“Hey, mom?” Yerim asked while closing the book she was reading.

“Yea?” Seulgi looked up from the paperwork she was working on and glanced at the book her daughter was putting away. “Need help with homework?”

“No. I was just wondering..how was it like in the months B.Y.?”

“B.Y.?”

“Before Yerim.” Yerim pointed at herself smugly.

“Aah..are you asking how was is like when your mom was carrying you?”

“Yes. Since..ya know..she’s not home for the next couple of days, I thought you’d be able to talk about it more freely..should you have any complains..” the teenager chuckled cheekily and was already making herself comfortable on the couch, ready to listen to whatever her mom had to say. She liked it when her mothers told her stories from the past, it helped her learn new things about her doting parents and not to mention the way they told the tales was pretty entertaining.

“You little rascal..”

Yerim beamed as she watched her mother put away her work. It was storytime and probably a good one, too.

---

It all began about a year into their marriage when Seulgi started to have thoughts about expanding their family. The topic had been brought up vaguely once or twice before and Seulgi was pretty sure that Irene wanted children as much as she did. She just needed confirmation at this point.

They were lazing on the couch after dinner one Friday night, Irene was alternating between absentmindedly flipping through the channels and peeling an apple while Seulgi was sprawled on her end of the couch watching whatever channel her wife decided on.

There really was no subtle way to ease into a topic like such so Seulgi decided to just jump into it.

“Hyun?”

Irene hummed lazily as she passed the bowl of freshly cut apples to her, taking a bite of a piece herself.

“What do you think about kids?”

“Kids?”

“Yeah, kids. I think it’d be nice, ya know? Having a little Juhyun running around..” Seulgi trailed off when she saw Irene set the bowl down a little slower than usual and then very slowly, almost to the point of being dramatic, turned to face Seulgi. There was a sigh and Seulgi honestly thought that she might pass out from the suspense.

“Seulgi-ah..am I not enough?”

A mild panic started to build. What kind of question was that? Was Irene feeling insecure or anything of that sort? But before Seulgi could go further into her panic, Irene was already laughing, hand slapping Seulgi’s leg as her pitch went higher.

“You should’ve seen your face!!”

“Hyun!!” Whatever Seulgi wanted to say next died in when Irene got up and sat back down on her lap.

“Seulgi..”

“Y-yes?”

“I would love to start a family with you.”

***

Seulgi would never forget that day when Irene had called her while she was at work, something she almost never did unless it was urgent - like that time she needed Seulgi to run some errands because her in-laws were visiting. Seulgi was in the middle of a meeting with Jessica and Ms Song when it happened. They were discussing the final draft report for one of their clients when Taeyeon knocked on their boss’ office door while holding up Seulgi’s phone, saying that it had been ringing non-stop for the last ten minutes.

Seulgi quickly excused herself and went to call Irene back.

“Seulgi!! Where have you been? I’ve been calling yo-”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, Juhyun-ah. Taeyeon just told me. I was in a meeting with Jessica and Ms Song.”

“Oh..”

Seulgi sighed in relief but somehow she knew her wife was up to something. “Hyun, is everything alright?”

“Seulgi-ah, I was at the clinic earlier with Yongsun.”

“What? Why? Are you okay? Did somethi-”

“Seulgi, calm down. Everything is fine. I have something to tell you.”

“Okay shoot.”

Whatever it was, the suspense was killing her. She heard Irene take a deep breath, as if preparing herself for some kind of big announcement.

“I’m pregnant, Seulgi!”

“Huh? What?”

“Yes, Seulgi, you heard that right. We’re gonna be moms!”

“Yes?”

“Yes, Seulgi.”

She could very well see Irene’s smile from across the city as she confirmed it again that she was, indeed, pregnant their first child.

“Oh my god yes? YES YES YES YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!”

Irene laughed, or she might have imagined it, Seulgi wasn’t sure. Her own cheers drowned out every other sound in the vicinity and everybody was giving her looks. Even Jessica and Ms Song had stepped out of their meeting room to see what the commotion was about.

“Seulgi, is everything alright?” Jessica asked once Seulgi tucked her phone into her pocket.

“JUHYUN IS PREGNANT! WE’RE GONNA BE MOMS!!”

Everybody crowded Seulgi to congratulate her and enveloped her a big group hug. Taeyeon, who was closest to her, grabbed her into a headlock and gave her a noogie.

“Congrats, little one! I can’t believe you two are going to be parents soon.”

“Me neither. Please quit it that hurts!” Seulgi complained and Taeyeon released her.

“Good luck, little one. And have fun.”

As soon as the clock struck six, Seulgi bolted through the door after hastily saying her goodbyes. They understood, she had been out of focused since the phone call earlier that day and was practically begging to go home early but there was work to be done. Seulgi had tried her best to focus but nothing seemed to work. She spent the majority part of the day texting Irene, there was so much to do, so much to discuss and so much to prepare for their first child. She really couldn’t wait. All she wanted to do was to go home to her wife.

Seulgi tapped her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as she sat in a standstill. There seemed to have been an accident a little up ahead and the vehicles involved had taken up and entire lane, causing a bottleneck effect in the otherwise smooth flow of traffic.

The one day when I really need to get home quickly.

She rested her head on the steering wheel in defeat, only to jump when she accidentally pressed the honk instead. Sighing, she gave herself a shake to calm herself down, Irene had texted earlier telling her not to rush, worried that her excitement might get the better of her while she was driving. After what seemed like forever, when really it had only been 15 minutes, Seulgi finally got passed the accident point and it was a smooth journey home.

Seulgi swore she almost pulled out the entire handbrake when she finally parked in their allotted spot in the basement parking of their apartment. She practically sprinted to the elevator and tapped on the up button repeatedly until it dinged and the doors opened. She spent another few more seconds anxiously waiting as the contraption brought her up to her floor and squeezed through the doors before they could fully open.

Irene was all over her the moment she pushed the front door opened. Seulgi picked Irene up and spun them around. Laughs and giggles filled their home as they celebrated the news of their newest member of the family.

---

“The excitement was real.”

“It really was. It’s apparently common for all first time parents to be that way.”

“Who picked my name by the way?” Yerim asked and quickly continued when Seulgi cautiously asked why. “I’m just curious. I love my name.”

“Juhyun picked it, along with your surname.”

“Yea about that. I thought you said you would gladly take mom’s family name? How did she end up taking yours?”

“Because, my dear.” Seulgi paused and smiled smugly, looking very proud of herself. “Contrary to popular belief, your mom is just as whipped for me as I am for her.”

“Fair point.”

---

Seulgi spoiled Irene shamelessly and while Irene had protested, Seulgi didn’t really care. She was going to make sure that Irene was being pampered the way she deserved to be, even when she was in one of her mood swings and was throwing a tantrum at Seulgi.

She handled them well, at least that was what Taeyeon told her whenever she heard stories from Irene about what had happened behind the closed doors of the Kang household. Seulgi had been nothing but patient with her wife whenever Irene got into one of her moods and would slowly figure out a way to placate her. It was a lot of work, not going to lie, since dealing with a temperamental Irene was something very new to her - Irene was mostly a calm person, unless she was being competitive. Then it would be a completely different story altogether, something Seulgi learnt early on in their relationship.

Mood swings aside, Irene was otherwise very easy to take care of. Her food cravings were not as bad as Taeyeon had warned. Apparently Jessica had taken to sending her out food hunting late at night quite a few times and Taeyeon had told Seulgi to prepare in case Irene was also the same. Irene dismissed the thought entirely when she heard it from Seulgi, citing that even she knew those foods were not from their half of the world and no 24-hour convenience store would have them. Seulgi waved it off.

“I would go to the ends of the earth just to find them for you, Hyun.” Seulgi finished with a wink and Irene rolled her eyes.

“Idiot..”

***

Seulgi had decided early on that she was going to splurge on their first child, always excitedly talking to Irene about what they still needed to get. Irene was the level headed one who had to control her overly excited wife whenever they entered a store. Seulgi would otherwise end up buying everything the salesperson recommended, not stopping to think of the practicality of the purchase.

“Yes, thank you but we already have that. Seulgi, let’s go. It’s time for dinner.” Irene coolly thanked the salesperson, who bowed and left them alone, and tugged on her wife’s arm, signalling that it was time to go but Seulgi was still very much engrossed in checking out the strollers that were on display. “Seulgi?”

“Hyun, what do you think about that one?”

“Seulgi, we just got one last week!”

“But this looks so nice! It even has a cup holder! Look!”

“Honey..”

That stopped Seulgi dead in her tracks. It was that tone again and one did not simply mess with Irene when she was using that tone of voice. It would be a death wish. Seulgi gulped and tittered. “Y-yes?”

“Dinner. Let’s go.”

“Okay..” Seulgi meekly replied and allowed herself to be dragged out of the store.

Seulgi’s stomach growled as soon as they exited the store and Irene smiled smugly at her because she apparently knew her wife that well. Seulgi scoffed and pulled out her phone to lookup the mall’s directory, checking for the list of restaurants available. She wasn’t even half way done when she felt Irene tug on her arm again to get her attention.

Irene was pointing at one of the restaurants not too far away from them. Seulgi squinted to read the signboard and her eyes widened. Slowly, she brought up her hand to feel Irene’s forehead for her temperature. “You don’t seem to have a fever..”

“Yah!” Irene very promptly smacked Seulgi’s shoulder.

“Hyun, are you alright?” Seulgi teased.

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you very much. Your daughter wants chicken so there you go.”

“Alright alright..” Seulgi laughed and bent down towards Irene’s baby bump. “I can’t believe you got your mom to want to eat chicken, Yerim-ah! We’re going to get along just fine.” Seulgi looked up and beamed at Irene who was shaking her head.

“Children..”

Seulgi looked warily at her wife when they stood in front of the shop, not sure if Irene was going to go through with it. She was not particularly fond of the dish, after having had a bad experience eating it when she was younger. But Irene was determined to have chicken for dinner so there really wasn’t anything Seulgi could do about it besides to be supportive.

Irene had enjoyed the meal thoroughly, but declared that it would be the last time she ever touched the meat. Cravings or not, once was enough, no matter how much she loved their child.

***

“Wow, mom did that?”

“Yup. She did that.”

“Who did what?”

Yerim and Seulgi turned their heads towards the front door when they heard the question and was greeted by the sight of Irene taking off and putting away her shoes.

“Mom! You’re back early!” Yerim went over and helped her mother with her luggage.

“Thanks. How were you two while I was away?” Irene smiled when Seulgi came over and pecked her cheek. “I see the house is still standing.”

“You’re back early..” Seulgi changed the topic immediately, not wanting it to get to the topic of her accidentally almost burning the kitchen down that one time. Irene seemed to know her intentions and smirked knowingly at Seulgi, who feigned innocence and smiled. Yerim looked at her parents and rolled her eyes.

“Insufferable..” she mumbled and her eyes darted to her parents, fearing that they might have heard but thankfully, they seemed to be lost in each others eyes and Yerim sighed in relief.

Seulgi put away most of Irene’s things while her wife lazed on the couch with their daughter, tired from her travels. She had been out with Yongsun attending an annual meeting held at their company’s head office across the country. Seulgi joined them a little while later and Irene all but latched herself onto Seulgi the moment she sat down.

“Why are you so comfortable?”

“That’s because you were on a bus for five hours.”

“True..what were you two talking about when I got in? Something about somebody doing something?”

“Mom was telling me about that one time you had chicken.”

Irene’s face scrunched in disdain recalling the only time she had ever eaten chicken in her adult life and sighed. “The things I did for you, daughter dear.”

“I appreciate it, I really do.” Yerim shifted her attention to Seulgi, wanting to know the rest of the story. “So what did you two do afterwards? Shop some more?”

“Nope, we went home for dessert.”

“Seulgi!” Irene’s eyes widened, remembering what had happened afterwards vividly.

“Dessert? Mom made dessert?”

“Yea. It was a spread. Very satisfying.”

“SEULGI!!”

---

END.