Wooyoung was stretched out on the couch, shorts and vest top clad, making the most of their air conditioning. Because tomorrow was vacation day and vacation day meant a five hour car journey. And knowing his luck their car air conditioning would pack up half an hour in leaving him sharing a hot and sweaty enclosed space with his husband and his five year old son, neither of whom would be any happier about the situation than he was. Add to that the fact he was seven months pregnant and having trouble dealing with the heat anyway and tomorrow was probably going to be a nightmare. So yes, he was making the most of being able to lounge around in minimal clothing with the air conditioning on while San took on the job of making dinner so he didn’t have to deal with the heat in the kitchen.

Tomorrow’s possible nightmare of a journey would be worth it though he reminded himself as he adjusted the couch cushion behind him and made himself more comfortable. This was going to be Yunho’s last vacation as an only child and probably the first vacation that he was really going to remember much about when he was older. And since Yunho revelled in being outdoors so much the house they’d rented for the week was going to be his idea of heaven. It was on the outskirts of a small village, surrounded by countryside and trees, with a garden you couldn’t see the end of. He could spend all day everyday outside if he wanted to, climbing trees and finding bugs. And they were a half hour drive away from the beach too so they’d be spending at least one full day there if not two. There’d be swimming and sandcastle building and rock pool exploration to look forward to. Yunho was going to love it and that would make any travel drama worth it.

Wooyoung was still thinking about the smile that he was sure was going to be on Yunho’s face for the entirety of their vacation when he was interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.

His phone that was all the way on the other side of the coffee table Wooyoung realised with some annoyance. When it kept ringing he gave a resigned sigh and pushed himself up so he was sitting. With the baby in his belly to contend with it took some effort and by the time he’d managed to actually stand up the ringing had stopped. He only had the chance to glare down at his phone for a few seconds though before it was ringing again and he was picking it up, scowl still on his face.

It was San. San was calling him when he was literally right down the hall. Wooyoung could see the kitchen door from where he was standing. If his husband wanted to speak to him all he had to was open said door and stick his head round it. But no, apparently that was too much work.

“You’re ridiculous.” He told him as he answered the call.

“Hello to you too.” San countered and Wooyoung could swear he could hear him smiling. “I just wanted to tell you dinner’s ready so if you want to grab Yunho…”

“Grab Yunho?” Wooyoung echoed, cutting him off. “I thought Yunho was with you.”

“I sent him to wash his hands twenty minutes ago.” San told him. “When he didn’t come back I thought he’d spotted you on the couch and decided curling up beside you was preferable to helping set the table.”

“I haven’t seen him.” Yunho was a very affectionate little boy so Wooyoung couldn’t blame his husband for coming to that conclusion. “He must have been distracted by something else.” Actually, now San had mentioned it he thought he’d heard the pad of little feet on the carpet a while ago but he’d been half asleep at the time and dismissed it. “He’s probably in his room.” He decided. “I’ll go find him.”

“I can go.” San offered.

Knowing what was behind the offer Wooyoung couldn’t help a smile. He’d been complaining that morning, telling him that the baby was getting too big and he had to stop and catch his breath now whenever he reached the top of the stairs. It had been a slight exaggeration, he might end up a little short of breath if he climbed the stairs too quickly but he didn’t really have to stop. Exaggeration or not though it seemed San had been listening. “It’s okay, I’ll manage.” Wooyoung assured him. “You look after the dinner and we’ll be with you soon.”

“Okay,” San agreed. “But don’t be long or it’s going to go cold.”

The way Wooyoung’s appetite had been lately San could put pretty much anything in front of him and he’d happily eat it. He didn’t think it was going to be a problem if it wasn't piping hot. But it was probably best not to say so, not when San had put some actual effort into cooking it. So what he said instead was “I won’t be.” Then he was hanging up the phone and heading for the stairs.

~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

As he’d expected, by the time he reached the upstairs landing, Wooyoung was feeling a little out of breath. Yunho had been a big baby and baby number two was taking after his older brother, he was taking up a lot of space already meaning Wooyoung couldn’t breathe in quite as deeply as he wanted to. It was a little frustrating. Baby however wasn’t so much frustrated as excited. Whenever his mother did anything the least bit energetic lately he started kicking like crazy and today was no exception. He was now doing acrobatics and had just kicked him hard enough in the belly button to make him wince. Wooyoung stopped long enough to frown down at his bump and mutter a ‘thanks kid’ before continuing on down the hall. If the baby kept up those energy levels he was going to have two tearaway children in the house before long.

Then he was pushing open the door to Yunho’s bedroom. And there he was, tearaway number one. He was sitting on the floor, teddy bear in one hand, dotty umbrella in the other, as he stared down at the overflowing suitcase that was lying open in front of him. The look of concentration on his face would be pretty endearing if Wooyoung hadn’t already packed said suitcase that morning.

“Yunho…” he breathed, not knowing what else to say. It had taken them almost an hour that morning to pack Yunho’s things, he’d wanted to take most of his bedroom with them so there’d been a lot of deliberating and a lot of compromise. But Wooyoung had thought, that by the end, they’d packed everything that Yunho had decided was essential and he was happy he’d made the right choices. But apparently not.

“Oh…” Yunho said, looking up, eyes widening in surprise. “… hi Mummy!” He added when he realised who it was, offering him a blinding smile. “Your hair looks really nice today.”

“Don’t ‘hi Mummy’ me young man.” Wooyoung told him, refusing to be fooled by his son’s blatant attempt to distract him through flattery. It was something he’d clearly learned from San and he’d be having words with him later. But first he had to deal with the situation at hand. “What’s all this mess? That suitcase was packed and ready to go in the car.”

“I know.” Yunho told him, smile fading as he took in his mother’s crossed arms and arched eyebrows. “But we forgot some things and I tried to fix it but now the suitcase won’t close.”

And Yunho looked so sad about it that Wooyoung really couldn’t be mad at him. “Okay…” he said with a sigh, dropping his arms and stepping into the room, “… let’s see what we can do. What did you forget?”

“Lots of things.” Yunho told him, which wasn’t particularly helpful.

“Like what?” Wooyoung asked as he carefully lowered himself to sit on the edge of his son’s bed. He had a feeling this might take a while so he thought he may as well make himself at home.

“Like my umbrella.” ’Yunho said, holding it up. “What if it rains?”

“If you wanted to take your umbrella you should have just said.” Wooyoung told him, “It didn’t have to go in the suitcase. We could have put it in the car.”

Yunho considered this for a moment then nodded, placing the umbrella to one side. “Yeah, that doesn’t need a case.” He agreed. “But clothes do. And we forgot all my jumpers.”

“The weather’s meant to be warm all next week.” Wooyoung explained. “So we don’t need all your jumpers. The two we put in should be fine.”

With another nod Yunho picked up the stack of jumpers he’d been trying to shove in the suitcase and placed them on the floor beside his umbrella.

“Got anything else in there that wasn’t before?” Wooyoung asked, watching the amount of things on his son’s bedroom floor continue to increase with some horror. The room had been tidy when they’d left it that morning and now there was stuff everywhere. Stuff that someone, that someone most probably being him, was going to have to pick up later.

“Socks?” Yunho offered, picking up a handful and showing them to his mother.

“But we put socks in there already.” Wooyoung reminded him.

“Yeah, but what if it rains and there’s puddles and my socks get all wet?” Yunho reasoned.

“We have a washing machine.” Wooyoung pointed out and then he was grimacing because Yunho’s response to this was to shrug then drop the extra socks onto the floor, adding them to the mess. Then he was grimacing again as his youngest son reminded him he was there with another well placed kick to the bellybutton.

And Yunho looked momentarily worried. “Does your tummy hurt?” He asked, eyes drawn to the hand Wooyoung was holding against his stomach.

“No baby,” Wooyoung assured him, touched by the concern in his voice. “Your little brother’s just moving around a lot.”

“Like yesterday, when we were watching Harry Potter and he made you jump?” Yunho asked, eyes still fixed on his mother’s belly.

“Just like yesterday.’ Wooyoung confirmed. Whenever the title music started to play his youngest baby got incredibly excited. Wooyoung wasn’t sure if the baby could hear the music or if he just knew that if they sat down at that time of the day they wouldn’t be moving for a while but whatever the trigger was he always decided that meant it was playtime. Yunho, who liked to be attached when they were watching a movie and would be snuggled into his side, would sometimes notice and invariably found it fascinating. The fascination would only last as long as it took for something interesting to happen in the wizarding world though then Yunho’s eyes would be back on the screen. It didn’t matter how many times Yunho had seen his favourite film, it never failed to grab his attention. And he always got so emotionally invested, worry and concern and happiness flashing across his face as he watched. Wooyoung found it ridiculously adorable.

“He needs to stop being so rough.” Yunho said, sounding deadly serious.

And there he went again, being ridiculously adorable. “He doesn’t mean it. He’s practicing using his arms and his legs and there isn’t much room for him to do it.”

Yunho took a moment to think this piece of information over before deciding it made sense and giving a satisfied nod. “Even babies need to exercise.”

“Exactly.” Wooyoung agreed. “Now go on, what else did we forget to pack?”

“These!” Yunho exclaimed, holding up a pair of Iron Man slippers.

“But we already packed your Spiderman slippers.” Wooyoung reminded him. “You said those were your favourite.”

“They are. But what if I lose them? I’ll have no slippers and my feet will be cold.”

This was a fair point. But again Wooyoung thought it was fairly unlikely that they’d lose a whole pair of slippers and they had limited suitcase space. “We only have room for one pair.” He told him. “So is it going to be Spiderman or Iron Man?”

“Spiderman…” Yunho said with a sigh, adding the slippers to the growing pile of clothes beside him.

“Good choice.” Wooyoung said, happy there hadn’t been any argument. “Is that everything now? Or is there anything else you want to put in there.”

“Just this.” Yunho mumbled, still looking a little put out about the exclusion of his Iron Man slippers.

‘This’ referred to the teddy bear Yunho had just picked up from the floor and was now hugging to his chest. And Wooyoung had a feeling this was where the real argument was going to be. It had been a struggle that morning convincing Yunho that he only needed to take one soft toy. He’d wanted to take every single one he owned, his reasoning being that whichever toys he left behind were bound to feel left out. San had thought it was cute and had been considering getting an extra suitcase from the loft so he could take them all until Wooyoung had pointed out that the more toys they took the more likely it was they would lose one or leave one behind. San had agreed that they didn’t need that kind of drama when they got home and they’d helped Yunho whittle down his dozen soft toys down to just one. It had been a lengthy process but Yunho had eventually decided he should take Floppy. This wasn’t a big surprise, Floppy was a scruffy little dog plushie that Yunho had been gifted on his first birthday and he’d slept with it every night since. There’d been no doubt he’d be the winner but it had still taken an extraordinarily long time for Yunho to decide he was the lucky toy who’d get to come, there’d been much uhm-ing and ah-ing over how sad each individual plushie would be if they were left at home. But San had eventually convinced him that the toys left behind would be happy because they’d have each other. Or at least Wooyoung had thought he’d convinced him. “But Yunho, we agreed. We’re only taking one. And you don’t want to leave Floppy behind, do you?”

“No,” Yunho admitted, eyes flicking to Floppy who was sitting on his pillow on the bed beside Wooyoung. He hadn’t technically been packed because one, he ‘d be needed at bedtime, and two he’d be travelling with Yunho in the car tomorrow . He wanted to see out the window apparently. “But Eddie is Floppy’s best friend.” He explained. “He’ll miss him.”

“He might miss him a little but all his other friends are here so I think he’ll be okay.” Wooyoung offered, trying to make him feel better about it.

But Yunho wasn’t done. “But we need an emergency soft toy anyway.” He informed him.

“An emergency soft toy? What for?” He was going to say in case Floppy got lost, wasn’t he? Wooyoung could see it coming.

But that wasn’t what Yunho said. What he said was “We need it for my baby brother.”

“Okay that’s nice,” Wooyoung said, confused, “but he isn’t going to need a soft toy, is he? He can’t hug a soft toy if he’s in here, can he?” Wooyoung reasoned, giving his belly a rub.

“Yeah, but what if wants to come out?” Yunho asked. “He’ll be really sad if I have Floppy and he has nothing. And I can’t let him be sad, I’m his big brother. I have to make him happy. It’s my job.”

And Wooyoung was momentarily lost for words. Yunho talked about the baby a lot but that might have been one of the sweetest things he’d ever said about him.

“He can’t have Floppy,” Yunho continued when he got no response from his mother. “Floppy is my oldest and my best toy. But he can have Eddie, he’s nearly my best toy and he’s very soft. Babies like soft things, don’t they?”

“They do.” Wooyoung confirmed, marvelling at how grown up that had sounded. He’d been worried, when he’d found he was pregnant, that Yunho wouldn’t take it well. He was their only child, their baby boy and used to having their undivided attention. What if he didn’t want to share that?

But Yunho hadn’t once told them he didn’t want to be a big brother. He hadn’t once acted out or gotten upset when people talked about the baby. No, instead of sulking he was offering up his second favourite toy to his baby brother when he wasn’t even here yet. He was growing up to be such a kind and thoughtful little boy. Wooyoung couldn’t put into words how proud he was. So he didn’t bother to try. Instead he patted the bedcovers beside him and told Yunho to “Come here.”

“I really think we should take Eddie though.” Yunho said, not moving from the floor. He obviously thought the demand to ‘come here’ was a demand to hand the bear over to his mother so he could put it away. “The baby might get really bored in your tummy and want to come play with us so we should bring some toys with us just in case.” He added, gripping Eddie tighter.

“I think that’s a brilliant idea.” Wooyoung told him. “Now come here.”

“You do?” Yunho asked, giving him a calculating look.

“I do. We can bring Eddie, just in case. Now come here, I want a hug.”

Yunho, never one to say no to a hug was immediately up on his feet and launching himself at his mother, enough force behind the hug to have Wooyoung swaying backwards, only just managing to stay upright.

“Careful.” He cautioned with a smile as he caught the little boy in his arms. “We almost went through the wall.”

“Sorry Mummy.” Yunho said, dropping Eddie and latching his arms around Wooyoung’s neck, looking up at him with a pout. “I just love you a lot, that’s all.”

“I love you too.” Wooyoung told him, pressing a kiss to his nose. “And I love your hugs. But next time let’s be more gentle, okay?”

Yunho thought about this for a second, brow furrowing endearingly as he did so. “You mean for the baby?” He asked, expression clearing. “Like when Daddy said to stop climbing on you and being so rough in case I hurted him?”

“Yes, like that.” Wooyoung confirmed. That conversation had occurred about a week ago when Yunho had come into their room at 5am to tell them it was sunny outside and they needed to wake up. When they hadn’t reacted quickly enough he’d decided clambering all over them had been the way to go and San had had to gently remind him that it wasn’t just them he was climbing on, it was the baby too.

“Oh.” Yunho said, sounding a little downcast. Then he was removing his arms from around his mother’s neck. And for a moment Wooyoung thought he was going to pull away completely and felt guilty about upsetting him. But Yunho didn’t pull away. He stayed right where he was, on his knees beside him on the bed, and placed his hand on Wooyoung’s bump. “Sorry baby.” He said softly, giving the spot under his hand a gentle pat, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

And baby chose this moment to let Wooyoung know he was still there.

“He kicked me!” Yunho cried, pulling his hand back, scandalised. “Why’d he do that? I said sorry!”

“He didn’t kick you to be mean.” Wooyoung told him, trying not to laugh. “He was just saying he heard you and that it’s okay, you didn’t scare him.”

“Really?” Yunho asked, not looking convinced.

“Really.” Wooyoung insisted. “He can’t talk yet can he? So that’s the only way he knows how to tell you.”

“So when he’s kicking, it’s like he’s talking to us…” Yunho said slowly, eyes taking on a faraway look, then he clearly came to some sort of conclusion because he was nodding to himself and placing his hand back onto the swell of Wooyoung’s stomach. Then he was leaning forward until his lips were centimetres away from the fabric of his mother’s vest top. “Hi baby…” he said, enunciating each word clearly, “… my name is Yunho and I’m your big brother. Mummy says I can bring Eddie with us too to our holiday so you have a toy to cuddle if you need one. He’s a bear but not a scary bear, he’s cute and really soft. Would you like that?”

And Wooyoung didn’t know what to say. San talked to the baby sometimes when they were in bed and he was struggling to sleep, would tell him to stop wriggling and scold him for taking up so much room and making things difficult for his mother. But this was different. Yunho was talking to the baby like he could hear him and he would answer. He was trying to have an actual conversation with his baby brother and Wooyoung thought it me the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

Then the baby gave another kick, right under Yunho’s hand and Yunho was looking up at him and giving him the widest smile, “He said yes!” He exclaimed. “He said he does want us to bring Eddie!” And no, that was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

And Wooyoung couldn’t help sweeping him into another hug and squeezing him tight. “I love you so much.” He told him, planting a kiss on the top of his head, then another on his forehead and then another on his nose..

“To the moon and back?” Yunho asked, taking the shower of kisses his mother was subjecting him to without complaint.

“And then some.” Wooyoung confirmed. “You’re Mummy’s little star.”

“Who’s a little star?” Asked a voice from the doorway.

And Wooyoung looked up to find San looking down at them with eyebrows raised. “Our baby.” He told him brightly. “Our little Yunho.” He added for clarification remembering they technically had two of those now.

“Are you sure about that?” San asked, giving the mess on the floor a pointed look.

“He was just being kind and making sure we’d packed things for his baby brother.” Wooyoung explained, glossing over all the other emergency items Yunho had been attempting to shove in there. “So yes, I’m sure. He’s our little star.”

But this time it wasn’t San that argued, it was Yunho.

“I’m not.” He piped up.

And Wooyoung loosened his grip and sat back so he could see him properly, more than a little confused. “You’re not?” Yunho was never one to shy away from a compliment, he didn’t get it.

“Nope. I’m a big star!” He informed them, stretching his arms as high as they would go. “And Daddy’s the sun and Mummy’s the moon and the baby is a tiny little star.” He added, dropping his arms and placing both hands on his mother’s belly.

And again Wooyoung couldn’t help smiling. “Why are you being so cute today?”

“I’m always cute.” Yunho told him, seeming genuinely surprised by the question.

And the serious tone he’d used instantly made his father laugh.

And as always happened whenever San laughed, Wooyoung couldn’t help joining in to. It was contagious.

“What? I am!” Yunho protested, not appreciating being a source of amusement to his parents.

Since they let him know how cute he was on a regular basis Wooyoung had to concede that his confidence in his own adorableness was well founded. “Yes, you are. We’re sorry for laughing.” He said, trying to keep from smiling like an idiot.

“Sometimes you’re just so cute that we can’t help it.” San contributed, his mouth twitching at the corners as he too tried not to smile.

“Because I make you happy?” Yunho questioned, expression brightening.

“The happiest.” San confirmed, still trying to keep a straight face.

“Happier than potatoes?” Yunho asked next, directing this question at his mother.

It wasn’t as strange a question as it sounded. Wooyoung had developed a real love of boiled new potatoes covered in copious amounts of butter this pregnancy which went some way to explaining Yunho’s new found obsession of poking at his cheeks when they were curled up together watching movies. It was a pretty calorie heavy craving and he was sure he’d put on more weight this time than he had when he’d been pregnant with Yunho. He’d mentioned the same to San a week or so ago but San had told him that when he looked at him he saw someone happy and healthy and glowing and that had been the end of that. But that was neither here nor there. His son had just asked him if he made him happier than potatoes. He should probably answer. “A hundred times happier than potatoes.” He confirmed.

“But talking of potatoes…” San chimed in, getting things back on track, “… I came up here to remind you both dinner is on the table and if we don’t eat it soon it’s going to go cold.”

“Is it chicken?” Yunho asked, hopping off the bed and running over to his father, looking up at him with wide hopeful eyes.

It was chicken and Yunho knew this, he’d been there in the kitchen when San was making it but San didn’t point this out. “Yes.” He said instead, deciding to humour him. “Chicken and potatoes and cauliflower and peas.”

Yunho seemed quite impressed by this answer giving a “Yay!” and an excited little jump.

“Yay.” Wooyoung echoed, his yay not quite as enthusiastic as his son’s but only because he’d realised that going down to dinner meant getting up from the bed and he’d forgotten how close Yunho’s bed was to the floor. “But if you could just…” he said, stretching an arm out toward’s San. He might be able to get up himself if he tried to but he’d really rather not risk the embarrassment.

And for once San didn’t about it. He just grabbed his arm and tugged, helping him up onto his feet. Maybe he knew the teasing was getting old. Actually it was more likely that he’d decided dinner was more important and was keeping the teasing for later Wooyoung mused. Teasing him was one of San’s favourite pastimes after all. “Did you put butter on the potatoes?” He asked as San took his hand in his and they headed for the door that Yunho had already scampered out of. Wooyoung could hear him stomping his way down the stairs already, how he hadn’t heard him on his way up he’d never know. He wasn’t the lightest on his feet that was for sure.

“Plenty.” San assured him. “Was Yunho really packing things for the baby?”

Wooyoung nodded, feeling a swell of pride as he thought back to his conversation with his son. “He wanted to bring Eddie along so the baby would have something to play with if he decided to come out.”

“I hope he doesn’t decide to come out.” San said, a hope Wooyoung shared, it was another twelve weeks until he was due to put in an appearance. And he was about to say so but San wasn’t quite finished. “But that really is the cutest thing. He’s going to make the best big brother, isn’t he?”

“Definitely. He told me earlier it’s his job as a big brother to make his little brother happy.”

“He’s five.” San reminded him, so impressed that he came to a stop at the top of the stairs.

“I know. I was a real brat when I was five.” Wooyoung admitted. “And from what your parents have told me so were you. How did we end up with such an angel?”

San was quick to correct him. “I wasn’t a brat, I was spirited.”

“Whatever you want to call it you sounded like hard work.” Wooyoung told him. “Yunho though, he has his moments, but overall he’s such a good kid.”

“Which probably means his little brother is going to be a troublemaker.” San offered, saying exactly what Wooyoung had been thinking.

“Probably.” He agreed. He was already a lot more energetic than Yunho had been and that was saying something. Yunho was a ball off energy and always had been. He wondered if that would carry on once he was born.

“You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to finding out.” San told him, eyes straying to his husband’s bump.

“I think I have some idea.” Wooyoung argued. He was as excited about meeting their youngest son just as much if not more so. Meeting their son would mean the end of being heavily pregnant in the summer and he was very much looking forward to that if nothing else. “But what I’m looking forward to right now is sitting down and eating something ,” he added, focussing San’s attention back on the present.

And San was immediately offering an apologetic “Of course, let’s go” and guiding him down the stairs towards dinner, hand still wrapped around his.