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"Ow!"
"Shh!"
"Sorry...Nana stepped on me."
"I didn't mean to!"
"Yeah, right."
"Can you be quiet! They'll hear us."
"Please, Appa sleeps like the dead."
Silence.
"Well...deader."
"That wasn't funny."
"Oh c'mon, it was a joke! It was hilarious."
An annoyed, almost amused, huff.
"See! Even hyung found it funny."
"No, he was disagreeing."
"No he wasn't!"
"Was too!"
"We're never gonna surprise Papa and Appa if we keep on fighting."
Meekly voiced comment completely ignored by ongoing arguing. A tired sigh was let out into the empty hallway.
"Oh, gods."
Taeyong knew his children were right about one thing: they were definitely not going to surprise them when they had continued to talk in what must have been hushed whispers. Their voices combined were so loud, they probably could've woken up the neighbors who lived miles and miles away from them.
He quietly snickered when the bickering continued, the kids oblivious to one of their parents already awake and awaiting their entrance. Taeyong continued to listen when suddenly, he felt a body shift beside him. He lifted his head on his pillow to see his husband roll over onto his stomach, his hand searching for a body until it was victorious in finding one.
Jaehyun like to deny the fact that he was a big cuddler, especially in the mornings. Most of the time Taeyong would blame him for always making him get out of bed late. Although, he would never complain when his husband's strong arms wrapped around him, pressing him tight against his body so he wouldn't even think of escaping his self-made cocoon. Jaehyun's head would always find itself snuggled into his neck, breathing in his soft scent of roses and vanilla.
"G'morning rose," mumbled a deep, silky, smooth voice that sent light shivers through Taeyong's body.
"Good morning, my love."
The bickering outside their door continued on as the couple basked in the warm morning glow seeping through their windows, illuminating their room with a calm ambience.
"What is that all about?" That being their kids still trying to decide how they were going to sneak into their parents' room without being caught. Such sweet souls. Who were too loud at 9 am in the morning.
"I don't know, but they're your kids right now."
"What about you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Taeyong sighed dreamily while feigning ignorance, wrapping his arms around his husband's shoulders and hiding his face in chestnut hair. "I'm far away in a dreamland with my wonderful husband who's cuddling me. I have no children at the moment."
A deep laugh reverberated in Taeyong's ears, his dead heart becoming warm at the sound and making him snuggle deeper into his husband's body. He could already picture the other's dimples becoming visible at the sweet sweet laugh.
Before they could say anything else, the small creak of the door alerted them to their little ones finally making up their minds and sneaking in, their argument continued in hushed voices.
As hushed as children's voices could get.
"Act asleep," whispered Jaehyun, Taeyong nodding discreetly before letting all the strength leave his body so he could mimic being deep in slumber.
The couple could barely keep their faces on straight, especially with the rise in volume of bickering. Taeyong wondered how on earth anyone could sleep with that noise ringing in their eardrums.
When they felt the bed dip under multiple bodies climbing on top of the sheets, they almost couldn't hold it together. Almost.
"Okay, on three," one of them whispered, Taeyong recognizing the voice as Mark's, "one, two-"
"BOO!"
Multiple screams rang out when the two vampires suddenly shot out from their sleeping positions, sitting up to scare their children, succeeding beautifully and wonderfully. Both Jaehyun and Taeyong began to laugh when they saw their little ones' faces in all forms of shock and brief fear. They both turned towards each other to continue laughing, their kids beginning to whine and pout at them.
"Appa! Papa! Don't do that," exclaimed Mark, crossing his arms over his chest.
"We were supposed to scare you! Not the other way around," whined Jaemin, copying his older brother in crossing his small arms over his chest.
"Yeah, that was so mean!" agreed Mark, his pout matching Jaemin's.
"I think you scared the poop out of me," Sungchan lowly commented, his eyes wide, face still set in shock.
"EW!" The kids loudly giggled at their brother's comment. Taeyong almost passed out from wheezing too much, Jaehyun not fairing any better.
"Surprise Appa, Papa," Jisung softly spoke up over the commotion, their youngest, now 4 years old, happily smiling at them with his bat plushie still clutched in his arms.
Taeyong leaned over to gently pat down the stray hairs poking out from his baby's head, smiling at him with warmth in his eyes. "Thank you baby. It was a great surprise." He giggled again, sarcasm lacing his tone.
"Not really much of a surprise," grumbled Jaemin, crawling over to push himself onto his Papa's lap, Jisung doing the same to Jaehyun. "You both ruined it."
Taeyong raised an eyebrow. "Well, it could've been a nice surprise if you all hadn't been yelling outside in the hallway."
"See! I told y'all they'd hear us!"
"Well, Jaemin was the one who said that dumb joke!"
"Cuz it was funny! You guys just don't know how to take a joke!"
"No, it was dumb."
"Was not!"
"Was to!"
Their batch of gremlins began to argue again, besides their sweet angel Jisung, causing the two vampires to sigh in weariness. Their voices were even louder now that their 'surprise' was over, nothing stopping them from using their vocal chords to their fullest extent.
What a beautiful way to start a morning.
~
"Appa! Papa! We have to do something today!"
After they had all gotten out of bed and out of their sleepwear, they had made their way to the dining room to enjoy a lovely breakfast.
Taeyong tried not to feel too hurt seeing his family enjoying their deliciously cooked meal, by yours truly, but instead tried to change his feelings into satisfaction at seeing his family eat and enjoy their food.
"What do we have to do today, baby?" Jaehyun answered Sungchan, wiping his mouth with his napkin after swallowing his food.
"We have to make Christmas cookies!"
The rest all began to agree, nodding their heads in excitement with their cheeks full. Taeyong leaned over the table to grab a napkin and clean Jisung's face who just let himself be cleaned unlike his other brothers who would always protest.
"Yeah, Papa! We have to make cookies! So many! So we can give them to our friends," Jaemin explained with a bright smile. Ever since giving cookie filled jars to their friends and family one spontaneous baking day, it had become a tradition in the Lee-Jung family. The kids loved to participate in creating the cookies and were always excited to color them in with a variety of different colored frosting pens.
Taeyong smiled back at his son. "Of course we can make cookies! But we'd have to make a ton since you want to give them to your friends and of course you can't leave out their families either, can you?"
"Definitely not! We have to make a thousand cookies, Papa!"
Taeyong let out a light laugh. "Alright my baby, we can make a thousand cookies. Are you all going to help me?"
They all yelled 'yes' in unison, the kids shaking in their seats, ready to start baking and decorating.
"Alright then, go clear your plates and wash up, I'll get the baking stuff ready." If baking was what got them to clean up this fast all the time, Taeyong would have started to bribe them with cookies sooner.
"My love, can you help me get the stuff out?"
"Of course." Before Taeyong could get out of his seat, Jaehyun leaned down to give him a big obnoxious smooch on the cheek, smiling into his skin when their children collectively made gagging and disapproval noises when they saw their parents being all mushy again.
"Appa! Not in front of the kids," whined Mark, his nose scrunching up cutely. Jaehyun let out a shocked laugh when he heard the words that came out of his 7-year-old's mouth.
"And where did you hear that from mister?" Jaehyun turned towards his oldest, curious as to where this vocabulary came from.
"Uncle Ten kept saying it to Papa when went to go see them."
Jaehyun whipped his head around with a questioning look towards his husband who tried to play innocent, not once looking up at Jaehyun's face. Instead, Taeyong sped walked around him to mockingly scold Mark for outing him like that.
"I told you not to say anything, bubu," Taeyong whispered, wrapping his arms around his son who tried to run away when he saw the familiar mischievous look in his Papa's eyes. However, he didn't get too far when Taeyong began to tickle him, making Mark shriek and giggle, thrashing against his father's hold.
"A-Appa! Help!"
Jaehyun watched the scene with fondness for a moment before coming to the rescue, bringing his hands to his husband's waist to begin tickling him instead. Taeyong began to uncontrollably laugh, trying to fight his way out of the other's hold.
"Kids! Come help me to tickle your Papa!"
"No!"
Taeyong had already let go of Mark when he felt his husband's hands around him, already knowing what he was up to. As much as he tried to break out of Jaehyun's hold, he was too weak to fight against the stronger vampire, the tickling not helping in any way.
He began to shriek some more when all the kids began to crowd around him. They giggled along with him while they tickled any part of his body to hear him laugh and shout even louder.
"Okay! Okay! I surrender! I'm-I'm sorry! Jae-Jaehyun stop, please!" When Jaehyun finally let go with an evil chuckle, he set down his weak husband on the tiled floor. Taeyong feebly kicked at his husband's thigh for a bit of revenge, but the other gently stopped his foot with his inhuman reflexes.
"Papa! Don't die!" Jaemin screamed in his face, having crawled over to come face to face with his father.
"Yeah Papa, we still gotta make cookies." Sungchan popped his head in next to Jaemin's to look over Taeyong's, the vampire almost becoming cross eyed at his baby's face being so close.
"Don't worry my babies, we'll make cookies. Just...give me a second." Taeyong closed his eyes, as he let the tickling feeling over his body diminish. "On second thought, why don't you help your Appa take out the supplies from the closet? Go."
"Okay!" Jaemin happily replied, clumsily running to the other end of the kitchen to take out the supplies he remembered seeing his father use for the cookies. After a few moments, Jaemin started yelling out for his parents, exclaiming that he was too short to grab any of the supplies. Taeyong just huffed out a laugh and then sighed, sitting up while being cautious to not accidentally butt his head with Sungchan's.
When he looked up, he saw a tranquil Jisung in Jaehyun's arms. Jisung was looking down at him while Jaehyun was looking over to see where Jaemin was rummaging through.
Finally, Taeyong pushed himself up from the floor, dusting off his bottoms as he rose. He brought his hands out towards Jisung, who complied without hesitation, calmly going into his other father's arms.
"I'll get the babies situated here if you can help Nana with his height trouble?"
Jaehyun chuckled, dimples appearing in smooth pale cheeks. "On it."
~
When Jaehyun went to help Jaemin get all the supplies they needed from their kitchen closet, the rest of the boys helped Taeyong in grabbing the ingredients from their overly large pantry. As the adults had begun setting up everything on the counter, the kids ran to go grab their kitchen stools, screaming in excitement the whole way and back.
When they had all washed up and had help tying their cute little aprons around their torsos, they were finally ready to begin.
Taeyong stood on the other side of the white marble island, a bubbling laugh wanting to leave his mouth at the determined set of small faces looking back at him. Jaehyun seemed to have the same thought as he leaned over the counter to glance at the children before a dimpled smile bloomed on his face, his amused eyes meeting Taeyong's.
"Alright my loves, are we ready?"
A chorus of 'yeahs' and 'yeses' rung throughout the kitchen, the children raising their bowls and different colored plastic whisks in their hands to show their excitement. Taeyong nodded along and lightly clapped his hands, letting his inner baker fill up within him.
Over the next few hours, the kitchen was alive with the smell of sweet sugar and powder, loud voices of a rambunctious bunch singing along to Christmas songs.
Taeyong had been told before that he was a very patient teacher, and not to pat his own back, but he'd like to agree. With his 'teacher voice', as Jaehyun so kindly likes to call it, he had slowly taught the boys how to make sugar cookie dough.
It had been a mess, as it always was with 4 boys under the age of 10, but they slowly started to become more coordinated the longer they were taught.
After waiting for a while for their dough to chill, they spread thin layers of flour over their clean areas before getting ready to flatten their dough with their individual rolling pins. They began making small games out of their rolling, Taeyong, at one point, having to stop them when their dough was starting to become paper thin and almost one with the counter.
When Jaehyun brought out the box of different shaped cookie cutters, the boys all circled around him to excitedly yell out the shapes they wanted. After letting each boy pick out 3, they were finally able start making their desired shapes.
The readied pans on the counter were filled with cookies of all different sizes: stars, clouds, candy canes, snowflakes, mittens, trees, bells, flowers, gingerbread men, etc. Thank goodness they had 3 ovens in their wonderful kitchen.
And after all the grueling work of making sugar cookies, it was time for the best part: decorating time!
Taeyong and Jaehyun set up the kids' decorating stations on their wooden dining table, multiple frosting pens of all colors set in the middle for all of them to share. They both knew it would get messy, but seeing the small ones happily (and messily) color in their cookies while exclaiming which friend and family they would go to just made the mess worth it.
And they had put a disposable table cloth over the table before they started.
After each cookie was "finished", it was to be passed onto Taeyong to set out on the counter to dry before they were placed into specific jars. That was the plan. What the young ones were oblivious to was Taeyong actually fixing their frosting lines and perfecting their look before sprinkling a secret ingredient onto the sweet treats.
The 'secret ingredient' was actually a stout and round glass jar of magical sugar with healing and protective properties infused in every crystal. It was a birthday present given to Taeyong when he was younger by his older sister, said to be custom made by a legendary witch friend of hers.
At the time he had never wanted to use it in fear of using it on the wrong thing and running out, but after marrying Jaehyun and starting the tradition of giving cookie jars to their close friends, the idea had suddenly sparked within him.
He had spoken to Doyoung before about the sugar jar and wanted to know how it worked before sprinkling it over the cookies. The witch had deemed it safe after telling Taeyong the same thing his sister had and that it was definitely okay to use it on the pastries.
Taeyong had only told his husband and Doyoung about the sugar, wanting to keep this little secret unknown to many for just a little longer. Maybe he would tell his kids someday when they were older and wiser. Only time would tell.
After making sure the cookies were aesthetically pleasing to the eye and the disappearing sugar was well sprinkled over them, he placed the colorful treats into their respective jars on the counter. Four large glass jars were lined up next to each other, the insides steadily being filled with different colored and shaped cookies. Small paper notes had been attached to the front of the jars to indicate which family it would go to, the kids inspecting the jars every time they walked to their father to give him their cookie.
After an hour or so, they had finally filled up all the jars to the brim. They all cheered at their hard work and even ate leftover cookies to celebrate their fun and successful day.
It was late afternoon by the time Jaehyun had laid all the kids down for a nap, coming back to a spotless kitchen, Taeyong drying the last few dishes from the rack. Jaehyun helped in putting them away before walking back towards his husband and hugging him from behind, gently settling his head on his shoulder.
"Good job today, my rose," Jaehyun whispered, leaving a gentle kiss on Taeyong's neck, the other sighing lovingly at the touch.
It was golden hour, the warm orange light illuminating the kitchen in beautiful streaks of shimmering gold, some streaking over their skin and near their deep wine colored eyes. Taeyong absentmindedly rubbed his hand over his husband's arms, always loving the feeling of the other curled around him. It made him feel safe and protected, never to worry about anything in this world.
They stayed like that for a while, basking in each other's presence in the quiet afternoon. It was moments like these that Taeyong cherished the most, never wanting to stray from it.
~
On Christmas morning, the Lee-Jung family decided to deliver their cookie jars to their friends. Ever since Taeyong had met Jaehyun, his husband had introduced him to all the fun traditions he would do on this day when he was still a human. It was quite odd to him at first, but then the more he participated in them the more he began to initiate them first.
The one tradition that peaked Taeyong's interest the most was the choice to wear pajamas for the holiday! Every year he would design matching sets of pjs for the whole family with the help of his own family's personal designers. They would take hours making the perfect set of pajamas, Taeyong wanting to be satisfied with the final product.
Jaehyun found it amusing how serious Taeyong would take the tradition. He didn't have the heart to tell him it was supposed to be cheap cotton pajamas with silly designs on them instead of expensive silk and satin loungewear.
After the entire family was dressed, cookie jars safe in a woven basket held by Jaehyun, they finally set out to deliver their delicious treats.
First stop was the Suh family. Mark happily took the jar his father handed to him before walking towards the door. Before he could even knock on the wooden door though, it was suddenly yanked open, a wide awake Donghyuck with brown curls in disarray on the other side.
"Mark Hyung!" the small werewolf happily shrieked, throwing himself towards the other boy, almost knocking them over on the ground. Thankfully, his brothers were behind him and immediately ran forward to upright the two boys, screaming out to be careful.
With all the commotion going on, Ten appeared in the doorway, his sharp eyes quickly scanning the outside for any danger, but then immediately brightening at their guests.
After warm greetings and being invited inside the home, Mark was able to announce their present to the family, handing it to Ten who took it with a bright smile. Hendery wanted to immediately open it and eat the cookies, but Johnny reminded them that they haven't had breakfast yet.
While the adults helped in the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast, the kids all played together in the living room, Donghyuck and Hendery happily showing off their new toys. They shared their toys with the other boys and played together until they were called to the dining room to eat.
After eating and chatting and playing together, it was finally time for their next delivery.
The Kim-Moon house was on top of a secluded mountain surrounded by luscious green trees. It had snowed overnight as the temperature dropped and while it was nothing for the vampire family, it was probably freezing for the family inside if the smoking chimney indicated anything.
Just like the house prior, the door was suddenly yanked open when the family was still on the snowy front yard, Jeno jumping and running towards the kids when he saw them. "Nana!"
Werewolf noses were no joke.
Jaemin was in charge of handing over the cookie jar this time, but Mark immediately snatched it when he saw no sign of Jeno stopping. Taeyong and Jaehyun chuckled in amusement when Mark looked back at them in disbelief at almost losing two cookie jars in a day.
Jeno crashed into Jaemin and since this was the case with Donghyuck as well, the other kids already knew the drill and held them both upright with giggles leaving their mouths.
After the vampire family greeted everyone else and enjoyed a short stay in the cozy cottage, the were soon on their way to their third stop: the Dong-Nakamoto house.
They lived a bit farther away than everyone else, but the spacious meadows and serene trails were worth the travel. Thankfully, none of the kids were knocked over this time, but the door was opened before Sungchan could knock.
Yuta greeted his friends with a bright smile, beckoning everyone inside into the warm house away from the cold weather. Renjun and Shotaro shrieked in surprise when they saw their friends, cookie jar already safe in Sicheng's hands when his mate handed it to him.
After letting the kids play together for a bit while the adults talked, it was time to finally make their last stop of the day. When they arrived at the doorstep of the pristine white mansion belonging to the Qians, the adults carefully gave Jisung the last jar. He had been wanting to see his best friend all day and adamantly asked to be able to gift them the jar.
So while they all walked behind the youngest, Jisung carefully and slowly gripped the jar better in one arm while he reached for the doorbell. After ringing it once, the door was opened in a moment by a servant greeting them kindly.
The family greeted back and when Jaehyun was about to speak up, Dejun had seen them from the entrance hallway. He walked over with a wide smile, politely sending the servant away before inviting them in.
When they were seated in their plush white living room, Jisung smiled cutely with his gummy teeth and handed over the last cookie jar to Kun who had came from the kitchen when he sensed the others in his home. The kids had come out moments after he had, YangYang and Chenle excited to see their friends and hugging them tightly.
Thankfully Chenle had been more cautious of what Jisung was holding and gave him a side hug before trying to tug him in the direction of his room.
Kun and Dejun happily thanked Jisung before thanking the rest of the family for the thoughtful gift. When the boys begged their parents to stay for a bit to play with YangYang and Chenle, they had no choice but to agree, wanting to spend some time with their own friends anyway.
And when the sun was starting to set, they finally made their way back home in the snowy weather.
And when they made it back to the comfort of their own home, Christmas tree lit up in the spacious living room, homemade cookies on the coffee table, and hot chocolate stirred for everyone, it was time to open all the gifts under the tree.
And when all the gifts had been opened, the little ones playing with their new toys, Taeyong's new diamond necklace settled against his upper chest, he knew that this Christmas was a wonderful success.
Taeyong with his back against Jaehyun's chest, turned his head around to smile sweetly at his mate before firmly kissing him. Jaehyun smiled into the kiss before separating and settling his forehead against the other, fingers lightly gliding through Taeyong's scalp.
"Merry Christmas," Jaehyun whispered, opening his deep red eyes to look into Taeyong's cherry ones.
"Merry Christmas," Taeyong repeated back, smiling once more.
And what a Beautiful Christmas it was.