“Appa, appa!” SongMi cried, running to Sam’s arms. He laughed, sweeping her up off of her feet and placing her on his shoulder. SongMi was bawling her eyes out to no end. “Appa!~” She cried again, burying her head in his neck.

“Oh SongMi-ah, what’s wrong?” Sam asked kissing the top of her head. You’re sitting on a bench under a huge maple tree, enjoying the moment to just rest. The last two months of your pregnancy have taken a toll on you. You never had any problems with SongMi, but this little one seems to be a whole other story.

“The lion tried to eat my fingers!”

Sam smiles, wiping away her tears. “He can’t eat them, I promise. Come on, let’s go get mommy and find the penguins.”

SongMi’s tears instantly disappear, replaced by a huge grin. “I love penguins!” Sam lets her down and she runs over to you, engulfing you in a side hug. “Omma! Let’s go see the penguins!”

“Alright, help mommy up,” You hold out your hand and wait for SongMi to pull you up off the bench. Sam comes over and gives you a kiss on the lips.

“Ew!” SongMi sticks out her tongue. “Stopping kissing already!”

“Wae?” You grin, kissing SongMi on the cheek. “You don’t complain when I kiss you!”

“But that’s different. Appa is a boy, and you’re a girl. It’s different.” She repeats, failing to come up with a better excuse.

“Okay okay, I’ll stop. For now. Let’s go find those penguins!”

Sam and you hold hands while SongMi takes the lead, knowing exactly where the penguin exhibit is. You lean onto Sam for support, which he gladly gives you. He’s watching SongMi bounce down the path and look back at you telling you to hurry up.

“Omma can’t walk that fast sweetie,” You laugh, shaking your head. “I need to be careful with your new brother or sister.”

Sam lets go of your hand and runs forward, chasing SongMi around a tree before picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She screams with happiness when he puts her on his shoulders. “Mommy, look! I’m taller than daddy now!”

“I see that!” You smile, watching happily. When Sam and you were dating, you told him that all you really wanted was a happy, wonderful family. And that’s exactly what he gave you.

You arrive at the exhibit, and SongMi jumps right up on the wall, looking over the edge. “Appa! Look! That one’s looking at me!”

Sam stands behind her, holding her to make sure she doesn’t fall backwards. “Hi Mr. Emperor!”

SongMi looks up at him with confusion. “He’s an emperor?”

“Yes he is, see, look,” Sam points out the sign and watches as SongMi tried to read it, but since she’s only 4 years old she has no clue what it says.

“Are you sure? Then how come he’s not wearing a crown?”

“Because their markings are what lets you tell that he’s an emperor.”

You smile and start off towards the other side of the exhibit. There’s a teenage boy walking your way and he doesn’t seem to notice that you’re in his way. He plows right into you, almost causing you to fall over.

He looks at you and apologizes, then just walks away. Sam saw what happened and he ran over, wrapping his arms around you. “______-ah, are you alright?”

“Dae, I think so,” You quickly take inventory. Nothing really hurts, but there seems to be something warm and uncomfortable between your legs. You look down and gasp. “Um, Sam?”

“What is it?”

“I think my water just broke.” You say sheepishly.

Sam’s eyes widen and he just stands there, not sure of what to do. “What?!”

“My water. I think it just broke, see?” You look down and show him the huge wet spot on the front of your shorts.

“We need to go, now! SongMi!” Sam yells, running over to grab your daughter.

You just stand there, mildly confused. With SongMi you had felt it break, and there were cramps that instantly followed. This pregnancy had been different, but this just seemed downright odd. You look around, not sure what to think when you see a water bottle lying a few feet away from you. The cover was off and there was water still streaming out.

Sam runs back to you, pulling on your arm. “Let’s go, _____-ah!” People are starting to stare, a few realizing what’s going on. Or, what they think is going on.

“Yeobo, it’s okay. It’s a false alarm.” You say calmly.

“What are you talking about? Come on, we have to go!”

“That boy that ran into me? He must’ve been holding an open water bottle. Look,” You point to where the bottle still lies. “I think it’s from that.”

He stops pulling on your arm and looks at the bottle, thinking for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. I really don’t feel anything more than wet right now.”

Sam visibly relaxes. “Good. For a moment there I was afraid that this baby might have decided to come a little early.” He wraps his arm around you. The by-standers start to dissipate, realizing that there wasn’t any excitement after all. SongMi makes her way back to the exhibit to watch the penguins a little longer.

“Daddy,” She asks after 10 minutes. “Can we go ride on the giraffe?”

Sam looks at me and smiles, “Sorry sweetheart, I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”