Into Our World

 

“Appa!”

Chanyeol startled awake at the shriek in the middle of the night, he squinted into the darkness briefly and wondered if he had imagined the sound of his four-year-old calling for him.  He let out a sleepy sigh, eyes closing again, and felt himself nodding off again when he felt Baekhyun’s warmth pressing against his chest.

There was another childish screech in the night that was loud enough that it startled Baekhyun and he mumbled, turning into Chanyeol’s chest, “Jin-Woo,” he mumbled into Chanyeol’s shirt.

“Hmm?” Chanyeol’s hum was a low rumble.

“Appa!”

“Jin-Woo,” Baekhyun repeated after their son shouted for Chanyeol again.  He sleepily poked Chanyeol in the chest, “He’s yours before sunrise,” he reminded his husband, nuzzling into his pillow now.

“Never should have showed you The Lion King,” Chanyeol grumbled.  He ran a tired hand down his face before rolling away from Baekhyun, taking most of the blankets with him as they ensnared his legs.  He quickly fixed them over his partner when Baekhyun snapped at him, he kissed his husband’s cheek and gently ran a hand over the small bump hidden under the hoodie that Baekhyun wore to bed and watched Baekhyun settle back to sleep. 

Chanyeol perked up when he heard Jin-Woo shriek for him again, and he walked out into the hallway and walked down the short hall and stood at the door that was ajar and gently pushed it open.  His heart flipped in his chest when he saw his teary-eyed son wiping at his cheeks, lips in a pout, and his hair was a wild mess from sleep. 

“Appa,” Jin-Woo whined, reaching up for his father.  He was scooped up and he rested his head on his dad’s shoulder, “Scary.”

“Bad dream?” Chanyeol asked his son, as he moved to sit on the edge of his son’s bed and he rubbed Jin-Woo’s back soothingly.  He felt Jin-Woo nod against his shoulder and he cooed at him, “Nothing will get you, Appa’s here,” he murmured.

Jin-Woo wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s shoulders when his father stood back up and listened to Chanyeol as he started to hum softly and walked slowly around the room.  He tucked his head against his father’s throat and closed his eyes, feeling better already, “Umm?” he murmured.

“Sleeping soundly, and safe too because Appa will watch over Umma, you, and your new baby sibling,” Chanyeol told him sincerely.  He kissed the side of Jin-Woo’s head and continued to slowly pace the bedroom, singing quietly, and nudging stuffed animals out of the way so he wouldn’t trample over them. 

It took about fifteen-minutes before Jin-Woo fell back asleep and Chanyeol slowly sat down before carefully shifting Jin-Woo from his shoulder to his bed, he grimaced slightly when his son whined quietly, but fell silent, and Chanyeol tucked him, pressing a kiss to his head, before standing back up and the closet light and closed the door so his son would have extra light in addition with his nightlight that was next to his bed.

Chanyeol snuck out and left the bedroom door ajar again before making his way back to his bedroom and slid back into bed behind Baekhyun, who immediately grabbed onto Chanyeol’s arm and pulled his hand to rest on the small swell of his stomach, “Love you,” he murmured softly, kissing the side of Baekhyun’s neck, who squirmed at the ticklish sensation.  He gave Baekhyun a small smile when his husband tilted his head back to give him a warm kiss and he rubbed his thumb in a calming circle on Baekhyun’s stomach.

“You’re wonderful,” Baekhyun reminded Chanyeol, voice soft, as he smiled sleepily up at him, his eyes still crinkled adorably even when he was getting closer to his early thirties.  He chuckled when Chanyeol kissed his cheeks and nose before settling down and dropped his head onto a pillow and Baekhyun mimicked him.

With a final exhale, Chanyeol dozed back off with Baekhyun curled up against him.

When Chanyeol woke, it was due to the sun coming through the curtains and landing on his face, he squinted and rolled over, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  He stretched and patted the spot next to him and found it empty and he looked towards the bedroom door that was now all the way open.

He pushed himself out of bed and picked up the shirt he must have shucked off in his sleep.  He pulled it over his head, ruffled his hair a bit when he saw the chaos of it in the vanity dresser mirror before slinking out and headed to the kitchen where he could smell French toast being made, as Baekhyun had been craving syrup for the last few days.

He walked through the open living room and into the kitchen, where he found Jin-Woo already in his highchair, scribbling in his coloring book that was filled with cartoon Kaiju that Minseok-Hyung gave to him after his trip back from Tokyo.

Baekhyun turned from the stove and smiled to Chanyeol, “Morning,” he sang.

Chanyeol ruffled Jin-Woo’s hair, who puffed his cheeks at his dad, before going over to Baekhyun and tipped him back to kiss him and then peered over him, “French toast for the fourth day?”

“Yah!” Baekhyun huffed, waving his spatula at his husband threateningly, “Baby Baek likes French toast,” he stated matter-of-factly as he placed a hand over his small bump defensively.

Chanyeol just hummed at him, grinning happily at how adorable Baekhyun looked with a flowery apron over his pink sweater as he held the spatula out in front of him like a sword.

“Woo-Woo, too!” Jin-Woo cheered, waving a purple crayon around in excitement.

“See?  Woo-Woo likes French toast too, so there!” Baekhyun teasingly stuck out his tongue out at Chanyeol and flipped the toast over before it got too crispy. 

“Because you’ve corrupted our child,” Chanyeol stated and walked over to where the butter knives were stored and grabbed a banana before peeling it and started to cut up half of the banana into a small bowl and put it next to Jin-Woo, “Woo-Woo needs to eat fruit to get super tall like Appa.”

Jin-Woo nodded seriously, “I will grow tall like Appa,” he stated and shoved two pieces of banana into his mouth determinately.

Satisfied with that statement, Chanyeol turned to monitor how much syrup Baekhyun was putting on his French toast, “Baek,” he chided and saw the shorter slump his shoulders and watched Baekhyun dejectedly set the container down.  He divided Jin-Woo’s breakfast up, he cut French toast into small squares and put a small amount of syrup on the side before taking it over to Jin-Woo and moved his coloring book out of the way.

As his husband did that, Baekhyun finished preparing Chanyeol’s plate and put the butter back in the fridge, “What does Woo-Woo want to drink?”

“Milk!” Jin-Woo cheered, clapping his hands together excitedly.  “Spider-Man!” he pointed at the sippy cup that was in the drying rack and he watched his Umma get the cup and pour milk into it before bringing it over to him.  “Thank you,” he smiled and squealed happily when Baekhyun ruffled his hair and then kissed his cheek.

Chanyeol was cutting in his breakfast and thanked Baekhyun for his food when he had sat down.  He was making sure that Jin-Woo was holding his fork properly and wasn’t getting syrup all over himself when Baekhyun spoke up.

“Jongin text me earlier this morning, he wants to know if we wanted to go have lunch with him and Kyungsoo around two today, and Mun-Hee will be there too,” Baekhyun told him.  He made a silly face at Jin-Woo when his son suddenly wanted his attention and he laughed at the face Jin-Woo made back at him.

Chanyeol thought his stomach was going to tangle itself and he resisted the urge to smother them both in kisses and hugs.  He rested his arms on the table, leaning forward slightly, “Kyungsoo is back in town?”

“Yes, Jongin said that he finished his script early and could come home,” Baekhyun nodded to him.  He didn’t envy the fact that Kyungsoo still was in the idol-light of acting, as they all had disbanded from EXO almost five years ago; it was around the time Baekhyun found out that he was carrying Jin-Woo.  He missed it some days, mostly just having fun on stage, but he wouldn’t change anything now, he had a wonderful, loving and devoted husband and an adorably funny son, who was the center of Baekhyun’s universe with Chanyeol right next to Jin-Woo.

“Do you want to go?  I’m sure Jin-Woo would like to see Mun-Hee,” Chanyeol said.  He didn’t really get to see much of his other former group-mates, mostly due to them all still being very busy with other activities, if anything Chanyeol saw Jongin the most, because he stayed in Seoul, he taught at SM Entertainment now, teaching new trainees with Taemin, and caring after Mun-Hee while Kyungsoo briefly went away for rehearsals.

Baekhyun nodded happily, “It would be good to see them again!  I wanted to show Jongin some of my new product and get his approval of it.”

“What, mine isn’t enough?” Chanyeol pouted at him.  He scrunched his nose when Baekhyun poked him in the cheek, “You don’t love me…”

“Oh, shush, you’re my husband, you have to say everything I do is good,” Baekhyun told him.  He then turned to Jin-Woo, “Woo-Woo, would you like to see Mun-Hee today?”

Jin-Woo nodded happily, “Mun-Hee!”

“Yea, you can show him your drawings,” Chanyeol told him.  “Eat the rest of your breakfast and then it’s bath time, you have to be nice and clean when we go see Mun-Hee and Uncle Jongin, okay?”

“Kay!” Jin-Woo replied and started on his breakfast again.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol finished up too, Chanyeol was done first and waited until Baekhyun and Jin-Woo were done before collecting their plates and cups and took them to the sink to rinse them off.

“I’ll get Jin-Woo’s bath started,” Baekhyun said as he eased their son out of his booster seat.

“You sure you don’t want me to get him with his bath?  I don’t want you to strain yourself,” Chanyeol frowned worriedly, pausing from loading up the dishwasher.

Baekhyun waved him off, “I’ll be fine,” he reassured him.  “You can shower first too, I know it’ll take us at least 20 minutes to get done, Jin-Woo likes his new rubber ducks.”

Chanyeol laughed at the small sigh Baekhyun finished his statement with, “I guess you won’t need a shower once you’re done giving Jin-Woo his,” he , they had accidentally bought a pack of rubber ducks that could shoot water out of their beaks; the couple learned of their mistake rather quickly when their clothes were wet and they had to mop up the bathroom floor.

Baekhyun whined in agreement, but it came to an end when Jin-Woo started to call for him and he left the kitchen to go after Jin-Woo before he got ahold of the bubbles and made a mess.

Chanyeol shook his head fondly, a light smile on his face as his finished loading up the dishwasher and started to run it.  He wiped his hands on the dishtowel before hanging it back over the oven door handle before heading to his and Baekhyun’s bedroom, he passed the bathroom, the door was open and he chuckled as he passed when he witnessed Baekhyun getting blasted in the face with water from one of the rubber duck water guns and heard Jin-Woo’s pleased giggling all the way down the hall.

He picked out an outfit, which, without a doubt, Baekhyun would end up stealing the sweater off him and he’d have to find another hoodie or sweater to wear, as his husband was more into wearing Chanyeol’s clothes than his own.  Chanyeol headed into the master bathroom and took a quick shower so Baekhyun could get ready, he dried himself off and hung his towel up, got dressed, brushed his teeth and blow dried his hair, he didn’t bother to straighten out the wavy bits and slight curls his hair did naturally, as Baekhyun liked his hair natural looking.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw Baekhyun herding Jin-Woo into their bedroom, their son dressed in a red Power Rangers T-shirt, blue pants, and spotted socks, “Think it’s warm enough for him to wear that?” Chanyeol asked.

“It’s early spring, he’ll still have to wear a jacket, and I packed a sweater just in case with his extra outfit if he gets food on these clothes,” Baekhyun told Chanyeol as lifted Jin-Woo to pass him to Chanyeol.  He kissed Chanyeol on the cheek, “I’ll be ready in 30 minutes,” he said and grabbed his towel before going into the bathroom.

Chanyeol walked out of the bedroom and headed back into the living room and sat Jin-Woo on the carpet, settling by him and the TV to a colorful cartoon that would capture his son’s attention for the next 20 minutes or so.

He ended up sprawled across the floor, Jin-Woo resting against his side, holding his sock-covered feet in his hands as he watched the cartoon dinosaurs with half-shut eyes.  Chanyeol could feel himself nodding off too, he moved them both to the couch, Jin-Woo now resting on his chest, most of his attention still focused on the tv show.

Baekhyun stepped into the living room and smiled adoringly at the site and quickly took a picture of it, Chanyeol was slightly slack-jawed, one hand resting on Jin-Woo’s back, who was asleep on Chanyeol’s chest, his small hands curled in his dad’s sweater.

He moved to sit in the recliner and grabbed his tablet that was on its charger and checked his website that displayed his clothing line and checked the stock, he nodded at the rates and made sure to place more items that were running low after White Day and that remaining week after the holiday.

About an hour passed and Baekhyun finished up comparing rates and sales on his websites and checked reviews to make sure that his customers and still lasting fans were satisfied with their buys.  He glanced over to his husband and son and saw that Jin-Woo was awake, he was sleepily blinking at the new cartoon that was on the TV, “Woo-Woo?” he called gently.

Jin-Woo lifted his head at his nickname and looked at Baekhyun through heavily lidded eyes.

“Aw, baby, you want to cuddle with Umma, while Appa sleeps more?” Baekhyun asked him as he placed the tablet on the charger.  He saw Jin-Woo nod at him and he got up from the recliner to sweep Jin-Woo up, he heard Chanyeol make a sudden noise in surprise, “Hush, I’ve got him,” he soothed him, carding his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair, he still felt himself blush to the roots of his hair like he had when he was younger when Chanyeol grabbed his hand, kissing the palm of his hand before letting go.

Baekhyun took Jin-Woo to the recliner and sat down, Jin-Woo curled up into his Umma’s side, as his new sibling took his usual spot, but Jin-Woo didn’t mind sharing.  He kissed the top of Jin-Woo’s head and rubbed his back, while watching TV, he glanced at the clock and saw that they still had almost two-hours before needing to get ready to go.

He set his phone alarm just in case, as he was still feeling full from breakfast and he was comfortable with his son curled up next to him, his small weight was comforting, plus the new weight of baby number two.  Baekhyun knew it wouldn’t last long; unfortunately, as the baby grew, so did his discomfort and the only part he was unhappy about was his soon to be lacking energy and achy back.

The was the last thing on his mind as he clonked out too, he fell asleep to dancing people in terrifying furry costumes.

~~~

Chanyeol thought he had slept through the whole day and that it was the next morning when he heard an alarm going off and he groaned loudly and grimaced as his back cracked as he got off the couch.  He looked over to Baekhyun and saw Jin-Woo still out of it and he mentally groaned at the thought of Jin-Woo not going down for bedtime; he’d have to take him to the park and run him out.

Baekhyun took some prompting to wake up, which consisted of Chanyeol cooing his name, kissing his face, and patting him on the shoulders until he finally managed to sit up and Jin-Woo was now in Chanyeol’s arms, who was a little grumpy from waking up.

“I’m guessing it’s time to go?” Chanyeol asked as Baekhyun patted down his hair and rubbed at his eyes.  He checked on Jin-Woo, who was still trying to wake up, “Bathroom?” he asked Jin-Woo and felt him nod.  He looked to Baekhyun, “Be right back, can you grab his bag and stick his coloring book, crayons, and Wolfie in his backpack, please?”

Baekhyun nodded, “Wolfie is packed, I’ll get the other stuff from the kitchen,” he said and wondered off towards the kitchen while Chanyeol took care of Jin-Woo.  He grabbed Jin-Woo’s Totoro backpack and packed up his coloring book and the small box of crayons before putting in on the floor next to the couch.

Chanyeol returned with Jin-Woo and sat him on the couch, he saw Baekhyun looking expectantly at him and he sighed before slowly removing his sweater, he had a plain T-shirt on under it, and passed the sweater to Baekhyun, making his husband smile at him cutely.

“I love you, Yeollie,” Baekhyun smiled and tugged the soft sweater on, he liked how it fit over-sized on him and it was more comfortable to wear Chanyeol’s clothes when he was expecting.

“Yeah, I know,” Chanyeol mused and hurried to go grab another hoodie and came back to help Baekhyun get Jin-Woo into the car and into his car seat, while Baekhyun stuck a tote bag in the backseat with Jin-Woo’s small backpack.

“I’m glad Tao isn’t going to be here,” Baekhyun breathed in relief when he finally sat in the passenger seat.

“Why?” Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows at the sudden statement as he buckled himself in.

“Because we stopped using that designed diaper bag he got us for the baby shower,” Baekhyun murmured, as if Tao would be able to hear him all the way from China.

Chanyeol shrugged, “Jin-Woo isn’t a baby anymore, we don’t need a diaper bag.”

“But we still have to pack extra clothes and napkins and other toddler essentials,” Baekhyun frowned.  He knew they only stopped carrying it because once Mun-Hee turned three, Jongin switched to a tote bag and Chanyeol still had a strong admiration for him, so he followed Jongin’s lead.

“We’ll keep it as a spare in the car with our stuff and Jin-Woo’s things if we’re in a rush to leave the house when baby number two is ready,” Chanyeol compromised.

Baekhyun hummed at that before nodding approvingly, “I married a smart man.”

Chanyeol preened at the praise.

~~~

They rolled up to the diner that Jongin had text them the address to, it was a small restaurant that didn’t look too busy for a Wednesday evening.  Chanyeol found a parking spot and went to the back-driver’s side and unbuckled Jin-Woo from his car seat, “You need a jacket, Woo-Woo,” he said when his son went climb down, he leaned over him to grab his kid’s jacket and zipped it up on him, despite the grumbling the toddler made.

Baekhyun carried Jin-Woo’s bag, while Chanyeol carried Jin-Woo on his hip and slung the tote bag on his other shoulder, “Yeollie, I feel so bad not being able to carry anything,” he pouted unhappily.

“You’re carrying a bag and some very precious cargo,” Chanyeol said kindly.

“So are you,” Baekhyun smiled.

“We’re even,” Chanyeol nodded approvingly and paused at the crosswalk, Baekhyun fussed with pulling Jin-Woo’s hood over his head when it got a little windy and gave up when his son kept pushing it back down.

“I see Jongin,” Baekhyun said, seeing their friend within the restaurant.  He walked to the door first and held it open for Chanyeol to go in first and followed behind, he immediately started to smile when he heard Jongin’s voice and soon had the younger pulling him into a gentle hug, “Nini, how are you?”

“Fine, Hyung, how are you and Baby Baek doing?” Jongin’s smile was bright, his eyes crinkling at the edges to help express his joy to see his friends.

“We’re doing well,” Baekhyun reassured him.

Jongin was pleased with that answer and cooed as he snatched Jin-Woo out of Chanyeol’s hold and kiss his nephew on his cheeks, “And how is Woo-Woo?” he asked.

Jin-Woo kissed Jongin’s cheek in answer and beamed at him, “Mun-Hee?”

“He’s washing his hands with Soo-Soo,” Jongin informed him.

“Which we need to do too,” Chanyeol said as he followed Jongin to their table and put the tote bag on the back of the chair.

Jongin passed Jin-Woo to Baekhyun to hug Chanyeol next, “How are you?”

“I’m great,” Chanyeol said, and his chest warmed because he really meant it; he’s been on cloud-nine since he was officially married to Baekhyun and his cloud-nine got higher when Jin-Woo joined them, and now he felt like he was dreaming because Baby Baek was the way.  “How about you?”

“I’m much happier that Kyungsoo is back home and Mun-Hee is happier that his other Appa is home now,” Jongin stated.  “I was worried that Mun-Hee was going to start clinging to Taemin as a replacement, because he kept Mun-Hee for a few days while I was getting over a fever.”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun laughed at his story, “Taemin is doing well?”

“Yes, he’ll be traveling to New Zealand with Minho in a couple weeks, so I’m happy that Kyungsoo is back, as I’ll have to juggle two extra groups,” Jongin told him.

“You and Kyungsoo know that you two are always welcome over to let us watch Mun-Hee if either of you needs to catch up on rest,” Baekhyun stated.  “Jin-Woo has missed his playmate.”

“Thank you,” Jongin smiled, cheeks warming at the kindness. 

The couple excused themselves with Jin-Woo as they went to the restroom to wash their hands, they passed Kyungsoo on the way, who was holding Mun-Hee.

“Hi, Hyung,” Chanyeol greeted Kyungsoo.

“Good to see you,” Kyungsoo smiled to him, he looked to his son, “Mun-Hee, it’s Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jin-Woo, you remember?”

Mun-Hee shyly nodded, hiding his face slightly in Kyungsoo’s neck.

“He’ll warm up to you again, he just hasn’t seen any of you in a few weeks,” Kyungsoo sighed; Mun-Hee certainly was shyer than he was, if possible, Mun-Hee was shyer than Jongin.

Jin-Woo was squirming to get Mun-Hee’s attention, while Kyungsoo and Jongin’s son was shy, Jin-Woo was outgoing and bright like his fathers, he resembled Baekhyun more when he smiled, having his boxy smile.

“Wait, Woo-Woo,” Baekhyun chided him lightly, “we have to wash our hands first.”

“We’ll see you at the table,” Kyungsoo said and headed back to sit with Jongin.

Chanyeol held Jin-Woo at the sink and Baekhyun helped him wash his hands before taking Jin-Woo in his arms so Chanyeol could wash his hands, and then the family was heading back out to their friends.

“I ordered us all water to start out, I wasn’t for sure if you guys wanted anything else,” Jongin said when Baekhyun and Chanyeol sat down after putting Jin-Woo in the highchair next to Mun-Hee.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun responded and looked to Kyungsoo, “how was rehearsals?” he asked, he did notice that the darkness under Kyungsoo’s eyes was starting to reappear like it did when they had been a group.

“Exhausting, but I took a month off after this project,” Kyungsoo replied.  “Congratulations on your second child, do you know the gender yet?”

“No, not yet,” Baekhyun sighed, looking down at the hidden bump, “our last check up was a couple weeks ago, Baby is very shy.”

Chanyeol smiled at his pout, “We might find out next time, as Baekhyun is just barely four months.”

“Wow,” Jongin blinked in awe.  “The last time I saw you guys he was just hitting the first month mark,” he suddenly frowned, “we’re all so busy that we can’t even keep up with each other.”

“Don’t worry about that, Nini, we know that you’re busy with teaching new groups and with Mun-Hee to visit every other weekend, and we’ve been caught up with our own projects and with Jin-Woo and Baby Baek to even leave the house,” Baekhyun comforted him.  He saw that Kyungsoo looked crestfallen, “And you’re busy too!  With your new major roles and what not, congratulations by the way, we look forward to seeing your new movie!”

“I won’t wear a mask of your crying face this time, I promise,” Chanyeol vowed and flinched when Kyungsoo leveled him with a stare, “Ah, you're still so scary!”

Baekhyun and Jongin laughed as Chanyeol moved to hide behind his husband.

Their server returned with their waters and took their orders before leaving them again and the two couples talked among each other as they would occasionally check on their kids to make sure they weren’t fussing or unhappy about something.

“I saw your new designs,” Jongin commented, “they look nice!”

“Thank you, I was anxiously waiting for reviews,” Baekhyun’s relief was evident, he took major pride in his work.

Chanyeol leaned against him slightly, “See?  You worry too much, you have wonderful fans.”

Kyungsoo and Jongin were nodding in agreement. 

“Don’t think we missed your accomplishments, Hyung,” Jongin said, looking at Chanyeol.  “Congratulations on your award for top most produced TV show openings.”

Chanyeol felt the blush starting and could feel his ears getting warm, “Ah, thank you, it’s nothing major.”

“It’s major enough that they want you to continue to write themes for them and be a guest star,” Kyungsoo informed him.

Baekhyun turned to Chanyeol, “Really?” the awe was bright on his face.  “Yeollie, you love acting!  You should go try for it!”

Kyungsoo saw the hesitancy on Chanyeol’s face and without a doubt, it was the same look he wore when he got a new role and had to leave Jongin and Mun-Hee for periods of time.  He watched Chanyeol’s gaze sweep to Jin-Woo, Baekhyun’s hidden belly, and then Baekhyun’s face, “It was just a reminder, you know you don’t actually have to do what the director asks.”

Jongin knew that look too, it was an ever-constant expression that Kyungsoo wore when he was finished talking to his assistant on the phone.  He knew it was Kyungsoo’s passion and Jongin would never hold it above Kyungsoo for not being home much, Kyungsoo had still acted in slightly minor roles when he had been carrying Mun-Hee, and Jongin had followed him to each set devotedly, but mostly out of worry for them, and Kyungsoo had taken paternal leave two months before he had their son and then they both took two months off when Mun-Hee had been born.  

“I’ll think about it,” Chanyeol concluded; he wasn’t eager to leave Baekhyun and Jin-Woo, especially when Baekhyun was expecting again.

Their lunches came and Baekhyun started to cut Jin-Woo’s nuggets into smaller portions, while Chanyeol prepared his boxed juice, Jongin and Kyungsoo were doing the same and took turns in helping their toddlers if it was needed.

“Oh, I meant to ask how Sehun was, he stopped by after his trip to Beijing, didn’t he?” Chanyeol asked.

“He’s fine, he spends most his days there, judging from his Instagram account,” Jongin replied with a slight shrug.  “He’s been with Yixing, Luhan, and Tao a lot, since Kris moved to Canada, and Tao is finishing up last minute production before he moves there with Kris.”

“Hm, so they were serious,” Baekhyun frowned.  “Yeollie, we’ll have to get their address from Sehun so they still get our hideous Christmas cards.”

“Will do,” Chanyeol mused.

“Did you guys see Jongdae and Jun-Myeon’s recent trip to the Bahamas?  We should all take a trip there some day!  I was very envious, the beach looks so nice,” Jongin said quickly.

“Jin-Woo’s never been on a plane before, has Mun-Hee? And isn’t it almost 20 hours to get there?” Baekhyun fretted.   

“Mun-Hee’s been on a plane to go see Kyungsoo, but not that he would remember, he was much smaller,” Jongin replied.  “I know that you’re going to be busy with another family member, I don’t think you’d enjoy the beach so much when you’re still pregnant.”

“We’ll have to plan that trip another day, maybe when our kids are older,” Chanyeol told them.  “Baekhyun had always been jumpy when we had to fly to different locations, I don’t think he’d like having Jin-Woo and Baby Baek anywhere near a plane right now.”

Baekhyun was shaking his head, while he had grown a little pale in the face.

“Another time then,” Kyungsoo agreed. 

The group finished up lunch, they didn’t have time to stick around to have an after-lunch tea, as Mun-Hee started to fuss because he was tired, and Kyungsoo wished his friends well, giving them each a hug and to Jin-Woo as well before taking his son to the car before Mun-Hee started to cry.

“Mun-Hee’s been so excited to see Kyungsoo that he’s been refusing to go to sleep,” Jongin explained as he watched his husband leave with their child to their car.

“Has it been that rough?” Chanyeol asked worriedly.

Jongin shrugged, “It’s not awful, but it is a little difficult to explain to him that his other Appa won’t be coming home for a few weeks or even a couple months, and it’s heartbreaking to watch him be so upset.  I told Kyungsoo and he’s pretty beat up about it, and that’s why he took a month off, he’ll probably take more time off in the future, now that Mun-Hee is noticing his absence.”

Baekhyun frowned, “Jongin, is he taking your feelings into consideration?”

“Of course,” Jongin responded a bit too sharply.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to respond so harshly…I know Kyungsoo knows that I miss him when he’s away, but I know this is what he likes to do, and I’m not going to tell him to stop just because I miss him, he knows that I love him and will always support him.”

“I just hope he takes more breaks for not just to see Mun-Hee, but to be with you too,” Chanyeol said gently.  “You can always come over whenever you’re lonely, I’m sure Baekhyun would love to have you over and you can be first or second eyes on his newest design.”

“I’d love that,” Jongin smile.  “Thank you, but I better leave before Mun-Hee cries Kyungsoo out of the car,” he chuckled.  He hugged them each tightly before kissing Jin-Woo’s cheeks and took off.

“Ice-cream!” Jin-Woo cheered when his appa started to clean his hands and his face with a wet-wipe.  He lifted his arms once he was clean so that he could be lifted out of his highchair.

“You ate well, so you can have some ice-cream,” Chanyeol praised him.  He stood him on the ground and knelt down so that he could put Jin-Woo’s jacket back on him and Baekhyun carried their child’s backpack again, while Chanyeol lifted Jin-Woo and put him on his hip again and carried the tote bag.

Baekhyun thanked their server as they passed her, he had made sure that they cleaned up a little, stacking plates and cups and putting all the trash on top so she would not have to make multiple trips.  He got the door again and trailed after Chanyeol, “Do you want to go to the ice-cream shop by our house or did you want to go to the park?”

“We’ll hit the ice-cream shop on the way home; it feels too chilly for him to outside and eat ice-cream,” Chanyeol stated and buckled Jin-Woo in after taking the backpack from Baekhyun and packed the tote bag away too.

Baekhyun thought so too and climbed into the car, he turned to keep Jin-Woo’s attention so Chanyeol could quickly strap him in and they could leave.  He sighed softly to himself as Chanyeol got into the driver’s seat, he felt very tired suddenly and knew that the random fatigue would continue to come the bigger he got.

“You okay?” Chanyeol asked as he took Baekhyun’s smaller hand into his own, he slotted their fingers together and rested their locked hands on Baekhyun’s lap as he rubbed a soothing pattern over Baekhyun’s pinky knuckle.

Baekhyun nodded, blinking blearily, “Just tired.”

“Baby Baek is starting to make themselves known, hmm?” Chanyeol smiled playfully at him before starting to drive them towards their house.

“Very much so,” Baekhyun agreed.

“Do you want me to wake you for ice-cream?” Chanyeol asked him.  He laughed at Jin-Woo’s excited cheer from behind him, “Soon, Woo-Woo, we’re almost there.”

“I’ll be okay, you two go ahead, I’ll nap in the car,” Baekhyun told him.

Chanyeol could already see him nodding off in the corner of his eye, he just hummed softly with a song on the radio to help relax Baekhyun, as his husband still liked to hear him sing. 

~~~

Baekhyun hadn’t realized how tired had been because Chanyeol was practically shaking him and he blearily looked around, he made a confused sound and looked to the left of him and saw Chanyeol’s blurry figure, “Chan?”

“We’re home, you slept hard, is your neck sore?” Chanyeol asked.  He and Jin-Woo had gone inside the ice-cream shop and stayed for almost 20 minutes, Chanyeol sat them by the window so he could periodically check on Baekhyun, who was out of it, and then drove them home, Baekhyun had not even budged when they crossed the bridge.

Baekhyun slowly shook his head, “I think I’m just going to head to bed,” he murmured, sluggishly reaching for the door, as Chanyeol unclicked his belt for him.  He heard Chanyeol tell him to wait and he grumbled unhappily, but stayed sitting, he looked back at Jin-Woo, who was looking back at him, “I’m fine Woo-Woo,” he soothed him.

“Is Umma sick?” Jin-Woo asked, frowning.

“No, no, Umma is fine,” Baekhyun replied, “just very tired.”

“No bedtime story?” Jin-Woo asked, he liked when his parents read him to bed because their voices for the characters were funny.

Chanyeol just got to the passenger door and opened it when Baekhyun started to cry, “Baekhyun?!”

“I’m a horrible person!” Baekhyun cried.

Chanyeol frantically looked between Baekhyun and Jin-Woo, their son was now starting to tear up, his bottom lip wobbling because his Umma was now crying, “What happened?”

“I can’t read to Jin-Woo because I’m tired!” Baekhyun whined.  “We always read him to bed, Chanyeol, and I’m breaking the tradition!”

Chanyeol’s worry dissipated and he knelt down, cupping Baekhyun’s face into his hands and wiped at his tears, “Hey, hey, you’re not a terrible parent because you need to rest for our newest baby, Jin-Woo will understand,” he kissed him and heard Baekhyun hiccup. 

“Umma?”

Baekhyun turned at the soft call of his name and saw that Jin-Woo still had tears in his eyes, “Oh, Woo-Woo, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Jin-Woo shook his head, “Is Umma sad?” he was now looking at his appa for confirmation.

“He’s sad because he can’t read to you tonight, but that’s okay, isn’t it?” Chanyeol prompted him.

Jin-Woo nodded, “Umma is tired, Umma needs to go to bed or he will get cranky like me!”

The couple laughed at that and Chanyeol smiled down at Baekhyun, “You panicked over nothing.”

“I have the right to panic because this is baby number two, I’ve never had to divide my time from Jin-Woo,” Baekhyun pouted.  “I didn’t want him to feel upset.”

“He knows how to share, he’ll know that he will have to share you right now because you need to rest a lot and he’ll learn that he has to share us with his new baby sibling,” Chanyeol told him.  “Everything will be okay, Baek.”

“It honestly frightens me how calm you are about this,” Baekhyun shivered.

“Because we did this once already and everything has been going well, despite the minor arguments and concerns in the past, but we’re better prepared this time, and Jin-Woo will have a wonderful learning experience of being an older brother,” Chanyeol stated reassuringly.  He helped Baekhyun out of the car, “Now, let’s get you to bed and I’ll take care of Jin-Woo and I’ll be sure to make my character voices extra ridiculous.” 

“Thank you,” Baekhyun smiled, his eyes watering again because he would never know how he ended up with such a wonderful human being.  He kissed Chanyeol happily, he liked how Chanyeol’s warm hands settled on his waist and held him there.  He bit back a moan when his husband lightly pinned him to the car, he stood on his tiptoes to kiss Chanyeol more deeply, curling his fingers in his husband’s soft and wavy hair to try to bring him down closer to him.

“I promise you I’ll continue this when you’re not about to pass out on your feet and when one of our friends has agreed to take Jin-Woo for the weekend,” Chanyeol breathed.  He was still surprised that his libido was still going strong as it was, even after Jin-Woo was born, and Baekhyun’s spiked after six-months into his pregnancy, so he would have to plan carefully because the first time took him by surprise.

“You better mean that,” Baekhyun grumped, slapping Chanyeol’s chest lightly and wiggled out of his hold.  He saw that Jin-Woo had entertained himself with his shoes and he was so grateful that they hadn’t psychologically scarred their kid.

Chanyeol collected Jin-Woo from the car and followed after Baekhyun, he’d get the bags later.

“Down,” Jin-Woo wiggled to be put down and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he scurried after Baekhyun.

Baekhyun had just finished putting on his pajamas, which was just Chanyeol’s shirt, and he smiled when Jin-Woo was crawling up the bed, “Are you tired too, Woo-Woo?”

“I want Appa to read to us,” Jin-Woo stated.

“Well, let’s get you in your jammies first,” Baekhyun said and scooped Jin-Woo up and took him to his bedroom and grabbed his dinosaur pajama bottoms and shirt and changed him.  He saw Chanyeol walk in, “He wants you to read to us.”

“Yea?” Chanyeol asked and went over to the giraffe bookshelf and grabbed one of the children’s books he hadn’t finished yet with Jin-Woo and lifted Jin-Woo, “Well, let’s get to bed.”

Baekhyun led the way back to the bedroom and crawled under the covers, Jin-Woo curling up next to him, he kissed the top of his head and carded his fingers through his dark, fluffy hair and looked at Chanyeol expectantly.  He did try to stay awake through it, but his eyes were already slipping shut the moment he heard the soothing lull of Chanyeol’s voice.

He only woke briefly when he felt the weight of Jin-Woo next to him being lifted and he heard Chanyeol hush him when he mumbled incoherently, he felt Chanyeol’s lips press against his forehead, “Coming to bed soon?”

“Yea,” Chanyeol murmured, “just going to put kiddo to bed.”

Baekhyun hummed sleepily, carefully rolling to his side and moments later, he felt Chanyeol slide up behind him, “Woo asleep?”

“Yea, and now you should be too,” Chanyeol murmured, kissing the side of Baekhyun’s cheek.  He rubbed his hand down slowly Baekhyun’s side, “How about a bubble bath later, hmm?  It’s only 6, but Jin-Woo will be out of the rest of the night.”

“He gets that from you, sleeping like a bear,” Baekhyun , he squirmed and giggled when Chanyeol dug his fingers lightly into his exposed hip.  He rolled back to his other side to face him, “I love you,” he whispered like it was supposed to be a secret that only Chanyeol was supposed to know.

Chanyeol smiled, his heart fluttering, “You’re too sweet for me.”

“I know,” Baekhyun smiled, he kissed him a couple quick times and laughed when Chanyeol made a happy rumbly sound as he cupped Baekhyun’s face into his hands.

“We need to sleep, you need rest for you and for Baby Baek, we can kiss in the morning,” Chanyeol stated, but between each word he was peppering kisses on Baekhyun’s face, who was now swatting at him playfully. 

“Then you stop first,” Baekhyun ordered, he rolled back over so Chanyeol could hold him properly, he sighed slowly when he felt the familiar weight of Chanyeol’s hand settling back over his side, rubbing more soothing patterns to help him relax.  He could feel Chanyeol relaxing against his back, his eyes slid shut when Chanyeol’s arm slid around him completely; he loved being held, especially when he was drowsy like this, it made him feel safe, and he knew that Chanyeol would always protect him and Jin-Woo from anything.

Chanyeol pressed one last kiss to Baekhyun’s shoulder, “I love you,” he said just as softly as Baekhyun did earlier; it was their own little world between them when those words were spoken.  He laced their fingers together as he held Baekhyun close and nuzzled the back of his head, he heard Baekhyun hum happily, “Good night.”

“Good night, Yeollie,” Baekhyun murmured. 

They both were just about to doze off when Baekhyun jolted slightly and he sat up, staring wide eyed down at Chanyeol, who was looking up at Baekhyun, shock and awe written on his face.

“Baby Baek doesn’t want to go to sleep,” Chanyeol laughed, his eyes were misty; he felt his second child kick against his hand.

“Oh, my god, we didn’t feel Jin-Woo move until he was almost ready to pop out,” Baekhyun reminded him, his hands cupped his bump. 

Chanyeol moved up to kiss him slowly, “Shall I sing you both to sleep?”

Baekhyun nodded and lowered himself to rest between Chanyeol’s legs, his back to Chanyeol’s chest, he laced their left hands together, as Chanyeol rested his right hand at the base of the small bump and rubbed at the bare skin soothingly as he started to hum softly.  Baekhyun sang along quietly with Chanyeol, the warmth flooded his chest and he brought up their joined hands to press warm kisses to Chanyeol’s knuckles halfway through the song

“Even if it’s just a small thing,” Chanyeol sang softly, “I want to protect you always…”

Baekhyun shivered as his husband’s lips ghosted over his ear and he moved to lie back down, Chanyeol complying easily with him, still singing softly as they lie on their sides, facing each other; Baekhyun moved to tuck his arm under his head and fiddled with the collar of Chanyeol’s shirt.

“Because if we just walk together like this,” Chanyeol paused to kiss Baekhyun properly when the shorter tilted his head to look up at him, he swept his gaze carefully over Baekhyun’s face, taking in the small, sweet smile and the light blush that covered his cheeks brought his lips curving into affectionate smile.

The pure adoration on Chanyeol’s face had Baekhyun’s breath catch as Chanyeol kissed him once more and slowly pulled back to whisper the final line:

“Wherever we go, it will be heaven.”