The maknaes laid themselves close to the black haired man. Him Chan chuckled softly, “is this revenge for me not letting you cuddle my stomach?”

“Yes,” the pink haired maknae said bluntly. Him Chan and his mate laughing as the maknaes snuggled as close as they possibly could.

Him Chan smiled sadly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so mean. It’s not like I don’t disapprove of you two mating.”

“We’re not too young to mate,” Jong Up said softly.

Him Chan nodded, “I know.”

“We know that we probably won’t be able to have kids for a while,” Jun Hong sighed reaching out to rub the swollen belly of the black haired man. “Not until we’re sure the Facility has given up.”

“It’s not only that I’m worried about,” Him Chan’s voice shook. the maknaes looked up at him. Yong Guk sat next to his mate on the opposite side of the maknaes. The black haired man struggled to steady his breathing, “I’m more terrified when you get pregnant.”

Jun Hong his lips before asking, “you’re afraid that I’ll have complications.”

Him Chan nodded, “I don’t want you two to go through what Dae Hyun has.”

“We talked to him before we asked all of you guys,” Jong Up smiled softly. “He pulled me aside to tell me that I would have to prepare myself for the worst if the time comes when we can have kids.”

Him Chan smiled, “leave it to him to jump in.”

Yong Guk chuckled, “he knows how you are. He’s probably still afraid for Young Jae.”

The younger three sighed knowing it was true. Dae Hyun was torn between staying by his mate’s side and avoiding Young Jae, they could see the fear in his eyes.

Jun Hong spoke quietly, “avoiding Young Jae isn’t going to help anything. He’s just making Young Jae feel bad. He’s already feeling lonely and sad and he’s terrified beyond words. He needs Dae Hyun. He’s scared that the same thing that happened to Ji Eun will happen to him.”

Him Chan sighed heavily, “We need to talk to Dae Hyun about that. Young Jae shouldn’t be alone during his first pregnancy.”

“He doesn’t want to die alone either,” the maknae sniffed.

“Nobody’s dying, okay?” Yong Guk said firmly. The pink hair maknae refused to look at anyone’s eyes. The purpled haired man gently patted the youngster’s shoulder, “That’s why the baby is going to be cut out, to save all three of them.”

Jun Hong shook his head, “but there’s still the possibility of him getting sick. He told me he was scared and of all his other fears. I told him he should talk to Dae Hyun about it, but he’s afraid that he’ll avoid him even more.”

“Aish,” Him Chan groaned, “those two are as stubborn as a mule.”

The maknaes nodded in agreement. Yong Guk sighed, “we’re going to have to sit those two down and force them to talk.”

“Oh,” Jong Up spoke in remembrance, “we also need to think of something to tell people when we go into hiding.”

Yong Guk sighed, “we could probably just tell them that we’re going to visit our families.”

“But when the Facility comes,” Jun Hong asked, “what will they think when they find out that we escaped from there?”

Him Chan bit his bottom lip softly, “we may just have to tell them the truth. We might even have to just leave once the Facility moves on to the next town.”

“I could see if there’s a team at our parents’,” Yong Guk said slightly lost in thought, “we could probably head out there or see if they can find anything out.”

“Maybe there’s a certain point that they won’t go past,” Jong Up added. The elder couple nodded in thought.

Jun Hong gathered his courage, “Jong Up can go ahead and see where that is and see if there’s a place far enough. Maybe even try to get a place for all of us until we can afford something bigger.”

Him Chan held back his tears afraid of them all separating. “We should talk about this as one. We all need to think about our next step.”

Yong Guk agreed, “First, we’re going to have to get Young Jae and Dae Hyun to get past their fears and become one. If we all end up separating then they need to pull themselves together, they depend on each other more than they realize.”

“His boss gave him tomorrow off and the day after that,” Jong Up offered. “We can talk to them tonight and give them that time to pull themselves together.”

“Well I guess we’re all going to have to fit ourselves on this bed until they settle their fears,” Him Chan sighed. “Bang Yong Guk you’re going to either have to constantly help me up and down the stairs or run up and down for me.”

Young Jae sighed as he watched his mate in the kitchen preparing dinner. He couldn't describe what he was feeling all he knew was that his heart hurt. He was scared that he was losing Dae Hyun or the babies. It hurt that the slightly elder boy was avoid him, he understood why but it still hurt. It pained him to see the fear and worry in his mate’s eyes and not express them with him. He had his own fears but he couldn’t express them when the elder would constantly find some sort of excuse to leave the room.

The blonde looked sorrowfully at his hands in his lap. Moving the blanket down to his waist to rub his rounded belly, desperately trying to hide his tears. He didn’t need to add more worry to his already troubled mate. He could get through the feeling of loneliness alone. He’d done it before, why couldn’t he do it now? He was used to being alone; he should be able to use his prior experience to help him through so he wouldn’t have Dae Hyun trying to make him feel better. He just hoped his mate would be able to get through his fears. He was worried that the elder would be too lost to raise their children if he passed. Him Chan and Yong Guk would probably be able to put him back on track. They had to.

“Young Jae what’s wrong?” Jumping slightly the blonde looked over to see his mate kneeling next to him. He quickly shook his head, blinking away his tears, “Nothing, I’m fine, maybe a little tired.”

“Don’t lie to me,” he said softly gently pulling the younger’s chin, carefully forcing him to look him in the eye. “I can tell you want to cry.”

“It’s nothing,” he tried to smiled only to breakdown into tears. Dae Hyun quickly wrapped his arms around his mate. Tears rolled down his own cheeks as he tried to comfort his mate. Guilt made him feel sick, he knew why his mate was so sad and it made him feel worse.

He ran his fingers through the blonde locks as he choked out, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Young Jae. I shouldn’t have been avoiding you. I should’ve been by your side.”

Young Jae wrapped his arms around the silver haired boy, “I’m scared.”

“I know I am too,” he tighten his grip slightly.

“I don’t want to lose you,” the blonde cried harder. “I’m sorry that I’m so much trouble.”

Dae Hyun shook his head, “You’re not. I’m not going anywhere. And you’re not trouble.”

“I can see it in your eyes.”

The silver haired boy pulled apart enough to look into the younger’s dark eyes, “I’m scared of losing you. I don’t want to lose you or the babies. I’m so scared that if I become attached to you anymore than I already am that I’ll lose you. I don’t think I can go through another loss.”

“And I’m afraid that I won’t have your love if I should die,” he said softly.

“Nobody’s dying okay,” he pulled his mate back into a tight embrace.

Young Jae's voice was thick with sorrow, “if you have to choose between me and the babies, please choose them.”

Dae Hyun cried harder. Stealing as many kisses as he could, “please don’t talk like that.”

“Just promise me,” he spoke between kisses, “please.”

The silver haired boy nodded, “I promise…”

“We need to prepare ourselves for the worst,” he looked into his mate’s eyes.

“Then I need to spend as much time as I can with you,” Dae Hyun spoke firmly. “I need to make up for lost time.”

Young Jae nodded pulling the one of the elder’s hands off his side and moved it to his belly, “they’ve missed you too.”

A small smile formed on the elder’s face as he began rubbing small circles on the large belly. He kissed his mate’s forehead as he moved his hand under the fabric of his mate’s shirt wanting to touch the bare skin. A spark of excitement and fear coursed through his body as he continued to rub circles. He looked up when Young Jae place his hand over his the smile on his face seemed to quell his fear. He quickly leaned in for another kiss letting the kiss deepen desperate to let the younger know just how much he loved him.

“Well, I guess they saved us a lot of trouble,” Jun Hong smiled. The elder three nodding in agreement.

“It looks like Dae Hyun was able to bring up enough courage to talk to Young Jae,” Yong Guk wrapped him arm around his mate’s shoulder.

“Young Jae should’ve said something too,” Him Chan sighed earning confused looks. He shook his head gently, “he keeps trying to be strong and acting like nothing hurts him. He needs to let Dae Hyun know that he’s afraid of being alone, that he can’t stand an empty room. He’s been alone for so long that it scares him when nobody is with him now.”

“Is that why he tries to keep the maknaes with him?” Yong Guk asked softly. His mate nodded his answer.

“Is that why you suggested working opposite shifts?” the brunette asked the boy next to him. Jun Hong nodded, “it’s not hard to see the fear in his eyes when we leave the room.”

“He’s going to have to tell Dae Hyun,” the black haired man repeated himself. “He can’t read his mind and his emotions are all over the place right now so he can’t depend on that very much.”

“He will,” Yong Guk assured. “We just need to make sure we give them time together. He’ll tell him.”

Jun Hong leaned onto the brunette as they watched the the couple on the couch hold each other. The maknae sighed, “so does this mean we can mate?”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Him Chan pouted childishly. “I still need to get used to the fact that my babies are all grown up and ready to mate.”

The pink haired maknae reached over to rub the black haired man’s stomach, “that’s why Yong Guk hyung gave you another baby to care for.”

The couple chuckled. Him Chan pulled the maknaes into a hug. “Just give me until the New Year.”

“Him Chan,” Jong Up laughed softly, “that’s only a day and a half away.”

“Do you want me to make it until Valentine’s day?”

“Our anniversary would just be even more romantic,” the maknae’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Hey, that doesn’t mean for you two to jump in bed the moment I give my approval,” the black haired man scolded.

“Who’s to say that we won’t just mate without your approval?” the maknae laughed as he raced down the stairs with Jong Up close behind.

“Yah, Bang Yong Guk do you hear them?” he pointed at the fleeing maknaes.

The elder laughed pulling his mate close, “yes, I hear them but right now I think we need to help Dae Hyun with dinner.”