A few months later, on a lazy Tuesday morning, Junmyeon decided to take the younger kids to the park. Jongin and Tao could run now and were good playmates for a four-year-old Kyungsoo. After a while, Jongin was tired and walked to Junmyeon.

“Mommy, up”, he demanded and Junmyeon complied. In addition to being an easy baby that loved all kinds of food, he also loved sleep.
“Are you tired?”, Junmyeon asked, and the toddler nodded.
“I runned a lot”, he stated.
“I ran”, Junmyeon corrected, “did you play with Tao and Kyungsoo?”

“Hmm-hmm”, Jongin hummed, “we built a sandcastle!”

“Excuse me”, Junmyeon heard a voice say, “is that your son?”
The person who had addressed him was a young woman, dressed in a striped shirt and black leggings. Her stomach showed a small bump and Junmyeon smiled.

“Yes”, he said, “say hello, Jongin!”
“Hello”, Jongin echoed quietly. He could be a little chatterbox, but only with people he knew. Around strangers, he was adorably shy.

“I´m Jisoo”, the woman said.
“Junmyeon”, Junmyeon replied, shaking Jisoo´s hand. He looked at her stomach.
“First one?”, he guessed. Jisoo was still very young.

“Yes”, she said, suddenly uncomfortable.
“How old is Jongin?”, she added, and Junmyeon was happy to tell her. Before he knew it, he had told her about all of his children – how eloquent Minseok was, and about Luhan´s football, and how Yixing was not only a talented musician but also a dancer, the twins´ angelic voices, Chanyeol´s creative talent and every milestone the little ones had hit recently.

Jongin had fallen asleep on his lap, his eyes peacefully closed.
“You´re such a good father”, Jisoo commented, patting her stomach, “your kids are so lucky to have you.”
“I am glad you think so”, Junmyeon said, “nine kids are a lot of work, but I wouldn´t want it any other way.”

“Mommy!”
Tao and Kyungsoo came running to him.
“Mommy, I´m hungry”, Kyungsoo said, and Tao pulled a face. “Mommy, can we have ice cream later?”

“Maybe if you eat your dinner”, Junmyeon said, “including all your vegetables.”
“Ugh”, Tao huffed.

He fell onto his little . “Life is hard”, he said.
“Mommy, can you tuck me in tonight?”, Kyungsoo said. Normally, Junmyeon tried to let Kris tuck in the little ones. After all, Junmyeon had all day with them and Kris was only able to spend time with them in the evening when he came home from work.

“Sure”, Junmyeon said. Maybe Kyungsoo was simply feeling extra clingy today.

“They call you Mommy”, Jisoo commented, tilting her head.
“The younger ones do”, Junmyeon said, “the older ones call me Appa.”

“Hello!”, Tao said, only now noticing Jisoo. “You´re a lady.”
“What a little gentleman”, Jisoo cooed.
“You´re pretty, like Mommy”, Tao continued, “do you also have a Daddy, like Mommy?”

For a moment, Jisoo looked confused, until Junmyeon clarified.
“I have a husband”, he said, “he is Daddy, I am Appa.”
“Mommy”, Tao repeated stubbornly.

“They´re so cute”, Jisoo sighed, almost wistfully.
“Soon you´ll have your own!”, Junmyeon exclaimed cheerfully, and gasped when he took a look at his watch.
“It´s already so late! My Elementary school kids will be home soon, and I need to go.”

Jisoo´s expression dropped. She seemed to be very sad that Junmyeon was leaving.
“I am in this park very often”, he said, “here, I´ll give you my number. Maybe you can come over for dinner sometime!”

“I would like that”, Jisoo said.
“Bye, pretty lady!”, Tao yelled when they left. Jongin only waved, while Kyungsoo didn´t do anything. Junmyeon noticed only later that Jisoo had never answered Tao´s question about the father of her child.

The next time he saw Jisoo, he was at the playground with all kids except the three oldest ones. Chanyeol was chasing Baekhyun, Jongdae and Kyungsoo around, Tao was trying to toddle after them, and Jongin was once again asleep on Junmyeon´s lap.

“Oh, hello”, Jisoo said. Her bump had gotten a bit bigger.

“Hello!”, Junmyeon said, “long time, no see. How have you been?”

“Okay”, Jisoo said, “are all of these your kids?”

Junmyeon took a look at children. Chanyeol had caught Jongdae and was now tickling him as a punishment. Jongdae´s shrill screeching was extraordinarily loud.

“Yes”, Junmyeon said, “all of them are adopted. They were so scared when they first came into our household, and now look at them.”
Jongdae had gotten free and was now running after Baekhyun. Junmyeon sincerely hoped no garments would end up being ripped today; it appeared as if the twins were having a fierce battle.

Of course, it ended like it had to end. Baekhyun tripped, staring down at his bloody knees in horror before starting to cry.
“Excuse me”, Junmyeon said, placing a sleepy Jongin in the stroller, “can you look after the stroller for a second?”

Jisoo nodded, and Junmyeon hurried to collect his injured child.
“Baekhyunnie”, he cooed, “did you fall?”

Sniffling, Baekhyun nodded, showing his bloody knees and scratched up hands. It wasn´t anything deep, in fact, it had already stopped bleeding, but Junmyeon knew Baekhyun was crying more out of shock than pain.

“I´m sorry, Appa”, Jongdae murmured from behind him. Kyungsoo was gingerly patting Baekhyun´s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

“Accidents happen, Jongdae”, Junmyeon said, “you didn´t push him, didn´t you?”
“No.”
“Then it wasn´t your fault. Come back to the bench with me, alright?”

By the time they had walked back to the bench, Baekhyun´s tears had already dried, but he still enjoyed Junmyeon´s pampering as he put band aids over the small wounds and kissed him on the cheek.
The thought made Junmyeon a bit melancholic. How long would Baekhyun let him kiss his cheek? Luhan had started protesting against such treatment around the twins´ age.

With that thought, he kissed Baekhyun´s other cheek as well, making the nine year old giggle.

It didn´t take long until the children were off again, playing somewhere.
“You´re so loving”, Jisoo commented, and Junmyeon was shocked to see tears in her eyes, “you adopted all those kids?”

“Yes”, Junmyeon said, “their parents couldn´t love them, but I do and I will.”

Jisoo started crying in earnest, tears running down her cheeks. She looked so young in that moment and Junmyeon felt his paternal instinct flare up in his chest.
“Please don´t cry”, he said, “are you okay? Did I say something?”

“No, no”, Jisoo said, wiping the tears away, “it´s just – I can´t keep him.”

Her hands covered her bump as if she was trying to soothe herself.

“What?”, Junmyeon said, “why?”

Jisoo told him everything. She was the daughter of a rather wealthy family in Korea, and her family had been furious when Jisoo had told them about the pregnancy. The father was too scared to fight Jisoo´s parents, and Jisoo had been sent abroad.

“Everyone thinks I am just studying here for a year”, she told Junmyeon, “but I am giving birth to a baby.”

Apparently, Jisoo also had a fiancé at home. It was arranged – they weren’t a couple – but of course the engagement would fall apart if anyone ever found out about Jisoo´s situation.

“I have to leave him here”, Jisoo said, “I don´t have a choice.”
“There are always options”, Junmyeon said fiercely, “I can help you, if you want to. You don´t have to give up your baby!”
Jisoo gave him a teary smile. “I am only eighteen, Junmyeon. I am not ready to be a mother. And yet, I am so worried for my baby. Will he end up in a good family? How can I leave him without knowing he is safe and will grow up well?”

Jisoo reached for Junmyeon´s hand, a sudden desperation in her eyes.
“Take him”, she said, “please take him.”

Junmyeon was not sure how to approach the topic with Kris. He could hide how fidgety he was while the children were awake – Kris was distracted by Jongin refusing to put on his pants after a bath, Tao refusing to eat, Luhan losing his homework for the third time that week and Baekhyun accidentally clogging the sink with Lego.

It wasn´t until all the kids were peacefully sleeping that Kris opened one eye, looking at his husband suspiciously who would simply not stop fidgeting.

“Baby”, he said, “what´s wrong?”

Kris knew Junmyeon inside and out – sometimes, he knew him better than he knew himself, and he could feel that something was bothering the other.

“I am thinking”, Junmyeon replied. Kris yawned and pushed a strand of hair away from Junmyeon´s forehead.
“What about?”

“So”, Junmyeon said, “I met a young soon-to-be-single mother and invited her for dinner.”
Kris blinked. “That´s it?”

“No?”
“I am confused, Myeonnie. Just spit it out”, Kris complained, “I´m sleepy.”
“She wants to give me her baby”, Junmyeon blurted out, watching as Kris blinked again, confused, before shock settled on his face.

“Excuse me, what?”

Kris was adamant they didn´t need a tenth child, and normally, Junmyeon would agree with him; nevertheless, he couldn´t forget the tearful face of Jisoo, worried about her baby´s future.

Begrudgingly, Kris had agreed to invite Jisoo for dinner. He wanted to meet the woman that had riled up his husband so badly, and he was also worried.
He could pretend to be tough as much as he liked, but in the end he had a soft heart. If Jisoo was pregnant and in a desperate situation, he wanted to help.

Jisoo got straight to the point. While the children were playing in the backyard or lazing around, she approached Kris, a serious expression on her face.

“We can´t just…take a baby”, Kris argued, but Jisoo was not impressed.
“You have nine sons”, she stated. Junmyeon, standing beside them, reached for a package of chips lying on the kitchen counter. His eyes darted nervously between Kris and Jisoo.

“And nine are more than enough”, Kris said. Jisoo lowered her eyes.
“I can´t leave my baby with mere strangers”, she said, “this home, it´s