Everyone knew Minho wanted a family and that the cards were definitely in his favor. It was obvious he was perfect husband material and starting when the group had been on Hello Baby the man had demonstrated his amazing fatherly skills throughout the years. Taemin had always been a bit envious of him. The younger man loved kids but he wasn’t quite the best at taking care of them nor did they see him as a parental figure in any way. Yes, he’s a terrific role model but not someone to go to when in need. Honestly, between losing and breaking things to having others baby him he was basically a big child himself. No matter how old he got and what he experienced it would most likely never change either. And all that just goes to show his lack of husband abilities too. But despite all of that-

        “APPA!”

        Taemin tensed up and almost choked on his shock before spinning around. A little girl around the age of four was lagging behind him, her grin wide and her little legs almost struggling to close the distance between them like her big puffy coat was weighing her down. He was on his way into the SM building after just getting back from a short trip and there were quite a lot of people around including some taking pictures of his arrival. For a moment, everyone seemed to stop and Taemin knew the meaning behind every look of confusion. 
        Isn’t that Minho’s kid? 
        Quickly, he composed himself, putting on a nervous smile and waving the little girl’s claim away all while making his way to her. “Sorry sorry. She didn’t mean it.” He laughed. “She calls everyone appa” To his relief the onlookers smiled and shared “awes” at the cute little mistake and the cameras continued to snap. Taemin could already see the headlines: “Choi Minho’s daughter calls other SHINee member ‘appa’ when he babysits” or something similar. 
He scooped her up and shuffled inside and immediately headed to an isolated corner. 
        “Eunmi what have I said. You can’t say that with other people around.” He put a finger to his lips. “It has to stay our secret. Only people we trust can know ok?” 
        She went wide eyed and mimicked his gesture to her own lips then let out a little giggle and whisper. 
        “Sorry appa.”
        Taemin sighed, but couldn’t help a giggle too. 
        ‘Babysitting’ was what Onew and Key did on occasion, and to the outside world Taemin did too, but for him it was much more than that. 
        For the past several months he’d been back from his military service he’d been a parent all thanks to Minho. “Surprise” was a complete understatement when Taemin learned Minho somehow was able to adopt a child in such a short amount of time in which he’d been back from his own service. It was as if the older man had been planning it for a while. 
        At first, Taemin was furious. The two men weren’t even married and who knew if they ever could be, not only because of societal issues but family ones too. They had discussed it plenty of times and how they would go about all of it in the future. The far future, Taemin had thought. When both of them were older and their careers were spent and maybe society and their families were a bit- a LOT more accepting. They’ve already had to hide their relationship for so long. Now this? Was Taemin even ready to be a parent yet?
        “Taemin…” Minho tried to reason with him, those big eyes pleading. “I’m sorry it’s so sudden. I know it’s not exactly what we were planning but… I’ve given it a ton of thought. That’s why I bought this apartment before I left. For the home study. I want to be a father more than anything, I’ve known it since Yoogeun. You know that. I just couldn’t wait anymore.” 
        Taemin chewed his lip. “Yeah so… what about me then?”
        Briefly, the taller man just stared back at him, an underlying look of heartbreak on his face. “If… if you don’t want to do this I understand. I’m prepared to do it on my own so you don’t have to.”
        “No! No Minho that’s not what I meant… I mean…” Taemin suddenly struggled with his words to explain the jumbled thoughts flying around in his head. He gave his chest gentle pats as if that would help ease the anxiety of the situation. “I mean will he.. will he know about…”
        “He who?”
        “The kid. Will the kid know about us? How could he keep it a secret? Will he even like me?” Was this what unexpected pregnancies felt like? He was going to be a father… 
        Hands were placed on his cheeks and they guided him to look directly into the deep deer-like orbs of his lover. “She will love you. And about keeping us a secret… We’ve been doing a pretty great job for years now with help, I’m sure we can keep it up.”
        The younger man blinked. “It’s a girl?...” 
        He hiccupped. 
        Minho let out an incredulous laugh. “Hey! Don’t be starting that again!”
 

        Turns out he really didn’t need to worry about being liked. Minho was right. The little girl was immediately smitten with Taemin and was even happier when they told her he was her other dad. 
        “You’re pretty. Like an umma.” She’d said. 
        It wasn’t hard explaining to her to keep it a secret, she was smart and understood, however Taemin was still on the edge about how a child could handle staying quiet about something so dire. It was hard enough for them, complete adults, but they managed. And if it happened to slip they’d deal with it, when the time came. 
        “Appa…” A small whisper got his attention, bringing him back to the current moment. He continued to watch her though, scanning her features with love and a tilt to the corners of his lips. “Hm?”
“After you’re done with working, can we go see Jonghyun oppa’s pictures again?” 
“Yeah… yeah we can do that.” 

((I had to put a little mention of Jonghyun in there. I felt it was the right thing to do. I know when the boys do end up with kids in the future the littles will most definitely know who their uncle Jong is. 

With her name, Eunmi, it literally just popped up in my head when i was writing this so i just stuck with it. I think it's a common name cause i hear it a lot which is prob why I thought of it randomly so yeah. If there's a name you'd like to suggest I can change it but ah well lol))