Six of a Kind

삼십육: Welcome Home

Jimin slept the whole car ride home.

Namjoon wondered how Jimin felt. Was he aware of just how much time had passed? Did he know what had happened to him? Did he notice that the seasons had completely changed, or it was a whole new year? Did he know he had had surgery; understand why he felt so tired? If not now, then would he ever? How would that work with his disabilities? Namjoon was so wrapped up in his mind he was barely paying attention to the road.

For the first time in his life, Namjoon had relied on someone else to look after his sextuplets. He had to bite the bullet and pay for a babysitter to bring his boys home and watch over them whilst he went and got Jimin. It cost way too much for him to have considered, but he had no choice. He had had no idea how disorientated Jimin would be, and didn't want him to get overwhelmed when he picked his brothers up from school. Along with his thoughts on Jimin's consciousness, he wondered how they were coping being home alone with a stranger.

He pulled into the drive, and carefully scooped Jimin out of his seat. He stirred in his arms, his head lifting off of his daddy's shoulders. He looked around at their front garden through half-open eyes as Namjoon collected the hospital bag out of the boot. Something pulled at his heart. He loved being at home.

A burst of sound hit the two as Namjoon unlocked the front door and stepped inside. The sextuplets were clearly very involved in a detailed game or conversation, laughing a little too hysterically, talking a little too loud. Namjoon knew they were nervous. Jimin snuffled in his arms, gripping his shirt tight.

Namjoon walked down the corridor towards the noise, and rounded the door. He looked down at Becky, a foreign exchange student, who had agreed to care for his boys. She was kneeling on the floor, their old board game Monopoly in front of her. Five small boys sat around the board in a circle, clutching cards and arguing dramatically. They didn't see him at first.

He looked up at the banner him and his boys had made last night. 'WELCOME HOME JIMIN' was spelled out on pointy triangles of different colours, pinned to the top of the wall above the TV. The letters were wonky, and the lines had been coloured out of. Jungkook had been determined to sprinkle glitter on his, leaving 3 madly sparkling squares. Not a lot of the glitter had stuck, and Namjoon knew it would be years before it was fully out of his carpet.

Yoongi caught them first. His eyes saw a shadow cover the board, making him look up. Daddy was very tall with the light behind him, and Jimin very small in his arms. Him and Jimin made eye contact, and Jimin gave a small, tired smile. "Unki."

"Jimin!" Yoongi hollered, distracting all of his brothers. They turned to look at the doorway, awe-struck by Jimin actually being awake.

"Daddy, Jimin home!" Hoseok yelled, getting up and scattering Monopoly cards everywhere. He gripped hold of daddy's trousers, staring up incredulously. "He's all better now, right?"

Before Namjoon could speak, 5 boys were crowding around his legs, calling both for Jimin and asking daddy if he was fixed now. Jimin, a little overwhelmed by the racket, butted his head against daddy's shoulder. He gave his eye a sleepy rub, wishing he was asleep again.

"Boys!" Namjoon hushed, shuffling forward until the boys moved enough for him to walk forward. He made his way over to the sofa, smiling quickly at Becky, and sat down. Five boys pressed closer again, eyeing Jimin carefully.

Taehyung's hand snuck out of the crowd, and started to stroke Jimin's hair. "He said Yoongi's name, daddy. Well, he didn't say it properly, but he still said it."

"I need you to listen to me," Namjoon said levelly. "Calm down, boys. Yes, Jimin is doing a lot better. He's not on his sleepy medicine anymore, so he'll start coming back to normal. His operation went very well, but he might just be a little poorly, still, we don't know. Nothing as bad as before, I promise you. But, Jimin still has lots of medicines in his body, so he's feeling tired right now. He needs to sleep it away before he can start playing properly, right?"