Jinki was gently unpacking their suitcase when Kibum slipped behind him, arms soft around his middle and chin on his shoulder as he quietly asked, “You’re not mad at me for slipping our secret are you?”

            He leaned into the embrace, hand falling over Kibum’s big ones on his stomach. “Not at all. I do wish it was later like we planned, but I couldn’t be mad at you for it. You were just excited.”

            “I was,” Kibum said cutely, nuzzling against Jinki’s neck. “I’m just so ready to meet our nugget.”

            “We have long ways to go for that,” Jinki squinted at the open suitcase. “Besides, they would have realized tomorrow when I’m running to the bathroom 40 times before lunch. Your mother’s perfume is completely gross.”

            Kibum chuckled, swaying them a little, “Tomorrow is going to be interesting. You have to go with her and the other omegas.”

            Jinki whined, “Come with.”

            “My mother would skin me alive,” Jinki turned in the hold and pouted up at him, “Don’t look at me like that. You know how it is here.”

            “Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Jinki scowled, “I thought once you got pregnant people did things you wanted.”

            “If it makes you feel better tomorrow night they’re going to do the course,” Jinki’s fingers were playing with the gap between Kibum’s lower back and his jeans. “I know how much you wanted to see it the last few times.”

            “Could I participate!?” Kibum could see the excitement blooming on his face.

            “You can take my spot,” He said before kissing the tip of Jinki’s nose. “They usually ask me to be the runner. I’ll wait for you at the finish line as you kick their Baby.”

            Jinki shivered, “If I make it through your mom’s perfume torture.”

            Kibum was laughing as Jinki pulled away from him to finish unpacking. He went to grab his hoodie from the bed and handed it to Jinki. “If it is really bad just put this over your nose. It should help with our nugget induced queasiness.”

            Jinki brought it to his nose and relaxed. “Our nugget is a bad little nugget.”

            “Only for a little while longer hopefully.” Kibum wrapped his arms around him, Jinki’s own and the hoodie squished between them. “Hey, tomorrow morning I’ll make you pancakes.”

            Jinki perked up, “Pancakes?”

            “With Strawberries and my mom’s freshly squeezed orange juice.”

            Kibum snorted when Jinki’s tummy rumbled. With pink cheeks, the Omega softly said, “I’ve always been always hungry.”

            “Let’s get to bed. You have a long day tomorrow.”

            Jinki groaned at the thought of a day full of Kibum’s mom and her stinky perfume of choice.

——

            When Jinki woke up the other side of the bed was cool with the lack of Kibum’s body heat to warm it up. The curtains were gently blowing in the breeze coming through the open window and by the little light coming through the glass he figured it was still early morning.  He was debating whether to figure out where his mate was or just going back to bed when the door to the room was gently opened. His eyes were only half open with how sleepy he was still, but he could recognize Kibum’s scent completely asleep. “Pancakes?” Jinki asked in a soft, slightly slurred voice.

            Kibum chuckled as he kicked the door closed. “I wanted to make you breakfast before everyone in the house was awake and wouldn’t leave me alone. Here you go, Baby.”

            “They’re tiny,” Jinki softly said as the tray was laid over his thighs.

            With gentle movements to not knock over the orange juice on the tray, Kibum managed to curl into Jinki, lips pressed against the skin right before his ear, eyes fluttering close. “You like small things.”

            “You’re gonna make me cry one of these days with the cute tiny things,” Jinki grumbled as he stabbed one after getting a few strawberries on his fork. Kibum laughed and kissed his hair. “What time is it anyway?”

            “Just before 7,” Kibum took a small drink from the orange juice and passed the cup to Jinki so he could get some too, “Mom was up getting the food ready for the big dinner tonight.”

            “I really don’t want to go today.”

            “I tried to talk to her,” Kibum frowned, “She got angry I even brought up the thought you might not want to go out in a basically foreign reservation with people that are mostly strangers. All I’m going to be doing today is working on making sure the course is safe to use tonight. If you need me for anything I’ll come running. My mother be damned.”

            “Thank you.” Jinki continued eating for a moment before he asked, “What’s the possibility I get back here after without having anything bought for me?”

            “To be honest, Baby,” Kibum sighed, “We’re gonna need another suitcase.”

            “Babe, listen,  I get that you’re from wealth,” Jinki put his fork down with a deep breath, “But I am not. As much as I know your Mother’s intentions are good, I feel guilty about the idea of your parents buying us anything more than something for a baby shower if we ever had one. It doesn’t feel right to me.”

            “Before you leave I’ll tell her to calm it down a little,” Kibum swiped a little pancake and continued after he swallowed, “You’re a part of this family now Jinki. This is their first grandchild. We live simply, but simple isn’t in my family’s vocabulary. Try to allow them to take care of you. Of both of you.”

            “I’ll try.”

            Kibum gently pulled his jaw to face him, pressing their lips together softly, “That’s all I ask, Baby.”

——

            Standing in the middle of a small baby boutique with his mate’s mother was not Jinki’s idea of a fun time. Pregnant or not. At least at the candle shop, he found one of his favorite scents and just focused on that one the entire time to make it more of a pleasant experience. He was very excited about his black cherry candle. In the middle of this store, all he smelled was the perfume from hell, baby powder and stuffed animal fluff.  There was a small, soft sea turtle plush in one of the displays to the right of the entrance that caught his attention. His mother-in-law had beelined straight for the clothes, but the little turtle pulled at him. He cupped the small thing in his hands and a soft smile spread across his face.

            He crossed his arms across his chest, the stuffed animal held against his chest by them as he slowly moved away from the display to look at the rest of the place. His heart was in his throat when Kibum’s mother came from behind him and grabbed his upper arm, “Oh there you are! Come~ They have the cutest bassinets over here.”

            Jinki swallowed thickly, “Alright.” He eyed the woman’s hand until it slid from him. He scrunched his nose up as he followed her.

            “I think we should get one of this soft pink ones.” She smiled over her shoulder widely, “I have a feeling it’s going to be a girl.”

            “We actually don’t really want to know,” Jinki scratched the back of his neck as he hesitantly as he continued, “The nursery is going to be blue because that’s our favorite color.” He smiled softly, “My brother’s mate is going to paint an ocean scene on one of the walls.”

            Her nose scrunched up in disgust. “I’ll have to talk to my son about that.”

            “We made the decision together,” Jinki said quietly, annoyance growing in him, running his hand over the cloth of the nearest bassinet. “The shade is already picked out and everything.”

            Jinki frowned deeply as the woman scoffed at his words and continued to look at pink things. He held onto his stuffed turtle, walked the other way and hoped he could stay away from his mother-in-law for the rest of the afternoon. It was way easier said than done with how small the shop was. He found a rocking chair and sighed as he laid back against it and pushed off the floor. His eyes were slowly closing when he felt the hands on his shoulders as she happily said, “I found the perfect crib. It comes with pink lace trim.”

            “I would really appreciate buying the big things like that with Kibum.”

            “Oh nonsense,” She squeezed his shoulders and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach twisted. “Alpha’s never like this type of stuff.”

            “But that doesn’t mean they don’t get a say,” Jinki moved away from her, as his voice rose. “And would you please for the love of all things godly, stop TOUCHING me.”

            “Excuse me?”

            “I don’t want you touching me. It makes me feel uncomfortable. Kibum told you last night, I reminded you this morning, but like everything else I’ve said you didn’t respect me enough to actually listen to what I was saying.” Jinki growled, “You may be able to order Kibum around because he loves you enough to follow your idiotic traditions, but I and our child will not.”

            She stared at him with wide eyes, jaw slack in shock, as he turned to pay for the stuffed animal in his hand. Soon enough he was slipping from the store and pulling his phone from his pocket. He pushed the quick contact widget he had on his home screen for Kibum, and after a few rings the Alpha picked it up obviously out of breath. “Hey Baby. Everything okay?”

            “No, not really.” Jinki’s fingers curled around the paper handle of the bag in his hand, “Could you come get me? I’m not exactly sure where I am.”

            “Of course, I’ll be there shortly.” Kibum’s voice was distant for a moment as he said something to the people around him, before he returned to his phone, “Are you still at the baby boutique?”

            “Just outside.”

            “Give me ten minutes Baby.”

            “Thank you.” The phone clicked over and Jinki slid to the ground. His head thunked against the brick wall behind him as his eyes closed. How dare she think she had such a say in their baby’s life to say their father wouldn’t want to be a part of it all because of his classification. If their plane tickets weren’t already bought he would be willing to drive across the country just to be back home at this point.

—–

            He opened his eyes when he smelled his mate, the telltale sign of his cologne reaching his nose before he could hear the man calling his name. Before he knew it Kibum was standing in front of him offering his hands down to help him up. He pressed a kiss to Jinki’s cheek and it was when his Alpha asked him, “What happened Baby?” Did panic take over his heart over what had happened.

            Would he be mad at him for snapping at his mother? “I-” Kibum sensed the shift in his emotions quickly. He put his hands on Jinki’s shoulders and smiled softly at him.

            “Hey, it’s okay. Whatever happened it’s okay.”

            “I yelled at your mother,” Jinki whispered.

            “How come?”

            “She kept pointing out pink things to buy because she thinks we’re gonna have a girl and didn’t listen when I told her we already have it all planned and that we didn’t care what we were having… And she just kept touching me. She wasn’t respecting me or my wishes, and she was belittling how involved you are in this pregnancy with me,” Jinki huffed, “It all added up and I just blew up. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.”

            Kibum quickly wrapped his arms around him, kissing the top of his head before softly saying, “Why would I be mad at you? You stood up for yourself. I’m sorry I made you go.”

            Jinki sniffled gently as he said, “I got a new candle and a pretty turtle plush.”

            “You know what’s just around the corner?”

            “Hmm?” Jinki perked up, pulling away just enough to look up at him.

            “The best bakery in the reservation.” Kibum smiled, “I’ll talk to my mother later, but how about we go get something. I bet you’re hungry.”

            “Okies.”

            As they headed down the street Kibum softly asked, “Lemme see the turtle.”

            “Ah,” Kibum guided him as he fidgeted with his bags to pull out the pastel green plush. He held it up proudly. “It called to me.”

            “Nugget is going to love it.”

            “You think?”

            “I know so,” Kibum’s fingers were comfortably tight on his waist, “Come now, brownies and macarons await.”

—–

            By the time they finally arrived home it was past dark, the moon high in the sky above them. When they walked in Kibum’s mother was in the kitchen, ordering the other people of the house to go set the big table outside. She looked over when the door opened and Jinki swallowed thickly. At the opening of the hallway, Kibum kissed his cheek and patted his , “Go get ready for dinner.”

            “You sure?”

            “Yeah,” Kibum smiled softly, “I’ll join you soon.”

            Jinki took the bags from Kibum’s hands and headed back to their room with one last worried glance between the two. Once he was sure Jinki was in his room he turned toward his mother. She smiled up at him, “I was starting to get worried you were going to be late for dinner.”

            “Can we talk for a moment, Mom?”

            “Of course, Sweetie,” She rubbed her hands on her apron as she turned to face him fully, “Whatever about?”

            “I understand this is your first grandchild and that you’re excited, but how we prepare for the baby is up to Jinki and I.” Kibum walked the rest of the way into the kitchen. “He’s sorry for snapping at you, but he had every right to.”

            “Excuse me, I didn’t think he was raised to disrespect his elders.”

            “He wasn’t, but when you completely ignore the things he’s saying about our baby and touching him when he doesn’t want to he has a right to stick up for himself.”

            “I just wanted to buy pretty things for my grandbaby.”

            “I know Mom.” Kibum smiled softly. It faded as he continued, “I would have loved to go today. I like being involved with everything, but you never thought to ask me if I did because I was an alpha and apparently that automatically made me want nothing to do with the preparation.” He paused when his brother came in to pick another dish up off the counter. Once he was gone he continued, “We may have a girl, we may have a boy, or we may have a child who is neither of those things or a mixture of both. We don’t know, nor do we want to force them into a box. That’s how we choose to go about this. I hope you can respect that.”

            “That’s just… Strange.”

            “To some be loving a man is strange, but I still love him.”

            She sighed after a while, “I’ll try.”

            Kibum walked over to gently hug her, “Thank you. I’ll be out shortly after I clean up.”

            When he returned to their room Jinki was coming from their bathroom gently patting his face dry with a towel. He smiled widely when Kibum came over, but it took him a minute to recuperate the kiss laid upon him out of shock. When Kibum pulled away Jinki softly chuckled, “What was that for?”

            “I’m sorry for not sticking up for you earlier when you said you didn’t want to go.”

            “It’s okay Babe,” Jinki lifted his hand to rub Kibum’s cheek with his thumb as he cupped his jaw. “You love your mother and just want to make her happy. I understand.”

            “You were uncomfortable and I made you go to make it easier on me, and in the process caused you stress.” Kibum kissed his forehead. “We’re a team. I forgot that for a moment when I was suddenly in the position of a son again.”

            “Thank you for apologizing,” Jinki smiled and pushed up to kiss Kibum softly, “You’re forgiven.”

            “Give me five minutes and we’ll go eat.”

            As Kibum moved to walk around him Jinki grabbed his wrist and stopped him gently. “One more.”

            Kibum smiled fondly as he cupped Jinki’s face and kissed him slowly. “I love you.”

            “Love you more.”

—----