Shrill cries cut through the silence of the morning, waking up the pack house as they did almost every day.

Wooyoung was quick to scramble out of bed, earning a whine from San before the beta moved over to wrap his arms around Jongho's waist.

It made the youngest smile and he kissed the top of San's head several times and let his fingers slide gently up and down San's side.

On his other side, Yunho stretched his arms over his head. "Good morning."

Jongho hummed and tried to turn to look at him, but San tightened his grip.

"I'll go help Wooyoung, you stay in bed with him." Yunho chuckled and rolled slowly out of bed. He was going on five months pregnant and had adopted a cute little waddle as he walked, which Jongho knew would only get better the bigger he got.

They were expecting him to sense the gender any day now, and it sent a thrill of excitement through him since this was the first time he was going to get to experience it.

Things had been going well with his pregnancy too. The midwife said there were no complications and the worst part for him was the strange cravings. For some reason he had really taken to Hongjoong's orange juice and cereal, which meant the two of them ate breakfast together most mornings. Away from the rest of the pack.

When he disappeared from the room, Jongho rolled onto his side and pulled San into his arms.

"This is nice." San hummed and nuzzled his nose against his alpha's chest.
Jongho chuckled. "Yes it is."

In the next room, Finn had calmed down a bit and was now giggling at something Wooyoung or Yunho was doing. It made Jongho smile. Things were finally starting to get better for them and he couldn't be happier.

The light fluttering of kisses started to dot his chest and Jongho looked down to see San moving along his chest. It was small gestures like this that each of them tried to exchange with each other when they got small moments like this together.

"What's the plan for today?" San asked, nuzzling his nose between Jongho's pecs.

"I don't think we really had one. We just went hunting."

"Well it's getting to be that time of year, maybe we should look at setting up a garden? I've always liked the idea of setting up our own area."

Jongho's eyebrows rose. "That's a great idea Sannie. I like the idea of getting that started today."

"Great!" The beta paused, then sat up. A serious look crossed his face and he started to pick at the blanket pooling around his waist. "There's... Something else I'd like to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Jongho sat up with him and tilted his head to the side. He could feel conflict rolling of his beta and he didn't like it.

"Well..." San pushed his lips out in a pout and spoke softer. "I'm sure this will come up at some point, and I've been doing a lot of thinking... but, I don't know if I was to mother children." San cringed and scrunched his eyes shut.

For a moment, Jongho was shocked to hear this. Sure, he and San had never had a conversation about this before, but when he thought about it, he wasn't really surprised. San had never expressed interest in having kids with Jongho, and it was a good thing they were having this conversation now before anything happened by accident.

"Why aren't you saying anything..." San kept staring at the bed. "You don't like it... Do you?"

"Oh, no, Sannie! It's not like that! I promise." Jongho pulled his beta to his chest. "I just wasn't expecting it. I don't think of or love you any less." He said before placing multiple kisses over San's mark.

His beta hummed at the touch and turned his head to connect their lips. "Good, because there's a part two to this conversation."

"You're just full of surprises today, aren't you?"

San giggled and teased the hair at the base of Jongho's neck. "I wanted... to ask your permission to have a baby with Wooyoung." His cheeks turned pink with a blush and he leaned away from Jongho, waiting for him to answer.

Once more, Jongho was surprised by his beta's comments. "Oh." He said, blinking a couple of times. "So you don't want to mother kids, but you want to father them?"

"Is that bad?" San asked. Fear started to make itself present in his voice.

"No, no, it's fine! If that's what you want, then I will respect your choice love." Jongho gave him a gentle smile and kissed both his cheeks. "And once Wooyoung is ready, then... I don't have a problem with it."

"Thank you, Alpha." San teased before giving Jongho a passionate kiss.

Before things could get too far between them, they were interrupted by Seonghwa's voice entering their head. Jongho, come to the house, now.

What's going on?

Just come. Please. His voice was strained.

Something was wrong.

Jongho and San quickly dressed and the four of them hurried to the main house. Thankfully Finn was calm enough, he didn't protest too much on the way over.

When they got there, Jongho was slammed with anguish rolling off his brother.

He threw the door open and ran inside.

Mingi was sitting on the couch, hunching over with his hands fisting his hair.

The younger alpha dropped to the floor in front of him. "Mingi? What happened?"

"F-Father..." Mingi whispered, then closed his eyes. It forced the tears collecting there to roll down his cheeks.

Jongho's wolf immediately flared up at the mention of that man, but he reigned it in before looking at Seonghwa. "What. Happened?"

The omega gave his alpha a concerned look, then looked over at where Hongjoong was also sitting in a chair with a zoned out look on his face. "Primrose just called... I... I guess he's been suffering from health issues lately, she thinks from overworking himself, and he had a heart attack. It was quick, killing him almost instantly."

"No..." San said from the front of the room.

Jongho started to feel a little numb at the news. He absolutely despised the man. His father had never been kind to him and had done nothing for him as one of his sons.
But... Jongho loved his brother, and seeing him in pain like this brought forward a wave of emotions he didn't expect.

A moment later, Wooyoung was hugging him from behind and nuzzling his mating mark. Just that small motion calmed Jongho down instantly.

"When?" Yunho asked, cradling Finn in his arms.

"Last night." Seonghwa looked around the room. "We need to go back, but I don't think we can all afford to go. Hongjoong is too pregna—"

"Don't even go there." The oldest beta snapped. "If you think I'm going to stay behind and not be there for Mingi, or Jongho, then you can kiss my ass."

"Alright, alright." Yeosang walked over to Hongjoong and sat next to him. He lifted a hand to rub the back of Hongjoong's neck and the beta closed his eyes and hummed.

"It was worth a shot. Primrose is already sending two cars so we can all go out." Seonghwa looked around the room. "I don't know what to expect when we get home, especially for you three." He glanced at Jongho, Yunho, and San. "But Primrose said she'd take care of everything."

Mingi opened his eyes slowly and looked up at Jongho through his eye lashes. It was a broken, empty look that had Jongho pulling Mingi to the floor with him and the two brothers clung to each other as the older one started to cry.

Jongho would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about going back home, but he knew he had a small piece within him that would never forgive himself if he didn't go home. Even if it would only be to support his brother.

Wooyoung started to rub his back again and the eight of them started to discuss what they needed to do to prepare to go back to the last place Jongho ever expected to be going again.

••••••••

Written by @flamewhipper