Daddy Bootcamp 101
Oppa... You're Going To Be an Appa!As Natalia slept, Mrs, Marcs and Umma called Mr. Marcs and Appa over. I wasn't sure why, but they did.
"There are things you need to learn, Seunghyun." Umma sighed as she set Mina down in her bassinet swing. "This isn't an easy job."
"Which is why you are going to learn. Today." Mrs. Marcs added. She took Jae Sun from me and set him next to Mina.
More footsteps came from the garage and into the living room, where we were.
"Where is she? Is she alright?" Mr. Marcs asked nervously. He was between Kenji and Appa.
Mrs. Marcs nodded. "She'll be fine. She's asleep. But," She nodded at me. "This is the one we need to worry about."
"Yah, what is with you? Your mother calls me and says you haven't helped with the children? You are my son, and you are supposed to jump at any chance to help." Appa scolded.
"I do!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, during the day when you're home. That's all." Mrs. Marcs sighed.
"Its not just the twins you need to help with. It's chores too." Kenji told me. "Cooking, loading the dish washer, doing laundry, that kind of stuff."
"Do you know how to do all that, Seunghyun?" Mr. Marcs asked me.
I nodded. "Yeah, of course."
"Then do it!" The adults said all at the same time.
"Okay! You all need to realize that I'm doing things too. Like preparing for the YG concert. Writing new songs. Recording. I'm not just lazing around."
"We know. But that's your job. When Natalia and Vincent were babies, I never got a break. I would come home from the restaurant, and immediately help Julie by doing anything she would ask. I would wake up in the middle of the night and take care of the twins because I knew Julie would be with them by herself while I was at work, so she needed rest. Was it hard? Oh yes. But was it worth it? Definitely." Mr. Marcs told me.
"Things are going to be hard the first few months, even the first year, Seunghyun. You both are new at this. You'll make mistakes. You'll learn from those. But you need to put in all the effort you can." Appa told me.
I nodded. "Okay. I get it. I'm just not used to any of this."
"And you think Natalia is?" Kenji asked. "No one is truly ready to be a parent. You can hear stories, read books, but it will never really prepare you."
"Well, I'd say that's enough scolding. Let's teach." Umma said.
Mrs. Marc's nodded. "Firs things first: wake up at night!"
"I can't hear them cry!" I said helplessly. "I sleep too deeply."
"Well, this is what I used to do," Kenji explained. "When we had Kyoki, I had the same problem. What did I do? I trained myself to wake when he woke, because he always had a mental time. It was at midnight, two, and four. So, I set my phone alarm for those times. I kept it under my pillow so the vibrate would wake me, but not wake Angelina. So I became accustomed to waking up when Kyoki did. Now I'm accustomed to Yuki, too."
"See, Seunghyun? Do that." Umma urged. I nodded.
"Okay, I will."
"When you're up and the twins are asleep, those are the times to do chores. I suggest making bottles and doing dishes and picking up. Washing clothes can be noisy and wake them up, so do that when they're awake." Mrs. Marcs said.
I nodded. "Okay."
"Whenever you have that chance to give Natalia a break, do it. Believe me, she'll return the favor." Umma nodded. "Whether it's just getting one of the twins when they are crying, or even taking them to the recording studio with you. Just do it."
"Natalia doesn't want them out of the house until they're at least a month old." I told them.
"That's good." Appa nodded. "She knows what to do, Seunghyun. So don't argue when she hears one of them cry, and she tells you if they need to eat, or change their diaper. or just want to be held. Mothers' somehow know what each cry indicates. We may not be able to tell the difference, but they can."
I nodded. "Okay."
I felt so terrible that Natalia had been doing all this on her own. I just didn't realize that it was more than holding babies and feeding them and changing diapers. It's so much more. It was time to pull my weight around here, because who knows what could happen to Natalia in the future?
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