AN:

Okay so... I feel like I need explain this before you read it... just to clear up any confusion you might have while in the middle of reading it. I promised myself and also one of you, that I would get over my squick and be brave because heck, I'm dabbling into the world of mpreg here but I still get a little squirmy about it *takes a deep calming breath*

To put it as simply as possible... I didn't want to have Jiyong going through a C-Section birth. I really wanted him to go through the whole process of giving birth and I wanted to have Seunghyun by his side, watching on as his husband was going through the pain and stress of it all. But I didn't want the baby to come out through Jiyong's already existing hole for reasons that I'm sure you will have as well  >__< SO... I don't go into detail in the actual fic but the doctor just makes some kind of incision or opening okay. So just use or don't use your imagination... whichever you prefer lol.

Labour. Or as it should be more accurately referred to—living hell.

Nothing, absolutely nothing could have prepared Seunghyun for what this final stage in Jiyong's pregnancy was going to entail. On some conscious level he knew that it wasn't going to be easy—for either of them—and that both men were going to be forcefully pushed to the very edge of their mental and physical capabilities. But it was still nothing like he could have imagined it to be and no amount of precaution and planning could have prepared him for this.

Jiyong's first contraction that Seunghyun was made aware of had occurred seven long hours ago, just after three in the morning in the middle of their peaceful slumber. Seunghyun was awoken by the gut-wrenching scream of pain as he witnessed Jiyong double over with the pain and cry out for him. Hands had blindly searched for each other under the darkness of the unlit room, scrambling through the twisted sheets until they finally found purchase and gripped on for dear life. Needless to say, Seunghyun was greatly concerned about the amount of pain Jiyong seemed to be in so suddenly and fear washed over him in waves of possible scenarios that something had gone wrong. But it was later at the hospital—once Jiyong had been settled into his private room and given the appropriate painkillers—that Seunghyun discovered his husband's labour had started much sooner than he'd previously been informed. According to the information their doctor had given Seunghyun, Jiyong's water had broken in the early hours of yesterday morning and made the decision on his own to leave Seunghyun completely in the dark until Jiyong deemed his contractions too painful or too serious to ignore any longer. So here they were, a little over twenty-four hours after Jiyong's water had broken, waiting for the timely arrival of their little one.

For some reason, throughout the entire pregnancy and planning stages, even before they fell pregnant, Jiyong hadn't uttered a single word about his crippling fear of going through childbirth. Even though they hadn't discussed the birthing for their first baby, Seunghyun had picked up on his husband's silent fear very early on. Call it his father's intuition. Or husband's intuition. From that first moment of muscle spasms and blinding pain, Seunghyun's face remained calm, despite the flurry of thoughts going on in that pretty little head of his. He had to remain calm and strong throughout this whole thing because Jiyong needs a quiet and firm guidance through his fears. Seunghyun had even read in one of the baby books from the monstrous mountain of books Jiyong bought in the anticipation of their child, that it's important for the birth mother—or father—to have a supportive and loving partner by their side through the childbirth to lessen the anxiety and pain.

Now, nearly an entire sunrise and sunset later, they were trapped in the all white room of the hospital—their friends and family just beyond those doors, waiting, hoping, praying.

It was pure torture being forced to watch his beloved husband go through this physical pain and the emotional stress of the chaotic situation going on around them. Everything is moving so fast and all the hospital staff are speaking so quickly that everything is a blur. It causes Seunghyun a real ache in his heart that he's so useless in this situation. There is literally nothing he can do except stand there, completely motionless, while Jiyong writhes around in pain on the hard hospital bed. Sweat drenching his hair until it sticks to his forehead and the sides of his face in matted clumps. His face is a look of pure anguish and Seunghyun has to constantly remind himself that he won't crumble under the pressure—that he won't cry, that he'll stay strong for Jiyong because he needs him to be. So he just grips Jiyong's hand even tighter still, silently telling his love that he's right there by his side, he will anchor him and keep him strong and fighting and that he doesn't have to go through this alone.

The doctor has been politely feeding Seunghyun and Jiyong (but mostly Seunghyun because Jiyong can't hear anything above his own agony) little strings of information about what exactly is happening and how the baby is moving and how soon this will all be over—but the doctors words are falling on two sets of deaf ears because Seunghyun can't tear his attention away from the constant river of tears falling from Jiyong's eyes and—. Now Seunghyun can feel his own eyes stinging. But the doctor continues his useless blabbering, and bless him for at least trying.

"Hyunnie, I don't wanna do this anymore," a too-quiet and too-weak sounding voice beckons him closer. Seunghyun grimaces at the sight of Jiyong's small frame wincing and tensing up at the pain ripping through him. "Don't leave me, Seunghyun. I can't do this without you."

"You won't have to."

Suddenly two more nurses are rushing towards the end of the hospital bed, standing on either side of the doctor as they busy themselves with preparing different medical equipment and preparing the area for the baby to be cleaned up on. Seunghyun's mouth falls open as he thinks maybe—

Oh my god, is this it? Is it time? Am I going to become a Father?

He's ripped from his thoughts as Jiyong's death grip tugs on his hand, nearly sending him sprawling on top of him from the full force of his strength—and then time seems to speed up and slow down at the same time as Seunghyun notices two very different things happen which seem to be directly linked. The first thing that happens is Jiyong's grip slackens and releases Seunghyun's hand before he slumps in a tired heap on the bed. For one second—but not a second longer—silence fills the room as Jiyong's constant groans and screams from the past agonizing hours come to a complete and abrupt stop as he sighs heavily, expelling the last ounce of oxygen in his lungs before they automatically expand and fill themselves again with a loud gasp. And then the second things happen... after that one second ticks by, the room is filled with noise once more and Seunghyun notices it's the sounds of a newborn baby wailing and crying.

His baby.

Our baby.

He can feel a soft tickling against the back of his palm and some far corner of his mind tells him that it's probably Jiyong weakly reaching out for him. He really ought to respond to his husband's touch but he can't shift a single muscle in his body. His eyes are trying to follow the frenzy playing out before his eyes, trying desperately to catch a glimpse at his screaming baby.

Finally after the most excruciatingly long few seconds of his life, Seunghyun sees one of the young nurses approach him cautiously, holding a bundle of pink blankets in her arms and she safely deposits the screaming bundle in his shaking arms.

"Congratulations. It's the girl," she whispers to Seunghyun before smiling at both of them and hurrying back to aid the doctor.

Seunghyun thinks to himself that the girl's grasp of the English language is obviously lacking in something because he's certain the phrase is meant to go a little something like 'It's a girl.' But those thoughts evaporate immediately as he looks down at his little girl, cradled in his arms.

"Hyun," Jiyong's soft voice pulls him away and over to the side of his bed.

Seunghyun doesn't like how strained and weak his husband's voice sounds but he focuses on other things, more important things, like the tiny baby in his arms with a set of lungs on her that she's certainly inherited from her Daddy. He looks down at his exhausted but elated husband and he sees that the tears have momentarily stopped tracking wet streams down his face but with the one word Seunghyun whispers to him, the tears are back.

"Peaches."

Seunghyun's voice sounds so damn wistful and awe-filled that he doesn't even recognise it as his own. Jiyong looks up at him all wide eyes and pink gums as he smiles and pulls Seunghyun down to sit on the bed beside him. Seunghyun tries not to lean his weight on Jiyong's shoulder but something draws him in until they're practically stuck together like glue. Jiyong rests his head on Seunghyun's shoulder and wraps his arms around him but his arms are weak and they just sort of loosely loop around his waist. Jiyong is now wailing through his tears and not so surprisingly as loud as their newborn.

Huh, like father like daughter.

They sit there, side by side, held in each other's arms as they take in the sight of their tiny daughter. But their moment of bliss is short lived when the same nurse approaches them and tries to take her from Seunghyun's arms.

"Please sir, I need to take her now."

Shock settles into his bones and for some reason, despite his brain shouting at him to stop, Seunghyun gives his baby up to the nurse.

"Hey! Nurse Ratched! Just where the do you think you're taking my baby girl?" Ahhh, Seunghyun almost gives a sigh of relief as crazy, y Jiyong makes a long awaited return. Even though he loathes to admit it, Seunghyun kind of needs this outspoken, insane version of his husband to take control over the situation because if he's honest with himself, he can feel his strength wavering as a mild sense of panic sets in.

The doctor steps in before Jiyong can clamber off the bed and follow after the young nurse who's just glided out the door and slipped through the doors. "I am sorry but it's time to get back to business. I promise you she is in perfectly capable hands of Nurse Marie. She needs to be taken to the nursery and properly cleaned up."

"Back to business?" Seunghyun's asks with a deep frown creasing his already worn brow, it's been pulled in a tight frown for nearly twenty hours straight and the lines are nowhere near to erasing from his forehead. "I don't understand are there..." he nearly can't bring himself to say the words out loud so he raises from the bed and grabs hold of the doctors arm with more force than he's sure is considered allowed practice in the hospital and pulls him away from Jiyong's bedside. "Are there complications?"

"Complications? Oh heavens no, you needn't worry, Mr. Choi-Kwon. We still have a quite a way to go but I am hoping that the other one will come out much quicker."

"Wait what?"

The doctor turns around and both men stare at each other quizzically for several moments before he elaborates. "The second baby will start crowning any moment, Mr. Choi-Kwon. We have to move fast if we want this to go smoothly."

"Second baby? I don't—what are you—Huh?!" Seunghyun splutters, shaking his head from side to side. No.

"Wait, didn't I tell you at the last appointment that there had been some technical difficulties with your final screening and that the second foetus had been somehow missed in the previous scans?"

"Uhhhh no. You did not."

"Oh."

The pair are stuck frozen in their equally shocked stares as realisation dawns on both of them and have grown completely oblivious to Jiyong's frantic questions being yelled out in rapid-fire succession.

"Tabi! What the hell is going on? Where the did that evil nurse go with our baby? Why aren't you listening to me? Hey Square Face, can you even hear me? Where is my baby? Will somebody please tell me what the is going on, for the love of—Arrrgggh."

Now that got both Seunghyun and the doctor's attention. Jiyong's bent over in half as his arms wrap themselves around his stomach. The doctor is by his side in a flash, trying to speak to the screaming man who is clearly in a lot of pain. He manages to get Jiyong to lay down on his back, lifting and angling his legs again but Jiyong's head is spinning and he feels dizzy from the pain and confusion.

A skinny arms flops to his side and dangles over the edge of the bed in a silent plea and Seunghyun nearly trips over his own feet as he runs to Jiyong's side. He takes his cold, sweaty hand in his own, trying to rub some warmth in it with his breath and press of lips.

"Hyun," Jiyong chokes out as his eyes roll in the back of his head from the shooting pain down his spine and he sounds so afraid and so weak that Seunghyun cries for the first time. "What's happening?"

It's now or never.

"Ji... Jiyong," Seunghyun leans down to kiss away his tears. "The doctors, they—it seems they missed something." He pauses to lift Jiyong's hand to his face, holding his hand in place as he moves it to cup his cheek. "We're having twins."

"No we're not. We can't be—I mean the nursery—everything is set up for one—I'm not even that big—I don't understand—how..." Jiyong's hand slips away from his hold and the loss of warmth to his cheek has Seunghyun biting back a sob. He's preparing for Jiyong's shock to settle in as Seunghyun stares intently at him. Jiyong's eyes widen and his mouth gapes open when it dawns on him but then another stabbing pain shoots up his spine. He arches his back off the mattress with a loud cry and something snaps. Not bones, but sanity.

"CHOI-KWON SEUNGHYUN! I WILL MURDER YOU FOR DOING THIS TO ME! TWINS?! ING TWINS?! GOD I HATE YOU SO MUCH. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME. YOU GOT ME IN THIS MESS. I HATE YOU. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU ING BASTARD—ARGGGHHHH."

Well now something else is threatening to snap—that something being Seunghyun's poor hand as it's crushed in Jiyong's terrifying grip. Actually now that he thinks about, he can't exactly feel anything from the wrist down anymore...

And there it is... that heavenly sound of a baby crying.

With very last ounce of his strength, Jiyong violently shoves Seunghyun away from his side and shoots him a glare that says, 'Don't you dare come any closer to me.'

This time the baby all wrapped up and cosy in the fuzzy blankets is handed over to Jiyong and Seunghyun knows it's best to keep his distance from the lioness and her cubs. Unlike their first baby—because holy they have two now—this one is silent except for the tiny puffs of breath Seunghyun can just make out from his exiled position in the corner.

"It's a boy." The doctor says to no one in particular, too afraid to take sides right now. Truth be told he's rather fond of Seunghyun but he'd rather not test the wrath of the fire breathing Dragon.

He motions for the remaining nurse to take the baby to the hospital nursery and everyone in the room is shocked to see that Jiyong gives zero protest and willingly offers his baby boy over to her. As the nurse passes Seunghyun, she stops, allowing him to gently his son's red cheek before she leaves the room, doctor following close behind her.

As he stands in the doorway, the doctor turns to the two men who are about ten feet apart. "You both need to rest. Seunghyun, I suggest you take Jiyong back to your room. Normally it's against hospital protocol to allow the birthing father to be taken back to his room without a trained nursing staff to him... but I think in this case, I can make an exception."

Seunghyun gives the doctor a warm smile, hoping that his gratitude for the man shows through on his face.

They carry out their moments in silence but it's not tense. Just tired. Seunghyun lifts Jiyong from the soiled hospital bed as carefully and gently as he can manage but it still causes pain to wreck its way through Jiyong's withered and tired body. Sitting in the wheelchair is most painful but he grits his teeth through it and by some small blessed miracle, their private room is just down the hall.

In a dazed sate, Jiyong allows Seunghyun to shift and move his body as necessary while he is hastily cleaned up and changed into a pair of Seunghyun's pyjamas that are far too big for him—even after carrying around twins for nine months. Jiyong is grateful for the smell of home and more specifically Seunghyun's scent that still lingers on the collar of his pyjama shirt. The two lie down on the noticeably softer mattress of their private room, it would be an awkward tangle of limbs for anyone else but the two fit together so perfectly and know how to navigate their way around each other's shifting forms until they finally settle down on the pillow, just taking in the sight of each other.

"Seunghyun, our parents," Jiyong's wild eyes look so frightened as his fingers clench in the soft material of Seunghyun's shirt.

"Don't fret, my love. The doctor will have gone out and explained everything. There's no need to worry about our family and friends right now. They will have gone home by now to allow us time to rest, so please, rest. You need to allow your body to recover, I need you strong and healthy, sweetheart. I can't do this without you."

"You won't have to, " he repeats Seunghyun's own words from earlier as his voice trails off to a whisper as sleep slowly takes it's hold over his exhausted body. "I love you, Seunghyun."

"And I love you, Choi-Kwon Jiyong."

The two men fall asleep in each other's arms, finding some semblance of peace in the familiar warmth and the comforting sounds of each other's steady breathing.

AN:

So there we have it :D Who guessed that it was going to end like that? I really want to know what you all thought of the first snapshot ^^

The alternative title I had for this was You and me and baby makes... wait what? But I really didn't want to give anything away. I still affectionately refer to it as that in my head. In fact, before I picked out the title of Home Is Wherever I'm With You I was calling this whole thing You and me and baby makes... inside my head.

For the next snapshot... who wants to see what Jiyong was thinking and going through the day before the birth, after his water broke and through the contractions leading right up to the labour?