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The sounds of wails broke through the night, echoing off the walls of the Seo household. The darkness was chased away by the light of the lamp the eldest in the household clicked on. With a groan, Johnny unwound himself from the arms of his dead-asleep lover, whose lips curled downwards at the loss of contact. He didn’t have time to sit and admire his husband, though, for the cries of his daughter were ceaseless. Johnny’s feet padded across the cold hardwood floor towards the child’s room, where his little girl was gurgling inconsolably.
“Shhh Rose, shhh.” The girl hiccuped as she looked up at her father, her eyes teary and her face contorted in discomfort. Johnny cooed gently as he lifted her up from the mattress and gathered her in his arms, her wailing quieting down to broken sobs. Her small body shook with every cry, and Johnny did his best to shush her, rubbing her back and humming. “It’s okay baby, papa’s here. Papa’s got you okay?” he assured, kissing her little head softly. Rose’s small hands closed around the fabric of Johnny’s shirt, sniffling and mumbling incoherently, as if she was trying to tell him something. Johnny nodded and smiled tiredly at her as if he understood what she was saying. He walked over to the little table Taeyong had prepared and set her down. She gurgled unhappily, tears threatening to spill again, but her father shushed her once again, opting to check if she had had any accidents. She was clean. It must’ve been the separation anxiety he had read about.
They stopped sleeping with Rose between them when the girl reached six months. Since then, the girl would wake up multiple times throughout the night wailing because neither of her fathers were there with her. It was a nightmare, but Johnny had also had enough of teenie elbows hitting him square on the nose or little feet digging into his chest. Much like how Johnny used to be, she was a chaotic sleeper, tossing and turning relentlessly.
Rose whimpered softly as she tried to reach for one of Johnny’s fingers. The little girl loved physical contact. She would stick to either of her fathers like her life depended on it. She especially loved playing with Taeyong’s hair and pulling on his earrings. Her poor appa had to renounce to any form of dangly jewelry because she tugged
hard.
Johnny gave her his finger and she wrapped both hands around the digit. Johnny chuckled as she shoved it in her mouth to chew on it with her barely-there teeth. He had long given up trying to get her to use the pacifier, she always spat it out.
Johnny let his thumb stroke over her cheek as she teethed on his index finger. Rose made a sound of approval and Johnny cooed in return. His little girl was so good. He once again thought of the promise he made her the night he held her for the first time.
His and Taeyong’s surrogate didn’t want to hold her, so she was passed on to Johnny. He looked down at her, a tiny human being with his lips and eyes, the nose of her mother. He helped create this being, his little Rose Ji Eun Seo. He had cried that moment. His heart filled up with an indescribable feeling. It was warm, and it was overflowing.
“Nothing will ever harm you,” he had whispered. Rose was sleeping then, her little eyes shut peacefully. “I promise I’ll do my best for you.” She was a part of him; a part of him and Taeyong now.
Rose mumbled sleepily when Johnny finally pulled his index finger away from her. She squirmed a little before settling down again, finally lulled back to sleep. Johnny tapped her forehead gently before turning around and making his way back to his and Taeyong’s bedroom. Weekend or not, he’d surely have to wake up again at six in the morning because Rose would make a fuss.
He slid back under the covers where his spot had gone cold. Before shutting his eyes again, he looked over his husband’s features. They shone in the dull moonlight provided by the beams of the full moon beyond their window. Taeyong always seemed to shine in Johnny’s eyes. The man scrunched up his nose and opened his eyes slowly when he felt Johnny’s hand on his waist, pulling him back into his chest.
“Rosie?” his voice was beyond rough and it made Johnny’s heart clench in adoration. Johnny took a moment to press his lips to Taeyong’s forehead before mumbling, “she’s asleep. You go back to sleep too, yeah?” Taeyong hummed, burrowing his face back into Johnny’s chest.
“My hero.” Taeyong’s voice was soft in the night, it pulled Johnny’s mind back into the realm of sleep. He could feel the tendrils of exhaustion coiling around his mind and finally, his fell shut.
Eventually, they’d be woken up by Rose, again. This time, Taeyong would grumble and pull away from Johnny to check on their little girl. But the rays of sunshine, the lack of warmth, and Rose’s cries were enough to pull Johnny out of bed again. He’d take a minute and stare at the wrinkles in his bedsheets, where Taeyong’s side was getting cold. His fingers would curl in the fabric and his eyes would slide shut, indulging himself in the sounds of the birds chirping outside his home and Taeyong’s murmurs in response to Rose’s babbles. He’d inhale deeply and push himself out of bed. He could get breakfast started, he supposed, but why would he do that when he could go to Rose’s room and shower the two most important people in his life with love? In the end, he’s always pick the latter.