Dream (Norenmin)

40

I admit, I cried while writing this. Thank you all for your support with this. This is the last chapter. 😢 I will be making an epilogue at some point.

Waking up at 11:00 on Saturday, Jaemin practically jolts out of bed scaring Renjun.
"What happened? Is everything ok?" He asks him, as calmly as he can.
"It's 11:00, why hasn't he called yet? Is he ok?" Jaemin asks kind of frantic as he starts throwing his clothes on. Renjun stands and hugs him.
"You were up all night worrying baby, why don't we just call him? I think he's probably just having a good time with his father." Jaemin shakes his head.
"No, text him and ask if we should go home, I don't want to disturb him if they are bonding or anything." Renjun chuckles and kisses him softly, he quickly sends a text that is surprisingly answered right away.
"He said yes, come home now." Now Jaemin gets even more wound up.
"What does that mean? You know what? call him." Renjun laughs and calls him putting it on speaker.
"Hey, what's up? Are you coming home now?" Jaemin calms a little hearing his voice.
"Are you ok?" He asks softly. Jeno smiles and his heart melts a little more.
"I'm really ok. I love you and miss you, now come home so we can talk about it ok?" They both sigh in relief and agree to hurry home.

The walk up to the apartment is torture for Jaemin, he just wants to hold him in his arms and know he really is fine. When he finally gets there the door is open with Jeno standing there smiling, Renjun had texted him about Jaemin being worked up and he thinks it's so sweet.
Jaemin sees him and lets out the breath he was holding.
"Well, how did he take it? Where is he?" Jaemin asks dropping his bag in the doorway on the way to hug Jeno.
"Oh he left t..."
Jaemin smashes him in his arms and soon Renjun joins him.
"I'm so sorry I was up all night worried you should have told me, I would have..." This time it's Jeno who stops the nonsense. He leans in and kisses Jaemin softly before playfully biting his bottom lip, then does the same to Renjun.
"I missed you guys last night, my bed was lonely." He says pouting.
"Oh my god you guys are just as cute together as I imagined." Mr Lee says walking in and scaring all of them.
"I was trying to say that he left to get groceries and beer, so we can barbecue with Jaehyun and Taeyong later, I wanted him to meet the whole crew." Jaemin slaps his chest and both him and Renjun hide in his neck out of embarrassment. Jeno shrugs and squeezes them both.
His father watches on while adoring just how great they are together.
When they finally can show their faces Mr Lee holds his arms open to Jaemin for a big hug.
"I haven't seen you in so long, and I hear you are one half of the duo that puts the light in his eyes." He says gesturing to Jeno. Jaemin nods smiling big. He walks to Renjun who holds his hand out but Mr Lee won't have it and opens his arms again.
"I hope you are ok with hugs? You two are family now." Both Renjun and Jaemin tear up, this is so much more than they expected but everything they hoped for, for Jeno. Renjun happily accepts the hug.
"I'm sorry, for assuming. I was just worried." Jaemin apologizes.
"It's really fine, you love him and it shows. Now who wants to help me cook? I bought pork and lobster for the grill and we need to prepare the rice,veggies and I bought ramen because it always goes good with beer." Both Renjun and Jaemin accept the offer while Jeno chooses to sit this one out.
He watches as his boyfriends and his father get along like they are truly family and he's thrilled. He starts to tear up a bit thinking about how full his heart is and how he wishes his father could have the same thing. His heart starts to ache wishing that his mother was here too, and how much she would love those two. When he realizes that his tears are endless now he stands and starts to pace the floor trying to will the pain away, he doesn't want to bring anyone down.
He quickly walks out to the balcony to hide away and hope the fresh air do him some good.
Jaemin is the one to answer the door when the bell rings.
"Hi guys, come in. Mr Lee is so nice I can't wait for you to meet him." He says excitedly.
"Their here!" He yells out. Renjun drags Mr Lee out of the kitchen and they all look for Jeno but realize he's probably in the bathroom.
"Well, you must be Jaehyun and Taeyong? I've heard so many nice thing about you and am so great full that you are here to look out for these guys." He says warmly as they greet him.
"Nice to meet you, Jeno is a great person. I imagine he gets that from you?" Jaehyun asks. His father laughs then turns a little more somber while shaking his head.
"No, he gets all his goodness from his mother. Rest her soul." Jaemin squeezes his hand and smiles softly.
"She must have been amazing then." Renjun says quietly. His father nods and gently takes his hand as well.
After a few more minutes of small talk Mr Lee figures out where Jeno might be hiding and sneaks out onto the balcony. He sees Jeno clenching the railing, his head down and his shoulders shaking slightly.
"Have I upset you?" He asks quietly. Jeno turns showing his tear stained face, shaking his head.
"I just keep thinking, how much she would have loved them. How much fun she would be having right now. Sometimes it hurts, I want her back. I want to tell her and show her things she missed out on. I want her to hug me." He breaks down again and of course his father does his best to fill her shoes and offer a hug. He knows it's not the same but he will do his best to provide comfort.
They stand and hug for a while more until Jeno figures they better get inside.
"Thank you." He says simply.
"No need to thank me. I'll do my best for you when I can." His dad says wiping his own tears.
"How do you do it? Be alone and not go crazy thinking about her because if I was in your shoes I would have lost my mind by now." His dad smiles softly and pats his back.
"I have days where it's hard as hell and I want to end it all. Then I think of you and how much I love you and that it wouldn't be fair to cause you that pain too, and well I get through it." Jeno nods and hugs him again. He sniffles and wipes his tears.
"Do me a favor and if you ever get that lonely, please call me? Come see me, anything. You do know you can find someone right? I hope you are not choosing to be alone out of guilt of what happened to me?" His dad looks away guilty.
"If someone comes along I will let them in, don't you dare burden yourself with that. Since then I've raised my standards quite a bit but unfortunately no one compares to your mom so it's hard." They hug one more time, Jeno getting a good squeeze in.
"I can certainly tell you've been working out, your hugs are a lot tighter than they used to be." They both chuckle and head inside. The other four are laughing in the kitchen as they keep the food going.
Mr Lee instructs Jaehyun to start the grill, they all do a part. Jaemin and Renjun have noticed their tear stained faces but choose to leave it between them and only offer hugs every now and then.
As they all sit enjoying their meals Jeno takes comfort in his family, it may not be the one he started with but most of the time it's enough. He knows nothing will ever replace his mother but he has so much love in his life and so much to be thank full for. He knows she can see them and she is doing her best to protect them. His heart is full and he knows it will only grow.

The end.