It was late, the kids had already helped clean up after supper; washing dishes while Remedy wiped down the table. Romulus cooked so the expectation for him to clean was mostly nonexistent. Ava had done her own share of chores before retiring to her room. She took her nighttime biotin and prenatal, did her skincare routine and was rubbing cocoa butter in her belly while watching drama alerts on her tv. It was fixing to be a quiet night in, she supposed Romano might sneak out to be with Jai and Han may sneak in to be with her. Although Ava hadn’t heard from him much that evening, which was normal enough. Han could be busy and sometimes away from his phone for a number of hours, Ava didn’t mind and didn’t particularly notice anything was amiss.
Someone did call apparently, Ava could hear her mothers quiet gasp from their bedroom.
Ava quirked a brow and muted her tv for a moment, straining her ears to hear the indistinct phone chatter. It went on like that for a minute, some sort of hurried and hushed back and forth before Ava could hear her mother’s heavy footsteps as she descended the staircase and looking for Romulus first.
Romulus was on the couch with Romano, their long legs piled on top of each other while they watched Cutthroat Kitchen together, when Remedy came rushing down the stairs. He could sense her anxiety before she said anything and he quickly lifted Romano's limbs from his and got up to meet Remedy halfway.
"What's wrong?" He asked her. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“There was some kind of attack, JJ is in the hospital.” Remedy exclaimed, brows furrowed together tightly. She was stammering a bit, trying to string the story together. “Dad and him were at a meeting with the city and there was a bombing. They think it’s The Faction.” She added.
At that, Ava stepped out of her room. She crossed her arms over her chest as she quietly padded down the hall to get a better listen. Ava was mostly for the Faction. Her boyfriend worked for them, it’s the reason they met. But after the list got out at school and it got Ava’s literal tail lopped off, she definitely found herself advocating for their efforts. At that point she had attended rallies and helped with newsletters, menial tasks, to show her support. But she wasn’t in as deep as Han and the other boys, she hadn’t heard anything about an attack. She wondered if Han had known?
"Uncle JJ's hurt?" Romano asked as he peeked over the back of the couch, his brows echoing his mother's own anxiety.
Romulus looked over to Romano and then to Remedy, almost unsure who to comfort first. He reached up and pet at Remedy's face before glancing back to Romano.
"It's JJ, he'll be okay, I'm sure." He reassured both of them. "Should we go to the hospital? Are both of your parents with him? We can go pick up Mom and head over, or stay with her at their place if that's better for everyone." _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“I definitely want to stay at the house so we’re close. I’ll call my mom though and see if she wants us to pick her up, she might’ve already caught a cab.” Remedy rattled off quickly, going over a plan in her head. “Do you want to pack us an overnight bag?” She asked Romulus.
Ava was still listening in the hall but turned to press her back to the wall; plucking her phone out of her sweats before texting Han.
“Yeah, I’ll get that together. Go call Mom.” Romulus said, petting Remedy’s face still. “It’s going to be okay, Remy.” He offered a little smile and leaned in to kiss the top of her head before pulling away. “Romano, go tell your siblings to get their bags ready. We’re going to stay at your grandparents’.”
Romano got up to do just that.
Meanwhile, across town, Han was rushing back to his apartment after having received several frantic calls from his brothers and boys alike about a gruesome incident at city hall with the Faction’s name written all over it. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and skidded to a halt to potentially answer another call. He pulled it out and saw it was Ava.
I’m on my way to the apartment, something happened with the Faction. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
Ava was toward the end of her pregnancy now. Her belly was swollen big, and some stretch marks on her hips that she was unable to prevent. But she wasn’t in any pain and only a little uncomfortable. Her hair was the longest it had ever been and she ate spicy noodles everyday at the restaurant; as far as she was concerned, life hadn’t been better. Since graduating she went from seeing Han most of the time, to all the time. Ava opted to stay in the city with Han as often as possible, her parents would complain and protest sometimes. But ultimately Ava would have her way. It was a normal night, Ava was waiting for Han at the apartment. She was wearing a knit maternity pajama set, it was red with thin shoulder straps and little shorts (naturally).
She stood over a stovetop kettle, drumming her nails on the counter as she waited for the water to boil. Apart of her nighttime routine when waiting for Han was to make tea and catch up on her YouTuber drama.
Han was rushing to get home, a bag swinging back and forth in his grasp as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He wore a big, excited grin on his face as he huffed and puffed with every lengthy stride, an expression he'd been wearing most days regardless of the chaos of life and the crumbling of his and his brothers' relationship with The Faction.
Once Han was an eager and devoted member of the group, but now, with the tendency of violence rising within the group and his and Ava's baby well on her way, he and his brothers had all stepped back. He couldn't justify being a member of the group if it meant hurting others or, worse, putting Ava and their baby in a position where he couldn't protect them. It wasn't an easy decision, after all, The Faction had been a huge part of his life for several years, but it also wasn't a decision that was TOO hard to make either. He wanted to put his baby's life and future first, as well as Ava's. The other members as well as prominent leaders of The Faction weren't too pleased about this, but for now, the kick back wasn't too bad for Han and his brothers. For now, no actions beyond hateful comments and empty (supposedly) threats were all they received and while stressful, it was manageable.
He'd gotten off from work a little early and Han had stopped off at an outlet mall where he knew they sold jalapeno pretzel poppers that Ava liked. He just so happened to glance into a store window where he saw a matching mommy and baby bathrobe set he knew Ava would adore. Of course, if Ava had been there, she probably would have told him they didn't need to splurge on anything else beyond the pretzels, they needed to save money for the baby after all, but she wasn't there and Han had made enough tips from the day to afford a nice little treat for his best girls.
When he reached the apartment building, he continued to rush up the stairs and only slowed once he made it down the hallway leading to the apartment. Giddily out of breath, he unlocked the door and let himself in.
"I'm home!" He called for whoever would listen, although, that was most likely just Ava at this point.
With the coming of the baby, the rest of Han's "Lost Boys" were looking at other housing options to give him and Ava some space for them and the babe. Of course, it wasn't just the coming of the baby, it was simply life happening as well. Yoo In and Manon were talking about getting an apartment together when she moved for school; Il Soon and his girlfriend, Priya, were getting serious as well and he was hardly home anymore as he was more often than not with her; Olezka was still around, though Han suspected he also was seeing someone perhaps; and Van...well Van was hardly ever home since he was often traipsing with his boyfriend. It was a little bittersweet that everyone was parting ways, but at the same time, it was nice that they all were doing well enough in life that that was possible _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“Welcome home.” Ava called out from her place in the kitchen. She was squeezing some honey into her tea from the bottle, she sucked a dollop of it off her finger before calling again over her shoulder.
“I’m making some tea, do you want any?” She asked.
"Please." Han said as he kicked off his shoes by the ever dwindling pile at the door. He promptly made his way to the kitchen, going up behind Ava to press up close against her. He reached around with his free hand to fondle at her stomach while craning his head hers to kiss her cheek. "How was your day?" _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“Good, I did laundry and watched like a two hour long Trisha Paytas apology video.” Ava explained, turning her head to kiss Han on the lips. She Pat his cheek with a free hand a couple of times, uttering for him to get a mug.
“Oh, Manon came over today for a bit. We made gyeongdan, they’re in the fridge.” Ava added.
Manon was the one who picked up Korean the fastest. She threw herself into anything she could learn about Korea, she even helped out at the restaurant now when needed. Ava, well she does her best, so if Han were to get a Korean treat, it could only be with Manon’s assistance.
"That sounds so good." Han smiled as he stepped away to grab a mug for himself. He set it down on the counter by Ava and went to the fridge where he found the sweet treats saranwrapped on a plate. He plucked one up and popped the snack in whole. "I got you a gift." He said around the snack. _________________ Butts n' butts n' butts n' butts.
“I told you to quit spending money,” Ava scolded quickly as she poured what was left from the kettle into his mug. “But, what did you get me?” She asked, turning around to face him.
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