Jimin groaned and rolled over, clutching his belly tightly as another wave of nausea hit, causing the boy to gag into his pillow. Tears stung his eyes as he climbed out of bed, leaving Taehyung to curl into the empty spot he was in as he trudged down the hall to his parents' room.

    “D-Dadda! D-daddy!” Jimin sobbed, coughing to keep himself from throwing up. He reached up and pulled the door handle, letting the door swing open.

    “Da-” He was cut off by the force of vomit leaving the pit of his stomach, landing on the floor, his feet, and some dripping down his chin and onto his shirt.

    Yoongi shot up in bed and shook Hoseok awake, flicking the lamp on and rushing to put his glasses on as he tripped over the blankets to get to Jimin. Their baby was standing in a puddle of his own vomit with tears, snot, and drool dribbling down his face.

    “Oh, my poor baby…” Yoongi cooed as he carefully pulled Jimin’s shirt off, letting it sit on the floor. He gently pulled him into his arms and carried him to their connected bathroom, setting him down in front of the toilet. “Dadda’s gonna get a bath going for you, okay Min? If you gotta throw up, do it in the potty.”

    Jimin just groaned and rubbed harshly at his face, leaning over not even thirty seconds later to throw up again. Yoongi winced at the noise and quickly turned the water on, letting it heat up before stopping up the tub to let it fill.

    “Hobi?” Yoongi called out, hoping the younger was actually helping him this time.

    “I’m cleaning up the mess out here, Yoon!” Hoseok replied as his voice was muffled slightly from the bandanna tied around his face, trying to block out the smell.

    Jimin continued sobbing, curling himself into Yoongi as he helped him remove his pajama bottoms and soiled pull up. Yoongi hummed a soft tune, pressing feather-light kisses into his hair.

    “M-my b-belly…” He whimpered, arms circling his stomach like it would help take the pain away.

    “I know, honey, I know… It’ll go away soon, but we need to get you cleaned up first,” Yoongi frowned. He used the lavender body wash to gently cleanse the sweat off Jimin’s skin and used the vanilla children’s shampoo to lather into his hair.

    “Wanna go sleepy…” Jimin pouted, leaning his head back for Yoongi to rinse the suds out. Once Jimin was clean and soap-free, Yoongi unplugged the tub and gently wrapped Jimin in a towel, cradling him to his chest.

    “Let’s get you back into some clothes, or at least another pullup, and then we can go sleepy again.” Yoongi’s hands caressed Jimin’s skin softly as he situated another pullup on his baby boy before bringing him back to his own room.

    “TaeTae’s waiting for you, Minnie,” Hoseok smiled, holding their other son in his arms. Taehyung’s hair was sticking up in every direction, but his eyes were red and wet, obviously crying for his twin.

    Jimin’s little hands reached out for Taehyung, and the two fathers carried the boys back into their room.

    Yoongi laid Jimin in his bed and tucked the blankets around him, leaving an empty bucket on the floor in case he needed to throw up again.

    Hoseok continued to hold Taehyung, rubbing his back as he rubbed his cheek on Hoseok’s shoulder.

    “Should we put Tae in a separate room? I don’t want him getting sick…” Hoseok frowned, adjusting Taehyung on his hip.

    Yoongi frowned and pressed his lips to Taehyung’s forehead. Jimin was already asleep, face scrunched up in what Yoongi could only imagine was pain from his stomach. “Could we get Joon to watch him for 24 hours? I’ll take the day off and stay here with Jimin, you go to work, and he’ll take Tae and Kook to school.”

    “M-Minnie…” Taehyung stuttered, bottom lip wobbling as tears pooled in his eyes again. The two took Taehyung out of the room so he wouldn’t wake Jimin, sitting against the pillows in their own bed. The child pressed his face into Hoseok’s shirt, soaked with his tears as he cried for his brother.

    “I think that would be best, that way he wouldn’t get sick. It hurts to separate the two of them for any period of time, but it’s something we have to start teaching them,” the younger replied, trying to calm Taehyung.

    Yoongi sighed and grabbed his phone, pulling up Namjoon’s contact. He hated disturbing the other, but the clock said it was 1:30 in the morning. He knew Joon would be up, hunched over his computer as he read over piles of paperwork, or have headphones on, trying to create another song. He tapped the green button and held the phone up to his ear, letting his free hand wrap around Taehyung’s tiny fist.

    Namjoon was, luckily for Yoongi, still awake and had just taken his headphones off to grab a drink from the kitchen when his phone rang. He chuckled as he answered the phone, pressing the speaker button.

    “Hey, I’m working on a new beat for Gguk or Zelo for a solo maybe, or something they could do together. If you have a chance at the building, I’d like to get together with them so they could check it out so far,” he said, not even giving the older a chance to speak.

    Yoongi grunted lightly before sighing. “I’m actually not going to be able to come tomorrow. Jimin’s got some sort of stomach bug, and I’m going to stay home with him. Uh, I was actually calling to see if you’d be able to take Taehyung? We don’t want him catching what Jimin has, he’s even worse with being sick.”

    Namjoon frowned, though Yoongi couldn’t see it. He took a sip of water before speaking up again. “, man, I’m sorry to hear that about Jimin. But yeah, I can watch Tae for you. They’ll be at school during the day, and it’ll be like a sleepover for Kook. Do you wanna bring Tae over now? As I said, I’ve been working on this beat for a while, and I could really use a break.”

    Hoseok grunted next to Yoongi, nudging him with his leg. “What did he say?”

    “Yeah, I can get Hobi to bring him over since you’re still up. Thank you so much, Joon. I really owe you one,” Yoongi breathed, smiling and nodding in answer to Hoseok’s question.

    “Hey, it’s not a problem. Two is so much easier than three,” he chuckled. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

    Yoongi hummed in response and the two hung up the call. “He said he can watch Tae for us. Um, you can drop him over at Joon’s place now, he’s still awake.”

    Hoseok nodded and kissed Taehyung’s head again, rocking him back and forth slowly. “I’ll get his stuff packed if you wanna cuddle him for a little.” Yoongi smiled and gently took Taehyung into his arms, cradling his baby to his chest. Hoseok rummaged around the twins’ room for a few minutes, before returning with Taehyung’s coat and his bag.

    “I love you so much baby,” Yoongi whispered, peppering kisses all over Tae’s chubby face. Tae giggled around the tears in his eyes, hugging Yoongi tightly.

    “I l-love dadda,” he whispered, rubbing his snot on Yoongi’s shirt. “I g-gotta go to Joonie’s now…?”

    Yoongi nodded, carefully helping Taehyung into his jacket. “Yeah bugga, Minnie has a yucky belly bug right now, and we don’t want you to catch it either. So Joonie said he’ll watch you, and you’ll get to have such an awesome sleepover with Kookie!”

    A small cheer left Tae’s lips before he frowned again. “N-no Minnie though… Need my Minnie…”

    “I know sweetheart, but Minnie is sick and needs to get better. You want him to get better, right?”

    Taehyung nodded slightly. “Then you gotta go to Joonie’s and Kookie’s so we can make sure he gets better and you don’t get what he has,” Hoseok explained, picking Taehyung up after slipping on a warmer coat. The child whined lowly in the back of his throat as Hoseok strapped him into his car seat, a pacifier slipped between his pouted lips.

    Namjoon was waiting in the kitchen with a cup of warm milk for Taehyung and a cup of tea for Hoseok on the counter when they arrived. The elder thanked Namjoon countlessly as they got Taehyung settled into Jungkook’s room with the child, Jimin’s stuffy in his arms. Jimin had Taehyung’s stuffy back home; the two would switch stuffies whenever they were separated.

    “Thank you again, Joon. You’re really doing Yoongi and I such a huge favor, we seriously owe you for this. I’ll be at work in the morning, but Yoongi is going to be staying home with Jimin if that’s okay with you,” Hoseok gasped in a breath of air at the end of his sentence.

    Namjoon smiled as he walked Hoseok to the door. “It’s fine, I know you would do the same if I was ever in a similar situation. We don’t have a lot scheduled for work tomorrow, so it’s fine if hyung isn’t there. Uh, tell Jimin I hope he gets better soon.”

    “I will. I’ll check in periodically tomorrow to see how Taehyung is. Thank you again!” Hoseok repeatedly thanked the younger as he got into his car and drove back home.

~~~~~~

    Jungkook blinked his eyes open as he felt sweaty, his bed feeling extra warm. He quickly sat up, thinking he had accidentally gone potty in bed and that his daddy was going to be mad at him. He stopped though when he felt an arm tug on his waist, and he turned around to see Taehyung sleeping soundly.

    “Tae Tae!” He squealed, diving down to hug his best friend tightly. The elder child woke up with a hum and cuddled into Jungkook even more, wanting to go back to sleep.

    “Tae, when did you come over? I was sweepin’!” Jungkook giggled, now too excited to go back to sleep.

    “I comed over in the middle of the night, m-my daddy broughted me ‘cause Minnie has a yucky belly bug,” Tae pouted. His tired eyes glittered with tears, and Jungkook quickly grabbed his favorite bunny to push into his arms.

    “I-it’s ohtay! We have sleepover! A-appa can m-make us cakies and then we go to the school!” Jungkook was trying to cheer his friend up, heart aching as he watched the first tear roll down his puffy cheeks, and then another and another.

    “W-want my Minnie, though…” Taehyung sniffled as he slid out of Jungkook’s arms and landed on the hardwood floors, feet pattering as he walked to the bedroom door. “C-can we makes cakies…?”

    Jungkook’s bedhead flopped as he nodded and rushed to his side, throwing the door open. “Appa!! Wakey time! T-taetae wants cakies!!”

    Namjoon was standing in front of the coffee pot, sipping the black liquid as two children came into the kitchen: Jungkook barrelling full speed ahead, making Namjoon nearly drop his mug in order to catch his son before he face-planted into the cabinets, and Taehyung tiptoeing so quietly behind that Namjoon nearly missed him.

    “Good morning, Tae-ah. Did you have a good sleep?” The child shook his head ‘no’ and climbed into the small chair at the table. Namjoon frowned and set Jungkook down, brushing a tear from Taehyung’s cheek.

    “A-appa, I told TaeTae da-a-at you pwomised to make cakies tahday ‘c-cause h-he’s so sad,” Jungkook stuttered, slurring around his two fingers in his mouth.

    “Kook, fingers out, and slow down with your words. And pancakes are fine for breakfast, I have everything already made up. They just need to go on the hot pan.” Two sippy cups were sat at the table. “Drink some juice and then you can go wash your hands while I get these made.”

    Taehyung watched Jungkook gulp down his juice before rushing to wash his hands before Taehyung decided to stand up and move to stand next to Namjoon. The elder’s pant leg brushed against Tae’s cheek as he pressed his forehead to Namjoon’s thigh.

    “Oh, Taehyung. Can I get you something?” He asked, looking under his arm at the boy. The child just blinked up at him before raising his arms hesitantly.

    Namjoon, however, smiled widely and set the bowl down to pick him up. “I got you, you’re gonna be okay, Tae. And Jimin’s gonna be all better soon, but we gotta not be so sad, right? He doesn’t want to hear that you’re so sad when you go home, huh?” He bounced Taehyung on his hip as he cooked up the pancakes, some small for the children and larger ones for himself.

    Taehyung mumbled an answer, hiding his face in Namjoon’s neck. “Don’ wanna go to school wiffout Minnie…”

    Namjoon chuckled, turning the stove off. “I know you don’t, Tae. But Minnie told me last night that he still wants you to have a super fun day so he could hear all about it when he’s better, okay?”

    “You talked to Minnie?” He questioned, picking at the worn collar on Namjoon’s shirt. Namjoon hummed and set the plate of pancakes on the table before sitting in his chair, resting Taehyung on his lap.

    “I did, so let’s not focus on being sad now, okay? We’re gonna have a super duper fun day and tell Minnie all about it later,” he said, wiping the tears from Taehyung’s cheeks. The child nodded and slid off Namjoon’s lap and into his own chair.

    Breakfast passed quickly after that, with Jungkook making up his own song about cakies and having fun at school.

    “Daddy!!” Taehyung screeched as he spotted Hoseok watering the plants in the classroom window. Hoseok jumped and turned around, dropping to one knee to catch his baby as the child launched himself into his father’s arms. “D-daddy~!” 

    Hoseok cooed as he cuddled Taehyung to his chest, pressing kisses all over his wet cheeks. “Hi baby, I missed you so so much. How was Uncle Joonie’s? Did you sleep okay?”

    “M-missed da-addy so m-much… N-never weave ‘gain…” Taehyung sobbed, stuck to Hoseok like his life depended on it.

    “I know baby, it was the first time you’ve ever been gone without Jimin, I know… But daddy and dadda are so so proud of you for being such a big boy that we were thinking about maybe taking you and Jimin to the store and letting you pick out a new toy, hm?”

    Taehyung gasped and looked at his daddy with wide eyes, but Hoseok continued talking. “I need you to show me that you can be super good in class and help Uncle Jinnie and I, okay? And you need to super brave one more night with Uncle Joonie and Jungkook, then we’ll get a new toy.”

    The boy nodded quickly, his hair flopping with the movement. “Uh-huh daddy, be da bestest hewlper ever!” A soft kiss was planted on his forehead, and Hoseok ushered him to go help friends get ready for circle while he talked with parents just coming in.

    “No!” Taehyung screamed, laying over two colored squares on the carpet. Jiho was toppled over on her side, tears in her eyes. “Y-you not allowed to s-sit here! Dis seat for D-Diminie!”

    Tears started flowing from the two preschoolers as Taehyung tried to defend the empty spot next to him and Jiho kept trying to sit down, each time being pushed over by Taehyung.

    “Hey hey hey, what’s going on?” Hoseok rushed over and pulled Taehyung off the carpet, plopping him on the floor away from the group while Jin checked to make sure Jiho wasn’t hurt.

    “D-dummy Jih-ho was gonna sit next to me!” Taehyung explained, cheeks blotchy red from all the crying he’s done. Hoseok popped the back of his hand, a frown taking over his smiling features.

    “We don’t call people dummies, Taehyung. That’s a very sandpaper word; it hurts Jiho’s feelings and it hurts my feelings, too. I think you need to sit here for a few minutes and calm down before you try to talk,” Hoseok scolded before sitting on the carpet with the rest of the preschool class.

    Taehyung screamed loudly from where he was left sitting, his hand stinging and his throat sore. All he wanted to do was keep the seat next to him open, and he couldn’t do that if Jiho was sitting there. But no one seemed to understand that, especially his daddy.

    Hoseok struggled to let Taehyung sit there and cry it out, but he knew the child needed to learn to self-regulate and calm down.

    “You’re doing great, Hobi,” Jin praised as the class was having a snack.

The younger smiled in response. “It’s hard, especially because it’s my own child. I hate seeing him sit there and cry for hours and not be able to comfort him.”

“I’m not a parent, so I can’t say that I fully understand, but sometimes you just need to let him cry it out. If he doesn’t learn how to calm himself down and control his emotions, then he’s going to have a hard time when he gets older. He’ll be dependant on you for comfort and security,” Jin explained. Hoseok frowned; he hadn’t seen a problem with that at all, Taehyung was his baby and he has nightmares about the day he has to let the two go out into the world.

*~*

    “Alright, have a great night, we’ll see you tomorrow!” Hoseok waved goodbye to the last child before walking back into the classroom. “Tae, honey, come here so I can talk to you.”

    Said boy put down the stuffed animal he was putting away and raced into his father’s arms, burying his face in Hoseok’s chest.

    “Taehyung, can you tell me what happened today? You promised you would be my best helper, but you made some not so good choices, and you’ve been sad all day.” Hoseok’s tone was soft and he cradled Taehyung to his chest.

    “Jiho tried to sit in Diminie’s seat durin’ ciwcle, b-but I saved it for Diminie ‘cause we always sit togethewr…” Taehyung explained, rubbing his tired eyes.

    “So that’s why you pushed her over multiple times? Because she was trying to sit in Jimin’s seat?” Taehyung nodded, his eyes glossing over again. He knew he had a very rough day and he wasn’t being kind to friends, but he felt that his reason for being angry was valid.

    Hoseok sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Bub, listen to me. You can’t be mean to friends, even if you’re feeling sad or angry inside. Jimin won’t like to hear that you were making sandpaper choices, right?”

Taehyung shook his head no.

“I didn’t think so… So we need to use our words when we’re feeling sad, or you can come to me or Uncle Jinnie and we’ll help you find words, right? I know it’s hard being away from Jimin, you’re not used to it, but it’s only for one more night. You’ll have some yummy breakfast and come to school, then instead of going home with Joonie and Kookie, you’ll come home with me and we’ll go see Dadda and Jiminie at home,” Hoseok explained, peppering the boy’s face in kisses.

“O-okay, daddy… I-I’m sowwy fow bein’ so bad…” Taehyung apologized, hugging his daddy tightly.

“It’s okay bub, but next time you need to come to Jinnie or I before we hurt friends.” Hoseok hugged Taehyung and stood up, keeping the boy on his hip. “Let’s get your stuff together and wait for Uncle Joonie.”

a/n lmao sorry I'm trash for taking so long to update. there's probably a lot of spelling and grammar, oops