Kyungsoo’s POV

Despite our hectic schedule, we were still taking frequent night walks through the park with the twins. We both agreed that it was best that we spend constant quality time with our sons. Neither of us wanted to miss out on their development and lives. Occasionally we would meet the same old lady who would always greet us warmly. Each time we would never fail to thank her for keeping our secret. She refused to tell her granddaughter that we had met us for fears that her granddaughter might follow her on her walks in the park.

We had made it through the first few months with twins. I was extremely proud of us as new parents. Watching our babies smile and laugh gave us the assurance that we were doing something right. Being able to soothe the crying babies gave us confidence that we understood our sons and were able to give them what they needed. Hearing ‘Dada’ and other baby talk come out from the twins’ mouth gave us the love and encouragement that was much needed for us as new parents.

However, just when we thought that we were getting a handle on things, we started to notice some curious symptoms.

There was a constant stream of drool and horrible diaper messes. Every single time we carried them, there would be a trail of saliva left behind on our shirts. Their soiled diaper smelled horrible, like something had died in there.

The babies chewed on everything in sight, including each other. Now that they were starting to recognise each other, there was the inevitable pushing and hair pulling. Lately, they had taken to chewing on each other’s fat rolls. While it was cute, it often left the both of them wet and dripping of saliva. Dripping, drenching and drowning drool, not a pleasant sight.

They were also getting fussy and out-of-sorts occasionally, waking up at odd times and refusing to eat. But nothing too serious. We thought nothing of it, really.

Until that one night.

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Jongin’s POV

In the middle of the night

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

I woke up with a startle, completely disorientated. When my sense finally came back to me, I realised that Jungwoo was screaming bloody murder. I had never heard him cry this hard, this desperately, this hysterically before. My heart lurched and skipped a beat as I raced to his crib and lifted the wailing infant in my arms. The minute he was in my arms, he arched his back, twisting and turning, making it very hard to hold him. He continued to scream in what seemed like agony and pain. I had never seen him like this before.

Dongwoo had started to stir in his sleep and soon he too was crying, protesting loudly against being awoken up by his brother. But his cries were far less severe as how Jungwoo’s sounded. By now, Kyungsoo was up as well, rocking Dongwoo back to sleep. In the meantime, Jungwoo had not stopped crying once. His face was cringed into a tight ball and tears were streaming down his face. His fists were clenched and every now and then he would try to claw at his face and mouth.

That awful scream lasted about 10-15 minutes. Both Kyungsoo and I just hugged him, whispering comforting words and him. As a parent, I had never felt so helpless. We had no idea what was causing him to act that way, neither did we know how to make him feel better. We just sat there with him in our arms, lost and confused, hoping to just sit through the storm. Kyungsoo was tearing up and I was on the verge as well when he finally stopped crying. He no longer screamed and just whimpered as he buried his face against my chest. I hugged him close to me as Kyungsoo broke down in tears of relief. After soothing Jungwoo back to sleep, I had to calm Kyungsoo down before he fell into a tired sleep. The thing about being parents was that everything involving our children was painful in some way. The emotions and pain I saw in Jungwoo’s eyes were so deep and sharp that in the end they left me and Kyungwoo raw, exposed and yes, in pain.

Little did we know, this was going to continue on for the many nights to come. By the third consecutive night, we knew something was not right. We ourselves were desperate and hysterical from not knowing what to do. We tried everything from singing to playing to feeding. Nothing seemed to work. In the end, both of us were in tears and we ended up calling our doctor that night. She was gracious enough to drive down to our dormitory to take a look. She took his temperature ad found that he was running a low fever. We filled her in on the weird symptoms we had been witnessing lately like the excessive drool and the diaper messes. That was when she decided to check his mouth.

“He’s teething.”

“Huh?” I said not-so-intelligently.

“Look here; can you see the small humps on his gums? His bottom front teeth are starting to grow and are cutting through his gums. It is causing him pain and discomfort, which explains the cries.”

So he WAS in pain. I was right.

“Is there any way to, well, relieve the pain?” Kyungsoo asked worriedly.

“Cold things help to relieve some of the discomfort. Things like frozen milk cubes or ice cubes, or even his toys, for him to chew on. Make sure the things you give him are not too hard or cold and that they are large enough not to be swallow because you don’t want it to be a choking hazard.”

We listened attentively as she went on to elaborate on how to care for a teething baby. Then she proceeded to show us how to wipe Jungwoo’s gums gently with a clean, damp washcloth. Once again, we thanked her profusely as she left for answering our call and coming down in the middle of the night.

“At least it wasn’t something serious.” I heaved a sigh of relief.

“It was pretty serious to me. His cries were so heartwrenching!” Kyungsoo’s eyes were tearing up again at the memory of Jungwoo’s desperate cries, “Then and there, I honestly felt like I failed as a parent. He was in so much pain and yet there I was, unable to do anything for him.”

“Aw, sweetheart.” I wrapped my arms around him as I pulled him to the bed, “This is natural. Teething is something every child has to go through, not just Jungwoo. Don’t worry. At least now we know how to help him ease the pain a little.”

That night, as Kyungsoo slept, I walked over to the crib to check on the twins. The sound of the twins’ breathing reminded me, as it so often did, of how vulnerable they both were. And how vulnerable we were because we loved them both so very much. The fear that something could happen to them at any moment, something I'd be helpless to stop, scared the crap out of me. I simply didn’t want to show it when Kyungsoo was around. I had to be the pillar of strength for him after all. But despite what I said to him earlier, it did worry me. Not particularly about the teething saga. It worried me that I would not be able to be there for the twins forever. It worried me that I couldn’t protect them from everything. I wasn’t sure if all parents felt the same way but I was sure that it was neither nonsensical nor was it irrational.

Parenthood was indeed extremely scary. 

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A/N: Quick update. Thanks for reading! 

@RonRoxx: Really? I didn’t expect that lol. Thanks for being supportive^^

@SeopSeop: Yup! From Almost Heaven. I absolutely loved that line :D

@Fluttershy123:  Of course not, they were made for each other~~

@AeChaPark: Aw thank you for the sweet comments. Baekyeol in my mind aren’t supposed to be that serious so I just had to end it off on a higher note haha

@springjasmine91: Time will come~ Thanks for commenting!  On every chapter too! BIG HUG for you~~

@BabyKiro: Wow, if they do come out, I think I would die of happiness. (Eunhae came out?! Where? When? How come I don’t know?!)

@aejae22: Agreed, timing is everything…  you sound like Kyungsoo… /Are you?! O.O/

@Nadou-bses: ^^ Thanks for commenting heehee! (they ARE cute, aren’t they?)

@izie114: haha definitely not complaining! /Although it does make girls like me jealous… why don’t I get a guy that treats me like that too?/

@MarshmallowHyun: Haha! How I wish my fic is the news hahaha! That would be awesome!

@B3low_1t: Oooppsss… sorry :S

@2PMWooFan13: Oh noes… another reader I have disappointed… ><

@SHINee2MinJongKey19: Thanks for reading and commenting ^^ Your comments always give me loads of encouragement <3

@annexing: nope, sorry to disappoint >< don’t kill me….

@leenyagami: AW thank you! Your comment made my day, seriously :)

@aegiby: Soon… ><

@joohyun007: Eventually, I promise! Pinky swear!!!!

@Eun-ah: AW you are lucky! To hear your baby sister say that… babies have a tendency to make your day with something so simple, don’t they?

@Yanonini02: Heehee, glad you liked that chapter ^^

@donutt: Thanks :) I was smiling to myself as I wrote that. Haven’t heard from you in a while (gosh, I sound stalkerish…) Hope you’re ok and not sick again :(

@makingmistapes: You will see it… eventually… PROMISE!!

@myungielove: Nah, with Yeol around, how can Baek be sad? :D