Nectarine Sunset Epilogue
Nectarine Sunset Epilogue
Pairing: Eunhae
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, Fluff, Romance.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Epilogue |
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Hyukjae is hardly breathing, afraid to make a single move. There's a soft, warm weight on his chest. His arms are holding her there and she's the most precious thing in the world. Her fingers are tiny, curled in little fists against his shirt. She's so, so warm and perfect and Hyukjae just wants to hold her close and protect her so that nothing can disturb her while she sleeps.
Donghae sneaks into the room, barely noticed by Hyukjae who is too entranced by the baby in his arms to care about anything else. Donghae smiles and moves closer, carefully sitting on the couch next to Hyukjae.
“Still asleep?” Donghae whispers and Hyukjae barely nods. “And you're still hogging all of her attention.”
Hyukjae only smiles and very gently rests his cheek against the baby's beanie-covered head.
“Is she warm enough?” Donghae whispers, carefully moving closer to pull the beanie further down over her ears.
Hyukjae nods very slightly and freezes when a tiny, adorable grunt comes from the baby and she shifts in his arms. Hyukjae stifles laughter while Donghae stifles the coos that desperately want to come out to compliment the cute noise.
A knock at the door makes the baby stir and make an uncomfortable sound, not wanting to be taken from her sleep. Donghae lets out a worried noise in return as if he's naturally responding to the baby. Hyukjae thinks that he wouldn't be surprised if Donghae spoke fluently in baby language.
“I'll get it.” Donghae stands and quietly tiptoes his way to the door, opening it carefully. His face scrunches up in discomfort when he sees who it is. “You're back already?”
Sooyoung rolls her eyes. “I said we wouldn't be gone long,” she says.
“We know that if we left for too long, you'd probably end up kidnapping our daughter,” Kyuhyun adds.
Donghae sighs and nods because it's very, very true. Hyukjae steps into the room, walking carefully to keep from further disturbing the infant in his arms.
“There's my little angel,” Sooyoung says softly. “Has she been good?”
“Of course she has,” Donghae responds, “like you said, she's an angel.”
Hyukjae transfers the baby into Kyuhyun's arms. Kyuhyun seemingly lights up as he holds her. She makes a few more noises before nestling herself comfortably into his arms. Hyukjae smiles at the sight and then crosses his own arms, trying to keep them from feeling empty at the loss of warmth.
“Thanks for babysitting her,” Sooyoung says, smiling at Hyukjae.
“Are you kidding?” Donghae asks. “We'll gladly babysit her any time. She's much easier to handle than you.”
Sooyoung gives Donghae a playful hit. Donghae whines and pretends that it hurts, scooting closer to Hyukjae for protection.
“I guess we should leave so that you can take care of this big baby,” Kyuhyun says.
“I'm not a baby,” Donghae retorts in a voice that proves otherwise.
Sooyoung and Kyuhyun leave, taking their baby girl with them. As soon as they're gone and the door is closed, Donghae turns to Hyukjae and gives him a sympathetic look because Hyukjae looks miserable without the baby in his arms.
“I know, I know,” Donghae says. “But don't worry. We'll have our own little girl soon, I promise.”
Hyukjae sighs but them smiles, moving himself closer to hug Donghae and regain the warmth that he'd lost.
“It's too bad we can't make our own, you know?” Donghae murmurs against Hyukjae's neck, kissing the skin there and making Hyukjae bite his lip. Just as Hyukjae begins to enjoy the soft press of lips against his neck, a whimper comes from behind them, making them pull apart.
A very protective Cid is standing behind a very sleepy, brown-haired, brown-eyed toddler who can barely stand on his feet.
“Well, look who's awake,” Donghae says as Hyukjae walks forward and kneels to take the toddler into his arms. Donghae kneels as well and makes a few signs slowly with his hands while talking out loud as well.
“Why are you awake, Max?” he asks.
The toddler frowns and reaches his hands out to Donghae, sleepily signing “hungry.”
“You just ate before you took your nap.” Donghae laughs, signing it after he says it. He receives an irresistibly sad face in return. “Okay, okay. Hyukjae, we still have those green grapes he likes, right?”
Hyukjae smiles and nods. He holds Max securely in his arms and stands to walk to the kitchen. Donghae follows them and makes faces behind Hyukjae's back, making Max giggle. Hyukjae turns to put Max in Donghae's arms and Max happily obliges, snuggling into Donghae's chest. Donghae holds him, blowing raspberries on his cheek and making him squeal while Hyukjae washes the grapes and cuts them into small pieces to make sure Max can eat them easily. He finishes and turns to Donghae and Max with a plate in his hands.
“Can we watch cartoons?” Donghae suddenly whines and Hyukjae raises an eyebrow at him. He's giving an exaggerated pout and Max is looking between them curiously. Hyukjae is about to roll his eyes and nod until he watches Max try to put his thumb in his mouth. He puts the plate down and reaches out gently to pull the toddler's hand away.
“You remember what daddy told you?” he signs. “If you keep sucking your thumb, your teeth will be funny!”
Max pouts similarly to Donghae and signs “I'm sorry.” Hyukjae grins and pats Max on the head.
“Okay,” Donghae says. “Now can we watch cartoons?”
Hyukjae finally gets around to rolling his eyes and nodding. He follows an excited Donghae into the living room where the three of them sit on the couch with Max on Donghae's lap and the plate of grapes on Hyukjae's. Donghae turns on Max's favorite cartoon. Hyukjae smiles, remembering how long it had taken them to find a cartoon that Max could enjoy without being able to hear it. Before Max can become too engrossed in the show, Hyukjae feeds him a few grapes that he eagerly accepts. Hyukjae ends up feeding Max and paying more attention to Max's reactions to the show than the show itself.
Donghae and Hyukjae had taken a very long time to adopt their little boy. They hadn't cared for gender or ethnicity or any other factors, they'd only wanted to take a child into their home to raise as their own. Upon hearing that one specific, tiny bundle had been abandoned by his parents because he was born deaf, they'd immediately wanted him. By the time they'd deemed themselves fit to be parents and the adoption agency had as well, Max was already ten months old. He'd cried every night after they'd brought him home and most of the time, it made Hyukjae and Donghae want to cry as well. It wasn't until they discovered that the vibrations of Donghae's voice relaxed Max as he laid on Donghae's chest that they were finally able to get him to sleep properly. Most nights saw Donghae reading or singing or sometimes just talking while Max comfortably laid atop his chest. Hyukjae would lie beside them, cuddling against Donghae and relaxing at the sound of his voice as well. Even now, Max's favorite place to be is in Donghae's arms and Hyukjae doesn't blame him.
When all of the grapes are gone and the plate is set aside, Cid puts his head in Hyukjae's lap, clearly looking for affection. Max is the one who reaches down and pats Cid's head before returning to his show. Donghae laughs and Hyukjae grins as he takes Cid's face between his hands and scratches under the dog's chin. It had been partially because of Cid that they'd adopted a deaf child. Teaching Cid hand symbols and learning how to handle an animal who couldn't hear had made them realize that they could raise a child of the same nature. Of course, they'd discovered very quickly that a child was nothing like a dog but they'd adjusted to that fact very quickly.
Cid loves Max as much as Hyukjae and Donghae do. He accompanies the toddler during naps and even comes into the bathroom during Max's bath time to make sure that nothing goes wrong. Even though the dog is growing old, he's still full of energy and love, all of which he dedicates to the family who had adopted him and loved him unconditionally.
It is unconditional love that holds their family together. They keep each other happy through the rainy days and strong through the storms. They enjoy their warm days together, never letting nightfall bring them down.
Max slowly becomes sleepy again. His tummy is full of grapes and he's ready for another nap. He turns and snuggles into Donghae's chest again, feeling warm and safe as Donghae's arms wrap around him.
“I love you, Max,” Donghae says softly and lovingly. He looks at Cid with a grin. “And you, too, Cid.” He looks up to see pure love and adoration in Hyukjae's eyes and he smiles in a way that still makes Hyukjae's stomach flip. “And I love you, too, Hyukjae.”
Hyukjae smiles and pretends that there aren't embarrassingly happy tears in his eyes as he moves closer to give Donghae a kiss. With just the press of lips, Hyukjae tells Donghae that he cherishes him, needs him, and will never let him go. Hyukjae tells Donghae that he loves him, their family, and their life, all without saying a single word.
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A/N: THE END. Thank you for reading, commenting, and putting up with the waits between some of the chapters. And thank you to everyone who helped me write! I'm sorry it took me over a year to write this whole fic. You can see my writing change drastically from chapter one to fourteen. I actually went through a lot in my personal life during the writing of this fic and that (and other factors) changed the entire plot so many times... but I hope you like the way it all turned out. I have a lot of fics that I want to write so expect more in the future. ♥
ALSO, how is my domestic Eunhae? Because holy crap that was fun to write and I wanna do more ;; But it literally took me an hour to come up with a name and I actually ended up using “Max” because of Maxstep HAHAHAHA I'm not creative. NAMES DON'T REALLY MATTER THO RIGHT?! ;;
ALSO ALSO, BEFORE YOU LEAVE A COMMENT SAYING “WHY DIDN'T HYUKJAE SPEAK?” PLEASE READ THIS. Hyukjae is perfectly happy without speaking, so why should he have to? After the surgery, he felt like it was a mistake he never should have made and realized that it was never really what he wanted. A few people complained about him not talking and I'm sorry but Hyukjae never had to change himself to be happy or loved and that's how I wanted it to end. And as for whether or not his surgery did actually work... that's up to your imagination.
♥
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