Chapter 24: Labor Pains – April 3 – 23, 2025
“Are you nervous, Bada?” Haewon asked as Myeong drove them all to her sonogram appointment.
“A little.”
“It’ll be all right. They just put a little gel on your belly and slide a wand around. It doesn’t hurt.”
“You’ve had a sonogram before?” Bada asked, surprised.
“Yes, but not because I was pregnant.”
“Do you think my baby is okay?” Bada queried suddenly.
“I think your baby is perfect,” Haewon responded.
Bada was concerned. Because of her little brother and his situation.
A few minutes later, as she lay on the table and the baby’s image popped up on the screen, Bada turned her head towards the sonographer. “Is the baby’s heart okay?”
Her words jumped out at Haewon, and she glanced sharply at Bada. Was the girl concerned because of what Haewon had gone through?
“Give me a few moments to check. Okay?”
Several minutes later, the woman smiled down at her. “I’m not a doctor, but everything looks fine.”
Bada breathed a sigh of relief.
“Do you want to know the baby’s gender?”
Excitedly, they all nodded. The moment of truth was here.
The sonographer slid the wand around until she could bring up the evidence on the screen. “You’re having a boy.”
Haewon and Myeong glanced at each other as joy overtook their souls.
Bada frowned. “Are you sure? I was certain she was a girl.”
“Nope. She’s a boy,” responded the woman.
Bada glanced at Haewon and Myeong. “You’re really happy the baby is a boy, aren’t you?”
They both nodded their heads.
“But we would still be happy if you were pregnant with a girl,” Haewon rushed to reassure her.
“But now your family is complete,” Bada murmured. “A girl and a boy.”
“No,” Haewon corrected her. “Two girls and a boy.”
“Two girls?” Bada asked, confused.
“Dahui and you,” Myeong responded.
“What?” Bada breathed. “What do you mean?”
“We mean that you make our family complete, Bada, and as far as we’re concerned, you have a home with us for as long as you want it,” Haewon explained.
“What?” The girl began to cry.
The sonographer drew away. “I’m done now. Here’s your pictures.” She handed Bada several screenshots of her baby boy. “You can sit in the waiting room until the doctor calls you in to your appointment. Congratulations.”
She ignored the tears. She was used to them. Although, this particular family was a little unique.
As the three of them shuffled out into the waiting room, Bada wiped the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand. “You mean it? You really see me as your daughter?” She didn’t even question the oddity of a twenty-four-year-old woman calling a fifteen-year-old her daughter. Haewon seemed decades older than her sometimes.
“I do,” Haewon replied simply.
“So do I,” Myeong smiled at her. “We’ve spent nearly three months living with you. It’s clear to me that you were designed to fit perfectly into our little family.”
“Little?” Haewon asked. “There’s already five of us.”
“Compared to where we’re going, that’s little,” he whispered into her ear as he drew her close. Also drawing the attention of several waiting patients.
Haewon’s eyebrows flew up to threaten the ceiling above them. “Where are we going?” she asked, startled.
“Well, you did say you wanted a whole house full of kids.”
“Mmm, maybe not that many.”
“All right. I’m open to negotiation.”
She giggled. But then her face sobered as she gazed deeply into his eyes. “Myeong, you are wonderful. Just wonderful. You took a woman full of broken dreams and didn’t just put them back together again. You made them come true!”
“Happy to be of service, ma’am.” He tipped an imaginary hat to her.
“Myeong…”
“What?”
“Have you been watching old cowboy movies again?”
“That reminds me…”
“What?”
“I’m thinking about getting some cowboy boots. You know, the ones with spurs. And a ten-gallon hat.”
She giggled as a nurse called Bada back to see the doctor.
Myeong informed her, “I’ll sit this one out.”
“Okay. We’ll be back soon.” She squeezed his hand and followed Bada back to see the doctor.
––
“Yuni?”
“Hmm?” She rolled towards Jungkook. She smiled at him in the early morning light streaming through the slats in their bedroom shades.
“Are you feeling all right?”
She continued to beam at him. “Perfectly!” She leaned up to brush her lips across his.
“Are you sure you want to go to your friend’s party tonight? What if you go into labor?”
“Then I go into labor. We’ll be welcoming a son soon!”
He smiled. He couldn’t wait either. Yuni had been happy for months. Ever since she’d found out she was having his baby. When she’d discovered she was pregnant with a boy, she’d been over the moon. So excited that she and Yun were having boys just a few months apart.
“Our sons are going to be the best of friends! Just like us, Yun!”
Yunseong had smiled at her.
Now Jungkook spoke again as he reached up to pull a strand of her golden hair out of her face before sliding it behind her ear. “You’re pretty happy, aren’t you?”
“How could I not be, Kookie? This is the golden life I dreamed of as a child. The life I thought I’d never have. You make me happy.”
He smiled. “That’s kind of scary, you know? Being your happiness.”
“What?”
“It’s a lot of pressure. Being the cause of your euphoria.”
She frowned. “You misunderstand me. I don’t mean that I’m counting on you to keep me happy. I mean that your love is enough for me. Knowing you love me has made me secure. That doesn’t mean life is perfect. But your love is, Kookie.
“Sometimes, I still have a bad day. Sometimes, I think I’m not a good eomma. I lose my temper with Jangmi when she misbehaves occasionally. When she’s screaming, I want to run out the door.
“But love stays. That’s what you taught me, Kookie. When I ran away, you pursued me. You stayed with me. When I pushed you away, you didn’t budge.
“Love reaches for patience when it seems like it can’t be found. I remind myself of that when I’m losing it with Jangmi. Or Yun. Or anyone, really. Even you irritate me sometimes. But I get over it. Because I love you. And you love me. So I choose today to be happy with you and our daughter and the life we’ve built together. And pretty soon, with our son too!” She twinkled at him.
He slipped his arm around her and tugged her closer to him. “We have a little while before I have to go to work.”
He grinned at her, revealing those chubby teeth in all their cuteness before he bent his head and claimed her lips with his own. A moment later, Yunyeong giggled. And his smile deepened against her mouth as his fingers teased the skin covering her hip.
__
When Jungkook returned from work in the middle of the afternoon, Yunyeong was lying in bed trying to read a book while their daughter snoozed next to her. She glanced up in surprise as her husband walked into their bedroom.
“Kookie? You’re home early.”
“Mmm. I wanted to come check on you.”
She laughed. “I’m fine. I am having contractions now, though.”
“You are?” He drew nearer to her and sat down on the edge of her side of their bed. “Do you think we need to leave for the hospital soon?”
She shook her head. “I wish. No. They’ve been going on all afternoon. They’re all over the place. Two minutes here. Ten minutes there. Five minutes now.” She sat up and leaned towards him to give him a welcome-home kiss. “I did pack my bag, though. I’ve also been eating and drinking a lot so when the time does arrive, I’ll have plenty of energy.”
He glanced down at Jangmi. A soft smile lifted his lips as he reached out and ran his fingers down the little girl’s hair. “Yuni, by tomorrow we’ll have two of these.” His eyes met hers, and that smile was now lighting up his face. “Two precious babies.”
“Yep.” Her smile faded as her eyes probed his.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I just…I’m not looking forward to the next few hours. I can’t get comfortable. I tried to distract myself with a book, but it’s not working.”
“Wanna try a movie?”
“Mmm. Maybe for a little while. We have the party at seven.”
Surprised, he quirked his left eyebrow. “You still want to go?”
She nodded. “Yes. At least, if my contractions haven’t progressed a lot by then. Hopefully, it’ll take my mind off of it.”
But it didn’t.
At fifteen minutes until eight, she was still grimacing. Only now it was more often and for longer periods of time.
“Yuni,” Jungkook breathed into her ear, “can we please go home? You’re making me nervous. I can tell that you’re not comfortable. At least, if we were home, you could lie down in bed, and I could try to distract you.”
She turned her head to glance sharply at him. Then she giggled. “Kookie! You can’t honestly expect me to want to…” She let her voice trail off.
“No,” he chuckled ruefully, “that’s not what I meant. I just meant I could hold you or talk to you or…I don’t know,” he breathed out a frustrated sigh. “I just hate seeing you uncomfortable.”
“Aww, Kookie, you’re so sweet to me. All right, let’s go home. You’re right. I’ve had enough. I do want to lie down.”
An hour later, they were settled in their bed. Yunseong had taken care of Jangmi for them that night, and their little girl was sound asleep by the time they arrived home. Yunyeong curled up against Jungkook in their bed. A moment later, she began panting.
“Yuni?” he asked, concerned.
She whimpered. “This one…really…hurts, Kookie.”
“Here. Hold my hand. Squeeze as hard as you want.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she moaned.
He grabbed her hand and watched her face as she tensed. This was the hardest part of labor for him. Watching Yuni do all the work and suffer all the pain while he stood by, helpless.
“Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. It’s too early. They’d just send us home.”
“All right.” He pulled her a little closer and bent to rest his head near hers.
For the next hour, he did his best to distract her as pain after pain hit her. Finally, she commented, “I need to go to the bathroom.”
A few minutes later, she returned to their room. “Kookie, I think we need to go. I’m pretty sure my water just broke.”
He jumped out of bed.
Finally!
Now he could actually do something for her. He knew they’d give her an epidural at the hospital. It would stop the pain, and she could focus solely on pushing their baby out.
“Let’s go, Yuni. I’ve got the bag.” He glanced around their room looking for it.
“It’s already in the car, Kookie. Remember? You carried it out to the car on our way to the party.”
“Oh, duh!” He slapped his palm against his forehead. Then he grabbed his car keys off their dresser.
A moment later, as they entered the living room, Jungkook announced to his in-laws, Yunseong, and Tae that Yuni was in labor and they were headed to the hospital. Her eomma jumped up.
“I’m coming with you.”
Her appa sent them a questioning glance. “Any idea how long until he arrives?”
Yunyeong shrugged. “It could still be several hours. If you want to stay home and sleep, Kookie can text you once he’s here.”
He nodded. “I will. Only because I have to work tomorrow, but,” he glanced at his wife, “you go. Yuni will derive comfort from your presence.” He looked at Jungkook, “I’ll keep my phone on. Don’t hesitate to text or call me,” his eyes moved from Jungkook to his own wife. “Either one of you.”
Yunseong jumped up off her couch and walked over to her twin. “I wish I could be there with you.”
“No,” Yunyeong smiled. “You stay here with your little guy and our girls. I’ll be fine. I’ll have Kookie text you once he’s born.”
Her sister nodded. “Okay. I’m not going to sleep a wink tonight until that little boy is born.”
But, as it turned out, that wasn’t true. Jaedeok decided to make his grand entrance into the world at one-oh-nine the following morning. Yunyeong and Jungkook spent nearly three hours at the hospital before their little darling was born. Yunseong had been up late the night before with Himchan, so despite her most valiant efforts to keep her eyes propped open, Tae dragged her to bed before midnight. After she’d fallen asleep twice.
But Jungkook was wide awake when his son first opened his eyes to see his jubilant appa glowing down at him.
