Part 6: Christmas Dinner

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Chanyeol plays with Baekhyun and Yukhei all afternoon to give Taemin and Jongin time to prepare everything. He takes them on a sled tour around the neighborhood, then they make snowmen in the garden to welcome their visitors. They also make snow angels and even start to build an igloo but end up getting too cold and tired to finish it. When they go back inside, they crash on the couch with hot chocolate and cookies to watch Rise of the Guardians, and Chanyeol even multitasks by doing a puzzle with Yukhei while watching the movie with Baekhyun, just so the parents can prepare the big dinner they'll be hosting, and Taemin is truly grateful to have such a gem as a babysitter.

"Is Chanyeol happy with his family or can we adopt him?" Taemin asks as he takes a peek into the living room, smiling as he watches Yukhei happily squirming on Chanyeol's lap, playing with his legos.

Jongin laughs loudly and has to stop peeling the potatoes for a minute so he doesn’t accidently cut himself.

Once their movie is over, Baekhyun and Chanyeol offer to start setting the table. Baekhyun is very serious about the job while Yukhei runs from the kitchen with one spoon in hand, slams it on the table, and runs back to get another one.

The dinner is almost ready when the first guests arrive, and Baekhyun dramatically whines that he didn't have time to get ready as he runs to his room to change into his fancy Christmas clothes. Jongin goes to dress up Yukhei as well while Chanyeol and Taemin welcome Junmyeon and Sehun, followed by Minseok, Kibum, then Jongdae, and soon all of their friends are squeezed into the living room. Baekhyun runs around to everyone, greeting them and showing off his little tuxedo.

Yukhei is sitting on Minho's lap, playing with the adult's hands and bursting into waves of laughter every time Kyungsoo looks at him with wide eyes. Minho pinches Yukhei's cheeks softly, cooing at the toddler who keeps snorting as Kyungsoo wiggles his eyebrows at him.

"Doesn't he make you want to have children?" Minho sighs.

"Absolutely not," Kyungsoo immediately answers with a fond smile as he Yukhei's cheek.

Jongdae can't help but snort into his drink, almost choking on it, and Minseok taps his back gently.

"Really?" Minho asks.

"I love children as long as they're not in my house," Kyungsoo shrugs.

Yukhei wiggles off of Minho's lap and lands softly on the ground. He heard Baekhyun laugh not too far away and is very determined to find his brother and hopefully join whatever fun game Baekhyun is playing.

"After seeing how well those two are growing up, I'd just be terrified of having bad kids," Minseok says as he watches Yukhei waddle away. "Like... they couldn’t be as cute as Baek and Xuxi."

Jongin is grinning next to him, looking like a 6 year old himself.

"I know right! I have the best kids."

"We," Taemin whines. "We have the best kids."

Jongin giggles, snuggles up to him, and steals a kiss.

"We do."

"They can be evil sometimes, though," Taemin pouts. "And I'm the one who has to deal with most of their whims and incidents."

Junmyeon perks up at that, looking at Taemin curiously.

"Have you found out yet?" he asks. "Have you found out what Yukhei's powers are?"

"No, we haven't," Taemin sighs.

"If I could-..." Junmyeon starts, but he's immediately cut off by Taemin.

"No more tests on my kid, Junmyeon. I mean it!"

"But I-..."

"No. More. Tests," Taemin frowns.

Junmyeon sighs and grumbles something into his glass but doesn't insist.

"What's the deal with Yukhei's powers?" Sehun asks, looking around for some sort of explanation. "I thought he could fly...? Isn't that it?"

There's a short silence, then Jongin squeezes his shoulder with a small smile.

"You sweet summer child..."

Sehun glares back at him.

"You must be new here," Kibum simpers with a smirk.

It's just as Sehun starts complaining and Taemin enumerates the numerous things other than flying that they keep seeing Yukhei pull off, that Chanyeol suddenly gasps, loud enough for everyone to turn to him. Taemin is fast as lightspeed, almost letting go of his drink, ready to run towards his kids and deal with whatever new accident happened.

"What's wrong?" Jongin almost yells.

Chanyeol points behind him with round eyes, making everyone turn to see Yukhei casually crawling up the wall on all fours, slowly inching towards the ceiling.

Taemin shrieks, Baekhyun screams in awe, and Jongin pushes everyone out of his way to grab his son before Yukhei gets out of reach.

"What on Earth!" Jongin chokes. "Where were you going, you little monkey?"

Yukhei throws himself back into his father's arms, wiggling and babbling as he stares at the wall, unaware of the ruckus he just caused.

A pale Taemin hurries to cup his son's face and inspect him to make sure he's alright, then Baekhyun starts asking when they'll finally eat because he's hungry, and he doesn't seem too fazed that his brother has started walking on walls.

It takes Taemin a couple more minutes to calm down and lead everyone to the dining table, and Baekhyun points out to everyone that he was the one who thought about folding the napkins that way, and everyone congratulates him.

The dinner is loud and busy. Baekhyun sits between Chanyeol and Jongdae and keeps ranting to them both about school, his friends, his superpowers, and how he’s seen Minseok in a lot of books at the library but they keep calling him Jack Frost and the drawings aren't always very accurate, and Minseok is giggling in front of him.

Taemin is talking with Jinki, Minho, and Sehun about all the daily terrors Yukhei puts him through, and Junmyeon listens to everything very closely, nodding regularly but not saying anything. Jongin is talking about some work-related things with Kyungsoo and Kibum while keeping an eye on Yukhei who's eating eagerly and sometimes repeating after Baekhyun, chirping just a few of the words his brother just said.

"Be careful, he's trying to reach for the kimchi," Kibum suddenly interrupts Jongin in the middle of a sentence, pointing at the toddler who's leaning over the table, his chopsticks desperately trying to grab some food.

Jongin blinks, then smiles and moves the cup of kimchi closer to Yukhei.

"Thank, Papa!"

"You're welcome, sweetie," Jongin says and tousles his son's hair.

When he turns back to his two friends, they're both looking at him in horror.

"What?"

"Isn't he too young to eat kimchi?" Kyungsoo chokes.

"It's sweetened, isn't it?" Kibum asks, alarmed.

And Jongin smiles.

"Don't worry, he likes spicy food. It's alright. Baekhyun still dips his kimchi in water before eating it, but Xuxi doesn't want to. It's fine though, I promise."

The others don't seem convinced in the least and keep looking worriedly over at Yukhei who's messily putting kimchi over his rice with his chopsticks and then scooping everything into his mouth with his free hand.

The rest of the dinner goes by without any accidents. Jongin keeps telling everyone to eat more and finish every dish, Baekhyun is bouncing on Chanyeol lap while waiting for dessert, and Yukhei has migrated to Taemin's arms, cuddling up to his father with one thumb in his mouth as he watches everyone else keep talking about things he doesn't understand.

The dinner runs late, and soon Baekhyun is playing with Minho next to the dining table as they chat about what Santa Claus will bring them this year, and Baekhyun tells him about the second Christmas dinner he'll be having with his grandparents and cousins in a couple of days.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae are the first ones who try to clean up and everyone gets up to help. At some point, Chanyeol excuses himself because he has to get back home to his family, and Baekhyun whines a little until Sehun offers to play Jenga with him. Kibum, Jongin, and Junmyeon join them while the other adults start peeling and cutting fruits to eat. Yukhei is already in a deep sleep on Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun is starting to doze off against Sehun's shoulder when they all realize how late is it.

Jongin and Taemin take their children to bed while all of their guests get busy in the kitchen to finish cleaning everything.

Junmyeon and Sehun are the last ones to leave. Junmyeon is busy whispering to Jongin that he has a theory about Yukhei's powers, and he just needs to think about it a little more when he's not so tired.

"It was really nice having you here for Christmas," Taemin nods to Sehun. "I hope we'll keep seeing you around."

"I won't allow Junmyeon to break up with me," Sehun answers with a smile. "So, I'll keep showing up."

Junmyeon pretends to whine to hide his smile and pushes Sehun out of the house with a few puffs, waving to their friends.

When they're finally alone, Taemin lets out a long sigh and lets himself fall back into Jongin's arms.

"I'm exhausted."

Jongin laughs softly into Taemin's hair and tightens his hold.

"We did well! It was a lot of fun."

Taemin hums and pouts.

"Yeah, it was."

"I'll tell them that we're not hosting the dinner next year, though," Jongin snorts.

Taemin giggles and closes his arms around his husband's waist.

"Thank you," he chirps before pressing a long, soft kiss to Jongin's lips.

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