｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡

the game has barely started and you’re already sitting forward on the couch, eyes locked on the screen with one hand gripping a throw pillow so tightly it looks like you’re trying to strangle it. wonbin is sitting on the floor with sunshine in his lap. she’s perfectly content, chewing on one of her toys while bunny colors beside them.

for a while, everything is peaceful.

then the knicks miss an easy shot.

you immediately throw your hands into the air and shoot up. “what are you doing?” you demand at the television. bunny’s head snaps up from her coloring book. she looks from you to the television and then back to you again. “who are you talking to?” she asks with complete sincerity.

“the knicks,” you answer without taking your eyes off the game.

bunny frowns. “can they hear you?”

“they better.”

wonbin lets out a quiet laugh from the floor, adjusting sunshine when she starts kicking excitedly at the sudden yelling. “they definitely can’t hear her,” he tells bunny in an amused voice. “then why is mama yelling?” bunny asks, looking confused. “because she’s a fan,” wonbin explains patiently. bunny considers that answer for a moment before looking back toward the television.

unfortunately, the game gets worse and the worse the game gets, the louder you become.

you start pacing.

then sitting.

then standing again.

at one point you end up directly in front of the television with your hands on your hips. “no, no, no,” you mutter under your breath as a player dribbles. a second later you groan loudly and drop your head back. “why would you do that?” sunshine startles slightly at the sudden volume and turns immediately toward you. wonbin catches her little body before she can launch herself sideways trying to see what’s happening.

“don’t look at her,” he says to sunshine as he bounces her lightly. “mama is not being sane right now.”

“i’m being perfectly sane,” you argue immediately without looking away from the game.

“you keep yelling at the TV."

“because it was a bad pass.”

wonbin exchanges a look with bunny. bunny shrugs helplessly. by halftime wonbin has changed and fed sunshine, given bunny a snack and got her ready for bed, and folded a basket of laundry. you have not moved from your spot on the couch. at some point wonbin walks over and places a plate of food next to you. you don’t even notice.

a full minute passes before he points at it. “eat,” he says firmly, nudging your knee with his. “i can’t,” you answer immediately, still staring at the television.

“why?”

“they’re down twenty nine wonbin.”

wonbin closes his eyes briefly. bunny climbs onto the couch beside you and studies your face carefully. “is that bad?” she asks quietly. “very bad,” you answer dramatically. “oh.” now bunny looks concerned too.

the fourth quarter the game gets close which somehow makes everything worse. every possession suddenly feels life threatening to you. wonbin swears you stop blinking. he has sunshine asleep against his chest by now, her tiny face pressed into his shirt while he rubs slow circles against her back. even he starts paying attention because your reactions are becoming impossible to ignore. the knicks start coming back little by little and you freeze. “wonbin,” you whisper. he immediately looks up, “what?”

“don’t talk.”

“i didn’t-"

“don’t.”

bunny looks between both of you. “what’s happening?" “something,” you whisper. the game gets closer.

and closer.

and closer. now theyre only 3 behind.

you’re standing again with your hands clasped together. every possession of the ball feels like it lasts ten years. wonbin has stopped pretending not to care. even bunny is watching now because your reactions are making this seem like the most important event in human history.

the final minute is agony. you pace then you sit and then you stand again. by the final seconds you have to sit because your legs feel like they're going to give out. wonbin is laughing at you now, “i think you’ve walked a mile.”

“stop talking to me.”

“okay," wonbin stood up to go put sunshine in her crib.

“actually no, stay.”

“okay," wonbin slowly sat back down.

“but stop talking.”

“right.”

then the buzzer finally sounds. for a second you just stare. the celebration starts on the screen. there's players jumping, confetti falling and the crowd losing their minds.

you stare.

and stare.

and stare.

and then it hits you.

“THEY WON!” the scream that comes out of you is so loud that sunshine startles awake immediately. “THEY WON! OH MY GOD THEY WON!” you jump straight off the couch. “WONBIN THEY WON!”

“i can see that,” he says, already laughing. “THEY WON!” you look seconds away from passing out. bunny is staring at you in complete shock “mama?”

“THEY WON THE FINALS!” you're hand is over your mouth in shock as you stare at the celebration on the screen. bunny immediately starts jumping too because she sees your excitement. “THEY WON!” she repeats enthusiastically despite having absolutely no idea what they won or who even won. “THEY DID!” you shout with a smile, grabbing her and spinning her around for a second before pulling her into a huge hug. sunshine is fully awake now, blinking in confusion while wonbin bounces her and laughs so hard he’s struggling to keep a straight face. “i’ve never seen you this excited over anything,” he admits.

you point dramatically at the television where the team is celebrating, “LOOK AT THEM!”

“i am looking.”

“NO LOOK!”

“i’m looking!”

every single time one baby finally settled down the other would wake up. bean would cry until you rocked him back to sleep and then mochi would decide she suddenly needed you. then just when your daughter was asleep again, your son would start fussing. you had been up and down so many times that your legs hurt. your eyes burned from exhaustion and your patience was hanging by a thread. meanwhile, lying beside you was your husband park jisung who had somehow slept through every second of it.

the latest cry crackled through the baby monitor and you immediately froze, waiting to see if maybe this time jisung would wake up first. he didn’t even twitch. you slowly turned your head toward him and found him exactly where he’d been all night, completely passed out with his face buried in the pillow. another cry came through the monitor.

nothing.

not even a flinch.

you stared at him for several seconds before reaching over and shoving his shoulder. he shifted slightly and then settled right back into the mattress. your eye twitched. “jisung.”

no response.

“jisung.” nothing.

you shoved him again, harder this time. he let out a sleepy groan but made no effort to open his eyes. “your children are crying.” “mm.” “your children have been crying all night.” “mm.” you stared at him in disbelief. “i swear to god.” when that still wasn’t enough, you smacked his arm. it was not hard enough to hurt him but hard enough to finally get a reaction.

his eyes flew open instantly. “what happened?” he asked. you sat there staring at him so long that his expression slowly shifted from confusion to concern. “what happened?” you repeated. “what happened is i’ve been awake every forty five minutes since midnight while you’ve been reenacting sleeping beauty.” jisung blinked several times as his brain slowly caught up. another cry came through the monitor and his eyes widened slightly. “oh.” you laughed once but there wasn’t a single ounce of humor in it. “oh?” you echoed. “that’s all you have to say?”

he rubbed a hand over his face and sat up, revealing hair sticking up in every possible direction and a pillow crease stamped across his cheek. “i didn’t hear them.” “i know you didn’t hear them.” “how many times did they wake up?” you just looked at him. his face immediately fell. “that many?” you kept staring. “more than that?” another cry interrupted him and suddenly he was scrambling out of bed.

you watched him practically trip over his own feet trying to get to the nursery before the babies woke up completely. several minutes later the crying finally stopped, allowing you to collapse backward onto your pillow for what felt like the first time all night. you were just beginning to drift off when footsteps returned down the hallway. opening one eye, you found jisung standing in the doorway holding both twins. your son was wide awake and happily chewing on his fist while your daughter was curled against his shoulder looking half asleep. neither baby seemed remotely bothered by the fact that they had terrorized the household for the last several hours.

“what?” you asked immediately. jisung shifted awkwardly. “they wouldn’t settle.” “and?” “they wanted you.” your eye twitched again. “take your children and leave.” a laugh escaped him despite his obvious guilt. “our children.” “right now they’re yours.” jisung sighed and stepped into the room before carefully lowering himself onto the edge of the bed. bean immediately reached toward you with grabby hands while mochi let out a sleepy little whine and buried her face deeper into her father’s shoulder.

for a moment you considered maintaining your annoyance. then your son smiled at you. unfortunately, you were weak. jisung watched your expression soften and immediately looked relieved. “i’m sorry,” he said quietly. “i really didn’t hear them.” you accepted bean when he launched himself in your direction and glared at your husband over the top of the baby’s head. “that’s almost worse.” “i know.” “how does someone sleep through twins?” “i don’t know.” “they were screaming.” “i know.” “at one point they were both crying.” “i know.” “i almost threw something at you.” that finally made him laugh. “you should’ve.”

a small smile pulled at your lips mostly because he looked genuinely sorry and partially because mochi had started snoring softly against his shoulder while bean attempted to shove his entire fist into his mouth. exhaustion settled over all four of you as the room finally grew quiet for the first time all night. jisung reached over and squeezed your knee gently. “go back to sleep. i’ll stay up with them.” you narrowed your eyes suspiciously. “you?” “yes, me.” “the man who was unconscious for four straight hours?” “okay, that’s fair.” “thank you.” “go to sleep anyway.”

another smack lands on his face. “appa. up please" mark sighs dramatically before finally opening his eyes. his 3 year old son is standing beside the bed wide awake. mark glances toward the clock. three thirty-seven in the morning shines bright back at him.“why are you awake?”

cub immediately lifts both arms. “up.” mark closes his eyes. without another word he reaches down and lifts the boy onto the mattress. the second cub’s feet touch the bed he takes off straight across mark and straight toward you. mark watches as his son practically launches himself onto your side of the bed before immediately curling up on top of you.

you let out a sleepy noise when the toddler suddenly lands on your chest. your eyes crack open. “baby?” you mumble, still half asleep. your son immediately snuggles closer and buries his face against your neck, “hi mama.” your hand automatically finds his hair. “hi.” the two of you start drifting back to sleep. mark, however, is now fully awake and trapped on the edge of the bed. he reaches over to pull the blanket higher over both of you and wrap an arm around your waist. immediately, your sons eyes opens and his gaze narrows at mark, “no.”

mark blinks, “no?” cub grabs your arm and hugs it tighter, “my mama.” mark looks at you and youre smiling into your pillow. “buddy,” mark says carefully, “i’m literally giving you the blanket. appa is also about to fall off the bed.” he scoots even closer to you, “my mama.” mark lets out a laugh, “she was mine first.” cub shakes his head, “mine. you finally start laughing. cub reaches up and pats your cheek, “sleep mama.”

mark attempts to move closer. immediately a tiny hand shoots out. you're laughing harder now.

“don’t encourage him.”

“i’m not.”

“you’re laughing .”

“because you’re getting bullied by our son.”

“i know.”

“you’re really pretty.”

“thank you.”

“do i know you?”

“unfortunately.”

that had been twenty minutes ago. now the bar was behind you, the city lit up by streetlights and passing headlights, and you had completely given up on walking. which was how sion ended up carrying you the rest of the way to your dorm. he was fully carrying you, one arm hooked under your knees and the other supporting your back as if you weighed absolutely nothing. you had spent the first five minutes giggling every time he adjusted his grip.

“stop laughing.”

“i’m not laughing.” you immediately started laughing harder. sion sighed. “this is going to be the longest walk home ever.”

“you love me.”

“you’re so drunk.”

“you still love me.”

he physically rolled his eyes, which only made you laugh harder. your head tipped back dramatically, hair dangling toward the pavement as you stared upside down at the world. “everything looks weird.”

“that’s because you’re upside down.”

“no, i think the street is upside down.”

“yeah.”

you squinted at him. “you’re making fun of me.”

“maybe.”

you tried to cross your arms, which was difficult considering you were currently being carried like a princess. sion barely reacted. every once in a while he’d shift you slightly higher against his chest without even breaking stride. the movement always made your stomach flip. “you’re strong. thank god for the gym" you stared at him after that.

then kept staring ... and kept staring. after a few seconds, sion immediately knew where this was headed. “what?” your smile somehow got bigger. “you’re really handsome.” he groaned. “here we go.”

“no, seriously.”

“yn.”

“like really handsome.”

“thank you.”

“do you have a girlfriend?” sion stared down at you for a moment before letting out a disbelieving laugh. one arm tightened beneath your knees as he adjusted you higher against his chest. “yn,” he said slowly, like he couldn’t believe this conversation was happening, “you are my girlfriend.”

you stared at him for a few seconds then your eyes suddenly widened. “no way.” sion immediately groaned and adjusted his hold on you. “yes way.” “seriously?” you asked, staring up at him. “yes, seriously.” your jaw dropped. “i’m your girlfriend?”

"you've been my girlfriend for 3 years" a shocked laugh burst out of you and you slapped a hand over your mouth. “that’s crazy. you picked me?” “i did," his tone was flat but you could see the faint smile creeping onto his face. your smile softened as you stared up at him. “you take good care of me.”

for the first time all night sion went quiet. the teasing disappeared from your voice and it was replaced by simple honesty. he glanced down and found you already starting to fade. your head was tucked against his shoulder now and your eyes drifting closed more and more with every passing second. every sentence seemed harder for you to hold onto than the last.

anton is at the counter when she bumps into his leg. he looks down. “hey.” she doesn’t answer. she slides her arms around his leg and rests her forehead against him, eyes already half-closed. you’re on the couch, watching. “she’s done.” anton lifts her easily, settling her on his hip. she yawns, cheek pressed to his shoulder.

he starts walking slow laps around the living room and kitchen. the little girls fingers curl into his hoodie. you glance at the clock, "you're going to be at this for a while." anton shrugs. “that’s okay.” fishie stirs when he pauses to adjust his hold, eyes fluttering open just enough to her surroundings. when she sees you looking at her, she gives a tiny sleepy smile. “hi mama,” she whispers.

“hi baby.”

bedtime comes and shotaro tucks him in. his nightlight is on and everything is perfect. shotaro sits on the edge of the bed. “you okay?”

bear nods.

“you need anything?”

“nope.”

shotaro smiles proudly, “look at you. so brave". bear tries not to smile, “because i’m a big kid.” shotaro nods, “because you’re a big kid.” he gives him a kiss on the forehead then stands and makes his way to the door. “…appa?” he pauses. “yeah?”

“just stay one minute.” shotaro walks back to the edge of the bed, sitting down. “okay.” you hear it all from your bedroom down the hall.

one minute turn into 5 which turns into 10. you look up from your book as shotaro walks into the room. “how’d the big kid bedtime go?”

“great.”

“how long were you in there?”

“…ten minutes.”

you snort as shotaro climbs into bed beside you. your baby bump is just starting to show now enough that he keeps absentmindedly resting a hand there whenever you’re lying together.

“he’ll be asleep in a few minutes.”

“mhm.”

you both know better. it only takes three minutes for tiny footsteps to be heard. you start laughing before the door even opens. “hi.” a tiny voice calls out. shotaro props himself up, “bear.”

“yeah?”

“what happened to sleeping in your own bed?”bear thinks for a second before shrugging, “i tried.” “for three minutes?” you question. “that’s a long time. bear climbs onto the mattress. he wedges himself directly between you and your husband.“i’m just staying one minute.”

you both start laughing. five minutes later he’s still there. curled against your side and already half asleep. shotaro reaches over and brushes his hair back, “i thought you were a big kid.”

bear yawns. “i am.”

“i thought big kids sleep in their own beds.” you remind him.

“mhm.”

“so…”

bear’s eyes are completely closed now, “maybe tomorrow.” shotaro laughs quietly, “tomorrow “tomorrow i’ll do it.” bear shifts in his sleep and presses even closer. shotaro looks down at him for a moment, then at your stomach, and then at you. the tiniest smile appears on his face. “you know,” he whispers, “i don’t think we’re ever getting this bed back.”