Yuri was lying in a gory bed, by her side a maid held her hand tightly while another one was sitting in between her legs trying to deliver her.

She was pale and her eyes shut as she screamed loudly from the pain that ripped her body, she was covered with sweat and could barely breathe.

Even though fear paralyzed him he took few steps into the room making the other maids look at him surprised, the young prince was in a place he shouldn’t have been.

"prince Taemin…" the maid that called him to Yuri's request rushed into the room and made  Yuri open her eyes to the mention of his name, she looked at Taemin worriedly "Tae…min…" she called weakly and the boy kneeled by her bed, holding her hand tightly as he could, making the maid by her side take few steps away.

"Towels!" the maid in between Yuri's legs recovered quickly from her shock, and shoot orders to her friends who were rushing to do as been told.

"What happened?" Taemin asked and got a loudly scream of pain as respond, he looked at the lower part of her body that was covered with a towel before turning his gaze at her, he was afraid as hell.

"The baby…" Yuri mumbled, can't finish her words.

"…but, you still got a month…" Taemin said, tears already blurring his vision, he leaned his forehead against her cheek and cried quietly, hating himself for not being brave for her.

"Taemin-ah…" she called his name and he raised his head to look at her "it's hurts…"

Taemin nodded understandingly "…you're doing fine, just a little bit more, you're so brave" he said and kissed her cheek, he could taste her tears spilling from her eyes down her cheeks and held her even tightly, Yuri screamed and Taemin wished he could take her pain away.

"This baby…" she panted "don’t let anything…happen to…" another scream.

"Shh…shh…" Taemin tried to calm her "just a little bit more"

"Take care of my baby…"

For a moment everything became quiet, Taemin couldn’t hear anything beside the sound of a crying baby, it sent shiver of fear and excitement to his body and he stopped crying immediately, he raised his head to look at the maid who held a little gory baby in her hands while the other wrapped a clean towel around his little body. Taemin stared at it, his chocolate eyes sparkled and he could barely breathe, the baby was so beautiful and tiny and… "Noona…!" he said and turned to look at his best friend, his smile disappeared when he saw that her eyes were closed "Noona?" he called again and shook her hand in his, she didn’t moved "Yuri!!!" now he was screaming desperately, he didn’t even noticed when the maids pulled him back from her and toss him to the floor while they were trying to save her life.

His heart pounded fast in his ears, he looked with terror in his eyes at Yuri's pale face, the sound of a crying baby echoed in his ears but he felt numb, he couldn’t move.

Time stopped, he didn’t knew for how long he sat on the floor, crying, praying for his best friend to be alright. When he saw the maids pulling a sheet over her lifeless body he felt pain rushing through his veins, paralyzing him, stabbing his chest, he couldn’t breathe- like something held his lungs tightly and wouldn’t let go, nausea held his throat and he was dizzy.

"Prince Taemin…" the maid's voice barely sounded over the chaos in his head "Prince Taemin…" she called again, he felt two arms pulling him up to his feet and the sound of crying baby still echoed around.

"She's…she's dead?" he asked with a trembling voice, looking into the eyes of the maid who held him.

The maid nodded sadly and watched how he burst into a hysterical cry "NO!" he would have been collapse if she didn’t held him and carried him out of the room.

Taemin's head rested on his arm, tears spilled from his eyes to the table, he stared at the wall blankly, he saw the maid coming closer to him with a cup of tea but his vision was blurred.

"You should drink prince Taemin…" she said, her voice mixed with the sound of the baby's, another maid feed him at the corner of the kitchen with a bottle that was too big for his mouth, he didn’t looked at him even once since Yuri died an hour earlier.

"Maybe we should call king Minho?" the maid that feed the baby asked.

The mention of his husband's name made him flinch, he raised his head slowly and wiped his eyes, oh Minho…he forgot about him, he must be furious about him right now, he needed him by his side and he haven't showed up.

"…we can't!" the maid who made him a tea called "his father passed away, he have no time for-"

"The king?" Taemin's voice cut the maids conversation and they turned to look at him worriedly, forgetting the boy was here all along and didn’t knew about the king's death, they nodded as approval with a sad look on their faces.

Taemin got up from the chair, his body shook "M-Minho…" he mumbled and trembled his way to the kitchen door, he stopped as he passed by the maid who held the baby and his tears renewed "he's beautiful…" he said and looked for comfort in the maid's eyes, she smiled at him politely.

"It's a girl…" she said quietly and stood so he could see her clearly.

"A girl? Can I hold her?" he asked and reached his hands, they shook savagely and he saw the way the maid looked at her friend worriedly "…maybe I shouldn’t, my hands are shaking" he said shaking his head, leaning closer to the baby he ran his finger over her delicate cheek and kissed her forehead "please take care of her, I'll be back later"  

The maids nodded and watched as Taemin walked out of the kitchen.

Minho shot to his feet at the moment Taemin walked into their bedroom, his eyes red and puffy from crying but he looked angry. For a moment Taemin could see his expression change in concern as he saw he was crying too but his face turned back with anger immediately "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" he barked at him, the veins on his neck bulged and he turned red.

"…Minho…" Taemin said weakly and took few steps closer to him, he wanted to bury himself in his hug.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Minho repeated his words dangerously.

"…I was on my way and…the maid called me, she said…she needed my help and…" It was better off shutting his mouth when he saw the way Minho almost killed him with his burning eyes.

"YOU WENT TO SEE THAT MAID!!! NOW? WHEN I NEEDED YOU?"

"I…it's not-"

"MY FATHER…DIED, IN MY HANDS! AND YOU WENT TO SEE THAT MAID?!"

"Minho…" Taemin took another step closer, reaching his hands "listen to me…"

"DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND-?"

"Please…don’t get mad, she needed me"

"I NEEDED YOU! YOUR HUSBAND!"

"She had no one...I was her friend…"

"I DON’T CARE"

"Please stop yelling at me…I'm sorry, please Minho, you have to understand…" Taemin cried and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, his head rested on his chest "I'm so sorry" he mumbled, feeling the stiffness of his body against him "I know you needed me but she was alone…I'm her friend and I promised to be by her side"

Minho pushed him away from him and Taemin fell to the floor, it was hurts but the accusing look his husband gave was hurts even more.

"You promised to be by my side when we got married…" Minho hissed at him, waving his finger at his face "and you went to be by the maid's side while my father died in my arms"

Taemin burst in tears, he buried his head in his palms, he couldn’t hold himself anymore, it was all too much for one night "I told you I'm sorry!"

Minho looked down at Taemin and suddenly his anger drifted, he saw dry blood on his young husband's pajama and kneeled by his side "what happened?" he asked quietly and touched the fabric.

Taemin didn’t heard him, he kept crying.

"Taemin" Minho said and placed two fingers underneath the boy's chin to make him look at him, teary chocolate eyes stared at him as he bitten his trembling lip in order to calm "where's that blood from?"

Taemin looked down at his pajama, he didn’t noticed until then, reaching his hand to touch it he in a shaky breath "Y-Yuri's"

The name rang a bell but Minho just shook that aside "what?"

"Yuri…she died…I guess it's hers…"

"What are you talking about?!" Minho's voice became worried.

Taemin rose his gaze back at him "she died. I'm sorry for not being there with you but Yuri needed me, the baby was born early than it should and she had no one…"

"Taemin…what are you talking about?"  Minho asked again.

"Yuri, my friend, the maid, she was pregnant and I promised to be there for her, she felt not so well this evening when I went to see her, the baby couldn’t stop moving…"

Minho frowned "you left because of a pregnant maid?"

"Don’t be mad" Taemin whispered.

Truly, Minho didn’t knew if to be mad at him for leaving him alone so he could take care of a maid or just be proud of him for being by whom needed his help.

Taemin couldn’t look at his husband as he mumbled "she was pregnant with your child…that’s why I couldn’t left her"

Painful silent lingered between them until Taemin got the courage to look at his husband, Minho was confused.

"What are you talking about!?" he asked for the third time.

"Yuri, she had your child, a beautiful baby"

"Nonsenses" Minho said, now he was terrified by his husband's declaration.

"No…" Taemin said desperately.

"Yes! I don’t have a baby with the maid, do you even listening to yourself, a baby?!"

"She said it's yours…"

"And you're choosing to believe any maid?!"

"I know you fooled around with your maids and assistants!"

"Before we got married. And if she done it with me she probably done it with many others…she just looking for someone to take the blame"

"She was a before you used her" Taemin said raising his voice, he wanted to protect Yuri's good name.

"I never used anyone, who ever got into my bed done it by choice!" Minho said angrily.

"Minho…"

"THAT’S ENOUGH!"

Taemin looked at his husband straightening and making his way out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving him alone.

Later that night, Minho came back to an empty room, his young husband was no were to be found. He crawled into bed thinking about the boy's words, actually he couldn’t stop thinking about it, along with the thoughts about his father's death, warm tears left his eyes and he wished the pain that held his body would disappear.

There were so many things to take care of and he didn’t even knew where to start, he needed someone to guide him because right now he felt lost.

He tossed in bed for hours until it was dawn, he heard the door opening and closed his eyes pretending to be sleeping, he could feel Taemin's little body sitting in bed before he felt his weight on the mattress, lump held his throat when he heard the boy crying himself to sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was a sad day at the kingdom, everybody were busy at the king's funeral, nobody paid attention to Taemin who went to share his grief with Yuri's grave.

He sat there through the whole morning crying before he left back to the palace. At the king's funeral he sat by the queen's side and comfort her while his husband talked about his beloved father.

As the ceremony ended and Minho was being comfort by his people, Taemin sneaked to the workers area to sit by Yuri's baby just like he did the night before.

"Prince Taemin…" a maid caught his attention and he stopped the baby's belly, turning to face her he saw her reaching with a bottle "I need to feed her" she said and Taemin move aside letting her get closer to the cradle.

He watched her as she held the baby and positioned her on her arm ready to feed her "can…can I?" he didn’t even noticed he asked it out loud, the maid looked at him surprised.

"Do you want to feed her?"

"Yes…can I?" his eyes sparkled as he asked.

"yes, I think…it's ok" the maid said and looked confused, the other maid told her that the prince was by Yuri's side when she died and sat most of the night by the baby's cradle, it was unusual- the royal family didn’t mingled with the workers but this young boy had a special bond with Yuri and she knew that.

"You should sit my prince" she said and guided him so he could hold the baby right without hurting her fragile bones.

Taemin's body stiffened as the maid placed the baby in his arms, he was afraid to hurt her, she was so small "am I holding her right?" he asked worriedly and raised his look at the maid.

"Yes" she said smiling "relax your body, otherwise she'll come heavy"

Taemin did, he took the bottle from the maid's hand and slowly placed it at the baby's mouth, she it hungrily, making small satisfied noises.

"She's eating…" he said excitedly, his smile was huge as he looked at the maid.

The maid nodded at him standing close for his help, she took a towel and wiped the side of the baby's mouth gently.

"I never held a baby before…she's so small, and…really beautiful"

The maid laughed quietly from his excitement.

"…She doesn't even have a name…" suddenly his expression changed in pain, he thought about Yuri and the fact she died before she had the chance to see her beautiful daughter, name her, hold her in her arms.

"…Can I give her a name?" he asked quietly.   

The maid nodded her head "Of course my prince"

"I want her name to be YuMin" he mumbled, thinking about the name he just gave her, collaborating the names of her parents.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For too many nights Taemin sneaked out to sit by YuMin's side, he already knew how to feed her by himself and could spend hours just by watching her.

At dawn, he made his way back to the bedroom to find his husband awake, their eyes linked and Taemin felt like he was scolding him with his gaze.

Looking away first, he went to the closet to take a pajama and when he turned back to the room he almost bumped into Minho.

"…you haven't been here all night, again" his husband said with a harsh tone.

Avoiding, he tried to pass by him but was being blocked.

"…once it was the maid, now it's a baby, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you forgetting who you are? You're a prince! You can't go-"

"I'm not a prince" Taemin cut him off quietly.

Minho's eyes looked angrily at him "this baby, it's-"

"She's yours…" Taemin cut him again, raising his eyes at him he talked with more courage than he really felt "she's yours and she need someone to be by her side"

"It's not my baby" Minho hissed through gritted teeth. 

"She is! If you'll just see her…"

Minho turned, trying to walk away from him but was being stopped, Taemin's little hand grabbed his arm making him turn again, chocolate eyes looked at him desperately "just see her…" he was begging now "she looks like you…"

Minho pulled his arm from his grip roughly, making him go off balance but he didn’t gave up and grabbed it again.

"Minho…please, just look at her, once, that's all I'm asking of you…"

"It's not my baby!" Minho barked at him.

Tears sprang into Taemin's eyes "she's the sweetest thing you'll ever see" he said and his voice cracked "she's small and so beautiful… just like her Appa, her eyes big and her lips curled, her nose is like a button…"

Minho's face softened as Taemin described the baby but he wasn’t ready to let his young husband see that.

"…her hands are so small, she grabbed my finger once and it seems she'll be strong, she eats a lot…" Taemin said chuckling, letting the tears fall from his eyes as he left his husband's arm "I named her YuMin so she could have the names of the important people in my life…" looking deeply into Minho's eyes he in a shaky breath "I just want you to see her…once, if you care about me, just see her…" he mumbled as he made his way to the bed, leaving Minho alone with his thoughts.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Minho left the room slamming doors and acting all angry, he didn’t came back through the whole day and at night when he did Taemin wasn’t there.

He wanted to scream, brushing his fingers in his hair desperately he sat at the edge of the bed and cursed his young husband for making him like that.

He couldn’t stop thinking about all of the maids that he took into his bed before they got married, her name was familiar but he couldn’t remember her face.

Standing up he walked around the room like a trapped animal before storming out of the bedroom, he rushed through the corridors doing something he forbidden the boy to do once and went to the workers area.

The maids raised their brows as they saw him walking through, looking for his husband.

Taemin held YuMin in his arms, he rocked her gently while feeding her, talking calmly into her ears and looking at her beautiful lidded eyes. He haven't saw Minho standing at the door looking at him.

Minho's heart sank in his chest, seeing his young husband holding the baby in his arms made him forget his anger, the sight made his love grow even harder, for once Taemin looked happy.

"Minho?" Taemin's soft voice drew his attention, the boy looked at him surprised by his appearance.

Minho took a step closer and looked suspiciously at the baby before looking at his husband's chocolate eyes.

Taemin looked at him saying nothing as he took a step toward him, he done some hesitating moves until he stood by his side, showing him the baby in his arms.

Minho reached a shaking hand and removed the little blanket she was wrapped in and eyed her, Taemin was right, she was beautiful.

"What's her name?" Minho asked quietly, he couldn’t remember, his husband said it the night before but he was too busy angry at him.

"YuMin…" Taemin answered and a smile crossed his face, he watched his husband brushing his fingers over her cheeks and nose, exploring her features, touching her small hands. He removed the bottle from and she made a little protest noise, Minho's finger was already touching gently making her forget about the bottle. YuMin opened widely trying to catch the finger that hungry mouth, she it and made an irritated noise when she couldn’t taste her milk, she let out a soft cry that made Minho stiffen, removing his finger he looked worriedly at his husband. 

"…do you want to hold her?" Taemin asked softly.

Minho shook his head and looked at his husband's chocolate eyes as he took a step back, the boy however closed the distant between them, not letting him go.

"Minho…thank you for coming, it means a lot to me"

There was no way to deny, the baby looked like him and it scared him, Taemin was right but what was he supposed to do?!

"I know it's scary" Taemin said like reading his thoughts as he placed the bottle back in YuMin's mouth "but she's alone and she needs someone to-"

"Raise her?" Minho cut him.

Taemin nodded slowly, not sure of his husband's reaction for his answer.

"I can't raise a baby" Minho said shaking his head and taking a step back.

"Not alone"

For a long moment Minho studied his husband's features "you…want to raise her…together?" he asked, his voice as a whisper.

Taemin nodded, no hesitation in his heart as he said "yes"