A few weeks had passed and Kangin was still staying with Leeteuk’s grandparents. He had been going to counseling three times a week after work, but was still hesitant about going home. “Why are you nervous about returning home?” Leeteuk’s grandfather wondered as he sat down at the kitchen table with Kangin.

          “I don’t know if Leeteuk is ready for me to come home yet. I don’t know if he forgives me or not,” Kangin admitted.

          “Have you asked him?” Leeteuk’s grandfather asked.

          “No, I haven’t spoken to him ever since I left a few weeks ago,” Kangin said.

          “Well dear, don’t you think it’s time?” Leeteuk’s grandmother inquired as she joined the men at the table.

          “I’m just worried he’s still upset with me,” Kangin confessed.

          “Kangin, you’ll never know unless you talk to him,” Leeteuk’s grandmother reminded.

          “You’re right,” Kangin agreed, nodding his head slowly. He stood up and walked into the guest bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Sitting down on the bed, Kangin fiddled with his phone as he nervously scrolled through his contact list, searching for his husband’s number. Kangin stared at Leeteuk’s name on the screen, thinking about what he was going to say to him before dialing the number.

          Kangin held the phone up to his head and listened to it ring a couple of times; before he heard Leeteuk say “Kangin?” He wanted to say something; Kangin wanted to apologize for everything that had happened, he wanted to tell Leeteuk how much he loved him, how much he missed him, and how much he wanted to go home and be with his family again. But hearing Leeteuk’s voice caused all of his thoughts to freeze and disintegrate. “Kangin, Kangin honey please say something,” Leeteuk continued. Kangin could hear the heartache in his husband’s voice, causing tears to run down his face. Instead of saying anything, Kangin hung up the phone and laid his face in his hands.

          Leeteuk hung up the phone and laid it down on the bedside table before wiping the tears on his cheeks and curling up in the bed. The brunette Korean pulled Kangin’s pillow closer and allowed his tears to fall on the pillow as he thought about his spouse. “Eomma?” Leeteuk heard a little voice say from the other side of the room.

          Turning over, Leeteuk saw his and Kangin’s newly adopted daughter, Amber, standing in the bedroom doorway, looking at Leeteuk with confused eyes and gripping her stuffed llama. “Come here baby,” Leeteuk beckoned, holding out his arms to her. The little two year old girl ran over to the bed and outstretched her arms, wanting Leeteuk to pick her up. Leeteuk lifted up his daughter and laid her in the bed next to him.

          Amber pointed at the empty side of the bed and asked “Appa?”

          Even though the little girl had not met Kangin yet, Leeteuk had showed her pictures of their family so that she could become familiar with his face. “Yes sweetie, that’s where daddy sleeps. He’ll be coming home soon,” Leeteuk promised. The two year old girl smiled before curling up next to Leeteuk and falling asleep. “Hopefully daddy will come home soon,” Leeteuk muttered.

          The next morning, Leeteuk was finishing up breakfast for the boys when Sungmin and Ryeowook entered the dining room carrying Amber. “Leeteuk, look what we did to Amber, we gave her pigtails,” Ryeowook said as she swatted at her pigtails.

          Leeteuk glanced over and smiled as he saw his daughter’s hair. “She looks so cute,” he agreed, walking over and taking Amber. “Do you like your pigtails sweetheart?” Amber’s face pouted as she shook her head. “Well, we’ll try something different later.” Turning to Ryeowook and Sungmin, Leeteuk added “Thank you guys for trying, I think it’s cute.”

          The other boys walked in and sat down at the table as Leeteuk placed Amber in her highchair and gave her, her sippie-cup. “It’s still weird to having a girl in the house,” Donghae said. “I wonder what girls think about.”

          Heechul glanced over casually at Ryeowook and Sungmin and asked “Why don’t you just ask the ones we have?”

          “Donghae, she’s two, I don’t think she thinks about anything,” Yesung figured. Turning to Amber, Yesung asked “Do you think about things?” Amber continued to drink from her sippie-cup, ignoring her older brother.

          “That’s the beauty of being a child, you don’t have to think about things; you can just let your mind wander for hours,” Donghae said.

          “That explains a lot about you Donghae,” Heechul mumbled.

          “Dude be nice to my boyfriend,” Eunhyuk requested.

          “Well I can’t help it if your boyfriend’s an idiot,” Heechul stated.

          Suddenly Amber began giggling, causing the boys to look at her. Pointing to Donghae, Amber babbled “Idiot, idiot.” She clapped her hands and laughed after saying each word. The teenage Koreans couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at the little girl.

          “No ma’am, you do not call your brother an idiot,” Leeteuk scolded before setting down some cereal for Amber. The brunette Korean parent turned to the teenagers in front of him and continued “And you eight should watch what you say around her, Amber is very impressionable at this age.”

          “Leeteuk, by the time she’s our age, she’ll be saying words worse than that,” Heechul reminded.

          “Well I don’t want you boys to ruin her innocence to soon. She’s the baby and I want her to stay my baby as long as possible, understood?” Leeteuk responded.

          “Yes Leeteuk,” the boys muttered in unison.

          Later that morning, when all of the boys reached school, they said goodbye to their significant other before entering their appropriate classes. As Yesung and Heechul entered their math class, Yesung spotted a familiar face amongst their classmates. “Jackson?” Yesung asked, walking over to his desk.

          Jackson turned and grinned. “Hey Yesung, how’ve you been dude?” he wondered.

          “Oh God, he’s here now,” Heechul whispered to himself before sitting at his own desk.

          “I’ve been good, been good; so did you just transfer here or something?” Yesung inquired.

          “Yeah, my family had to move into Seoul for work purposes so they just transferred me here,” Jackson explained.

          “Well that’s awesome,” Yesung agreed. “Isn’t that awesome Heechul?”

          “Oh yes Yesung, I’m practically ting myself at the excitement of your reuniting,” Heechul sarcastically stated as he rolled his eyes.

          “Alright dude, Jackson’s back,” they heard someone say. Turning their heads, Jackson, Yesung, and Heechul saw Yesung’s former band friends, now classmates, Chanyeol and Dongwoo, walk over.

          “Oh dear God no,” Heechul pleaded as he gripped his head in his hands.

          “When did you get here?” Chanyeol wondered.

          “I just got here this morning,” Jackson informed. Looking around, Jackson noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Eric at?”

          “Oh yeah, Eric got a scholarship to some elite American school in Boston, so he’s studying there for a couple of years,” Dongwoo explained.

          Everyone quieted down as the math lesson began. “Alright, can anyone give me the answer to this problem?” the teacher requested.

          “Dude, what did you get?” Jackson whispered over to his friends.

          “I got like twenty,” Dongwoo muttered.

          “I guessed twenty also,” Chanyeol agreed.

          “I answered twenty three,” Yesung added.

          “Oh, cuz I got seven,” Jackson mumbled.

          Yesung laughed. “Dude you’re way off,” he said.

          “No I’m way off,” Jackson replied.

          “And yes, the correct answer was twenty,” the teacher announced as she wrote it on the board.

          “Damn, I hate this subject,” Jackson grumbled as he angrily erased his answer and wrote the right one down.

          “Now don’t forget everyone, we will be having our test over the material next Monday, so be prepared,” the teacher informed.

          When class ended, Yesung offered “You know guys, you three could come over to my house this weekend and we could study for this test, cuz I don’t need to fail.”

          “Yeah, I’m down with that,” Chanyeol accepted as Dongwoo nodded in agreement.

          “Plus you guys can meet my new little sister,” Yesung added.

          “Is your mom gonna be there?” Jackson wondered.

          “Well yeah dude, that’s where we live,” Yesung replied.

          A smile grew across Jackson’s lips. “Alright, count me in too,” he said.

          “Awesome, this is gonna be great,” Yesung excitedly stated.

          “Um, Yesung, I don’t mean to damper the spirits of you and the three stooges, but you do remember that dad does not like Jackson right? I mean last time dad was around Jackson, he wanted to strangle him for hitting on Leeteuk,” Heechul reminded.

          “Heechul that was months ago, I’m sure Jackson’s matured by now,” Yesung figured.

          “You never cease to amaze me bro,” Heechul said, gripping Yesung’s shoulder.

          “Thanks Heechul,” Yesung replied with a grin.

          “Dude, that wasn’t a compliment,” Heechul informed.

          “So yeah Yesung, when can we come over to your house?” Jackson wondered.

          “Probably Saturday, but be warned, my little sister likes to join in on conversations even though she can’t talk,” Yesung precautioned.

          “Alright Saturday gives me enough time to prepare,” Jackson muttered to himself.

          “Prepare for what?” Dongwoo asked.

          “Oh nothing,” Jackson said, turning away from his friends.

          “You better hope he doesn’t try to hit on Leeteuk and Kangin come back, cuz he will ing murder Jackson,” Heechul warned Yesung.

          “Don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control,” Yesung promised.

          “That’s what scares me,” Heechul responded.

          Later that evening, after the boys returned home from school, they heard Amber shout “Oppas!” as she ran into the living room and hugged Donghae and Sungmin around their legs before hugging Heechul and Yesung.

          “Hey Amber, how are you?” Donghae asked as he picked up the little girl.

          “What’d you do today?” Sungmin inquired as he let her grip one of his fingers.

          Amber made a noise and motioned for Donghae to put her down, so the brunette complied. The girl grabbed her brother’s hands and dragged them towards the kitchen. Once there, she showed the boys a painting she made earlier that day that had been placed onto the fridge. “Oh cool,” Eunhyuk complimented.

          “What is it?” Kyuhyun wondered.

          “Llama,” she replied.

          “But that doesn’t look like –” Yesung started, before being gently jabbed in the ribs by Ryeowook.

          “Be nice Yesungie, she’s only two,” Ryeowook reminded.

          “Hi boys,” Leeteuk greeted as he entered the kitchen and picked up Amber.

          “Hi Leeteuk,” they replied.

          “Hey mom, can I have some friends over this weekend to study for a test on Monday?” Yesung requested.

          “Sure, that’s fine sweetheart,” Leeteuk agreed.

          “Great thanks,” Yesung said.

          “Who’s coming over?” Eunhyuk asked.

          “Dongwoo and Chanyeol and –” Yesung started.

          “And that weirdo Jackson,” Heechul finished.

          “Dude, Jackson’s not that bad,” Yesung defended.

          “Is this the same guy who tried to hit on Leeteuk like a few months ago?” Kyuhyun wondered.

          “Yep, the same one,” Heechul confirmed.

          Kyuhyun laughed before saying “This is gonna be quite the show.”

          As Leeteuk cooked dinner, the boys worked on their homework, while simultaneously watching Amber color in her coloring book. Suddenly, Leeteuk’s cell phone rang, vibrating against the countertop next to the stove. Reaching over, Leeteuk answered “Hello?”

          “Hi baby,” Kangin said from the other end.

          Leeteuk’s heard pounded rapidly at hearing his husband’s voice. “Kangin?” he whispered.

          “Leeteuk I miss you, I’m so sorry about everything and –” Kangin started.

          “Kangin,” Leeteuk interrupted as tears pricked at his eyes. “I don’t care about any of that anymore; I just miss you so much and want you to come back. Please, please honey come home; I need you here with me. The boys want you to come back, and our little girl is dying to meet her daddy.”

          Kangin covered his mouth in an attempt to shadow his crying. “I’m ready to come back,” he informed. “I’ll finish out the week here and be back this Saturday afternoon. Is that alright?”

          “Yes Kangin, that’s perfect, I just want you home with me and our kids again,” Leeteuk cried, smearing the tears off his cheeks.

          Kangin squeezed his eyes shut to prevent anymore tears from falling and whispered “I love you baby.”

          “I love you too, I’ll see you this weekend,” Leeteuk echoed.

          “Yes you will,” Kangin promised before hanging up the phone. Leeteuk wiped his eyes as he also hung up his phone and grinned to himself. Finally after almost a month, his husband was going to be coming back home.

          That Saturday afternoon, the front doorbell rang. “I got it,” Yesung announced as he ran downstairs. Opening the front door, Yesung welcomed Dongwoo, Chanyeol, and Jackson inside. “Thanks for coming over guys.”

          “No problem, hey dude is your mom here?” Jackson wondered.

          “Yeah, Leeteuk is in the kitchen, c’mon guys,” Yesung said, leading his friends into the kitchen, where they found Leeteuk holding Amber as she drank some juice. “Leeteuk my friends are here.”

          “Oh hi boys, nice to see you again,” Leeteuk greeted as he gently bounced Amber up and down in his arms.

          “Hello Leeteuk, you make motherhood look hot,” Jackson praised, leaning causally against the counter.

          “Real subtle dude,” Dongwoo whispered.

          “Well, um, thank you Jackson, I guess,” Leeteuk replied.

          “Who’s this little cutie?” Chanyeol wondered as he looked at Amber.

          “Baby girl, can you tell them your name?” Leeteuk inquired to the little two year old girl.

          “I’m Amber,” the girl informed, waving at the new boys.

          “C’mon guys, we should probably go start studying,” Yesung suggested.

          “Okay,” Dongwoo and Chanyeol agreed.

          “If you boys need anything, just let me know,” Leeteuk offered.

          After studying for a few hours, Jackson went downstairs to get something to drink and noticed Leeteuk was washing dishes. He grinned before walking over to the brunette parent. “Why are you washing dishes?” Jackson wondered. Jackson immediately kicked himself mentally, thinking, damn Jackson, what a stupid thing to ask.

          “Well someone in this house has to,” Leeteuk replied with a smile. “Oh Jackson could you do me a favor?”

          Jackson’s eyes widened as he straightened up and said “Of course Leeteuk, I’d do everything to you; I mean, I’d do anything for you.”

          “Would you mind taking those drinks up for you and the other boys?” Leeteuk inquired as he pointed over to the bottles of soda sitting on the counter.

          “Oh, sure Leeteuk,” Jackson responded, with slight disappointment in his voice. He grabbed the bottles and carried them upstairs for himself, Dongwoo, Chanyeol, and Yesung.

          As Leeteuk finished drying the last dish off, he heard the front door open, and his name be called. Immediately, Leeteuk rushed to the front doorway entrance and found Kangin standing there with a duffel bag at his side. Both of their hearts pounded loudly as they stared at one another, neither of them knowing what to say. Finally, Kangin broke the silence and muttered “I missed you baby.”

          That caused Leeteuk to run over to Kangin and wrap his arms around his husband as Kangin mirrored his actions. The two spouses held one another closely before Kangin kissed Leeteuk’s lips lovingly. “I missed you too,” Leeteuk echoed as they leaned their foreheads together.

          “I’m so sorry Leeteuk, I’m so sorry about everything,” Kangin whispered. “But I’m going to counseling now to help me with my problem.”

          “That’s fine baby, I’m proud that you’re doing something about it,” Leeteuk responded, placing his hands on Kangin’s face. “I’m just so happy that you’re home again.”

          “I am too, I’ve missed you and the boys,” Kangin repeated before kissing at Leeteuk’s neck.

          “There’s someone who’s been dying to meet you,” Leeteuk announced. “I’ll go get her.” A few moments later, Leeteuk returned carrying Amber. “Sweetheart, look who’s finally home.”

          Kangin smiled as the little girl looked at him. She looked at Kangin and then looked at Leeteuk before pointing and asking “Appa?”

          “Yes Amber, that’s daddy,” Leeteuk confirmed before setting Amber down on the ground.

          Kangin knelt down to where he was eye-level with Amber and muttered “Hi there Amber.”

          The little two year old ran over to Kangin with outstretched arms and shouting “Daddy! Daddy!”

          Kangin wrapped his arms around the little girl and held Amber close as he stood up and picked her up. “Yes baby, it’s daddy,” he whispered as tears welled in his eyes. Leeteuk walked over to them as Kangin asked “How long have you had her?”

          “The boys and I went and picked her up last week,” Leeteuk explained. “She’s been adjusting just fine. The boys love her, and she loves it here.”

          “Eomma, appa, juice please,” Amber said.

          “You want some juice Amber?” Leeteuk asked. The little girl nodded rapidly.

          Before they could do anything else, Jackson hurried downstairs and asked “Hey Leeteuk is there anything else you’d like me to do for you?”

          “Jackson, what are you doing in my house?” Kangin inquired.

          “I’m studying with Yesung,” Jackson informed.

          “And he’s been offering to help me do chores around the house,” Leeteuk added. “He’s being very helpful.”

          “Well someone as nice and as sweet and as attractive as you Leeteuk should –” Jackson started.

          “Alright that’s it, get your goofy out of my house until you can learn to not hit on my wife you teenage ert,” Kangin demanded, pointing at the front door.

          “Y-yes sir,” Jackson agreed, hurrying out of the house.

          Kangin sighed before muttering “I swear I’m going to have to talk to Yesung about the friends he makes.”

          “Honey I don’t think Jackson was trying to hit on me,” Leeteuk innocently defended.

          “I admire your innocence dear,” Kangin complimented before looking at Amber and adding “Please never grow up and date boys like Jackson, understand?”

          “Juice,” Amber repeated, clapping her hands together.

          “Oh right, let’s go get you some juice sweetheart,” Kangin said as he carried Amber into the kitchen with Leeteuk following.