Chapter Text
Taehyung locks eyes with his Aunt, and then Jill, and a couple of other curators.
He calmly says, "get the cleaners. I'll call my husband. " He glides slowly, while a cleaner immediately follows him. He goes to the toilet to pee and also confirms exactly what's happening. Seeing as his water bag had already broken 3 days before he hit the 37th week, plus the baby girl inside him keeps moving which might mean that she's in distress, he panics. He can hear Jungkook scolding him for working this hard. They didn't spend so much time and money for fertility treatments only for him to… Taehyung sobs.
Jill who'd followed him inside the toilet guides him out and also been trying to get hold of a chauffeur when his Aunt resurfaces beside him. "Come Taehyungah. My driver is waiting." And Taehyung cried some more.
While in the car, he dials Jungkook's number and his husband answers on the third ring, "yeobo?"
"Gukie, you remember where I put the luggage we packed last weekend?"
"The one I packed you mean?"
Taehyung still rolled his eyes, nine years of marriage ladies and gentlemen, "Yeah… uhm.." His Aunt reaches out her hand to hold him, which he had to let go to wipe a tear.
"What's wrong Kim Taehyung?!"
"Yeah. Bring it to the hospital. I am on my way."
"Which hospital? What's happening? "
"St. Mary's. My water broke…"
" See! This is what I was talking about! —" Jungkook shouts from the other line.
Taehyung drops the call /again/ as he needs to call his OBGYN, and then his mother, and then Jimin, who already booked a ticket a couple of weeks from now to be with him when he delivers, but seeing that she may be coming sooner, Taehyung doubts he can pluck Jimin from his practice in Busan.
…..
Taehyung's baby is fine, but since his water bag broke he'd need the surgery ASAP. He was immediately made to change into his gown and lied down as nurses did several tests on him as part of pre-surgery procedure.
His Eomma arrives before anyone else, and what she caught was a nurse rubbing his pedicure forcefully. Taehyung couldn't understand why she didn't capture that his nails needed to be soaked because they are gel. And the nurse also couldn't understand why he has a pedicure when he's nearing his due date.
But at this moment, his Eomma gently rubs his toenails after soaking them, "Soon, you'll be a parent, adeul I am so excited for you."
After feeling all kinds of rage at the nurse, Taehyung weeps.
"Why are you crying so much?"
"I am so scared." He admits it, loudly this time.
"Don't be, the doctor said she's fine and also you have an alpha, he'll take care of you while you are in the operating theater."
"You had to do this all by yourself. " Taehyung speaks between hiccups.
"It was just… I had no choice. Where's Jungkook to calm you down? Taehyungah, you need to relax." His Eomma glances at his monitor.
"I wanted this for so long, and now she's coming, it's going to be different. I thought I'm ready but maybe I'm not… Eomma. —"
"Adeul, but it's going to be a 'good' different. I promise. She's going to be so fascinating and amazing. And you'll feel that kind of love you never thought existed. And she's a fighter, remember?" His Eomma embraces him tightly.
Taehyung sobs some more, when the sound of rapid boots come running and his long haired alpha runs towards him, leaving his luggage behind by the door.
"Shhh. Shhh." He immediately bundles him in an embrace. "It will be fine. You will be fine."
"She must've been so stressed." Taehyung wails. "Sujin. The one from school, she was at the exhibition as Kang Minwoo's date. And then…"
Jungkook who'd already disseminated his pheromones made wonders that the omega finally breathed and stopped crying,
"Soojeong Eomoni. She drove me here."
"Who?" Jungkook moves to look at him.
"Me." A tall, regale lady comes into the room, holding a cup of coffee. She smiles at everyone. "You are Taehyungie's Eomma? (She nods) you really look young and very pretty…"
"I am already 47."
"Oh My God!" The lady's eyes go very wide. "I'm only a year younger. — I am Soojeong Unnie. Wife of Jungkook's uncle."
Jungkook freezes for a second until he says, "We will be okay now Keuneomeoni.” Jungkook bows. “Thank you for bringing Taehyung here."
"Sure." She glances at everyone with a grin. "I'll come back tomorrow. For sure she's going to be beautiful. I can't wait to meet her.” she waves, her smile stays plastered to her face, if it’s real or not, only she can tell.
Taehyung relaxes, “I was so mean to her. And it turned out she'll be the person to help me. I made a mess in the middle of the hall.”
“Shh.” Jungkook caresses his face, and wipes stray tears from it. “You were in labor.”
“Wow! You’re actually sounding kind. What did you do to my husband?”
“Controlling himself," Jungkook grins and Taehyung wishes their little girl had his smile. "Because he won't be the one to have his stomach open.” the alpha continues, giving a soft peck to his nose.
“Oh My God!” Taehyung covers his face. When he looks up, his Eomma is smiling at him.
Then a couple of nurses come in, and one brings a gown for Jungkook to change into. She had this smile, and the way she handed the gown to his husband didn't sit well with him, so Taehyung had to say, “Can't you see he's mated?!”
The nurse was startled. She had to take a step back, while the nurse, working on Taehyung’s wires, tried to hold a smile. But then his wicked husband utters, “and as you can see, he’s hormonal. Quick get that baby out of him.”
The nurses did scramble, that he was out the door, when his husband sidled beside him now in a gown. His alpha grabbed his hand to comfort him as Taehyung trembled, very nervous about the whole thing, “I don't think I can do this again.” He gently says as they go in the elevator.
“Then this will be it for us. One and done. It hasn't been easy.”
“I just… I don't think she should be an only child. You know…”
“Then we'll have a surrogate. I didn't like those poison being injected to you, if you wanted to stop during the process, I would have agreed with you.” Jungkook tells him solemnly.
“But we are here now.”
They move again.
“I told you. I’ll always be where you are. That’s my purpose in life.” Jungkook whispers and bends to give him a kiss.
They both immediately cringed and giggled as the nurses smiled with them. Taehyung had to be stationed in the holding area, before they went for the surgery. The anesthetist had a series of questions for him that Jungkook helped to answer. The doctor also shares a series of possible reactions to when he gets the regional anesthesia, making Taehyung all the more anxious. Jungkook notices instantly and once again holds him, and releases his pheromones. Truly, omegas do the heavy lifting when giving birth, and yet alphas are needed too he reckons, remembering once again that his Eomma was a baby and alone when she gave birth to him.
He'd done everything to be on her good side all these years, he'd always been sorry for how things transpired between them. It was so bad that she sobbed all through Taehyung's five-minute wedding in the courthouse, making things very uncomfortable. But it was that, or she would skip the whole wedding entirely. But time heals all wounds, and Jungkook proved to be a dependable and loyal partner, and she'd seen him be beside her son in everything… Like everything.
It had dawned on him that a few moments from now, their little girl will be joining them, and he’d have to be really responsible for another human being. And once again his moments with his mother crying when he'd gotten sick and they had no money flashes in his mind, like it happened yesterday. Being dependable even when things get very tough is what parenting is to him, his Eomma was his safety blanket, and soon he will be to another one. He'd be better equipped, have the money, and yet he’s simply unprepared for the gravity of it all.
For the longest time, when Taehyung had not been pregnant in his twenties, he convinced Jungkook to go on fertility treatments because male omegas have been known to be infertile, though he'd always secretly blamed Jungkook’s suppressant which he only reluctantly stopped taking on his twenty third birthday, a couple of years after they married. His husband who'd mated him as an afterthought, had been more intuitive and knew the weight of having someone to take care of. But it was never an option for them to be childless, so he went through everything, lost a couple of babies along the way. One he’d lost in the second trimester, when the fetus was no longer just a blot of blood, but already a thing, with eyes, nose and also a boy. He named him Heero, after Gundam Wing, and when he blurted it to his husband loudly, who'd also been a mess, they both giggled. It had been like this, he’d always had someone with him for everything. Even when he walked the streets in Paris to purchase a painting alone, there’d be someone awake to wait for his call or updates.
And so he felt relieved, because indeed, he has someone.
Taehyung was made to curl, to have the injection go through his spine. All these time, Jungkook held his hand and trembled, possibly seeing the monstrosity that went inside his back.
Then he was rearranged once again.
Jungkook was by his head, kissing him, watching Taehyung shiver as if he was doused in ice. He welcomed the tugging that was happening around his abdominal area, and listened to the doctors and nurses in their murmurs as they narrated the step by step of what was happening.
“Yeobo,”
“Hmmm?”
“What are you thinking about?” Jungkook asks, hoping possibly to distract him.
“That in the olden times the male omega had to give birth like they are taking a shit.” he says gently holding a smile, and shifts his gaze to his husband, whom he only noticed had been weeping beside him.
Jungkook’s shoulder moved to laugh which was joined by his anesthetist who had silently sat near Taehyung's head.
Suddenly, more people spoke, and the cry of a baby could be heard even from a mile away. She was raised to be above them. Jungkook and Taehyung looked up to see a gooey, little thing who had the pipes of a singer. Her cries were tremendous, that it muffled the cries of him and his husband.
A nurse comes over to be around them to say, “Alpha, come right here for your daughter’s skin to skin.”
Jungkook, who hadn't let go of his hand, stares at him, asking through his eyes if he should go, to which Taehyung nods.
He felt nothing except the cold, and slowly his eyes closed.
….
The next thing he hears is a loud cry that startles him in his sleep. Taehyung for a second became irritated, but then a vision of his husband and a baby came into view.
“Guk!”
“Oh my God! Thank God you’re awake. I think she’s hungry. Feed her.”
Taehyung moved, and felt the heaviness in his stomach so he decided to forego it. "Why is she here? I thought she'd be in the NICU?"
"Oh, the doctors said she's healthy, so they roomed her in."
“Where’s Eomma?” Taehyung starts to panic, and he feels Jungkook’s pheromones.
“I'm here adeul. I just left to eat. I’ve been too anxious, I didn't realize I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon.”
“Eomma, help me feed her. I just don't think I have any milk, look at me, all my body parts have gone bigger but my breasts remain small.”
The older lady takes the baby, while Jungkook adjusts the bed so his upper body is raised. His Eomma gently places his baby girl for Taehyung to cradle, and pulls his gown so his boobs come out.
“I don't have milk, Eomma.” Taehyung cries, not believing how needy he has been sounding all through the night.
“You have.” Jungkook cuts him, and the older lady giggles.
But something else flashes in his mind, “You mean to say, you drank the colostrum?!” Jungkook stills his mouth slightly parted, “Eomma, he drank my colostrum!”
"You know if we end up separated, Eommonim. Just don't blame me." His husband says, clearly running out of patience.
“Weren't you always complaining that Jungkook is dumb? Maybe he needed the vitamins more than your daughter." Despite the joke Taehyung weeps, “Baby, you have to relax. Your body is the one sending the milk. You have to be in a good mood so she can have it sweet. Happy parents make sweeter milk.” 'Bullshit! Taehyung thought. But his mother presses his nipple so that a liquid oozes out. “See that!” and guides the baby girl to drink. And she did so fervently.
Taehyung forgot all his worries, and watches the baby just latch on him, and he weeps once again seeing how he is her source of everything.
"See that Taehyungah. That is the connection." His mother tells him as she lands a kiss on his head. "It's surreal to be seeing you as a parent."
Taehyung raises his head and smiles at his Eomma and then sees his husband staring at him /them/. "I'm sorry for being difficult. " He utters, looking at him gently.
Jungkook immediately runs to grab a chair to be beside him, "No. No. Be difficult. You deserve it Yoebo."
Taehyung scans the faces near him, and it's clear, the two are fatigued, "what time is it?"
"4 plus." His Eomma answers.
"5:43." His husband interjects.
"You two haven't slept a wink." Taehyung murmurs. "Eomma, please go home. Just come back tomorrow. Or later." He grins. "Guk and I… have you learned to change diapers?"
"I did." Jungkook answers apprehensively.
"Give a baby a bath?"
"The nurse will teach me tomorrow… Later…"
"How about I take the sofa? Guk can lean on the armchair for now." The older lady says sensing that she's needed.
Jungkook nodded and breathed.
His Eomma is snoring softly, and they are still unmoving just watching her, Jungkook runs a finger to their sleeping baby's nose which Taehyung can already recognize as Jungkook's.
"Jimin is arriving tomorrow." Jungkook pauses. "Later… He booked a ticket last night."
Taehyung burst once again, "Oh My God! I need him, I don't know how to take care of myself and the baby."
"Yeah. He knows. — My parents are so excited. They've been on the phone with me since after the surgery. I think when the sun is up, they are both gonna be here."
"Nice. First grandkid." Taehyung sniggers. Imagining his father in law hopping seeing the most awaited bundle of joy.
"And the Kim side is coming also. Seokjin Samchoon called to tell me they are coming to visit."
Taehyung frowns and suddenly wants to go back to sleep, drained by the amount of people they need to entertain tomorrow. "Can't you tell them it's not safe for the baby?"
"I did. But you know how your OBGYN and Seojong Eemonim are close. So yeah…"
Taehyung breathes and decides to focus on his daughter. "She has a dimple." Taehyung whispers, still cradling their bundle of joy. "She'll look like you."
"I hope she takes after you."
"She'll be cute regardless." Taehyung breathes.
Jungkook nods, still caressing her face, "we keep the name we agreed on last week?"
Taehyung nods, "it suits her." And he beams, "how scared are you that I'll name her Relena?"
"Very. But if you—"
"Nah. She's a Yunhee. Anyeong Jeon Yunhee." Taehyung whispers to the sleeping baby who smiled showing her parents her one tiny dimple. It means Lotus flower which symbolizes strength.
"Kim Taehyung. "
"Hmm?"
"Can I tell you a secret?"
"You have a secret?"
"Don't you?"
Taehyung rolls his head, acting sure. "Wait! I remember one. Remember when you asked me to check a mole in your ass? (Jungkook frowns) for days, I worried you were fucking someone else. Yeah that's my secret."
Jungkook had this look, Taehyung can't quite pinpoint what it meant, "I was going to have a moment."
Taehyung grins.
"Uhm. I actually secretly hoped, you won't get pregnant the third time."
"Huh?"
"It was just so tough for you, for us. I wasn't into it and when you said, the third time will be the last. I wished it would not happen or get you an ovum, or you know? — Anyway, just be done. I didn't like the process. I didn't see the point. I even considered getting back on suppressants just so my sperms wouldn't be viable. I just didn't want it, but I only stuck by it because you wanted it so badly, and…"
"And?"
"I am glad, you pulled through and now…"
"And now?"
"We have her, and I'm so glad… I'm so glad Taehyungah."
"Are you sure?" He gazes at him because Taehyung knew. Jungkook isn't one to easily hide anything from him being that they've been abnormally clingy all these nine years.
"I am. — And I actually thought I'd never love anyone more than you, and yet, I do for her. The kind of love that's bigger. I can't explain. "
"I know…" Taehyung says as he runs his nose to his sleeping baby's hair.
"I fucking love you Kim Taehyung. " Jungkook whispers.
"I fucking love you too dumbass!"
And they locked eyes and knew.
……………
Six months after the birth of Yunhee, Taehyung felt so wonderful like he was back to his old self except he had to pump every two or three hours, but then his hair remained luscious and thick, and his skin never looked healthier. He has to wear a bra that has a pantyliner (haha) on his breast, but overall everything is perfect. His shape is back, and is feeling good to be wearing his husband’s push present . The Satan gave him a custom made Brioni Suit with measurements based on his last Tom Ford purchase, naturally it took him a long time to wear it.
He had a full day, so his hips and lower back started aching that afternoon, and his assistant Jill said something in passing, telling him, it was how he was behaving when he was pregnant those three times.
Taehyung didn't take it seriously, because he has not had his heat, which is normal when you are breastfeeding. But it lingered in his mind and he talked to his husband during dinner.
Jungkook pointed out to him that the three times he was pregnant it was through IVF, being an omega male, he just wasn't that fertile making natural conception difficult… And also, if in case he is indeed pregnant, he got reminded once again by Jungkook what usually follows after that for him.
He cried silently as he cradled Yunhee that night, because indeed, the doctor had warned them not to get attached every time they conceived before, because Taehyung is predisposed to miscarry. Which is why Yunhee was a fighter to begin with, they thought they’d lose her many times, but she clinged to her Appa, wanting to really join them. And she is with them now. She is not an easy baby, but Taehyung remembers their journey in order to survive her tantrums.
But when Jimin arrived to attend Yunhee’s first birthday, after traveling from Busan, his first question was, “how far along are you?”
Which woke the couple from their stupor, because Taehyung had a small bump indeed, which he attributed to his lifestyle or sometimes a tumor depending on his mood. Because after that day, Taehyung had not suspected he was pregnant because everything just went back to normal, no aches whatsoever.
When he was carrying Yunhee, Taehyung was aware he was pregnant because he'd be nauseous, and if he's not nauseous, he was bleeding fearing a miscarriage.
Their doctor almost fainted, because having successive C-sections is not safe, especially for male omega, but three months after, a baby boy joined them, they named him Beom, Jeon Beom. Taehyung and Jungkook had not had the right mind to really concentrate on naming him, because they only had three months to plan for his arrival, actually two- ish because he came early like his sister.
On the day his son was born, Jungkook went back to drinking his suppressant, and based on their healthy discussions, he has no plan on being off it. Which is why they are planning to convert their basement where they usually spent their ruts and heats, into a playroom, or to Taehyung's chagrin an extended man cave. When Jungkook is on suppressant, the sex is tamer, and quite frankly this is the only part that Taehyung is glad about.
It was the day on Beom's first birthday when Taehyung overheard his mother in law and Eomma talking.
"Aren't you worried? I swear, I watched him the other day, fed him and put him to his playpen. Didn't notice the time because I was looking at the balance sheet. When I ran back to his playpen a couple of hours later, he was asleep."
"Don't worry Unnie… the only reason I survived early motherhood was because Taehyung was so easy to take care of. The Ajuhma, who helped me with him before, told me he feared Taehyung would be retarded."
Taehyung scoffs, covering his mouth.
"That's harsh." He hears his mother in law chuckle.
"I swear. Beom is a xerox of Jungkook face wise, but his temperament is Taehyung. I'm quite excited for this next generation, a chill alpha and a wild omega."
"Yeah.” His mother in law says. “Yunhee is Jungkook, despite looking like Taehyung. I never wanted another one after having him. He was just so naughty, sickly and tough to take care of."
(Silence)
"Erinah…" his mother in law mutters, and Taehyung doesn't hear anything from his Eomma, then his mother in law speaks again. "I feel sad that the two stopped at two…"
"Me too. But what can we do?" His Eomma answers.
……
Now back to the present day, Taehyung is feeling extra good today. He wore a long cashmere, wanting to appear preppy, like Lee Jehoon when he appeared in the last episode of Hot Stove League, as a young CEO. After all, he is only thirty-three, he no longer has a full time job instead opting to freelance so that he spends more time with the kids.
Anyway, he is a rich man’s husband, and is free to go somewhere alone, but of course only after he had a blowout which he attributed to postpartum, and Jungkook easily concedes to anything if it’s about mental health.
He walks inside without any appointment, and the nurse runs after him. Ignoring her, Taehyung plops himself on the chair across from his best friend who can only gape.
“What are you doing here? In Busan?” Jimin exclaims.
“I needed to do something…”
“Are you having an affair?”
“I don't think that’s possible for me… Anyway, I have this plan.” Taehyung hands Jimin Jungkook’s latest bloodwork from his annual medical.
“Uhm. he looks healthy.”
“Yeah. and this…”
Jimin scrutinizes a bottle, “Suppressant?”
“Yeah. As a doctor, and your best friend — Say… I've found a manufacturer of a bottle which will look exactly like that. What should be the medicine that can replace those pills without my husband suspecting anything has changed? I prefer vitamins, but based on research aspirin…”
“That can cause ulcers.” Jimin utters astonishingly, “And fucking why are you doing something illegal?! I don't want to lose my practice. I didn't spend ten years in med school just to lose it because of my crazy best friend.”
“I want to be pregnant with the third, but I don't want it to go through him, because he thinks it’s dangerous, and if there's anything that will happen, he will blame me. I want to be doted on, and taken care of… and Jimin I am almost 33, I heard if you get pregnant at 35 and above it is more risky.”
“There’s this thing, which will blow your mind, you should try it. — It is a popular advice in the medical community.”
“What is it?”
Jimin scans his face, “Honest communication.”
Taehyung rolls his eyes, “You’ve never been married, Jimin. And for couples like me and Jungkook, we don't take each other seriously unless we are yelling at each other’s faces. I am tired, I don't want to fight.”
“Really? You're tired? You have a nanny per baby.”
“You are looking at it simplistically, I am there!” Taehyung pouts. “I just have a helping hand. — And I've wanted more than two pups ever since. Jungkook just…”
“He wanted zero.”
“Jiminah, my love, my ride or die, help me. I have to have a third while I can…”
“Stop being whiny. The moment Jungkook has a rut, he will suspect something is wrong with his medication.”
“He still has ruts regardless. And I'll make excuses, I'll take care of that part. Park Jimin, help me. I came here out of desperation!” he shakes on the chair like how Yunhee does it in public places, maybe when they have their third, she’d deposit her to his Eomma. Taehyung internally sniggers, that girl is a menace. Jungkook the second.
“No. it’s like aiding these alphas who put a hole in a condom. It’s evil.” Jimin has the ugliest face contorted while shaking his head.
Taehyung straightens, he grabs Jimin’s prescription paper, and slowly traces his name as he gently speaks, this is the last resort, “I know it seems impossible that I have a secret, you know nothing about.”
“You don't have a secret from me.”
'Here goes nothing.' Taehyung looks at his best friend from his fringe, and tries his best to have puppy eyes, “there is… I kept it for very long…”
Jimin stares at him, a nurse peeps, but Jimin just waves at her to go.
Taehyung continues to make imaginary traces on the paper, “I never told you about how me and Gukie marked each other…”
Jimin gapes as he listens.
………
It took a while, Taehyung and Jungkook were 36 almost 37, when they held their third, a daughter named Bora, because she was violet when she came out. It was a difficult pregnancy and a journey /again/.
But Taehyung is happy, his family is complete finally. Two omegas, one alpha, and Jungkook? Is terrified that his girls would meet an Alpha like him.
- REAL END [Thank You for reading] -
