Snow

Chapter 53

As Namjoon dozes off, he hears little whimpers coming from one of his pups, so he quickly snaps himself awake and scoops his pups into his arms. He carefully leaves the nest with his pups in his arms and carries them to the feeding mat.

"Hush, little flames," Namjoon whispers as he feeds his pups. "Your Eomma is sleeping." He hums and smiles as he watches his pups eat. Hoseok and Taehyung coo as they wave their hands and try to touch their father.

After feeding his pups, Namjoon places them on his shoulders and burps them. As he paces around the cabin, he sleepily yawns and softly hums to lull his pups to sleep. Once the twins are burped and asleep, Namjoon places them in the nest and then lies down with his mate and pups. With a sleepy hum, Namjoon falls asleep.

When Seokjin wakes up, he sees his pups swaddled beside him while his mate is gone. "Moon?" Seokjin calls out as he tries to get out of the nest without waking his pups.

"I am here. Are you okay?" Namjoon quickly rushes back to the cabin through the thick snow. It has been a week since the pups were born, and it has snowed every day since then.

"Why are you outside?" Seokjin asks as he walks over to his mate.

"I was checking on the animals and getting snow to melt for water," Namjoon explains and shows Seokjin the pails of melting snow. "I got milk from the goats. I think two of the goats are pregnant. They keep getting bigger, and I think I heard heartbeats of unborn kids. One of them seems pretty close to delivering."

"Have you been getting any sleep?" Seokjin asks with worry when he sees the fatigue in his mate's eyes.

"I have. Do not worry." Namjoon smiles and softly pecks his mate's lips.

"I do not believe you. The pups are fed, and their diapers have been changed. I even see that you cleaned their diapers. I know you are not sleeping enough." Seokjin frowns as he shuts the door to keep his mate from leaving. "You need to rest."

"I am fine." Namjoon wraps his arms around his mate and gently kisses him. "Our pups are so well-behaved, and you need to continue to rest."

"I am perfectly healthy." Seokjin huffs as he tries to wiggle out of his mate's hold.

"No. You are still bleeding. You must rest until your body heals." Namjoon tightens his embrace around his mate to keep him from moving.

"Moon, I really am okay. You are taking care of everything. Let me take care of something." Seokjin frowns as he tries to argue with his mate.

"I can handle everything. I really can." Namjoon mutters and buries his face in the crook of Seokjin's neck.

"You are already a perfect mate. I know you are pushing yourself to be perfect, but remember that we are mates. I am your mate. I am their mother. We are a pair. We do everything together." Seokjin softly tells his mate.

"When I am down, you will take care of me, but right now, you are recovering. I will take care of you. I know we are mates. I know we are a pair. I know we do everything together. Right now, I am taking care of you. And sometime in the future, you will take care of me. So, let me take care of you. I want you to be healthy. Your body will wear down if you do not get the rest you need." Namjoon sighs as he tries to reason with his mate.

"Do you promise that if you get sick in the future, you will let me take care of you?" Seokjin softly asks as he turns in his mate's embrace to look into his mate's eyes.

"I promise." Namjoon smiles and quickly nods.

"Fine. I will go back to resting." Seokjin mumbles and pecks his mate's lips.