“Jongin?” Kyungsoo squeaks from the toilet.

“Yes, honey?”

“Kim goddamn Jongin, you bastard, get in here right now! My water just broke!”

Jongin peeks inside the bathroom and pales, clasping a hand to his agape mouth.

“Let’s go, gently now.” He escorts his husband to their car, where they’ve already stowed any necessary clothes and items in the trunk. He fastens Kyungsoo’s seatbelt, hastily makes his way to the driver’s seat, and disclaims, “Hang on tight, baby” before hitting the gas and speeding.

When they arrive at the hospital, which due to his work is luckily only in close proximity, Jongin doesn’t bother to check his parking and quickly clambers out with Kyungsoo. “Coming through; please make way,” spills out of his mouth as soon as the automatic doors slide open to let them pass. He is greeted with a cheerful “Good morning, Dr. Kim” by the nurses at the reception, who then easily recognize the situation and prepare a stretcher, which is now being pushed to the delivery room with Kyungsoo on top and Jongin holding him tight. “We’re almost there, hon.”

“Don’t you ing leave me, got it Kim Jongin?”

“No, of course not.” Jongin cringes a little because he just knows Kyungsoo will be cursing and shouting at him throughout the entire delivery. He might cry.

Jongin is used to seeing much bloodier and more nasty operations than this, but he still finds himself queasy because this is his husband bleeding here. Kyungsoo grunts and screams, sweats and pushes, cries because never has he felt a pain this excruciating. “Holy , Kim Jongin! Don’t you ever forget to buy a next time.”

Jongin profusely nods beside him and kisses his hand before singing him a song – their song. Kyungsoo freezes for a split second to turn at his husband and give him a weak smile. This makes the pain bearable – his husband by his side giving him comfort as they’re about to welcome the newest addition to their starting family.

“Aaaaaah!” With one final push, the doctor is able to extract the bundle that’s been lodging inside Kyungsoo for a whole nine months. He and Jongin watch adoringly as the umbilical cord is cut and the baby is swaddled in cloth. When they finally hold their little angel in their hands, they don’t bother stifling the hot tears that make their way down their faces. They look lovingly at their daughter and each other, huddled close together in a hospital bed under a sheen of perspiration and lacrimal fluid. They’re sticky; they’re wet…

But never have they been happier in their lives. “Welcome to the family, Hyuna.”

---

Across the corridor, an equally loud man is also giving birth, husband intertwining their fingers and whispering words of reassurance. Chanyeol hasn’t been to many of Baekhyun’s pregnancy milestones due to the strain of being a young CEO, but there was absolutely no way he’d miss this. He wanted to ease his husband into labor and remain by his side when they welcome their first child into the world. “You can do this, Baek. Just a little more.”

“Push, Mr. Park,” seconds the obstetrician. “I can already see the tip of the head.”

“Doctor, that sounded so wrong.”

“Just push, Mr. Park.”

“I…I can’t do it.”

“Yes you can, Baek. Just a little more. Breathe.”

With Chanyeol by his side and encouraging him, Baekhyun is finally able to push the little rascal out.

“Congratulations! It looks like the two of you have a little princess.”

“Oh my God, Yeol, we have a daughter!” The two decided to leave knowledge of their baby’s gender to the very last minute and are ecstatic at the idea of having a baby girl. As Baekhyun holds his child in his arms for the first time, he bites his lip to hold back the joyful tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “Hi! I’m so glad to see you at last. I can just tell how beautiful you are, even if I probably won’t be able to distinguish you from the other babies in the nursery right now. We’re going to have such a great time together as you’re growing up – I’ll dress you, braid your hair, tell you everything you need to know about boys…or impart with you the little that I know about girls if you roll that way…”

“Baek, I think it’s too early for that talk, yeah?”

“Shut up for a minute, Yeol. You’re kinda ruining the moment here.”

“What I’m trying to say is that I, we, will do everything we can to be the best fathers to you. Isn’t that right, Yeol?”

“You can count on that. Shall we say it together?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Welcome to the family, Sungah.”

---

Kyungsoo is sleeping in his room, Hyuna is sleeping in the nursery, and Jongin is wide awake in his office sipping coffee at ten in the evening. A smile plays on his face as he chants “daddy” under his breath, testing and liking how it sounds rolling off of his tongue and caressing his ears. It’s official: he and Kyungsoo are fathers. The thought sends a warmth to his chest that’s more pronounced and comforting than that brought by the coffee.

He finds himself taking a stroll along the corridors out of habit, reveling in the veil of serenity that blankets the hospital late at night. He rides the elevator to the nursery, wanting to gaze at their little angel from outside the glass panes. He’s about to make his way there when he sees a familiar figure leaning against the windows, softly placing a hand on the glass.

“Baek delivered today?”

“Oh. Hi, Jongin. Yes, we have a beautiful baby girl!”

“Congratulations! What a coincidence; Kyungsoo also delivered our daughter this morning.”

Chanyeol’s booming laughter echoes in the otherwise empty hallways. “It looks like I owe you congratulations too. What a coincidence indeed.”

They remain silent for a while, eyes fixed on their respective daughters, before Chanyeol pipes in, “Too excited to sleep?”

“Well, we’re not the ones exhausted from all that pushing.”

“Fair point. Although Baek is probably going to rectify that the next time. We’ve waited so long for Sungah. I started to worry she would never come.”

“Good thing you never stopped believing.”

“More like we never stopped trying. But I can’t complain there.”

“I knocked up Kyungsoo the first time.” Both men chuckle.

“She’s so beautiful. She has Baekhyun’s eyes.”

“Hyuna too. She’s the spitting image of Kyungsoo. I guess now we have to juggle our jobs and parenthood, eh?”

“I resigned.”

“What?”

“I thought that maybe we weren’t blessed with a child earlier because the heavens knew I was too occupied with my work and that I’d make a crappy dad with no time for his kid, like my own father was. So when I saw Sungah and first held her in my arms, I knew I wanted to be there every step of the way. Appa wasn’t particularly pleased when I told him over the phone, but he relented. He’s also aware that he could have been a better, more present parent to me growing up, so his blessing is like his way of making it up to me after all these years. How about you? Doesn’t the restaurant bring in enough money to sustain a family of three?”

“I guess I’ll try to take less work for myself, but I can’t give it up completely. Because when the time comes for me to go back, I’ll be too rusty. You get what I mean?”

Chanyeol nods his head and pats his shoulder.

“How great is this? Our daughters will grow up together and become the best of friends like their parents.”

Jongin is rendered speechless by Chanyeol’s implicit proposition that they raise their daughters together, because Kyungsoo specifically said he didn’t wish to see Baekhyun anymore after the last time. “Yeah, I think fate keeps bringing our families together,” he settles for instead.

They spend the remainder of the evening wordless, minds and hearts wholly transfixed on the image before them of their daughters sleeping soundly and blissfully unaware.

---

“Your turn,” mumbles a sleeping Kyungsoo when the night is suddenly pierced by a stream of loud wailing.

“I’m so tired. You feed her.”

“If I leave this room, I won’t come back.”

“Fine. You seriously should stop blackmailing me with divorce, you know. It’s not fair.”

“Then maybe you should stop taking me so seriously. I don’t want to be a single dad, after all.”

“Why don’t you just admit it – you don’t want to be without me.”

“That too. Now go feed our daughter.”

Jongin stumbles out of bed with mussed up hair and half-lidded eyes, making his way to the kitchen to prepare a bottle of warm milk for Hyuna. He makes his way back upstairs and into the baby’s bedroom. “There, there, Daddy’s here. Daddy’s going to feed you,” he coos as he picks up the sobbing infant and brings the bottle to . She gladly and Jongin caresses her back and sways lightly. When she stops slurping, Jongin takes out the bottle from between her lips and burps her. “Happy now?” As if she understands, Hyuna breaks out in the tiniest gummy smile and makes a satisfied noise.

“I love you. Even if I’m bone tired and you wake me up with your crying. Now go to sleep.”

She does as soon as her head meets the plush pillow resting in the crib. Jongin turns off the lights, wishes her a good night from the doorway, and lets himself out. He lingers at their bedroom’s entrance to listen to Kyungsoo’s rhythmic breathing, lingers some more by their bed to gaze at Kyungsoo’s moonlit features, and a hand along his squishy cheeks. “And I love you. Even if I’m bone tired and you wake me up with your nagging. I am so in love with you.”

“Go to sleep, you sap,” Kyungsoo mutters with eyes still closed. Jongin complies and crawls back under the sheets, but as he’s about to tug their blanket to his face, he thinks he makes out an “I love you too” from the other side of the bed. It’s whispered so softly that he isn’t sure if he only imagined it, but then he sees the corners of Kyungsoo’s mouth curl up slightly under the faint glow of the stars. He’s sure he heard him right.

---

“Soo, you’re ok that I still practice, right?” It’s been three months since they had Hyuna, but Jongin still thinks about his conversation with Chanyeol at the nursery.

Kyungsoo tilts his head to the side, trying to see where his husband is getting at and why he suddenly seems concerned. “Of course I’m ok with it. One of us has got to work, right?”

“And you absolutely don’t mind that it’s me?”

Kyungsoo gives Hyuna her bottle before responding to the question. “I don’t. Between the two of us, it’s easier for me to be a hands-on parent because I can entrust the restaurant to my chefs and still handle the accounting from home. You on the other hand are a surgeon; it’s not like you can ask your secretary to perform a nose job on your behalf. We’ve already talked about this beforehand. Why is it bothering you now?”

 “The day you delivered, Baekhyun also gave birth to their daughter. I saw Yeol,” he holds his breath at the name, “at the nursery and he’d told me he resigned. He just gave up his CEO position to be a dad.”

“The Parks are rich; Chanyeol doesn’t need to work to sustain his family.”

“I just…I’m not going to make a bad father because I work, right?”

Kyungsoo places a hand on Jongin’s larger one and continues, “Jongin, you’re already a great father. You get up in the middle of the night when Hyuna needs her bottle, play with her, and change her diapers, all after a long day earning money. I’ve seen the fond way she looks at you when you hold her – that’s all the proof you need that you’re doing it right.” He cups Jongin’s cheek with his free hand. “Sure, it gets tiring and lonely to stay here watching Hyuna all day long, but this is always what I’ve imagined myself doing. And you don’t know how lucky I consider myself to have you as my husband. I love you, doofus.”

“I love you too,” Jongin replies before pressing their lips together. They pull back to see Hyuna staring wide eyed at them and then clapping her hands. “I think that’s a call for an encore.”

They decide to whim their daughter.

---

Kyungsoo and Jongin decide to spend the day at the park; thinking now would be a good time for Hyuna to see more of the world. The couple dress in light V-neck shirts and shorts, apt for the warm summer weather, and settle their baby in her penguin print stroller.

“All set for our date, Soo?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t really consider this day stroll a date in the technical sense of the word, but his husband looks like an overexcited puppy and he decides not to burst his bubble. “Do you have Hyuna’s diapers, bottles, milk, and water? Extra clothes?”

“They’re all in the bag,” Jongin responds cheekily.

“Where’s the bag?”

Jongin’s face drops. “I’ll be right back.”

“Isn’t it a beautiful day, Hyuna?” asks Jongin once they’re outside, enjoying how his daughter’s eyes expand with wonder as she takes in the flurry of sights and colors, very much reminding him of Kyungsoo. She giggles and fidgets in her stroller, enthusiasm infectious and soon her fathers have wide smiles blossoming on their faces as well, arms linked as they push the stroller through the Saturday sidewalk crowd.

They pass a parked ice cream truck, causing Jongin to squeal like a little boy and not the thirty-something doctor that he is. “Soo, Soo, let’ get ice cream,” he pleads while tugging on the elder’s sleeve. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at his husband’s childishness and doesn’t need to look to know that he’s pouting stupidly.

“Honestly, how do your patients treat you seriously?”

“I only act like a kid around you.”

“When I need you to act like a responsible dad?”

“Pretty please let me buy ice cream? I’ll get you some too!”

“What are you getting me?”

“Vanilla ice cream sandwich with strawberry jam,” he answers proudly.

“You pass. Fine.”

Jongin jumps in his spot, places a wet kiss on Kyungsoo’s cheek, and then races to the ice cream truck.

“Hyuna, you’re only a few months old and I already take you more seriously than your father. But don’t you worry dear, you won’t wish for a better dad.”

Jongin comes back with Kyungsoo’s ice cream sandwich plus a Drumstick and a popsicle. “You do know Hyuna can’t eat ice cream yet, right?”

“Of course! Otherwise I would have bought four.”

“Greedy bastard. You better not spill on the sidewalk.”

“I bet I can finish both my ice creams before you finish yours.”

“Whatever. Just don’t make a mess.”

True to his word, Jongin reaches the chocolate tip of his cone just as Kyungsoo is only three quarters done with his sandwich. He stares at it, and as Kyungsoo thinks Jongin is about to pop it in his mouth, he finds the tip inches from his own face. He stares questioningly at the younger, who smiles and proffers, “Want it? It’s the best part.”

Kyungsoo blushes because even now that they’re already trying to raise a child, Jongin still pulls off these simple but thoughtful gestures, as if courting him after all these years. “No, you have it.”

Jongin just shrugs his shoulders and does as he’s suggested, and then Kyungsoo stands on his tiptoes, pulls his husband down, and places a chaste peck on his lips. “That is the best part for me.”

“See? You can be sweet if you want to.”

They finally reach their destination and Kyungsoo sits them down on one of the benches, with full view of the other park goers: teenage boys playing frisbee, twenty-something’s walking their pet dogs, families having a picnic on the grass, and young couples like them taking their babies on a stroll.

Jongin fidgets in his seat and taps a foot repeatedly. Kyungsoo gets him automatically. “Fine, we’ll move to the swing set.”

Jongin wraps him in a bear hug and showers his face with kisses. “Thank you, hon!”

Jongin then squeezes himself in one of the larger swings with Hyuna cradled in his arms and Kyungsoo struggling to push them forward, brow sweating and heaving all the while. “You might want to lose some weight, you know.”

“Oh, now you call me fat because you’re not pregnant anymore?”

“All I’m saying is if you want to get off the ground, you better lose some damn weight.”

“Think of this as cardio. Are you having a blast, Hyuna?” Jongin doesn’t actually even have to ask because their daughter is squirming giddily in his lap, hands either clapping or flailing at the sides, dazzling smile marking her face the whole while.

“If Hyuna wasn’t enjoying this so much, don’t think I would agree to this.”

“We’ll take turns if that’s what’s getting your feathers ruffled.”

“What makes you think an accomplished, mature restaurateur such as myself would want to play on a children’s swing set?”

“Because it’s fun.”

“Fair point. Get off.”

“Five more minutes.”

“I’m not an alarm clock, you know? But whatever, fine.”

They switch after exactly five minutes and Jongin stops to marvel at how adorable his husband looks on a swing with his arms tightly around their daughter’s tiny frame. He snaps a picture with his phone to make his lock screen wallpaper later, then steadily pushes them forward, earning excited squeals from both.

They attract initially curious and then adoring stares from passersby – the image of a young family filling the park with their laughter as they take part in lighthearted, carefree play.

When Kyungsoo stops laughing, Jongin looks up to note the cause of his husband’s halted happiness. Of course, it’s Park Baekhyun.

“Kyungsoo! Look at you; I swear I thought you were a twelve-year old swinging with his little sister.”

Jongin is now holding the swing firmly in place and Kyungsoo gets up and hands him Hyuna. “You have to be over 180 cm to make that comment. And hello to you too.” Chanyeol enters his line of vision then and he sheepishly adds, “Hey, Chanyeol.”

“Hi,” he waves back at him and Jongin.

“Sweetie, could you grab me something to drink,” asks Baekhyun tenderly while cradling Sungah in his arms. Chanyeol simply nods and heads off.

“Don’t want your husband to see what a you are?”

“Of course not, I’m just really thirsty.”

“Even when you’re already married and have stretch marks?”

“I didn’t mean it that way, .” He glances at Jongin for a while and then turns back to Kyungsoo. “And your husband still tolerates you even when he knows what a you are?”

“It’s called an open and honest relationship. You should try it some time. Cute daughter by the way; are you sure she’s yours?”

“Hilarious. Well, there’s no doubt the baby Jongin’s holding is yours – she has your nose. Or at least your pre-rhinoplasty one. I already know what her gift is going to be for her eighteenth birthday.”

Jongin, who had been quiet all this time, is aggravated by the comment. “Don’t you drag our daughter into your catfight.”

“Sorry about that,” Baekhyun extends in a voice rich with sarcasm. “So Kyungsoo, how’s the life of a fulltime father going for you? Is it difficult raising your daughter by yourself?”

“Hold the baby,” grits Jongin as he passes Hyuna to Kyungsoo. He’s had enough. “Listen here, you . You’re lucky you have a rich husband who can just give up his job at the drop of a hat. Yes I still work, but no that doesn’t mean Kyungsoo is raising our child alone. And even if Kyungsoo spends his entire day at home, he still manages to run the restaurant, unlike some of us who depend on their sugar daddies for food, and pretend to be the perfect little husband when what they really are is a spiteful, vile diva. You better keep up your act, Baekhyun, if you want to keep that last name.”

Kyungsoo has never in all his years of knowing Jongin seen him so livid and heard such vindictive words come out of his mouth. He’s too shocked to even enjoy the terrified expression on Baekhyun’s face. Chanyeol then chooses to return with coffee in tow. “Oh, hey! What did I miss?”

“Oh, nothing. We were just catching up. Let’s go?”

“So soon? Alright then. But anyway, I got you coffee, Jongin and Kyungsoo.” And sure enough, he hands the free beverages to the other couple with a flourish and an oblivious grin. “Well, I guess we should get going. See you soon!”

Jongin and Kyungsoo remain silent as they watch the Park family leave and before the latter comments, “Remind me never to push your buttons.”

“Well, you can always pop my buttons though.”

“Not in front of the child, Jongin.”

“Of course never in front of the child.”

Kyungsoo mentally facepalms at his husband’s sudden shift to innuendo mode, but gives up on the matter. “Just swing us again, doofus.”

“I love you too.”

And even with the earlier incident, they still enjoy their day at the park – fathers and daughter swinging and laughing until the sun goes down.

---

A/N: My rule for myself when it comes to mpreg, and which I would like to advise to you guys, is not to think about it. I don't trouble myself seeking for a physiological explanation behind the idea of a male pregnancy, and just enjoy the story. :D It isn't so much about where the baby comes from after all, but how the parents interact with it, right? Anyway, the next chapter will probably make it out some time next week. For now, I hope you had fun with this!

Also, 나인뮤지스! 

And yeah, I'm not going to stop with the nose job jokes. ;)