'Appa, baba!!'

Sehun and Zitao squealed around the house, their chant getting faster by the minute. 

'Get up, wake up!'

'Get up, Apba!' Zitao lisped. Sehun head-butted Yixing's chest while Zitao jumped wildly on Junmyeon's waist. The lawyer woke up with a shameless yawn, his hands flailing in lazy attempts to calm his younger son down. 

'W... mmhph, what,' he groaned. Zitao climbed up and sat on his chest, happily dribbling spit everywhere as he lisped. 

'Appa, it's Christmas m... morning today,' he started slowly. 'And you promised Santa would... gi... give us pres... presents for Christmas if we slept... slept early and were good,' he continued, picking up his pace. 

'And we really were, appa.'

'Aw, my Tao-tao has really improved his Korean, hasn't he?' Junmyeon cooed and sat up, ruffling the four year old's soft hair. Zitao flushed at the compliment and gave a gummy grin to his parent. It was true - ever since they put him in the school for foreign children, he had improved drastically. He could meet more children of the same origin as him, could shine more without feeling insecure around Koreans. Also, he could converse more freely without having to worry about not being understood. When Luhan followed suit, Sehun was really sad as he missed his Lulu dearly. On the bright side, he and Jongin got closer and were soon partners in crime with Baekhyun as their ringleader and Kyungsoo as their babysitter. 

'Baba, baba, baba,' Sehun head-butted till Yixing's eyelids droopily fluttered open. 

'Mmh... stop... it... Myeon~'

Junmyeon flushed a little as he slapped Yixing's forehead. 

'Hey, wake up!'

'H... huh?' the Chinese slowly awoke and yawned, not even bothering to cover his mouth. He soon gagged on Sehun's drool, which had dribbled into his open cave. 

'Ew! Gross!' Zitao pointed at Sehun and grimaced. His elder brother leapt onto him and pulled his cheeks. 

'Take that back!'

'Gross! Gross!' the younger chanted repeatedly, drooling onto Sehun's thumbs. Junmyeon tried to pry them apart, but to no avail. 

'Who wants to see what Santa has left for them?' Yixing asked twice - once in Korean, once in Chinese. The duo immediately sprang apart and rushed out to the Christmas tree in their living room. 

'Merry Christmas, Myeon,' Yixing smiled sweetly and left a light, lingering peck onto the corner of his husband's lips. Junmyeon cradled his head in one hand and pushed him against the headboard, nuzzling their noses together. 

'Merry Christmas, Xing,' he whispered and closed in for a long kiss. He on Yixing's lower lip, occasionally moving to nibble at the upper lip's bud. The Chinese prodded the other's with his tongue and the elder eagerly pushed forward for more, letting him wrap his arms round his shoulder and waist. 

'God, you tease,' Junmyeon sighed as Yixing made the kiss lighter. He smiled and fisted Junmyeon's jet-black hair, placing open-mouthed kisses on his neck boldly. The elder shivered with delight and tugged on the ends of Yixing's hair, straddling his lap to grant better access. Yixing ran the ghost of his wet tongue against Junmyeon's neck, slowly travelling back to his red lips. 

'And I still see no mistletoe,' he mumbled and sensually kissed his husband, swallowing his moans. 

'WHY AREN'T YOU DOWNSTAIRS WITH US?!' Sehun screamed from the doorway, accompanied by Zitao's shrill 'OH, MY GOD, APBA!' - the couple jumped apart, with Yixing pushing Junmyeon away, causing him to tumble off the bed and wrestle with the bedsheets. 

'What, what, what?!' Junmyeon spluttered, surprised. 

'You idiot,' Yixing shook his head and freed him. 

'Come on down!' the children wailed, pulling the adults by their index fingers. Yixing's gaze softened at the Christmas tree - it was Zitao's first Christmas with a family. 

'Yehet! It's time to decorate the tree~ Ohorat~!' Sehun cheered, skipping behind Junmyeon who was carrying a box of decorations to the living room. Yixing's tinkling laughter rang through the corridor as he prepared two glasses of milk for the boys. A meek tug at his pant made him get distracted. He crouched down to Zitao's level, cupping his small face with a questioning look etched on his own. 

'What is it, baby?'

'Are we... really celebrating... Christmas?'

'Yes, why not?'

'All of us?'

'Yes, Zitao.'

'Meaning me, too?' the small boy cutely asked, uncertainity dancing in his eyes. 

'Kim-Zhang Zitao. 'All of us' will always include you.'

'Always?'

'Yes, baby.'

'But... I've never decorated a tree before.'

Yixing kissed the boy's soft cheek and smiled. 

'Why don't you take whatever you like and hang it wherever you like on the tree?'

'Anything?'

'Anything and everything, baby,' the adult confirmed. 

'... okay,' the child finally agreed and pecked his father's temple, bouncing off to where his elder brother was. Not long after, Junmyeon entered the kitchen and back-hugged his husband. 

'Mmh, I miss doing this with you.'

'Doing wha--- whoa!' Yixing shivered as the elder attached his lips to his neck, leaving open-mouthed trails in his wake. Yixing rolled his eyes fondly and turned in his lover's arms, gripping his shoulders and pecking his nose. Junmyeon smiled up lazily at him with droopy eyes and a cute pout. 

'Last year, you were in my position, remember?'

'Do refresh my memory.'

'Gladly,' the Korean man chuckled and left lingering pecks on his husband's pink lips. He affectionately nipped at Yixing's nose and pulled away, looking up with shining eyes. 

'Help~!' Zitao's shrill voice cried out. Junmyeon untangled himself and strode to the living room, definitely missing his lover's warm touches already. 

A good hour later, Yixing snapped a picture of the colourful Christmas tree. It was definitely one of a kind - with Zitao's drawings of the four of them hanging from the branches by twisted paper clips, the usual ornaments, stars made by Sehun's work on craft paper and magazine cuttings of Santa. But what was the main feature of this rarity was not the drawings, not the hand-made stars, not the crude hangul hanging on it, but the star sitting on top. For it was not a regular shining star - that would be too mainstream. A carefully placed (with cellotape tacking it to the tree's top) photo of the four of them sat snugly on top. 

It was a photo taken recently when they went to Namsan Tower. Junmyeon had one arm snug round Yixing's waist, with Zitao perched on his hip. Sehun was being cradled by Yixing, his head leaning on the man's shoulder - the cotton candy stuck all over his jaw was very much visible. A part of Sehun's black beanie was in the Chinese man's mouth, and Zitao was his thumb while clinging onto Junmyeon's red earlobe. The photo ended at their waists, but one could faintly make out a huge bag leaning against either of the adults' legs. But the main thing was that the four of them looked really happy - the photo gave off a very warm, cozy vibe every time any of them saw it. 

'Presents~ yehet.'

The two children struggled to unwrap their presents: there were equal numbers - four for either of them. 

'Whoa~ so cool! Ohorat~!' Sehun raised his eyebrows, managing to unwrap a toy helicopter. Zitao still fumbled around with his and turned to Yixing for help. 

'Baba,' he pouted.

'Let's open this one first!' Yixing took another box and unwrapped it.

 Soon, the pout turned into a bright smile. 

'Whoa~' he repeatedly exclaimed, hugging the box close to his chest. 

'You need to open it, Tao-tao,' Sehun pointed out. 

'My first present,' Zitao announced and slowly opened the box. 

'Whoa, oh, WHOA~!' he squealed and hugged the black cat plushie which was almost as tall as him. 

'I'll call him... 'Gucci',' he announced, proud of himself. 

'Why 'Gucci'?' Junmyeon raised an eyebrow. 

'Because Uncle Yifan show me a Gucci thing once and I like the name,' he ranted in Chinese. Junmyeon's lower lip slowly trembled as Yixing translated it for him. 

'My son's going to grow up to be very expensive and demanding,' he groaned, pretending to count money and grab it before it flies away. 

'Oh, hush,' Yixing chuckled and slapped his husband's hands down as the children opened their other gifts. 

Sehun had received a black-and-white remote-controlled helicopter from his parents, a set of DIY ribbon flowers (he saw Luhan play with it and decided that he wanted one, too) from Minseok and Jongdae, and a very fat colouring book from Yifan (and Chanyeol, when the other offered to let them split the bill). 

Zitao had received the huge black cat plushie from his parents, a soft robot panda from Minseok and Jongdae, and a blue remote-controlled car from Yifan and Chanyeol. 

Junmyeon checked his watch and nudged Yixing. 

'We better let them have a long afternoon nap if we're to make it on time,' he suggested in hushed tones. Yixing nodded and clapped his hands. 

'So, who wants cookies?'

'Ah, they're finally asleep!' Junmyeon breathed with relief, flopping onto the bed and throwing his arms out wide. Yixing followed suit and rolled over, throwing half of himself on Junmyeon's body. 

'I had no idea they'd be this excited to see the street Santa,' he admitted. 

'But they almost pushed the poor man down! And I had no idea of what to do when Tao-zi pointed and said he wanted the whole store,' the other groaned. 

'But the best was when Sehun started a cookie fight,' the Chinese chuckled over Junmyeon's groans. 

'One does not simply pick out all the chocolate chips and leave the rest of the cookie for others to eat,' the elder preached, recalling what Zitao did at the cafe that afternoon. 

Yixing let out a lazy hum and placed a feather-light kiss to Junmyeon's cheekbone. They shared an innocent kiss and smiled goofily at each other. 

'What say we watch some cheesy couple-videos recorded over the years? Maybe with two cups of hot cocoa?'

'Sounds like a date to me,' Yixing grinned. 

They soon found themselves in the living room, cuddled up on their duvet-fortress, cradling a white mug of hot cocoa with a marshmallow in each. Not to forget, the curtains were drawn to give a crystal-blue glow to the room, the television playing their videos being the only source of light - everything was just like the first two Christmases they spent together. They sat with their arms pressed together, legs tangled under the huge duvet and eyes shining bright as sweet memories played out before their eyes once more. 

'Hallou? I don't get it,' a twenty year old confused Yixing walked in actual circles, the phone pressed to his red ear. Junmyeon silently filmed him on his phone, barely able to contain his laughter. 

'What is... huh? Ugh, don't kid with me! I just want to know when we can get the keys! We're locked out!'

More laughter. 

'... What? Ah, really? No! Mmh... no, this is not fair! Hey! Yo--- aah, he hung up,' Yixing continued to rant in frustration, magically spouting fluent Korean. Suddenly, his eyes shot up. 

'Are you filming me?' his droopy eyes faced the camera, eyebrows raised high. 

'Maybe.'

'Now what do we do?'

'I have an apartment, too, you know,' Junmyeon voiced from behind the camera. Yixing blinked at him once, twice, thrice before slapping his forehead. 

'Oh, yeah!'

'I know you really love me when you let me see how you think I'm homeless. Thanks, baby.'

'Aww, don't take offense. Here, I'll make you happy,' Yixing sang and pulled the phone down. The camera now focused on the ground and some chuckles could be heard. The faint smacking of lips pulling away noisily could be heard a few seconds later. 

'I really love you.'

'I'll love you after we get inside, I'm freezing!'

'Yes, of course.'

The screen turned to black and lit up a few moments later. 

'Who do you love more, Xing-xing?'

'Mmh, the bed.'

'Zhang Yixing, I'm serious.'

'The bed!'

'I mean it,' Junmyeon closed in on the huge lump in the middle of the king-sized bed. 

'Can the two of you keep it in your pants? At least wait for me to leave for the airport,' a deep voice resounded. The camera swirled and caught a twenty-two year old Yifan clad only in a pair of faded blue jeans, a huge towel draped round his shoulders to cover his torso. 

'OH, MY GOD, WU YIFAN! CAN YOU PLEAS---'

'Can he not?' Yifan raised an eyebrow, asking Yixing. 'Can you not?' he repeated, looking straight at the camera. 

'Can I not? Can you not?! Oh, God. Have a safe trip!'

'Yeah, I'll just wear my shirt and leave. All alone. With nobody to see me off at the interv---'

'Do you want us to come along?' Yixing perked up, sitting up with the duvet on his head. 

'Nah, I was kidding,' the tall male chuckled and fist-pumped the two. 

'I'm not doing the laundry till Februa--- make that till March. Just saying.'

The shot ended with Junmyeon throwing a bathroom slipper at Yifan, who ducked and shut the door with a laugh. 

'That was embarrassing,' Junmyeon chuckled, a light flush dusting his cheeks. 

'And it's funny how he predicted what we did next,' Yixing boldly winked, picking a half-melted marshmallow from his drink and pushing it between Junmyeon's lips. 

'I know how you love kissing with something sweet in between,' he commented and closed in on a grinning Junmyeon, moving his lips against the marshmallow till the barrier disappeared in the heat of the moment. Their lips did a slow rhumba, their eyes closed, their minds lost in the moment and their hearts beating as one, drowning out the singing of their past selves on video. When they finally pulled away, they slowly fluttered their eyes open and laughed. 

'Merry Christmas, Kim-Zhang Junmyeon.'

'Merry Christmas, Kim-Zhang Yixing.'

'Hey, whaddup! Say ayo~' Baekbeom chanted, parading around the house in soldier get-up (courtesy of Yifan and Chanyeol), followed by Baekhyun in a similar costume. 

'You taught him all this?' Eunji raised an eyebrow, trying to look intimidating. She frowned and placed her hands on her waist. Yejoon grinned goofily and pulled her, bumping their noses repeatedly till she burst into a fit of giggles. 

'Ahem,' Jongdae blocked, shooing the two Byun brothers upstairs. His frown faltered and he broke into a grin, engulfing the couple in a bear-hug. 

'Dae, stop pestering them,' Minseok's voice chastised from upstairs. 

'But I'm just hugging them,' the male twin innocently pouted. 

'You keep your hands off them, young man,' the eldest waggled his finger at his husband. 

'We'll be going now, Minseok-sshi,' Yejoon bowed with a hearty laugh. 

'Drop the formalities, we're going to be brothers-in-law soon,' Minseok sweat-dropped and waved the two off. Jongdae followed them all the way till the driveway, re-entering the house with slumped shoulders. 

'What's the matter, huh?' Minseok cupped his cheek and raised an eyebrow. 

'My twin sis' growing up,' Jongdae gave a half-smile. 'I wonder if this is how she felt when I got married,' he sighed and looked up to the ceiling. Minseok squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. 

Jongdae brightened up and rushed to the kitchen, grabbing a tube of icing and squirting it on his husband's