“Mommy!” The imperious little voice rings out, a clear demand for attention. The woman he is addressing hides a smile; her youngest son has always been the clingier of her two boys, and is forever jealous of her attention. It’s cute – most of the time – but when you have two screaming boys who both want all of their mother’s attention, well, that’s when she begins to wonder just what the hell she got herself into.

But not tonight, because tonight she is relaxed and happy, and her elder son is preoccupied with his favourite show on TV. He’s quite happy to stay in the living room with his toys and the TV. Her youngest son, however, is not quite so easy to please. Three year old Jongdae has yet to get used to the idea that mommy is not always available, and she knows she shouldn’t spoil him, but she’s never been able to ignore either of her children for very long. (Her husband resents this; he often tells her that she’s far more lenient with the children than she ever is with him, but she just smirks and tells him that that’s just the way he likes it and – oh. Thinking about things like that around the children is hardly a good idea, she reminds herself)

“Yes, sweetheart?” She dabs a spot of perfume on her collarbones and sets the glass bottle down on her dresser, swivelling around in her seat to face the little boy. Curious eyes follow the shiny bottles and boxes carefully laid out in preparation for tonight; usually the surface is clear of any such interesting items, because his mother is not stupid and knows that her sons would have a field day with such exciting shiny things.

“What are you doing?” He demands, hands on hips. He has yet to change into his pyjamas (internally, she sighs, because clearly her husband has forgotten what his job was for tonight and expects her to do it), and is still wearing his matching frog shirt and shorts. He is adorable, but she really is quite busy and doesn’t have much time to explain the mysteries of making up to a three year old (who is supposed to be ready for bed by now, but clearly that’s not happening. She hopes the babysitter doesn’t mind).

“I’m getting ready.” Smiling, she shows him her eyeshadow compact, careful to keep it out of his reach because she remembers what happened with his paintbox (and that took forever to clean up). “Mommy and daddy are going out tonight, remember?” She says carefully, hoping he doesn’t throw a tantrum and demand that he be taken along too. They haven’t had a night out in ages, and they really, really need this.

“Yeah.” He nods importantly, because yes, he does remember, and he told his friend Chanyeol all about how his mommy and daddy were going out so when they played house with Misun, that meant he and Misun got to play with the blocks and leave Chanyeol in the playhouse, alone. Chanyeol has yet to forgive him for that, but he knows that when he brings his playdough cookie maker in tomorrow, he’ll have to forgive him because playdough cookies!

“Well then,” his mommy laughs, “I’m making sure I look nice for the restaurant. You don’t want mommy looking bad, do you?” She winks at him.

He shakes his head and declares: “Mommy always looks pretty.” Craftily, he uses this moment to try and clamber up onto her lap, because he knows he’s said the right thing and will use anything to his advantage. He’s all too cunning for a three year old, but she blames his father entirely for that. It’s none of her genes, not at all.

Sighing, she gives in and pulls him onto her lap properly. “If you’re a good, quiet boy” – quiet being the operative word, because a curious Jongdae is a talkative Jongdae and that can be exhausting – “I’ll let you stay. But you have to behave because I don’t have a lot of time to do this.”

“Okay, mommy!” He gives her his wide, childishly innocent grin because he’s gotten what he wanted and is now quite happy to behave. She hands him a compact mirror to play with, because it’s the most child-friendly thing on her dresser and he’ll need something to occupy himself with. He swings his small legs and amuses himself by flipping it open and shut over and over again as she carries on applying eyeliner.

She is well-practiced in putting on makeup with one child or another in her lap – most mornings are conducted in this way, after all, and once you’ve got the knack of leaning over them, it’s fine. She bends down to kiss the top of Jongdae’s head, smiling when she’s assaulted with the scent of baby shampoo. He’ll still need his bath, though, so her husband better get off his lazy and do it. Sometimes she wonders why she’s the only organised person in this household.

“Mommy,” Jongdae starts, in his I-want-to-know-what-this-is voice, “why do you put that purple stuff on your eyes?” He points to her eyeshadow palette, greedy little hands about to make a grab for it.

She stops him just in time, pulling it out of his reach. His bottom lip wobbles, the beginning of a small pout beginning to form. “It makes my eyes look nice, darling.” She shrugs, pulling him closer in an attempt to keep him from sliding off her lap. “It’s like how you like colouring.” She explains, as he starts to play with her fingers in his lap. “I’m colouring my eyes so that the picture is complete.”

He makes a small ‘oh’ with his mouth, because this makes sense and he really does like colouring. He wonders if the babysitter will colour with him because his hyung says he’s too babyish to play with, which is so not true because Jongdae is one of the tallest in his class at nursery!

“And what’s that?” He asks, pointing to a gold, tubular object that has caught his attention because shiny. Jongdae likes shiny things. He also likes colourful things, so basically mommy’s makeup is the best thing ever, even if she won’t let him near it. Mommy can be mean sometimes, but most of the time she’s nice so he puts up with it.

“It’s lipstick.” Laughing, she picks it up and pulls it open to show him. “See? You put it on like this.” Jongdae’s wide eyes watch her in the mirror as she slicks it on her lips in an over-exaggerated gesture. She’ll have to fix it later, but it’s worth it to see his fascinated little expression.

“Mommy, your mouth is red!” His amazement is endearing. His eyebrows furrow for a second as he contemplates his next question. “Can you make my mouth red?” He pouts his little mouth out at her in a duck-like fashion, expression turning disgruntled when she giggles at him.

“I could, darling, but most boys don’t wear lipstick.” She doubts her son is ready to understand the concept of cross-dressing, but the idea is funny all the same.

“Why?” He demands, clearly not satisfied with this answer.

“Because most makeup is made for girls, baby.” She snorts, far too amused by his unhappy expression. He obviously sees it as some kind of jumbo crayon.

“But I want it.” He whines, trying to pull the lipstick out of her hands. “Mommy,” he pleads, knowing she can’t resist his goo-goo eyes. “Pleaaaaase?”

***

Her husband doesn’t find it nearly as funny as she does, when he comes to collect Jongdae for his bath and finds lipstick smeared all over his face.

But that’s what he gets for forgetting, anyway.

I don't even know what this is. I hate children and I am incapable of writing fluff, so clearly my brain short-circuited. The idea was too cute to resist and my I-must-mother-Jongdae feels are irrepressible. D: