You pulled the front door closed and turned to face your youngest son who was waiting patiently to be unstrapped from his pushchair. Okay, maybe not so patiently, he was kicking his legs and chanting “Out, out, out!” but he was only eighteen months old, patience wasn’t something he’d learned yet. Although to be fair his brother and sister were both four now and they didn’t have much patience either.

“You’ll have to wait a minute buddy.” Shopping first, baby next, you reminded yourself as you rounded the pushchair to grab your shopping bags. If you grabbed Minhyun first then the pushchair was only going to tip over. It was something you reminded your husband of whenever he took Minhyun out with him to run errands and something he invariably forgot every time he made it home, hence the dents in the wooden floor of your hallway. It was part of the reason you’d offered to go do your top up grocery shop yourself. The other reason being that Taehyung would probably have come back with a whole load of junk you didn’t need. When Eunbyul and Eunwoo had been a few weeks old you’d sent him out to buy baby formula. He’d come back with baby formula, a potato masher, a pair of bunny slippers and a puppy. To be fair the potato masher had come in handy, you still wore the slippers and the small, energetic ball of fur he’d brought home was now part of the family. That didn’t mean you were any more comfortable trusting him with the shopping though.

“Dora dog!” Minhyun shouted and you looked up to see the same small, energetic ball of fur trotting down the hallway towards you.

“Hey puppy.” You said as she started sniffing around the bags you’d just put on the floor. She wasn’t technically a puppy anymore but she was such a tiny little thing, it was hard not to see her as one. “There’s nothing for you, I’m sorry.” You told her.

Dora tilted her head to the side as if considering what you’d just said then went to sniff around Minhyun’s feet instead. Minhyun giggled, delighted by the attention. “Funny.” He informed you, flashing you a smile. The twins both looked somewhat like their father, they both had his colouring and Eunbyul had his eyes but Minhyun didn’t just look somewhat like him, he was Taehyung’s double and that was only emphasised when he smiled.

“Yes she is” You agreed as you lent down and unclipped his harness. He put his arms out, asking to be picked up and you obliged, scooping him up and balancing him on your hip. You picked up your shopping bags with your free hand and started down the hall, Dora following at your heels. When you’d left Taehyung he and the twins had been upstairs, your parents were coming to stay for the weekend and they’d been tasked with setting up the guest room. Apparently they’d finished though because you could hear laughter and it wasn’t coming from upstairs, it was coming from the living room.

Okay… so your living room no longer looked like a living room.

“I said set up the guest room!” you exclaimed as you took in the chaos in front of you, your shopping bags hitting the floor with a thump. “Not ‘empty our bedding cupboard out all over the living room!’” Or at least you were pretty sure that wasn’t what you’d said.

It was what had happened though. Your furniture had been pushed into the middle of the room and were being used as makeshift walls, and what looked like every sheet and quilt cover you owned had been thrown over the top.

As forts went it was impressive and the pillows inside were a nice touch. It looked quite comfortable. But you hadn’t asked them to build a fort in the middle of the living room, comfortable or otherwise. You’d asked them to make sure the guest room was ready for your parents. Your parents who would be arriving in about four hours’ time.

And a voice from within the fort asked you to “Ssssh!”

“Sssh?” you echoed, tilting your head so you could see further inside.

All three of them were in there you realised. Taehyung was sitting in the corner, looking sheepish, Eunwoo sitting in his lap, his arms around his neck as he clung to him tightly. Eunbyul however seemed to be the one leading the game. She was crouching in front of her father and her brother, a sparkly fairy wand in her hand and a wild look in her eyes. She seemed to be the one in charge and this didn’t surprise you. She was the elder of your twins by a mere thirteen minutes but this had never stopped her pulling rank. “Mummy… there are monsters out there.” She informed you solemnly. “Big ones with lots of arms and lots of teeth. You and Hyunnie need to get in here where it’s safe before it’s too late.”

You sighed. Before it’s too late? What had she been watching?

You were about to tell her that you didn’t have time to play monsters, you needed to start dinner before her grandparents arrived but before you could say anything you were distracted by your youngest son as he started to wriggle and kick to get down. Unable to keep your grip on him while leaning down to talk to your daughter you were forced to lower him gently to the floor. And as soon as feet hit the ground he was making a run for his father.

He was pretty fast for someone with such tiny legs you noted as you watched Minhyun launch himself at Taehyung.

Taehyung, who already had one child attached, only just managed to catch him before he tumbled into the back of the bedding fort, something you were thankful for. You didn’t have time to untangle your children form the pile of sheets and blankets that would have come falling down, you had things to do.

“Did you at least make the bed?” You asked Taehyung with a sigh. It was going to take an age to tidy everything up in here but if he’d made the bed first then that was one thing less to worry about.

Eunbyul was the one to answer. “Yes Mummy.” She said, giving a sigh of her own as if she thought that should be obvious. “That was what disturbeded the monster.”

“Disturbed…” you found yourself saying, the correction automatic.

“Yes, that’s what I said.” Eunbyul told you, tone exasperated.

“It’s not.” Eunwoo mumbled.

“It is!” Eunbyul argued, rounding on her brother.

“It’s not.”

“It is.” Eunbyul repeated, eyes narrowing.

“It’s not.” Eunwoo said for a third time. He might not be as outgoing as his sister but he was just as stubborn.

“Stop saying that or I’ll turn you into a frog!” Eunbyul threatened, brandishing her fairy wand menacingly.

“Frog.” Minhyun giggled. “Ribbit!” and impressed at the connection made Taheyung held his hand out for a high five.

“You can’t do that.” Eunwoo said, ignoring his little brother and shrinking back against Taehyung. “Your magic’s just pretend. It is, isn’t it Daddy? It’s just pretend.” He didn’t sound very sure.

“It’s not, it’s real magic!” Eunbyul exclaimed, clearly offended. “Daddy, tell him! I’m really magic, I am. Mummy’s a fairy princess and you’re a superhero so that make’s me magic too.”

“It makes all of you magic.” Taehyung told her, sounding ever so serious. “But because you’re all magic, well that means your magic won’t work on each other. So you can’t turn your brother into a frog. Sorry.”

“Oh…” Eunbyul said, obviously disappointed. “What about Uncle Yoongi? Can I turn him into a frog?”

You weren’t sure what her uncle Yoongi had done to offend her but Taehyung’s nod of affirmation immediately made your daughter brighten up. “Awesome!” She said, then her attention was turning back to you. “Are you coming in too Mummy? I don’t want you to get eated.”

You didn’t correct her this time, you didn’t need another argument. “I’ll be fine.” You told her instead. “I’ll be in the kitchen, there aren’t any monster’s in there.”

“There’s the dishwasher monster.” Eunwoo informed you. “It eats all the food off the plates so be careful.”

“Well I promise not to go in the dishwasher.” You said, sharing a smile with Taehyung. You were still a little annoyed that he’d decided to play ‘fun weekend dad’ not ‘responsible and sensible dad’ when you’d been gone but Eunwoo’s concern was just too cute.

“And if that dishwasher monster tries anything…” Taehyung continued, still smiling. “…she just has to shout for help and I’ll go save her.”

“I think I’ll be okay.” You told him.

“Yeah, she’s a fairy princess Daddy.” Eunbyul reminded him. “She’s even more magic than you are.”

“Exactly.” You agreed, feeling quite proud of her. She was right, princesses were perfectly capable of looking after themselves. “But if you could tidy up in here before my parents come…” you said, turning back to your husband, “…then you really would be my superhero.”

He’d helped make the mess in the first place and that still irked you a little. He knew that your parents were coming so he should have known better than to give in to the twins, however obsessed with building dens and forts they’d been lately. But since he’d only done it to make them happy you supposed you could forgive him. It was much better to have a husband who occasionally gave in to your children than one who ignored them after all. And you’d seen the guilt on his face when he’d first spotted the frustration on yours. He was sorry and you sure that later, whether that was later today or later in the week, he’d find a way to make it up to you. He always did.