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Jin sat in the living room, a sound asleep Kookie cuddled up on his chest, the laptop on the armrest the only source of light in the dark room as it thundered outside.  Jin could hear the rain pattering on the roof.  He glanced down at Kookie.  Surely, he was sound asleep by now.  Jin could put him in his crib and come back out to write.  He shifted a bit, securing Kookie in his arms before getting up off the couch.  Then he headed down the hall to the younger boys’ room.  He pushed the door open, peeking inside.  Tae and Jimin were sound asleep.  Jin crept inside and slowly lowered Kookie into the crib that lined the bottom of the twins’ bed.

Once he was satisfied that Kookie would stay asleep, he headed back out to the living room to continue his storytelling.  The house was silent but for the rain pattering against the windows for a long spell of time as Jin continued to type his thoughts into his computer.  It was a happy silence.  Jin was content to sip his coffee and let his thoughts flow into his computer at the late midnight hour.

A piercing cry cut through the silence suddenly.  Jin put his laptop down on the coffee table and headed down the hall to see what the problem was.  In the toddlers’ room, he found Tae curled up on the bed, clinging to his blanket as he sobbed.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Jin whispered, sitting on the bed next to Tae.

“W-was big boom…a-and scary monster…” Tae pointed over towards the closet, where a large shadow loomed.  Just then, a large bolt of lightning rode the clouds, causing the room to light up.  Tae jumped and hid behind his blanket, shaking with sobs.

“Hey, hey, it’s all right, Tae.  It’s just a tree.” Jin pulled up the curtain lining the window behind the twins’ bed. “See, baby?”

Tae turned around and peeked out the window.  He looked up at the tree.  Then he shook his head, tears still spilling down his cheeks.

“Nu…tree scary…” he hiccupped.

Jin scooped Tae up into his arms. “Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”

Tae nodded. “Yeah…sleep with Appa…” He buried his head in Jin’s chest.

“All right.  I need to go put my computer away.  Let’s go out to the living room.”

Jin stood up, tiptoeing towards the door.  He slowly shut it behind him before marching out to the living room.  He quickly saved his work, shutting his laptop.  Then he headed back to his room, Tae cuddling into his chest.  Tae yawned, shaking a bit from the cold air hitting his skin.

“You tired, baby?”

Tae nodded. “Sleep…”

Jin crawled into his bed a moment later, lying Tae next to him.  Tae scooted as close to Jin as possible, curling into his side.  Another stroke of lightning flashed, startling Tae out of his sleepiness.  He buried his face in Jin’s chest, starting to cry again.

“It’s ok, baby, the lightning can’t hurt you.”

Tae sniffed, shaking in Jin’s arms.  Jin rocked him slowly, whispering sweet nothings into his ear.  Soon enough, Tae had calmed down and fallen fast asleep.  Jin ran his fingers through Tae’s hair softly.  He smiled.  He loved his little boys.  All five of them.  He didn’t know what he would do without them.  He kissed Tae’s forehead softly.

“Goodnight, baby.”

——————–

Jin awoke to crying a few hours later.  Tae was still sound asleep in his arms.  He slowly slipped out of bed, heading down the hallway to find the source of the crying this time.  Jimin was sitting up in bed now, crying as he patted the bed.

“Tae-Tae?” he sniffed.

“Minnie, what’s wrong?”

“Tae-Tae gone…” Jimin cried out, clearly distressed and confused as to why his brother was missing.

“He’s in my bed, baby.  He got scared because of the thunder.  Do you want to come sleep with us?”

“Yeah…”

Jimin crawled out of bed, quickly making his way over to Jin.  He held his arms up to him.  Jin pulled Jimin up into his arms.  Then he headed back to his room.  Tae was sitting on the bed, shaking as tears spilled down his face.  He looked up at Jin with wide eyes.

“B-big boom…” He sniffed.

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry…”

Jin set Jimin in the bed and crawled in next to Tae.  He pulled Tae into his arms.  Tae buried his face in Jin’s chest.  He let out soft whimpers every few seconds until he finally calmed down.  Jin rubbed his back softly.

“It’s ok, Tae-Tae.  Appa’s here.  The thunder can’t hurt you, ok?”

Tae sniffed, still shaking a bit in Jin’s arms. “Ok…”

Jin glanced down at Jimin.  He was already sound asleep.  Jin sighed, going back to consoling Tae.  Eventually, he had gotten Tae back to sleep.  But then another cry sounded from down the hall.

Jin slowly scooted Tae off of his lap, trying not to wake him.  Then he walked back down the hallway to the toddlers’ room once again.  Kookie was standing up in his crib, wailing in distress.  He sniffled and held his arms up to Jin the second he walked through the door.

“Appa…”

Jin scooped Kookie up into his arms. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“No Tae-Tae n’ Minnie…”

Jin picked up Kookie’s pacifier out of his crib, popping it into his mouth.  Then he headed back down to his bedroom.  He didn’t want to leave Tae long enough for him to wake up again.  Thankfully, when Jin entered the room, both of the twins were still sound asleep.  He slipped into bed, pulling Kookie up onto his chest and Tae into his side.  Then he closed his eyes.  He listened as the storm slowly calmed outside.  He couldn’t hear thunder anymore, and the rain was less violent as it patted against the windows.  Hopefully they would all sleep the rest of the night through.  Soon Jin followed his boys into dreamland, the rain still pouring outside.