“Here, eat this.”

With a spoonful of rice halfway poised to , Amina watched as Youngbae placed more juipo onto her plate.  Although she loved the taste of the salty sweet fish jerky his mother made, this was the second time during the last five minutes that he had taken it upon himself to serve her.  With Hyeonbae sitting across the table, Amina could only bow her head briefly in thanks.

They were having lunch with his brother and mother before they drove back to the city.  Several minutes earlier, Amina woke up in bed alone feeling momentarily disoriented.  Based on the amount of sunlight that was streaming through the blinds, it was later in the morning than she had expected.  Had she been at the apartment, Amina wouldn’t have thought anything of it.  But they were at his parent’s house.  She immediately jumped out of bed, threw her clothes on, and rushed to the bathroom to wash up.  The last thing she wanted was his mother thinking she had a lazy future daughter-in-law.

Once she made sure she looked presentable, Amina headed straight towards the kitchen ignoring the curious glances of Youngbae and Hyeonbae as they hung out in the living area.  His mother was still busy cooking and welcomed the additional help.  But a minute later, Youngbae came strolling by and could tell by the strained look on her face that something was wrong.  He quietly stepped up next to Amina as she worked on cleaning the greens at the sink.

He took in the high messy bun at the crown of her head, her face clear of any make-up, and the rosy glow on her cheeks.  She wore a simple white v-neck fitted tee and black yoga sweats.  She’d never look any hotter to him than at this moment.  But the pent up expression on her face made him wary.  He hesitated briefly before asking, “How are you feeling?”

She ignored his question.

“You should have woken me up,” Amina replied curtly, her eyes stonily averted as she concentrated on rubbing the spinach leaves clean under running water.  Her fingers worked quickly as she grabbed more vegetables to clean.

And that was it.  Her mood had been thrown off ever since she’d gotten up from her nap and those were the last words she said to him.  So much for their earlier rendezvous session.  At least Youngbae took the hint.  He kept his distance and let her do what she needed to get done.  She still had yet to say a word to him, even as they all sat down to eat at the dining table.

Until now.

He placed some nuhbiani on her plate.  This time, she couldn’t hold back.  Amina glanced up and showed him with her eyes how irritated she was.

“Oppa…” she seethed quietly.

Youngbae paused in the middle of transferring another helping of meat to her plate.  He looked up innocently and raised his eyebrows in question. 

They had a silent stare down.

With her steely gaze still on him, Youngbae deliberately placed the extra serving of meat next to the rest of her uneaten items and returned to his own meal.  Amina looked down.  Now there were four side dish spoonfuls and two scoops of the nuhbiani meat that circled ringside around her rice.  How was she supposed to eat all of this?   

Neh!  How was she going to eat it all?  Every time she took one bite, he added two more spoonfuls to her plate.  Did he not know that it was rude if you didn’t eat everything you took out of the communion dish?  Why couldn’t he just let her eat in peace?  She wasn’t going to starve their baby.  Did he not trust her to at least take care of that little bit of necessity?  Wasn’t that her basic duty as a mother – to provide nourishment for their child?  If he couldn’t even trust her with that… what else did he not trust her with? 

Amina’s mouth started trembling as she chewed, her head bowed over her plate.  She couldn’t taste the food anymore.  The thoughts rambling inside her mind had taken over, unconsciously upsetting her.  Her body shook quietly and she sniffed back tears. 

The small sound immediately had Youngbae swinging his head over.  Unbeknownst to Amina, there were already hot tears streaming down her face as she continued chewing her food morosely. He grew alarmed and threw his arm over the back of her chair.  Youngbae leaned over, his mouth next to her ear.  “Jagi, what’s wrong?”     

The floodgates opened. 

“I can’t eat all of this!  Hu....”  Amina started weeping, placing another spoonful of rice in .  She wiped the tears on her face with the back of her other free hand.

“Young-ah!” his mother scolded from the end of the table.  “What did you do to her?”

Hyeonbae looked up from his plate and stopped chewing, his mouth still full of food.  “Yah! You’re supposed to torment your wife after you marry her, not before.”  He continued eating, pleased to see a look of discomfort cloud his younger brother’s face.

Youngbae shot him an irritated glance.  “Jagi…” he whispered quietly into her ear. He grabbed the spoon from her hand and set it down.  “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.”

“A-ani,” Amina hiccupped, picking the spoon back up.  “I have to eat it.  Or else your umma will think t-that…”  She choked up, her eyes still on the plate.  “…not only does she have a lazy myeoneuri, but a rude one too.”  Amina’s voice went all high-pitched as she continued sobbing.  She placed some kimchi into and chewed pitifully.

“Is that what you told her, Young-ah?”  His mother huffed and got out of her chair.  She smacked him in the back of the head as she walked by.  Youngbae flinched at the unexpected sudden force, rubbing at the sore spot.

Hyeonbae chuckled.

“I didn’t say that,” Youngbae called after his mother who was making her way to the fridge.  He furrowed his brows, feeling affronted.  Leaning back down towards Amina, he pleaded, “Baby, please don’t cry.”  But to his chagrin, she kept crying softly, her head bent.  Youngbae let out a frustrated sigh and tried to pull her into the circle of his arms.

“Hajima!” she sniffled, pushing his arm away.  “You want her to think I’m that type of girl too?” 

Youngbae raised his eyes towards the ceiling.  “God help me.”

His mother came back and swatted his hands away from Amina.  “Oh-Oh,” she cooed, bringing Amina into her arms.  She sat a bottle of water down on the table.  “There, there.  Don’t listen to him.”  She patted Amina’s back and sent Youngbae a glare.

“Look at that food!” she chided at Youngbae.  “How do expect her to eat all of that?”

Youngbae flushed.  Neh, it was a lot of food if he had to admit it himself.  But he didn’t want his baby to go hungry.  Both of his babies.  He bit the inside his cheek to prevent himself from saying more and slowly started transferring the items onto his plate.

Amina buried her head into his mother’s stomach, seeking comfort in the shelter of her arms.  She didn’t know why she was making such a big fuss out of everything.  But when Youngbae kept adding and adding… she felt a sudden loss of control and the inability to make choices for herself.  Starting with the loss of control over what she ate.  Then the inability to provide food for their baby.  This somehow snowballed and translated into other irrational thoughts she knew she normally wouldn’t have conjured up had he just left her alone!  She let out another sob and vaguely registered the hum of voices around her.

“Young-ah!  You should not be adding stress to your wife’s life.  She needs to focus on taegyo and avoid unpleasant thoughts.  What the mother feels – the baby will feel.” 

“Neh,” Hyeonbae couldn’t help but add, his eyes full of merriment.  “The aegi will be affected by the stress.  Come out smaller… or in your case, even shorter than it probably will.”  He grinned in satisfaction at the eye daggers thrown his way.

“Yah!  And you!”  Their mother threw a glare at Hyeonbae’s direction.  “As the ajubeoni, you should set an example.  You see how much your dongsaeng was putting on her plate, you should have stopped him!”

“Mwuh?”  Hyeonbae looked at her innocently.  “How am I supposed to know how much jesu-sshi can or can not eat?  Maybe they want to have a fat aegi… with short legs,” he finished abruptly.

“Aish…” Youngbae gritted under his breath.

Hyeonbae chuckled and grinned across the table.  “Who are you kidding?  Look at you two.  My niece or nephew will be lucky if they take after their keun abeoji instead of their appa.”

Youngbae ignored the retort and turned awkwardly in his chair towards Amina.  He started patting her back lightly, wherever his mother wasn’t already rubbing.  “Jagiya-ah…” he stressed, drawing the endearment out.  His face and nose scrunched up.  “Mianhaeyo.”

Amina sniffed quietly.

“Now, now,” his mother patiently chimed in, her voice warm and soft.  “Let’s not get worked up.  It’s not good for you or the baby, alright?”

Amina nodded, her forehead rubbing against his mom’s soft belly.

“Neh,” his mother agreed.  “Young-ah, take your anae to the bathroom to clean up.  And please… try not to make her cry, arasso?”  She gave him a pointed look.

Youngbae bowed his head and stood up from his chair, feeling thoroughly chastised.  He watched as Amina slowly straightened and stood up as well, keeping her head bowed as she turned and left the table… without him.  He followed pathetically behind.

“Jagi…” he called to her once again, watching Amina wash her face in the bathroom sink.  He grabbed the guest towel off the rack and handed it to her.  “Mianhaeyo,” he apologized once more, his face sulking with guilt.  “Please don’t be upset,” he begged, stepping closer to her, the front of his t-shirt brushing against her arm lightly.  He furrowed his eyebrows and eyed her bent head regretfully.  “I promise I won’t do it again.”

Amina rubbed the towel over her achy eyelids and turned to face him.  She sniffed once more, feeling her breathy hiccups subside as her breathing returned to normal.  But for some reason, the look of remorse on his face made her want to cry even more.  She started up again, bawling into the towel.

Now, he just felt like laughing.

“Come here baby,” Youngbae said, biting back his smile as he pulled Amina into his arms.  He rocked her gently and rubbed her back as she continued sobbing against his neck.  With her safely tucked away, Youngbae allowed himself to grin openly and tried his best to keep the smile out of his voice as he talked to her.

“Neh, I know…” he bull-ted.  “You’re feeling overwhelmed.  The feeling will pass.”  He didn’t know what the hell he was talking about right now, but hey!  They didn’t pass him the mic for impromptus for no reason.  He was better than good at tossing out sentimental advice when needed!

Amina took in a shaky breath, her arms tightening around his lean waist.  She could feel the steady rhythm of his heart as it beat solidly against her chest and took comfort in it.

He looked down, his lips brushing her cheek.  “And I promise… to be a good nampyeon and listen better next time.”  A lop-sided grin crossed his face.  “I won’t force you to eat anything you don’t want to, arasso?”

He felt her nod against him.

“Arasso.”  He gently replied on her behalf.

“Mianhae,” she shakily whispered, the puffs of air tickling his neck.  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”  She raised her head and looked at him bewilderedly.

“It’s okay,” he smiled.  “You’re pregnant.  I think it’s normal.”

“Jeongmal?”

She looked so confused.  A feeling of protectiveness came over him.  He dipped his head marginally, even though he felt a little uncertain.  He’d tell her anything right about now just to get her to stop crying.  Especially since she was crying over something small and trivial… like food.  “Neh,” he reassured her.  “Have you felt like this before?”

“Ani,” Amina replied quickly, shaking her head.  “It’s just you.  You make me upset,” she blurted, her eyes accused him softly.  “Stop making me upset.”  She let out an anxious sigh, feeling on the verge of succumbing to another bout of tears.

Youngbae grinned and nodded his head quietly.  “I promise.  No more.”  He squeezed his arms around her shoulders and placed a kiss on the corner of .  “I’ll promise to make sure you’re happy all the time.”  He kissed her again, pressing against her unresponsive lips.

The wariness still lingered in her eyes.

“Maybe I’ll just keep you in bed until the baby arrives…” Youngbae whispered, watching with pure male satisfaction as a pink hue crept up her cheeks.  “Neh.”  His eyes traveled the length of her face with quiet hunger as he his lips lightly.  “What do you think about that idea, hmm?”  He leaned back down and captured her lips, rubbing slowly until he felt her sweet response.

“Neh?” He murmured and opened his eye marginally to peer down at her.

Amina made a disgruntled sound, her brows frowning as kissed him back softly.

He smiled and closed his eyes, opening his mouth to slide his tongue against hers.

A few moments later…

“So when you go home, you want to make sure to surround yourself with peaceful thoughts,” Youngbae’s mother instructed, as she packed homemade kimchi and juipo into containers for the couple.  She looked back up at Amina. “If you are craving something, then eat it.  That is good taegyo.  But make sure you only eat beautiful food.  It can’t be blemished.  And it also can’t be broken or soft…  like tofu.  Or else the baby will be weak.”

Amina’s eyes widened as she nodded fervently, taking it all in.  This was beyond anything she’d learn in medical school.

“Don’t eat duck,” warned his mother.  “Or else the baby will come out with webbed feet.”

“Neh.”  Amina’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Youngbae glanced over at Amina’s serious expression, fighting the urge to laugh.

“And don’t eat chicken skin, because the baby’s skin will come out bumpy.”

Amina bobbed her head eagerly.

Youngbae grinned unabashedly, a small chuckle escaping from his lips.  He quickly coughed to cover his faux pas.   

Amina glanced over, surprised by his presence.  She thought he was with Hyeonbae in the living room. “Mwuh?”

He immediately looked down and shook his head, biting back his smile.  “Nothing.  Just something in my throat.”  He scratched the back of his neck self-consciously and cleared his throat for good measure before innocently looking back up at her, his eye smile in place.  Amina barely had time to pay him any mind before more advice flooded her way.

“And try to learn something while you’re pregnant.  It will help the baby be smart because of your actions,” his mother added.

Amina nodded slowly.  “I’m studying for my MCAT right now so I can return to medical school, so that should help right?”

“Neh,” his mother’s face brightened.  “Neh, that will definitely help!”

Amina beamed.

“Anything that helps you continually learn and grow will transfer to the baby, is good taegyo.”  His mother continued, “You’ll also want to listen to soothing music and talk to the baby every once in awhile.”

“Talk to the baby?” Amina’s brows puckered distressfully.

Youngbae chewed on the inside of his cheek to stop from smiling, as he watched an array of emotions cross Amina’s face.  He knew he shouldn’t find it so funny, but she was too cute – her reactions so honest and open.  It was like watching someone discover something about themselves for the first time.  It was… refreshing.

“Neh,” his mother continued, putting the items into a bag.  She gathered watermelon slices into another container for Amina.  “When you’re cooking, you can tell the baby what you’re doing.  Or if you’re walking at the park, you can describe what you’re seeing.  Little things.”  She smiled the familiar eye smile.  “It’ll give the baby a