¤- Age: 26 -¤

Max could truly say that he had never been so excited in his life. The day Seohyun had told him that she was pregnant. They hadn’t been trying or anything, they had talked about it and decided that they were young and if it happened it happened. And it had happened. Seohyun had felt sick after their trip to the seaside. They both thought it was bad shellfish. He rubbed her back as she threw up morning after morning. He started to get worried after a week, and he sent her in to the doctor’s office. He remembered the conversation he had had with his appa that day.

“Changmin? What’s wrong? You sound tired…” His appa had called him to check in. His appa would call him every month or so. They would email from time to time. Getting away from his appa was a good thing. His resentment went down. Seohyun would feel bad and tell him to invite his appa over to dinner. Max would make excuses, that his appa was busy or didn’t want to come over. His wife would give him that look, telling him that she didn’t believe him but she didn’t push it.

“I am. Seohyun is sick.” Max rubbed his eyes.

“Has she gone to the hospital?” He could hear the worry in his appa’s voice.  That frustrated him.

“Of course, she is going today.” Max could hear the edge in his voice.

“Ah, yes. That’s good. I hope she feels better soon.” The awkward atmosphere reappeared.

“I’ll call you when I hear anything…” Max sighed as he hung up the phone. He knew his appa must be lonely, he was still living in the house he had grown up in. The rest of the day went by slowly.

Max rushed home. “Seohyun! I’m home!” He ran into the house to see his wife standing at the door smiling. “Yeobo! Are you okay? What did the doctor say?”

She smiled and walked into him, her head nestled in his chest. He put his arms around her, starting to get scared.

“I’m pregnant.” Max could feel his eyes get large.

“Are you serious?” She nodded. He lifted her up and swung her around. “I’m going to be a dad!” He hugged her. The fear and joy flowed through him at once. They celebrated and called all their friends and family.

When Seohyun was asleep in bed Max snuck out to the living room. He took his phone out and slowly dialed the number. It had barley rung before someone picked up.

“Hello? Changmin is something wrong? Why are you calling this late?” The tone in his appa’s voice wasn’t worry like when he had told him about Seonhyun, but it was panic.

“I’m fine, I was calling to tell you about Seohyun.” He heard his appa sigh in relief.

“Okay, I was worried….”

“Seohyun is pregnant.”

“Congratulations son! I am so excited for you!” He heard the pure happiness in the voice.

“How was it for…” Max broke off, almost ashamed for asking.

“It was the most wonderful time. Be there to support your wife, it will be harder for her. Once you see the ultrasound with your child on the screen it hits home.” His appa’s voice was full of emotions as he spoke. “It’ll be a great journey for you two to go on together.”

“How do you know that.”

“What do you mean Changmin?”

“A Journey together, you never had a journey with anybody. You don’t know what it is like to raise a child with someone.” There was silence on the other side of the phone.

“I guess you are right Changmin. I’m sorry. Congratulations. You are going to be an amazing appa.”

“No thanks to you,” Max muttered under his breathe. He didn’t know why this was making him so upset. He should be happy that his appa was excite and happy for him. He should listen to his appa’s advice. He should do so many things but all it was, was annoying to him. Maybe he was jealous of his son or daughter who would have the childhood he always dreamed of. He would make sure his child had everything he didn’t. The long silence on the other end, made Max sure that his appa had heard his muttered comment.

“You’re right, I hope you are a better appa then I was to you.” This time it was Max’s turn to be quiet.

“I’m going to bed.”

“Good night son.” Max hung up the phone.

He didn’t talk to his appa until the day he and Seohyun found out the gender of their child. Sitting in the doctor’s office, staring at the ultrasound monitor, and seeing this little figure inside his wife was magical.

“It’s a girl, and she looks very healthy.” Seohyun let out a sob of relief. Max was smiling a little girl. He was hoping for a girl. A boy would carry on the name, but having a little girl was so appealing to him.

“You should call your appa and tell him the news.” Seohyun’s voice broke his concentration when they were driving back home. He hesitated. “He is your appa and your daughter’s harabeoji.” He simply nodded. When they got home Seohyun excused herself to go take a nap and Max stared at his phone. He sighed and called.

“Hello?”  Max frowned and heard voices in the background.

“Hello? Appa? Where are you?”

“Yunho-ah! Hurry up!” Max felt his blood boiling.

“Who is that appa?”

“One second So Woosang, my son in on the line! Sorry Changmin, I’m out with a friend or two.” He heard the music become quieter.

“Who is this So Woosang?” Max glaring at this invisible person.

“He is a friend of mine from college. He came into town and invited me out.”  HE? HE?! Max was ready to scream. This would not do.

“Oh that must be fun….”

“Yeah it is, I finally get to meet Aoochi, Woosang has been talking about his boyfriend for ages, but I have never been able to meet him.” The blood that was pounding in his head started to settle down. “Why did you call Changmin?”

“We went to the doctor’s today. I going to have a daughter.” He heard his appa scream.

“That is great Changmin! You guys must be so excited!”

“Yeah we are. Seohyun is taking a nap right now.”

“Do you want to come out and celebrate?” He heard his appa’s apprehension. A part of him wanted to go.

“I should be home when Seohyun wakes up.”

“Ah… yes you should. I wasn’t thinking….” His appa’s voice hid any hints of disappointment.

“YUNHO-AH come back!” The voice who must have been Woosang yelled.

“One second, I told you I was talking to my son, he just found out he and his wife are going to be having a daughter!” Max could hear the pride him his appa’s voice.

“That’s great! Does your son look like Jae? If so he must be beautiful,” Max heard the laugh of his man “How is Jae? I haven’t seen him in ages.” Everything became very muffled, his appa must have put his hand over the mouth piece.

“Well congratulations Changmin, I’ll call you again and see if you need help…”

“Wait!” Max yelled out desperately.

“What is it?”

“How does Woosang know my umma?” For a while all he could hear was the soft music in the background.

“We all three worked together in a class in college, we were all friends. I have to go. Goodbye Changmin.”

Changmin sat there stunned even after the phone call was done. He should have gone out, maybe this man would have told him about his umma. This plagued his thoughts for the rest of the week.

“Yeobo,” Max looked up at his wife. “I think it is time to pick a name for our daughter” Max nodded in agreement, it was something they should do.

“Do you have any ideas?”

“Well….I was thinking maybe Yoona, Yoonji, Yoori, Yoonjoo….” Seohyun counted them off on his fingers.

“Why with the ‘Yoo’ theme?” he watched as his wife turned red.

“I was thinking we could name her after your appa….”

“I was thinking more Jaemin, Jaena, or….” Max countered. He looked at his wife who was giving him the look. The look that said ‘I know what you are thinking, picking names that start with ‘Jae’’

“Yeobo, how about names that don’t have Yoo or Jae in it?” They debated for a long time about the names. Seohyun finally gave in.

“Jaehwa.” The name was perfect.

They spent the remaining month preparing their house and a bedroom room for Jaehwa. His appa had stopped over a view times dropping off diapers, clothing, toys, and bibs for them. He usually came when Max was still a work. He knew his appa and Seohyun got along well and was happy that his appa made his wife happy.

“Yeobo!” Max woke up in a haze of confusion. “YEOBO!” he opened his eyes to hiss Seohyun sitting up in bed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think my water broke.”

The next 10 hours were a blur.

The driving to the hospital,

the signing in,

the hospital beds,

the doctor’s jargon,

the needles,

the phone calls,

the screaming,

the crying, the baby.  

The perfect baby. The first time he saw Jaehwa he knew she was perfect. The cry was perfect, her face was perfect, everything about her. Holding her was the scariest thing he had ever done. He had the fear that he would drop her that she would cry. But once she was in his arms, nothing mattered. Hours later when both Jaehwa and Seohyun was asleep he sat in the chair wondering at the fact that he was an appa.

A/N: NEXT CHAPTER GOES DOWN. ARE YOU READY? TWO CHAPTERS LEFT! AH! YOU WILL MEET JAE NEXT CHAPTER. Actual Jae not a memory or a discussion but him in the flesh