“UHUUUUU!” - Kyuhyun was crying and holding his little penguin dolls - “NO PWAY WI KYU’S WEWIS!”

“What’s wrong?” - Heechul held him up - “Why are you so upset, Kyunnie?”

“THEY DUN WANNA PWAY WI’ WEWIS!” - Kyuhyun cried sadly 

“Cuz penguins don’t live here!” - Donghae shouted from the living room 

“And neither do aliens!” - Eunhyuk was trying to get rid of the dolls he considered not allowed in the dollhouse - “nor giraffes!”

“HPMH!” - Ryeowook walked away with his giraffe doll. He went to hug his dad legs and cry for help. 

“Well, if you can’t share and play nice… then you don’t get to play with it” - Heechul got tired of the constant fights and hid the dollhouse in his office - “that’s it. Now let’s go have lunch”

“Bye Mommy, don’t let Hyukkie play with the dollhouse” - Siwon gave her very specific instructions- “Please” 

“I wasn’t going to” - Heeyeon kissed him goodbye while the boy waved - “Awww~ he looks so handsome in his tennis uniform”

“What about me?” - Kangin was wearing his baseball uniform already - “Don’t you like it?”

“Baseball uniforms look like pajamas” - Donghae pushed his brother away and showed off his soccer one - “Mommy, look: I’m handsome too” 

“You are all handsome” - Heeyeon found cute the boys would be so competitive when it came about looks - “You all take after daddy” 

“Really?!” - Donghae smiled widely - “Cool! Now my homework is done!”

“No, no” - Heechul was clapping his hands - “It’s not. You still have to find something else. Yesung, let’s go! We are going to be late!”

“Oh, so cool” - Heeyeon teased Yesung about his jacket - “I think is the first time I see you wearing your uniform jacket!” 

“Well, yeah” - Yesung half smiled - “It’s the one from the team so… I wanted to wear it”

“Why?” - Heechul inquired - “I thought you said it was ugly and that’s why you always refused to wear it”

“Fine” - Yesung sighed - “It’s pretty cold outside and I don’t want to ruin my nice clothes” 

“Oh, that’s right” - Heeyeon pouted- “Basketball uniform is sleeveless… Maybe Donghae should also wear his sport jacket” 

“Nah, I’m fine” - Donghae refused - “And we are going to be inside Daddy’s car until we get to school” 

“True” - Heechul nodded - “Anyway, get inside all of you. I have no time to waste talking about clothes” 

“Mama, I’m going to music school!” 

“Oh no no no! Stop right there!” - Heeyeon caught the four years old that tried to sneak out with his uncle - “You are not going out” 

“Why? Papa said it was fine” - Sungmin shrugged- “I don’t feel sick anymore, I swear” 

“Seriously?” - Heeyeon complained when Leeteuk seemed to agree - “are you both blind or something? He can’t go out like that”
 
“Like… what?” - Leeteuk didn’t get it 

“What mommy wants to says is that your outfit ” - Eunhyuk twisted his lips - “Sometimes I can’t believe you are our twin, Minnie” 

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” - Sungmin looked at his outfit. 

“Evewythin’ “ - Ryeowook said bluntly 

“I’m going to be late” - Sungmin whined when Heeyeon made him change - “Mama, please…”

“Way better” - Heeyeon was fixing his hair as well - “Boy, you surely inherited your father’s bad taste on clothes”

“That’s it!” - Sungmin was somehow happy - “I take after Papa!”

“I don’t have any clue of what’s going on with that but yeah” - Heeyeon scoffed - “Good luck in your class, Minnie”

“Bye, bye fashion terrorist” - Eunhyuk waved goodbye to his uncle - “Oh, he wore the alien shoes again” 

“WHAT?” - Heeyeon freaked out only to realize Eunhyuk was lying - “hey”

“I got you, I knew you didn’t like those” - Eunhyuk and the twins were laughing - “Those are incredible ugly. I don’t know why you let him buy those”

“I didn’t” - Heeyeon laid on the couch dumbfounded - “Your dad did. Like I said… bad taste”

“Mama, Kyu is pretty” - Kyuhyun was brushing his own hair - “Well dwessed and pretty” 

“Aw, you definitely are” - Heeyeon kissed him - “You guys are all really really handsome” 

“Me too, me too” - Ryeowook was taking off his glasses - “Loo’ “

“Oh baby” - Heeyeon put the glasses back on - “You look well with and without your glasses. You don’t need to take them off” 

Ryeowook blushed and played coy. He snuggled with his mom and twin until his little brother decided it was his turn to disrupt peace. 

“Do you want to join?” - Heeyeon placed the boy on her lap - “Who is the cutest two year old ?”

“Henwy” - Kyuhyun pointed at his brother - “cuz Kyu n’ Wookie are three”

“But Henry is the same size as Wook already” - Eunhyuk provoked

Ryeowook glanced at his baby brother. It was hurtful to see it was true. 

“Hewy biiiiiiiiiiig!” - the youngest toddler was happy to know he was taller than his older brother - “No baby!” 

“No baby?” - Heeyeon tickled him - “Who is ‘not’ a baby, Mr? You will always be MY BABY FOREVER”

Henry had fun. He loved playing like that. Heeyeon let him roll on the couch and would let him hang on her upside down. Henry was a sensory seeker. The most input he got, the better. 

Heeyeon loved the way all boys were different, but Henry was an unique toddler for her. Henry was her first sensory seeking child experience. Most of the boys were the complete opposite: sensory sensitive and therefore, avoiding. Sensory sensitive boys disliked being ‘too’ touched, disliked different textures that also translated into ‘picky eating’, hated loud noises and bright lights. 

So far, she could tell Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook were pretty sensory sensitive and that explained some of their most “controversial” behaviours. Older kids masked their differences better. She was sure Yesung was probably on the sensitive side as well but Kangin and Siwon were more likely to be ‘seekers’. She wasn’t sure about Sungmin and Donghae. 

But Henry was so different. Henry loved being tossed around, he loved rolling on the floor, playing with sand, playing with paint, jumping around, screaming, being loud. He hung upside down like a bat much to Leeteuk’s dismay. 

“Me too” - Kyuhyun was clearly jealous of all the attention Heeyeon was giving to the youngest toddler - “Kyu plays too” 

“Do you want to hang upside down like a bat?” - Heeyeon was sure the boy wasn’t going to like it - “Are you sure?”

“Yes” - Kyuhyun was stubborn - “Kyu likes it too”

“If you say so…” - Heeyeon knew he would regret it - “One… two…” 

Kyuhyun shouted out of scare when  he got upside down. Heeyeon made sure of holding him back quickly. 

“Are you ok? Did you get scared?” - She tried - “Maybe we shouldn’t play like this” 

Kyuhyun started to cry. He got really anxious when upside down. He hated it. And his pride was hurt since Henry seemed to be fine after playing such a weird game. 

“Aww” - Heeyeon felt bad for Kyuhyun. She was sure the only reason why he tried to play like that was because he was jealous - “It’s ok, let’s play something else” 

“Nuuuuuh” - Henry was now protesting - “Pway bat! Bat! Bat!”

“Henry, sweetie… your brothers don’t like that game” - Heeyeon pouted - “Let’s play something else until uncle returns” 

“Pway diz” - Ryeowook was holding his favorite block construction game - “Pwease”

Henry got mad when he caught Ryeowook celebrating. It was clear the older twin was happy since he was getting away with the game he wanted to play. For a moment, he thought of running towards the construction and kicking the blocks away. But he feared a time out. If by any chance Leeteuk arrived when he was creating chaos… he was getting a time out. He needed to get his mom’s attention without doing anything that could get him in real troubles. 

“Mama, mama” - Henry started to sign random words he knew. Heeyeon got caught quickly. 

“Ohhhh! You are so good at this!” - Heeyeon tried keeping up with him - “What’s this sign for? Do you remember?”

“Gwapez” 

“Grapes! That’s it!” 

“Wookie too” - Ryeowook joined the game. 

Much to Heeyeon’s surprise… Ryeowook did knew how to sign many of the words they taught Henry. She knew Ryeowook was a smart kid and that probably learned watching them… but still, she found it amazing. 

“Whoah” - Heeyeon was mesmerized - “Wait. Kyu, do you know how to sign as well?”

“Uhmmmm” - Kyuhyun thought for a moment - “I like this one for wewi” 

Heeyeon laughed. It was way too cute. The boys knew how to sign! And they didn’t teach them that! It was all thanks to their observation skills! 

Henry, on the other hand, was shocked but disgusted. The twins were stealing his moment. They took away from him one of his unique skills. He thought that signing was his thing. He never thought of sharing it. 

“Maybe we should teach Cherry too when she is born” - Heeyeon smiled dreamily- “That way we could communicate better with her even before she actually talks!”

“UH?” - Henry gave her an ugly look - “NUH”

“Why not? Are you jealous?” - Heeyeon saw how the toddler frowned - “Oh, dear. You are” 

“No, Chewy” - Henry folded his arms - “No wanna baby. No zis”

“Kyu wanna have baby sister” - Kyuhyun snuggled with his penguin plush - “Baby cute”

“Cute baby sis!” - Ryeowook bounced excited - “Baby Cheddy”

“No! NO BABY!” - Henry ran upstairs to the principal bedroom. 

Heeyeon and the twins chased after him. Leeteuk arrived soon later and only found Eunhyuk playing downstairs. 

“Uncle” - Eunhyuk was walking towards him with a poker face - “Can I tell you something and you won’t get mad?” 

“What did you do?” - Leeteuk found funny how Eunhyuk would phrase it 

“I was playing with the dollhouse” - Eunhyuk started - “The one dad said not to touch”

“Oh”

“And this thing came out” - Eunhyuk showed her what it looked like a little door 

“Hyukkie!” - Leeteuk hissed. He couldn’t believe the boy managed to somehow break the toy and remain calm - “Your dad was—“

“I know what my dad said” - Eunhyuk gave him a sassy look - “but the thing is I didn’t break it. It was already broken by the time I played with it” 

“What?”

“I think someone broke it earlier” - Eunhyuk accused - “I didn’t do it” 

“So… you are confessing playing with the dollhouse against your dad’s rule just because you want me to know it wasn’t you who broke the dollhouse?”

“Exactly”

“Goodness” - Leeteuk didn’t know what to say. 

“Can you tell dad?” - Eunhyuk whispered - “Mom can’t know because she is going to be sad”

“Why don’t you tell him?”

“He is going to be angry since he said we should be careful” - Eunhyuk sighed - “It’s going to be scary and I didn’t break it. I don’t want to get scolded” 

“Well, you are going to anyway” - Leeteuk frowned - “You disobeyed a direct order from your dad the very moment you decided to go to his office and touch that toy again” 

“Look, receiving an scolding for playing with something I wasn’t supposed to, it’s easy” - Eunhyuk protested - “But one for breaking stuff I wasn’t supposed to be touching? That’s a hard one” 

“I cant believe we are having this conversation” - Leeteuk bit his lips 

“I think you should find the culprit before Dad does” - Eunhyuk shrank shoulders - “Just saying. He is going to be angry” 

“And you are not very helpful” - Leeteuk remarked 

“Who no hewphuuuu?” - the twins were now next to their uncle - “oh no!”

“Shhh” - Leeteuk covered their mouths when he realized the kids spotted the broken tiny door - “You have to keep the secret. You can’t tell you saw this…”

“And you should help us look for the culprit” - Eunhyuk whispered - “We are going to be little detectives” 

“Whoah!”

“No, that’s not—-“ - Leeteuk sighed. 

The boys ran to the triplets room. They came back with silly costumes they made with clothes they found. 

“Awww” - Heeyeon passed by and made a sweet face - “Teuk, can you come with me please? We have a situation” 

“Yeah, you tell me” - Leeteuk arched his eyebrows when Ryeowook took out a big magnifying glass- “Where did he get that?”

“Upstairs” - Heeyeon was pulling his arm - “I need your help with Henry”

“You three” - Leeteuk turned to the silly boys - “Stay out of troubles, ok?”

“Kaaaaaay” 

“Henry, honey” - Leeteuk now understood Heeyeon’s concern - “Let’s talk about this…”

“Nuh, bye bye” 

Henry was placing his stuff inside a red wheeled cart the kids played with. He took everything that belonged to him and placed it there messily. Heeyeon couldn’t believe her eyes. 

“But baby… where are you going?” 

“Bye” - Henry pulled the cart outside the bedroom. 

Heeyeon felt her heart sunken. Leeteuk wondered where was Henry headed too. He was a little nervous since he thought the kid aimed for the principal door and would try to go downstairs using that silly wheeled thing. 

Lucky for them, Henry was dramatic but not stupid. He turned around at the hall and went inside the guest room next to Leeteuk’s one. 

“Oh” - Leeteuk did a face - “He is just moving out of your bedroom. Not out of the house”

“Smart boy” - Heeyeon nodded - “But I’m not ready for this… he is so small” 

“He is two” - Leeteuk scratched his head - “Not that I like the idea but… It’s not impossible either. We can put a baby monitor next to his bed” 

“Wait, are we going to let him stay there?” - Heeyeon panicked - “For real? He is a baby! He can’t sleep here all alone!”

“My woom” - Henry said fiercely when Heeyeon approached- “MINE” 

“Fine” - Heeyeon folded her arms - “But you are not sleeping in THAT bed. It’s way too high for you and you could fall” 

“Oh, Heechul is going to love having to install the toddler bed this night” - Leeteuk found funny the whole thing - “Let’s see if daddy can use the screwdriver without cursing” 

“Well, hello there” - Heechul was greeted by three silly kids - “What are you up to? Why are you dressed like th— Wook, is that my magnifying glass?” 

“We are playing detectives” - Eunhyuk explained - “But they ” 

Kyuhyun frowned. 

“What are you investigating?” 

“Uh… nothinff” - Ryeowook lied with skill 

“Yeah, it’s just a made up game” - Eunhyuk tried - “We are using our imagination”

“Is that right, Kyu?” - Heechul turned to the nervous looking boy - “Are your brothers telling me the truth?”

Heechul had enough experience as a parent to know when the little kids were lying. Also, Kyuhyun hated lying. He would confess right away whenever they pressed a bit. 

“So?”

“Iz a secret” - Kyuhyun shook his head with big guilty looking eyes - “No tell Dada”

“You brats” - Heechul bit his lips but had to stop before the actual lecture as his phone rang - “Uh? Sure, sorry. Our bad. Yeah, yeah…”

“What are you doing in my room?” - Yesung basically barked when he spotted Leeteuk there

“Well, hello to you too” - Leeteuk wasn’t taken aback. Yesung could be a little too territorial when it was about his room - “how was basketball?”

“You didn’t answer me”

“You didn’t answer me either” 

“I asked first” - Yesung said sassily 

“But I was nicer” - Leeteuk squinted his eyes 

“Oh, there you are” - Heechul sighed when he saw Leeteuk - “Everything all right?”

“Sure” - Leeteuk glanced at the now nervous nine years old - “We were just talking” 

“Oh, yeah” - Heechul gestured Yesung to go 

“but it’s my room!”

“Yeah, but you need to shower anyway” - Heechul rolled his eyes

“The audacity !” - Yesung left but not without protesting first - “I ALREADY SHOWERED IN SCHOOL!”

“So” - Heechul widened his eyes - “Didn’t you forget anything?”

“I know is a bad thing” - Leeteuk sighed softly- “whoever did it must be feeling truly bad” 

“Oh, so at least you feel guilty” 

“Why would I feel guilty?” - Leeteuk shook his head - “I didn’t do it” 

“Of course you did it” - Heechul accused 

“No, I didn’t” - Leeteuk sat on Yesung’s bed - “why would I break Heeyeon’s dollhouse?” 

Heechul did a face. 

“Oh, we are not talking about the dollhouse…?”

“Uncle, you are mean” - Sungmin stuck his tongue at him and ran to his shared room 

“What…?” - Leeteuk felt fear building - “NO” 

“You forgot to go pick him up” - Heechul shook his head - “Music school called” 

“Oh, no” - Leeteuk leaned back - “We were so busy with Henry we totally forgot about Minnie! But the alarm… my alarm didn’t—-“

“What did Henry do now?”

“He is moving out of your bedroom” - Leeteuk explained - “Heeyeon mentioned something about Cherry and he got upset. He installed himself in the guest room next to my bedroom” 

“Cool” 

“Cool? Heechul, Henry is having a temper tantrum” 

“Yeah, but he is moving out by his own will” - Heechul smiled - “You know what that means? I can take his crib out of the bedroom!”

“Whatever” - Leeteuk couldn’t believe his ears - “I will go apologize to Minnie. You try to find out what to do about the dollhouse and Henry’s bed” 

“I will go set the toddler bed… but no way I’m telling my super pregnant wife that the kids broke her favorite toy from childhood” 

“You expect me to do it?” - Leeteuk grimaced - “like… don’t you think you should be the one saying it?” 

“I have an idea” - Heechul smiled mischievously- “I will ask one of the boys to tell her. She can’t get mad at them” 

“That’s a terrible idea” - Leeteuk sighed - “why can’t you be normal?” 

“!” 

“Was that the ‘F’ word?” - Siwon asked in a low voice 

“What? I didn’t hear it” - Heeyeon feigned ignorance - “How was tennis today?” 

“It was—“

“! SON OF A ! ! ! !”

“That’s the F word” - Siwon glanced at his mom - “Three times” 

“I will go check” - Heeyeon tried to smile - “You guys play nicely” 

“IM NO’ HIWIN SOMETHING” - Kyuhyun ran away the very moment Heeyeon passed by - “I HAVE NO SECWET!” 

“SCREW—- Screwdriver” - Heechul showed Heeyeon the screwdriver he was using - “I was going to say screwdriver”

“Alright… What happened to your finger…?” - Heeyeon trailed off watching his hand - “Fingerssss?” 

“I think I hurt them a bit” - Heechul blushed - “I’m not going to lie. This is not my thing” 

“Well, then… maybe we should let someone else do it” 

“Don’t worry, I’m fine” 

“No, seriously” - Heeyeon insisted - “Last thing I want is Henry sleeping in an unsafe bed” 

“Oh” 

“Also” - Heeyeon kissed his hand - “I think I want my husband to keep his hands” 

“Heeyeon, I have something terrible to confess” 

“You at this, I know” - The woman was so sympathetic it actually hurt his pride - “But even so, I love you”

“Well, that’s a good thing… because I think your favorite dollhouse broke” 

“Oh… really?”

“Yeah, I still don’t know who did it” - Heechul sighed - “And I’m afraid whoever did it won’t confess because we know how special—-“

“It’s ok” 

“It was just a door anyway” - Heechul wasn’t really reading the mood - “I’m deeply sorry. I will fix it, I promise” 

“Sweetie” 

“Just please don’t get sad… or mad” 

“I’m not. I was the one who broke it”

“I know, I know—- wait, what” 

“I tried to put a huge doll inside” - Heeyeon smiled - “It got stuck and the door came with it when I pulled to get it out”

“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know” - Heeyeon shrank shoulders - “Back then I wasn’t very reasonable, you know” 

“Wait, it has been broken all this time?!”

“Well, yeah” - the woman laughed - “I just glue it together whenever it falls apart. No big deal. I have been doing it for years” 

“Can you fix this too?” - Heechul teased as he pointed at the toddler bed 

“Too much glue” - Heeyeon scrunched her nose - “But you know, not having a toddler bed is a good reason for Mr Tantrum boy to not move out today” 

“Henry is capable of sleeping on the cold floor just to makes us mad”

“We will place him back inside his crib once he falls asleep” - Heeyeon smirked - “I believe he inherited the deep sleep from my family” 

“How many times have I apologized already?” - Leeteuk was hurt after Sungmin refused to greet him 

“Ugh… I lost count after eight” - Donghae ate breakfast merrily - “Daddy, do you like corn puffs?”

“Sure”

“See? That’s something else we have in common” - Donghae told his twins - “I’m sure I’m the one who resembles Dad the most” 

“Did you dress up with the lights off?” - Heeyeon complained when she saw what her loved decided to wear - “There is no way you are going out like that”

“Like what? You don’t like it?”

“I think is pretty cool, Papa” - Sungmin gave the man a thump up

“Oh God” - Eunhyuk saw it. It was hurtful… but somehow he felt he was the twin who resembled their dad the least

“It’s nothing important” - Heechul protested - “I’m just meeting Kangin’s teacher” 

“WHY?” - Kangin got incredibly upset 

“Because you got in troubles?” - Heechul reminded him 

“Again” - Yesung whispered provocatively 

“Ukwee, Ukwee” - Ryeowook was climbing down his chair and climbing on Leeteuk - “Up!”

“Wook, what are you doing?” - The man found it funny. It was unusual for Ryeowook to be clingy around him - “Do you want to have breakfast with me?”

“Ukwee, Wookie wanna pway dete’tivez ‘gain”

“Mmmm, I see”

“Do you have any cwase for us?” - Kyuhyun was now also climbing him - “Pwease?”

“I don’t—-“ - Leeteuk glanced at the boy with round glasses - “now that you mention it, I think I do”

“Hewy wanz new woom” - Henry folded his arms and grunted as he was in a bad mood - “No pway!”

“Oh, you are not going to play the little plane with me today?” - Heeyeon was trying to feed him like a baby - “then you can eat by yourself”

“No!”

“Fine, then don’t eat” - Heeyeon pouted - “But you are going to be soooooo hungry”

“HPMH!” 

Henry didn’t eat. He refused to do so after waking up in his crib at the principal bedroom. Heeyeon decided to ignore the tantrum and just packed some extra snacks for him to eat at daycare. She thought he would eventually get so hungry, he would eat there. 

“Daddy, are you walking us to our class today?” - Donghae was leaning on his dad playfully - “Are you going to stay and play?”

“No, I’m just making sure your brother doesn’t run away” 

“I won’t” - Sungmin laughed - “Why do you think I would do that?”

“Nothing… it’s just… you remind me of me sometimes and I think of things I would do” - Heechul kissed him - “But it’s unfair. You are a very sweet and nice boy”

“You are nice too, papa” - Sungmin hugged him - “And I’m going to miss you lots today” 

“You will be fine” - Heechul pushed the boy inside the classroom - “Go meet your classmates, cmon. It’s been a while” 

“Daddy” - Eunhyuk pulled his sleeve - “Can we talk?”

“Now? You need to get inside too!” - Heechul playfully pushed the boy in the classroom - “Wait, is it something urgent?”

“No—“

“Then, bye!” - Heechul stamped a huge kiss on the kid - “I need to go meet Kangin’s teacher” 

“You are not Kangin’s teacher” - Heechul squinted his eyes at the woman he had infront - “Have we met before?” 

“I’m afraid not” - The woman twisted her lips - “I’m a substitute teacher and just started working here… today” 

“What happened to…?” - Heechul had a terrible memory for the boys teachers names - “I mean, when…”

“Classroom teacher quit two weeks ago… since then, many substitute teachers have been covering up for this class”

“Oh… so, you didn’t send the note” - Heechul scratched his head - “I mean, you don’t know what my son did”

“I do” - The teacher opened a huge file - “It’s everything written down. Apparently, Kangin likes to act like the class clown and has been taking his jokes too far…” 

“I’m so sorry” - Heechul read the description of some of the ‘jokes’ - “The target was probably so upset… I would like to apologize to the parents of the kids who—“

“Oh, he didn’t prank any classmates. He only does it against the teacher”

“Oh”

Heechul felt his face burning of embarrassment. Was Kangin the reason behind so many teachers leaving the classroom?  

“Thanks for telling me” - Heechul bowed politely - “I promise I will do something about it. In fact, I would like to talk to him right now…”

“How could you?” - Heechul was having a talk with his second born - “Teachers are people too, you know! They have feelings!”

“I know” 

“If you know then why you act like that?”

“Cuz I have feelings too” - Kangin grunted - “And Im mad because our teacher decided to leave us and now we have substitutes” 

“Kangin, I understand” - Heechul said softly - “But misbehaving is not the way” 

“Fine, I will give this one a chance” - Kangin rolled his eyes - “But if she gets annoying…” 

“If you do anything to her, I will ground you for eternity” 

“Fine” 

“What are you doing here?” - Heeyeon caught Leeteuk red handed checking Yesung’s room - “You know he hates knowing we were here” 

“Yeah… but he is a preteen boy hiding stuff from his guardians” - Leeteuk raised an eyebrow - “and im starting to worry” 

“Is that why you ‘hired’ the super detective duo?” 

“They tried their best” 

“They asked Yesung directly what was wrong with him” - Heeyeon laughed - “In fact, they basically yelled it” 

“Never trust a toddler to keep a secret” 

“Anyway, I think I have figured out what’s wrong with our silly boy” 

“Really?” 

“Uh hum… but you have to promise me that you will help me with the situation” - Heeyeon squinted her eyes - “You see, I have a feeling that he wont want to discuss this with a woman” 

“Oh no” - Leeteuk shook his head - “Leave those conversations for Heechul. He can handle it better” 

“I love him” - Heeyeon sighed - “but he can be a fool sometimes” 

“Just sometimes?” 

“I found the diaper cream here and we have caught him doing laundry” - Heeyeon did a sign for thinking - “Plus, yesterday… he wore the basketball jacket he swore he wouldn’t wear because it was ‘stupidly ugly’ “ 

Leeteuk was trying to connect the dots. Heeyeon sat next to him. 

“I think his body is changing and he is self conscious about his body smell” - Heeyeon smiled a bit - “It’s not a big deal… for us. For him, it may feel like the end of the world right now. He is embarrassed and he hides it from everyone” 

“But that’s ridiculous” - Leeteuk complained - “There is no reason to be ashamed. It’s normal… some kids just get to experience it first…” 

“I was worried too because I wasn’t sure if a nine years old could have funky armpits” - Heeyeon widened her eyes - “but turns out they can” 

“To be fair I don’t think Yesung is the only kid in his classroom going through this” - Leeteuk did a face - “Last time we went to their basketball game I swear my nose died after the kids got sweaty” 

“Yeah, I know” - Heeyeon giggled - “But still, I want you to tell him in a way that he doesn’t feel threatened” 

“Maybe I’m not the one for the job” - Leeteuk pouted - “Yesung has a deeper connection with his father. I think he would feel better having this conversation with Heechul” 

“So, the boy isn’t wetting the bed” - Heechul was holding back his laughter - “He just smells like onions” 

“Don’t be mean” - Heeyeon twisted her lips - “He is embarrassed”

“But why would you use diaper cream for your armpits?” - Heechul laughed - “That’s just plain stupid. It won’t take away the body smell nor prevent it. If he wanted to prevent it, then he should have used a deodorant”

“That he took from your bathroom cabinet and used without realizing his skin was more sensitive” - Heeyeon explained her theory - “Therefore, he developed a rash and used the cream to calm it down. But is still noticeable and that’s why he won’t wear sleeveless clothes around us” 

“Damn, you are good” - Heechul put on a silly face - “ Maybe we do have a detective at home” 

“Stop being silly”

“Oh, sorry” - Leeteuk went to other room to take a phone call 

“Do you think is from university?” - Heechul teased - “Did he have any test recently? Do you think he failed?”

“Dont be mean” - Heeyeon hit him with a pillow - “If you have free time to waste teasing Teuk you can use it to fix Henry’s toddler bed” 

“Seriously? Haven’t we agreed to just let him sleep on the floor? He will eventually give up”

“He is a Kim” - Heeyeon shook her head - “they are very stubborn people” 

“Oh, and you are reasonable when angry?” 

“Do you want to find out?” 

“I will go check on that bed” 

Thanks to Heeyeon’s constant presence, Heechul finished setting the toddler bed for Henry. Heeyeon decorated the room a bit with some of the boy belongings. She wanted to make it comfortable for him… 

“I’m really going to miss sleeping next to my baby” 

“I won’t” - Heechul sulked when he earned a bad look - “I mean, I bet he will be running to our room just like the other boys” 

“Yeah… but I will miss putting him to sleep in his crib” - Heeyeon pouted - “He is so small”

“He is actually bigger than Ryeowook” 

“He is a baby” 

“Sure” - Heechul turned to the man with a blank expression - “Hey, champ~ how are you doing? Who called you?”

“It was from school” 

“Cool, cool. Teuk, only kids call university ‘school’ “ 

“No, I mean… from the school for real” - Leeteuk gulped down - “Actually, I just talked to your father…?” 

“Mine?” - Heeyeon frowned a bit - “He avoids me but he calls you…? Weird” 

“Not at all if you take into account the reason” - Leeteuk bit his lips - “I need to take a big decision and I want you guys to tell me what you think about it”

“Hey, little troublemakers!” 

“Papa! I missed you!” - Sungmin basically jumped on him - “Up! Up! Please!” 

“If you are holding him, then you can hold me too” - Donghae was also stretching his arms towards his dad 

“Cmon boys, give me a break” - Heechul smiled - “you are kindergarteners ” 

“Daddy, up” - Donghae whined 

“So, are you going to ask me to hold you too?” - Heechul asked the last of the silly trio to show up - “I think I still can—“ 

“Nah, it’s fine” - Eunhyuk walked away from them - “I can walk by myself” 

“I swear I had nothing to do with it” - Kangin rushed to say - “Teacher said it was too much for her but I did nothing. Dad, are you hearing me? Nothing! It wasn’t my fault!”

“I know, I know… just get in” - Heechul finished helping the triplets buckle their belts - “Now, we only have to wait for Yesung… who should be here already” 

“Sorry! Sorry!” - the nine years old was running to the car - “I had to make a quick stop before leaving” 

“Did you have to poop?” - Donghae asked amused 

“NO!”

“But your hands are still wet” - Sungmin pointed out - “You came from the restroom” 

“Yesung had to pee!” - Kangin teased - “Yesung couldn’t hold it!” 

“Stop it, stop it! If you keep talking about it I will need to go too!” - Siwon complained 

“I wasn’t peeing!” 

“Kids” - Heechul was trying to drive 

“If you weren’t peeing or doing a poo, then why you went to the toilet?” - Eunhyuk inquired 

“You are lying” - Donghae giggled 

“I just went to wash—- my hands” - Yesung blushed - “that’s it”

“…”

“Raise your hand if you think Yesung was taking a !” - Kangin joked 

“I bet three diaper changes, Sungmin cries” - Leeteuk teased Heeyeon as they waited - “He is such a ‘mama’s boy’ and he got so used to be here at home…“ 

“Am I a bad parent if I hope so?” - Heeyeon was brushing Henry’s hair using her hands. The boys had fallen asleep on the couch soon after they arrived from daycare - “It’s hard to feel your baby doesn’t need—“

“UNCLE!” 

“…you?” - Leeteuk managed to complete the sentence as Donghae jumped on him 

Heeyeon barely had time to prepare when several boys ran to her half crying. She couldn’t understand at all what was going on with so much crying and wailing.

“Hey, slow down” - Heeyeon wasn’t sure who was saying what - “I can’t understand you…”

“Where is Heechul?” - Leeteuk was holding Henry and Donghae and he could tell Eunhyuk was trying to climb his back - “Where is Yesung?”

“Oh, Yeye got in troubles for making Kangin cry” - a calm Sungmin explained - “You know what I didn’t miss these past few days? DRAMA” 

“Yesung did what?” - Heeyeon struggled. The twins were in a terrible mood after waking up abruptly - “Siwon, sweetie… let’s go wash and change, ok? Don’t cry, it was just an accident” 

“Oh, cmon!” - Heechul was chasing after an upset Yesung - “Come back here! We need to talk!” 

“I don’t want to talk to you!” 

“Then who are you going to talk to, huh?!” - Heechul asked distressed 

“MOM!” 

“…”

“…”

“There you go” - Heeyeon took a deep breath and passed the twins to her now clueless husband - “I’m going to…”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course” - Heechul wasn’t even mad. He was just dumbfounded- “so? Who wants to help Dada clean a car?” 

The twins nodded between tears. Even being upset, the idea of helping their dad with a task was something they loved. 

“Yesung, sweetie?” 

Heeyeon felt like walking on eggshells. She wasn’t sure why the boy chose her nor if he did to annoy his dad… which was very possible considering his age and their relationship.

“Sorry for troubling you” - Yesung sulked - “I don’t know what to do… but I don’t want to have this conversation with dad”

“Right” - Heeyeon was still confused. 

“I think my body…” - Yesung did a painful expression - “is changing. I’m experiencing some changes and I feel a little bit overwhelmed”

“You do realize these conversations usually go the other way…?” - Heeyeon couldn’t avoid joking. She covered when she realized that she probably shouldn’t do so. Lucky for her, Yesung actually smiled. 

“Yeah, I know” - Yesung agreed - “I’m not normal, right?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way” - Heeyeon made a silly face - “I just… I figured out what was going on but I thought that you needed time and that you probably would want to have that talk with your father” 

“Well, I don’t” - Yesung sighed - “Like, I love him. But he is helpless. I wanted to talk to you because I think you would handle this better” 

“Oh” 

“I already read everything I need to know about puberty and so” - Yesung shrank shoulders - “I mean, a year ago I was sure either Dad or uncle would have to give me this talk and I panicked” 

Heeyeon wasn’t sure of what to say so, she just nodded. 

“But you came… and I thought that it would be nice to have it with you” - Yesung blushed - “Again, don’t get me wrong. I love you all… it’s just… they are clumsy” 

“And you think I am not?” 

“Dad would make stupid jokes to try making me feel better… and uncle would give me a long lecture about how growing up is not bad and why I should be proud of myself” - Yesung made a little pause - “But I just wanted someone to listen to my concerns and then go ‘oh sweetie, come here’ and hug me” 

“Come here” - Heeyeon hugged him 

“You missed the ‘oh sweetie’ “ 

“Baby” - Heeyeon laughed a bit before kissing his head - “My big silly baby” 

“With smelly armpits” - Yesung sulked 

“That can be fixed easily” - the woman chirped - “We just need to find a deodorant that suits you. The one you took from your dad’s cabinet isn’t for kids, you know?” 

“I realized it after the rash appeared” - Yesung twisted his lips - “but don’t worry. I used diaper cream on it and it got really better” 

“Sweetie, I’m proud of you but… why don’t you ask for help when you need it?”

“Cuz I thought I didn’t need it and that I could handle everything by myself… but then Dad and uncle started suspecting and I got nervous…? Embarrassed? I don’t know”

“Well, next time you should ask for help” - Heeyeon pouted - “You are still a boy. You shouldn’t have to worry about everything by yourself. You have us” 

“The first time it happened I got really scared cuz I thought there was something wrong with me” - Yesung confessed - “Like, I didn’t know nine years old was enough for a boy to have smelly armpits. I thought I needed a doctor” 

“I guess is different for everyone… but if it makes you feel better we can always talk to your doctor” - Heeyeon bit her lips - “Yesung, next time something scares you please come to us and don’t go online looking for answers” 

“Yeah, internet is such a scary place” - Yesung did a face - “Some websites were really disturbing, you know? Like, I thought having wet dreams was something about wetting the bed” 

“Don’t tell your dad about it or you won’t have access to the internet again until you go to university” - Heeyeon sighed. She made a pause and then asked something else to distract him- “what did you tell Kangin to make him cry? ”

“I didn’t tell him anything” - Yesung did a face - “I hit him” 

“Yesung!”

“I know you are going to ground me but to be honest… I don’t regret it” - Yesung half smiled - “He deserved it” 

“Guess who cleaned the car easily?” - Heechul was doing a celebration dance in front of Leeteuk - “I swear that buying those—“

“Yeah, yeah… can you help me with one of these?” - Leeteuk glanced at the upset children around him - “please?”

“I WANT UNCLE!” - Donghae got incredibly clingy 

“UKWEE MINE!” - Henry fought back by kicking his brother 

“Way better for me” - Heechul pointed at Eunhyuk - “he is the one I was looking for” 

“Me?” - Eunhyuk was still a bit sad over the fact he felt he didn’t resemble his dad at all - “Why me?” 

“Cuz I need to fix your mom’s dollhouse and I need someone who inherited my ability to focus” - Heechul winked playfully as they were headed to the backyard

“But… Minnie can focus too, right?” - Eunhyuk said sadly as he helped his dad glue the door where it belonged - “Yeye too. Wookie, Kyunnie…” 

“Yeah, but they won’t stop complaining and being critical” - Heechul widened his eyes - “I’m afraid they also took that from me” 

“Im not like daddy, huh” - Eunhyuk said softly. He was still sulky about it - “Minnie and Hae are more like daddy” 

“Depends on” - Heechul was fixing some of the windows of the toy house - “You all resemble me in different ways”

“But you don’t dance and you are not a picky eater” - Eunhyuk pouted - “and I don’t wet myself that much” 

“Whoah” - Heechul focused on the boy - “Sounds like we don’t have a lot in common!” 

“I know” 

“I was being sarcastic” - Heechul scoffed - “really? You think we are nothing alike?” 

“I can’t find anything we have in common” - Eunhyuk stated defeated - “I don’t care about the homework … but I feel bad” 

“Maybe you can’t find anything because you are focusing on the obvious stuff like the ones your twins found” 

“Corn puffs and bad outfits” 

“Seriously? Man, I need to check those notebooks before they give it to your teacher” - Heechul laughed - “What else did they write?” 

“I don’t know” - Eunhyuk shrank shoulders - “But they have a lot to write about. I have nothing” 

“I thought you were good at playing jokes” - Heechul thought for a moment - “I’m also good at that” 

“So… we have things in common?” - Eunhyuk eyes sparkled - “What else?” 

“I also drove my big brother crazy… like you with Yesung” - Heechul started listing the few things he could remember- “I’m pretty sensitive too. Maybe I wasn’t a picky eater… but I’m picky about many other things”

“Mmm” - Eunhyuk twisted his lips - “I guess that would do for homework… it’s just… I wanted something… my brothers don’t have?” 

“We are both good at saving money” - Heechul whispered - “They are not” 

“That’s right!” - shouted - “I’m better with money!” 

“Yup, your twins are not that good at saving money” - Heechul chuckled - “They always spend it on silly stuff” 

“Like Sungmin alien shoes” 

“Exactly!” 

“Maybe I’m the smartest twin” - Eunhyuk rejoiced 

“Papa, guess what” - Sungmin chirped from behind - “Mama says is lunch time!”

“Oh, that’s— wait” - Heechul couldn’t believe it. His fingers were glued to the doll house - “Uh oh” 

“I’m glued too” - Eunhyuk panicked - “Daddy, I can’t take my hand back!” 

“What the…? Is this super glue? But how…?” - Heechul was confused. He thought he was using a different kind of glue … - “Minnie, can you go look for Mommy or uncle?”

“Sorry, I heard that about my shoes” - Sungmin sighed - “What a pity. We are having burgers today” 

“No, no wait” - Heechul saw the very moment Sungmin grabbed the keys and attempted to leave and close the door - “Minnie, please. We are sorry, ok? We won’t mess with you or your shoes again” 

“Nice try, papa” - Sungmin shook his head - “But if you want my help, it’s going to cost you” 

“Hug and kisses…?” 

“I want this one” - the kid took some cash from Heechul’s wallet 

“Fine, you can have it” - Heechul couldn’t believe his cute four years old son - “Now, will you go look for mommy?” 

“Just for you to know, I’m writing my essay about Mama. The assignment is about how much you resemble your parents… but it doesn’t specify which one” - Sungmin smiled to Eunhyuk before leaving - “Who is the smartest twin now, huh”

“Hey uncle, can you smell this?” - Kangin was playing with some raw onion - “It smells like Yesung armpits!”

“If I hit him again—“

“It would count as a new punishment” - Heeyeon retrieved the onion and warned the other boy - “Keep messing with your big brother and I won’t stop him next time”

“Mama, look what Papa gave me” 

The young and not so innocent four years old kept showing his money at the table during lunch. 

“Whoahhh, how cool” - Heeyeon smiled sweetly - “Are you saving money for something, Minnie?” 

“Yup! With this one and the one uncle gave me now I have enough for buying the toy I want!” 

“That’s awesome, baby!” 

“You gave him money?” - Heechul turned to Leeteuk - “Why?” 

“Because I wanted him to stop talking about the fact I forgot him at music school” - Leeteuk was shy - “He wouldn’t stop and is just embarrassing”

“So… he got money from both of us” - Heechul tilted his head - “and I always thought my business would be lost if Sungmin took over” 

“Wadya gonna buy?” - Kyuhyun asked softly 

“A dollhouse!” 

Kangin spat his drink. Henry laughed. 

Leeteuk and Heechul squinted eyes at each other. 
Somehow, they could tell they got played by a four years old. Maybe Sungmin was smarter than they thought. 

(Who needs to be good at saving money when you are good at earning it) 

The little boy hummed a cheerful song as he counted cash. 

——————————————————————————————-

Author comments

Hey there! Sorry for the long wait. Considering 3/4 of this chapter was written very long ago I didn’t expect I would take so long to update! 

Next chapter we will find out about Leeteuk’s call plus, we are getting very close to Cherry’s birth! 
The kids are growing up but they don’t stop being funny. Can you imagine how they will react to the new baby being home? 

Please stay happy and healthy~ ^-^
Until we read each other again! Bye~