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Jongin had had mixed feelings about his lover's return from touring abroad.

He had been excited of course, not having seen Taemin in nearly two months. He longed to have the older man by his side again and of course, he was at a rather critical point in his young life during which he needed his boyfriend's presence and support more than ever. 

He was nervous too, though and this was a feeling that had been steadily dominating as the days until Taemin's return rapidly dissolved into mere hours. Jongin knew that Taemin loved him; he had no doubts about the strength of Taemin's love for him and of his fidelity. Even so, the nasty little voice of doubt soon began infiltrating his thoughts, both he and Taemin were awfully young to be becoming parents and they hadn't planned on having a baby yet, regardless of their apparent failure to abide by this during the moment of intimacy that they had shared not too long ago. What if Taemin was so shocked about finding out that he was to become a father that he decided not to have any part in the matter, whatsoever? What if he left Jongin to raise their child on his own? 

Jongin felt extremely ashamed of thinking so poorly of his boyfriend, who had shown him nothing but deep love and devotion during the two years that they had been together. But he also couldn't be so daft as to ignore the fact that Taemin would inevitably be shocked. After all, Jongin had taken over a week to come to terms with the news, himself.

His anxiety was only amplified by the fact that he had been carrying his secret in silence. Although he had been tempted, he hadn't yet told his band mates, for he wanted Taemin to be the first to know. It had been hard for the young man to keep his big secret to himself but he had done his best. He claimed that he had a really bad case of stomach flu, for he couldn't hide his continued nausea. Even after seeing the doctor and having been given a prescription for an anti-nausea medication, Jongin continued to throw up at least once a day. He at least was sick only in the morning rather than throughout the day, but his nausea didn't go unnoticed by his friends. The doctor had explained to Jongin that even though he was pregnant, he was still a man after all and his body was having to change its hormonal make up quite a bit more aggressively, hence his persistent vomiting. There was nothing abnormal about how he was feeling, but unfortunately nothing that could be done either. This made it more difficult for Jongin to insist that his friends not worry about him, for he'd be better soon but he somehow still managed.

Then, there was the issue of him starting to show.

He was three months along now and although only noticeable when he removed his shirt, Jongin's stomach was undeniably bloated. Normally, the muscle that he had acquired from hours of gym and dance training was visible beneath his taut skin but now, a small, round protusion gently curved out his once well-defined abdomen. He couldn't wear tight shirts anymore and found himself making all kinds of excuses to avoid wearing clothes that he knew would betray his secret. Fortunately, his doctor had written a bit of a fib of a medical note, excusing Jongin from vigorous training and dance practice under the pretense that exerting himself would only make his "stomach flu" worse. He knew that Jongin wanted to tell the baby's father first and had been kind enough to cover for him until Taemin came back. It was a bit challenging to come up with a medical excuse as to why Jongin couldn't wear clothing that he normally could have worn, but was now unable to for fear of exposing the little bump of his stomach. 

But with Taemin due to visit him in just a few minutes