"He should be talking by now," Suho muttered as he flipped through the parenting book he had picked up in town. Suho got a bit worried, since Sehun hasn't start talking yet.

"Maybe he's shy?" Kai suggested.

"Maybe the sight of your face shocked him into silence," Tao laughed.

"Boys," came the gentle admonishment.

"Well, it's gotta be hard, right?" Xiumin reasoned.

"Kris wasn't the most talkative person either." Kai said softly.

At the offhand comment, Kai received an elbow in the ribs from Tao.

"Don't call him that." Suho's voice lost its amusement and a stony countenance replaced his prior grin.

"Not in this house."
 

Suho eased himself down to the floor from his chair to watch over Sehun as he splashed in the bathtub. Tao had come running into the study not ten minutes earlier with a white-covered baby in his arms.

"Daddy! Sehunnie got into the flour again!"

"How many times have I told you to keep the flour out of his reach?"

"It was!"

Suho shook his head as Sehun held up a sponge and watched it drop back into the water with wide-eyed fascination.

"Troublemaker," he chuckled, and then more quietly, "How alike you two are."

He thought of the voice which had been echoing in his head since before dawn. Reinforcing his mental shields against Kris’ memories took an energy he wasn't sure he could afford and caused a pain he didn't think he could bear.

He missed him. Utterly and completely.

Suho ran his fingers over the terrycloth bathmat that his bare feet couldn't feel. Rarely did he let his thoughts drift to Kris - to the person he loved and lost. He could still feel him on the periphery of his mind.

And as tempting as that complicated man was, Suho had other things to attend to. Like the child currently getting more water out of the bathtub than in.

"Sweetheart, no no no…" And just as Suho began to admonish Sehun, he got a faceful of soapy water. Grinning, he wiped the suds from his eyes. "Was that re