"Bigger!" Taewoon demanded of Minhyuk, waving his arms to impressive sizes in an indication that he blow the balloon up as big as possible and larger than he already had it, "It needs to be bigger!" 

Minhyuk removed the rubber lip of the balloon from his mouth and chuckled as he tied the end before letting it fall to the floor, bouncing among the sea of neon and primary colors. Other balloons, "If I blow it any bigger it will pop in my mouth, and I would like it if I went the whole day without choking on balloon pieces," Minhyuk reminded as he grabbed yet another deflated balloon by the neck before stretching it in preparation to blow it full of air, "And I would like it if you didn't try to blow them beyond capacity because I won't," he scoffed as he witnessed his five-year-old son attempt to do what he didn't want him to do. And if Taewoon did it, his three-year-old sister was sure to follow. Taemi looked up to her big brother plenty and often mirrored his actions, which was hell for both Kihyun and Minhyuk. It meant double the trouble and the same issue to deal with twice as he and Kihyun attempted to teach a lesson to different ages and mindsets. 

Taewoon huffed and crossed his arms over his chest to which Taemi pouted and hopped up. She never liked it when Taewoon was upset and so she did her best to cheer him up, getting right up in her brother's face to attempt and place a kiss on his nose that was a perfect replica of Kihyun's. In fact, both of their children looked just like Kihyun and even inherited the glare their mother procured when he was upset or disagreeing with something. Taewoon was glaring but he couldn't hold it long as Taemi placed sloppy kisses everywhere but his nose since she couldn't reach him, leading him to laugh and push his sister away softly, "Taemi!" he squealed, egging her onto her next actions as she wrapped her arms around her big brother and hugged him tightly. They both laughed and fell back onto the carpet, knocking the balloons to the side and luckily not popping any. 

Minhyuk watched in joy as his children played together and he was so thankful they were best friends. It was so easy for them to get along and they never grew bored with the other. A proud father he was, "Alright, kiddies, we have a few more balloons to blow up. What should we work on next?" he asked, knowing there was a lot on his list to do still. A party required a lot of planning and coordination, especially one as elaborate as this one. 

"Birthday pictures!" Taemi yelled as she hopped off of her big brother to go and grab the many pictures the two drew and the few cards they wrote for Kihyun that they were going to tape everywhere around the house, not just limited to the 'party area'. And when Minhyuk says wrote, he means he wrote them. Taewoon knew how to write some, but he had needed plenty of help from Minhyuk still, "Mommy needs all of his birthday pictures to feel happy and better!" 

"Oh yes! Please grab those and Taewoonie can help you," he sent a look towards his son but he didn't even have to convince the boy before he was hopping up too and following his sister to grab the drawings. The room was close by so they were still within earshot and he could hear Taemi singing the birthday song happily, "I'll grab the tape and then when we're done with that we can work on the chocolate fountain and piñata," he heard cheers and squeals of excitement because that was really what they were waiting for. Besides the cake which was currently baking in their oven. 

And it was almost like Taewoon had read his mind because once he walked back into the living room with Taemi in tow and plenty of paper in their arms, the first thing out of his mouth was, "When is the cake done? We need to put frosting on it!" he spoke in a tone that was as though Minhyuk didn't know. He was so much like Kihyun that it hurt sometimes. 

"I know, little man. Another five minutes and I'll take it out, but we have to let it cool or the frosting will melt and we don't want that. We don't want it all sticky." 

"We want sprinkles!" Taemi shouted to feel included. It was a bit too loud and in doing so she startled Taewoon, "Pink and blue and yellow!" she was bouncing over to Minhyuk and plopped into his lap where he was sitting on the ground. She knocked some wind out of him but Minhyuk was quick to recoup and gain his breath back. It happened a lot since Taemi wasn't always the most careful, it was Daddy instincts, "Mommy likes sprinkles, he always puts them on my ice cream."

"Does that mean he likes sprinkles then?" Minhyuk chuckled as he grabbed the drawings and cards from her hands and neatly placed them next to him. To Taemi, if she liked something, then everyone liked that something too. Taewoon thought similarly, and that is why they were planning the party the way they were. Because if they like that kind of stuff then everyone likes that kind of stuff. 

"Yes!" Taemi shouted, bouncing more as she grabbed a balloon and tossed it in the air, "He likes all sprinkles!" Minhyuk laughed and turned to place a kiss on her braided hair, ends of her pigtails tickling his neck. 

"Okay little lady, I'll make sure we put the sprinkles on, but we have a lot to do before that, too. And I need your help, can you help me?" he asked as he moved to blow up the second to last balloon. He was losing breath and it hadn't helped that Taemi was sitting deep into his torso and limiting breath support. 

"Yes, Daddy!" she screeched, catching Minhyuk off guard enough that the balloon slipped from his lips and flew away from him and Taemi. All three laughed as they watched the balloon fly around the room, his children's laughs inspiring his loud and deep belly laugh. Taewoon chased after the balloon and failed miserably in doing so. Taemi cuddled into Minhyuk's chest and wrapped her arms around his neck as she laughed into his cheek, her own chubby cheeks giving her the prettiest eye smile that belonged solely to Minhyuk. He never saw that eye smile for anyone besides him. 

All of these unnecessary and superfluous attempts at this birthday party were all for Kihyun because he was worth it. This whole ordeal was a surprise party planned by Taewoon and Taemi who were, if you need reminding, five and three years old. Minhyuk believed that any of his attempts at a surprise party would be too adult and not as exciting, but having a surprise party planned exclusively by your children has a special ring to it and that was something that Kihyun would absolutely love and adore. Minhyuk also believed that any of his attempts would not hit as hard as his children's, especially with how much Kihyun has been going through to healthily grow their next child. 

Kihyun was fifteen weeks pregnant with their next, and ultimately last, child. The married couple both had thought there was a missing space in their family of four and so both had agreed that one more pair of little feet in the house was what they needed. And a little over a month later, much faster than they anticipated, Kihyun was pregnant again and both were ecstatic, including their kids. Kihyun's past pregnancies had been so easy and so everyone and their dog expected this one to be the same, but this one was a nightmare. Kihyun was sick constantly and tired all the time, and the mood swings had him feeling down more often than not, leaving him without a smile when he wasn't with his children or husband. Kihyun was going through a lot for their third child and Minhyuk couldn't do anything about it until he involved their children. This party was planned with the intention to cheer Kihyun up even for one evening. He needed something like this.

So Minhyuk sought out his son and daughter's advice. And in kid fashion, they went for the whole shebang. They planned everything down to the T, a ridiculous party with a chocolate fountain and selection of treats, a piñata full of candy, tons of balloons and streamers, including games such as pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, and Duck, Duck, Goose! A kids party, but for Kihyun and he was going to love it for sure. The kids loved it just as much too because, through this process, their opinions truly felt valued. 

But it didn't just stop at party planning. Minhyuk had called off work entirely for the day but had not told Kihyun he was doing so. This morning when he sent Kihyun off to work, he had wished him a happy birthday and a kiss goodbye with the promise that they would do something for the night. Minhyuk always left for work after Kihyun and always dropped the kids off at school, which was perfect for today. After leaving his kids behind in their classrooms, he had spent the first half of the day cleaning. Scrubbing the bathrooms from top to bottom, doing all the dishes, taking out all the trash, sweeping and mopping when necessary, and vacuumed all the carpets. He had cleaned the house and had switched tactics once he had picked Taewoon and Taemi up from morning preschool. Minhyuk was always the one who took Taewoon and Taemi to preschool and it was always his mother who picked them up at noon, but by the time he had finished cleaning it was time to pick them up. He had called his mother to tell her the plan and picked his own children up to drive them to the supermarket so they could point out exactly what they wanted at the party. 

Minhyuk, Taemi, and Taewoon had made a list of what they wanted at the party a few days prior when Kihyun was sleeping off a migraine. It had been very enthusiastic planning while they were also keeping quiet since Kihyun was trying to recover from his head pains, but Minhyuk could pinpoint all the excitement in his children's expressions. Planning their own party for their mother was such a prospect and even Minhyuk thought it was fantastic and such a good idea. 

While at it with all the supplies shopping, Minhyuk asked his children to pick out birthday presents for Kihyun with the restrictions on buying him toys. Kihyun had no need for toys being a thirty-year-old adult but that didn't mean Taemi didn't try and fight that. Anything else was free game though. So Taewoon and Taemi both grabbed Kihyun candy that he had been eating a lot of and even though it was his 'craving candy', Kihyun never failed to share plenty with his children. Another odd thing that Kihyun was going through was chronically cold feet and so the kids picked out fuzzy socks just for him. Taemi chose some patterned with teddy bears while Taewoon chose tiny ducks and even when they were socks, that did not stop the brother and sister from playing with each other with socks. In their little game, Taemi was chasing after Taewoon on the pretense that the ducks had stolen her teddy's bread. Mommy Bear had worked hard to bake that bread and Teddy needed it back. The whole storyline of their little game was enticing and Minhyuk would have to tell Kihyun later how creative their children were. 

After all the supplies were placed in the basket and everything was paid for at the supermarket, Minhyuk drove to the jewelry boutique that was closeby in town, a cute little establishment that was family-owned and had a reputation of providing great customer service. Minhyuk had made arrangements weeks prior to get a bracelet designed just for Kihyun and the product was finished just the day before. Today was the day to check it out and pick it up, and Taewoon and Taemi were a part