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Chapter Text

Seokjin opened the door and narrowed his eyes at Yoongi and Jimin. "You're late."

"We brought wine." Jimin held up the bottle in question.

"You are forgiven." Seokjin smiled and accepted the wine before stepping aside to let them into the apartment. "You still beat Taehyung and Jungkook anyway."

"Yeah, Taehyung texted that Minsoo is a bit anxious about being left alone with Jina for the first time." Jimin said as he and Yoongi removed their shoes and jackets.

Yoongi paused as they stepped further into the apartment. "It smells good in here. I thought you said Namjoon was cooking."

Namjoon let out a flat laugh as he stepped out of the kitchen. "You know, I have improved quite a bit in the 30 years I've been mated to the best cook I know."

Seokjin smiled as Namjoon wrapped his arms around him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Keep flattering me."

"Dinner should be ready in about 20 minutes." Namjoon said as he took the wine from Seokjin so he could pour glasses for everyone.

As they settled in the living room where Hoseok and Rhys were already sitting, Seokjin made a noise of excitement. "Oh, it's been a year since Hyunbin moved out, and we finally got the second bedroom cleaned out and redecorated."

"You finally set up your sex room?" Jimin asked.

Namjoon looked at Seokjin in confusion as he passed out wine glasses. "You wanted a sex room?"

"No." Seokjin shot Jimin a look while Jimin just giggled into his wine. "We turned it into a playroom for Julie! So now when she comes to visit her favorite grandma, she'll have a space just for her."

"You'd have to pry her away from me first." Yoongi couldn't help but point out, and there was a split second where everyone thought Seokjin was actually going to throw hands before there was a knock on the door, signaling Taehyung and Jungkook's arrival.

"Saved by the knock." Jimin said, running his fingers through Yoongi's hair.

***

Eunji let out a tired breath as she climbed out of her car and trudged up to the front door of Yawen's house. Due to her heat hitting right at the beginning of finals week, she'd had to go and make up most of her exams that day, leaving her mentally drained. But Yawen was getting ready to move in with her boyfriend of nearly a year and had asked Eunji to come over and help her pack and just have some omega time, and Eunji wasn't gonna pass up the chance to hang with her best friend since their busy lives often led to them not getting to see each other in person as much anymore.

Yawen had texted her during the drive that the front door was unlocked so Eunji let herself in and was immediately greeted by a very shirtless Bai lounging on the couch. "I see you still treat this like your own home, Gremlin."

"And I see you still can't dress yourself properly, Buttface." Eunji retorted as she slipped her shoes off.

Bai opened his mouth to retort but couldn't as his mom poked his head out of the kitchen. "Be nice to guests, Bai." He then smiled at Eunji. "Are you staying for dinner too?"

"Maybe." Eunji said. "It depends on when we get finished packing."

"Well, I'll make sure there's plenty of food for you too." He assured her.

Eunji smiled and thanked him before padding down the hall to Yawen's room that she had shared with her sister up until Xia had moved to Fayetteville for college. "I have arrived!" Eunji announced her presence with a dramatic twirl.

Yawen looked up from the clothes she was folding and smiled brightly. "How were your exams?"

"They were exams." Eunji sighed as she joined Yawen on the floor. "I'm sure my teacher enjoyed the little notes I left on all the ableist microaggressions that were throughout my Teaching Learners with Exceptionalities exam." Yawen snorted out a laugh and Eunji grabbed one of the empty boxes to begin packing up Yawen's books from the shelf next to her. "So why is Buttface here? Really kills the vibe."

"His exams ended today too so he's moved out of his dorm and back home for the holidays." Yawen said. "You know he applied to grad school in Fayetteville and is most likely gonna get in."

"Good for him." Eunji said, quickly following it up with, "Maybe he'll stay up there forever, and I'll never have to see him again."

Yawen shook her head in amusement. "As entertaining as y'all's bickering has always been, I never really understood why you dislike him so much."

"Because he's annoying." Eunji deadpanned.

"Not any more than a typical older brother." Yawen pointed out.

Eunji shrugged. "I don't know, his face just triggers me. Makes me want to punch it."

Yawen tilted her head. "You have a lot of anger pent up in that tiny little body."

"So I've been told." Eunji said. "Never understood why." She cracked a smile as Yawen laughed at that.

"How are things with Riley?" Yawen asked. "Still having issues with her grandparents?"

Eunji rolled her eyes slightly. "'Issues' is an understatement. But Riley does call them out so it's not as bad as it could be."

"Still, you stay with them every weekend so it's gotta be draining." Yawen said.

"Yeah but it's not forever." Eunji said. "Riley's been hinting more at proposing in the future--I'm thinking after I graduate next semester." Yawen gave her an excited look at that. "Then once we're mated, we'll be living on our own and I'll only have to see them on Sundays. And then eventually they'll die, so everything will be alright in the end."

Yawen laughed again. "That's one way to look at it."

Eunji giggled. "What about Mateo? Moving in together is a big step, I'm assuming."

"I really think he's the one." Yawen said softly. "We talk about our futures a lot, like what we each want individually. And we match on all the important stuff. And he and my family get along great. Hotpot night has become his favorite part of the week, and he's even started helping Mama and Baba out with food prep. I'm pretty sure I overheard my dad practically begging him to accept his blessing for us to mate at some point, if I didn't know better, I'd think Baba was in love with him."

"I'm really happy for you." Eunji smiled. "Just name your first daughter after me."

"We're nowhere near that yet." Yawen said. "But your name will be at the top of the list when we get there."

Chapter Text

Hana and Jaehyun were woken up by the sound of Julie calling out for them from her nursery. "Eomma! Appa!"

Groaning quietly, Hana rolled over so she was facing Jaehyun, blinking open her eyes to see him rubbing his own. "Is this real?" She mumbled. "Do we really have a 1-year-old?"

"I want to say no but…" Jaehyun trailed off as Julie called for them again. "I'm gonna go make breakfast and get ready for work, then we can switch off." He said, as was their typical morning routine before we had to go to work.

"Sounds good." Hana murmured, pressing her lips to Jaehyun's in a sweet good morning kiss. Then they both climbed out of bed and left their room, Hana going to Julie's room while Jaehyun went on to the kitchen.

Julie was standing up in her crib, holding onto the bars. As soon as she spotted Hana, she smiled brightly and started bouncing in excitement. "Good morning, Julie!" Hana greeted her, picking the now toddler up. "You're getting so big, did you know that?" She pressed a few kisses to Julie's cheek as she carried her to the chair for her morning nursing session. Once she was settled in, Julie suckling contently at her breast, Hana began talking about their day and any upcoming major events as she did every morning with the now 12-month-old omega. "Appa's making you a special birthday breakfast, and then after he gets dressed for work, you'll have Appa Julie time while Eomma gets ready. Then we have to go see Dr. Smith so he can talk about how much bigger you are than other omegas your age, but that's okay because you have a tall daddy. And then we're going to the gym so you can see your friends there while Eomma gets her cardio in. Then we'll come home and do whatever you want until Appa gets home from work. And on Saturday, which is in two days, we're gonna drive up to Conway to stay with Halmeoni and Halabeoji through Christmas!" Julie smiled around Hana's nipple at the mention of her grandparents. "Yeah, I bet you're excited to see them again."

When Julie was done nursing and had her diaper changed, Hana carried her out to their small four-seater table in the living room area where Jaehyun was already cutting up a pancake with a tiny amount of syrup on top. "Are you hungry for breakfast, Julie?" Jaehyun asked as Hana got her strapped into her highchair. He then placed her plate on her tray and handed her a fork. Julie happily clasped the fork in one hand while using the other to bring the pieces of pancake to her mouth.

After breakfast, Hana cleaned Julie up from the syrup on her face and hands while Jaehyun got dressed for work. Then Jaehyun took Julie for their morning bonding time while Hana got ready for the day. Once they were all ready to go, they headed downstairs together, Hana to her car with Julie and Jaehyun to his waiting Uber. "I wish I could come to your checkup with you." Jaehyun said to Julie as they reached the sidewalk. "Hear how healthy you are and how well you're growing for myself."

"I'll tell you everything Dr. Smith says." Hana promised her mate as Jaehyun pressed a kiss to Julie's forehead. She then tilted her head up to accept a kiss from the alpha before they parted ways for the day.

Julie received a clean bill of health from Dr. Smith and a promise to see her in three months for her 15-month checkup. At the gym, the playroom attendants were more than happy to make the time Julie spent there special--even giving her a mini cupcake with Hana's permission--while Hana got her cardio in. When they got home, Julie took a quick nap to rejuvenate from the busy morning while Hana worked some on a new screenplay a producer had reached out to her to write. After Julie woke up, Hana nursed her before fixing her lunch for the day--cheese pizza rolls with a tiny amount of ranch to dip them in along with a few steamed carrots. They settled in for lunch on a blanket on the living room floor and Hana pulled out her phone for their daily video chat with her dad.

"How's the birthday girl doing today?" Hana's dad asked as soon as the call connected, Julie dropping the pizza roll in her hand in her excitement at hearing her grandfather's voice.

"She's having a very good day today." Hana giggled, holding her phone out of Julie's reach as the 12-month-old tried to grab it while babbling. "You hear her telling you all about her day so far?"

"I do." Her dad nodded. "That all sounds so interesting, Julie. I'm sure you've had a lot of fun. I can't wait to see you this weekend. I think you're gonna like what me and Halmeoni got you for both your birthday and Christmas."

"Are you and Seokjin imo having a competition over who gets her the best gift?" Hana raised an eyebrow.

Her dad was quiet for a long moment, blinking at the camera. "I will neither confirm nor deny that." He finally said, making Hana snort in laughter while Julie held a mashed up carrot out to the phone as if trying to feed her grandfather.

Chapter Text

"Guess what?" Charlie asked she finished up Jason's bath, Hajoon waiting in the bathroom doorway for the handoff so he could get Jason in his pajamas. "Mama has the day off tomorrow so I can stay with you all day again. Almost like school never started back up!" She picked him up out of the water and pressed a few kisses to his cheek before passing him off to Hajoon, who immediately wrapped him in the towel he was holding.

Hajoon hummed as he carried Jason over to his and Charlie's bed to lay the five-month-old down so he could begin patting him dry while Charlie drained the tub and cleaned up the bathroom a bit. "Unfortunately, Appa still has to work tomorrow. But I already can't wait to snuggle you the second I get home."

Charlie poked her head out of the bathroom with a frown. "They're making you go out tomorrow?"

"Only part of the day." Hajoon said. "They told everyone who doesn't normally work from home on Thursdays to work as normal either up until our lunch break or until the winter storm hits, whichever happens first. Then work from home the rest of the day."

"They should just have all of you working from home." Charlie grumbled. "Especially you who has a 20-minute commute."

"I'll be fine." Hajoon assured her as he rubbed lotion into Jason's skin. "The first flurry I see, I'm getting in my car and coming home."

"You better." Charlie huffed as she disappeared into the bathroom once more.

Hajoon smiled down at Jason. "I think your mommy might like me just a little bit." Jason smiled back up at Hajoon, letting out a tiny laugh as Hajoon leaned down to kiss his cheek.

***

It was odd for Eunji's mom to be up when she was getting ready to leave the house, but given the circumstances, she wasn't all that surprised to see him fixing himself a cup of coffee when she padded into the kitchen that morning. "Are you sure you don't want to call in to work?" Her mom asked, as even though classes weren't in session yet for her final semester at the community college, the on-campus daycare was still open, and she tended to work full time during school holidays. "They're saying this storm is gonna be a rough one."

"But the snow and ice aren’t supposed to hit until this afternoon." Eunji pointed out as she grabbed a breakfast sandwich from the freezer and popped it in the microwave. "The campus is closing at 1:00, and by extension the daycare. Plus, we probably won't have that many pups in attendance today so Gabriel will probably send some of us home early, starting with the ones who have the longest commute, so I'll probably be one of the first to go."

"I just don't want you to get stuck driving in bad weather if it hits earlier than they're saying." Her mom frowned in concern.

"I won't." Eunji assured him, pulling her breakfast sandwich out of the microwave. "Daddy taught me well, and I'll be home long before it gets super bad." She skipped over to her mom and leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek. "I love you and I'll keep you updated on how I'm doing when I can." She hurried to leave before her mom could externalize his anxiety over her any further.

***

Hajoon was heading down the driveway of the house he'd just inspected the roof of when he spotted something white fluttering past his vision. Looking up from his work tablet, he confirmed that he was, in fact, seeing the start of snow flurries coming down, and walked even faster to his car. He texted his supervisor to let him know he was heading home due to the weather and would be logged on to work from home within the half hour before quickly pulling out onto the road.

Due to the rush of parents trying to pick their pups up from school due to Greenbrier schools still being in session that day as well as all the people waiting until right then to go to the store to stock up for the next few days, it took Hajoon a little longer than normal to get home. But when he was finally climbing out of his car in the parking lot outside his apartment building, he practically ran around to the back of the building and up the stairs to try to get out of the cold as fast as possible. Inside, he was met with the sight of Charlie lying on the couch as she watched 9-1-1. "Hey, you're home!" She exclaimed quietly, sitting up a bit.

Hajoon nodded, shivering as he kicked his shoes off and removed his coat. "Jason napping?"

"Thankfully." Charlie said. "It took him a while, but he finally quit fighting." As Hajoon went to put his coat up, he peeked into Jason's room to check on him. He smiled softly at the sight of the five-month-old omega sleeping away in his crib before leaving the room again. He bumped the heat up just a few degrees before joining Charlie on the couch, lying on top of her and causing her to yelp. "You're freezing!"

"It's cold outside." Hajoon murmured, burying his face in Charlie's neck as she rubbed his arms as if trying to warm him up. "I can think of a quicker way to get the heat going." He said teasingly.

Charlie scoffed, shaking her head slightly as Hajoon lifted his head to grin down at her. "Why do alphas only ever think about sex?"

"I don’t only think about sex." Hajoon denied. "I just happen to be thinking about it right this second because you smell really good." He dipped down to press his lips to Charlie's.

Charlie kissed him back for a moment before murmuring, "We probably only have, like, half an hour if we're lucky before Jason wakes up."

"That's more than enough time." Hajoon said before kissing Charlie again.

***

As Eunji was exited off the interstate into Conway in order to continue onto the highway that led towards her house, she was surprised to see snow falling as heavily as it was. It hadn't started snowing yet in Morrilton when she'd left, and the skies had been clear for the entire drive thus far. But she guessed the storm was coming in from that direction, meaning she was driving into it. Already feeling her mother's anxiety, Eunji made sure to be extra aware of her surroundings until she finally pulled into their driveway.

Her mom breathed out an audible sigh of relief as soon as Eunji stepped into the house. "You made it!"

"In one piece!" Eunji called back as she kicked off her shoes, padding into the living room to see her dad passing out steaming mugs that were no doubt the hot cocoa he always made whenever winter weather hit them.

"I fixed you a mug too." Her dad said, lifting one mug in her direction before setting it on the coffee table.

"I'm gonna change into my pajamas first then I'll join you." Eunji said, hurrying off to her room to change as her dad joined the rest of her family that still lived at home on the couch, cuddling up to her mom.

Chapter Text

Hajoon was removing the last pink pancake from the griddle when Charlie carried Jason into the room following the six-month old's morning nursing session. "There's my valentine!" The 23-year-old alpha exclaimed, making sure the griddle was off before crossing over to take Jason from Charlie's arms. "Good morning, little dumpling." He pressed a loud kiss to Jason's cheek, making the six-month-old omega giggle while Charlie just shook her head and went to fix herself a breakfast plate. "Appa's got you a gift." He walked over to the pantry. "You're still too little for chocolates, so maybe next year. But that doesn't mean Appa couldn't still get you a treat." He pulled out the brand-new container of strawberry apple puffs he'd made sure to add to their grocery order the day before and Jason's eyes immediately widened in excitement, the infant reaching out for the container.

"I don't know if this is spoiling or just cute." Charlie mused as Hajoon moved to place Jason in his highchair.

"Cute, obviously." Hajoon said, pouring a few puffs on the highchair tray before walking over to Charlie. "My other valentine." He murmured, wrapping his arms around Charlie's waist and leaning down to kiss her. "Don't worry, I got you a treat too."

Charlie gave him a flat look. "If the treat is your knot-"

"Actually, I got you a giant bag of Twix." Hajoon said, the 24-year-old omega's eyes lighting up like Jason's at the mention of her favorite candy. "But the knot can be arranged-" Hajoon cut off with a yelp as Charlie pinched him, the omega quickly kissing him before he could pout.

***

Eunji skipped out of the bathroom after getting ready for the Sunday morning pack meeting only to be met immediately by a smiling Riley holding out a gift basket. "Is this my valentine's day gift?" Eunji feigned surprise as if she hadn't been expecting anything.

"That and I just want to spoil you." Riley said, leaning down to capture Eunji's lips in a kiss. "I hope you like everything in there."

"Well, it has everything I need for a relaxing spa day." Eunji said, quickly inspecting the basket's contents to see the variety of lotions, face masks, bath bombs, and other items. "And I love spa days. Maybe we can start having spa days together one day."

Riley smiled, her cheeks flushing a bit. "Hopefully soon." She said quietly.

Eunji leaned up to kiss Riley again only to be interrupted by the alpha's grandmother pointedly clearing her throat as she exited her own bedroom. Holding back an eye roll, Eunji made sure kiss Riley one more time for good measure before stepping away from the alpha. "I'm gonna go put this with the rest of my things so I won't forget it when I go home later." She said, going back to Riley's room where her weekend bag was.

***

As soon as Hana was sure Julie was asleep for the night, she carefully stood up from the nursery chair and placed the 13-month-old in her crib, covering her with a thin blanket and making sure Peanut was within reach as she knew Julie liked to cuddle him when she occasionally woke in the night. She then quietly padded out of the room, closing the door behind her, and poked her head into the living room where Jaehyun was cleaning up a bit. "I'm gonna shower and get ready."

Jaehyun nodded. "I'll get started on dinner."

Hana hurried to their bathroom and hopped in the shower where she proceeded to scrub every inch of her skin, hitting every crevice until she felt more clean than she had since before giving birth to Julie. After getting out of the shower, Hana got dressed in some nice clothes and even went as far as to do a light layer of makeup as if she and Jaehyun were going out on a date night rather than just having a special dinner in their apartment for valentine's day. Once she was ready, she padded back out to the living room where Jaehyun was lighting a candle on their small dining table, their places already set with pasta on their plates. "Ooh, a candle?" Hana mused, wrapping her arms around Jaehyun's waist as he set the lighter down. "Someone's really going all out."

"I want tonight to be special and romantic." Jaehyun said sincerely.

"Every night with you is special and romantic." Hana smiled softly before leaning up to kiss Jaehyun. Jaehyun returned the kiss for a moment before stepping back and pulling out Hana's chair for her to sit. "Why, thank you." The 26-year-old omega giggled as she sat down, Jaehyun hurrying to sit across from her to begin their valentine's dinner.

***

Yoongi padded out of the kitchen with glasses of freshly poured wine for himself and Jimin and was met with the sight of Sunwoo curled up under a blanket on the couch as he watched a movie. "Need anything before I go to bed for the night?" He asked and Sunwoo shook his head. "Alright, see you in the morning." He leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Sunwoo's head before going on down the hall to his and Jimin's bedroom.

Even though he was expecting it, Yoongi still froze in awe at the sight of Jimin lying on his stomach in the middle of their bed in his chosen lingerie for the night. "Why, hello there, alpha." Jimin greeted him with a sultry smile, pushing himself up so he was kneeling and his matching red bra and panties with the little rhinestone hearts was on proper display.

"You're gonna kill me one of these days." Yoongi said as he set their wine on the nightstand.

"You're not allowed." Jimin shook his head, lifting his arms to loop them around Yoongi's neck as the alpha approached him. "Genuine heart attacks are banned from this house." He tugged Yoongi into a passionate kiss before the alpha could argue. Yoongi didn't mind, gently pushing Jimin to lay back as he climbed over the omega.

Chapter Text

Charlie hadn't gotten to go on many trips with her family as a pup, and the trips they did take were always related to the pack in some way, so she hadn't been able to enjoy herself. So when she moved to Arkansas following graduation, she and Hajoon had agreed that once she was settled into her job and had saved up some money, then the two of them would begin going on trips, planning to do them during school breaks when Charlie would already be off work so it wouldn't be as difficult to coordinate taking time off between the. Originally, they wanted to start their trip taking during spring break of Charlie's first year of teaching, but due to her being pregnant, they felt it would be better to hold off. Then during fall break, they believed Jason was too young to go on a trip, so they opted to wait until spring break when he was eight months old and could handle a long drive at least a little bit better.

"Traveling with a pup is difficult." Hajoon's dad had informed the 23-year-old when talking about their trip plans during the older alpha's 56th birthday dinner. "Especially one as young as Jason. There's a reason your mom and I didn't go on a trip with Hana until she was a toddler."

"Yeah but you guys flew to Korea." Hajoon pointed out. "I feel like that's a bit different than driving to Florida."

"That's a long drive." Hajoon's mom had chimed in at that point. "And it'll be even longer having to stop every couple of hours for Jason."

"I think we'll be able to handle it." Hajoon insisted.

When the day finally came, Hajoon excitedly ran back and forth between their apartment and his car, packing their luggage up while Charlie nursed Jason on the couch. "Okay, everything's in the car." Hajoon said after his last trip downstairs and around the building to the parking lot just as Jason unlatched from Charlie's breast and wiggled to sit up. "Are you ready for your first family vacation, Jason?" Hajoon then cooed to the eight-month-old omega, reaching out to take him from Charlie. "Let's get your diaper changed so we can go!"

"And I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick while you do that." Charlie said, running off to their bathroom while Hajoon went to change Jason's diaper.

Once Charlie and Jason were both ready, the family of three headed down to the car together, Hajoon carrying Jason while Charlie had the diaper bag. "I think I'm gonna sit in the back with him." Charlie said as Hajoon opened the car door to place Jason in his car seat.

"You sure?" Hajoon asked.

Charlie nodded. "It's just such a long drive, and it'll be easier to tell if he's just a little fussy and needs some reassurance or if we actually need to stop to change his diaper or feed him or just give him a break if I'm back there with him."

"If you need a break, let me know and I can take over puppy duty while you drive." Hajoon said.

"Same goes for you if you need a break from driving." Charlie said, smiling as Hajoon leaned down to steal a quick kiss from her once Jason was buckled into his car seat.

Despite Hajoon's optimism that everything would go extremely smoothly, their 10-hour drive ended up being much longer due to Jason screaming bloody murder nearly every two hours on the dot. When they finally made it to their hotel in Destin, Florida, it was long past Jason's bedtime, and despite their best efforts to get him to sleep in his car seat with the hopes that they could transition him to the travel crib they'd brought without waking him up, the eight-month-old couldn't seem to settle down during the last bit of the drive. Thankfully checking into the hotel went quickly, so it wasn't long before they were able to get their increasingly fussy pup into their hotel room for the week.

As soon as Hajoon rolled their luggage cart into their room, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out to see that his mom was FaceTiming and quickly answered. "Hi, Eomma! Yes, we made it okay."

"That's good." His mom said just as Jason let out a particularly piercing shriek. "Ooh, someone does not sound happy."

"Yeah, he's very overtired so we can't talk long." He turned the phone to show Charlie and Jason, the 24-year-old giving a quick wave and smile while still trying to soothe Jason. "I'll call you in the morning to make up for it though."

"Of course. Get that puppy to sleep!" His mom smiled. "Love you!"

"Love you too." Hajoon ended the call then proceeded to unload the luggage cart while Charlie settled on the bed to nurse Jason. By the time she finally got the eight-month-old calmed down enough to latch on, Hajoon had gotten all of their bags off the cart. "I'm gonna take this back down and maybe go pick up some fast food for dinner for us." He said quietly so as not to disturb Jason now that he was finally content. "Will you be okay if I leave?"

Charlie nodded. "I think we're all good now." Hajoon walked over to the bed and leaned down to softly kiss Jason's forehead, then pressed his lips to Charlie's before leaving the room to return the luggage cart and get them dinner.

Chapter Text

Hana was curled up on the couch on her laptop, working on a script with a glass of wine next to her, when her laptop started ringing with an incoming FaceTime call. "You're gonna have to be quiet because I will not forgive you if you wake up my toddler." Hana said with a laugh as her college best friend's face appeared on the screen.

"You say that like I'm just randomly gonna start screaming at the top of my lungs." Mei laughed. "How is parental life by the way? Balancing work okay? Where's Jae? Surprised he hasn't popped in yet."

Biting back a giggle at Mei's propensity for asking multiple questions as if they were one. "It's good. I mean, the only time I really have to write is at night once Julie's in bed and on weekends when Jae's home, but that hasn't stopped the jobs from rolling in. I'm actually working on a script for yet another Dungeons and Dragons movie right now."

"Bet Jae's excited about that."

Hana hummed in confirmation. "And in answer to your question about him, one of the tigers at the zoo went into labor so they called him in to help monitor. He won't be home until after his normal shift tomorrow." She saved her progress on the script and closed out of it, knowing that with the break in her writing, she wouldn't be regaining the motivation until after she'd gotten some sleep after talking to Mei. "What about you? How's life going in Hollywood?"

Mei let out a tiny sigh. "It's…going."

"More typical omegas in Hollywood barriers?" Hana guessed with a sympathetic tone.

"Always." Mei rolled her eyes. "But hopefully things will be going better soon." Hana raised her eyebrows in interest. "I've been saving up money and I have a few meetings lined up with a few investors to start my own production company."

Hana's eyes widened. "Really?"

Mei nodded. "I mean, I'm not delusional enough to think it'll be easy or happen overnight, but I'm gonna put in the work to make it happen."

"And if anyone can do it, it's you." Hana smiled. "I can't wait to see your own films on the big screen."

"Maybe with your name alongside them as co producer and writer?" Mei's suggestion had Hana freezing in shock. "I know it's a big ask but not only are you one of my absolute best friends, but you're also an extremely talented writer--possibly the greatest one of our generation--" Hana snorted at the compliment. "And you're the only person I would want to go into this business with as partners."

Hana bit her lip. "I mean…Jae's just coming up on his first work anniversary, I signed Julie up for these Mommy & Me tumbling classes that start this summer, we're really settling in here…"

"I know and that's why I'm not gonna pressure or guilt you or anything." Mei said. "But consider it please?"

***

"See, bolognese usually has meat in it." Hana was saying to Julie who was sitting on the counter as she prepared dinner. "But Eomma doesn't eat meat, so I found a recipe that uses lentils instead and I make it at home to use for pasta instead of buying it from the store." Julie babbled in response, pointing as Hana poured said lentils into the pot on the stove, followed by vegetable stock and tomato puree. "Yeah, it's really yummy."

Just as Hana brought the sauce to a simmer, she heard keys jingling just outside the door, signifying Jaehyun was finally home. Julie must have heard them too as she began bouncing slightly on her bottom, holding her arms out. "Up!"

"You wanna welcome Appa home?" Hana asked as she picked Julie up from the counter, pressing a kiss to her cheek before setting her on the ground.

Julie toddled out to the living room, Hana right behind her, and smiled brightly as the door opened and Jaehyun walked through. "Appa!" The 16-month-old exclaimed, holding her arms up to him.

"Julie!" Jaehyun exclaimed with just as much enthusiasm, hurriedly kicking his shoes off before scooping the toddler up into his arms. "I missed our Appa Julie time this morning!" Hana smiled as she watched Jaehyun pepper their daughter's face in kisses, the young omega giggling away in the alpha's arms. "You wanna see the new tiger cub that was born this morning?" Jaehyun then asked, pulling his phone out of his pocket to assumedly show Julie a picture.

"Maybe we'll have to go to the zoo soon to see them in person." Hana mused.

"That's a great idea!" Jaehyun agreed before leaning in to give Hana a greeting kiss. "I missed you too." He murmured against her lips before kissing her again.

Hana smiled into the kiss before pulling back. "I've got a bolognese sauce simmering, should be ready in a half hour. I'll get some pasta started soon so that we can eat quick because I'm sure you're starving."

Jaehyun nodded. "I'm gonna go take a shower because I feel gross." He turned to Julie still in his arms. "And then we can have Appa Julie time after dinner." He pressed a kiss to Julie's cheek before setting her down and kissed Hana one more time before hurrying off to the bathroom.

Later, after Hana had gotten Julie to sleep for the night and showered herself, she padded out to the living room to find Jaehyun dozing off on the couch. She gently nudged him, causing him to jump. "Go to bed. You have a lot of sleep to catch up on."

"But I haven't gotten to see you." Jaehyun pouted, tugging Hana into his lap. "We need our time too." Soon, they were cuddled up laying on the couch together, Jaehyun's face buried in Hana's neck as he breathed in her scent. After a moment of quiet, Jaehyun mumbled, "I feel like something's on your mind."

"How do you always do that?" Hana asked with a slight laugh as Jaehyun pulled his face out of her neck to look at her. "I talked to Mei last night and she wants to start her own production company, make her own movies."

"Good for her." Jaehyun murmured.

Hana nodded. "She also asked me to do it with her."

Jaehyun paused for a moment, clearly trying to process that in his sleep deprived brain. "Like…move back to LA?"

"Yeah." Hana confirmed. "And while a part of me wants to say yes because it's a way for me to continue my career on my terms, I'm also aware that saying yes would cause a disruption in your career, and I don't want that. Not to mention what a move like that could do to Julie, the stress it would cause her, especially when she's too little to really talk it out with."

"Well, you don't have to commit right this second, right?" Jaehyun asked, rubbing a hand over Hana's back as she shook her head. "Then don't stress yourself out over it. You've always been really good at figuring out the right path for you, so just let the offer settle for a bit, and I'm sure you'll find the right answer." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "And I'm about two seconds from falling asleep so maybe we should go to bed now."

Hana giggled as she climbed off of Jaehyun so he could get up. "I'm gonna stay up to write a bit then I'll come to bed." Jaehyun hummed and leaned down to press his lips to hers before shuffling off to their bedroom.

Chapter Text

While Eunji was getting better at waking up in the morning on days that she didn't get to sleep until she woke up naturally, it was still a huge struggle to drag herself out of bed when her alarm went off. But that morning, her excitement had her already half-awake when her alarm started ringing. She turned it off and jumped out of Riley's bed, immediately gathering up a fresh set of underwear and the dress she'd purchased specifically for her college graduation before hurrying to the bathroom. She hopped in the shower, scrubbing every inch of her body thoroughly, washing her hair, and shaving her legs, before climbing out. Then once she was in a towel she first dried her hair, pulling half of it back and holding it in place with a bow hair clip. She did her makeup then pulled on her underwear and dress, double checking herself in the mirror before leaving Riley's grandparents' bathroom.

She was immediately greeted by Riley, who was also already dressed for the day and offering her a piece of breakfast fruit pizza. "You already to go?" She asked.

Eunji nodded, going up on her tiptoes to give Riley a quick kiss before accepting the breakfast offering. "So ready." She took a bite of the pizza and checked her phone, nearly choking when she saw what time it was. "And we're cutting it close. I'm supposed to be there by 9:15 to get checked in."

"Looks like we're having breakfast to go." Riley said. The two of them bid Riley's grandparents goodbye before heading out to Riley's car so they could go to the Devil Dog Arena at Morrilton High School where the community college commencement ceremony was taking place.

***

Riley's family had rented out their pack's reception hall following Eunji's graduation ceremony to hold a celebratory lunch complete with a white person's taco bar as the provided meal. The guests included the Min family, of course, including Hana, Jaehyun, and Julie who had driven up the day before so they could be there, their friends, Riley's family, and some members of the pack who'd wanted to congratulate Eunji on the milestone. Although the Mins and their friends were polite and welcoming to the others, the two groups did end up somewhat divided, similar to cliques in high school, everyone keeping to their own people except for Riley and Eunji who kept bouncing back and forth. But that didn't stop the occasional 'helpful' advice or unsolicited opinion that would come from the pack members.

It started just as people began to fill their plates following the prayer the pack members had insisted upon prior to eating, prompted by Julie's fussing during the moment despite Hana's best efforts to keep the toddler quiet and calm. "Sounds like somebody needs to learn how to act in public settings." An omega a little bit older than Yoongi and Jimin said with a faux joking tone, yet Hana could have heard the judgment from miles away.

"This is usually when she takes a nap so she's just getting a bit tired." Hana explained politely, bouncing the toddler slightly to try to soothe her further.

"Well, they still gotta learn at some point." The older omega insisted. "It's not like she'll always get to have her nap at the same time every day. Being tired is no excuse."

Hana blinked at her. "She's only 16 months old."

"They're never too young for discipline." That had Hana nearly seeing red. "She's old enough to know better."

Eunji appeared at that moment, cutting into the conversation. "Actually, she's not. Pups don't begin to recognize right from wrong until around the age of two, and then they don't truly begin to understand the nuances of right and wrong until they hit the preschool years. So all Julie here knows is that she's tired and is communicating that in the only way she knows how." She managed to get Hana and Julie away from the older omega and through the taco bar line. "And that's on having a degree in pup development." Eunji grinned at her older sister.

"Thanks." Hana said. "Although I think Jae and I will just pack some food up to go so we can get her to sleep. Sorry we won't get much more time together."

"It's all good." Eunji assured her.

Next was when an omega around Hajoon and Charlie's age suddenly sat across from them as they were feeding Jason bits of food from their plates. "I couldn't help but notice…" He trailed off and gestured to his scent gland to signify their lack of mating bites. "Don’t you want to set a good example for this little one?"

Hajoon and Charlie shared a look before Hajoon responded. "I think portraying a healthy relationship that doesn't involve rushing into something as serious as a mating before we're ready is the best example we can set." Soon after they finished eating, they also took their leave so they could get back to Conway and put Jason down for his own afternoon nap.

Eunji's parents and Sunwoo were the next to leave after they finished eating, due to her mom and Sunwoo needing to get to the studio for that year's competition team auditions, and soon after the other guests began to trickle out. Yet that didn't save Eunji from also being on the receiving end of someone's judgment. "So what are your plans now?" The pack alpha's mate, Addison, inquired as they were packing up the leftover food.

"Well, the campus daycare offered me a full-time position." Eunji said. "I like it there well enough, so I'll be staying there until a better opportunity comes along, if one does."

Addison furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head slightly. "You don't want to finish out your degree and become a real teacher?"

Eunji paused. "I mean, daycare and preschool teachers are 'real' teachers. Just for a different age group."

"But that's more like glorified pupsitting." Addison said.

"It's a lot more in depth than pupsitting." Eunji said. "But I can understand the confusion since your only work with pups is dropping off prepackaged lesson plans created by capitalistic companies that don't know much about pup development at all in each of the Sunday School classrooms for the teachers to follow." She plastered a smile on her face before moving as far away from Addison as she could.

Chapter Text

Hajoon woke up to the feeling of Charlie snuggling close to him. "Good morning." He mumbled sleepily as she nuzzled against his scent gland.

"Good morning." Charlie murmured against his skin before pulling back just enough to smile at him. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you." Hajoon smiled and shifted closer to softly brush his lips against hers.

Charlie rested her hand on the side of his face as she started to deepen the kiss. She pressed closer to Hajoon, flicking her tongue against his bottom lip. Just as he parted his lips to welcome her in, a familiar chime sounded from both of their phones. Charlie begrudgingly broke the kiss and rolled over to grab her phone from its charger, checking the notification from the app connected to their pup monitor. "Movement has been detected." She read off with a slight giggle.

Hajoon's lips quirked in amusement. "Three…two…one…" On cue, the faint sound of babbling traveled over from Jason's room. "I'll get him."

"No, my boobs hurt so I should nurse him as soon as possible anyway." Charlie said as she began to climb out of bed. "Then I'll pass him off to you so I can make you breakfast."

"But you hate cooking." Hajoon pointed out.

"But it's your birthday." Charlie argued, leaning down to kiss Hajoon one more time, successfully distracting him long enough that she was able to leave the room before he even thought to argue further.

Hajoon stretched before grabbing his own phone to respond the early morning happy birthday texts he'd already received. Then he got out of bed and padded into the bathroom to pee before leaving his and Charlie's bedroom just as Charlie was coming out of Jason's room with the 10-month-old omega propped on her hip. "Good morning, little dumpling!" Hajoon cooed to Jason, earning a bright smile from the infant as he held his hands out. "You wanna come cuddle with Appa?"

Jason waved his arms excitedly. "Appa!"

Hajoon's eyes widened in excitement while Charlie gave their pup an incredulous look. "Appa?" She asked while Hajoon took Jason into his arms. "I carry you for nearly nine months, I go through 22 hours of labor to bring you into this world, I create your food with my body, and Appa is your first words?"

"He's an appa's boy." Hajoon chuckled, peppering Jason's face in kisses much to the 10-month old's delight. "That's the best birthday present ever." Charlie playfully rolled her eyes with a dramatic huff before padding over to the pantry to get out a box of pancake mix. Meanwhile, Hajoon moved to sit on the couch with Jason so they could get some morning cuddles in. "Maybe you'll have better luck with the next one." He froze a bit as he realized what he said. "I mean, if there is a next one." He said, glancing over at Charlie to see that she was moving around the kitchen as if he hadn't said anything.

After a moment Charlie shrugged. "Maybe in the future. The far future." She looked up from the bowl of pancake mix to smile at Hajoon, the sight sending his heart fluttering.

Chapter Text

Yoongi pulled Jimin closer as soon as he woke up, burying his face in the omega's neck. He inhaled Jimin's warm vanilla scent, nuzzling his scent gland to mix it with his own cedarwood scent until he was content with the new scent that was produced. Jimin was awake by the time he finished his scenting. "Is there a reason you're so possessive right now?" Jimin mumbled.

"I just love you." Yoongi murmured, pressing a soft kiss to Jimin's scent gland.

Jimin rolled over in his arms so he was facing the alpha. "And I love you." He smiled sleepily, looking so adorable that Yoongi couldn't help but press his lips to the omega's.

They shared a series of soft, loving kisses until a quiet knock on the door had them parting. Jimin sat up and reached over to his nightstand to retrieve his glasses as Sunwoo gently pushed open their bedroom door, revealing a tray of food in his hands. "What's this?" Yoongi asked, still snuggled up in Jimin's nest.

Sunwoo smiled, lifting the tray slightly. "I made you breakfast in bed for Father’s Day."

Yoongi sat up at that while Jimin giggled. "It's about time you're the one getting breakfast in bed instead of making it." Jimin mused as he got comfortable against his pillows once more.

As Sunwoo set the tray in Yoongi's lap, the 56-year-old alpha took in the spread of pancakes topped with powdered sugar, blueberries, and banana slices, a couple of tangerines on the side, a bowl of strawberries, and his usual coffee. "This looks amazing, Jellybean. Thank you." Sunwoo beamed proudly as he leaned down to hug Yoongi, the alpha pressing a kiss to his forehead before patting the nest between him and Jimin. "Come here, I'll share it with you."

"But it's your Father’s Day breakfast." Sunwoo pointed out.

"And I want to share it with two of my favorite people." Yoongi replied stubbornly, patting the nest more forcefully until the 20-year-old climbed in between his parents. Yoongi then made sure to feed both omegas before taking a bite for himself. "These are delicious, Jellybean." Yoongi praised Sunwoo, making the omega's proud smile grow even more.

***

Hana's legs burned in a good way as she finished up her workout and cool down of the day. She stopped at the water bottle refill station to replenish before going on to the pupcare room to pick up Julie. The 18-month-old smiled gleefully as soon as she spotted her mom in the door and immediately abandoned the music activity table she was playing at in order to run as fast as her little legs could carry her. "Hi, Julie!" Hana giggled as she scooped the toddler up into her arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Did you have fun?" Julie babbled in response, pointing intentionally at different things in the room. "That does sound like a good morning." Once one of the pupcare room attendants brought Julie's diaper bag over, Hana thanked her and turned to leave. "Eomma had a really good workout today. Now it's time for Julie's workout!"

After getting Julie into her carseat with some strawberry beet puffs as a snack, Hana drove over to the pups' gym she'd enrolled Julie in a Mommy & Me class in. "This place looks nice, doesn't it?" She murmured as she got Julie out of the car and carried her inside.

The gym was already full of toddlers with their mothers--and a few fathers--as well as gym attendants, the pups being guided over various simple obstacle courses, some being led through tiny somersaults on the mats, and some of the older ones were even being allowed to hang from rings. One of the attendants approached them with a smile. "Considering I don't recognize your face, you must be our new student, Julie." The 18-month-old shyly hid her face in Hana's shoulder. "Don’t worry, Mommy's gonna be right by your side the whole time." The attendant then turned her attention to Hana. "I'm Amelia. Why don't we let Julie get comfortable over on the mats then let her work her way up to what catches her attention?"

"Sounds good." Hana agreed, following Amelia over to an empty spot on the mat. She sat down with Julie in her lap, soon joining in on the Mommy & Me stretches that another mom and toddler were doing in the same area with another attendant.

After a few minutes, the mom leaned over to Hana. "You're new?"

Hana nodded. "Our first day."

"You're gonna love it here." The other omega said. "I've been bringing Noah here since he was four months old. Now he's just over two and we still come every week."

"Well, that's a good sign." Hana mused, although her brain briefly flitted to the thought of if they would even be there long enough with the offer from Mei still on the back of her mind.

"I'm James, by the way." The omega introduced himself.

"Hana." She smiled. "And this is Julie."

Noah waved at Julie with a bright smile. "Hi!" Julie giggled and waved before turning to hide her face in Hana's chest.

"She's very shy." Hana giggled, coaxing Julie out of her chest so they could resume stretching.

By the time the 50-minute class was over, Julie was rubbing her eyes. "They tired you out, didn't they?" Hana murmured as she carried Julie back out to the car. "Well let's get home so we can take a nap. You don't want to be grumpy when we call Halabeoji during lunch, do you?" She buckled Julie into her carseat and made sure the toddler had Peanut in her arms before pressing a kiss to her nose and closing the door.

Chapter Text

Eunji groaned when her alarm went off, patting her nightstand blindly until she finally found her phone. Once she'd gotten the annoying ring to stop, she sank further into her nest for just a moment longer before forcing herself to get up. Eyes barely open, she trudged out of her room and to the bathroom to relieve her bladder. Once she'd peed and washed her hands, she brushed her teeth then did her morning skincare, forgoing makeup as she usually did seeing as there wasn't really a point to doing her makeup when she was spending her day around toddlers and would most likely have her makeup ruined at some point in the day anyway. Then she unwrapped her hair from around her heatless curling rod, shaking her hair out and brushing it until she was satisfied with the loose waves. Returning to her room, she dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt--cute but still comfy and appropriate for being on the floor with a group of toddlers all day.

As Eunji padded to the kitchen, she found her grandmother already on the couch with her coffee, one of her early morning shows playing on the TV. "Good morning, Halmeoni." Eunji greeted her, pausing to bend down to give her a hug and press a kiss to the top of her head.

"Happy birthday, Eunji." Her grandmother smiled as Eunji released her to continue on to the kitchen. "You're heading to work."

Eunji hummed in response, heading straight for the Nespresso machine to make her daily iced hazelnut latte. "I'll be home just in time for dinner." Once her coffee was ready, and she'd taken a sip to approve of the taste, she grabbed the birthday cake overnight oats shake she'd prepared the night before from the fridge as her early morning snack--since she really only needed something to tide her over that early in the morning until breakfast was served at the daycare, as she always got a teacher plate to eat with the toddlers.

"I still think that's such a long drive to make every day." Her grandmother mused as she crossed the living room once more on her way to the door.

"I don't mind it." Eunji shrugged. "Gives me a chance to wake up and mentally prepare in the morning, then to decompress at the end of the day." She slipped on her pink croc sandals. "See you tonight, Halmeoni. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Eunji gave the 88-year-old omega a wave before leaving the house.

The majority of the 25-minute drive to Morrilton was spent with Eunji singing along to her favorite songs in between sips of her coffee and shake. Then just as she was exiting off the interstate, her rendition of Back to Me by the Rose was interrupted by an incoming call from her mom. "You're up early, Eomma." Eunji greeted him as soon as she accepted the call.

"The opening number rehearsal starts in a little over an hour so I'm trying to get up and around to start gathering the dancers who were chosen for it." Her mom explained. "And I also wanted to wish you a happy birthday before you went into work and couldn't be on your phone since they banned smartwatches. Just so you could be sure I didn't forget you."

"You could never forget me. Princesses are unforgettable." Eunji said half seriously, earning a snort from her mom. "How's the competition going?"

"It's going good." Her mom said before sighing. "But I already can't wait for semifinals and finals to be over so we can get back home. I'm sure Sunwoo's feeling the same way."

"At least you'll be back for Jason's birthday this year." Eunji pointed out.

Her mom made a small noise at that. "Yeah to have a little dinner with him. Lunch if we can get everyone gathered and loaded up to go early enough."

"And Hajoon and Charlie made sure to plan his party for the weekend after so that you wouldn't miss that." Eunji said as she pulled into the daycare parking lot. "Alright I'm at work so I gotta let you go. I love you."

"Love you too, Honeybun." Her mom blew her a kiss through the phone before ending the call.

Eunji entered the building with her coffee and typed her employee code into the keypad to both clock in for the day and to unlock the second door. She entered the toddler room directly to the right and was immediately met with her coteacher holding out a drink to her. "You got me Sonic?" Eunji smiled brightly as she set her belongings down so she could accept the drink.

"It’s a birthday tradition here." Gabriel said.

"A highly appreciated one." Eunji grinned, taking a sip of the Dr. Pepper before grabbing a piece of construction paper from the art center and a sharpie. She doodled a princess tiara on the paper before wrapping it around the cup, taping the makeshift cover down so the Sonic logo was covered just in case DHS showed up for a random visit. Then she got to work helping Gabriel get the room ready before the pups started to show up.

The morning was spent cuddling the toddlers in the class, staying mostly in the dramatic play area during free play time as she loved helping the toddlers dress up and act out different scenarios with them, and receiving multiple 'cards' from the pups in the form of construction paper that they scribbled on during art time. When the pups went down for nap, Gabriel let her take the first lunch shift, and Eunji was ecstatic to find Riley already outside with a makeshift picnic set up in the bed of her truck when she exited the building.

"I'm glad I didn't schedule a pickup order at McDonald's as I was walking out." Eunji giggled as she climbed up into the bed of the truck with her girlfriend's help.

"You deserve better than McDonald's on your birthday." Riley said, leaning in to press her lips to Eunji's for a few seconds before presenting her with a takeout box from the local hibachi food truck.

"You know what I really deserve?" Eunji asked as she opened the box, nearly salivating at the scent of the teriyaki chicken. "Wingstop. Morrilton needs to get with the program."

Eunji got her Wingstop that night, though, entering the house after work to see her dad setting out various wings and fries on the coffee table with Mulan--Eunji's favorite Disney princess movie--cued up on the TV. "I've got your birthday dinner all ready to go!" Her dad exclaimed as she slipped her shoes off.

"I'm gonna change first and then I'll be right back." Eunji said, hurrying down the hall to her room. "But Halmeoni, you can go ahead and start eating!" She called over her shoulder.

Chapter Text

The sound of the hotel room door opening and closing woke Sunwoo up.  He lifted his head and blinked open his eyes to see his mom coming in with cups and a bag from some local bakery. "Happy birthday, Jellybean!" His mom exclaimed, lifting the items in his hand up slightly. "Since we had some extra time, I decided to get something a little fancier than the hotel breakfast."

"Thank you." Sunwoo mumbled sleepily, sitting up as his mom set the bag of food and one of the cups on the bedside table next to him. Sunwoo grabbed the cup and sniffed it, smiling when the familiar scent of hot chocolate wafted past his nose.

"We still have a few hours before we have to get on the road so no need to rush." His mom said, taking a sip of his own drink. "We can laze around a bit."

And laze around Sunwoo did, the now 21-year-old taking his time getting out of bed, getting dressed, and packing up his belongings. Once he and his mom had everything together, they headed down to the lobby where his mom went to the desk to begin the checkout process while Sunwoo settled into one of the chairs with the studio tablet to check dancers in as they came down so they could make sure no one was getting left behind. One of the first dancers to make it to the lobby with her mom was Anna, one of the Mini dancers, who immediately skipped up to Sunwoo, holding a handmade card out to him. "Here, Mr. Sunwoo! Happy birthday!"

Sunwoo smiled softly at the five-year-old as he accepted the card. "Thank you so much, Anna. I love it." Anna giggled and skipped back over to her mom as Sunwoo checked her in on the tablet before opening the card to look at the stick people drawn inside.

Once everyone was checked in and loaded up into the studio vans, they made the four and a half drive from Chicago to St. Louis, where that year's finals competition was taking place beginning the following day. They got to the St. Louis Union Station Hotel where Sunwoo's mom got them all checked in, then Sunwoo passed out room keys to all of the dancers and chaperones before heading to his own room with his mom. He kicked off his sneakers by the door and left his suitcase by the foot of the bed he was claiming before flopping face first on it. He heard his mom shuffling around the room, no doubt getting settled in. "I'm about to call your dad if you want to join in." His mom said as the 53-year-old omega got comfortable on his own bed.

Sunwoo pushed himself up and joined his mom on his bed just as his dad answered the video call. "Hi, Daddy!"

"Hi, Jellybean! Happy birthday again!" His dad waved at the camera. "How's St. Louis?"

"We've been here five minutes." Sunwoo's mom deadpanned.

As his parents proceeded to bicker before shifting the conversation to the family they would be having on Monday to celebrate Jason's birthday once Sunwoo and his mom were back in Conway, there was a sudden knock on the hotel door. Figuring it was one of the dancers needing something, Sunwoo rolled off the bed and padded to the door to open it, only to be completely shocked by the person on the other side of it. "I'm here for your birthday kidnapping!" Minjoon smiled brightly before pulling Sunwoo in for a hug.

Sunwoo blinked at his best friend as he pulled away. "You drove all the way up to St. Louis just to kidnap me for my birthday."

"Of course I did." Minjoon snorted. "It's tradition." He stepped past Sunwoo just enough to see into the hotel room. "Hi, Mr. Jimin! I'm kidnapping Sunwoo!"

Sunwoo's mom nodded. "Have fun!"

Sunwoo looked at his mom incredulously. "Did you know about this?"

His mom shrugged. "He texted me earlier saying he was gonna be in St. Louis and asked where we were staying so I texted him our room number when we got here."

"And now I'm kidnapping you." Minjoon reiterated as he grabbed Sunwoo's arm, barely giving the now 21-year-old time to grab his sneakers before dragging him out of the room and down the hall.

Minjoon brought Sunwoo to a restaurant just behind the hotel, taking point on informing the staff of Sunwoo's allergy and ordering Sunwoo a daiquiri for his first legal drink while he got a beer for himself. As they were sharing a plate of wings as an appetizer, Sunwoo asked, "So seriously, what's up with the five-and-a-half-hour drive to buy me a birthday dinner? We could have gotten together on Tuesday."

"Yeah but kidnapping you is more fun." Minjoon said before taking on a slightly more serious air. "Besides, this time next year I'll be at the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders training camp, so this was probably my last chance to do a birthday kidnapping." Sunwoo smiled a bit as their server arrived with their entrees.

Chapter Text

Despite following in his parents' footsteps of taking off work for his pup's birthday, Hajoon's internal clock had him up at his normal time to get ready for his work from home day. He made sure not to disturb Charlie who was still sleeping as he climbed out of bed, padding quietly into their bathroom to relieve his bladder before going out to the kitchen to make himself a coffee. Once he had his coffee, he settled in on the couch and turned on the TV to watch a new show that had just come out on Netflix that he'd been looking forward to, but he didn't get very far into the first episode before hearing Jason babbling to himself in his crib. Hajoon paused the show and set his coffee on the coffee table before heading to Jason's room where the now 12-month-old omega was sitting up in his crib.

As soon as Jason spotted Hajoon, he smiled brightly. "Appa!"

"Dumpling!" Hajoon smiled as Jason held his arms up in a silent request to be picked up. Hajoon did exactly that, pressing a kiss to the toddler's cheek. "Happy birthday." He murmured, hugging Jason close. "I can't believe you're already a year old." Jason babbled at Hajoon in response. "Appa took the day off so I wouldn't have any phone calls or emails stealing my focus. All my attention will be on you today." Jason let out a laugh, still babbling away. "And after your afternoon nap, we're gonna go to Halmeoni and Halabeoji's to have a special birthday dinner with your first taste of cake!"

Jason began squirming in Hajoon's arms as if trying to push away from him. "Moyu!"

Hajoon chuckled. "Alright, I guess we can wake up Mommy. But if she gets mad at me, I'm throwing you under the bus." He pressed another kiss to Jason's cheek before carrying him out of the room and into his and Charlie's room.

He settled onto his side of the bed and set Jason in Charlie's nest between them. Then the 12-month-old proceeded to immediately crawl on top of his mother, tugging at her pajama shirt in an attempt to expose her breasts. Charlie moaned sleepily, blindly trying to keep the collar of her shirt up, only squinting open her eyes when Jason let out a cry of frustration. "How did you get out of your crib?" Charlie mumbled as she shifted in her nest to a better position to nurse Jason, her eyes landing on Hajoon. "You."

"Hey, he woke up and asked for moyu." Hajoon said, holding his hands up to show his innocence. "If I could provide moyu, I would, but I can't. Only you can do that." Charlie playfully rolled her eyes but didn't respond as she made sure Jason was latched on and suckling contently. "I'm gonna go get started on breakfast." Hajoon said, leaning in to gently press his lips to Charlie's then to Jason's forehead before climbing off the bed to return to the kitchen.

***

While Jimin was exhausted and drained from over a week of traveling, that didn't stop him from practically running into the house once he and Sunwoo returned home, not even bothering to grab their luggage from the trunk just yet. He hurriedly kicked his shoes off, Sunwoo right behind him, and quickly padded into the living room where Hajoon, Charlie, and Jason were already socializing with Yoongi and Jimin's mother-in-law. Hajoon was lying on the floor near where Jason was crawling around with some of the toys Jimin and Yoongi kept at home for when the now toddler was there while Charlie was on the couch with Yoongi's mom. Yoongi had been on the couch with them, but the 56-year-old had already jumped to his feet ready to greet his mate and second youngest pup. "Welcome home!" He had his arms outstretched to pull Jimin into a greeting kiss, but the omega pushed past him in lieu of scooping their grandpup up from the floor. "Well okay then."

"You have plenty of time for kisses when they go home." Jimin deadpanned. "I have limited time for puppy snuggles before they have to go home to get him ready for bed." Jimin cuddled an extremely happy Jason close to his chest, pressing a few kisses to the 12-month old's forehead.

Yoongi let out a dramatic sigh as Sunwoo hugged him. "At least you still love me." Sunwoo giggled as Jimin shot Yoongi an unamused look. "We're just waiting for Eunji to get home from work before I get the meat on the grill." Yoongi then informed Jimin and Sunwoo.

As if on cue, the front door opened and closed and Eunji trudged into the room. "I'm starving!" She exclaimed, flopping over the back of the couch to sit next to her grandmother.

"Well, I'm gonna go get the galbi on the grill so it should only be about 15 or 20 more minutes before we eat." Yoongi said, walking over to press a kiss to the top of her head before going on to the kitchen to get the marinating short ribs out of the fridge.

Jimin smiled at Jason in his arms. "You wanna go bother Halabeoji while he cooks?" He asked while carrying the toddler to the kitchen to. "It's one of my favorite pastimes." Jason smiled and babbled in response, clutching Jimin's shirt tight in his fists. "Yeah, it is a lot of fun. And sometimes Halabeoji will feed me while he's cooking so maybe you'll get lucky too and get to be his taste tester.”

Chapter Text

Eunji woke up even earlier than normal, so early that even her grandmother wasn't up for the day yet. She felt like a zombie as she went through her morning routine--peeing, washing hands, brushing teeth, morning skincare, fixing her hair, getting dressed, making coffee, grabbing her overnight oats shake from the fridge--and she had to take a long sip of her iced hazelnut latte once she was in her car to wake herself up before even attempting to drive. Then as she approached the city, she had to start blasting her music loud and turn her air conditioning on full blast to continue to keep herself awake.

As she was getting on the interstate towards Morrilton, her music was interrupted by an incoming call from Riley, reminding her that she had asked the alpha the night before to call her when she herself got up for work to make sure Eunji was up and ready. Eunji smiled a bit as she answered the call. "Good morning!"

"Sounds like you didn't even need me." Riley chuckled. "Look at you being on all top of things."

"I know, I'm adulting!" Eunji laughed. "I don't know how you manage to get up this early every morning."

Eunji could practically hear her girlfriend's shrug. "Well, I am more of a morning person than you are." Eunji hummed in agreement with that statement.  "Why are you having to go into work so early anyway?"

The 20-year-old omega let out an exasperated sigh before answering. "The new director who started on Monday decided he wants to have staff meetings to discuss changes that will be made after the observations he's made this week. So basically, he's going to ignore how everything we do is for a reason, and it helps keep things running smoothly in order to go on a power trip to assert his dominance as the new boss."

Riley made a small noise of sympathy. "Well hopefully it'll go better than expected. But whether it does or not, I'll bring you a special treat for lunch." Eunji smiled, her chest fluttering a bit. "Is there a specific restaurant you want for lunch?"

"The answer will always be Wingstop." Eunji said, earning a laugh from Riley. "But since I know you won't have time to make a nearly hour roundtrip drive for that, I'll settle for Ortega's or the hibachi truck."

"Sounds good." Riley said just as Eunji heard a muffled voice, presumably Riley's grandfather. "I gotta go but I'll see you for lunch. I love you."

"Love you." Eunji blew her a kiss through the speaker before ending the call, picking up her overnight oats shake to finish it off.

When Eunji got to the daycare, she was surprised to see that it was just her co teacher, Gabriel, and their new director, Easton, in the room, the preschool room teachers nowhere to be found. "I thought we were having a staff meeting."

"I decided to do the classes separately." Easton said, waiting for Eunji to get settled in before proceeding. "First off, I just wanna let you two know that you are doing a fantastic job. Seriously, I couldn't imagine coming into this position with better teachers already holding down the fort." Eunji had the urge to roll her eyes as she could tell it was a case of praising them so whatever came next wouldn't seem as bad, but she managed to hold off. "But there are a few things that need tweaking. Mainly the fact that there's far too much unstructured time going on in this class." Easton gestured to the daily schedule posted on the wall. "All this free play and center time and not enough learning going on in this room."

Eunji and Gabriel shared a look with each other then, as Eunji was the more outspoken of the two, the 20-year-old omega said, "But that's how pups learn. Especially at this age, interacting with and exploring their environment through play is how pups develop an understanding of themselves and the world around them."

"Well yes but that doesn't exactly provide us anything tangible to show our parents their pups' progress." Easton said.

"The parents can see the progress in their pups." Eunji argued. "And we communicate with them when they gain a new skill."

"And that's a good start." Easton said, increasing the frustration Eunji felt. "But we still need something more definite than just letting them run around going crazy in here. So we're gonna start implementing more structured time at the table with lessons."

Eunji stared at Easton for a second, blinking slowly. "Are you implying doing worksheets with toddlers?"

"Not traditional worksheets." Easton said. "But teacher led educational activities so we can show that they are actually learning here." Eunji opened her mouth to try to argue some more but Easton continued on. "I've already ordered some new curriculum plans for you to implement."

"We already have lesson plans." Eunji informed him.

"Yes but we're going a new route now." Easton said before changing the subject to new lunch time and nap time protocols, both of which pushed the boundaries of what the state minimum licensing requirements allowed yet, once again, Easton didn't seem to care when Eunji pointed that out.

When Eunji arrived home at the end of the workday, she was more drained than she'd ever been before. So drained that she believed she finally understood Sunwoo's need to decompress after school every day back when they were still in school. She kicked her shoes off by the shoe rack and padded further into the house, finding her parents, her grandmother, and Sunwoo gathered around the table filling dumplings with what she was sure was her great grandmother's recipe. "Welcome home, Princess!" Her dad was the first to greet her. "What do you think about ramen and dumplings for dinner?"

"Well, it looks like we're having dumplings no matter what." Eunji tried to laugh but it didn't come out as genuine as it would have any other day.

"We have plenty left for you to join in." Her mom offered, gesturing to the bowl of filling that was almost empty but had enough for maybe two or three more dumplings.

Eunji held back a sigh. "As much as I would love to, I really want to take a shower and get in my pajamas first."

Both of her parents frowned in concern but thankfully didn't push her just yet, respecting her need for space first as always. "Dinner will probably be ready when you get out then." Her dad said just before she turned to head to the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Jimin smiled at the sight of Julie happily nuzzling Yoongi as the alpha held her while manning the grill for their annual cookout. "You've got a pretty good halabeoji, Julie." Jimin mused and the 19-month-old giggled, resting her head on Yoongi's shoulder.

"And an even better halmeoni." Seokjin said as he strolled up, clearly referring to himself. "Julie, you wanna let this loser finish cooking while we go try out the slip and slide?" Seokjin held his hands out to Julie to see if she would come to him. Julie didn't. Instead, she shook her head while smiling, clutching Yoongi's shirt tighter in her fists.

Yoongi smirked at Seokjin. "Told you that you would have to pry her away from me."

Seokjin looked like he was ready to smack Yoongi in that moment but before Jimin could even attempt to intervene, Hana was walking up. "I think it's somebody's nap time." Hana said, immediately earning a whine from Julie, the toddler kicking her feet a bit. "Come on, the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you can wake up and come back out here to eat with everybody."

"No!" Julie cried, hugging Yoongi tightly and burying her face in his shoulder.

"You get grumpy when you don't take a nap." Hana said.

"Would it be okay to push her nap time a bit later?" Yoongi suggested, nudging Julie's face off of his shoulder to look at her. "You can take a nap with Halabeoji on the couch once our tummies are all full."

Julie nodded. "Yeah."

"Only if you agree to deal with any tantrums before she finally goes down." Hana said with a slight laugh.

At that moment, Jimin spotted Hajoon, Charlie, and Jason arriving, so he abandoned his normal post of hovering around Yoongi as he grilled to greet the trio. Mostly Jason. "There's Halmeoni's little dumpling!" Jason smiled brightly, already trying to throw himself out of Charlie's arms in order to get to Jimin. "You get cuter every time I see you!" He took Jason from Charlie and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"I mean, you just saw him two days ago." Hajoon pointed out, as Charlie had returned to work for her back-to-school prep days that week, meaning Jason was back to spending three days a week at his grandparents' house.

"And he's cuter than he was then." Jimin said seriously, pressing another kiss to the 12-month-old omega's cheek much to the toddler's delight.

Hajoon shook his head in amusement before going off to join Aya and Ivan across the yard. Jimin moved to return to his place by Yoongi at the grill, but Charlie stopped him. "I actually wanted to ask for your advice on weaning." The 24-year-old said. "You nursed and weaned four pups, right?"

"Well, three." Jimin said. "Eunji had to be fed through a tube the first few years of her life. But the others, yes."

Charlie gave a tiny nod. "Do you maybe have any tips? Because I'm kind of ready to be done but I also feel guilty at the thought of telling Jason no when he wants to nurse."

Jimin shook his head slightly. "I let them all wean by themselves. Like you, I couldn't bear to tell them no, so I just followed their lead."

"How long did that take?" Charlie asked.

"It was a couple of months before Hana's second birthday when she stopped." Jimin said. "Hajoon was 15 months, and that was the most surprising because just did a full stop out of nowhere. I'm still confused 24 years later." Charlie giggled a bit. "And Sunwoo was almost two and a half years old when he quit."

Charlie's eyes widened and she glanced at Jason. "Hopefully you'll take after your appa and not Sunwoo." She turned back to Jimin. "What about pumping? I really want to stop that, but I don't know if I need to keep up with it."

"That, I stopped as soon as they turned one." Jimin said. "And whatever's left of your supply you can use to help slowly get him used to drinking a different milk by mixing them together. And when winter comes, adding breast milk to his bath water will really help keep his skin from getting dry."

"I'll keep that in mind." Charlie said. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Jimin smiled as Charlie hurried off to join the others around her age.

***

Charlie let out a deep sigh as she left Jason's room after getting him to sleep for the night. "It's only the fourth day of the school year, why am I so exhausted?"

"Because it's the fourth day of the school year." Hajoon said as he started the dishwasher. "The first week is always the hardest." He smiled softly at Charlie and leaned down to tenderly kiss her. "I can help you relax." He offered.

Charlie hummed as Hajoon brushed his lips against hers again. "Depends on what you're planning." Hajoon just continued to smile as he took Charlie's hand in his, leading her to their bedroom and on to their bathroom where he proceeded to fill the tub, adding some of their Dr. Teal's Sleep Foaming Bath into it. "A bath sounds perfect right now." Charlie sighed again, tugging off the pajamas she'd already been changed into when Hajoon got home from work. "You're perfect. How did I get so lucky?"

"Guess we should thank our freshman advisors for putting us in the same writing class, then the same omegas' studies class." Hajoon mused.

Once the bath was ready, Hajoon helped Charlie into the tub before climbing in beside her. Charlie nestled herself in his arms, her back resting against her chest, while Hajoon buried his face in the crook of her neck, nuzzling her scent gland to his heart's content. After a long moment of just scenting and relaxing, Charlie finally broke the silence with, "It seems like you're trying to start something."

Hajoon hummed in disagreement, pressing a gentle kiss to her neck. "Do you want me to start something?"

"I might be okay with that." Charlie said.

Hajoon continued to just scent Charlie until the omega shifted in front of him, the 24-year-old pressing herself against Hajoon's dick until it began to stir to life. Then Hajoon moved one arm from where it was wrapped around Charlie's waist until his hand was between her legs, fingers dipping into her folds to gently circle her clit. Charlie bit her lip to stifle a moan, grinding her hips more intentionally against Hajoon before finally lifting herself up just enough for him to position his dick against her entrance before sinking back down, whimpering at the stretch.

Neither of them lasted very long, messily moving against each other under the water, grinding, panting, until Hajoon's knot locked them together, the alpha spilling inside of Charlie as a moan of pleasure escaped her. Hajoon slumped against the back of the tub, holding Charlie close to him. "Well now we're stuck here." Charlie said.

"Only for a few minutes." Hajoon assured her, gently tracing his fingers over her stomach. "Then we can go to bed." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

Chapter Text

Hajoon smiled fondly as he watched Jason bang on his toy DJ table that he'd received for his birthday the previous month. "Are you gonna be a DJ when you grow up?" Hajoon asked the 13-month-old omega. "Or maybe a music producer?" Jason babbled in response, pressing the keys of the piano part of the toy.

Charlie trudged out of her and Hajoon's room finally at that moment, causing Jason to stop playing with his toy and hold his hands out. "Mama!"

"Good morning, Jason." Charlie mumbled sleepily, dragging her feet as she walked over to pick him up.

"You don't usually sleep in this late." Hajoon mused as he glanced at his phone, finding that it was after 9:00. "You're not getting sick, are you?"

Charlie shook her head as Jason began tugging at her pajama shirt. "I don't think so. I think I'm still adjusting to the school year schedule."

Hajoon hummed as he pushed himself to his feet. "I made breakfast quesadillas. I'll heat one up for you." He leaned down to sweetly kiss Charlie before going to the fridge to retrieve one of the leftover quesadillas to heat up for her while Charlie settled on the couch to nurse Jason.

As Hajoon heated up the quesadilla, Jason began to suckle on Charlie's breast only to pull off with his face scrunched in a mixture of confusion. "What's wrong?" Charlie asked the toddler as he wiggled on her lap to latch onto her other breast, but he ended up pulling off that one too, crying slightly in frustration. "Is something wrong with mommy's milk? There shouldn't be." Charlie tried to calm him down and get him to nurse, but every time he got a taste of her milk, he would immediately stop and cry again.

"Maybe it tastes different." Hajoon said.

"I don't know why it would." Charlie said. "The only time it's tasted off was when I had mastitis and had to take antibiotics. And he still drank it then."

Hajoon pulled his phone out of his pocket to google possible causes. "Your diet has changed recently…you're not on any medications right now…" He froze as the third possibility stared up at him from the screen.

"What is it?" Charlie asked, giving up on nursing Jason as he was now wriggling out of her lap.

"It says pregnancy can affect how your milk tastes." Hajoon said. A long moment of silence stretched between them before the alpha moved to grab his keys. "I'm gonna run down the street to Dollar General. I'll be right back." He paused to press his lips to Charlie's, then to Jason's forehead, before slipping his flip flops on and leaving the apartment.

It was only 15 minutes later that Charlie came out of their bathroom with the pregnancy test she'd just taken held out in front of her, a barely there faint second line showing in the window. "I'm probably only a couple weeks, if even that." Charlie murmured as she set the pregnancy test on the coffee table, sitting next to Hajoon on the couch.

Hajoon couldn't help but feel guilty as he thought about their conversation on his birthday, one they hadn't even revisited yet. "I'm sorry."

Charlie looked at him in confusion. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because you said maybe another pup in the far future." Hajoon said. "This isn't very far."

"Yeah but it's not like you tricked me or forced me into getting pregnant so you have nothing to apologize for." Charlie said, cuddling up to him. "Besides, we handled it with Jason. We can handle it with this one, right?"

Hajoon smiled softly at Charlie. "Right." He leaned down to kiss her until Jason pushed their faces away from where he was sitting on Hajoon's lap. "Am I not allowed to kiss your mama?" Hajoon asked as Charlie laughed, pressing a kiss to Jason's forehead instead. "What do you think about being a big brother?" Hajoon then asked.

Jason clapped in response before yawning, bringing his fists up to rub his eyes. "I think someone's ready for a nap." Charlie said, moving to stand up.

"I got him." Hajoon said, standing up with Jason still in his arms. "You rest. You need it."

***

"Are you ready to have lunch with Appa?" Hana asked as she pushed Julie's stroller back toward the Flamingo Café that was near the entrance to the zoo. After her morning workout at the gym, Hana had brought Julie to the zoo due to Jaehyun texting her asking if she wanted to have lunch with him as he apparently had some news to share.

"Appa!" Julie cheered, clapping her hands excitedly.

As they entered the café, Hana spotted Jaehyun already waiting at a table with a tray of food. The alpha jumped to his feet as the approached, leaning down to greet Hana with a kiss before unbuckling Julie from her stroller. "Have you had fun looking at all of Appa's friends?" Jaehyun asked as he sat back down, settling Julie in his lap and pulling the chicken nuggets he'd ordered for them to share closer.

"She really liked the zebras." Hana mused.

"Go zebra!" Julie exclaimed.

Hana giggled at the toddler's excitement. "We'll go look at the zebras one more time before going home to take a nap." She promised, grabbing her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the tray before looking at her mate. "So what's this big news you have?" She asked before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Jaehyun took a sip of his drink before answering. "First…have you thought anymore about Mei's offer? About moving to LA? I know we've talked about it a little since you first told me, but nothing definitive."

"Honestly, I think about it every day." Hana sighed. "And I'm still stuck in the same limbo of wanting to do it because it's my dream but not wanting to uproot our lives for something that's not even a guarantee. I mean it's already hard enough to break into the film industry, especially as an Asian omega. I'm lucky enough to get as many writing jobs as I have."

Jaehyun bit his lip almost nervously before asking, "What if I told you that the move to LA wouldn't only be for that?" Hana furrowed her eyebrows. "Hazel, one of the other interns the summer I did the elephant care internship back in Little Rock, reached out to me recently. She's working at the Los Angeles Zoo and apparently they have an opening for a vet, particularly one that has experience with elephants. She said she remembered how I was the only intern to actually get to work directly one on one with one of the elephants a couple of times and asked if I was interested. I told her I'd consider it, and she said they need an answer by the end of the month."

"So you want to move to LA?" Hana asked.

"Well, 'want' is relative." Jaehyun said. "I mean, the size of Baton Rouge already overwhelms me but I'm able to make it because I love my job, and I have you and Julie here." He dropped a kiss to the top of the toddler's head. "And while I know it'll take me a long time to adjust to LA and that I'll be an anxious mess for months, but the fact that we've both gotten opportunities…I think it's a sign."

Hana considered that for a moment, but it didn't take long for a smile to spread across her face. "I think it might be." She turned her gaze to Julie. "What do you think, Julie? You think we should move?" Julie's response was to burp and take another bite of her chicken nugget. "I don't know what that's supposed to be."

Jaehyun let out a small laugh. "I think it means we're moving to LA." He leaned across the table to press his lips to Hana's.

***

Jason fussed as Hajoon set him on the living room floor with some of his toys instead of his highchair like normal after his morning nap. "I know, I know, you're used to getting your lunch immediately." Hajoon said, pressing a kiss to Jason's forehead before straightening up. "But Appa's zoom meeting went way longer than expected so I'm a bit behind." The sharp cry Jason let out as Hajoon hurried over to the kitchen had the alpha deciding it was leftovers for lunch rather than cooking something fresh. "You want some more waffles and eggs from this morning?" Hajoon asked, opening the fridge to pull out the leftovers. He popped the waffles in the microwave before turning to grab an apple from the bowl on the counter to cut up, only to stop as he saw Jason had stood up and was now taking a few shaky steps towards him, all while still crying. "Oh, Mama's gonna be so pissed she missed this." Hajoon said just as Jason fell back onto his bottom, another cry leaving the 13-month-old omega. "Appa's got you." Hajoon said softly as he walked over to pick Jason up, deciding to hold him while he got the toddler's lunch ready.

Chapter Text

Hajoon let himself into his parents' house, Charlie right behind him. After removing their shoes and padding to the living room, they were met with the sight of Hajoon's dad sitting on the floor with Jason as the toddler played with a musical stuffed elephant, Hajoon's grandma watching them from the couch with a fond smile on her face. "Hey, Dad, Halmeoni. Hi, Jason!" Hajoon greeted all of them.

His dad looked up in slight surprise. "When Charlie texted asking if I could keep Jason later than normal, I wasn't expecting both of you to come pick him up."

"Yeah, well, the errand I had to do was something we both had to be present for." Charlie said vaguely as she went to sit with Jason, the 14-month-old immediately climbing into her lap to snuggle.

Hajoon's dad slowly pushed himself to his feet. "Well, you two might as well stay for dinner unless y'all already have plans. Your sister requested this ravioli lasagna she saw on Weverse. It should be ready by the time she gets home in…" He checked his watch, "about half an hour. And there will be plenty to go around since it's a late night at the studio for your mom and Sunwoo."

After glancing at Charlie to see if her expression said she didn't want to, Hajoon nodded. "Sounds good." He sat on the couch with his grandma, pulling her into a quick hug. "So Eomma and Sunwoo are gonna be home late."

His dad hummed. "Their classes don't end until 9:00 on Thursdays."

Hajoon shared another brief look with Charlie. "Well, we were hoping to tell you guys something together, but we definitely can't keep Jason up that late."

Before Hajoon or Charlie could share the news that they were having another pup, Hajoon's dad said, "Congratulations!"

Charlie looked up at him in a mixture of shock and confusion. "How'd you know I was pregnant?"

"I didn't." Hajoon's dad shrugged. "But wanting to tell your mom and I something together means it was either that or something bad, and you're not sad enough for it to have been something bad, so I made an educated guess." Hajoon snorted quietly as his dad smiled. "But seriously, congratulations. Was it your first appointment that you had today?"

Hajoon nodded. "She's due sometime in May."

"Hopefully they'll come closer to their due date or a little after this time so I can just use the summer as my maternity leave." Charlie mused, resting a hand on her stomach.

***

Jimin woke up to the feeling of a tiny hand patting his face followed by the sound of a familiar babbling. He blinked his eyes open, smiling at the sight of Jason sitting next to him in his nest. "Well good morning, Jason." Jimin said with a tiny giggle.

Jason smiled brightly, poking Jimin's cheek again. "Meoni!"

Jimin sat up and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand, sliding them on his face so he could see his grandson more clearly. "I wish I could spend all day with you like Halabeoji does!" He exclaimed as he tugged Jason into his lap, pressing a few kisses to his forehead.

"Would you settle for breakfast in bed with him?" The question was what made Jimin realize Yoongi was in the room too, the alpha waiting by the bed with a tray of pancakes and fruit.

"Of course!" Jimin grinned, adjusting Jason so Yoongi could place the tray in his lap. "Halabeoji likes to spoil me." Jimin stage whispered to the toddler. "It's one of the reasons I love him so much." Jason giggled and reached for a pear slice.

Yoongi smiled and leaned down to press his lips to Jimin's. "I love you too." He murmured into the kiss, making Jimin's smile grow.

Chapter Text

As usual on Fridays, Hajoon was hurriedly trying to finish up his work during Jason's nap time so that he could have the afternoon free to play with the toddler. But he only managed to type out a couple of emails before his phone notified him that there was movement detected in the 15-month old's crib. He held still, as he'd found that any movement on his part even in a separate room would often spark Jason to wake up completely from what was usually just him rolling over or twitching in his sleep. But that time, the toddler began to cry. "Appa!" The distress starting to seep into his voice and scent had Hajoon on edge as he quickly set his laptop aside before jumping to his feet.

"What's wrong, little dumpling?" He asked as he hurried into Jason's room where the toddler was standing up in his crib, holding onto the bars of it.

"Appa!" Jason just cried again, holding his arms up.

Hajoon gently picked Jason up, frowning at the heat emanating through the pajamas that he usually let the toddler lounge around in on his work from home days. "It's okay, dumpling." He murmured, pressing a kiss to Jason's forehead that felt even hotter.

The alpha's immediate worry was the flu. After all, the annual flu season had officially started just a few weeks prior, and between Charlie working at a middle school and Eunji working at a daycare, the odds that they had carried the virus home and passed it along to Jason were higher than Hajoon would like. Trying not to outwardly panic, knowing that Jason would only feed off of his distress if he sensed it, Hajoon hurried back out to the main room of the apartment to grab his keys, the diaper bag, and slip on a pair of shoes, grabbing a pair for Jason too. "We're gonna go on a little adventure to see the doctor." Hajoon said softly as he carried Jason out of the apartment.

Jason's pediatrician had no openings when Hajoon called so he took him to one of the local walk-in clinics which, to Hajoon's surprise, wasn't as busy as he'd expected. But he still had to wait half an hour before Jason was called back to a room, and by that point Jason had begun to cough, each one feeling like a knife to Hajoon's stomach. When the doctor joined them in the room, Hajoon didn't waste any time sharing the symptoms with him. "He woke up only 30 minutes into his nap with a fever and he's been coughing."

"Since it is flu season, we will go ahead and test him for it." The doctor said. "Along with a covid and RSV test just to rule them out." That did nothing to ease Hajoon's panic.

When the nurse came in with the swabs, Hajoon hugged Jason tightly to him, apologizing profusely as Jason nearly screamed while the nurse took the nasal samples. "Please don't hate me." Hajoon begged once she was gone, pressing a multitude of comforting kisses to Jason's forehead. "I didn't like putting you through that."

Jason managed to calm down other than a few whimpers of discomfort by the time the doctor returned with the test results. "All negative." The doctor said. "He probably just has a little cold. He'll be sick for a few days, possibly a week, then it should clear up. Just make sure he gets plenty of fluids and keep an eye on the fever."

As Hajoon carried Jason back out to the car, he texted Charlie to let her know just so she wouldn't be surprised when she got home later that afternoon. But by the time he had Jason buckled back into his carseat, she was calling him. "Don't you have a class to be teaching?" Hajoon asked as he answered the call.

"You just texted me that our pup is sick!"

"He is." Hajoon said. "He's got a cold. The doctor said he should be fine in a few days. We're gonna go home and cuddle, try to keep him comfortable. I have it all handled."

Charlie let out a tiny sigh of relief. "Please let me know if anything changes though."

"Of course I will." Hajoon assured her. "I'll see you when you get home. Love you."

"Love you too."

***

As their moving date gradually approached, Jaehyun and Hana had started to pack up their apartment, deciding what things to take to LA with them and what to sell or get rid of in order to consolidate, make it easier to pack the U-Haul they planned to rent when the day came. During this process, they'd come to a decision on one way to lessen their packing load while also easing Julie into a transition they'd been discussing for a while anyway, one that would most certainly be disrupted by the big move if they didn't get her adjusted prior--transitioning her out of the crib. Neither of them wanted to take the crib with them, especially since she would already be two by the time they moved, but they also didn't want to go ahead and purchase a new bed for her just yet when their move was approaching. So they came up with what they felt was an acceptable solution.

"Look, Julie!" Jaehyun gasped dramatically as he carried her into her room in her Yoda hooded towel following her bath. "Your crib went bye bye!"

"Bye bye!" Julie waved to the corner of her room where her crib used to be. In its place was the crib mattress that Hana had just finished setting up as a mini nest, dousing it in her scent in the hopes that it would help Julie during her first night out of the crib.

"Are you excited to sleep like a big girl?" Hana asked as Jaehyun began drying the toddler off.

"Big girl!" Julie cheered, throwing her arms over her head in a way that had Hana giggling at how cute she was.

Once Julie was clothed in a fresh diaper and her pajamas, Jaehyun passed her off to Hana for her bedtime routine of nursing while having a book read to her. By the time Hana was finished with Llama Llama Red Pajama, Julie was already dozing off, Hana's nipple slipping out of her mouth. As carefully as she could, Hana shifted her out of her lap and into her new nest, pressing a kiss to her forehead before covering her up. "Good night, Julie. Eomma loves you." She whispered before quietly leaving the room without disturbing the toddler.

Chapter Text

Julie fussed and squirmed in Hana's lap, not even nursing able to distract her from the pain Hana knew she was feeling based on the way the almost two-year-old was tugging at her left ear. "I know, puppy. I wish I could make it stop." Hana pouted, her heart tugging at the sight of her daughter suffering and knowing she couldn't do anything about it. Their Thanksgiving visit had started off great, Julie loving getting to see her extended family--especially her grandfather--but it had quickly taken a turn the previous day when Julie had begun to spend most of the day crying and pulling on her ears, leading to Hana and Jaehyun taking her to a walk-in clinic where they were informed she had an ear infection. Now they were supposed to be heading back to Baton Rouge after breakfast and Hana was already dreading such a long drive with a sick toddler.

"Here we go, Julie." Jaehyun padded over to the couch with a tiny syringe with a small dose of Infants' Tylenol as the doctor they'd seen recommended to help with her pain and fever until the infection cleared up. "This will make it all better." Just as Jaehyun pressed the tip of the syringe to Julie's lips, the toddler turned her head away with a loud cry. "I know you don't like it, but it'll help you feel better." Jaehyun said softly as Hana rubbed Julie's back.

"As soon as you take the medicine, we can go see Halabeoji." Hana pointed out, and it seemed to work as Julie turned her face towards her dad just enough that he was able to slip the syringe in her mouth, pushing down the plunger to give her the medicine before she could change her mind. "Good job, Julie!" Hana made sure to praise her, hugging her tightly and pressing kisses to her forehead.

Julie began to wiggle in her hold. "Halabeoji!"

"Alright, let's go see him." Hana said with a slight giggle as she stood up from the couch, propping Julie on her hip.

The three of them left the guest house and traveled across the yard to the main house, entering the kitchen through the back door and finding Hana's dad already working on a batch of waffles while her mom hovered around him as usual. "Halabeoji!" Julie exclaimed, reaching out toward him while wiggling to be put down.

"Julie!" Hana's dad responded, stepping away from the waffle maker to take her from her mother's arms. "You wanna help me make breakfast?" Julie nodded eagerly, a complete 180 from how she'd been in the guest house, and Hana's dad carried her back over to the counter.

Meanwhile, Hana's mom moved to fix Hana a coffee, Jaehyun already helping himself to the fridge for some juice. "How's packing going?" He asked.

"It's going." Hana sighed. "Still have a lot to do and two months doesn't seem like enough time…" She trailed off as she noticed her dad giving her an exaggerated crying face as he had done ever since they'd announced their decision to move to LA. "My god, Daddy." She feigned a groan, causing him to chuckle as he turned back to the waffle maker. "Hopefully we'll get everything packed and ready to go in time."

"You have place lined up already?" Her mom asked, bringing the coffee over to her and joining her at the table.

Hana nodded. "We're moving into Mei's apartment with her and her boyfriend."

Her mom raised his eyebrows slightly. "Is that going to be big enough?"

"It's three bedrooms and three bathrooms." Jaehyun said.

"Plus, it's only temporary while we're getting settled." Hana added on. "Hopefully in a year or so Jaehyun, Julie, and I will be able to move into our own place."

Her mom nodded a bit. "You said two months. You have an exact date?"

"We're leaving January 21st and driving through the weekend, hoping to get there by that Sunday night." Jaehyun said. "And before you ask, my parents are helping us with moving stuff and to drive the U-Haul since I don't have a license."

"If you need any more help, your dad and I will be more than happy to provide assistance." Her mom assured her.

Hana glanced over at her dad, who was once again giving her that exaggerated crying face. "I'm sure y'all are."