“O’tzide?” - Henry pointed out of the window - “Go ou?”

“Do you want to go out?” - Heeyeon found cute how Henry would ask for it with big eyes - “I don’t think so, cutie. Look at the sky! It’s so daaaaark” 

“Wain!” - Henry pointed at the sky and did his sign for ‘rain’ - “Henwy wet”

“Yeah, Henry will get wet if he goes outside and starts to rain” - Heeyeon agreed as the boy nodded 

“Wundewww!” - Henry did a cute ‘scary’ face and shook his whole body  to show Heeyeon he understood there was a storm coming - “Bam! Bam!” 

“A thunder? Maybe” - Heeyeon looked at the sky - “It’s a storm after all…”

Leeteuk was upstairs trying to decipher why the twins were so quiet. Usually, when in a house with children you heard nothing… it was because they were up to something. He didn’t find them in their room nor the ones of their siblings. Suspicious. He heard giggles from the bathroom. 

Leeteuk knocked on the door. He didn’t want to scare any child that could be possibly just relieving himself. 

“Can uncle go inside?” - Leeteuk awaited for an answer 

“Ung!” - he heard two cheerful boys. 

Well, at least they were together. Ever since the twins learned they couldn’t live without each other… they took it very seriously. They would go together everywhere. 

Leeteuk felt his blood pressure drop when he entered the bathroom and saw both boys fully having a bath by themselves. They had opened the water, filled the tube and used the soap to made bubbles. 

“Boys, boys, boys” - Leeteuk was scolding them - “We have talked about this. Using the bathroom like this by yourselves is not safe” 

“Sorry” - Kyuhyun pouted - “Ukwee angry?”

“We bad?” - Ryeowook tilted his head. He didn’t understand why would they get in troubles for having a bath 

“I’m not angry, but I’m worried” - Leeteuk searched for the plastic bench they kept inside and sat - “next time ask a grown up if you want to bath, ok?”

“Kay” - Both twins agreed 

“Now, do you want uncle to help you?” - Leeteuk took the hand shower - “I will wash your hair if that’s ok for you” 

“UNG!” 

Leeteuk loved bathing the boys. It was a cute bonding moment filled with joy. Most of the time, worse that could happen was getting splashed or a kid whose eyes got red from shampoo. Even though the bathtub could be a dangerous place, they had it under control. 

“Stand up carefully” - Leeteuk asked Kyuhyun first - “I will wash your— ” 

“azzzzz” - Ryeowook played in the bathtub with a rubber duck 

“His ” - Leeteuk corrected - “That’s a bad word, Wookie” 

Kyuhyun did as told. He stood while being held by his uncle. Leeteuk was washing him when he noticed the skin a little irritated. He sighed. They knew it was a matter of time Kyuhyun developed a diaper rash considering his skin was as sensitive as his personality. 

“Too dirty?” - Kyuhyun asked softly seeing Leeteuk’s serious face 

“What?” - Leeteuk chuckled - “N-no! It’s just your is a little red” 

“Liwe a waboon!” - Ryeowook laughed amused 

“A what?” - Leeteuk was not getting it 

“Waboon!” - Ryeowook repeated 

Leeteuk didn’t get it. He looked at Kyuhyun who just laughed. 

“Kyu’s is red like baboon’s” - Kyuhyun giggled- “Red monkey!”

“Ohhh, the baboons” - Leeteuk now got it. The twins would laugh when watching those at the zoo - “Yeah, I remember now”

He finished bathing the twins and dried them well. Kyuhyun got a little shocked when Leeteuk put cream on his . He complained it was cold but chuckled.

Heeyeon was still ‘talking’ with Henry. Although the correct verb would be ‘communicating’. Thanks to speech therapy, Henry not only improved his pronouncing but also learned some signs for words he couldn’t say properly. 
It saved him and the adults many frustrating situations. Henry being able to communicate his needs was definitely the best that could happen. 

“Thirsty?” - Heeyeon knew that one - “I will give you water” 

Henry clapped excited and followed her to the kitchen. He gladly accepted his water bottle. 

“What are you drinking? Water” - Heeyeon did the sign and made sure of pronouncing clearly - “Water” 

“Waew” - Henry said and imitated the hand sign correctly - “Waewwww” 

It started to rain. There were a few lightings and in less than three seconds, Ryeowook was climbing Leeteuk for comfort. He hated loud noises. Henry on the other hand, just found it entertaining and would cheer for them. 

The kids at school were also trapped inside thanks to the heavy rain. All outdoors activities were cancelled so free period was indoors. 

“What’s that?” - Eunhyuk got interested when Zhoumi opened his lunchbox - “Ohhh! That’s a jam sandwich!”

“Mommy did it” - Zhoumi said sweetly- “she cut it with a heart shape cuz she loves me”

The triplets inspected their lunchboxes and got jealous. Their sandwiches were normal. They weren’t cut in shapes. Their new lunchboxes were cute and the adults would fill it with many yummy things… but that didn’t matter: Zhoumi had a heart shaped sandwich and they didn’t. 

“Oh” - Donghae found a note after finishing eating- “Daddy left us a note!”

“It says: Minnie, Hyukkie and Hae, I hope you enjoy your meal and have a great day” - Sungmin read with a smile - Love you lots. PS: Eunhyuk dont forget to use the toilet…?”

“Yeah, that’s daddy” - Eunhyuk stood up 

“Where you going?” - Donghae worried - “We don’t have class yet!”

“To the toilet” - Eunhyuk sighed - “It’s better to pee now” 

“I will go too” - Sungmin closed his lunchbox - “Hae, are you coming?” 

“Yes!” 

Zhoumi decided to join them as well. As expected of the ‘terrible four’ (a new group name Heechul gave to the kindergarteners), they got lost on their way back and wandered around the school. 

They got caught by a teacher who kindly escorted them back to their classroom. Their classroom teacher wasn’t surprised. 

“My, my” - the teacher was patient - “How did you get lost? Cmon, class is about to start. Open your math books on the first lesson”

“Agaaaaaain?” - Donghae sulked - “I thought we were done with maths…”

“No more adding please” - Eunhyuk hated numbers too 

“My head will explode” - Sungmin whined - “Too much numbers” 

“I think math is fun” - Zhoumi said. He got shocked when his three cousins stared at him - “What?” 

“Are you sure you are not Yesung’s brother?” 

Kangin spent the whole free period trying to avoid Siwon. He got caught by Kibum who turned into a very helpful ally. 

“Why are you helping me?” - Kangin wasn’t sure he could trust him 

“Because we both find Siwon annoying” - Kibum scoffed - “he is a snitch. He got me in troubles”

“Weren’t you bullying him?”

“Those were innocent jokes” - Kibum complained - “He is just too sensitive”

“Could be” - Kangin sort of agreed - “Why aren’t you with Hangeng?”

“Why aren’t you with Yesung?”

“Touché” - Kangin nodded - “We have an agreement. We don’t see each other during free periods unless we need something or is emergency”

“Like…?”

“When I want to buy something and he lends me money” - Kangin smiled - “Or when I don’t know the answer for homework and he helps me” 

“I see” - Kibum smirked - “Sounds like a good agreement”

“Well, Bummie” - Kangin pointed at his classroom - “it was a pleasure. Now, I will go set chaos” 

“What are you going to do?” - Kibum got interested - “I thought you promised uncle you would behave”

“Yeah well… it’s raining cats and dogs” - Kangin gave him a naughty smile - “and some animals get out of their hidings” 

“Like what?”

“Like snails” - Kangin played with his eyebrows - “Man, Siwon is so scared of those” 

“Slugs are gross too” - Kibum was pleased with the idea - “Can I help you?”

“You won’t snitch on me later, will you?” 

“Never” 

“Whoah, how do you have so much money?” - Hangeng was impacted when Yesung and him went to the cafeteria together - “My allowance is not that good…”

“Neither is mine” - Yesung opened his soda - “Half of it comes from Kangin” 

“How?” 

“We make bets” - Yesung giggled - “and I win almost all time”

“What do you bet on?” - Hangeng got interested- “math? Sports? Videogames?”

“Pfff no” - Yesung laughed - “Those are too boring” 

“Then?”

“We make bets about our family! Like… which one of the triplets will wet his pants at school? Or which one of our little siblings will wet the bed?” - Yesung teased - “Of course, some of then are more elaborated”

“Sounds like fun” - Hangeng thought it was hilarious- “are you running any bet right now?”

“Yeah… but not with Kangin” - Yesung smirked - “This is a fat one” 

“Uncleeeeeee” - Kyuhyun climbed next to him playfully - “Guess what” 

“Do you have to poop?” - Leeteuk got up quickly and tried to take the boy with him - “No?”

“Nooooooo” - Kyuhyun sulked. He hated the adults would think of him like a ‘poop machine’ - “Kyu gotta sing a song”

Leeteuk gasped when Kyuhyun took out his mic. Not again, he thought. It was cute the first thousands times… now, he just wanted to rip his ears off. Kyuhyun really liked singing. Unlike his twin who would eventually go quiet… once Kyu started nothing stopped him. He didn’t want to say it out loud but ever since Kyuhyun started singing so much… he started having really bad headaches. 

“Iz the tadpole song” - Kyuhyun got in position 

Leeteuk tried to fake a smile. He felt like crying. Kyuhyun was so cute and so good at singing… it’s just that he wouldn’t stop… and his head would kill him. 

After twenty intense minutes of Kyuhyun’s singing… Leeteuk gave up. He excused himself saying he needed to use the toilet. His torment followed him and he could heard the kid sing behind the locked door. He texted Heeyeon for help. 

The woman laughed when she received the text. Leeteuk confessed he was in the toilet trying to escape the little singer. She called for the boy in a try to distract him. 

“Ukwee! Mama call’d Kyu!” - Kyuhyun shouted to the door - “Gotta go!” 

“Fine, honey” - Leeteuk sighed in relief. 

“Mama! Kyu here!” - Kyuhyun was still holding his mic - “Wanna hear my song?”

“Of course, baby” - Heeyeon pushed him to the kitchen - “But in the kitchen. Mom needs to make lunch” 

“WOOKIE COOOOOOOOOOOOOKS” - Ryeowook stormed inside at full speed wearing his kiddy apron - “Wookie helps Mama” 

“Sure” - Heeyeon would rather listen to they sing all day than having toddlers sabotaging her work at the kitchen - “Today’s menu is—“

“PASTA” - the twins yelled excited 

“No, it’s not pasta” - Heeyeon giggled- “We can’t have that all time”

“Why ?” - Kyuhyun tilted his head 

“Because is not healthy to eat the same all time” - Heeyeon giggled - “Let’s make something else” 

“Onionnnn~ onioooooon’ omnoooom” - Kyuhyun was signing a made up song about onions as he danced with one - “Oniiiioooooon” 

Ryeowook was actually working hard. He was helpful. Heeyeon regretted her initial thoughts of having the kids as cooking partners. They were actually nice.

The kids were enjoying their time at the kitchen. They got to play and learn while working with Heeyeon. Mood couldn’t get better. 

“Can you pass me an egg?” - Heeyeon asked Ryeowook - “Just be careful not to… break it” 

Ryeowook did that sound Heeyeon feared. It was the sound he made when he was about to cry. 

“WAAAAAAAH!” - Ryeowook got upset as he did a mistake - “EGGY!”

Heeyeon turned off the kitchen right away to prevent a bigger accident and dedicated the next few minutes to console the boy. 

“Why are you crying, my baby?” - Heeyeon was holding Wook and walking around the place to calm him down - “That was an accident”

“Eggy bwoke!”

“Yeah, it did” - Heeyeon looked at he poor egg on the floor - “It’s ok, help me clean it and nothing happened” 

“Ung…” - Ryeowook was still sniffing 

Kyuhyun was now singing a song about a broken egg. Heeyeon started laughing. She missed that. Leeteuk and Heechul would cover their ears after a few hours of Kyuhyun in his ‘singing mode’ but she wouldn’t. When the kid was sick, he would barely move or say anything. Now, he was a chirpy energetic boy singing passionately about a broken egg. 

“Good job!” - Heeyeon praised both twins. Ryeowook for calming down, Kyuhyun for singing. 

Kyuhyun bounced excited. He was feeling so well. After days of tummy ache and weird feelings, he was almost back to normal. In fact, he was even better than before. 

Heechul got mad when Siwon came running to him crying. He said Kibum put a snail on his table and he got scared. He confronted the kid right away.

“He is a crybaby! It was just a snail!” - Kibum complained - “slugs are worse!”

“It’s not nice to do so! And he is your cousin!” - Heechul scolded - “Why can’t you get along?”

“He is a whinny baby” - Kibum wouldn’t stop - “and guess what? Next time I’m going to look for the ugliest bug I can find” 

“Don’t you dare” - Heechul grunted - “Siwon is allergic to half of the bugs out there. If by any chance my boy gets sick, I’m making your life impossible”

Heechul was upset and he didn’t think twice. He realized he overdid it when Kibum started to cry. 

“Uncle was mean to me!” - He cried to Donghee who seemed serious 

“Heechul, we need to talk” - Donghee called him - “Now” 

“He won’t stop bullying Siwon!” - Heechul complained 

“I will talk to him later” - Donghee sighed 

“Talk to him? You already ‘talked’ to him. Mina ‘talked’ to him” - Heechul shook his head - “I’m sorry he cried… but someone had to scold the brat. This stupid game could turn dangerous”

“And thats exactly why we need to talk” - Donghee scoffed - “Do you think Kibum is the only problem here? Why don’t you take a look at Mimi?”

Heechul worried when he saw Zhoumi’s scraped knee. He then got it when Donghee pointed at the triplets. 

“They play too rough” - Donghee complained - “This is not the first time. It’s the second one already” 

“I’m sorry… I had no idea” - Heechul apologized right away - “I will scold them and try to prevent it happens again…but in exchange, please do make Kibum understand”

Heechul wasn’t mad at the triplets. He was upset knowing they had caused harm to Zhoumi even if it was an accident. He admitted his boys played a bit ‘rough’. Since they were three and they also had older brothers…

“Oh, Mimi cried” - Eunhyuk said carefree - “but he will be fine, right?”

“Rub with alcohol” - Sungmin raised his index finger - “wash well and put a plastic bandaid”

“And there you go” - Donghae shrank shoulders - “No need for doctor, no need to cry” 

“That’s not the point” - Heechul sighed. His triplets were actually pretty tough. They would fall and get up and keep playing - “Zhoumi got hurt, ok? We need to be careful when playing with others… and we owe him an apology”

“Okay” - the kids pouted 

“Now go get ready for lunch” - Heechul kissed them. He hugged Donghae when he noticed the kid was tearing a bit - “It’s ok, it’s ok. It was an accident” 

“Mimi gonna hate Hae?” - Donghae blubbered 

“No, he won’t” - Heechul kissed him again - “cmon, go wash your hands” 

Donghae went away still crying. Leeteuk glanced at the tired parent.

“Are you ok?”

“The triplets have a hard head but a soft heart” - Heechul stretched carefully as Henry hugged his leg - “They are used to play like that… I feel sorry for Mimi” 

Heeyeon got a bit upset learning the triplets preferred the snack Zhoumi got because of a heart shaped sandwich and nothing else. She and Leeteuk put special care making their lunch boxes and making sure their snacks were tasty and balanced.

However, she got cheerful after listening all classmates envied the triplets for their cute bags and the tags for their stuff. She did those. That was a win for her. 

Next morning, Heeyeon got up earlier to make sure the triplets had the prettiest lunchboxes in town. Leeteuk helped her. Heechul teased them both and even sabotaged the whole process by eating some of the food. He took the kids to school and went straight to his job. Thanks to all the chaotic weeks, papers were accumulating at an incredible speed even if his dad was there almost daily.

Even though he wasn’t feeling well, Leeteuk dressed the twins for going out. The younger members of the family had an vaccination appointment that day. He and Heeyeon were in charge of taking them since Heechul was the type of guy who would faint seeing a needle… also, he had so much work to do. 

“Guess where are we going” - Heeyeon chanted as she parked in the hospital - “To the doctor!”

“Doctor!” - Ryeowook clapped excited 

“Doc!” - Henry cheered too 

Kyuhyun was pale. He didn’t want to come back to the hospital so soon. He feared the paediatrician would say he wasn’t getting better and would leave him there again. He hugged his penguin plush tightly.

“Are you praying?” - Heeyeon wondered why the boy had his eyes shut so tightly after singing the whole ride - “Are you feeling s—“

“NO!” - Kyuhyun shouted and shook his head quickly - “Kyu really heaffy now!” 

“That’s my boy” - Heeyeon kissed him - “Shall we go?”

She observed how the boy stumbled and shook out of fear. She asked if he wanted to be hold and he said yes. Leeteuk was holding Ryeowook and Henry fearing they could get lost at the hospital. 

So far, they reached the paediatric control without problems. Ryeowook was flirting with the nurses much to Leeteuk annoyance. Henry wasn’t different. He called a nurse pretty and made Leeteuk wish speech therapy wasn’t that good. 

Kyuhyun refused to get away from Heeyeon. He was stuck to her like a koala. 

“Ryeowook, Kyuhyun and Henry?” 

“Thats Us!” - Heeyeon chirped as she held Kyuhyun- “Kyunnie are you going to be brave?” 

Kyuhyun shook his head. 

“Ah, Mr Kim and Mrs Ahn” - the paediatrician knew them both as well - “How are you doing? How is Mr Kim doing?”

“He is stressed but not because of the kids” - Heeyeon smiled - “They are doing better. Kyuhyunnie now goes through two to three poops a day with no tears. Yesung’s throat healed like if nothing ever happened”

“Kyu poop lotz now” - Ryeowook said cheekily - “liwe peawut buwew”

“Ryeowook!” - Leeteuk covered the boy’s mouth ashamed - “Don’t go around saying those things” 

“Is that right?” - the doctor saw how Kyuhyun nodded shyly - “but you are feeling way better, aren’t you?”

Kyuhyun nodded again and smiled softly. 

“You have gained weight” - The doctor was pleased seeing his little patient recovering 

“He haz now” - Ryeowook said confidently 

“Ryeowook” - Leeteuk couldn’t believe his nephew 

“Heechul teased Kyuhyun saying his had disappeared when he lost weight” - Heeyeon giggled - “He says now his is back”

Kyuhyun posed for the doctor. Leeteuk blushed when the toddler slapped his own proudly. 

“Good! Is that where you want the shot?” 

“Uh?” - Kyuhyun shook his head - “no  shot”

“Oh? But you are getting one” - the paediatrician knew there was no way the kids would remain quiet after the first one got vaccinated - “who is going first?”

“Me! Me! Me!” - Ryeowook climbed a chair and pulled down his pants much to Heeyeon’s amusement

“What a brave boy” - The doctor gestured Leeteuk to hold him - “Sit on your uncle and I will give you the shot ok? But I was joking, it can be in your tight or your arm” 

“Better in the arm” - Leeteuk chose - “He will kick us by reflex and I don’t want the needle to break” 

Ryeowook was relaxed until the needle came. He saw it and changed his mind. He started calling for his dad and got a bit upset when they told him Heechul couldn’t be there for him. 
At the end, he still received the shot bravely but with teary eyes. 

Seeing the super cool sticker his brother got, Henry climbed Leeteuk really fast after Ryeowook was done. He showed his arm to the doctor like saying “go ahead”. There wasn’t a single tear. He asked for the sticker right away.

Kyuhyun sat on Leeteuk with his penguin but holding Heeyeon’s hand. He was so nervous he would move away every time the needle came closer. 

“Don’t do that, baby” - Heeyeon tried to distract him - “let’s look around and see if the doctor has a penguin sticker”

Kyuhyun focused on the stickers. He cried when receiving the shot. He had a hard time. 

“Whoah, Kyunnie is so brave! And look at this cute penguin you got!” - Heeyeon kissed his arm - “Do you want me to sing the boo boo song?” 

“Ung…” - Kyuhyun calmed down and sang along 

“Ohhhhh! It looks like we have a singer” - The doctor praised him - “Kyunnie do you like singing?”

“Yeah…” - the toddler blushed a bit  

“He sings ALL day” - Leeteuk let the doctor know about his secret frustration- “Ryeowook also likes to sing but Kyuhyun must have very good lungs” 

“No liwe it?” - Kyuhyun understood Leeteuk was annoyed with his singing - “Ukwee no liwe Kyu songs?”

“No no no no” - Leeteuk rushed - “I LOVE them”

“Yeah baby” - Heeyeon hugged the boy - “we all love your songs!”

“Ukwee?” - Kyuhyun asked carefully - “Ukwee liwes my songs?”

“Sure! He is your biggest fan!”

“What’s that?” - Donghae showed interest for the kids playing with a black and white ball 

“They are playing soccer” - The physical education teacher explained - “Next week there will be a trial to get into the school’s team”

“It seems cool” - Donghae liked the idea 

“Yeah, maybe next year you will be able to join too” - Teacher ruffled his hair 

Donghae couldn’t focus at all. Zhoumi was having fun with his twins during free time in gymnastics class. 

“Can I play with them?” - Donghae asked sweetly - “Please?”

“You want to play soccer with the older kids?” 

“Yeah!”

“Uhm, well… of course you can but …” - The teacher doubted for a while - “They are older and bigger than you and…”

“No problem” - Donghae was ready to try - “I’m not gonna cry” 

“S-sure” 

Heeyeon was helping the kids to get in the swings of the little park outside the hospital. They wanted to play there before going inside and now that they were done with the appointment there was no reason to deny them having fun. 

“Your sister is so good with children” - a woman commented - “They seem so happy” 

“Ah, yeah” - Leeteuk was used to it. Whenever he and Heeyeon went out together, people would assume they were related. They also joked about it and made it a running gag in the house. 

“Too old for you” - Heeyeon - “flirting with an old lady, Teuk… that’s more of Heechul’s style” 

“I wasn’t flirting with her” - Leeteuk giggled - “She was just saying we really looked alike. She said we had the same smile” 

“You mean that we both have dimples” - Heeyeon smiled to show her point - “Maybe we are related after all” 

“Just for having dimples like another third of the population?” - Leeteuk smiled widely - “or it was one fifth? I can’t remember well”
 
“And the birthmark, and the blood type…” - Heeyeon started listing - “and we do look alike”

“Could it be I’m your evil twin?” - Leeteuk - “Or maybe we are protagonists of the parents trap sequel?”

“Neither” - Heeyeon pinched him - “You are older than me, so, we are not twins” 

“Lucky me” 

Heeyeon and him were having fun trying to tickle each other. They would fool around a lot like that after getting close. Leeteuk couldn’t believe there was a time in which he was concerned about how their dynamics would change after Heeyeon moved in. 

“Ugh” - Leeteuk grunted and touched his head 

“Did I hit you hard?” - Heeyeon worried - “Can I see?” 

“No, it’s just a headache” - Leeteuk sighed - “yesterday my head felt like it was going to explode” 

“Oh, maybe we should go home” - Heeyeon pouted - “I will go get the boys” 

They finally left the park after a hard time convincing the boys. Heeyeon even bribed them with beverages from a store as the kids refused to leave and tried to hit a tantrum. 

Kyuhyun was driving Leeteuk crazy singing in the car. They had to take a longer way since the road was cut at some point. Ryeowook and Henry were taking a good nap but Kyuhyun was full of energy. 

“Kyu gonna poop” - Kyuhyun interrupted his singing session to deliver the important news 

“Are you going to do it now?” - Leeteuk laughed in panic. How could they be so unlucky? - “Can you wait five minutes?”

“I try” - Kyuhyun agreed and resumed his singing. 

Five minutes later, Heeyeon laughed when Kyuhyun suddenly made a pause and Leeteuk bit his lips out of frustration. They were already close home so the uncle had hopes they could make it out of the car without suffering the consequences. Kyuhyun changed his song and was now singing about poop. There was no doubt about what the boy was doing. 

“I don’t like this song” - Leeteuk left out after the third round of it - “Its disturbing”

“I think the staging is very good” - Heeyeon teased - “He took it seriously and made sure we didn’t miss the point of it” 

“No liwe this one?” - Kyuhyun asked cutely - “Ukwee liwes Tadpole song better?”

“Oh no, please don’t” - Leeteuk hurried to change his tone when he saw Kyuhyun about to cry. It wasn’t his intention to make him feel bad. He was just tired and the kid haven’t stopped singing not even a minute - “Ehm, I like the butterfly one” 

Kyuhyun was sulking in silence. 

“Baby, what’s wrong?” - Heeyeon saw the kid pouting 

“Kyu dun know buwewfwy song” - Kyuhyun sulked - “Wookie…” 

“Oh, you don’t know it?” - Leeteuk widened his eyes at Heeyeon. He had messed up. He thought both twins knew the same songs - “It’s ok… ehm…the farm one…?” 

“Ukwee no liwe my songs” - Kyuhyun’s voice cracked 

“No, Kyunnie, that’s not it” - Leeteuk felt terrible when Kyuhyun started crying 

“It’s ok, he is just tired” - Heeyeon reassured the now gloomy uncle - “You put the sleeping kids to bed and will try to make Kyu sleep too” 

“Ukwee… Ukwee…” - Kyuhyun sobbed when Leeteuk tried to take Henry out first - “Ukwee no liwes Kyu…” 

“Maybe we should switch ” - Leeteuk told Heeyeon- “I made him upset so… He will feel better if I take care of him” 

“Ok, well” - Heeyeon was holding Ryeowook - “Just help me carry them inside and then you can go have fun”

“Fun…?” - Leeteuk glanced at the crying boy following him - “Oh, right. The diaper”

Leeteuk helped Heeyeon carrying Ryeowook and Henry. The youngest woke up in a bad mood as he wanted to keep sleeping. Heeyeon stayed with him trying to send him back to dreamland.

“Come here” - Leeteuk was snuggling Kyuhyun in a playful way - “Uncle loooooooooves you so much” 

“Ukwee wuvz Kyu?” 

“A loooooooot!” - Leeteuk tickled him - “Do you love uncle?”

“This much” - Kyuhyun showing his fingers for making a tiny gap between them 

“Oh? Just that?” - Leeteuk playfully lifted the boy and wiped his nose - “Do you want to know how much uncle loves you? It’s biiiiiiigger than this house”

“Kyu wuvz u more!” - Kyuhyun wasn’t going to get beaten at the who-loves- more game - “Liwe ewephant!”

“Elephant? Is an elephant bigger than this house?” - Leeteuk laughed when the boy nodded - “I don’t think you have seen many elephants, Kyu. Do you know where they live?”

“At zoo and ciwcuz” - Kyuhyun said confidently-“In ewephant houzes”

“Whoah, so impressive” - Leeteuk kissed him. The boy flinched - “Don’t you like kisses?”

“Not now” - Kyuhyun squirmed uncomfortably- “Kyu’s diwty!” 

“Lets change that yucky diaper and give uncle a big kiss later” - Leeteuk took the boy to restroom - “first we pull down our pants carefully… and then we pull down…?”

“Puwups” - Kyuhyun tried to keep pulling it down but Leeteuk was holding it firmly - “Nuh?”

“Wait a minute” - The babysitter faked a smile. His mind was racing. The diaper wasn’t normal - “Kyu, the diaper…” 

“Kyunnie peed too” - Kyuhyun confessed - “Sowy” 

“You peed?” - Leeteuk was having a internal panic attack while cleaning the boy - “Did it hurt?”

“No, wet” - Kyuhyun wasn’t sure of what Leeteuk asked him 

Heeyeon was entering the room to tell him Henry was fast asleep again. She found Leeteuk pale and cold. 

“Did your blood pressure drop?” - she gestured him to sit - “Take a rest, I will look after Kyu. You know? That’s something we also have in common. My blood pressure tends to be low too… So I get dizzy easily when nervous or scared” 

“The diaper was red” - Leeteuk was about to faint - “We need to hurry and go back to the doctor”

“Red?” - Heeyeon did a funny face - “Like the slushy?” 

“…” 

“…”

“Heeyeon, I’m going to kill you”

“Why would you? I stopped them from getting the blue one” 

“It doesn’t matter. I almost die of a heart attack” - Leeteuk accused her - “You are trying to get rid of me”

“And have only for me Heechul and his nine kids?” - Heeyeon giggled - “Don’t worry Teukie, I’m not stupid. I want you to live and have a looooooong life”

“Then, no more slushies and no more rainbow poops” 

“Mama? Ukwee?” - Kyuhyun tilted his head cutely. He didn’t understand why Leeteuk was lying on the bed so pale - “Sick?”

“Yeah, uncle isn’t feeling that well, Kyunnie” - Heeyeon smirked - “You know what he needs?”

“Don’t you dare” - Leeteuk mumbled 

“A SONG!” - Kyuhyun jumped on the bed 

Leeteuk threw a pillow at the laughing woman. 

“He said something about a rainbow, Kyunnie! I think he wanted the rainbow song!”

“You—“

“Somewheeeeewwwww ovewwww the wainbowwwwwww~” - Kyuhyun was taking seriously his job - “wayyyyy upppp hiiiiigh~”

Heechul almost cursed in front of the children when the homeroom teacher of the triplets told him that another teacher and him, needed to speak in private about Donghae. 

He was tempted to slap Donghae’s head and ask “what the hell did you do now”, but taking into account the teacher said ‘in private’ meant he didn’t want the kid to know. 

“So, what he do now?” - Heechul couldn’t believe his boys were already in troubles and the scholar year had just begun 

“He is very good at soccer” - The physical education teacher explained - “He played with the older kids today and we think he could join the soccer team if he wanted”

“My baby?” - Heechul widened his eyes. He at sports. He never thought his kids would be good at them… but so far, three of them were… so having a fourth one…- “Donghae is good at sports too?”

“At least in soccer” 

“Wow” - Heechul did a silly smile - “Hani’s genes must be strong” 

“Excuse me?”

“N-nothing” - Heechul smiled still dumbfounded - “then, do you think he would like to play soccer?” 

“Soccer?” - Leeteuk was still resting on the bed with a cold pack on his head - “Donghae? Isn’t it too early?”

“They are kids” - Heechul teased- “Nobody gives a crap about rules. They just follow the ball everywhere”

“Ok, but what I mean is that they are older than him” - Leeteuk pouted - “Donghae is not even five yet”

“He is about to be~”

“Yeah, and the others are six and seven” - Leeteuk sighed - “maybe eight… and Donghae is not that tall” 

“Are you worried he will hurt himself there?”

“I’m worried others will hurt him” - Leeteuk frowned 

“Are you that angry ?” - Heechul pouted - “If you are not ok with Hae being in the soccer team… we can just wait until next year” 

“It’s not that” - Leeteuk grunted - “My head hurts” 

“Oh” 

“Kyuhyunnie has been singing non stop all these days” - Leeteuk told the parent - “and is nice and everything but I’m human and need silence at least for a few minutes” 

“Oh…” 

“And then Heeyeon almost killed me from a heart attack. She bought the kids colorful slushies and didn’t warn me enough…” - Leeteuk did a face - “I changed a diaper that looked like if you have crushed berries. I thought it was blood”

“Sounds like fun” - Heechul giggled - “Are you going down for lunch or you are not in the mood?” 

“What’s for lunch?”

“I think Heeyeon was making tteokbokki” - Heechul chuckled when Leeteuk jumped out of the bed - “Do you really like it that much?”

“Her food is the only reason I already forgave her” - Leeteuk did a silly smile - “And she is kinda cute. I can’t get mad at her” 

“Same” - Heechul agreed and bumped fists with his brother 

During lunch, Siwon confessed Kibum pranked him again. Even worse, he had proof of it. His notebook had the word “SNITCH” in big capital letters. It seemed like his cousin had used a permanent ink marker to do so. Heechul solved the problem with the word covering it with a huge sticker.

Donghae was excited about Heechul letting him join the soccer team. His twins weren’t interested at all but supported him. 

“Maybe they will like it after watching some games” - Heeyeon was amused as Donghae practiced with a ball and his twins cheered for him 

“Nah, Eunhyuk would be a cheerleader and Sungmin… even worse, he will kiss them” - Heechul sighed - “I can see this backfiring at us in a few years when my boys start dating dumb cheerl— OUCH!”

“Don’t call anyone’s else daughter ‘dumb’ “ - Heeyeon complained - “Would you like it if someone said so about Cherry?”

“She won’t be a d— cheerleader” 

“You don’t know that” - Heeyeon did a cute turn with her head - “Although by the way she kicks… she could be a soccer player too like Donghae” 

“Oh no, I was hoping she was a singer like Kyuhyun” - Heechul joked 

“Oh, dear Lord” - Leeteuk covered his face - “Please, no” 

“I will practice lots and teach Cherry to play soccer” - Donghae was excited - “Then we can play together” 

“Cherry is a girl” - Heechul smiled playfully - “I bet she will prefer having tea parties with stuffed dolls”

“Ewwww” - Donghae whined - “I hope she doesn’t” 

“I would like to have a tea party with stuffed dolls” - Sungmin nodded 

“It doesn’t sound that bad” - Eunhyuk shrank shoulders - “I wonder if Cherry will have those cool dolls you can dress” 

“Sure” - Heeyeon smiled pleased - “are you going to play Barbies with her?”

“Yeah!”

Donghae let himself fall on the floor dramatically. He started crying with no effort.
The twins appeared out of nowhere and sang a song about it. Heechul said they reminded him of the Willy Wonka helpers, the Oompa Loompa.  

After a long week of hard work, Leeteuk was in his favorite moment: bedtime. This one was special since next morning he wouldn’t have to wake up early to help the kids get ready to school or a vaccination appointment. 

He fixed himself inside his cozy bed with a good blanket. He wore his favorite pajama that day for lifting his mood. His pillow was so soft, the sheets smelled so good as they were recently washed… it was a complete sensory experience. So pleasing. Lights turned off, the perfect temperature… and silence. SILENCE. That’s what he wanted the most. He would drift to dreamland in no time and—

“Ukweeee!”

 Kyuhyun was on his bed. Why? He didn’t want to know. He could only think in holding the kid and throwing him into his parents bedroom. He wasn’t in the mood for babysitting at night hours. He was exhausted. 

“Kyu, what are you doing here?” - Leeteuk kept a neutral tone not wanting to engage in whatever was happening - “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Kyu wanna sweep Hewe” - Kyuhyun was accommodating himself under the cover. He was holding his penguin plush - “With Ukwee”

“Why? Are you feeling sick? Did you have a nightmare?”

“Nuh” - Kyuhyun was really close to Leeteuk. The babysitter felt uncomfortable as he wanted to sleep and he had a toddler breathing on his neck 

He felt another movement from the other side. Of course. He forgot Kyuhyun had a twin that would follow him everywhere. 

“Cmon boys, I will put you back to bed” - Leeteuk sighed. Maybe in another occasion he would have endured it. Tonight, it wasn’t the case 

“Ukweee sweep with us hewe?” - the twins tried 

“No, uncle goes back to his bed” - Leeteuk was firm. He put them back in bed, fulfilled their demands and kissed them goodnight.

Ten minutes later he heard giggling in his room. He decided to ignore it. Yet, they crawled in his bed and tapped him several times. He tried playing dead to see if it worked. He eventually gave up when the kids started putting their fingers in his ears and nostrils.

“Ukwee you awake!”

“How can I sleep?” - Leeteuk grunted annoyed 

“Can’t sleep?” - Ryeowook asked softly 

“Kyu helps!” - Kyuhyun took air.

Ok, that was it. He had enough during daylight hours and he wasn’t going to lose night time. 

“Don’t sing, please” - Leeteuk said it firmly but with a tender voice - “Uncle is tired and wants silence. My head hurts”

“Sowy” - Ryeowook apologized right away - “Bye bye, Ukwee… sweep well”

“You too” - Leeteuk fell asleep almost immediately. He was too tired. 

Heeyeon felt Heechul talking to someone. 

“Twins?” - Heeyeon tried still half asleep - “What happened ? Is the vaccine? Do they have a fever?”

“No, Ryeowook fell asleep as soon as he got in here” - Heechul a night light - “But this friend here…”

Kyuhyun was crying. Not in a noisy loud way like kids did when in physical pain. It was more quiet and sorrowful. 

“Oh my, what happened? Did you have a nightmare?” - Heeyeon hugged him - “Its ok, baby… you are safe here”

“Y-you l-lied to me” - Kyuhyun blubbered - “Unkwee no liwes my singing” 

“I didn’t lie” - Heeyeon sulked and his hair - “We like it when you sing”

Kyuhyun shook his head with his eyes shut tightly. Big fat tears fell again. 

“Did uncle say something about your singing?” - Heechul cleaned the boy’s face. The kid nodded - “are you sure it wasn’t a nightmare?”

“Nuuuuuh” - Kyuhyun’s heart was broken. He knew it had been real. 

To be fair, Leeteuk wasn’t mean to the boy. It was just that Kyuhyun would get easily upset and toddlers had that great ability to overreact and exaggerate things. They didn’t do it on purpose. They couldn’t handle emotions in the same way a grown up would do it and were easily overflowed. 

“You look tired” - Leeteuk was making coffee when Heechul entered the kitchen almost dragging his feet - “coffee?”

“Make it double” - Heechul’s face hit the table - “Maybe double double” 

“My, my” - Leeteuk was actually in a good mood after sleeping well - “hard night?”

“You have no idea” - Heechul bit his lips. He didn’t want to mention what the kid said… He knew Leeteuk probably didn’t mean it that way and would blame himself for it - “Uhm, today we are taking the boys out to the zoo” 

“I don’t like the zoo” - Leeteuk did a face - “And I think is going to rain—“

“When I said ‘we’ I was referring to me and Heeyeon” - Heechul was getting nervous - “And the zoo also has indoors activities… In case it rains we can shelter in one of those”

“Well, I don’t mind going” - Leeteuk was a little hurt by Heechul’s previous comment- “I mean, if you want to”

“I would like you to rest” - Heechul smiled apologetically- “we think you are tired” 

Was Leeteuk tired? Definitely. Did he want to stay home alone? It didn’t sound bad. Yet, he was upset with the whole situation. He didn’t know why, but he felt bad when the family said they would go out without him. He knew his friends had good intentions… 

It didn’t help the twins were awkward around him that morning. He somehow pictured the boys said something to their parents… and he started thinking Heechul got upset because of him… or maybe Heeyeon did. It hurt him twice thinking both of them could be angry for what happened with the boys. 

“Call us if you need anything” - Heeyeon was being nice to him - “Try to rest, ok?”

“Why did you invite them?” - Kangin complained as he dragged his feet to the car - “we already see our cousins the entire week! Why do we need to see them on weekends too?”

“We playing with Mimi!” - The triplets acted like if they haven’t seen Zhoumi in a long time… when they saw him the whole week 

“Dad, I’m with Kangin on this one” - Siwon pouted - “I don’t wanna be with Bummie today” 

“Change my mind” - Kangin grinned - “I love our cousins! Can’t wait to see them!”

Heechul rolled his eyes and left out a tired sigh. He waved goodbye to Leeteuk one last time. Heeyeon did the same from her car. Leeteuk’s heart sunken as soon as they were gone. He could feel his eyes getting teary. What was wrong with him? It was just an outing. Heechul and Heeyeon took the kids out by themselves to give him an opportunity to rest … nothing else. 

Leeteuk wandered around the mansion. Why did it feel so empty?. He had what he wanted… silence? It was quiet. Too quiet. He actually missed Kyuhyun’s songs, Ryeowook’s piano and Henry’s yelling. He missed Eunhyuk asking him to watch his dance and Donghae kicking the ball against the wall. It haven’t been not even ten minutes and he was feeling lonely. 

“Cmon, Teuk” - he slapped himself in front of the mirror - “Its just a couple hours. We can do this” 

“I already miss your uncle” - Heeyeon pouted sadly - “Do you think he misses us?”

“Are you saying so because you don’t want me riding shotgun with you?” - Yesung twisted his lips 

“Don’t be silly, you are the cutest copilot ever” - Heeyeon scoffed - “It’s just that… Your uncle seemed sad, don’t you think?”

“He got rid of us” - Yesung smiled playfully- “I bet he wanted the house for himself. It must be tiring to live with so much chaos” 

“Can we play music?” - Sungmin asked cutely. He was sitting at the back between the twins - “It’s too silent here”

“It’s too quiet, yeah” - Heeyeon thought it was weird - “Kyu, don’t you want to sing a song…?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. 

“Are you sick?” - Sungmin was placing a hand on Kyuhyun’s forehead 

“Ryeowook is also quiet” - Yesung commented - “He is always talking and today…” 

Leeteuk heard the door bell. His heart jumped. They were back. They sure forgot something… and he would use that chance to speak his feelings out and say he wanted to join them. 

He opened the door really quickly with a huge smile.

“Oh my, are you always in such a good mood?” - Mrs Ahn greeted him- “You are so cute” 

Leeteuk’s smile faded. He tried to fake it but it was clear he was disappointed. Mrs Ahn giggled. 

“Were you expecting someone?” - Mrs Ahn found him cute - “Its just that I made cake and wanted to share it with the kids…”

“T-they are not…” - Leeteuk’s voice cracked a bit - “They will love it. Thank you for coming. Please get in”

“Oh, I don’t want to disrupt your peace” - Mrs Ahn shook her head and tried giving the cake to Leeteuk- “Say Hi to them… for me…?”

Leeteuk was holding his chest with one hand. He was squeezing his own shirt tightly. He was smiling and nodding like agreeing with her… but that gesture…

“I guess I could stay for a while” - Mrs Ahn gave him a tender look - “You are lonely, aren’t you? It’s ok. I know that feeling. Let’s go inside and make some tea” 

—————————————————————————————-

Author comments 

Next chapter will be mostly about Leeteuk. 

Hope you are all doing well! 

PS: Kyuhyun is such a cute child singing all time. ><