The sunlight makes its way into Luhan’s dream, waking him up for sure. It’s a Saturday, and that means no work, so he stretches his limbs on the bed and carefully pulls them back remembering he isn’t alone in his bed; he smiles.

 

He looks at the clock on his nightstand and sighs deeply. “I guess it’s time to get up.”

 

He walks to the kitchen while putting a hoodie over his head, it is spring already but the mornings are still chilly. He grabs everything he needs and leaves the water boiling for the morning tea.

 

He heads back towards the hallway and creaks the second door open silently, hoping not to wake up the small bodies sleeping inside. He smiles at the sight of both his adorable boys sleeping side by side on the bed, though he clearly remembers having put them to sleep on their own beds.

 

He enters the bedroom quietly and sits on Zitao’s bed. It didn’t take long for his oldest to open his eyes, rubbing them with his cute little hands, and climbing into his lap. “Hey there, bud, how was your night?”

 

“Sehunnie got scared last night and I told him he could sleep in my bed, but he kicked me all night, Baba,” Zitao said in his groggy voice. Luhan picks him up and rubs Sehun’s belly to wake him up.

 

“Sehunnie, baby, wake up, we need to have breakfast to go the beach later, remember?” Luhan almost whispers into Sehun’s ear. It works, since the small boy starts moving almost immediately in his older brother’s bed.

 

“Baba, can you make pancakes for breakfast?” Sehun asks while getting off the bed.

 

“Sure thing, kiddo,” Luhan answers picking him up as well and carrying both his boys to the kitchen.

 

While there, he seats them each on a chair and gives them a glass of warm chocolate milk, only to spoil them since they hadn’t been able to go to the park the day before.

 

After they have breakfast, Luhan takes them straight to the bathroom for their baths. He washes the sleepiness away and lets them get dressed on their own in their bedroom. They were already 4 and 5 so Luhan was starting to give them some chores to do on their own.

 

After making sure they were ready, he heads back to his bedroom and carefully seats on the still warm bed. “Rise and shine, sleepyhead.”

 

The other man opens his eyes unwillingly, tired from the night before. “Oh my god, the trip,” he says suddenly remembering.

 

“Yes, the trip, you can’t back out now, you can sleep in the car,” Luhan smiles tenderly and places a kiss on Minseok’s cheek.

 

“I know, I know.” Minseok gets up reluctantly and hits the shower while Luhan takes their bags to the car, two small boys in tow.

 

As Luhan straps them on their car seats, he hears a small voice saying, “Is Appa not coming?”

 

Luhan closes Zitao’s door and goes around the car to speak to Sehun. Sehun was shier than Zitao and had more problems communicating than Zitao had had at his age. Sometimes Luhan worried but then Minseok assured him it was only his personality, he was just quiet. “He is coming, Sehunnie, in fact, he’s right there,” Luhan points to the front door where Minseok was fighting with the lock.

 

Noticing the look in Sehun’s face, Minseok smiles lovingly, “I’m right here, buddy, ready to go.”

 

All ready, Luhan picks up the bag he filled with snacks and toys, and places it at Minseok’s feet. He starts the car and leaves towards their destination.

 

They live in a small town just outside the city. It is idyllic. Minseok had been offered a spot as a Neuro fellow in the medical center twenty minutes from their home, and Luhan couldn’t deny the amazing opportunity for him, even if it meant leaving his parents and in-laws on their hometown.

 

It was worth it, Luhan thought, since Minseok was happy and his boys were happy and his friends happened to live very, very close. He couldn’t deny his own happiness as well.

 

They had planned this trip a few weeks ago; Minseok had been busy at work, spending every other night in the hospital trying to gain experience and respect. Minseok is an amazing doctor, Luhan knew this, but he is an even more amazing father. He still remembers when they first got Zitao. Minseok didn’t even hesitate when Luhan proposed adopting a baby from China. In fact, he even took Chinese lessons at the local community center to be able to teach their future baby the language even though he was swamped with work, being an intern and all. They waited for Zitao for almost two years, and when they were finally able to bring him home, Minseok would fall asleep with him in one arm and a book in the other. With Sehun the process was fairly similar, only they waited a lot less. Sehun was sleeping in his crib, at home, only six months after starting the process. Luhan was incredibly grateful for their luck.

 

“You look pensive,” Minseok says, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looks at the back seat and sees two beautiful boys sleeping soundly.

 

“I was just thinking we should go down to the beach as soon as we get there since they’ll probably wake up the minute I stop the car,” Luhan laughs.

 

“Yeah,” Minseok joins in. “Did you know that Kris and Joonmyun will be there as well? Maybe we can have them for dinner tonight.”

 

“Of course, I can’t wait to meet little Jongin. I hear he’s quite the lady killer.”

 

“I can assure you he is. Kris brought him to the hospital on Wednesday, all the women were just hovering over him, it was cute.”

 

“How’s Yixing adjusting to him?”

 

“You know Yixing, he’s always been quiet, but Joonmyun gets him, he knows what to do.”

 

Luhan sees the small town in the horizon and smiles. Minseok places his hand on his thigh and leans his head back on the seat.

 

Their beach home is small and simple, but Luhan loves it. Minseok had bought it with the money he got after his grandfather died. Luhan had refused to let him spend it, but Minseok had always wanted a house at the beach to create memories and maybe live out their retirement years.

 

As they park, the boys wake up. Minseok unbuckles them and they run inside the house. Minseok takes the bags and carries them to the living room while Luhan cleans up a bit. Dust had accumulated since they had last been there and Sehun had allergies.

 

“Boys! Come here to get changed,” Minseok says and four short arms wrap around his neck. “Ok, ok, now, who wants to go to the beach!”

 

“Me! Me!” they chorus excitedly.

 

Luhan stays behind, he doesn’t want Sehun to have problems at night because he didn’t clean. After some minutes, he feels satisfied with the general cleanliness, and heads down to the beach.

 

He spots Minseok and the boys on the shore, splashing water on each other. Looking closely, he sees Minseok smeared them with sunscreen, so he breathes, he doesn’t want to deal with burns later.

 

When they finish playing in the water they comeback to a Luhan lying down on a towel under the sunshade.

 

“Baba!” Zitao puts both his hands on Luhan’s stomach and shakes him. His hands are cold from the water and Luhan resists the urge to slap them away.

 

He sits up and sees that Sehun is sitting on Minseok’s lap, playing with the sand under his feet. Zitao looks at him sadly, “Baba, you didn’t get in the water.”

 

“Do you want me to get in the water?” He asks him and Zitao breaks into one of his gorgeous smiles.

 

“Yes!” He answers and Sehun stands up to take Luhan’s hand and join them.

 

Luhan looks at Minseok, but Minseok, knowing what he would say, tells Luhan to go ahead, “I’ll lie down here for a little while, rest my eyes.”

 

Luhan kisses him and heads to the water holding two small hands. He plays for a while until he feels the heat of the sun on his shoulders. He worried so much about the boys that he forgot to put sunscreen on himself. He touches his shoulder and winces. This is gonna be a tonight, he thinks.

 

He takes the boys back to the sunshade and dries them up before they play in the sand.

 

Looking at Minseok he takes a deep breath. Minseok rises from his sleep and sits next to Luhan. “How was the beach?”

 

“The water is really great but the sun is an ,” he replies, making sure the little ones don’t hear the last word.

 

Minseok laughs and kisses his shoulders softly. It makes Luhan close his eyes, enjoying every time those lips touch his skin.

 

“How did I get so lucky?” asks Minseok, but Luhan disagrees, because he feels that he’s the one that won the lottery. He has an amazing man by his side and two beautiful boys that he loves. Luhan feels blessed by whatever deity there is in this universe.