Crash Landing On You - These Are The Days

Fatherhood

Second ficlet for the day~

It was Ri Jeong Hyeok that heard the cry first. It usually was these days with Se Ri back at work and Jeong Hyeok playing Mr. Mom. He didn't feel bad or short-changed, no matter how many times he and Se Ri go around in circles about it. And the end of the day, her job is both safer and really the breadwinning occupation of the household. He didn't think that made her less of a mother the same way he didn't feel like pulling himself from teaching duty made him selfish.

He walked out of his study, but by the time he reached the door, Da Eun's cries have stopped.

He was in her doorway the next moment, on edge and aware. It was his nature. It was the only logical reason for why it took him a minute to realize who was cradling Da Eun at the window and stand down.

He completely forgot about his parents' visit. They arrived three days ago.

"Father, did she wake you?" Jeong Hyeok said, running a hand over his forehead before starting towards them.

"No. Not really." Ri Chung Ryeol said with a scratchy voice. Jeong Hyeok stopped dead in the middle of Da Eun's nursery. It was not a good sound.

"Don't worry." Ri Chung Ryeol said with a smirk that didn't go beyond his mouth "I am okay and I wash my hands first. I know the rules."

Jeong Hyeok chuckled, but the humor and light-heartedness fade from his face pretty quick. "Father, is everything okay?"

"Yes. Everything is okay."

At 6 months, Da Eun still slept most of the day. She was easily settled in his grandfather's embrace. Ri Chung Ryeol patted her back lightly and burying his nose in his granddaughter's baby smell.

Jeong Hyeok smiled. This was the new side of his father that he'd rarely seen.

"She is getting bigger." Ri Chung Ryeol said as Jeong Hyeok helped him adjusting the shoulder burp bib.

"She is. It seemed like only yesterday she was as big as a bag of sugar. Look at her now."

"When did she start sucking her thumb?"

Jeong Hyeok groaned. "About two weeks ago? It's going to be hell to ween her off that."

"You've been reading again?" Ri Chung Ryeol asked, gently bouncing Da Eun when she started to fuss again. Da Eun's fingers clenched and release over his shirt, but she settled again pretty quick.

"I am always reading." Jeong Hyeok admitted.

Ri Chung Ryeol chuckled. "I know that. But seriously though, stop pissing your wife off. You read too much, Jeong Hyeok-ah."

"Sorry, I can't help it. Every time I can't get her to stop fussing, I am scared. I am terrified for teething, or the first time she actually realizes Se Ri leaving for work. I got anxious when I left her for work for the first time. Kids make your life complicated." Jeong Hyeok laughed silently, trying not to wake the baby again.

"But you love her."

"More than anything." Jeong Hyeok agreed.

"I never just casually asked you. How does it feel to be a father?" Ri Chung Ryeol asked, wanting to know.

"Fatherhood is no joke, Father. The first few weeks after she was born, we barely slept when the baby was out about 18 hours a day. She poops, she cries, she pukes, and so on. I've never been this tired since my basic training. Don't tell Se Ri, but my last mission in the military is much easier than this."

Ri Chung Ryeol laughed, knowing his son was just exaggerating. "Back in the day. Fathers didn't really involve in childcare. We just have to work and make sure nobody at home starving. How is it really?" he asked again.

"Nothing like I could ever imagine." Jeong Hyeok answered seriously this time. "When Se Ri told me she was pregnant, I already had an idea of what fatherhood would be like. I knew I'd love Da Eun before she was even born. I'd feel protective and want to do everything for her. But actually it is so much more than that. I don't know how to explain it."

"Do you worry?"

"Naturally." Jeong Hyeok answered after a while and nodded his head. "Aren't we all?"

Ri Chung Ryeol nodded, rocking Da Eun just a little. "Sometimes I think, what if I didn't force any of you to follow my step."

Jeong Hyeok didn't know what to say to that, how to comfort his father when he sounded so raw, so devastated.

"Maybe Mu Hyeok—" he sighed.

"Father. I am sure he is looking at us from up above."

"He would have been adoring your daughter so much, Jeong Hyeok-ah."

"I am sure he would. " Jeong Hyeok's breath shaken when he released it, filled with emotion.

"You know if anything ever happened to her. I am not sure I could hang on."

"Father, nothing is going to happen to her." Jeong Hyeok said immediately.

Ri Chung Ryeol forced himself to suck in a deep breath, to shove down the panic welling in his chest.

"Father, nothing is going to happen to her. Ever. Not with people like us. Not with the parents she has, the grandparents she has, not with you watching her back. Nothing, Father."

It took a few minutes, and an uncomfortable cry from the infant on his shoulder, for Ri Chung Ryeol to came back to himself. He looked startled when he did, shifted Da Eun until he could look at her face. Her eyes were wide, fixed on him. Her little palm came up, smacked his chin before she tried to dig her fingers into her grandfather's mouth.

Ri Chung Ryeol laughed, playfully nipped at those little fingers and Jeong Hyeok could literally watch the tension release from his shoulders. "You should be sleeping, Zvezda moya."

Jeong Hyeok let out a stifled laugh, his father's Russian still threw him off sometimes.

"What? I want to have my own nickname for her too."

Jeong Hyeok closed his eyes and nodded.

"Thank god you were smart enough to choose a wife who can handle whatever you throw on your way." Ri Chung Ryeol continued.

"Yes. I will always be grateful for Se Ri. Anyway, she will probably home real soon. I'll start making dinner."

"Right. Enough with the heavy talk. Your mother is already in the kitchen for hours ago. Don't worry and your Butterflake needs a diaper change." Ri Chung Ryeol said his nose wrinkling.

"Of course she is." Jeong Hyeok replied with a laugh. "I'll change her and get the bottle ready. Can you feed her and put her down again, Father?"

They both knew it was more than just a simple request. It was also permission and trust.

"Sure."

Jeong Hyeok didn't know how long his father stayed in the nursery, how long he held Da Eun in the rocking chair. All he knew was that he found Da Eun sprawled in her crib the next morning, face down and asleep with her stuffed animal tucked carefully in the corner of the crib.

****

There you go, the second ficlet for the day.

Again, I want to shamelessly promote my other 3 works. They are all BinJin related. You can find it in my profile. I hope you enjoy it.

And as usual comments and votes are deeply appreciated. Good day!