Rekindled From The Ashes

Birthday

"Uncle Youngie!!"

The only time Wooyoung ever smiles for real, is when he's around his niece and nephew. The two three year olds ran straight towards him, as if waiting his arrival. Harper, who has Seonghwa's face shape, bright blue eyes, and his smile, came running up to him faster than little Juno.

Seonghwa's wife, Allison, dressed her in a pretty navy blue dress with white leggings and floral sandals on her feet. Her black hair was pulled back in a ballerina bun with a white bow tied around it. Her little mouth dimples grew deeper as she grins at him, "I miss you Youngie!"

"Uncle Youngie missed you baby girl," he kisses her chubby cheeks, "are you excited to be a big sissy?"

"Yeah! Mommy wants a boy but I want a sissy," she nods, "Tell mommy to give me a sissy."

Wooyoung laughs, a true genuine laugh as he brushes a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear, "I'll try to tell her but I can't promise nothing."

He looks over to his nephew, his heart constricting in his chest as he smiles at him, "And how's my baby boy?"

Juno smiles, his dimples in his cheeks grow bigger as walks towards Wooyoung, "I good."

"Well that's good!" Wooyoung giggles, kissing his cheeks and cupping his face.

He looks so much like him...

Wooyoung pushes the voice away and picks both kids up on his hips, "Alright kiddos, lead me to the adults!"

"We the adults!" Harper squeals, Juno giggling when Wooyoung spins with them on his hips.

"I'm here Wooyoung!" He heard Mingi call from the kitchen, setting the kids down and both drag him into the kitchen with small giggles. Wooyoung smiles as he's lead into the kitchen, where Seonghwa and Yeosang are decorating the kids' cakes.

"No sir or ma'am! You guys get out of here you know these are surprises!" Seonghwa scolds, pointing out of the kitchen, "Out."

"Daddy I want to see," Harper pouts her famous Seonghwa pout, knowing Seonghwa falls for it every time. But this time he doesn't.

"Why don't you guys go show Youngie your treehouse?" Yeosang gasps excitedly, Juno squeals and runs to the door while screaming out, "House!! House!!"

"You got them a treehouse?" Wooyoung asks, arching his eyebrow as Yeosang put the cakes in the fridge and out of sight.

"Of course, Junebug has been begging us to get him one since he seen the plastic ones at the store," Yeosang laughs, "It's not an extravagant one, just a small, simple house Hongjoong's friend Changbin made for Juno. And it's on the ground not in a tree."

"I bet he loves it," Wooyoung smiles, looking after where the kiddos went to their play house, "So essentially it's a play house?"

"Yeah," Yeosang laughs, it was quiet for a moment, making Yeosang bring up something he already knows, "Doesn't he look like-"

"Youngie!" Harper calls, "Come find me!"

Wooyoung is happy for the distraction as he turns towards her slowly, and starts chasing after her out of the kitchen. She squeals loudly, her little giggles just light up the room as she runs outside, "Juno run!"

Juno squeals too, it was actually louder than Harper's as he runs away from them both. The three of them played and played until finally Mingi yells, "Alright kids! It's time to eat!"

"I hungy!" Juno shouts as he runs towards the picnic table where everyone was waiting on them to join. Tons of food. Covered the table as they sit down to enjoy their meal, Harper and Juno out of breath from running and playing.

"Baby your face is red," Allison coos, pressing her hands to Harper's forehead who was still panting for air, "If you get too hot you need to come inside."

"I no hot mommy," Harper whines, her little black eyebrows furrow as she eats a bite of Yunho's macaroni and cheese.

"Mhmm sure little lady," Allison rolls her eyes, kissing her head before taking a sip of water.

"How do you feel about being a big sissy Harper?" Yunho asks, smiling when he looks to see the little girl stuffing her mouth full of food.

"I want a sissy," she replies, mouth full of food.

Everyone laughs, knowing the little girl wants a sister more than anything. She had begged and begged to have a sister for over a year now and Wooyoung and everyone else was on FaceTime when they announced it to her that she was going to be a big sister. The little girl wanted nothing more than to be a big sister.

Hongjoong and Yeosang had talked about adopting another baby, but they're unsure how Juno will take it. Or if they even can. He was their little blessing in disguise. It took them three years of trying for a baby only to be told they couldn't conceive one naturally. Hongjoong's sperm count was too low, and Yeosang's uterus was T-shaped. It meant a deadly pregnancy and delivery for Yeosang if they even tried to have one.

The only options they had were either a surrogate, or adoption. After being turned down from the adoption agency twice, Yeosang was about to lose hope until Juno came into their lives. He truly was their little blessing in disguise.

Now all they needed was a baby from Yunho and Mingi.

They ate dinner with small talk, everyone occasionally laughing when Juno and Harper made small talk across the table. Their toddler jabber was adorable. Everything went smoothly, until Allison brought up a conversation Wooyoung didn't want to talk about. Ever.

"So Youngie," she smiles across the table at him. He could tell she was debating in her mind what to say, but Allison had been known to be pretty blunt. They all were used to it when she asked random questions.

"Yeah?" Wooyoung answers, grinning at Juno when he shows him a Dorito he tried to shape into something by eating it.

"I have a guy at work who has been single for a while now-"

"Ali!" Seonghwa hisses, scolding her before looking to Wooyoung, "I'm sorry Wooyoung I know it's not easy-"

"It's been three years," Allison sighs, placing her hands on her tiny baby bump, "You can't stay a widow forever. You need someone."

"I don't need anyone," Wooyoung snaps, standing and leaving the table, taking his plate with him.

He lays it in the sink and grabs his keys, heading to the front door. She knew it was hard for Wooyoung to even think about dating after San's death. After everything he had been through...

"Youngie!" Juno calls, running after him with his short stubby legs.

"Juno baby go back inside-"

"I don't wanna!" Juno pouts, reaching for him, "I wanna go wit Youngie!"

"Kim Juno!" Hongjoong calls from the doorway, him and Yeosang rushing to get him before he walked too far away from the house, "Get away from the road!"

Wooyoung picks up Juno and carries him back to his parents, holding him close and burying his nose in his small neck. Juno clings to him, his tiny chubby hands cup his face, "Youngie no go," he whines.

"I need to go baby," Wooyoung whispers, kissing the little boy's temple, "Youngie needs to leave."

Juno's whimpers, his large brown eyes fill up with tears as his lip wobbles, "I go too."

Hongjoong comes over and his face is pale as he holds his arms out for his son, "Are you leaving?"

Wooyoung nods, his chest tightening a little. He needed to get out of there, now. He hands Juno over with a heavy heart, and the little boy squirms as he's passed to his dad. When Hongjoong gets ahold of him, Juno starts to cry, reaching for Wooyoung, "Youngie no go!"

Wooyoung smiles to him sadly, blowing him a kiss, "I'll see you later love! Be a good boy for mommy and daddy!"

He gets in the car, the vehicle silences the toddler's loud cries as he turns it on and starts to drive away from there. Once he was out of sight from the others, he pulls over and parks his car. He couldn't help the heavy feeling in his chest as he leans against the steering wheel, sobbing softly.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

***