The house is a mess, the kids are screaming around and Luhan is failing at calming them down or making them do whatever he wants them to do. Xiumin doesnt have the time for this, he is busy, he is bathing Xiuhan. They are all (trying) getting ready to go. There are bags and back packs everywhere, jackets, the baby bag, the couples suitcases. Thankfully Yixing is there too, but the presence of Fanxing doesnt help that much. Does anybody knows anything about the Hwangs? Thats what Xiumin wonders in his mind as his newborn son squills a little in the colorfull tub. The father smiles down at him, gratefull.

By the time he comes out of the bathroom, the people seems to have calmed, only the adults are talking. What time is it? Early, still. Xiumin takes his time. The baby is already a little sleepy and relax from the bath. He shouldnt let him sleep, he should sabe that for the trip. Luhan makes an entrance.

"Hey, lunch is ready", he goes to watch over the baby and kisses his husbands head. Xiumin does that, that thing he does when he acts like a baby cat happy to get petted. Luhan smiles at him, always so sweet, so tender. "Are you ok? Do you want cuddles baby?", he asks him as he circles his arms around him. Xiumin smells a little like baby cologne, like baby soap, he smells of innocence and love, he smells like home. Luhan takes a deep breath. There are things that maybe he would like to say but he lets silence do the talking. He loves Xiumin, but the words "I love you" cant explain the feeling that well. Luhan presses a little, they have to go eat and keep preparing. Xiumin lets go of Luhan and gives him the baby.

"Put him on the crib, he will fall asleep soon", he goes back to the bathroom.

----------------------

Strangely, the celd and the inhumanly generic color of the prison walls make Chanyeol feel like home. The sky that he sees for two hours ever day is the korean sky, it doesnt make any difference from the chinese sky, but still is like he can feel it.Feel at home.

As he walks slwolly through the hall theres not so much to think about. He is not gonna lie he espects, awaits for this day every week, but deep down he still thinks this is not right. 

He enters the visit room and sees him. A nice suit, every week a new combination, the man dresses in a way that makes Chanyeol think that he has mistaken a jail compound for a date at a restaurant. The thought is flattering, but still, wrong.

"Doctor", he greets.

"Mister Park", the doctor answers with a smile that reminds the convict that theres beauty somewhere in the world, somewhere outside these walls. "What did you do this week?", he asks and sounds happy. And Chanyeol doesnt really dare to think that the other sounds happy because of him.

"Not so much", he answers and all the "cool" flies off the window when his own happy smile betrays his uninterested words. They sit in front of eachother and even if they never talked about it, they are sure that the other knows how much they want to cross this distance, the distance of a table away that might as well be an ocean. Even if theres melancolly on the thought they still smile, they still enjoy being together. Together for whatever that means, for whatever time they have left.

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Xiumin and Yixing have identical document bags and they are checking if they have everything they need. Yifan sent a permit to allow Fanxings departure from the country, Yixing is gratefull, but he also re confirms that Yifan doesnt give a . Xiumin has all the kids IDs, Luhans and his, the tickets and the invitations.

"Dont forget about them, its proof that that guy doesnt want to get into my husbands pants anymore", Luhan reminds, is not helpfull. Xiumin rolls his eyes.

"By this time I even doubt that he can get in his own pants", he smirks at his own silly joke.

Yixings phone suddlenly rings and he stand ups and leaves the room. Luhan smirks now, he knows.

"Fanxing come here, Dae ge wants to talk with you", he calls for his baby (not so baby now). Luhan watches his nephew run to his father to grab the phone.

"Dae Dae!!!", he screams. Luhan watches some more and prays that neither one of them get their hearts broken...again.

-----------------------

So many month had gone, well not sooo many, but enough. Enough, really. The tv in the airport waiting room catches Xiumins attention, they seemed to be talking about White Tree. He makes an effort to listen but is in vane, theres to many people here and the children and....he goes back to check if Lumin is still with Luhan. Why do they make people come before such a long notice?

Is not that he doesnt care, he is in touch. He knows things thanks to Daehyun, but he doesnt even live in China. Luhan says is for the better, but he sometimes feels guilty. Sometimes he wants to do something else, he has so much...But Luhan says that is no longer their lives, its their childrens, they cant be in danger, they cant be around crazy people, they cant drag them to a past that they never lived, that doesnt matter to them. They can only teach them whatever they learnt from that past. And Xiumin thinks that he is right. Also, even if he knows that theres a big chance that Chanyeol might get the death penalty, theres nothing he can do. It has always been Chanyeols journey. he shakes his head a little, his arm hurts where Xiuhans head is.

"Appa when are we gonna go?", Sehan complaints to him.

"In a little...just hang in there a little ok? Dont go far ok?"

"Where is uncle Kyungsoo?"

"He said theyre parking. Stop this, calm down. Behave. Do it for appa ok? Just afew more minutes".

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After the plain takes off and Xiuhan cried his heart out in fear, all the passengers seem to be as sleep as the baby.

"What are you thinking?", Luhan whispers, Lumins passed out on his arms.

"You, us...", he answers simply. Luhan nods.

"What about us?"

"We are always trip partners", he says.

"Are we?"

"Yes, not always in plains, but in life....you and I founding eachother out of nowhere, the first time and the second...You were the present I didnt ask for, and I like to think that I was to you that window that you thought wouldnt ever open..."

"You are that window, and the sun coming in from it. You are also those rays of light that you dont espect so early in the winter morning and the unespected breeze in a summer morning. You are also a gift to me, the strength I thought I had and the truth that I needed to hear", Xiumin smiles, ｂlushes.

He remembers that he wasnt an innocent teenager when he met Luhan, he wasnt any younger when he found him again, but still his husband manages to make him feel like a lovesick child.

"....I think now another journey beggins", Luhan continues. "One in which you let me take care of you, you let go of the past, you just focus on making us happy. Like that selfishly, happy for you and for me. And for them. We all look up to you, you know? But I really need you to stop saving the world. I need you here with us", he says and his hand shakes a little when he holds Xiumins palm.

"I know", Xiumin answers and even if is little. Just two words. Is a promise, a strong one. The future for Xiumin had changed it shape many times. For a long time it had been a wait, a wait for death. Other times it had been the wait for the moment in which he would see Luhan again. All those times, the future still looked like fear, was painted in a dark colors and smelt like not so happy endings and regrets. But now, as he glaces at his three month old son and watches his husband (the one he always wanted) rocking their daughter in his arms, when he searches for Sehan (his first son, the one who saved him) to see if he is also save, he knows what the future looks like.

It looks like messy mornings, tired nights, a chaotic house, the smell of a freshly cooked meal, the door bell ringing and letting friends in. It feels soft like recently ironed shirts, like the long black hair of his teenage daughter, the safety of his oldest sons strong arms and the infinite innocence of his last son, the one who will remind for ever the youngest.

In that future theres no place for darkness nor fear, no cold and no waiting because, no, he cant wait for that future to come.

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Even is "The after life" wasnt what many of you wanted, thank you for loving this story (ies).