[A15] TWELFTH NIGHT
Prompt Code: A15
Title: Twelfth Night
Rating: G
Side Pairings (if any): faux!sulay, xiuchen (you’ll see what I mean)
Warnings: mpreg
Word Count: 6,804
Summary: Jongin’s having a hard time calming his and Kyungsoo’s eleven sons while Kyungsoo is giving birth to a twelfth.
AN: Thank you for the prompt! Fluff was never my forte but I definitely had enormous fun writing this one, especially in writing all the different personalities and interactions :3 I hope there’s still enough Kaisoo in it uwu but thank you prompter and thank you mods for giving me this chance to write! Last but not least HUGE thanks to my beta for everything you’ve done for me and this fic, words cannot express my gratitude and I hope your girl likes it! For clarification, these are the ages: Junmyeon (16), Baekhyun and Chanyeol (15), Yifan (14), Sehun (12), Minseok (10), Yixing and Jongdae (8), Luhan (6), Tao (2), Kai (1), and lastly baby Dyo. Please don’t ask me how on earth Kyungsoo managed to give birth to twelve kids.
“So, I’ve made up my mind.” Jongin looked up into the rearview mirror to meet Kyungsoo’s determined gaze. Kyungsoo rarely took no for an answer when he said that, like the night he proposed to Jongin, or when he decided he wanted an entire football team of kids, including the coach.
“I want to deliver this one at home.” Jongin almost crashed into a rubbish can. “What for?” He asked, “The hospital’s been great for the past years.”
“Well, unless you don’t want to be by my side, who can look after the kids?” Kyungsoo rebuked patiently, “It’s the summer holidays, so all the kids will be here. Your sisters and my brother are all not in the country. Lay already told me he has a thesis paper to write and he can’t babysit. We can’t dump our kids in daycare either, you know how Luhan and Minseok are in new places, and I might go into labour in the middle of the night. It’s better if both of us are home to take care of the children.”
“Junmyeon is a big boy, he and the twins can take care of their younger brothers,” Jongin frowned as he almost missed the exit of the highway, “I’m sure Yifan and Sehun will help as well.”
“Nini, Sehun is 12,” Kyungsoo answered from the backseat, annoyance leaking into his voice, “He’s at the phase where he doesn’t listen to us.”
“Well, we could ask our neighbours for help,” Jongin said, driving down the carpark of the hospital. Kyungsoo’s irritated hiss made Jongin snap to attention. “If you think I’ll let that pair of... ruffians take care of my children you’re absolutely wrong. They’ll have Yixing bruised all over and Tao in tears before I even get to the hospital. I’m delivering at home.”
“Chen and Xiumin aren’t that bad,” Jongin argued half-heartedly, but he had to admit those two were much more prone to fireworks than anyone he had ever met. Also, the look Kyungsoo was giving him was the I’ll-make-you-sleep-on-the-couch look, if not for the fact that Jongin had exiled himself onto the couch to avoid hurting his husband in his sleep.
Fortunately Jongin redeemed himself by offering up the plum flavored energy bars when little Dyo began to kick again, and with Kyungsoo in tow, he finally made it up inside the facility. Kris was already waiting for them, idly twirling a pen between his fingers. “I was just about to see if I could find your body in a ditch somewhere,” He joked as Jongin entered.
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes but let their family doctor help him onto the bed. The three of them had already been through this drill so many times Jongin had stopped feeling flippant when Kris nonchalantly poked at his husband’s genitals, nodding to himself as he wrote down whatever he needed on his clipboard.
“Kris, I want to deliver this one at home,” Soo voiced out as Kris prepared the ultrasound. “Why not?” The doctor replied as he smeared the gel over Kyungsoo’s belly. Jongin squawked in indignation. “Is it even safe?” He spluttered, and Kyungsoo’s hand tightened around his own.
In response Kris just stuffed a bunch of pamphlets in his hand and sent him on his merry way.
He returned with the car trunk filled with plastic wraps, and a proud Kyungsoo was waiting outside of the clinic. “You did well,” He said, giving Jongin a chaste kiss at the corner of his mouth.
Little Dyo was doing well and Kris proclaimed that Kyungsoo would probably go into labour in a few weeks, give or take. His head was where it was supposed to be and it never failed to amaze Jongin the way the baby’s fingers moved around, even if it was the 12th time he had gone through this.
Riding on that bubbly feeling, Jongin helped his husband totter up the doorstep. The lights were blazing out the windows, so it was likely that none of the kids were actually asleep like they were meant to, but Jongin was so happy he couldn’t bring himself to care.
He opened the door, wide smile on his face mirrored on Kyungsoo’s own, Dyo’s last ultrasound tucked away safely in Jongin’s jacket. He couldn’t wait to share it with the kids. Their eldest, Junmyeon, greeted them in the foyer.
“I tried, dad.” He said wearily.
“Perhaps we should’ve just adopted puppies,” Kyungsoo deadpanned, “At least they say ‘hi’ to you when you come home.” Chanyeol and Baekhyun were sprawled in the middle of the living room, three tins of biscuits open, crumbs all over the carpet. To think the twins were only one year younger than Junmyeon. Yifan and Sehun were nowhere to be seen, most probably once again holed up in Sehun’s room gaming, if indicated by the loud explosives resonating through the house.
Minseok, who was 10, was roped into playing with Luhan as usual, the 6 year old running circles around his older brother as they chased each other in some form of hide and seek that Jongin did not understand. Of course, they stepped on the crumbs as they went and spread them all around like Hansel and Gretel in the forest.
Somehow Yixing was sleeping through all the ruckus, the newest addition to the household (one year ago) Kai lazing in his arms, both of them curled up on the sofa. Jongdae was lying across his twin’s legs, petting Yixing’s feet absent-mindedly as he watched the television, occasionally snapping at Minseok when he ran in front of the cartoon.
Then Kai perked up, hair mushed up to a side from Yixing’s stomach, and shouted his favourite words. Well, the only words Kai knew, but everyone had that stage. “Papa! Appa!” The baby shrieked, rousing Yixing groggily and Jongin crossed the room in long strides, immediately picking the baby up and cuddling him.
Jongdae’s foot kicked him repeatedly in the hip, the 8 year old protesting loudly that he was blocking the television, while Yixing sleepily stared at his twin, trying to figure out why he was screaming. Chanyeol and Baekhyun jumped in fright and tried to stuff the biscuit tins under the table, hastily smearing their grubby hands on the carpet.
“EVERYONE STOP!” Kyungsoo screamed- no, commanded.
Kai started crying.
In a matter of minutes Kyungsoo had kicked everyone to bed, fed both babies, screamed at Sehun, made the twins promise to vacuum tomorrow, administered Yixing’s shot under Jongdae’s watchful eye, sang Luhan and Minseok a lullaby, and changed Tao and Kai’s nappies. Meanwhile Jongin wrestled with Junmyeon metaphorically on whether or not Junmyeon needed to stay up to revise for a test that wouldn’t take place for three months.
After Jongin managed to tuck his eldest to bed amidst protests and disgusted expressions, he planted himself face first on his own, comfy, king-sized bed, before springing up immediately when he realized Kyungsoo was laughing next to him. “Gimme a minute,” he yawned, “I’ll change and go out to the living room.
“Jongin, you really don’t have to,” Kyungsoo said softly, “It feels strange without you next to me.”
Jongin leaned down to plant a sleepy kiss on Kyungsoo’s temple as he removed his jeans. “It’s alright,” he replied, “I am kinda glad that Dyo is going to be our last one, though. Been a bit hard to pamper you with a baby between us.”
“You weren’t doing a great job of it anyway,” Kyungsoo said drily, “I married you just because of your sperm, you know.”
Jongin made a small noise of protest, but bade his husband goodnight and left the room.
The halls were eerily quiet now that all the kids were off to bed, the rambunctious energy now dissolved into zero. He could hear Kyungsoo shifting in their room as he prepared himself for bed.
He himself sank into a fitful sleep, overwhelmed by dreams of donuts and baby penguins.
The next few weeks passed without much fanfare. The kids were riding on their summer holiday high, except for Junmyeon who was panicking about entrance exams. Sometimes Jongin wished Chanyeol and Baekhyun were more like their older brother, but when he sees Junmyeon hyperventilating in the middle of dinner... Maybe not.
Jongin was poked awake by Kyungsoo one night. His husband had one hand over his belly, and Jongin immediately sprung up in alarm. He helped Kyungsoo lie on the couch to wait out the contractions, trying to hide his nerves. The Kyungsoo smiled up at him, fondly, affectionately, and Jongin smiled back.
Kris was called and Jongin tried not to panic as he paced in the foyer. It was early enough in the morning that the kids were still sleeping, and as soon as Kris arrived the two of them moved Kyungsoo into the nursery that was now wrapped in waterproof plastic. Kyungsoo bore the pain by squeezing the life out of Jongin’s arms, but (as usual) he obeyed his husband’s every command. “I’ll be fine with Kris here,” Kyungsoo gasped out, “I’ll call you if I need you.”
Jongin knew it would be a few hours before anything really happened, so he trudged to the bathroom reluctantly. He found Jongdae inside with his pants down, and his son screamed bloody murder at having his privacy invaded, while Jongin screamed back for him to actually lock the damn door when he peed.
The house seemed much noisier, then, with the silence broken by the impromptu squabble. Jongin was certain Junmyeon was already up in his room revising, judging by the faint scribbling noises that came from his room, or the unmistakable hum of his laptop and Junmyeon’s quiet murmurs, likely on a skype call with Lay to debate about something intellectual and way out of Jongin’s league.
Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Yifan shared the next room, even though Kyungsoo had repeatedly proposed moving one of them into Junmyeon’s room, who hardly spent time home on regular school days, but all of them declined. The lights were off, but Jongin could almost be sure that he could hear rapid, light thuds of fingers against phones.
Out of habit he checked Sehun’s room, but the lack of glowing from under the door was enough to assure him that the boy was asleep like he was supposed to be. Kyungsoo had been adamant that Sehun room with Junmyeon, hoping that some things of Junmyeon would rub off on the rebellious kid, but Jongin let him sleep in the unofficial gaming room instead of bothering his older brother.
The next door was slightly open, and he peeked in to see Yixing curled up in bed fast asleep, almost swamped by the amount of soft toys he had. Jongdae’s sheets were kickbacked, but Jongin knew he was in the toilet, so he didn’t worry too much. While mischievous, the younger pair of twins would never give Jongin and Kyungsoo as much headaches as their older twin brothers did.
On the other side of the room, Luhan had escaped his own bed and was tangled in Minseok’s sheets again. Chuckling quietly, Jongin readjusted the sheets to tuck the 6 year old in properly. Both Luhan and Minseok were due for a haircut anytime, judging by the way Minseok sneezed lightly when Luhan’s hair got into his nose.
The last room was Jongin’s own master bedroom, with Tao and Kai sleeping soundly in it. The two used to be in the nursery, right next door, but Kyungsoo turned his nose against the idea of sullying their bedroom with blood, and the nursery was already baby proof and sanitized regularly.
Jongin cooked everyone breakfast (and burnt the toast slightly but hey) and herded them all into the living room. Tried to, at least. Sehun and Yifan slunk up to Sehun’s room when Jongin’s back was turned, while the two set of twins had disappeared to god knows where to do their shenanigans.
At least Junmyeon, Luhan, and Kai were playing in the corner, Luhan actually deigning to share his trains with someone who weren’t Jongin, Kyungsoo, or Minseok. Speaking of the 10 year old, he had had the house’s second youngest, Tao, in his lap just a minute ago... Where the f- cat was he?
Oh wait. Kyungsoo wasn’t here. He could swear.
“Where’s Minseok?” He asked in the direction of the kids. Junmyeon looked up briefly and shrugged, before devoting his attention back to Kai, but Luhan abandoned the trains at the mention of Minseok.
“He took Tao to peepee,” Luhan announced loudly, wandering over. “The toilet, Luhan,” Jongin corrected, “We don’t say peepee.”
“Peepee toilet.” The six year old sighed. “Come play with us daddy!”
“Nah,” He said, patting Luhan’s head briefly, “I gotta look for your brothers. Go play with your trains, okay?”
“But my brothers are already here?” Luhan argued, “It’s borrring with Myeonie and Kai. They don’t know any stories.”
“Don’t be mean,” Jongin frowned, “You have a lot of brothers, you know.” Luhan pouted and stamped his foot, but Jongin picked him up by the armpits and deposited him next to Kai.
That was a terrible mistake.
Evidently bored and in a middle of a tantrum, Luhan punched Kai in the face. Jongin watched in horror as the toddler fell on his bum, hands curled into little fists with his face scrunched up, bottom lip trembling as tears begin to well in his eyes. Junmyeon immediately rushed to his little brother’s aid, letting Kai cry into his neck as Jongin lectured Luhan.
“You hurt Kai,” He said bluntly. Luhan looked up defiantly at him. “Tao hits me all the time,” The 6 year old countered. “Luhan, Tao is 2,” Jongin exasperated, “It doesn’t hurt when you punch him.”
Luhan pouted and stomped his foot on the ground in protest. “If Tao can hit me why can’t I hit Kai?” The kid started to raise his voice, making Jongin wince slightly. He only hoped Kyungsoo couldn’t hear it from within the room. Luhan had inherited every ounce of Kyungsoo’s temper and Jongin was at the end of his nerves.
“Luhan, Kai is our little brother,” Junmyeon suddenly piped up, “He can’t protect himself, so we have to protect him, okay?” Kai was now sniffling in Junmyeon’s lap, big eyes looking at Luhan in fear. Luhan’s bottom lip quivered and Jongin was so scared he was going to start crying too. “Sorry,” The eighth oldest muttered, shuffling forward to give Kai a half hug. Jongin smiled proudly at his eldest son, ruffling his hair to the 16 year old’s displeasure.
“Dad!” Baekhyun screamed from the top of the stairs. “Oh my god shut up!” Sehun screamed from somewhere in the house. Jongin rubbed his forehead in distress. All he wanted was to be by Kyungsoo’s side, but his kids were such a pain in the arse. Well, his pain in the arse.
Dragging himself up the stairs, he saw Baekhyun and Chanyeol hugging Jongdae and Yixing, who were clinging to each other tearfully. “What’s wrong, honey?” Jongin crouched down in front of the two 8 year olds. “Is Papa going to die?” Yixing sniffled sadly. Jongdae nodded empathetically, his face red from crying. “Where did that come from?” Jongin asked, taking both kids off Chanyeol and Baekhyun. They were getting heavier and heavier each day, and soon they wouldn’t fit in his arms anymore. “Do you remember when Papa brought Tao home? Or Kai? Or Minseok?” Yixing nodded against Jongin’s neck.
“That’s exactly what he’s doing now, bring your littlest brother home,” Jongin continued, carrying the two of them downstairs. The older pair of twins scampered off to god knows where. “Only he’s doing it at home, instead of the hospital this time, because he didn’t want to leave you guys here.”
“Papa’s not hurt?” Jongdae asked, “I heard him crying.”
“It hurts a bit, bringing babies into the world,” Jongin explained gently, setting the two of them down in the living room, “But Papa knows what he’s doing, okay?” The two children clung to his legs, and Jongin thought the sensation of their snot on his neck was the sweetest thing ever. He suddenly became sentimental and recalled the last time Sehun clung to him, or Kyungsoo like that. Sehun was around 10 then, and had twisted his ankle in dance class. Jongin still remembered the complete rage Kyungsoo had flew into at the irresponsible teacher, which made Jongin fall in love with him over and over again while covering up Sehun’s ears to stop him from learning phrases that he didn’t need to.
“If it hurts, does it mean I can’t do it?” Yixing asked innocently, eyes wide with despair. Jongin fought the urge to coo at his son and poke his dimple, but quickly stopped himself when Jongdae started nodding vigorously next to Yixing. Twins, really. “As long as you take your medication, you’ll be as normal as the other kids, all right?” He reassured, “Why, do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend somewhere?”
Yixing’s answering blush was no match for Jongdae’s seal-like laughter. “It’s Suho two doors down,” The younger twin spilled gleefully, “Xingxing likes him!”
Yixing let out a loud gasp and pounced on Jongdae, pummeling him with little fists as Jongdae gasped in laughter. Before Jongin could intervene, however, a loud wail interrupted him. Half stumbling, half running, he followed the voice to the bathroom, and what he saw almost made his heart collapse. Luhan was bawling on the bathroom floor, Minseok trying frantically to calm his little brother while trying hard not to cry himself. Tao was sitting in the middle of the toilet bowl, half-submerged in the water.
The 2 year old was still in his panda onesie and reached out for Jongin in babytalk. “I DROPPED TAO.” Luhan howled, “HE’S GOING TO BE STUPID NOW.”
Jongin picked Tao up, grimacing slightly at the drenched onesie, and knew his baby would start crying as soon as he stopped laughing at Luhan and started noticing.
“Minseok, bring Luhan downstairs, ok?” He said, and the 10 year old nodded obediently, “I’ll take care of Taozi.” He took off the onesie and threw it in the sink. How did Kyungsoo wash onesies again? It couldn’t touch water, right? Wait, no, it couldn’t go in dryers, right?
Tao’s face was scrunching up again and he was shivering slightly as Jongin settled himself into a mini-heartattack. Well, first things first, get Taozi warm. A quick sprint to his room enabled Jongin to find Taozi’s onesies, but the kid turned his nose up to a million of them until Jongin unearthed a dragon onesie that Tao liked. At some point Minseok reported back that Luhan had accosted Yixing and Jongdae, and hang around unhelpfully as Jongin threw everything on the bed.
When Jongin tried slipping the baby’s legs inside, however, he noticed something amiss. Next to him, Minseok said helpfully, swinging his legs on the bed, “Daddy, Tao peed his pants.”
//
“I didn’t call you,” Kyungsoo mumbled blearily when Jongin opened the door, the smell of sweat penetrating the air, “Did something happen?”
Jongin swallowed uneasily. “The, uh... Tao,” He stuttered out. The plastic rustled as Kyungsoo turned to look at Jongin, gaze piercing onto him in the darkness, making Jongin shiver in guilt. “What about Tao?” Kyungsoo asked sharply.
“He, uh...” Jongin fought the urge to fall onto his knees, “I... diapers. I don’t...”
Kyungsoo sighed, but not with disappointment. “It’s been 15 years, Nini,” The smaller man smiled, “You still haven’t figured out how to change diapers?” Jongin swallowed heavily. It wasn’t his fault that for Junmyeon, the older twins, and even Yifan and Sehun Jongin had to work overtime to compensate for Kyungsoo’s ardent love for children, and till this day he regretted missing out on parts of their childhood.
Diapers was something he could do without, though.
Lay, their babysitter slash neighbour they hired a few years ago after Minseok was born, had tried to teach Jongin how to change diapers, but Jongin never had the patience and tolerance for deciphering the puzzle that is sticky flaps and adhesive. Now Lay was no longer the kid with knobbly knees looking for a part time job not involving being dragged around by three mastiffs, but a college student in his final years of education, and Jongin still hadn’t figured out how to do diapers properly.
“Sometimes I wonder why I keep you around,” Kyungsoo said drily, “I put the diapers in Junmyeon’s room when we cleared out the nursery, remember? He knows how to change diapers.”
And so Junmyeon did, as he pushed Jongin out of the bedroom imperiously with a meaningful look. Was Jongin ever as annoying as a 16 year old? He would never know. A quick look in the living room indicated that everyone was there, Chanyeol and Baekhyun somehow managing to settle down in one place and were talking to each other rapidly.
Well, that meant he didn’t have to go find them, and there were only two left. The sound of gunfire and shouts led him like a homing beacon straight to Sehun’s room.
Both brothers barely spared him a glance as Jongin cleared his throat pointedly. Once in the room, the game sounds were enough to deafen Jongin, and he wondered again why Kyungsoo never banned the xbox from ever being touched in the house. Oh right. Because Sehun was a daddy’s boy. As in, the not-Jongin-daddy.
“Yifan, Sehun, go help look after your little brothers, okay?” Jongin said, trying hard not to let his annoyance seep into his words. Yifan looked up briefly from the TV screen, but inverted his eyes quickly when Sehun started to aggressively mash the buttons.
“Don’t make me repeat myself.” Jongin snapped, walking forward with long strides to switch off the device. Sehun leapt onto his feet with a shocked cry. “I was playing that!” Sehun shrieked. Yifan slunk out of the room after tucking his controller away. Jongin stared down at Sehun, who met his gaze with a hateful one. “This is not the way you talk to adults, young man,” He said coldly, before wrenching Sehun by the ear and dragging him out of the room. He released the howling boy in the living room, where the rest of the kids were. The room had momentarily quieted at Sehun’s screaming, and the younger set of twins quickly vacated the sofa and scampered to play in the playpen with the babies. Junmyeon gave Jongin a thumbs up as the boy moved to set up the train set for Luhan, and Jongin was suddenly filled with pride in his eldest son that inherited much of Kyungsoo’s thoughtfulness.
Jongin still remembered Kyungsoo’s first pregnancy with alarming clarity. For how Junmyeon had grown up to be, he was a fickle baby. Kyungsoo craved the weirdest things like durian ice cream and chilli fried squid, until Jongin was almost willing to let Kyungsoo cut off his genitals just to preserve Kyungsoo’s taste buds. His hands, brittle from paperwork, became very skilled in massaging the cramps out of Kyungsoo’s exhausted thighs when Junmyeon weighed down on him.
Kris was a fresh-faced doctor then, and Kyungsoo had cried so much when the contractions hit. Even after the pregnancy, Junmyeon been fussy and weepy as a child (though not as much as Yixing, whose nightmares were regularly plagued with the weird chicken toy that Kyungsoo’s sister had tried to give him, not to mention his hemophilia) and before Jongin had fully adjusted to being a father Kyungsoo was pregnant again, this time with the twins Chanyeol and Baekhyun, which proved to be a bigger handful. Jongin would blame his own virility, but Kyungsoo never complained, so...
But Jongin digresses. Junmyeon turned out to be the teacher’s pet that Jongin never asked for but would never complain about, and even if the children tended to ridicule their prudent older brother, Jongin knew they loved Junmyeon equally. Hopefully.
His children loved each other.
Yes.
Even Sehun.
Jongin threw himself on the couch wearily. Sehun and Yifan were curled up on the kitchen counter smashing on their respective consoles, but Sehun didn’t forget to glare at Jongin every now and then. At least they were entertaining Tao, who was gurgling happily with his favourite brother “Fan!” in the dragon onesie.
Minseok, the ever responsible older brother to Luhan and Luhan only, was playing on the train set with the aforementioned 6 year old, letting Luhan ram Thomases into his shoulder.
Junmyeon, Jongdae, and Yixing were playing on the colouring books. That left little Kai who was crawling across the couch, eyes bright and wide. Jongin wanted to melt into a puddle of goo.
He swaddled the toddler to Kai’s amusement and settled him on his own chest, before plopping down on the couch to get some rest. Contractions took hours, and he was already knackered with keeping up with his kids.
“I’m bored,” Baekhyun drawled, and Jongin cracked an eye open from where he lounged on the couch. “Yeol, entertain me.” The taller of the pair rolled onto his stomach, wide eyes filled with the glint that Kyungsoo always indulged subtly even as he chewed the twins’ ears off. “Too bad.” Sehun called out from a corner, mashing away on his Gameboy.
With a war cry that had Jongin springing up in alarm, the older set of twins leapt onto their younger brother, gangly limbs immediately swamping the 12 year old and sending Luhan and Minseok across the room as they were forced to vacate the train set. Yifan was still perched on the kitchen counter with his NDS like nothing had happened, Tao gurgling happily at the flashing screen.
“Guys, please don’t fight,” Junmyeon pleaded pathetically, “Father’s upstairs.” Baekhyun had his hands tucked into Sehun’s armpits, while Chanyeol had wrapped his long legs around the younger’s waist. Jongin sighed and tried to stand up, but Kai clung tightly to his shirt front. “Appa.” Kai said resolutely, chubby fingers entangled possessively in Kai’s shirt.
“Buddy, I got to stop your older brothers from being idiots,” He said, lifting the child up.
He spoke too soon. Shrill cries made him look up to see his children running around like headless chickens, Yifan actually looking up from his console with a gaping mouth, Junmyeon with his face buried in his palms. Jongdae was running for the stairs, while Sehun had scooted up against the couch. Luhan and Minseok were clinging to Chanyeol and Baekhyun, who in turn were clinging to Yixing. The 8 year old in question was staring dumbly in empty space, hand covering his face, blood tainting the pale digits.
“Oops.” He mumbled weakly.
The floor spun under Jongin’s feet as he stumbled to his baby boy, Jongdae already returning with gauze in his hands, expertly pressing it to his twin’s face. The rational, reasonable part of his mind was shouting that Yixing had already taken his shot this morning, Jongin himself had did it, and Yixing wasn’t going bleed to death because his blood refused to clot, but parents rarely listen to their rational, reasonable side.
Yixing’s eyes were welling with tears as he reached out for Jongin, suddenly vulnerable and scared. Jongdae’s hand stayed on Yixing’s face determinedly, but his arms were shaking too. Jongin fixed the elder twins with a death glare, causing them to shrink further into the sofa. “We’re so sorry,” Chanyeol mumbled, “We didn’t mean to trip over Yixing.”
“I mean, it’s not really our fault,” Baekhyun stammered, “Xing stuck his own leg out and-” Jongin’s glare wasn’t as effective as Kyungsoo’s, but it was enough for Baekhyun to stop in his tracks and look down at his hands in shame. Dimly, he was aware of someone crying, Kai probably, and Junmyeon shushing him gently.
“In the corner!” Jongin snapped, turning his attention onto stopping the bleeding as soon as possible. Chanyeol and Baekhyun had identical looks of horror, and Chanyeol leapt from the sofa with indignation. “We’re fifteen, dad,” he spluttered, “You can’t send us to, to the corner like the kids.”
“In the corner,” Jongin repeated, hoisting Yixing up into his arms. Baekhyun made to speak, but Sehun dragged him backwards and stuffed him into the corner of the room.
Yixing’s tears had dried up by the time Jongin made it to the bathroom, Jongdae trailing behind him like a lost puppy, but Yixing’s eyes were puffy and red. Kyungsoo would drag Jongin in front of the house and across the pavement face-down if he knew Yixing had cried again. While neither of them liked playing favourites, it was always infinitely more heartwarming to see Yixing and Jongdae appear in their bedroom, more than Sehun or Yifan, who had likely gotten into more trouble in school and had to be in their bedroom for a scolding, as opposed to Yixing and Jongdae who just wanted hugs.
The bleeding had thankfully stopped, and the bone didn’t seem broken, so Jongin helped Yixing clean his face and let Jongdae hug him. It unnerved him a great deal to see his two sweet children cry. They took after Junmyeon greatly, and Jongin had no doubt they would go on to do great things in life (well, all of his kids would, to be honest. Jongin just didn’t want to come across as egotistical).
(Also, Jongin tends to forget when Jongdae and Yixing get up into trouble, half the time due to them looking up to the older twins. It’s easy to forget when both of them stare up at you with wide puppy eyes.)
“Does it hurt?” Jongdae asked, pressing a light kiss on Yixing’s nose. The older twin winced slightly, but the cute dimple was present when he shook his head, and Jongin fought to stop himself from cooing uncharacteristically at his two children.
Yixing pouted slightly when he realized he couldn’t get a bandage, and by extension he couldn’t get the candy that came along with the cute bunny bandages but soon it was forgotten as Jongin gave Yixing a piggy back ride and raced Jongdae back into the living room.
Jongdae won, of course, and Jongin let them each get a marshmallow anyway. Then Luhan complained, joined by Minseok, and soon even Tao was using his limited vocabulary to get chocolate.
Sometimes, Jongin really hated himself.
A sudden scream of “Kim Jongin!” pierced the air and all 11 children perked up. “It’s starting,” Sehun stated ominously. Jongin gulped, picking up Kai and Tao in his arms. The two babies looked absolutely petrified at their papa’s sound of pain, and Jongin could only sigh when he saw Tao’s bottom lip start quivering again.
Before the two babies even started crying, Jongdae and Yixing were already clinging together, feeding off each other’s worries and distress and bawling their eyes out. Surprisingly it was Sehun who moved to hug and comfort them, but his hands were also quivering. “Why are we here again?” Chanyeol asked in a small voice, his head buried in Baekhyun’s stomach.
“Dad’s going to be alright,” Junmyeon rambled, taking Kai off Jongin, “I mean, it’s my 11th little brother at this point.” Yifan slapped a hand over Junmyeon’s mouth, dragging him to a corner and the two hunched over Yifan’s NDS. Kai stared at the screen in fascination, seemingly unaware of the panic that had settled over his older brothers.
“Kids-” Jongin started. Small hands pushed him to the direction of the stairs, and he looked down to see Luhan’s big doe eyes. “Go take care of papa,” He mumbled, chubby fingers grabbing onto Minseok’s shirt sleeve, “I won’t hit Kai.” Minseok took Tao gingerly, cooing to the baby.
Chanyeol and Baekhyun sat at the corner.
Nodding dumbly, he stumbled towards the direction of the stairs, the eerie quietness of the room filling the air as his children watched him. At the top of it he turned down, and his kids- their kids, his and Kyungsoo’s, had congregated in the middle of the room, the older ones petting the heads of the younger ones and younger ones trying their best to not cry.
They made Jongin very, very proud. “I love you guys so much,” He said. A stormtrooper slipper hit him in the head. “Stop being gross,” Yifan scowled.
//
With both their fathers gone, everyone automatically turned to Junmyeon, their eldest brother. Junmyeon took a step back. Papa cried out loud.
The youngest were already starting to tremble in place, starting from Yixing who was biting his bottom lip fiercely to stop the waterworks from starting. Jongdae also looked like he was working up tears of his own as he hugged Yixing, while next to him even the self-proclaimed manly Luhan had water pooling in his eyes. Minseok looked stressed out, overwhelmed, and entirely fed up with everything with the way he was rubbing his own eyes.
“H-hey!” Sehun suddenly said, moving closer, “Yixing, let me teach you this awesome dance move!” Yixing looked up hopefully.
“What about something we can all do,” Chanyeol announced, trotting back from the corner with Baekhyun next to him. Baekhyun elbowed him. “You’re just saying that because you can’t dance.”
Chanyeol stuck his tongue out. “I’d like to see you try,” he retorted, and Baekhyun stepped on his foot. Jongdae looked like he was about to pee his pants.
Before Junmyeon could intervene, Yifan said, “We could always break out that secret balloon stash in Dad’s room!” Yixing and Luhan visibly perked up at the word ‘balloon’. “Wait balloon?” Junmyeon frowned.
“Yeah,” Yifan confirmed, “Minseok and I found this box of balloons in the bedside table. We could go get the pump from the garage.”
“Wait,” Junmyeon said desperately, “Transparent, rubber... Balloons?”
“Yeah,” Yifan replied, starting to get annoyed, “There was this tube of something there too, but I don’t think that’s for the balloons.”
Junmyeon swallowed. “Those aren’t balloons,” he said weakly. “Besides, you wanna go up there right now?” Sehun pointed out. Yixing and Luhan wilted.
“Um, maybe we could eat some ice cream?” Junmyeon proposed. Yixing, Luhan, Jongdae, and Sehun perked up. “Dude, I’m on a diet,” Minseok said hatefully, “How could you forget?”
Yixing, Jongdae and Sehun wilted. Luhan glared at Junmyeon. “Come up with something better, smartass,” Baekhyun sneered.
Junmyeon drooped.
Well, he knew he wasn’t the best oldest brother ever. He wasn’t strong enough to protect his younger brothers like Yifan, he wasn’t fun or knew crazy stories like Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Hell, he barely knew how to talk with his younger brothers.
Why couldn’t he be more like Lay? Their babysitter was so perfect and talented, patient and clever, with the unique ability to juggle baby Yixing, Jongdae, and Luhan while helping Junmyeon with his homework. Would they like Lay as their older brother? Maybe it would be better if-
Baekhyun’s hand jolted Junmyeon out of his reverie. Belatedly, he realized that his eyes were surprisingly moist. “I didn’t mean that, bro,” Baekhyun said thickly. Yeah. He was their older brother.
They collective flinched when their papa screamed again, as if a reminder that nothing was okay and everything was shit.
Tao, forgotten, in Yifan’s arms, began to cry, big, heaving sobs that wracked his little body as the red-faced child clung to Yifan’s shirt. Yixing couldn’t stop it either and clung to Jongdae and Luhan, and all three of them cuddled each other as their crying joined the cacophony. Minseok joined them as big fat tears rolled down his cheeks. Junmyeon stared at the cryfest helplessly as Sehun stumbled into his hold, the normal feisty pubescent suddenly transformed back into the chubby kid that liked running after him and tripped over his own feet. Strong arms wrapped around Junmyeon’s waist as his shirt became soaked, and he planted a sappy kiss on the top of Sehun’s head.
Their father screamed again, and this time he could hear Baekhyun saying “we didn’t sign up for this shit” as he burrowed his face into Chanyeol’s chest, who was already trembling with the force of his tears. Even strong, resilient Yifan looked utterly terrified as the 14 year old began to water as well, hugging Tao close to him.
Junmyeon sniffled. He was 16 already, he wasn’t supposed to be-
Dammit.
Dammit.
Junmyeon’s hands were trapped to his body by Sehun’s hug, so he couldn’t even wipe his tears away as they splashed on Sehun’s hair. He was so pathetic. Dammit.
He was going to punch Dyo in the face for making all of them cry.
Then Kai, their little sunshine, amidst all the sad, sorrowful noises, smiled. He was next to Yifan on the kitchen counter, Yifan’s NDS still flashing next to him, like his own personal spotlight.
He then said something, screamed something that pierced the atmosphere with perfect clarity.
Everyone fell silent, then, staring at Kai with wonderment and affection. There was no noise upstairs either, as if they also heard Kai’s call. Everyone’s tears had miraculously dried up as Kai sat there proudly, regally, surveying his older brothers with interest.
For a moment no one dared to breathe.
“Dyo!” Kai had screamed.
In response, a sharp, shrill, unfamiliar scream from upstairs pierced the silence. Junmyeon began to cry again, this time for a much different reason. Chanyeol engulfed him in a bear hug and dragged him on the couch, and someone put on some weird cartoon that Jongdae and Luhan likes.
He can hear his littlest brother crying upstairs, with Kai repeating “Dyo!” happily in Yixing’s lap. Baekhyun handed him some tissues and let Junmyeon cry it out in Chanyeol’s lap, the twins petting his back comfortingly.
//
Dyo is a fragile little thing. Kai immediately declared possession of the little one once Dr Wu deemed it safe to take Dyo home, squabbling and crying everytime Father tried to move Kai out of Dyo’s crib. Dad used to joke that Dyo and Kai are the twins that were separated by a year, the way Kai hovered over Dyo reminding Junmyeon of Chanyeol and Baekhyun.
It’s even more tiring with an extra mouth to feed. Even with the return of the newly-liberated Lay, their honourary family member slash trusted babysitter, Junmyeon rarely has time for himself. Dyo’s a super loud child, always crying, always yelling - Junmyeon moves Tao into his room to spare the child his eardrums. Their fathers are busier than ever, given that there are two babies that need potty training and another one who can only roll around, but Junmyeon sees the little smiles they give each other, the brief touches even as they complain to each other.
He’s happy that his parents are very much in love.
Dyo is a fragile little thing, and everyone dotes on him. Even Yifan and Sehun, who hadn’t thought much of Kai, melts in front of the little one. Chanyeol and Baekhyun always volunteer to tell his bedtime stories when Papa is too tired to do so, while Yifan and Yixing use their own allowance to buy Dyo a huge dragon plushie that can rival Yixing’s own favourite unicorn.
Sehun stops broadcasting noise all over the house and actually starts using headphones, while Jongdae never misses out on opportunities to bathe Dyo and give him soap hair, and when he thinks no one notices, give him kisses. Minseok and Luhan don’t really care about anyone except for each other, but Junmyeon makes sure that they won’t try to punch Dyo in the face. Tao? He likes everyone.
What about Junmyeon, you ask?
He can’t wait to go to college and graduate and marry the man of his dreams who may or may not have appeared in this fic already and maybe have two dozen children because Dyo is so adorable everyone is so adorable can he just coddle Dyo all day why can’t the other brothers be so cute too-
But it’s not going to be easy for their household, Junmyeon knows. Already 9 of them go to 5 different schools, and everyone’s passions lie in different areas. There’s going to be 9 more hormonal periods they’re going to have to weather (to be honest, Chanyeol and Baekhyun haven’t left theirs yet). There are 12 different paths that the brothers will take, and they won’t all be peaceful and calm.
But they’re brothers, all 12 of them, they’re a family. Their love is unconditional. Dyo stares up at Junmyeon, eyes wide and full of curiosity, and in response Junmyeon tickles him until he’s shrieking with laughter. On the couch, his fathers are fast asleep, Papa’s head instinctively tucked into the crook of Dad’s neck. Junmyeon mimes a shushing motion with his finger, and Dyo copies him with a wide, toothy grin.
Strong arms drape around his shoulder, making Junmyeon squeak and Dyo squeal in delight. He looks around frantically if anyone’s watching, but Lay’s lilting laughter makes him stop and blush.
“So,” Lay asks conversationally, like his fingers aren’t leaving fiery trails on Junmyeon’s arm, “How many do you want?”