Six of a Kind

십사: The Bowling Alley

Two weeks had passed since Taehyung had had his surgery, but things still weren't easy in Namjoon's house. The cast holding Taehyung's leg straight made Taehyung fuss, and he kept getting cramps and itches that he couldn't get to. It made the poor boy miserable.

Namjoon once again woke in the early morning to the sound of broken sobs from Taehyung's cot. Namjoon quickly sat up, switching on his lap, to see Taehyung's red, damp face, his free leg kicking at the sheets. Seokjin didn't have his hearing aids in, so luckily he wasn't disturbed by his cotmate's crying.

Namjoon shushed softly, and scooped Taehyung up. His heavy leg dragged, which made him howl in pain as his hip got twisted. Namjoon supported it properly, shushing again, and then cradled his second-youngest son against his chest, mopping up some of his tears. Taehyung cried tiredly, huddling and nuzzling like he's a small baby all over again.

Namjoon massaged the small bit of thigh that wasn't covered by the cast, trying to soothe some of the cramping. "You're halfway there, buddy, I promise. We needed to get your poorly leg fixed, or you would have been in a lot more pain."

Taehyung just whimpered and sniffled, looking up at his daddy. He was too young to describe the pain he was in. All he could do was cry, and hope that Namjoon felt guilty for making him feel so bad.

Eventually, the toddler started to calm, tired out from emotion and pain. Namjoon smiled down at him, still rocking, and eventually Taehyung's eyes slipped closed. Namjoon didn't want to disturb him, so he switched the lamp off, and cuddled down with the sleeping boy. He sniffed his soft hair, and fell back asleep himself.

*

Normally, mornings would be hard. The toddlers would be hyper, and Namjoon would always have one arm filled with Jimin. Taehyung would run around the house like a wild dog, and Hoseok or Yoongi would end up chasing him. Jungkook would kick off about his hoodie being removed for a nappy change, and Namjoon had to herd as many kids onto the toilet for potty training as he could.

However, now that Taehyung had been out of action, they had all become subdued and quiet. There were times where Hoseok and Yoongi would start revving up, playing tag with one another, but they would take one look at the sad Taehyung in his little wheelchair, and huddle up around Namjoon's legs. Jimin would have his seizures, Jungkook kicked off unhappily, and Seokjin refused his hearing aids, because he didn't like it when Taehyung's chair squeaked.

It didn't help Taehyung's poor mood. He felt like a monster. His brothers wouldn't play with him anymore, and if he was sitting on the floor, they would peer fearfully at his white leg. It always stuck out in the way when he wanted to play, and he couldn't just get up and run around to burn some of his energy. They always gave him a wide berth.

On top of that, he couldn't help Jimin when he needed it. He still continued to have seizures throughout the day. He hadn't had another convulsive seizure, much to Taehyung's delight, but he couldn't get up and soothe him, or crawl over to stroke his hair when he suddenly flopped onto the carpet.

Namjoon could see that Jimin and Taehyung were very close. He didn't really want the sextuplets to favour one over another, but it was clear that the two were best friends. Jimin squealed and clapped his hands when he saw Taehyung, and the two loved hugging. Jimin couldn't exactly do much, but Taehyunug was always patient with him, and helped him play. He liked trying to help him speak, too, though Taehyung was always trying to teach him nonsense words.

Jimin was afraid of the wheelchair, too, though, and only went to Taehyung if he was sitting on the floor or on the sofa. He didn't want to get run over. That made Taehyung very sad. He didn't feel like laughing anymore, or playing games.