It had been two months since they were married. Kibum was constantly busy with work, but he made sure he spent time with Kevin, not forgetting to thank him for all the work he had done. Kevin on the other hand, got the hang of doing chores and used up his free time looking through Kibum’s paperwork which were left at home or watching soap dramas.

In a nutshell, Kevin became a housewife while Kibum became half a workaholic.

All was fine, until Kevin felt awfully nauseous, suddenly running off in the middle of the couple’s making out session to the bathroom to vomit out his stomach’s content.

“Uergh!” Kevin’s pain was heard two metres away, and that forced daggers down Kibum’s heart, causing him to run after the younger boy.

“Baby, are you all right? What’s wrong?” Kibum patted Kevin’s back to soothe the repulsive feeling.

“I don’t know.” Kevin confessed, before going back down to face the toilet bowl, continuing vomiting. Wiping his mouth with toilet paper, he then threw the paper into the toilet bowl and flushed it.

“Baby, tell me everything.” Kibum hugged Kevin from the back as he washed his hands. “Don’t cover a bit of the truth.”

“Okay, honey. It’s been a week, this vomiting thing. I don’t know what’s happening, I thought it would go away. My chest recently feels tight too, like they’re swollen or something. The queasy feeling was also previously bearable, now I can’t control it at all. Honey, I think I’m sick.” Kevin pouted, rubbing away the tears in his eyes caused by vomiting.

“Sounds like it too. I’ll bring you to the hospital tomorrow then.” Kibum smiled assuringly. “Wanna go get a drink? I think there might be an aftertaste you wanna get rid of.”

“Okay, carry me there.” Kevin said as he opened his arms wide, ready to circle them around Kibum’s neck.

“Your legs are weak?” Kibum questioned, concerned. “Are you okay? Is there anything else?”

“Just carry me, damn it! Stop asking questions!” Kevin shouted, displeased.

Kibum blinked, visibly backing away. “Kev?”

“Argh, forget it! You’re impossible.” Kevin groaned, stomping away and getting apple juice from the fridge, before slamming the door of the fridge close.

Kibum jumped from his position, afraid of Kevin.

“Hey honey, could we stop by the shopping centre beside the General Hospital after my visit? There’s an amazing shop with crazy designs I’ve been eyeing for.” Kevin asked sweetly as he pulled Kibum onto their bed.

“Sure, baby. Sure.” Kibum replied, wanting to do anything to keep Kevin in his sudden good mood. “Let me make a call to take say I’m not going to be there tomorrow first, all right?”

Kevin giggled. “Okay! You’re so sweet! I love you, honey~!”

Kibum only nodded in fright.

Kevin glared back at him.

“I love you too, baby. I love you too.”

-

“How is Kevin?” Kibum asked anxiously as he saw the doctor approaching him. They told Kevin’s symptoms to the doctor and the doctor thought Kevin should go through a thorough check up, thus he had been waiting outside since Kevin followed a nurse to a room.

“Your...erm...wife...?” The doctor wondered how he should address Kevin. Kibum shook his head to signal that it didn’t exactly matter. “Well, your wife is actually a hermaphrodite.”

Kibum frowned. Oh, how he hates words that are long and tongue-twisting.

“What’s that?”

“The new term is “inter” , which basically means he has the reproductive organs of both a male and a female.” Kibum nodded. No wonder Kevin looks so beautiful, then again, he probably shouldn’t be thinking of this now. “Thus, he is currently pregnant.”

“...” Kibum stared at the doctor for a minute, who got pretty uncomfortable from his intense gaze. “What?”

“It’s probably shocking but yes, your wife is pregnant.” The doctor informed again.

“Oh.” Kibum forced himself to say something, whether coherent or not. “Oh.”

-

Kibum reunited with Kevin after what seemed like years (it was really at most hours), giving him a tight hug and then backing away like Kevin suddenly transformed into an alien.

“Honey? What’s wrong?” Kevin frowned in fear, feeling insecurity overwhelm him. “Do I have some terminal illness?”

“Your stomach...it...it...doctor, is it normal?” Kibum’s words came out like a stutter, and he worriedly turned to the doctor.

With a nod, the doctor explained the situation to Kevin, who was confused. “Congratulations, you are 9 weeks pregnant. Your husband probably felt a small bulge which is your child.”

Kevin immediately felt his stomach. “I can’t tell...?”

“It’s tiny, don’t worry.” Kibum comforted, although he looked like he needed therapy. “It’s just that you’re always so flat it’s kinda prominent.”

“Kibum-hyung, do you not like it?” Kevin asked seriously, though he sounded a lot sadder instead.

“No! I’m just shocked. Really! Don’t think too much of my reaction, I’m just shocked and confused. I love you, I definitely love our child too, but, it’s weird and just...just...well, shocking.” Kibum messed up his hair in frustration, cursing himself for being so useless and making Kevin look so dejected.

“It’s normal, to be shocked. Since the both of you didn’t know Mr...Mrs...erm, well...you.” The doctor said as he pointed at Kevin. “You are a hermaphrodite. There was no time for you to think this over and all but do not worry, life can go on as normal, you are just a little different in a sense that you are pregnant with a child.”

Kevin visibly calmed down, and took a seat as the doctor gestured for them to do so. He noticed Kibum still banging his head on the wall, thus he pulled him over and gave him a hug, before settling him down in a seat.

“I’ll be briefing the both on you on things that might happen throughout your pregnancy period. Mr Kim, please do take note because you have to aid your wife. Mental and physical support is essential because pregnancy is not an easy thing to go through, even for women.” The doctor explained.

Kibum immediately snapped out of his temporary trance and sat straight up, ready to listen. Kevin took Kibum’s hand and gave it a squeeze, anxious as to whatever he was going to hear next.

“Pregnant women...in this case, pregnant inter experience pregnancy sickness, also morning sickness, during the first trimester which is the first three months. Although named morning sickness, they can take place throughout the day. This may be linked to a heightened sense of smell that your wife, Mrs Kim...will experience. The feeling is as if everything smells ten times their original smell. This is due to the increased amounts of estrogen, a hormone, that your body is producing. Things you might have liked before might make you feel nauseous, but don’t worry, it’s all normal. Try avoiding these things, no matter how tempting, and a quick solution for the queasy feeling would be lemon. It tends to ward off nausea. If it doesn’t, come back to me and I’ll work out something for you.” The doctor ranted off, and Kibum immediately whipped out a pen and a piece of paper. Kevin looked surprised, not knowing where the things appeared from.

“Mrs Kim will also experience mood swings due to rapid hormonal change.”

Kibum nodded furiously, more alert in taking down notes to deal with it.

“It can be toned down by letting Mrs Kim relax and look after himself.” The doctor coughed a little, feeling weird with having to put “Mrs” and “himself” in the same sentence. He tried to get that weird feeling away by talking to Kevin instead. “You can indulge yourself as much and as often as possible, so long as you don’t harm your body or your baby. It’s quality time for yourself that will help reduce your overall stress levels, making you feel human and help you to cope better emotionally with the changes that you’re going through.”

“Be sure to eat well, as it regulates your hormones and minimise the ups and downs you may experience. It will also give you more energy to help cope when you do feel down in the dumps. Exercise to boost the levels of endorphins, also known as happy hormones, so you can feel more in control of your changing body.”

Kibum busily scribbled the tips down. Kevin only had to nod.

“Talk to your husband. It’s like sharing your burden, only that it helps your husband understand what you are going through. All the moodswings might make him confused and frustrated, so that’s really important. If you can help it, tell him what you really feel after your outbursts, keeping him in the know and not throw him off with your ranging emotions. However, Mr Kim, you have to understand that it’s part of being pregnant. Stand by your wife constantly because it will be a tough period for him.” Again, the doctor almost said “her” instead of “him” .

Kibum and Kevin turned to each other at the same time. Kevin looked really worried and apologetic, while Kibum gave him a reassuring smile that said :

“Everything will be all right.”

-