Nikolai idly flicked through the list of movies, trying to find something that would amuse his friend. Aliya sat next to him, snuggled up to his shoulder, watching him silently.

Nikolai's papa walked into the living room, bringing his usual effervescent attitude with him. "What are you two doing?"

Nikolai craned his head back to look at his papa. "Trying to find something to watch."

"Aah. That is a problem." Victor came around the couch to sit next to his son. "Disney movies, huh? I know a good one you can watch. Plus…" He leaned forward and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper, "You can annoy your parents with it later."

Nikolai gave him a skeptical look. "You want me to annoy you?"

Victor waved a hand. "Not me, your otousan. And Aliya, your papa would make all sorts of interesting faces if you sing the songs for him later. Do you want to watch?"

The children exchanged glances, then Aliya nodded. "What is it, Victor?"

"Aladdin! Here, I'll put it on for you." Nikolai handed over the remote, and his papa cheerfully scrolled through the options until he found what he was looking for. "Ah, here we go!" He started the movie and settled back happily to watch it with the kids.

For a while, all three of them lost themselves in the narrative. It wasn't until they reached the scene in the collapsed cave that Nikolai's older sister Aki came trundling down the hall. She draped her upper body over the back of the couch and asked loudly, "Whatcha all watching?"

Nikolai glared at her, but his papa spoke first. "Shh, Akiya, they're going to do the song soon!"

"Ohh, Aladdin? Can I watch?" Not waiting for an answer, she came around and plopped herself down on the couch next to Aliya. She smiled sunnily at Nikolai's friend, and his glare deepend.

"Ooh, we have a party now! I'll go make some popcorn." Victor rose from his seat and bustled happily off to the kitchen.

Nikolai took advantage of his papa's absence to lean over and hiss at his sister, "What are you doing?"

She gave him a wide-eyed look. "What, I can't just spend time with my precious otouto and his adorable friend?" She threw her arm around Aliya and grinned at her brother.

Nikolai shoved her arm off and wrapped both of his own around his friend, pulling her further away from his sister.

Aki wailed, "Awww, Aliyaaa! Come back!" She pouted at her brother. "Kolya, why do you have to be so stingy? Aren't you being a bit too overprotective today?"

"Nope." The reply was instantaneous. He turned his head resolutely back to the TV until he felt a small hand tugging on his shirt.

He looked down and saw Aliya's deep blue eyes staring up at him. She whispered, "I'm fine, Kolya, so be nice to Aki. I wanna watch the movie." She turned her head back to the TV and offered one hand to Aki. With a smug look in Nikolai's direction, Aki took it.

Although he grumbled under his breath, Nikolai allowed himself to be pacified by his petite friend and turned his attention back to the movie. The genie's song was just beginning when his papa reentered with popcorn, distributing it as quietly as possible so they could all listen to the song.

The rest of the movie passed without much of a fuss, and when it was over Victor stretched his arms and clapped his hands together. "All right, everyone! Now that we've seen the movie, are we ready for a sing-along?"

Nikolai stared blankly at his papa as Aki cheered, "Yay, sing-along! Sing-along!" Aliya nodded in agreement, and Nikolai resigned himself to whatever craziness his papa had in mind.

Happily, Victor navigated to a different streaming service, pulling up a video that seemed to have all the Aladdin songs in it. "Okay, is everyone ready?"

"Ready for what?"

They all turned and saw Yuuri coming down the hallway. "Lapochka, you're here! Did we wake you up?" Victor rose quickly to greet his spouse, pecking him on the cheek.

"No, I slept enough. It was time for me to get up." Yuuri turned his warm smile upon the kids. "Aliya, hello. What are you all doing?"

But it was Aki who piped in. "We're going to watch a sing-along, Otousan!"

Aliya nodded. "You should join us, Yuuri!"

"Ah…of course. I would be happy to." Yuuri's smile suddenly seemed a little plastic, but nevertheless he walked over to his armchair and sat. "What are we singing to?"

"Aladdin!" Victor responded, pressing the play button. The music began, and Nikolai was relieved to see that there were subtitles along the bottom. He wasn't sure he could remember the words to the songs. He had only seen the movie once or twice before that he could recall.

His papa, however, needed no assistance. As soon as the singing began he started right in, with more enthusiasm than talent. Aki chimed in close behind, and Aliya did her best to keep up. Nikolai looked at his friend and tried to sing along too.

When they got to the love song, though, his papa stood up and went over to his otousan, kneeling in front of his husband as the song began, clearly intent on serenading his spouse.

Yuuri sank as far into his chair as he could. "Vitya, no."

"Vitya, yes!" his papa replied. "Come on, milyy, I need someone to sing the harmony part with me!"

"Vitya…"

"Come on, Otousan!" Aki cheered.

Yuuri looked helplessly at the children on the couch as his husband began to sing. "I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, Yuuri, now when did you last let your heart decide?"

Aki cheered her papa on, and Yuuri's face grew red. Victor didn't stop. "I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder. Over sideways and under on a magic carpet ride." His voice rose in a crescendo as he extended his hand to grasp Yuuri's. "A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view. No one to tell us 'no,' or where to go, or say we're only dreaming."

As Jasmine's part came up, Aki called, "Come on, Otousan! Sing! Sing!"

To Nikolai's surprise, Aliya chimed in too. "Yeah, come on, Yuuri!"

Yuuri looked helplessly at the children and put his forehead in his free hand. Nevertheless, when it came time for the line, he sang in an almost defeated voice, "A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew."

Victor's face lit up, and he scooped his husband up out of his chair, twirling him around. Yuuri's singing instantly stopped as he protested, "V-Vitya, put me down!"

"No, Otousan, sing!"

"Yeah, sing, Yuuri!"

Even Nikolai couldn't keep a smile off his face as his poor otousan turned even redder than before and resumed his lines. When it came time for his papa to come back in, their two voices melded together in perfect rhythm and timing, if not perfect pitch. By the time the last words were sung together in something resembling harmony, all three kids jumped off the couch, clapping wildly. Yuuri looked over at them and buried his face in both hands. Victor laughed and kissed the top of his spouse's head before turning to their audience.

"That was fun! What movie should we sing along to next?"

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! The Lion King!" Aki exclaimed, waving her hand in the air.

Yuuri looked up, horrified. "Aki, no! How could you betray me like that?"

But Victor was already reaching for the remote. "That's a great idea! Yuuri, lyubov moya, you'll sing with me again, won't you?"

Yuuri's head dropped down onto his chest and he muttered something about teenagers being backstabbers.

Nikolai looked over at Aliya to see that his friend was laughing merrily. He smiled. If Aliya liked doing a sing-along, then he supposed he could get through it.

Although he wasn't sure his otousan could.