“Taemin! Get out of the kitchen and be useful!” You grumbled as you tried to look for your baby’s bottle. Your husband pouted and mussed his hair, clearly not realizing that as a father his mental capacity should be well above that of a child’s. You bumped him out of the way and hurried back into the nursery.

            It was tiring always having to look after the two babies in the house. Your son was curled against the blankets and his arms shook when he saw you. He gurgled and tried to speak in his incoherent language.

            “Aigoo, how is the little Taejin doing today?” You wrinkled your nose at him and picked him up. “Is baby hungry?” You carried him over to the rocking chair and settled him against the nook of your left arm. You tilted the bottle and placed it by the baby’s lips.

            Your son greedily and drained half the bottle within minutes. Taemin walked in, in a similar pose. He was sipping banana milk through a straw. “Taejin eats well, like his appa,” he proclaimed proudly and you rolled your eyes.

            As much as you loved him, sometimes Taemin really tested your nerves. “Tae, can you help me a bit around the house? I’m really tired. I honestly haven’t slept the whole night through in a long time.”

            He bit his bottom lip. “As much as I love you, I have to run to practice. I’m sorry. We’re preparing for a new album soon.”

            You sighed. “It’s always SHINee first, isn’t it?” You muttered. He heard you from the doorway but decided to drop it. You were already testy as is. He knew better than to add fuel to the fire.

            “I’ll bring home dinner!” he called, trying to alleviate some of the burden.

            “Right,” you grumbled. “Because dinner is such a big deal.”

            Left alone in the house, you started to clean. You kept Taejin in his portable playpen so you could roll him into the various rooms. You mopped, swept and cleaned all the windows. It was refreshing to be able to clean everything. You took a break once in a while to play with Taejin before going back to vacuuming and rearranging.           

            By the time Taemin came back, you were tired and were grateful that he had offered to bring home dinner. You cradled Taejin in your arms and heard the doors open. “Honey, I’m home.”

            Taemin walked in. Empty-handed. You raised an eyebrow. “What’s for dinner?”

            It took him a second and then Taemin froze. His face collapsed and he radiated guilt. “I completely forgot. We worked so late and all I could think about was getting home and, I’m sorry.” He finished lamely.

            You glared at him. Angry tears filled your eyes and you placed Taejin into his rocker. “I’ll get it.” Taemin followed you into the kitchen, still apologizing.

            You slammed the pans and made stir-fry. You sliced the vegetables and cursed. You examined the bleeding finger irritably. “Fantastic. Just what I need.” Gentle hands came around you and Taemin took the knife from you.

            “Let me do it.” You watched as he patiently sliced the lettuce and onions, putting them together with potatoes and apples. He worked methodically and placed the dishes in front of you. “Eat.”

            He watched you for a long time and when the baby cried, it was he who stood up. “I got him.” The sudden maturity awed you but you weren’t one to look the gift horse in the mouth. If he was finally taking his parenting responsibilities seriously, who were you to complain?

            He came back with your son clinging onto him and you sighed. “Taemin, you don’t leave the baby’s hanging for the world to see when you’re searching for a diaper. All the supplies are already in the bag.” He smiled at you sheepishly.

            “Oops, didn’t know that.” Of course he didn’t. He never bothered knowing.

            Taemin could read you like a book and seeing the way you stabbed angrily at the noodles confirmed things. He knew that he had done wrong again. “Taejin-ah, tomorrow appa will do better.” He added a bit of banana milk into the baby formula and settled down to feed him.

            The next morning, you felt the sun shining in your eyes. Wait. The sun shining in your eyes? You rolled over and felt the slight soreness of a long night of sleep. The house was strangely devoid of baby crying. The light from the window was too bright. You felt too comfortable. Everything was too surreal.

            You pushed your feet into slippers and walked out to the hallway. The nursery door was ajar and you peeked in. Empty. You padded out to the front and saw two figures sitting by the dining table.

            “Taejin wants banana?” Taemin gushed and mushed a banana into a bowl. He added sprinkles of soft crackers and fed the spoonful of concoction to his son.

            “Taemin?” He turned towards you and smiled brightly.

            “You’re awake!”

            “Don’t you have practice? Am I dreaming?”

            “Pinch yourself. I cancelled it. Jinki-hyung will deal. Taejin’s more important right now. You look beautiful. Beauty rest indeed.”

            You stood behind him and observed the scene before you. “Why though?”

            Taemin continued feeding Taejin and the baby gurgled with happiness. The food was getting around his mouth and Taemin wiped the mess away. “Aigoo, look at you, getting food all over.”

            You watched, mesmerized as Taemin picked Taejin up and carried him into the play room. “Umma can join if she wants,” he stuck his head out the door and called for you. You followed them in.

            Taemin placed the baby on the bed and kneeled in front of him. He brandished a brand new teddy bear. He poked the toy’s stomach. “In and out. Look at the fluffy bear. It’s wearing blue. Isn’t that Taejinnie’s favorite color?”

            Taemin smiled angelically at your son and he broke out into a similar smile. Your husband waved the bear’s limbs around and spoke in different voices as he reenacted a story.

            “And the bear flew into the air, trying to rescue the poor princess.” He spoke in a mock deep voice. “Help me! Help me!” he spoke in his falsetto. “The bear spotted his best friend Taejin and said, ‘Taejin, let’s go rescue the beautiful princess!’” Taemin picked him up and swooped towards you.

            “Look! The princess is smiling! She’s happy! Let’s give her a big fat kiss.” He placed your son against your cheek and you felt him nuzzle you. Taejin shrieked with laughter and clutched at the bear and you leaned into Taemin.

            “You’re the best, Taeminnie.”

            He smiled at you. “And you’re the epitome of perfection. Let’s grab some banana milk?” 

requested by my best friend

YAY 

I hope you likes Lia :3