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Xia and Junseo must have springs on their feet. This was Jungkook’s first thought as he entered the living room.  Xia and Junseo were bouncing around the room throwing foam blocks at each other as Tae slept soundly on the couch, little baby Taemin curled up on his chest.  How Tae could sleep through this commotion, Jungkook had no idea.

Another thing he couldn’t help but wonder is why on earth Tae was out here alone with all three kids.  Where were Xun and Yumi?

“Xia, Junseo, do you guys want to go play outside?”

Both toddlers nodded eagerly.

“Ok, let’s go change into our outside clothes.  How does that sound?”

A few minutes later, he had two giggly toddlers in their snow suits and boots.  He was headed to the back door when Aeja, Miyun, Ara, and Yeongjin returned.  Ara was sound asleep on Yeongjin’s shoulder, and Aeja and Miyun were both carrying a few bags each.  He nodded a greeting to the three of them and ushered the two toddlers into the backyard, where they would spend the next hour playing in the snow.

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Tae awoke half an hour later to find the living room empty save him and Taemin.  He looked down at the tiny infant, trying to figure out if he could stand up without waking him up.  He was slightly more concerned with the whereabouts of Xia and Junseo, though.  Tae sat up carefully, shifting Taemin so he was cuddled up again his chest.  Then he stood up and headed for the kitchen.  All seven girls were occupying it.  Aeja and Yumi were cooking, Ireun, Miyun, and Yeongjin were each holding one of the triplets, Eunjin was attempting to feed Oreun, and Xun was washing dishes.  Ok.  No toddlers here.

Next, he wandered down the hallway to see if they’d found their way to the toy room.  He briefly considered putting Taemin in the playpen they’d brought, but he ultimately decided against it.

On the way to the toy room, he passed the game room, where he discovered 4 of his friends.  Yoongi, Jin, Jimin, and Hobi were all settled on the couch watching a baseball game.  Hajun was sound asleep on Hobi’s lap.  But still no sign of Xia and Junseo.  They weren’t in the toy room either, so Tae headed back out to the living room.  Right as Jungkook brought two shivering, snow covered toddlers inside.

“Appa!  We built more snowmans outside!” Xia exclaimed, clearly unconcerned with the fact that she was shaking.

“Oh, did you?” Tae looked pointedly at Jungkook, unsure whether to thank him for keeping an eye on the kids or rebuke him for not letting Tae know what he was doing.

“You can take her, right?” Jungkook asked as Junseo tugged on his pant leg, complaining that he was cold.

Tae nodded. “Yup.”

A couple minutes later, Xia was in some warm clothes and was, as usual, bouncy, waking her brother up.  Tae headed to the kitchen to get some help from Xun.  She was more than happy to take Taemin and go feed him, and Aeja offered to make Xia and Junseo some hot chocolate.  Tae gladly accepted and sat down in a chair, settling Xia on his lap.  But she insisted on trying to climb on the table.

Oreun was suddenly uninterested in eating her banana, instead smashing her hand into it and throwing a piece across the table.  Eunjin sighed and took the banana away from her before freeing her from the highchair.  It appeared it was now nap time.

By the time Jungkook and Junseo entered the kitchen, it had mostly cleared out.  Aeja and Yumi were still cooking, and Yeongjin had now taken over washing the dishes, but they were the only girls left.  Besides Xia.  Who was still trying to escape Tae’s arms to climb the table.  Ireun and Miyun had taken the triplets to nap as well, so the kitchen was much quieter than it had been a few minutes before.

Xia finally settled down when Aeja placed her mug of hot chocolate in front of her.

“Tank you, Auntie Aeja.” Xia smiled.

Junseo shoved his face into the mountain of whipped cream on top of his drink, effectively covering his mouth and chin with it.

Jungkook laughed. “I think it’s nap time after this.”