Five Years Later

“Jinki, if you don’t hurry up, Minjung will not hesitate to pop out this baby before we are out of the door. Just like the first time,” Yunho shouts up the stairs for his son. A loud yell of “I am coming” floats down.

“Minnie does not pop out our grandkids,” Jaejoong kicks Yunho’s leg because his hands are full of their first grandchild which prevents him from punching some sense into his live-in partner.

Jinki rushes down the stairs with Minjung’s hospital bag in his hand, “Stop it, you two. You are too old to fight like school children. Papa Jae, you are going to drop Changmin and then Minnie definitely will scream at you loud enough to deliver at our doorstep.”

“Oh god, I can’t believe it!” Minjung wails from the couch. “Jinki, I don’t think the baby will wait till we reach the hospital. How can my labor skip all stages and go straight to last one? What happened to hours of labor that books keep talking about?”

Yunho pales at her words. Jaejoong quickly hands over two-year-old Changmin to him and rushes to the kitchen to boil water and collect clean towels and sheets. Jinki puts the bag down and pulls the comforter off the couch back and covers Minjung with it from waist down. He folds up his sleeves and shoos away his father to the kitchen before the older man can faint like the last time.

The doorbell rings and the front door opens because no one bothers to lock it. The reason for this is clear when Gwiboon and Jonghyun enter yelling at each other, “How can you drive at a snail pace, Lee Jonghyun? I think everyone has already left for the hospital.”

“But, sweetheart, it was you who forced me to take a shortcut which lead us right into the traffic jam,” Jonghyun defends himself to his wife.

“Gwiboonie!” Minjung appeals to her best friend from her prone position on the couch.

One look at her distressed friend is enough to make Gwiboon forget all about the fight and rush to the kitchen to wash her hands. She intones soothingly to the mother in labor, “I am coming, Minnie. Just hold on for a minute. Let me make sure I do not transfer any germs from his dino uncle to the new baby.” Jonghyun protests out of habit and leaves the house to get his wife’s medical bag from their car.

Jinki rubs the back of his hand on his wife’s cheek and smiles, “We are lucky that Gwiboon is studying medicine. I don’t think I could have brought our babies into this world without dropping at least one of them on his head.”

Minjung groans, “Don’t make me laugh. And don’t count your chickens till they are hatched. This baby is still inside. And you still have a chance of dropping him on his head.” She clutches Jinki’s hand tightly, “Why are your sons as impatient as you? My thesis is due tomorrow. Why couldn’t he wait till tomorrow evening?”

Gwiboon’s laughter rings out, “Hmm I wonder why? Could it be because his weird parents jumped straight into engagement bypassing dates and confessions?” She ignores Jinki’s tongue poking at her and peers under the comforter to open Minjung’s legs. She uses her fingers to check Minjung’s cervical dilation and nods to herself, before yelling towards the kitchen, “Hurry up with the hot water and clean towels, Uncle Jae.”

Then she turns to Minjung to continue, “May be the impatience is due to the fact that you were engaged for only two days before Jingles decided he couldn’t wait any longer to wed you?”

Jonghyun sets Gwiboon’s medical bag by her feet and opens it. He can’t control himself from asking, “Wed her or bed her?”

Jaejoong puts the hot water on the floor and a clean stack of towels and baby sheets on the coffee table nearby. “Respect my daughter, Jonghyun, or I will kick you out of the house,” He rebukes as he makes Jonghyun help him shift the decorative silk screen from its original place between the living and dining rooms to around Minjung, giving his daughter as much privacy as possible in the middle of their large living room. He spares only a brief thought to their new couch and resigns himself to getting a new one.

Yunho yells from the kitchen, “Dino boy, wait till it is Gwiboon’s turn. We will extract revenge.”

Doorbell rings again and Minjung groans in embarrassment, “Why do I have to go into labor in the living room? Why not in our bedroom?” Jinki coos at her to calm her down. Gwiboon softly urges her to push the baby out. Minjung nearly crushes Jinki’s hand, which she is holding, as she follows her friend’s advice.

The front door opens without ceremony and Taemin’s loud voice carries inside, “Jongin, can you stop messaging for some time? If no one is answering, it only means we are becoming uncles again. Hurry up, I want to see the baby before anyone else.”

Jongin’s response is lost in soft cries from the new baby. He quickly aims the camera he is holding and begins recording the organized chaos in the living room.

Gwiboon crows from near Minjung’s feet, “Congratulations, Minnie! You have another son.” At her words, a babble of noise erupts in the room with everyone talking at the same time. Gwiboon hands the baby to Jinki who is waiting with a warm wet sheet in his hands to wrap around his newborn son. She quickly ligates and cuts the cord, before very gently wiping baby’s face with another wet sheet. Together they clean the baby a little and wrap him in another clean sheet. Washing him will have to wait for later.

Jinki leaves Gwiboon to deal with the afterbirth and presents the baby to his mother by putting him on Minjung’s chest. The new father kisses her forehead and whispers, “I love you so much, babe. Thank you for this beautiful gift.” Minjung beams happily at him and runs a fingertip on their son’s soft rosy cheek. The baby blinks his unfocused eyes and pouts his lips. Jinki pecks Minjung’s lips and then picks up the baby to show to their fathers.

At baby’s first cry, Yunho had run into the living room with Changmin still in his arms. He stands behind Jaejoong and when Jinki puts their second grandson into Jaejoong’s arms, Yunho shifts Changmin to his right arm and puts his left arm under Jaejoong’s to hold the baby with him. He peers over Jaejoong’s left shoulder to take his first look.

Taemin and Jongin rush to them to lay their claim on the newborn. As soon as the baby is in Taemin’s arms, Jaejoong goes to help Gwiboon and Jinki with clean up. When Gwiboon gives the go ahead, Jinki wraps a clearly pleased Minjung in the comforter and lifts her up in his arms, bridal style. He carefully walks upstairs to their bedroom and carries her into their bathroom. Laying her gently in the bathtub, he opens the faucets to quickly fill it with warm water. He pecks her lips again and again in gratitude as he washes her. Minjung glows under her husband’s gentle care.

When she is dressed and resting in bed, Minjung holds Jinki’s hands and smiles mischievously at him, “Let’s aim for a daughter next. I am tired of being the only female in an all-male household. I want company.”

“Darling, you just delivered our second son,” Jinki is surprised at his wife’s request. “I don’t think I can take any more of your at-home deliveries.”

“Midwifery suits you. Gwiboon and I have trained you well. Why let it go waste?” Minjung teases him.

“How will you manage two children with another pregnancy?” Jinki raises her hands to his lips and begins kissing each finger.

“The same as I managed this one,” Minjung winks at him. “Just think how much we got to see Changmin? Our fathers laid full claim to him and I saw him only at feeding time for the first six months and after that even less. They even take him to office with them. They have become impossible since shifting their businesses to same building. With adjacent offices, I wonder how they get any work done at all.” Jinki nods in agreement with her. “I think we need a baby to bring up ourselves. We will be useless grandparents otherwise.”

They laugh together and Jinki leans to kiss her forehead, “Hmm, I like the idea of growing old with you. You will be one very y grandma.”

“And you will be one very kissable grandpa,” Minjung moves her face to catch Jinki’s lips with her own. A brief sweet kiss later she adds, “Gwiboon was right. Your lips are addicting.”

“And yours are too, my sweet cherry lips,” Jinki gives her another kiss. “I wonder where my shy wallflower has disappeared.”

Minjung giggles against his lips, “Who can remain shy in this insane household? With gay fathers who constantly bicker when they are not kissing, an equally shameless husband, and a brother-in-law who decided to follow his father’s footsteps and fall in love with his best friend, how was it possible for me to remain shy? As the only woman in this house, I had to make my authority known or get trampled all the time.”

“Hmm, I love your every avatar, especially the dictator one,” Jinki nuzzles her cheek and places soft kisses on it. “Don’t look so y, love, it will be very difficult to stay away from you for next six weeks.”

Gwiboon’s stern voice startles them, “Step away from her, Jingles. She needs time to heal.”

“Don’t worry, Gwiboonie, Jinki will sleep with Yunho. I will be sleeping with Minnie,” Jaejoong’s announcement meets with instant protests.

“What the hell, Papa Jae!” Jinki sounds annoyed.

“I want to sleep with the father of my kids,” Minjung clarifies in a firm voice.

“No way, Jae,” Yunho’s screech is the loudest. “You are not sleeping apart from me, not even to keep Jinki away from Minnie. The only bed you will share is mine.”

“Tae, your family is the best,” Jongin chuckles to his best-friend-turned-boyfriend, his camera catching all the expressions.

Gwiboon ignores everyone and checks Minjung’s vitals to make sure everything is fine with the new mother. Jonghyun gives Jinki his washed and dressed new son and begins whining to Gwiboon, “Sweetheart, we need to have a baby of our own. I want our parents to fight over you the same way. I can clearly see the winner. Mama Hee will beat everyone with a broomstick, even me, till we stand aside and let her sleep with you during your convalescence. My mother will cry buckets and my father will shoot daggers at your parents for making her cry. But please, do hold on till we reach the hospital to deliver our babies. I don’t think I can let Jingles help in delivering our kids. And, I am only good for carrying your medical bag.”

Taemin giggles, “Jongie hyung, you talk too much. Stop your complaining or you will wake up our newest family member.”

Jinki carefully lays his sleeping newborn son on the bed next to Minjung and hugs his father-in-law, “Papa Jae, you know I will never harm her. She means more than my life to me.”

Changmin decides it’s the right time to climb into his father’s arms. He is unsure what to make of all the attention given to his new brother. He hugs Jinki’s left leg and bites his knee. When Jinki ruffles his hair, he puts his arms up, “Daddy, huggie.”

Jinki lifts up his elder son and rubs noses with him. When Changmin giggles, Jinki pretends to bite his stomach, making the toddler laugh loudly. He puts the laughing child on Minjung’s other side. Changmin quickly wraps his small arms around his mother and nestles under her arm. Minjung hugs him to her side and kisses his head, “Does my baby like his new brother?” When Changmin looks up at her with a smile and nods, she kisses his forehead, “What do you want to call him?”

Changmin sports a smile from ear to ear and proudly announces, “Susu.”

At new parents’ identical puzzled expression, Taemin takes pity on his older brother and clarifies, “Since Dad named your first born, Papa Jae has decided the name for your new son. It is Junsu.”

Changmin repeats himself, certain he pronounced the name correctly, “Susu.” He points his index finger at his younger brother and confirms again, “Susu.”

Minjung smiles and presses her older son closer to her chest, “Yes baby, I got it. He is Susu.”

Both grandfathers take out their phones, take pictures of the new grandson and begin sending it to their friends and associates with identical message.

“My new grandson – Junsu.”