There was barely any light coming from the window with how early it was, but the window was closed for once with the cooler temperatures of mid-November. Earlier in the week, there had been snow flurries and there was more to be expected later in the week. The woman awake in the bed was using a candle and the light coming from the bathroom to read the book in her lap. The room would have been quiet if the other woman in the bed wasn’t the loudest snorer ever.

            “What day is it?” Junghee hummed from having her nose almost pressed into the middle of the book she’s holding, but also trying to be quiet for the other woman curled up under the covers. Even though she knows nothing awakes Taeyeon. She sleeps like the dead.

            Jinki blinks at the mirror in the bathroom as he thinks, toothbrush held on the edge of the sink where his hand landed when asked, before calling out, “The 15th I think. No. 16th.”

            “Thank you.” Her soft voice replied and silence fell. Well, besides the constant sound of their girlfriend’s muffled snoring. Today was Taeyeon’s late day and she was going to get every minute of sleep she could muster. Jinki was spitting into the sink and reaching for his mouthwash when out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of movement. With a raised eyebrow he poured his mouthwash past his lips and leaned out of the bathroom to try and see what blew through his bedroom as he swished the liquid around his mouth. He figured it was Junghee by the lack of her in the room. With a shrug, he returned into the bathroom to gargle and spit out the mouthwash. He wiped his mouth on the towel hanging over the top of the door and headed out to put clothes on. Going to work in his boxers wasn’t a very smart career choice.

            His pants were pulled from their folded position on the dresser and slipped over his legs. He was pulling on his dress shirt when Junghee came barreling in. “Butterbear are you sure it’s the 16th?” Focusing on buttoning the buttons he didn’t answer right away, and Junghee took that as he was ignoring her and promptly raised her voice. “Is it the 16th Jinki?”

            “Yes, Bonbon I’m sure. Why?”

            Junghee didn’t answer right away. Whatever caused her to rush in here pushed aside as she noticed how hard he was struggling with the last couple buttons. Once she swatted his hands away and began to do it herself she glanced up at him. “I’m supposed to start on the 10th.”

            “You aren’t usually late, though,” He commented as she finished the last button of his collar.

            She made a face at the tie he held out for her and without a word walked over to the hangar full of them and quickly pulled one from the bunch. After a glance over his shoulder at the slightly shifting lump, she wrapped the fabric around his neck and went through the motions to tie it for him. “I’m always on time. Usually, early if not.”

            Her manicured nails pushed through his hair to fix it from the mess it was after sleeping as he muttered unsurely, “Do you think you’re pregnant?”

            The small woman froze in the middle of reaching for his suit jacket. Then her arms slowly lowered and her fingers tapped against the plastic of the hanger it was on. “Possibly,” She took a deep breath before walking over and handing him the jacket. “On the way home from work I’ll stop and get myself a test. It’s probably just hormones or stress or something. No big deal.”

            Jinki’s lips lifted into a smile as he pulled her in close to press a kiss to her forehead. “We can go together if you want, or ask Tae to go.”

            Junghee just shook her head and forced a smile, “I’m okay to go alone. Now get going before you’re late you big doof.”

            He pecked her lips quickly before shuffling over to lift the pillow covering his other girlfriend’s face and gently pressing his lips to her cheek. “Have a good day Baby.” When he passed Junghee he smiled again, “And you too.”

            “I’ll try.” She scuffed. “Oh, you have dinner duty!”

            Junghee knew the words fell on deaf ears as soon as the door clicked close. Her lip was pulled through her lip as the thought she could be pregnant tumbled through her mind, but with Taeyeon’s soft groan she pushed the thought as far back as she could. No need to panic. They had used the pill and condoms. There was no reason why both would fail at the same time.

            She climbed into bed and shimmied under the covers to scoot over toward her girlfriend. Taeyeon made little sniffle noises as she was rolled over, but she stayed asleep. Junghee laid her head on the younger woman’s shoulder and smiled when skinny arms wrapped around her. “Mmm Bonbon.”

            Junghee smiled at the sleepily mumbled words. Taeyeon’s nose scrunched up before she nuzzled her head closer. Junghee glanced over her shoulder at the alarm clock they never even used to check on the time, and seeing that she had at least 30 minutes before she had to get up to take a shower she settled for being suffocated by cuddles. “Shh Sugarcookie.”

-----

            “Come on Taeyeon get up.”

            “No.” The groaned word was muffled as the girl covered her face with a pillow and curled the blanket tighter around herself.

            Junghee frowned, still damp hair falling into her face as she tugged at the blanket wrapped around the other woman. “You have two tests today get up.”

            “NO.”

            “Taeyeon Lee if you don’t get up I’m turning to the End Game.”

            A pair of eyes appeared from the mound of fabric and pillows, strands of hair falling in front of them, as Taeyeon hissed, “You wouldn’t dare.”

            Junghee smiled wide as she lifted the blue bucket from the floor into the other’s line of vision. “Oh, I so would. Butterbear isn’t working his off to help us get our degrees for you to fail two tests because you didn’t go.”

            Taeyeon grumbled as she shook the pillows and extra blankets from on top of herself. She frowned and looked up at her girlfriend. “You’re right.”

            A kiss was pressed to her cheek with a smile, “There're homemade waffles on the kitchen island for you.”

            Junghee snorted when Taeyeon tripped on her blanket in her rush for the sugary breakfast bread. She grabbed a pair of Jinki’s shirts from the dresser and followed shortly after. Taeyeon often forgot clothes.

-----

            Taeyeon’s fork was clinking against the plate as she shoved it over and over into the pieces of cut up waffles she was stabbing. Junghee watched from across the way sipping on her small cup of coffee. Taeyeon poured more syrup on the overly stuffed fork before stuffing it into with a satisfied groan. She looked as if she was about to say something, so Junghee shook her head over her cup, “Chew before speaking Sugar.”

            After swallowing she flashed a wide smile, “These are very delicious, I love you a lot.”

            “Just for my waffles?”

            “And your ies but that’s a different conversation altogether.” Junghee rolled her eyes as she poured the leftover coffee down the sink drain. When she turned around Taeyeon rose an eyebrow. Her eyes were wide, bright and curious as she asked, “You feeling okay? That’s the 4th time this week you’ve not finished your cup full of saving grace.”

            Junghee let out a short laugh, “You need to stop watching me so closely Sugar. That’s creepy.”

            “No that’s curiosity.” Taeyeon punctuated her sentence by pointing her finger at her girlfriend before taking a huge gulp of her milk, “Besides I’ve lived here for coming up on three years. I know how much of a you are without your coffee.”

            “Taeyeon!” Junghee gasped.

            The woman giggled, “Your words, not mine Babe.” Junghee brushed her hands off on the dishrag hanging from the oven as she glanced at the blinking green numbers of the clock. She grabbed her jacket from the counter and wrapped her arm around Taeyeon’s shoulders to tug her closer. When she pulled away Taeyeon had red lipstick staining her cheek. “Gross.”

            “You love it,” Junghee quipped as she slipped on her heels. “You staying at the campus for a while today?”

            “No. Remember there’s that football match Butterbear really wanted to see tonight.” Words muffled as Junghee was sure the girl was talking with full.

            “Ah, that’s right.” She pecked Taeyeon’s lips once and giggled when the woman’s nose scrunched up. She her lips and hummed, “You’re very sweet this morning Sugar.”

            “It’s Friday of course I am.” Junghee just rolled her eyes and moved to the front door. “Babe!” She froze mid-way through the door and looked back to see Taeyeon rushing into the foyer with a red bag. “You forgot your class’ snack Bonbon.”

            “Ah! You’re a peach thank you.” Taeyeon beamed and kissed her cheek as she handed over the bag. The bells hanging from the inside doorknob jingled as she shut the door behind her. She waited for a second to hear the click of the lock before making her way down four apartments to the elevator. For once the elevator didn’t take forever to reach their floor and it wasn’t packed like normal. She smiled at the old woman from 4b who stepped off and hurried to press the star on the level pad. She had 40 minutes to get to the school before her children started to show up and she liked having their snack for the day already passed out by the time they arrived.

-----

            The cold, bitter November wind whipped at her coat. She loved the cooler seasons, but the bitter cold she could do without. After wrapping her coat tighter around her she frowned. Her hands were freezing. Just when she thought she would have to choose between her body being warm or her fingers falling off she felt the wad of cloth in her pocket. When she had to stop to wait for the don’t walk sign to change she gave up the warmth she had accumulated and stuffed her hands into her pockets. Curiously she pulled out the black wad of fabric and a smile pulled at the corners of her lips when she unfolded the ball. She recognized them right away. They were Jinki’s gloves. His nice leather ones with the fur inside. Just when she was about to pull them on her almost frozen fingers a folded up piece of paper brushed against her palm.

            She glanced up to make sure the light wasn’t about to change any time soon before working the small paper open with numb fingers. In Jinki’s messy handwriting were the words, I didn’t want your pretty little hands to freeze Baby. Have a good day Beautiful. Little hearts were quickly drawn after the words and it made Junghee giggle. She had no idea when he had found the time to do such a thing, but it made her feel all warm inside to think that he had.

            Unfortunately, she almost missed her opportunity to cross the street because she was still smiling at the note. She managed to cross before it changed back, but stopped just on the other side to fold the little note up and place it back in her pocket. The gloves were quickly shimmied on and a happy sigh left her lips.

            When she finally arrived at the school the lady at the front desk smiled at her but said nothing as she rushed to get to her mailbox and to her room before the early birds arrived. Her classroom was the second one down the hall to the left and after fishing out her keys from deep inside her coat she jimmied the door unlocked and pushed open the door. She flicked on the lights with her elbow and let the door close behind her with a soft whoosh.

            After laying her coat on her desk Junghee opened the lunch box full of tiny bags. She laid one on each desk, making sure the name on the ribbon tied around the top of the bag matched the student’s desk, There was a soft knock on the door and when she turned to look a tiny head popped through the small crack of the open door. “Ms. Kim?”

            Junghee smiled wide, “Come on in Hongbin,”

            The small boy pushed the door all the way open, looking up with wide eyes to ask, “Does the door stay open Ms. Kim?”

            “Yes, sweetie.” When the boy made it to his desk she smiled at him, “Would you like to help me pass out books for story time?” His smile was huge as he popped out of his seat and rushed over to the bookcase on the carpet in the back right corner to grab the basket on the top shelf.  “Take that as a yes.”

----

            When she returned home neither of the other two were home. A part of her wanted to call one of them because her stomach was in knots because of the small plastic bag in her purse, but she knew both of her lovers were probably busy and there wasn’t a need to worry them. Jinki would be home in 2 hours at six thirty, and Taeyeon usually returned home around 5. Junghee hung her coat up on her hook and kicked off her shoes before walking over to fall into Jinki’s plush recliner. A soft smile curled at her lips at how many times a pair of them had made out on this piece of furniture.

            Junghee had tried her hardest to not think about her revelation that morning, but it was hard to with it hanging over her head like a blade about to fall. She had always wanted kids, but when they met Taeyeon and opened their relationship the thought of having kids any time soon went out the window. There was so much to talk about before even thinking of trying to get pregnant. Jinki had just gotten that promotion down at the bank, she had just started down at the elementary school at the beginning of the school year, and Taeyeon was about to be in her junior year. They weren’t ready for a baby.

            She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as her fingers dug into her sides. She sat there for a moment before getting up to clean up. The night before they all were so tired that they forgot whose night it was for the dishes and they still sat stacked in the left side of the sink. Maybe she could finish these and throw a load into the washer. If there was one thing she enjoyed about their apartment was their washing machine. Her nose scrunched up as she stepped closer to the sink. She really needed to talk to them about learning to scrape their leftovers on the plate into the trashcan before putting the plate in the sink. This was gross.

-----

            Junghee was just switching the second load into the dryer when their front door jingled open. She glanced at her watch for a second before slamming the dryer door close with her hip and headed out to greet who she expected to be her girlfriend. Around the corner by the table just inside the living room was basically a walking marshmallow, and Junghee giggled when Taeyeon’s red cheeks were so bright against the white of her parka. “Bonbon~”

            She walked over to push up on her tippy toes to press a kiss to the girl’s lips. “Gross you’re cold.” She whined as she stumbled back away from her.

            Taeyeon beamed and wiggled her fingers. “Then come and warm me up!”

            The shorter woman snorted and held her arm up as a way to stop the other, “Get out of that parka and I’ll make you hot chocolate you dweeb.”

            “Yay!” Taeyeon happily called out as she pressed another kiss to her girlfriend’s cheek and went to hang up her coat in the closet by the door.  When she was done she headed into their little kitchen and walked over to skim her hands over Junghee’s hips. The woman hummed as Taeyeon rested her chin on her shoulder and watched her stir the heated cup of milk. It was almost hypnotizing how the clear water slowly turned to a light warm brown.

            “This is my cup by the way.”

            “You don’t like hot chocolate with water silly,” Taeyeon mumbled against her neck as her arms wrapped around her.

            “Damn I have no secrets.” The younger woman kissed her cheek and took the cup happily.

            “But that’s because we love you,” She took a sip and hummed. Junghee still didn’t understand how she could drink that without cooling it first. Taeyeon set her cup on the kitchen island and jumped up onto a stool, “What’s for dinner?”

            “It’s Butterbear’s night.”

            “Ah so Chinese or Thai.” Junghee giggled softly as she moved to lean against her elbows on the counter.

            “We had Thai last night Sugar.”

            “Oh, that’s right.”

            Junghee shook her head for a moment before checking her watch. “AH .”

            She quickly turned around, rushing to grab the oven mitts and slipping them on as she pulled open the oven. Quiet little curse words were chanted as she reached in and the pan she took out clattered on the top of the stove. The oven door was slammed closed and the heat was flipped off. Taeyeon rose an eyebrow as she asked, “Baking adventures with Bonbon part 303?”

            “I was trying to make Jinki’s favorite cake,” Junghee answered with a sad, disappointed tone to her quiet voice. “And it’s ruined.”

            Taeyeon’s eyes widened when she heard the whine in the woman’s voice. Junghee’s lip was jutted out and her eyes were watering. She was always a very emotionally open person, but a burnt cake usually wasn’t one of the causes. “Hey hey baby it’s okay. We can make another one.”

            “But we’re out of the mix.” Junghee pouted up at her as she approached. Taeyeon pressed a kiss to her forehead before an idea struck her. “I used the last bit of eggs too.”

            “Why don’t you go take a hot bath and use that bath bomb to relax, and get changed for the game tonight and I’ll go get you another mix at the store just around the corner?”

            “You’d do that?”

            Taeyeon beamed and kissed her nose, “I’d do anything for you. Now get going.”

            Junghee was gently pushed out of the kitchen by a pat on her .

----

            When she came out of the hallway making sure the towel twisted around her hair was going to stay on top of her head Taeyeon was already back laying out the ingredients pictured on the back of the box. She looked up with a bright smile before ducking down and grabbing another big bowl from the cabinet under the kitchen island and placing it on the countertop. “They were out of Butterbear’s favorite but it’s cake so he’s going to be excited about it no matter what. SO I bought all three other flavors they had.”

            Junghee walked around behind the other woman and hugged her middle and smiled as she pressed her cheek into her back, “I love you.”

            “I love you too, but we have like 40 minutes so if we want these made and iced when he gets home we better get to the baking baby.”  

----

            When Jinki got home he followed the soft sound of conversation from their kitchen and a smile formed on his lips when he turned to see his beautiful girls slowly dancing between the kitchen island and the dishwasher. Junghee’s head was under Taeyeon’s chin as the younger girl held her close and gently rocked her. A soft chuckle rumbled from his throat when he noticed how Junghee’s slipper covered feet were standing on Taeyeon’s. As they slowly made their way around in a circle Taeyeon saw him leaning against the arch leading into the foyer. She whispered something into Junghee’s ear that he couldn’t hear, but a moment later she was turning in the youngest’s hold and smiling wide as she rushed over to hug him. His eyes fluttered close as he pushed his nose through her hair, “You smell really good baby.” She hummed but didn’t say anything as she hugged him tightly. He moved his hand up to tip her chin up to ask her in a quiet voice, “Did you tell her?”

            “I wanted to wait for you.” The woman answered.

            Taeyeon looked at them with a raised eyebrow before asking, “Tell me what?”

            Junghee sighed as she twisted in his hold, but his arms still wrapped around her over her shoulders and his chin was laid on the top of her head. “I think I might be pregnant.”

            The girl’s eyes widened almost comically as she blurted out, “Was it planned?”

            “Oh, no Sugar. We wouldn’t do that without talking it out first.” Jinki tried to sound reassuring,  but he wasn’t so sure it was taken that way.

            “I bought two tests today, but I shouldn’t take them until the morning. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when I first found out but I didn’t want to worry or stress you out before your tests.”

            Taeyeon pulled her lip between her teeth and the other two people were starting to get an unsettling feeling in their stomach, but then she was rushing forward and causing Junghee to become a sandwich between them. “Don’t be sorry Baby I love you both it’s okay things happen,” Then she was pulling away and kissing her nose. “Come on, we have to eat the food that Butterbear brought home and get ready for the game.”

            Junghee was grateful she had them both to take her mind over the blade that she felt was being held over her head.  

            They were about to turn into the living room when Jinki paused and said, “Wait, is that cake?”

-----

            Later that night after the game and the two movies they had put in Jinki was stuck between two sleeping beauties. Taeyeon was curled into his side with her head against his chest and Junghee was curled up in a little ball with her head against his thigh. He still moved his fingers through her hair slowly and softly because he knew the moment he stopped she would stop sleeping so peacefully. He still moved his fingers in little circles on Taeyeon’s hip and laid his head softly on top of hers as he glanced between the two. It was almost midnight and while none of them had work or school in the morning he knew if they didn’t go to bed soon their entire sleeping schedule would be knocked out of whack.

            He reached over as much as he could without moving to grab a pillow. After gently lifting Junghee’s head he replaced the pillow for his thigh and kept Taeyeon upright with an arm around her middle. Once he was sure Junghee wasn’t about to wake up he scooped the younger woman up into his arms and carefully carried her into their bedroom, She mumbled something incoherent as she was placed among her many pillows. He just smiled softly before unclasping her bra and pulling it off her arms and slipping off her jeans carefully and tucking her in. He slipped off her glasses and laid them on the bedside table after folding them. Her eyes opened for a moment before she was rolling over and throwing a leg over her pillow.

            Junghee hadn’t moved much from her curled up position on the couch. He wiggled his arms under her body carefully and carried her back to lay her on the left side of the bed. Her pajama pants were pulled off knowing full well how she loved to sleep in her underwear. Before Jinki could climb into bed after them he went to brush his teeth. Then he took everything off but his boxers and climbed up the middle of the two women. He just got comfortable under his blankets when he felt Taeyeon against his back with her leg thrown over his and Junghee was wiggling and shifting to get against his chest. With a soft smile, he lifted his arm and held her close. He sure did love his pretty babies.

-----

            In the morning the sound of Taeyeon’s muffled snores from under her pillow was almost loud enough to drown out Junghee’s pounding heart. The alarm clock on the table just above her head told her in flashing red numbers that the time was just past seven in the morning. Saturdays they usually all slept as late as they could naturally, but the twisting in her stomach and the million thoughts running through her head weren’t going to allow that to happen. Knowing this she rolled over gently to softly move Jinki’s hair that had fallen into his face. With a gentle voice, she slowly began to wake him up, “Babe… babe wake up.”

            The man’s nose scrunched and he made a little noise, but before she could shake him a little harder his eyes were slowly opening and his voice was trying to work. His words weren’t coherent enough, but Junghee smiled anyway. He was pretty cute. “Babe I can’t sleep anymore and I really really need you two to be up with me for this.”

            It was the sound of her voice, the worry, and desperation lined within the softly said words that caused him to wake up fully. “Repeat that for me please.” Came his deep, groggy voice.

            “I can’t take this pregnancy test alone.”

            Jinki’s eyes sparked in understanding before he was taking her by the cheek and pressing a little kiss to her lips. “Go get the test and I’ll wake Tae up okay? I’ll sit on the bathtub and hold your hand through it if that’s what helps you.”

            Relief rushed through her as he gave her a soft smile. “Thank you.” Then she was throwing her blanket off her legs and shuffling out to find her purse where the little bag was pushed deep inside. As she disappeared around the corner Jinki swallowed thickly and rolled over to jostle the hibernating bear.

            He pulled the pillow she had over her head away and he wanted to snort at how much of a cute little mess Taeyeon was snoring away. He wanted to allow her to sleep. but he wanted her to believe she was just apart of this whole thing as Junghee and he were. If they were pregnant she’d be the baby’s mom just as much as Junghee was, and he knew to let her sleep no matter how good the intentions were would hurt her. “Tae, baby come on get up.” He wiggled his fingers under her torso and kept moving them until her nose scrunched up and she shifted slightly. “Junghee wants to take the test baby.”

            The woman just groaned, obviously nowhere near coherent enough to understand what was happening. Jinki moved his hands to gently push her over onto her back and gently swatted her cheeks, “Baby~ Come on Sugar you gotta wake up.”

            “Bubblegum cake waffles.”

            "What?”

            “The monkey is gonna steal my waffles.” The woman said in her in and out voice as she rolled over to flail her arm out in hopes of finding something to snuggle. Which happened to be her Butterbear’s head. Jinki struggled for a moment before giving in and smiled at the happy noise Taeyeon made as her arms tightened.

            “Sugar. Butterbear will protect your waffles from the monkey, but you have to let me go to do that.”

            “Save… waffles from the monkey?”

            “Yes, but you gotta let me go.” He sighed when the arms lessened and he was able to pull away. Taeyeon’s eyes were slowly fluttering open, eyes fighting to open against her want to sleep. When Junghee made it back into the room she took one look at the two in the bed and snorted. Jinki pouted a second before he heard the soft voice from his left.

            “Is your face like that because you didn’t get my waffles from the evil monkey Butterbear?”

            Jinki took one look at his youngest girlfriend and couldn’t hold in his laughter. “No, baby there weren’t any waffles for a monkey to take. Bonbon needs us to be there when she takes the test.”

            “The test? What test?” She asked sleepily, hand coming up so she could rub her eye with her knuckle. Junghee swallowed thickly and with almost shaking hands held up the little blue box. Taeyeon’s eyes widened as she softly said, “Oh.. yeah. That test.”

            The woman tried to rush and get up, but her legs were still very much asleep and her knees buckled. She was falling back on the bed and her head on Jinki’s stomach, which caused him to huff and groan. She looked up at him and grinned with a soft oops before wiggling her feet. Jinki rolled his eyes before moving out from under her head and walking around the bed to tug her onto her feet by soft grips of her wrists.

            She was tucked under his arm leaning heavily against him with his hand on her hip as Junghee took his other hand and led them into the bathroom. Even though Taeyeon was very much half asleep, her eyes were focused on Junghee. Trying to figure out exactly how she was feeling so she could figure out how to help fix it if it was a bad feeling.

            Junghee’s hands were shaking too much to even open the box properly, so Jinki gently took it from her with soft eyes and ripped it open before pulling the individually wrapped test. With his teeth, he pulled the package open and held it toward the woman sitting on the toilet. As Junghee took the test her eyes were locked with Jinki. Her hand free hand was held tight in Taeyeon’s while Jinki’s free hand made little circles on the back of her neck.

            The test was laid on the bathtub’s edge once it was finished and Junghee pressed herself into Jinki’s chest with Taeyeon leaning her head against her. The man was basically holding both of them up. One with sleepiness and the other with sheer nervousness. Junghee’s shaky voice was muffled from how far she was pressing into him, but both people heard her, “How long until it’s over?”

            Jinki glanced at the ripped box laying in the trash bin between the toilet and the sink and saw the number in bold on the directions. Then after checking the time on the above them, he said, “It should be done now, Sweets.”

            "I don’t wanna look at it.”

            Taeyeon grazed Junghee’s back with her fingers as she squeezed past the two to grab the test from it’s resting position. By the look on her face Jinki knew the results even before she stepped closer and flipped it on it’s side for him to see the little pink plus sign. He leaned down so that his lips grazed Junghee’s outer ear and softly whispered, “It’s positive Jungie.”

            It seemed as if all her emotions hit her all at once and her fingers tightened around the back of his shirt. He flashed his eyes up at Taeyeon and she seemed to get the message since she was heading out of the bathroom a moment later. He gently scooped Junghee up into his arms and carried her back to the bed. When he was about to climb into bed after he had set Junghee in the middle of the bed Taeyeon was returning with the thick, soft blanket they kept in the hall closet. When it was tossed to him he felt the warmth radiating from it and he smiled wide at the youngest. The blanket was wrapped around Junghee before she was hugged from both sides. Her head under Taeyeon’s chin and Jinki spooning her from the back. It was then they noticed her tears. Jinki swallowed the lump in his throat. The news they were going to be parents hadn’t set in for him. Taeyeon had always needed more time to process things when the atmosphere was so fast-paced and stressful. All that mattered then was the small woman in between them that they were pretty sure felt like the world was crashing around her shoulders.

------

            With it being Saturday Jinki didn’t see any harm in lying in bed until their stomachs overpowered their sense of numbness. For him, the fact the test was pregnant hadn’t really sunk in all the way. He understood that Junghee was pregnant, but his mind didn’t fully know that she was pregnant yet. It was like he was walking in a dream. Junghee had gone silent a little bit after 30 minutes of holding her in the bed. He wasn’t too sure what was going through her mind. While he wanted to ask her a part of him didn’t want to open up that can of worms just yet. Bringing the subject up just meant they were accepting of it. He’d allow her a little more time before communication about the subject was opened.

            Taeyeon was playing with the tiny curls on the back of Junghee’s neck. The smaller woman had turned about an hour before to cuddled into Jinki’s chest. She always liked to make sure they each got equal time. Jinki moved his thumb over her cheekbone softly and her eyes were full of emotion as she looked up at him. Before he could ask her anything Taeyeon’s tummy grumbled loud enough for all of them to hear. Her head popped up from behind Junghee’s and a bright smile was flashed at him, “Oops Taetummy beckons nourishment.”

            Junghee’s voice was groggy, but soft, as she said, “Then I guess I should get up and make something.”

            Jinki kissed her forehead, “No Bonbon. I got it.”

            She flashed a tiny smile at him as he slipped away from her to pull on a shirt. Taeyeon was wiggling closer to hold her tight before he even left the room with a soft, “I hope he makes waffles.”

            Junghee would have snorted if her energy wasn’t all spent on worrying.

 ------

            When Jinki returned he had two plates in his hands “Hey up up up. Don’t want to get syrup on the bedspread.”

            Taeyeon was bright-eyed and excited as she quickly sat up. “Waffles?”

            “Three of them with strawberries,” Jinki replied, amused, as he handed the young woman a plate. Junghee was still laying down and he frowned as he nudged the edge of the bed, “Baby you have to eat.”

            “I don’t feel like it.”

            “Junghee you still need to eat something.”

            “I said I don’t feel like it!” Her voice rose in volume, causing Taeyeon to freeze mid-chew, Jinki to stare at her startled, and for her to freeze with realization. “I’m sorry Jinki I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just not in the right mind to eat anything right now.”

            He slid the plate onto the bedside table and flashed a smile at her. “I know. It’s okay. I’m sorry I pushed. It’s here if you want it.”

            When he left he only returned with two glasses of milk before he was gone again and Junghee hugged a pillow close to her while staring at the plate of food on the table next to the alarm clock.

------

            “Hey, Sugar mind getting Jinki? The food is almost ready.” Junghee asked. She hadn’t seen him except in passing glances since he had made them waffles that early afternoon.

            Taeyeon looked up from the paper she was writing with a smile. She slid over to press a kiss onto Junghee’s cheek with a soft, “Sure babe,” before slipping down the hall in search of their Butterbear.

            The first place she looked was the bedroom and then the master bathroom. There was no sign of him in either. Then she looked in the other bathroom, but when she didn’t see him in there either she headed to the second bedroom they all used as an office space. Come the baby it would turn into a nursery, but for the next couple months or so it would have the same purpose. She was just about to knock against the closed door when the sound from behind it caught her attention.

            Is he crying, was her first thought. Then no, he couldn’t be crying was the following thought. She raked her knuckles against the wood before slowly pushing the door open with a soft, “Jinki? Dinner’s almost ready.”

            When the door was open enough that she could step into the room she could see right through his act almost immediately. The smile on his face was sad around the corners and she could see his eyes under his fringe were almost red even with the dimmer lighting in the room. None of that screamed something was wrong more than the sound of his voice. “Hey, Sugar. Sorry, I must have lost track of time.”

            Taeyeon walked around the desk to gently turn him toward her. She leaned heavily on the arms of the chair as she asked, “Jinki what’s wrong?”

            He flashed a smile, “Nothing Baby.” He made a move to get up but she was pushing him back down with her palm to his chest.

            “You’ve been crying and you know I can’t ignore that.”

            Jinki sighed softly as his eyes fell from her face. His fingers moved around each other as he stared at them in his lap before he was almost mumbling his voice was so quiet. “I’m scared and worried and I’m not ready to be a father Taeyeon. Not even close and I just I don’t want to make this harder on Jungie because she’s going through so much but it’s finally hit me that I’m going to be a father and I’m nowhere near ready to be one. I can barely do my own damn taxes and I work at a bank.”

            “Jinki…”

            “I know okay? I know that I shouldn’t be crying. It’s a damn baby and I’m acting like it’s a death sentence.”

            Taeyeon’s fingers were pushed into his hair and causing his head to hit the back of his desk chair. His eyes slowly found her’s and she smiled before moving to straddle him. He was a little startled, but he adapted quickly. She pecked his lips and played with the little hairs on the base of his neck. “When you thought of having kids you thought we’d talk about it and make the decision to have them. You’re surprised and unprepared. Be scared Butterbear. It is okay and perfectly understandable to be scared. You don’t have to be happy and excited about this just yet. And you most definitely do not need to deal with them alone.”

            “How can I tell her I can’t do this?” His voice was soft and broken as his eyes began to tear again. Taeyeon wasn’t very good at comforting, but she wrapped her arms tight around his head and pressed kisses to his hair. She tried her best to consul him. Jinki’s arms came up to hold her in a tight embrace as he let his walls down and cried.

------

            When Taeyeon and Jinki didn’t appear from the hallway Junghee began to worry a little. It didn’t take that long to get Jinki up for dinner because he was always going a hundred and thirty percent for food. Her stopped stirring the sauce and set the spoon against the pot handle before wiping her hands off and heading toward the bedrooms. She heard muffled talking further away so she headed to the spare bedroom. When she got to the door the voices were understandable.

            “How can I tell her I can’t do this?”

            Jinki’s pained voice hit her hard. She knew almost automatically it was about the baby. She didn’t know what they were going to do, but if JInki felt as if he couldn’t tell her how he felt she wasn’t about to find out anything. Her hand lowered from the door and fell to her side before she was quickly moving from the door. She went back to finishing dinner and when the two appeared she made no mention of how pink Jinki’s eyes were or how sniffly he was.

-----

            Sunday they all went out for lunch together before Junghee had to go back home and grade some projects and Taeyeon needed to finish her paper due the next day. Junghee tried not to think too much about what she heard Jinki say the day before, but it kept nagging at her. What if he didn’t want the baby? What if he didn’t want to be with her because of the baby? Would the baby end their almost 7-year relationship? She didn’t like those sort of thoughts, so she pushed them away and focused on how warm he was against her left side as they headed home from the little restaurant around the corner from their apartment.

            When they arrived back Jinki kissed both their heads before jumping in the shower and letting them get comfy on the couch to do their work. He loved taking showers and baths. The warm water was just so nice around him. He thought about asking Taeyeon if he could join her for her bath that night, but he figured if she wanted him there she would ask. After getting dressed in pajamas, because he wasn’t going anywhere else today.he headed back out. He took one look at them before heading into the kitchen and getting them both a juice box. He wiggled between them and pushed the straws into their boxes before handing it to them. Both women smiled before leaning into him to do their work. He was content being around them, all snug between his pretty girls.

            The silence was broken when Junghee softly said, “I made an appointment tomorrow with my gynecologist.”

            “Oh?” Jinki breathed out.

            “Yeah. They’ll do another test to verify the one we took. Do an ultrasound if it’s positive. I’m heading there right after work.”

            “I’ll come pick you up,” Jinki said, completely sure he was going to leave work a couple hours early to take her.

            “No. I’d rather go alone. You don’t have to leave early.” If the words didn’t tell him something was wrong, the way she moved away from him did.

            “Junghee are you mad at me? That’s my baby too. I want to be there for you.”

            The papers she was holding fell to her lap as she turned to look at him with a scowl on her face. “Oh? Oh really? You want to be there for me when you were just asking Tae how you were gonna tell me you can’t do this yesterday?”

            Jinki swallowed thickly as panic set in his chest. He hadn’t meant for her to hear that. He hadn’t meant for her to take it in the wrong way. “Junghee when I said that I-”

            “Forget about it okay? Just hope tomorrow I find out it’s a false positive.” She pushed off the couch with her papers and disappeared down the hall before he could say another word. He closed his mouth and looked at his hands. Taeyeon moved her hands over his back to get his attention. When he looked over she pressed a kiss to his forehead.

            “She’s going through a lot. I’ll go talk to her. Just don’t let it get to you okay Butterbear?”

            He flashed a smile at her, “I won’t.”

            She sighed as she kissed him once more. “We just need to talk about it. Actually, talk about it.”

            After getting a small hum from him she put her laptop down and followed after Junghee. Jinki didn’t see either of them until bed, and it hurt a little that Junghee wasn’t cuddled up to him like normal.

------

            In the morning when Junghee woke up there was a note on the bedside table, scribbled in Jinki’s messy handwriting. There’s leftover smoothie in the freezer for you both, I didn’t want to wake you to say goodbye so kiss kiss, have a good day. I love you both.

            Guilt pooled in Junghee’s belly. She knew he didn’t wake her up because of the night before, and she was mad at herself for breaking their one rule. Never go to bed upset at another. She turned to find Taeyeon wrapped around her pillow like a pretzel and smiled. The night before they had talked almost the entire night about what they had talked about in the study the night before that, and how she figured Jinki was feeling. Junghee hadn’t really thought of his feelings, which made her feel more guilty and more selfish than ever. The key to their relationship was communication and they all failed to do just that.

            The clock on the table next to her told her she had very little time to get in the shower before she had to head off to work, so with a groan, she rolled out of bed and headed into the bathroom. She found that Jinki had brought in the new bottles of shampoo and conditioner after using the last part of the old bottles, and a new towel was thrown over the curtain rod for her. She really needed to talk to him, to clear the air, but first, she had to make it to work on time. The warm water never felt so good.

 ------

            It was odd not getting a call from Jinki during lunch, but she couldn’t make herself push call or send on any text she typed out. She was sure it was all just a misunderstanding, but she didn’t want to risk anything else being taken the wrong way. They would talk when she got home, when the whole baby thing was more set in stone or not. A part of her hoped that she would find the test was a false positive because none of them were ready to become parents, but a small part of her was already attached to the idea of being pregnant and to the baby she might be carrying.

            After the last bell rang she made sure her students had all of their things and knew what the homework was before leading them out to the buses and their parents. It was a lot harder gathering twenty 5-year-olds and all their stuff than most people realized. She took her things with her to just start walking the 3 blocks to her doctors after her kids were on their buses or with their parents.

            The waiting room was filled with vividly anxious people. There were a few who were obviously pregnant and others who looked like she felt. Her body felt tense, hands shaking and mind running in circles. She never should have told Jinki not to come, but it was too late to call and ask him to come. Jinki had a way of just being there next to her and taking away her fears and nervousness. He was there as she filled out her application for the school right before graduation holding her around the middle with his nose against her neck whispering that it would be okay and that she’d get the job. She had believed him even though everything else was telling her he was wrong. She thought about calling Taeyeon, but she had a study group around this time and Junghee knew how much she loved her study group. So she wrung her fingers red and waited for her name to be called.

            Walking back into the room was a lot more nerve-racking than it was on her normal yearly visit. She was asked to sit on the examination table as the nurse asked her a few questions. Last period, are you taking birth control still, reason for the visit and any complications. She just put on a smile and moved her feet back and forth in the air as she answered them in the least amount of words that she could muster. Her short legs didn’t match well with the height of the table. A smile curled at her lips as she imagined Jinki and Taeyeon making a joke about how small she was.

            Some blood was taken from her arm for the test and after the nurse took it away from her she was informed the doctor would come in with the results soon. Those 5 minutes were the longest of her life before the sound of the door opening startled her out of her thoughts. Seeing the doctor was a relief, but at the same time, she felt he just added to her uneasiness.

            The doctor smiled wide at her as he held up his clipboard. “I got your results, Ms. Kim. How has your day been?”

            With a little laugh, she replied, “Stressful.”

            “Ah. Most people who come in for a pregnancy test are pretty stressed about what I have printed on my clipboard. Is that why you’re stressed?”

            “Kind of. I mean I took a test at home, but I know sometimes those are false positives so.”

            “Well, the results show that you are indeed pregnant Ms. Kim. Would you like to follow me for an ultrasound to see how far along you are and how everything is with the little guy?”

            Numbly she nodded her head and jumped down from the table. She had hoped that the pregnancy test at home had been wrong, but even if the doctor’s one could be thought to be false, you can’t fake an ultrasound. She was laid down on a table and asked to pull up her shirt. “The gel is a little cool at first.” The tech smiled at her, but her smile didn’t seem reassuring at all. The gel was spread along her lower abdomen and she closed her eyes as the tech did her job. She looked over when the woman began talking to her, “Is the father in the picture?”

            Junghee blinked at her and thought about how many people came in here knowing the father would never be in their baby’s life. “He’s at work right now, or he would have been here.”

            With a smile, the woman turned back to the monitor as she moved the device along her skin. Then there was a soft thumping noise and Junghee’s heart fluttered., “There’s your baby miss.” They weren’t that big yet, and you couldn’t even know it was a baby, but it was hers. Jinki’s and Taeyeon’s and hers. ”From the looks of it, I’d say you were about 14 weeks or so around there.”

            "14 weeks? Isn’t that kind of late to find out?”

            “Every pregnancy is different. You may have late developing symptoms or none at all. Time will tell. The doctor will schedule your next check up at the front desk.” She flashed a smile before asking. “But the baby looks perfectly healthy for this far along.”

            She let a breath of relief blow past her lips as the gel was gently wiped off, “That’s good. Really good.”

            “Would you like a copy of the ultrasound?”

            “Um, three if you don’t mind.”

            The woman smiled wide as she stepped away from the monitor.. “If you head out I’ll have the nurse bring it out to you. Congratulations.”

            Junghee smiled wide, “Thank you.”

-----

            When she arrived home the two pairs of shoes by the door told her that both her lovers were home. She could hear soft music playing through their apartment and quiet voices singing along that didn’t belong in the song. When she turned the corner Jinki has Taeyeon close against him, swaying to the record player that was playing. They had gotten it for him last christmas. It wasn’t an odd scene to walk into, but their attire gave her pause. Jinki was in his suit slacks and button up still, and Taeyeon was wearing the powder blue dress she bought at the thrift store the weekend before. All pretty and dressed up and she wondered what for.

            The floor creaked under her feet and both people turned to look at her. Jinki’s eyes showed his love, but also his hurt, and Junghee knew right then he wasn’t mad at her. Taeyeon pushed Jinki forward causing him to stumble, but he caught himself and flashed a big smile as he took the couple steps to curl his hand around the back of Junghee’s neck and push his other hand into her hair as he kissed her.

            She melted against the kiss, the warmth of him, how flush he was holding her against him, but then he was pulling away and saying oh so softly, “When I said I couldn’t do this I was scared. I wasn’t ready to be a father and to be honest I’m still not, but that doesn’t mean that if you tell me that the test came back positive today that I won’t stay here beside you and love you and that baby as I would if we had planned them. I love you. I should have told you how I felt, but I wanted you to only think about your own feelings. I didn’t want to clutter your mind with mine. I should have told you about them and I’m sorry you had to hear them like you did and misunderstand me. Please don’t be upset with me.” His thumbs were softly moving on her jaw as he took a deep breath and said, “After work today I came home and I looked over everything. The bills and the income we have coming in and the extra money we have. We will have to stop going out so much for dinner and I’ll have to quit going out once a week with my friends for drinks, but we’re financially prepared for a baby Junghee.”

            Her chest was warm, her body tingly as she softly asked, “Would you like to see your baby Jinki?”

            His eyes got big as he asked, “It was positive?”

            Junghee pulled from him to reach into her coat inside pocket. The small picture was gently laid in his hands and a little sound came from his lips as he took the image in. “They said I was about 2 months along.”

            Jinki turned and held out his hand, “Tae come here. Look at our baby.” The youngest scrambled over to take his hand and be pulled tight against him.

            When she was shown she smiled really big, “It’s like a little muffin baking.”

            Junghee chuckled but Jinki just smiled and squeeze Taeyeon close. “You’re right. They’re our Muffin.” He noticed Junghee’s palm placed over her stomach and he reached over to pull her close. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We made dinner and thought we’d dance a little and talk about things. We laid out a dress for you. The pretty one you liked in the shop by the diner we went to yesterday.”

            Her eyes grew round as she gasped, “Jinki you didn’t!”

            “I didn’t. We did however.”

            “I’m not gonna fit it in a couple months.” She said with a pout.

            “It’ll fit believe me. Now go put it on beautiful. Before Tae eats all the mashed potatoes.” She pushed up on her tippy toes to kiss each of them before heading off. She stopped at the hallway when she heard Jinki ask, “Can I have this?”

            She beamed back at them both, “I have another for Tae and one for me. That’s all yours Butterbear.”

 ------

            Jinki looked up from the grape soda he was pouring and his face showed his awe, but his voice was warm and sweet, “You look amazing.”

            Junghee blushed as she held out the dress skirt and Taeyeon quickly came over to press a kiss to her cheek. “Come on the food's getting cold.”

            She was led to the chair between them and Jinki smiled as he scooped out some potatoes for her. The pop he poured earlier was pushed over and Junghee was confused at the lack of wine. “Aren't you two going to have wine?”

            Taeyeon hummed, “Well you see you can't because of our muffin so we figured we'd be supportive and not drink it either.”

            “Yep. No beer for me either tonight.” Jinki quipped as he sat in his seat and scooted closer to the table. After picking up his fork and moving his potatoes around he looked up and smiled, “How was work?”

            Junghee sipped her drink and set it back down before answering. “Honestly I don't remember much because I was too anxious and worried.”

            Jinki reached over to lay his hand over hers as guilt bubbled up in his stomach. He should have been there for her. “I'm sorry you went through it alone.”

            She shook her head, “Don't be. It was my fault for snapping. This morning when it saw your note I felt so guilty but couldn't bring myself to call you or text you. I didn't want anything else to be taken the wrong way.”

            He pushed up just enough to kiss her cheek, “Well tell me the date of your next appointment and I'll be there every step of the way.”

            “Me too!” Taeyeon beamed, a little sauce on her upper lip that Junghee was too amused with as she reached over to wipe it off for her. “As long as it's not like early in the morning. I can't do early Bonbon.”

            Jinki’s nose scrunched up as he agreed. “Yeahhh. You're like eating cold spaghetti in the morning. Unpleasant and doesn't sit right with you.”

            “I'd be more offended that you compared me to cold noodles if you weren't so correct.” She scowled at him, but when they other two laughed she was giggling too.

------

            Once dinner was finished and the dishes taken into the kitchen to be cleaned later, Taeyeon put on another record and Jinki pulled Junghee close with a smile. The small woman giggled as he turned her around and placed his hand on her hips. He swayed her to the music coming from the record player, and smiled against her neck. Taeyeon came over and put her hands on his hips from in front of Junghee. She began to sway with them with a big smile on her face. Junghee was shorter than them by enough Jinki could give the youngest a kiss over her head. Which she frowned about, but then she was getting kissed on her neck and Taeyeon was kissing her lips and she felt all warm inside.

            The music switched to a more upbeat tune and Jinki moved to take each of their wrists to twirl them out from his body. His face was so bright and handsome as he moved them around him, giggles from both his girls being music to his ears. It had been such a long time since they had just danced together. He was still nervous and scared about the baby, but the idea of being a father no longer made his stomach drop.

            Taeyeon’s socked foot slipped on the hardwood and he caught her around the waist, but his balance was off and down they both went in a fit of laughter. Junghee was bent over, hands on her knees, as she tried to stop laughing so hard, but soon she was sliding to the floor to swat at them both because there were tears in her eyes.

            Jinki’s laughter stopped as he looked at them, all beautiful as always and happy, and a smile spread on his face as he cupped both their cheeks. “I love you both. And that muffin will be the most love little muffin in the world.”

            Junghee believed every word without a doubt.

-----

            That night all were pleased to be curled up together. At least until Taeyeon needed to wrap her limbs around something and Jinki just didn’t cut it tonight. She rolled over him to kiss Junghee once more before bed and then him, staying on him for a moment to get more kisses because his mouth tasted like his children’s toothpaste. He was warm, and his lips were soft. Junghee squinted at her before whispering, “Hey, where’s my extra kisses?”

            Taeyeon hummed against Jinki before pulling away and smiling. “If I kiss either of you anymore I’m not sleeping for awhile and I need all my sleep for my presentation tomorrow.”

            Jinki chuckled before pecking her nose and gently guiding her to slide off his body. “Go to bed then Sugar. We love you, but sleep.”

She rolled back over with a soft, “I want waffles for breakfast,” Before cuddling her pillow and her snoring was heard maybe five minutes later.

            They softly chuckled at their girlfriend as Jinki tugged Junghee back to spoon her. They knew Taeyeon wanted waffles for the sheer fact she always wanted waffles. Jinki pushed his nose into the back of Junghee’s neck where her messy bun was falling apart. His voice was soft and quiet to make sure Taeyeon wouldn’t be woken up even with how heavy of a sleeper she was. “Tomorrow would you like to go to the craft store with me?”

            Junghee’s eyes were already closed and sleep was starting to tug her into it’s depths at his question, but she was conscious enough to hmm a reply. “Why the craft store?”

            “I need to get a frame for my first Muffin picture.” Junghee’s eyes fluttered open as she felt Jinki’s hand moving down her side to rest on her tummy. “I know I didn’t seem excited before, but now my tummy keeps fluttering thinking about seeing them in just few months.”

            “I’m still in the oh I’m actually pregnant phase I think.” She mumbled, hand moving down to curl her fingers with Jinki’s. She could almost feel him smiling behind her. After taking a breath she confessed, “Last night I thought the baby would be the cause of us ending.”

            He shifted closer and pulled her tighter against him. His lips skimmed her neck as he pushed up to look at her, “You should know me better than that.”

            “I know.” She sighed, twisting to lay on her back and use his right arm as a pillow. “I just, I heard you say you couldn’t do this and I thought if you really felt that way you would leave me.”

            Jinki frowned, hand coming up to move over her jaw and make sure her eyes were on his face that the little bitty moon light coming from the window illuminated. “I was stuck in my own head feeling like I had no one to talk over my feelings with. I couldn’t handle going through this feeling as I was stepping over your emotions. I didn’t want to push you because you were going to have the harder time with this. I guess I’m just too weak to handle it all on my own. That’s what I meant by that and you never should have heard it the way you did. I would have never left you. With the baby or without them. I was wrong to not communicate how I was feeling about it all, but I love you and Taeyeon way too much to ever leave either of you.”

            She her lip between her teeth and caressed his jaw with her thumb before moving her arm around his neck and tugging him down for a hug. He wrapped his other arm around her and held her close. He was always so warm and supportive and Junghee for once felt like everything was going to be okay. “I love you too.” She breathed out. His hand pushed up into her hair and cupped the back of her head as relief ran through her small frame.

            “Tomorrow I don’t have to work because someone wanted to switch, so if you want I can take you to work.” He whispered against her hair.

            “Does that mean I can sleep in?”

            He pulled away from her with a soft, sleepy smile. “To about the time we have to get Tae up.” Junghee smiled, eyes closed as sleep was slowly winning the battle over her. She pecked his lips once more before turning around and nuzzling back against him. Both of them froze when Taeyeon began to shift behind him, but then her leg was being thrown over his hip and he snorted. “Pillow wasn’t good enough for long I see.”

            The woman always abandoned her pillow to hug him until he rolled himself up and cocooned himself under the blankets in the middle of the night. Which then she scrambled around in her half asleep haze reaching for the body pillow that was almost always on the floor. Jinki glanced over his shoulder at Taeyeon’s smooshed face against his back and smiled. He sure had the most beautiful girlfriends.

-------
 

            He groaned and blindly swatted at whatever was touching his head over and over again, but the object continued to bring him from his slumber. It was then he took notice of the soft voice accompanying the object touching him. It took him far too long to grasp onto reality and pull himself from sleep enough to understand the words however. “Butterbear…. Psssst. Are you going to work?”

            After smacking his mouth and turning a little in his bundle he mumbled, “Don’t work today. Switched with someone.”

            “Oh. Oh okay.” The poking stopped, but then he felt one on his cheek once he was settled back against his pillow. “Does that mean you can make me breakfast?”

He hummed, “What do you want?”

            Her answer was a second later. “Waffles.” His brain clicked that it was Taeyeon. Of course, it was Taeyeon. He to his back and squinted up at her with one eye. Her hair was a mess around her face, but she was smiling so big at him.

            “You’re smiling. Why are you happy?” Her face fell slightly and he quickly corrected himself. “It’s morning. You hate morning.”

            “Well,” She leaned down to peck a quick kiss to his lips and beamed. “I got to wake up next to Butterbear. That never happens on a weekday.”

            With a chuckle, he said, “Sweet talk gets you everywhere.”

            Junghee was left to sleep as he slipped off Taeyeon’s side of the bed to make her waffles. She stayed pressed against his back with her arms around his middle the entire time he was making them. She wasn’t about to take her weekday morning Butterbear time for granted.

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            That afternoon Jinki was parked outside of the school waiting for her. He had texted her informing he was out there, but that she could take all the time she needed to come out. When Junghee walked out of the front doors she could see him leaning against the passenger door, arms crossed over his chest and a big smile on his face when he saw her. He gave her a short kiss when she approached him, for he wasn’t sure how comfortable she felt with public displays of affection in a place he’s never picked her up from before. “Mmm, you taste like orange juice.”

            She giggled, “Story time means juice boxes.”

            “I like it.” He concluded as he opened the door for her. Once it was closed behind her he slipped around the front of the car to jump into the driver’s seat. “I’m so excited. I’ve never been out on a weekday when it’s been this bright. It’s amazing.”

            With a snort, she pulled the lever to lay back a little in her seat. She huffed softly as her eyes fluttered close. They snapped open when she felt something touch her hand, but she relaxed again when she saw it was just his hand. “Today was so poopy.”

            “I think you’ve been hanging out with Tae so much you’re adopting her vocabulary.” He commented with a laugh.

            “Well, it was the appropriate adjective for what I’m feeling. Bite me.”

            “You’re gonna keep saying that until I actually do bite you in public.” His smile widened when he glanced over at her scowl. “So which craft store should I go to?”

            She kicked off her heels with a sigh before rolling her head toward him, but making sure it was still against the headrest. “Mm, there’s the one on main street. I go there all the time for my class.”

            He squeezed her hand and said, “Than that’s where we’ll go.”

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            It was nice to go back into a routine of sorts. Jinki and Junghee got up when he had to go to work. He buttoned his shirt because the bottom buttons always hated him, and he kissed them both goodbye before heading out. She’d go back to sleep for an hour before she had to get up to get ready to walk to work and Taeyeon would be woken up before she headed off for work. It was nice and familiar. The only difference from normal was the symptoms of the pregnancy hitting her like a truck. The morning sickness that was worse after dinner was the most severe one, but she wanted to cry over having to give up coffee. It wasn’t that hard with how the smell gave her a headache now, but just the thought her body hated the smell of her beloved drink made her emotional.

            Jinki had texted them about an hour before warning them that he’d be a little late coming home for date night. Apparently, the big boss of the bank decided to drop by and meet the new head of the branch. He assured he’d be back in time to go on their date, just a little later than planned. They didn’t mind it much. They were more worried about how their Butterbear was holding up with the stress of giving a good impression on the owner on his shoulders.

            Taeyeon was sprawled out on the bed scrolling through her tumblr as she laid her head on her harm. She glanced up every once in awhile to check on what the other woman was doing, but once she deemed Junghee’s actions understandable she was back to looking at her phone. She figured that the other woman was trying on clothes for date night even though she was pretty sure they both knew Butterbear didn’t care what they wore. He was just happy to see them. Without looking up she asked, “Are you going to pick an outfit anytime soon Bonbon?”

            The reply she got was given in a distant sounding voice, and when she looked up all she saw was Junghee’s behind sticking out from the depths of the closet. “I have nothing to wear.”

            “You’re wearing clothes right now though.”

            Junghee stepped out from the closet to turn and scowl. The expression didn’t last very long though as it changed with her whine of, “But it’s not the right clothes Sugar.”

            “Honestly the right clothes are no clothes.” Junghee rose an eyebrow at her, and Taeyeon made a face. “What? You look your best .”

            “You just like my s.”

            “Mmm nope.” Taeyeon’s head snapped up from the phone as she quickly tried to correct herself. “Wait I do like your s because wow s, but I also like the dimple you have on your .”

            “Taeyeon!” Junghee gasped, “I told you never to speak of that.”

            The younger girl pouted, “But why? It’s so charming and cute, and you always wiggle all cutely when we kiss it.”

            Junghee’s cheeks were turning pink and she was becoming flustered. “It is not omg.”

            With a pout on her face, Taeyeon pulled up her text messages and sent Jinki a quick one, Pls tell bonbon her bootydimple is the greatest.

            A moment later Junghee’s phone vibrated on the dresser and when she slid it unlocked she turned to glare at her. “I didn’t believe you so you recruit Butterbear?”

            Taeyeon beamed, “Two great opinions of the dimple are better than one my dear.”

            “You’re a dork.”

            “I’m not the one with a dress just hanging from my neck.” Junghee looked down at how she was half undressed and she pouted before tossing the dress away.

            “At this point, I’m going to wear a trash bag.”

            “And you’ll be the prettiest person ever.”

            With a groan, Junghee stood in front of the closet with her curled up fists on her hips. It was then she noticed herself in the mirror. She turned a little so she was looking at her profile and a big smile spread on her face, “Sugar, Sugar look! I’m showing!”

            She turned around so the younger girl could see. Taeyeon had this amazed look on her face as she wiggled her fingers toward her girlfriend. Junghee got the message and almost skipped over there. “Muffin has baked enough they want to show us.” Taeyeon hummed before saying, “Okay back up back up I gotta send Jinki a picture.”

            “Tae he can-”

            “Nope scootchie scootchie.” With a sigh, Junghee took two tiny steps away from the end of the bed so Taeyeon could snap a picture. Once finished the girl beamed. “It’ll make his time with the boss a little less ugh.”

            When Jinki got home about 40 minutes later the first thing he did was find Junghee on the couch and kiss her stomach with a loving smile on his face. Her cheeks were slightly pink and a chuckle had left her chest at his actions, but now her whole body was warm with the way he was looking at her. Taeyeon behind her just laid her chin on her shoulder and smiled. Their family was slowly getting bigger with each passing day.

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