Seven months had passed like the wind, giving the Luna time to work on helping himself get better mentally, working on his diet and exercise as he slowly but surely began to work around his self-esteem issues, gradually losing all the extra weight and returning to his body before the pregnancy. There were still slight marks around his stomach of the birth, but it was barely visible. Besides, Hyunjin never minded in the first place anyway, he found his slightly chubbier cheeks cute.
Their triplets were seven months old, when they first started from being able to roll around to clutch onto Felix's hands and get up slowly, giggling and squealing before they dropped back onto the ground. It was a long process, but with patience they would finally reach there.
"Come on, Mimi." Felix says, sitting on the mat of their triplets nursery and calling out for his daughter. The little girl crawls up to him with a smile, giggling before grabbing his hands that were outstretched for her. He helps her get a hold of herself, the little girl balancing on her little two feet, wobbling around for a while.
Hyunjin was sitting a few feet away, bouncing Hyunjun on his lap as he looked at Felix with a smile. Felix lets the little girl balance while holding his hand and his shoulder, before stepping towards her father in a little small step. Hyunjin looks at her expectantly, calling out to her. He scoots a little closer, but doesn't make an effort to actually pick her up.
"Go to daddy, Mimi..." Felix says softly, leading her hand out and helping the little girl step forward again. Slowly, but surely, the oldest triplet steps forward, stumbling a bit before walking towards her father. She giggles as she lands on her father's awaiting arms, hugging the alpha happily. Hyunjin showers her in kisses, glancing at Felix happily.
"Dohyunnie, come here lovely." Felix calls out and the little boy raises his head. Hyunjun seemed to have heard the call as well, crawling out his father's lap and towards Felix.
The two reach Felix's lap, looking at each other in confusion before Hyunjun frowns at his brother, tugging his mother's sleeve, a sign for him to pick him up.
"Junnie, I called for Dohyun. It'll be your turn soon, darling..." Felix says, trying to distract their youngest with a toy, which seems to work, but not without a few fussy whines.
"I swear I don't know how I'll handle them when they grow up. Or you, for that matter." Felix mumbles, to which Hyunjin laughs, his ears burning red. All the triplets were always in some silent war for Felix's attention (which included Hyunjin as well) and honestly, Felix had no idea how he could keep up with it.
"Alright Dohyun-ah, just go to Dadda alright?" Felix coaxes softly, helping him get up from the floor while balancing himself. He clings into Felix's shoulder, before wobbling forward and taking a few steps. He tumbles down halfway, landing on the soft mat with a thud. Glancing at his father, who's waiting for him with his older sister, he gets up again with a determined pout, grabbing the mat halfway to get up before stumbling forward to Hyunjin's awaiting arms, plopping down with a small soft giggle as Hyunjin kisses his forehead.
Hyunjun is already waiting by Felix's shoulder, stomping his little foot on the mattress and beaming widely with his toothless smile at Hyunjin, excited. Hyunjin laughs at his interest, beckoning his son towards him as Hyunmi crawls off his lap to play with a stuffed bear.
"Go on Junnie." Felix says, pushing him slightly forward and the little boy takes his first few steps quite too excitedly, stumbling down half-way through. He sits on the floor, pouting and looking at Felix with a frown. He crawls back to his mother, not attempting to get up again.
Felix only brushes the messy hair out of his face and helps him up again, with only a few whines from the small boy.
Eventually, Hyunjun is walking forward with wobbly steps, passing the spot he fell down and running forward before falling down right before his father. Hyunjin considers it a win, picking him up and giving him a congratulatory kiss on the head like his siblings.
"A few more days of practice and we can get them to the forest." Felix says, taking Dohyun in his arms, who had crawled to him, hugging him gently. The little boy preens in the affection, hugging his mother's arm with his little hands.
~
Just like they'd planned, every afternoon would be occupied with their time with the kids, getting them to slowly get a hang of walking by themselves. It took about a week or two, but finally the kids were able to walk across a considerable distance without falling (although Hyunjun would keep tripping himself over, and Felix kept blaming Hyunjin's clumsy ass for it) and honestly, Hyunjin didn't even know what to do anymore.
But, putting that aside, the kids had learnt a considerable lot, and it was time they finally got to the forest. After all, wolf pups start learning the ways of the wild quite young.
The first turning process was always tricky. You see, most transformations, or turnings would usually be out of emotion, or the thought of it. During the middle years of the child's life, the maturing age, they'd turn at random times, mostly out of the outburst of emotions. As they grow up, they learn to control it, where they control the randomness of the turning into thinking instead, a simple thought of wanting to turn would be enough to accomplish the process.
But with the young kids, turnings weren't often used. Most parents let their kids figure it out themselves, or let their siblings teach them. But in the case of the royal family, it was usually up to the parents to teach their kids the ropes from a very young age, since the pups needed to learn to be independent as soon as possible.
Which is why it was going to be difficult. Emotions were not something reliable, considering how young they were, and they weren't mature enough for thought. Hence, their head physician had given them a special birth crystal for each of the pups, which would help them for he turning process. Just like the sapphire on Felix's neck, or the emerald on Hyunjin's, each of the pups had been blessed with a birth crystal to protect them.
The carriage had come to a halt before the forest path, stopping before the maze of trees that led into the wilderness. Hyunjin gets out first, taking both Hyunjun and Dohyun in his hands and Felix gets out carefully, holding Hyunmi. The driver takes his leave, riding away from the forest.
The Luna signs under his breath in anticipation and his husband gives him a reassuring smile.
"They'll be fine..." Hyunjin assures, and Felix nods his head to assure himself. Taking a deep breath, they walk towards the forest, following the clear path bordered by grass on the sides. As they walked deeper, the grass began to grow into the pathway, making it almost invisible. The trees covered them overhead, casting a shadow of leave and branches on the ground, with the sunlight peering through the gaps of the leaves and making patterns on the grassy land. There were remnants of the burning forest months back on the trees, but most of them had been covered with a sort of a green moss that covered them from the scars of the fire, like a comforting band-aid over a wound.
They stopped by a clearing, the trees separating to reveal a grey cave with lots of flowering bushes and plants nearby. The cave that was deserted then was just as unoccupied now,
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Felix says with a snort, making his husband groan in response.
"Please, don't remind me. I was horrible to you, a piece of sh-"Shh, no cursing in front of the kids. Anyway, whatever happened is in the past." The omega says with a playful shove, walking a little further towards the clearing before crouching down to place Hyunmi down on the grassy blanket of soil. Hyunjin did the same with the other two.
They let the triplets play around with the grass and soil for a while and get used to the new area while Hyunjin fished out the crystals from the small leather pouch secured to his belt, pulling the two strings apart and opening the leather bag.
"Should we put on their crystals?" Hyunjin asks, and Felix nods. He takes the crystal for their oldest daughter from his husband, gesturing their princess to come towards him. Hyunmi stops playing with the grass, promptly dropping down the soil and grass she plucked out on the ground before walking towards him with awkward steps, waddling almost.
The crystal for their oldest triplet, was a nephrite crystal, a beautiful shining green gemstone hung on a gold chain. Felix clipped on the necklace onto her neck, the little one finding it amusing as she played around with the crystal.
Next was their second triplet, for whom a deep blue gemstone was clipped onto a silver chain, lapis lazuli. It was a rare gemstone to find in their kingdom, yet it was the one blessed upon their second prince. Hyunjin did the honors this time, putting it own their son as he watched the blue gem glint prettily in the sunlight.
And finally, for their youngest triplet, Felix took out the most symbolic of their wolfen pride, a howlite crystal. The silver chain was attached to the crystal that had been carved to look a wolf's tooth. The blonde omega clips it on the youngest, before letting the younger two of the kids play around as he called out to their princess.
"Mimi, come on, starlight." Felix calls out, hugging the little girl that runs into his arms with a happy giggle, his little fingers grasping onto his arm as her sparkling olive green eyes stared up at him.
"Up you go!" Felix says, helping her stand up as Hyunjin stands a little father away, waiting there with Hyunmi's favorite stuffed toy. The little girl notices almost immediately, stomping her foot on the ground and staring at the toy in alert, watching her father's every move with the toy.
Felix kneels down on the ground next to his daughter, pressing the crystal necklace on her neck close to her chest and sighing softly. A calming breeze blew from the trees and the sun shone from the west, the comforting afternoon whether helping to ease his nerves.
"Helena, I need you to go to daddy, okay?" Felix says first, the little girl looking attentively at the stuffed toy in her father's hands, Hyunjin waving it a bit and gesturing her over to him. Hyunmi itched to go forward, but her mother kept a grip on her hands, not letting her move yet.
"Don't be scared, okay? Whatever happens, Mommy and Daddy are right here, with you." Felix says one last time, kissing her cheek before letting her go. The little girl doesn't run, surprisingly, turning to Felix with a curious look before hugging him by herself, her small arms wrapping around his neck.
"M-Mom-mommy." A small, squeaky voice says with great difficult. Felix jumps slightly in shock, his eyes widening and patting the soft growing black strands of hair on his daughter's head in surprise. He chooses not to say anything, figuring his distressed pheromones might've been the reason to urge his daughter to speak for the first time. His mother had told him of how the pups and mother shared a special connection, one that allowed them to feel each other.
"Go on, darling." He whispers with a smile, his heart warming at his daughter's concern. The little girl looks at him a few more seconds before smiling, taking a step forward and before long she was waddling forward quickly, in the direction of her father.
That was until a bright light flashes before the little girl, and Felix's heart stopped in fear.
Word Count: 2159
AN: Chapter Name from Golden - Now United.
Now, I know it's probably confusing because the triplets are developing strangely quick for babies, but keep in mind they are part wolf as well. With that being said, most babies start walking between 8-12 months, but since wolf pups start taking their first steps at merely two weeks, I had to cut off a few month from the average for humans, just to justify it. I hope that's not too confusing. This will also go with their overall growth as well, for example, when they begin talking of making sounds.