Part 3

Forever Shorties

 

Yunho barely slept that night. Every movement of Jaejoong’s; every arm twitch, every leg stretch, woke Yunho. Each time he woke, Yunho gently caressed Jaejoong’s face and placed a kiss on his cheek.
 
At 4 am Yunho woke again. Jaejoong was squirming in the narrow bed, whimpering with an unknown nightmare. Yunho rubbed Jaejoong’s back in slow, long , hoping to calm him down. Yunho laid in the darkness and watched Jaejoong sleep.
 
Yunho stood to stretch; his back in tight knots. He was pacing the room when a nurse came in to check on them. Yunho glanced at the clock; it was almost 7 am.
 
“The doctor will be in shortly to give Mr. Kim one final check up.”
 
“Thank you. I’ll wake him up. You can leave now.”
 
The nurse nodded and left. Yunho watched her before sitting on the edge of the hospital bed.
 
“Jae?” Yunho reached out and shook Jaejoong’s arm gently. Jaejoong moaned and rolled away. Yunho chuckled. “Jaejoongie, it’s time to wake up, Baby. The doctor wants to give you a check up before we leave.”
 
“Hug me.” Jaejoong pulled on Yunho’s hand weakly. Yunho pulled Jaejoong into a tight hug.
 
“The doctor will be here soon. You want me to stay, right?”
 
“Yeah,” Jaejoong nodded.
 
Jaejoong didn’t move when he heard the door open. He stayed still, his head resting on Yunho’s shoulder.
 
“If you’ll lay back, please, Mr. Kim, I want to examine you,” the doctor said softly. “I’ve called for the ultrasound machine and it should be here in a minute.
 
Jaejoong nodded. He winced when the doctor pressed on his stomach.
 
“Does that hurt?”
 
“A little.” Jaejoong winced again as the doctor touched another part of his abdomen. The doctor kept his expression neutral, but Jaejoong knew that the tenderness in his stomach wasn’t normal. He reached for Yunho’s hand.
 
A few moments later a nurse wheeled in the ultrasound machine. Jaejoong tightened his grip on Yunho’s hand. He really didn’t want to see the babies. He didn’t want this whole ordeal to be real. He closed his eyes; he didn’t want to look. He winced when the doctor moved the wand over the same tender area as before.
 
The exam was over quickly and the doctor left.
 
“Yunho? What happened?” Jaejoong asked worried.
 
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say anything; he just stared at the screen. I’m going to go see if I can find him.”
 
“No!” Jaejoong pulled on Yunho’s arm. “Just stay here with me, please. I just don’t want to be alone.”
 
Yunho leaned down and kissed Jaejoong softly. They sat together and waited for the doctor. The tension was palpable.
 
The doctor returned almost 15 minutes later, with a different machine and a nurse. They hooked a belt with small electrodes on it around his waist. They adjusted the electrodes so they sat on the tender spots the doctor found earlier.
 
It was deathly quiet as the doctor read the squiggly lines the machine printed out. The lines made no sense to Jaejoong, so he just held tightly to Yunho’s hand. Yunho on the other hand studied the doctor’s expression, trying to figure out the prognosis.
 
The doctor unhooked the belt from Jaejoong’s waist. “Your best option is to terminate the smaller, unhealthy baby. It’s weight is probably going to stay low and it may be born with severe disabilities. If it even survives.”
 
“What if I want to try to keep it?” Jaejoong asked in earnest.
 
“There’s no guarantee that it will survive another month, let alone 8 months.”
 
“But if I want to keep it; what can be done?” Jaejoong tried to keep emotion out of his voice.
 
“You need to be put on bed rest. You’ll have to come in weekly for check ups. And we’ll have to keep the schedule open for you if the worst happens and the baby dies. The longer it lives, the riskier it will be for the other baby. Right now, we can remove the fetus with ease. They aren’t too active.”
 
“But once they get bigger?”
 
“It can become risky.” The doctor spoke softly, “I’ll let you two talk it out. When you’ve made your decision, call for the nurse.”
 
Several seconds of silence tick by.
 
“Yunho, I want…”
 
“I know,” Yunho interrupts. “I know. It’s going to be hard. But we’ll take care of you. I will take care of you. I can take time off from work. They can handle themselves with out me. And when I absolutely need to be there, Mom and your mom and your sisters can all help. I will hire a team of doctors to take care of you if I have to. I have just one question: Are you sure this is really what you want?”
 
Jaejoong looked up at Yunho. “This is what I want,” he said, determined to prove the doctor wrong.
 
“I love you,” was all Yunho thought to say. “We can do this together.”
 
“We can’t tell Jyuni and Changmin.”
 
“That your pregnant?”
 
“No. That we might have twins. Not yet, not until we are sure both babies will be okay. Jyuni and Changmin are both still so young, they won’t understand that sometimes… Sometimes babies don’t make it.” Jaejoong was on the verge of tears.
 
Yunho sat next to his husband, unsure of what to do or say to make it better.  “Baby? Are you ready to go home?”
 
“Yeah.”
 
Jaejoong was silent for the ride home. Once back at the apartment he went straight to the bedroom. He just wanted to lay down in his own bed, on sheets and pillows that smelt like his husband. And he wanted his husband to hold him for a while.
 
“What’s wrong with Dada?” Jyuni asked and tugged on Yunho’s pants.
 
“He’s tired, Princess. Let’s let Dada rest for a while and then we’ll all have dinner.” He hugged his daughter. “Jihee, I’m gonna go talk to him for a little while.”
 
“I’ll keep the kids busy. I’m going to start dinner in about an hour.”
 
 
“Jae?” Yunho pushed the door open slowly. “Do you want to be left alone?”
 
“No.”
 
Yunho crawled on to the bed slowly. He was careful as he laid down next to Jaejoong.
 
“I’m scared, Yunho.” Jaejoong rolled over and laid his head on Yunho’s stomach.
 
“I know, Baby.” Yunho carded his fingers through Jaejoong’s hair slowly. “We’ll get through this together. Okay?”
 
Jaejoong was silent. He wanted to believe he was going to be alright; that the twins were going to be fine. But there was anxiety eating away at any calm feelings he had. He was still exhausted and Yunho was very comfortable to rest on.
 
Jaejoong was almost asleep when he felt a gentle tugging on his pant leg. He looked over his shoulder to see his tiny son peeping over the edge of the bed.
 
“Dada?”  Changmin questioned softly.
 
“Come here my little baby.” Jaejoong lifted the baby on to the bed. As he did, he felt a tinge of pain shoot through his back.
 
Changmin crawled to lay down between his parents. He had missed his Daddy so much and his Dada was sick. He was beside himself with worry. But laying next to his parents, he felt better. He let out an audible sigh and closed his eyes.
 
“He’s a sweet baby, isn’t he.” Yunho pet Changmin’s hair.
 
“He really is. He’s not asleep. I can always tell when he’s faking it.” Jaejoong leaned over and kissed Changmin’s head; causing the toddler to giggle.
 
Jaejoong and Yunho turned to a knock on the door. “Dinner’s ready,” Jihee said as she pushed the door open. “I’m sorry. I knew you wanted privacy. I thought Changmin was playing in the living room.” 
 
“It’s okay. Can you bring Jyuni in for us. We need to have a family meeting.”
 
 
Jyuni snuggled with her brother between her parents. Jihee sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Yunho or Jaejoong to start speaking. They were quiet for a long time.
 
Yunho wrapped his arm around the children. “We need you two to listen very carefully. Dada is pregnant…”
 
“That means he has a baby in his tummy,” Jyuni filled in for a confused looking Changmin. Changmin stared at her, eyes wide in fear.
 
“That’s right. He needs a little extra care right now, because the baby may be…” Yunho stopped when Changmin started crying hysterically.
 
“Changmin, Baby what’s wrong?” Jaejoong tried to comfort his son, but the child just slapped his father’s hand away.
 
“Changmin! We don’t hit! Apologize to your Dada.” Yunho chastised.
 
“No! Dada, no!” Changmin shrieked through his tears.
 
“Changmin! What is wrong with you?” Yunho pulled Changmin on to his lap.
 
“Dada eat baby!” Changmin struggled away from Yunho.
 
“What?”
 
“Bad Dada! No eat baby!” Changmin cried and hiccupped.
 
“No, Changminnie, Sweetie. I didn’t eat a baby.” Jaejoong said softly, finally understanding his son’s hysterics.
 
Changmin looked at Jaejoong with fat tears still in his eyes. “No eat baby?”
 
“No, Honey. See, Daddy and I love each other very much and we want to have a big family. You are going to have a new baby brother or sister soon.” Jaejoong looked at Yunho. Explaining pregnancy to a 1 year old wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to do.
 
“Changminnie. Babies need to sleep inside their mommy or Dada before they can be born. You and Jyuni both slept in Dada’s tummy and grew big and strong.”
 
Their explanation seemed to calm Changmin down enough for Yunho to finish. “Now you two need to listen carefully. Dada’s not feeling good and sometimes it’s hard to have babies. So I need you both to be super good for Dada. He needs lots of rest. Auntie Jihee and Grandma will be here and they will play with you. But you need to be gentle with Dada. He can’t run around with you or play rough.”
 
“You can come in when ever you want as long as you are careful,” Jaejoong added. He didn’t want his babies to feel neglected.
 
“We’ll take care of you Dada! We love you!” Jyuni carefully hugged Jaejoong and rested her head on his should. She smiled, kissing him softly on the cheek.
 
Changmin crawled over to Jaejoong and very carefully rested his head on Jaejoong’s stomach. He wanted to hear the baby, but he didn’t. He frowned, but whispered to the baby. Jaejoong tried to listen to what Changmin was saying; but his words got lost in his baby-babble.
 
“Dada? Can we eat dinner in here with you?” Jyuni asked. She didn’t want to leave Jaejoong’s side.
 
“Of course, Precious. Auntie and I will go get everyone’s dinner.” Yunho said as he stood. 
 
 
“So, he’s keeping both babies.” Jihee said when they got to the kitchen.
 
“Yeah. I tried to talk him out of it, but… You know how he can be.” Yunho pinched the bridge of his nose. The stress was getting to him and he didn’t like not being in control.
 
“I know. He’s stubborn. But he won’t do anything that will jeopardize his health. He knows, deep down what he has to do if things go bad.” Jihee rested her hand on Yunho’s should. “You’ll get through this as a family.”
 
Yunho and Jihee walked back into the bedroom. Jihee smiled at the scene; Changmin and Jyuni were sitting on either side of Jaejoong as he thumbed through their baby books. Yunho was obsessive about putting the books together. They were still working on Changmin’s book.
 
They ate together and talked quietly. It was pleasant and Jaejoong, as scared as he was, was happy.
 
Jihee offered to do the dishes before she left. She promised to be there bright and early so Yunho could go to work for an hour and explain what happened and that he needed some time off.
 
 
After Yunho gave both the children bath and they were asleep Yunho stretched out on the bed. “I was thinking,” Yunho started.
 
“Yeah? About what?” Jaejoong scooted closer to Yunho and rested his head on Yunho’s chest.
 
“We’re gonna need a bigger house. We’re going to have four children soon. Jyuni needs her own room. Changmin should have his own room. The twins can share a room. We need a room.”
 
“I want a house. I mean, I love this apartment and I like apartment living. But I want a house. At least 4 bedrooms, a big family room.”
 
“Nice two car garage. A big backyard for the kids to play in. That all sounds really nice.” Yunho rubbed Jaejoong’s belly as he spoke. He was trying to contain his excitement but the idea of twins made him so happy. “How about I run out tomorrow and grab some papers. We can work out a budget and start house hunting.”
 
“I like that idea. I can look online and Jyuni and Changmin can help.”
 
“You know Jyuni. She’s going to pick the first yellow house she sees.”
 
Jaejoong laughed. “I’ll call the bank and set up an appointment to look at loan options.”
 
“Only if they will do it over the phone. Or once you’re farther along. I don’t want you to stress out over this. I know you. And I know how much of a control freak you can be.”
 
“I know. I’ll be careful, Baby. I swear.” Jaejoong sat up a little. He kissed Yunho softly.
 
Yunho smiled into the kiss. He wrapped his arms around Jaejoong’s waist and pulled him closer. He slid a hand under Jaejoong’s shirt, teasing the skin slightly.
 
“Hey. Isn’t this how we got into this whole thing in the first place?” Jaejoong joked. He settled down against Yunho’s side.
 
“I’m blaming you. You had to be so damn attractive and flirt with me first.” Yunho stripped off his shirt. Anytime he could be shirtless he was most comfortable.
 
“I think you have a faulty memory. It was you flirting with me. Telling me about your great new job and how you’d be able to support a big family. You practically drooled on yourself the first time you saw me.”
 
“I did. You’re so beautiful and perfect. Sometimes I can’t figure out what I did so perfectly to deserve you.”
 
Jaejoong sat up straight and looked Yunho in the eyes. “You love me. Unconditionally. You never question my wants or needs. You put me and the kids first. You are the most selfless human being I know.”
 
“I love you,” Yunho said. He held Jaejoong in a tight embrace. “I love you so much.”
 
“I love you, too.” Jaejoong pulled Yunho to the bed. “Let’s get some sleep.”
 
Yunho turned off the light. He waited for Jaejoong to get comfortable on the bed before he stretched out. He watched Jaejoong nod off to sleep. He knew they made the right choice. He knew that Jaejoong and the twins were going to be just fine.
 
And he knew that his family was perfect.
 
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This little story is done. Should I write about house hunting next or do you want a story about Jaejoong's pregnancy with Changmin? Or do you want a story set after the twins are born? It's all up to you readers. Tell me what you want and I shall write! These stories aren't going to be in any kind of chronological order so I can literally write anything!!
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Comments

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lalalaland9095
#1
Chapter 20: I remember that I read a couple of years ago some shots from here and I really fell inlove. I am so happy to be able to read it again, they are so fluffy and real in my mind that I can even imagine it very eaisyly :) Tahnks for sharing this spectacular story :3
seoulsunshine
#2
Chapter 7: This is too cute
jugt_endless #3
Read all the chapters at once, you really got me hooked with the story.
All the struggles they faced really made them stronger and have them cherish their love (for each other and the children) more. It's really good fiction. Thank you for this wonderful experience.
Neng2ovid #4
Chapter 56: Miss this family. Thanks for the update
nadiaalisa #5
Chapter 56: Tq so much, lovely fic, it just i hope the story are in order
Katharinathu #6
I really really love this fic. The characters are very good and real. May I translate this fic , please ?
abad-ini
#7
Chapter 56: I love this story veryyy much <3 it looks so real how they tried to solve the problem, how jae endured his pregnancy, how yunho trying to become the head of family wise, how they trying to become great parents for their children. It really looks so real. I really love it. You've done a great job dear author :) thanks
Clumsygirl91 #8
Chapter 46: I don't think the fight is resolve I felt in the end yunho had to give in - he's always giving in
Elrhumy #9
Chapter 56: OMG I felt tears in my eyes when i realize there was no more chap, is this an end? I want more n maybe always want more because this fic was so so beautiful, Yunjae was so beautiful, n the kids was perfect n adorable n gorgous n waah .. God this fic gave so much happinness with every precious moment you write.. Best family fic ever..<<<<33333
Kadi22
#10
I never wanted to finish reading the whole thing T__T it was very good!! Can you please continue updating?