You woke up later that morning to the sound of food being cooked along with plenty of chatter coming from outside your room. You sat up in your bed and rubbed your eyes sleepily. You glanced at the clock and sat that it was already 9 in the morning. It was way past Minhyuk’s morning feeding and you wondered why he didn’t wake you up with his crying. You got your answer soon enough when you glanced over at the cot beside your bed and saw that it was empty.

You got out of bed and stretched as you walked towards your bedroom door. You left your room and headed to the source of all the noise– the kitchen. You stood in the doorway to the kitchen and let your eyes wander. Kibum was cooking at the stove, Taemin was sitting at the counter watching Kibum, Jinki was sitting beside Taemin but had his head on the table and looked like he was sleeping with his eyes open, Minho was holding Minhyuk in his arms as Jonghyun entertained him by playing peek-a-boo.

“All of you are up early.” You said while stifling a yawn, drawing everyone’s attention to yourself.

“Well, all of us owe that to Taemin’s stomach. He barged into my room this morning and woke us up just because he was hungry and wanted someone to make him food.” Kibum complained but still continued to cook.

Taemin pouted but didn’t say anything.

“Aww.. But Taeminnie is still growing so he needs to eat if he is to grow taller.” You sided and Taemin nodded his agreement.

“Why are you siding him? You should side me!” Kibum protested. He still had his back to you but you could hear that he was pouting.

“I’m not siding with him. I’m just stating the truth! Don’t be upset, cupcake. I’ll help you, alright?” You reasoned and went to stand beside him.

You ended up making the French toast and pouring out the juice as Kibum prepared the scambled egg and bacon. Taemin and Jonghyun had to set the table while Minho sat at the counter with a still hyper Minhyuk in his lap, and Jinki was still passed out on the countertop.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” You quietly asked Kibum when the rest were preoccupied with what they were tasked to do.

“Taeminnie said that you looked tired last night. He wanted to let you get more sleep so I went into your room when it was around the time you wake up to feed Minhyuk and switched off your alarm. Minhyuk was already beginning to wake so I carried him outside and prepared his bottle.” He paused and glanced over at Minho. “Both he and Jjong have been obsessing over Minhyuk since then. With them around, I think you’ll be able to get plenty of rest over the next few days.”

You took another glance at Minho and smiled when you saw your son smiling happily as Minho bounced him gently in his lap.

“Well, they can babysit Minhyuk for the afternoon then. I need to go out and buy more food and ingredients for dinner tomorrow, seeing that we have many more mouths to feed.”

“Oh right. Sorry about this. I really didn’t know that they will be coming. Should I go with you?” He offered.

“No no. It’s alright, I’ll manage. Anyway, someone needs to be here to supervise them. I’m not sure that they can handle Minhyuk, for an entire afternoon, on their own.”

“Hmm, that’s true. But you’ll call if you need help right?” He asked.

“Yup! Don’t worry. I won’t get into trouble.” You laughed.

Having breakfast with all of them was a whole new experience itself. By the time you had strapped Minhyuk into his bouncy chair and sat down in your chair, everyone but Key and Minho had already began eating. Minho gave you a sheepish smile while Key smiled apologetically. You returned their smiles with a grin and the three of you began to tuck into the food as well. You discovered that Jinki and Taemin were like black holes and could eat an amazing amount of food, which explained why Kibum had made extra portions of food.

Minhyuk was surprisingly still awake and was playing with his hands when you were done with breakfast. You wanted to pick him up but Kibum shooed you off to go and get ready and said that he would take care of Minhyuk. You quickly got ready and left the house not long after because you had a lot of things to accomplish before dinner.

Even though you had informed Kibum that you were only going out because you needed to get extra ingredients, you were also planning to go to the mall to get Christmas presents for Jinki and the rest and also drop by Korea Town to get some banana milk for Taemin.

After walking through the mall for what seemed like hours, you finally managed to get everyone a present before you took a bus to Korea Town, got a couple of bottles of banana and strawberry milk and then finally headed to the supermarket. You chose a medium-sized turkey and bought some chicken fillets as well, thinking that Jinki would like it if you made a chicken dish for dinner later.

When you finally arrived back home, you were greeted by the sight of Jonghyun, Minho and Taemin doing a silly dance in front of Minhyuk, who was in his bouncy chair, and Minhyuk obviously enjoying what he was seeing, if the huge smile on his face was any indication at all. Minhyuk was the first to notice your presence as he turned his head and stretched his arms out, wanting to be carried but both your hands were full so you quickly went into your room and put the presents down and put the rest of the groceries in the kitchen before going back and picking Minhyuk up from his chair.

You played with him for a bit before you remembered about dinner and handed Minhyuk back to Taemin to watch over. You didn’t miss the slightly embarrassed look on Minho’s face, obviously from you witnessing him doing a silly dance earlier, but you decided not make it any worse for him by keeping mum about it.

You didn’t notice it before, because you were in a rush to get back to Minhyuk, but Kibum was already bustling around the kitchen and starting on dinner.

“Hey! Sorry for not noticing you earlier.” You said, sheepishly.

“It’s alright. Minhyuk?” He smiled and guessed.

“Yeah. He wanted me to carry him.” You explained and he nodded.

“So what are you making for dinner?” You asked.

“Oh, just something simple. I’m making lasagne. Is that ok?” He asked.

You nodded. “Of course it is! But do you mind if I grill some chicken fillets to go with it? I was at the supermarket and thought that Jinki would like to have some chicken for dinner.”

Kibum narrowed his eyes a little and wordlessly came to stand beside you before nudging you in your side. “Do you have a thing for Jinki hyung? How do you know so much about him?”

You gasped. “What?! No!! It’s just like how I know Taemin loves banana milk!... No!”

He burst out laughing, even holding onto his stomach at one point. “You should have seen your face.” He said in a strangled voice while trying to control himself.

Just then, Taemin’s head popped into the kitchen. “I heard banana milk. Is there any?”

“Here you go.” You reached into the plastic bag and handed Taemin a bottle of banana milk.

“Thanks, noona!! You’re the best!” He chirped and you reached out and ruffled his hair. “Oh, you bought strawberry milk too? That’s Jinki hyung’s favourite.” He commented as he snuck a peek into the bag.

You heard roar of laughter erupt from behind you as Taemin bounced innocently out of the kitchen.

“Will you stop laughing at me?!” You huffed in feigned anger but Kibum saw right through your act and continued laughing.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Jinki was standing out on the patio observing the two of you as Kibum continued to laugh and tease you and you pretended to be angry at him.

He let out a heavy sigh. This was going to be harder than he imagined.

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I hope 2012 is treating everyone alright so far!! :)