“Merry Christmas!~”

Clapping along with my excited son, I let him hug the tall box of gift his father just gave him. As expected, it was an educational toy – an alphabet abacus toy.

“Want to play with it already? Hm?” I baby-talk and he responds with an excited squeal. “Aigoo, Kyungsoo, I bought a nicer gift. It’s a penguin plushie and he completely ignored it. How dare you.” I mutter to my husband beside me who just gave me a smirk of victory. “You’re the only one who likes penguins in this house.” He scoffs. “Correction. I’m the only one who’s not a penguin in this house.” I rebut back and he only gives me a glare.

“Anyway. . .” I crawl near the bottom of our Christmas tree again and grabbed that one last gift I was hiding behind. It was for my husband. “And here’s~ for you.” I move back immediately beside Kyungsoo on the carpet and he gives me an arched brow. “Don’t tell me this is a bigger penguin plushie?” He asks as he grabs the box with a smile. “Just open it.” I grin while peeking at his face the whole time.

Since I couldn’t think of any nice gift he would like, I just thought of something he could use. A simple backpack.

As he opens up the box, he took out the hardboard paper box of it and he already stops as soon as he saw the brand. He gives me a defiant glare. “How mu—“Don’t search for any pricetag because I chewed it out and you won’t be able to see it unless I poop it out again.” I cut him off and he heaves a sigh. No, of course I was kidding. Why would I eat a pricetag? That’s silly of me, but still, he shouldn’t care about how much I got it  for anymore.

“Instead of buying dia—“But I bought it because it’s Christmas, it’s gift-giving and because I love you. Clear?” I didn’t let him speak at all nor start his predictable nag to come out. I kneel down and move closer to him. “Merry Christmas. I love you. Hmm~” I lean down and gave him a lingering smooch on the lips. He hesitantly smiled as he finally tears the paper bag open and took the bag out.

“When I saw it in the store, I knew right then you would like it. It’s very simple, isn’t it?” I ask as he stares down to it. “I don’t have something to give back though?” He asks and I try not to frown. Woah there, seriously?? I was honestly anticipating for my cake mixer already. Wow, this brilliant weirdo. “O-oh. . . We’re all good, I expected it anyway.” I mutter and gave him a forced smile.

“But I have somewhere to bring you to.” He tells. My eyes dart back to him as I give him my skeptical look. “Uhm. . . so you’re bringing me on a date as gift?” I ask and raise my eyebrow. He pulls himself up to stand up and grabs me along. “Yohan-ah, come.” He carries our son with one hand and starts dragging us. We wore our coats first and put on Yohan’s as well including his thick beanies and ear pads before stepping out of the house.

“Wait—your car keys.” I mutter. “No, we’re just walking.” He tells and my eyes bulge out. “Are you serious?? It’s so cold.” I groan but he only continued walking until we’re out of the gates. I tug on him closer to feel warm as we walk to the snowy pathway of the almost empty street. Families are all inside their houses right now since it’s midnight of Christmas. Good thing, there were lamp post everywhere so it wasn’t dark at all.

“Seriously, where are we going?” I ask. I look around trying to guess which café he’s trying to reach but he wasn’t stopping to anything. Since this is a subdivision type of residence, the café’s are all small in sizes but give off a homey feeling so I was hoping he would stop by one of those café’s I like. “Here.” He suddenly stops in front of a closed café, not even a single lights were on in this place. I’ve tried this one café once but it recently closed.

So why the hell are we here?

“You know clearly this is an inactive café, right?” I ask as a matter of fact. What surprised me is when he walked towards the entrance and took out some keys. “W-wait—yah, what are you doing, hey—“ I stop when he successfully opened the glass doors. He put Yohan down and the two walked into the place. The lights inside and the interior shocked my whole system.

It looked different from how it previously looked before.

The place were all white and with a combination of powder blue. The walls – they had portraits of beautifully photographed pastries and cakes. And there’s a  lighted menu on top of the ordering section and most of the names of the pastries has the word Dew’s on it which is the rough translation of my name.

Just then, the top part of the outside interior by the entrance where I’m standing on lighted up as well and I saw my online shop’s name Dewy Sweets on it.

“When I found out that this café will shut down and the place was for sale, I took hold of it right away since it’s going to be convenient for you if your bake shop’s near our home.” Kyungsoo speaks from inside. I see Yohan already running around the bright place. “M-my bake shop?” I mutter and cover my mouth out of surprise. “Don’t you want to come in?” He asks and gives me a smile. “Oh my god. . .” I immediately rush into the place and run to my husband for a tight hug.

“Why are you so sneaky??” I start crying while hitting his back. I hear his soft chuckle as he wraps his arms around my waist. “Well it’s your fault. You asked for a cake mixer as a gift. Your cake mixer is still working fine. So why not give you what you don’t have, right?” he asks. I pull away just enough for me to look at him. “H-how muc—“I chewed the contract out so you won’t see it unless I poop it out.” He cuts me off and without further reply, I press our lips together. When I cut it off, I made our foreheads touch.

“I love you so much. . .” I hush while holding onto his face. He simply nuzzled the tip of his nose against mine as he smiles back. He then turns to the walls. “Baekhyun helped along. See, he’s indeed quite skillful on taking pictures huh.” He tells and my eyes widen. “S-seriously?? He knows?” I exclaim and he nods with a smile. “Hana and Soomi helped me too on naming out the menus since aside from I, they also know your best recipes.” He adds and I couldn’t say anything.

I was too shocked. I only wished for a cake mixer.

He gave me so much more.

“Oh, and also. . .” He adds while looking around. “I’ve already opened this for job applicants and I got five individuals who are baking experts as well to help you make this shop happen.” He tells with a smile. “You made this happen. . .” I mumble and tiptoe to plant multiple pecks on his lips again. We both glance at our son who was surprisingly standing by us now while looking up. He looks all excited since the place also looked kid-friendly.

“There’s an extra stock room in this café, I’ve decided why not make it a little lounge for him so you could leave him safe there when you’re at work.” He points out at a direction. He’s making me go dizzy of everything he’s saying. Dizzy in a good way. “The chairs for the tables, they’re all solo couches because you always told me you like eating pastries while feeling the softness of the couch you said it feels like home, I assumed it’s a real thing cause I tried it and it feels much better than your regular stools in cake shops. With that being said, I assume you’d have more costumers who would feel relaxed.” He explains thoroughly – every detail about this place.

Everything was planned and done beautifully and everything. . . were of my likes and dreams.

He never forgot even just one bit of it. Every detail I’ve told him before, I could see it right in front of me right now.

Why am I so blessed of having him?

“One last thing. . .” He leaves my side and skips to the ordering section. He took out something from a drawer and it was a powder blue apron. What surprised me is when I saw the print of it. A penguin holding a cupcake! “Oh my!” I squeal as I rush to him and grabbed it. “That was not my idea. It was Hana’s and Soomi’s. Baekhyun’s the one who edited and printed it out into these aprons.” He tells.

“You have a lot of friends who believe you deserve such ownership. You have a lot of people who know your talent, see your costumers online? I’m sure they would all come here.” He lifts Yohan up into his arms and moves close to me again. “And then you have us.” He lastly tells. Yohan puts his short arms up and giggles hard. “Eomma Appa ttayanghae~” He chants and Kyungsoo’s jaw dropped in shocked. As shocked as I was. “Omo~ you didn’t teach him that??” I ask and out of feels, I took Yohan from him. “Omo, my baby. Eomma and Appa love you too.” I bury my lips onto his puffy cheeks for a loud smooch.

“Geez, Do Kyungsoo, you made me cry. You’re so bad.” I look away as I wipe my tears. “See how much better I am to you with this gift-giving phenomenon? You gave me a bag, I gave you a shop.” He tells and alright, back to reality. I roll my eyes while scoffing. “Uh-huh? Really now huh?” I eagerly nod and he does the same while leaning down me until our lips meet again. After our light peck, we then planted our kiss next to Yohan’s cheeks, I have his left while Kyungsoo has his right ones.

Yohan giggles hard and simultaneously, he gives us his loving kiss as well on our lips. Kyungsoo holds onto the small of my back as we both look at our jolly son. “Honey.” I call and Kyungsoo gazes at me while holding Yohan’s tiny hand. “So. . . should we give him a dongsaeng?” I ask and he was silent for a while. Our eyes never left each other as if we were talking through it.

“Well. . .” He faintly mutters and tilts his head aside while thinking. “While. . . managing this shop?” He asks and raised an eyebrow. “Honey, when I was pregnant with Yohan I kept on baking and you’re the victim of not having a choice but to eat them. Now I have real costumers to feed. Do you think it would stress me out? And like you’ve said, I have five baking assistants, right?” I ask as a matter of fact. “You have a point there. . . but—“Just give me your final answer. Yes? No?” I cut him off.

“Could you assure me that you’re going to be just fine then?” He asks. I give him a firm and persistent nod. “Assure me that if you do get pregnant soon whilst managing this shop and you’re here at work. . . if something’s painful or making you feel uncomfortable just rush straight to the house and leave the workers to continue on.” He tells. “Deal.” I nod again and even give him thumbs up. “Assure me that you’ll stay alive.” He then adds and I was silent for a while.

“Very well, your silence is terrifying me, so that is a no fo—“Okay okay! I will stay alive. I promise.” I said and put a right hand up. He gives me a skeptical look. He’s so hard to convince, he still doubtful of it. He looked concerned, very concerned. “Please. . .” I muffle with my puppy eyes. He looks away and rubs his face off a few times. "Very well, let us agree on this last one. . . for the last two months before your due date, you won’t come here for a while and just let it be managed by the workers and by me.” He gives another proposal.

“Ugh. Alright.” I roll my eyes as I nod. He’s making this too long for my liking. “You are not taking this seriously.” He grunts. “I know but it’s just so frustrating. Just trust me on this. Nothing will happen, alrigh—“I stop from speaking when I felt my tummy turning. I gagged and covered my mouth quickly. “Good Lord.” Kyungsoo hisses with his bewildered expression. “Where’s the restroom??” I ask and start panicking as I feel the liquid tracing up my throat. “Are you being humorous right now?? It’s not funny because I’m not yet agree—“Restroom!” I exclaim and he quickly points to the left.

As I throw up on the sink, I feel my husband’s presence behind me. “It’s the pasta you ate. It’s the pasta you ate. It’s the pasta you ate. It’s the pas—“What’s with you again??” I ask as I finish throwing up. “I’m convincing myself. It’s the pasta you ate. . .” He repeats and as cute and weird as it is, Yohan starts babbling trying to imitate his father.

They looked like they were casting a ritual on me right now. “It’s not the pasta I ate. It was just clear.” I mutter and he closes his eyes tightly. “It’s not the pasta you ate. It’s the broccoli you ate yesterday. It’s the broccoli you ate yester—“Seriously—just relax.” I cut him off.

He looks back at me with his worried eyes.

“Let’s find out first before you panic.” I walk close to him and cup his face. I look at Yohan and smiled. It’s funny how Kyungsoo's reaction when we had Yohan was totally different from now. He’s so worried for me. “I’d only buy one so if it’s negative, let’s stick to negative.” He nods and I give him a light slap on the cheek. “I’ll be alive. Alright? Look at me. Do I look like someone who’s gonna die soon?” I ask. “Do I look like a fortune teller to you?” he asks back while blinking. I made a blowfish as I look away. “Trust me. I’ll do anything just to have a healthy labor. I’ll be ten times more careful than before.” I tell and wrap my arms around his waist. I glance at Yohan again who was holding onto his father’s neck. “And our family’s going to be ten times happier with Yohan’s new playmate, ne?” I ask and the kid giggled. “With that being said, I should place a bed on the lounge I saved here so you could still be on bed rest when you feel tir—“Kyungsoo. Relax. Please.” I cut him off.

“I’m going to suffer another nine months of anxiety and fear, do you know that?” He asks. Our faces were inches apart as he looks at me with so much love. “And I’m going to suffer much more—in all aspects—because I’m the one holding the child so straight those eyebrows up and stop acting as if you’re the mother. Clear? So may we leave this beautiful gift of yours for a while and buy a test since I unexpectedly threw up which might be a sign of my pregnancy and since I’ve also been feeling morning sickness though I haven’t told you?” I croak back and gave him my deadly smile.

He finally gives me a defeated nod. FINALLY! Gosh, I thought I would never get it.

Well to be honest, I’ve expected this, I’ve only been anticipating for it. Having been ually active with him for the past months without using a protection, it’s already said enough. Well as a matter of fact, he thought I was taking my pills but I know it would be hard to convince him so I thought why not stop it beforehand?

See now, he doesn’t have a choice.

He just needs to trust me on this.

The moment we got married was the moment we’ve agreed upon a lifetime of trust. It’s been tested a lot of times and now on this one, he needs to trust me that I’ll continue staying by his side, by Yohan’s side. And likewise to him.

Marriage isn’t a game but it requires great teamwork.

|| E P I L O G U E ||

“S-sir, Miss Iseul. . . Miss Iseul is here in the ba—“

I wave my hand furiously as I look at my worker, Soyeon as she talks to Kyungsoo on the phone and signal her not to tell Kyungsoo I still had the time to stop by the shop. “N-no, she didn’t come to the bake shop. B-but she called and said her tummy’s feeling weird and so I just want to inform you about bringing her straight to the hospital if that’s alright, Sir caus—Oh. . . He’s gone.” She stops and stares down at the phone. “Miss Iseul, he hung up already.” She speaks. “He already understood, he’ll come. Now accompany me back to the house b-because—aww. . . This is so painful.” I mutter as she guides me out with another worker, Hwasa.

Lucky enough, I just actually drove Yohan to the daycare center before going straight here when I start feeling weird.

I close my eyes tight as we head to the back exit of the bake shop so I wouldn’t cause attention from the costumers at the moment. “Miss Iseul, how about go straight with Hwasa and take the taxi to the hospital, I’ll just get the labor bag in your house?” She tells since she knows me pretty well already and knows we’ve always prepared for the labor bag in advance.

“O-okay. Here’s the key.” I say in between pants and pass her the house key. So I ended up in a taxi with Hwasa. “Miss Iseul, is it worsening? Please hold it.” Hwasa grumbles in worry as she my tummy while constantly glancing outside. “Driver ahjusshi, please make it a bit quick.” She tells.

A bit more.

Yes, I will hold it in more.

Just a bit more—Ahhh! I feel that familiar leaking sensation on my opening.

“Ahh! Oh my god! That I can’t control! Ahhh. . .” I yell as I start leaking in my undergarment and dress until it reached the cloth of the car chair. “—your water broke. Miss Iseul, hold on!” Hwasa cusses unknowingly as she starts panicking as well. “Ahhh! Driver ahjusshi, I’m so sorry. Your car—Ugh!” I yelp in pain as I hold onto my crotch. “I-it’s okay, Ma’am. We’re getting there. Just hold on.” The driver sounded worried as well as the car sped up a bit.

Why do I have to suffer this much every labor time?

If I only listened to Kyungsoo to get admitted earlier in the hospital—gosh, I could already hear him say. . .

_ _ _

“I TOLD YOU SO! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T LISTEN TO ME!”

I am now being pushed on the bed carrier by two nurses, Hwasa and my currently nagging husband. “Shut up! I don’t have time for your nags! I feel like dying!” I shout back in between yelp. “It’s gonna be okay. Huh? I’m just here. . .” He turns back into a gentle one as he grabs my hand tight he was sweating so much and he had tears in his eyes. My heart was pounding so rapidly as I feel my whole body react on the pain. “Yohan. . . pick Yohan up from the d-daycare center.” I had the time to remind him and he just gave me a nod.

“Your workers picked him up already. They’ll bring him here.” He tells which made me relieved right away.

In no time, we arrived at the operating room and the real thing starts. . .

“Ahhhh! !” I cuss in pain as I grip on my husband’s hands so tightly that even he was screaming. “Your mouth! You’re so vulgar—Ahhh, calm down. Please. . .” Kyungsoo panics as he holds my hand as tight as he can and had his closed eyes placed over my cheeks. “Keep awake. Please, keep awake.” I could hear him muttering continuously as I push. I made constant heavy breathings as I give all my force. “Patient is having a hypotension.” I faintly hear the nurses pronouncing and I could feel it myself, the weakness starting to build up in me.

“H-hoh—.” With my blurry eyes, I see my husband start crying as he glances at the monitor thing and he cusses in between sobs. I couldn’t breathe well already. “K-kyungsoo.” I muffle as my head falls back. “Are you with me? Iseul. . .  hear me? Huh?” He cries out while my hair away from my face.

I was weakly moving my head from left to right as his sight starts darkening.

Until everything out of me and I could only hear faint murmurs around me. It’s like. . . I was half-conscious.

_ _ _

And to make long story and suffering short, I ended up with C-section, you guys.

It wasn’t just because of my blood pressure but also the doctor said I couldn’t push my baby boy out.

Yes, you read it right. Another boy. Another penguin.

And this time, Kyungsoo let me choose the name and I chose Do Pengoo—No, just kidding. Of course not. If I do that my son will suffer for a lifetime.

And so on the 20^th of September, exactly 9:34 PM, we welcomed our second baby Do  Yojoon.

“Ahh~ come? Come?~” I delightfully spread my arms as I see my husband entering the hospital room I am admitted in. He was holding our baby now. And this time, luckily, he isn’t premature so he looks all chubby. Kyungsoo arrives by the bed and sat down. “He looks so much like you.” He mutters softly as he handed me our second son. “Yojoon Yojoon!” Yohan exclaims as the kid ran to the bed and tries to climb up. Kyungsoo lifts him up to his lap and let him look at the gentle angel in my arms right now.

“Eomma, can I carry?” Yohan asks but we both shook our heads. “Yohannie, you can carry your dongsaeng when you get stronger okay?” I tell and his cheeks. “And Yohan will get stronger if he eats his meal now.” Kyungsoo adds and the kid quickly jumps down from him. “Aunt Hana Aunt Hana, Hungry now!” The silly kid rushes to Hana who was seated on the couch with Soomi. “Aigoo~ Now you’re hungry.” Hana lifts him up and starts opening the pack of food Kyungsoo prepared for the kid.

Now back to us,

“How long was I unconscious?” I ask as I constantly turn from Yojoon to my husband. “Exactly. . .” Kyungsoo glances at his watch. “Fourteen hours and twenty-five minutes since admission here in the room, meaning not including in the operating room when you passed out.” He tells. “Did I almost die?” I ask while chuckling. I now pull my hospital gown down at one side and start giving Yojoon’s first feed.

“And I almost did too. One nurse had to bring me out for a while because you almost killed me out of worry. My blood pressure elevated and I had to leave the room and be assisted as well.” He explains and I just scrunch my nose while sticking my tongue out at him. “I swear, this is the cut off. TWO. Just TWO. That is final. You should get a ligation soon.” He speaks with a firm tone but leans more closely to me. He gently rests his head against mine as we both admire our son being fed right now.

“Why?” I hush and try to gaze my eyes at him. He heaves a deep sigh as he simply closes his eyes. He had a light smile on while putting an arm over me. “I’m so proud of myself right now.” He mutters. “When were you not?” I scoff back. I feel him tapping his hand on my head a bit and I just respond with a chuckle. “I’m just saying. . . I’m so proud of myself for having to give this much love to a person.” He answers. He turns his head to look down to me and I look back.

I smile as our lips brush against each other. “How much have you given?” I ask. He bites his lower lip as he nuzzles his nose against mine. “Well let’s see. . . Two lovely boys. . . my trust, loyalty, time, effort, don’t forget the money.” He hushes and I hit his chest lightly and he just chuckles. “What else. . . my happiness, my sadness, my weirdness.” We both snigger as he said that one. “The best one? My old, sickly and grumpy state in the future.” He tells. I close my eyes as I lovingly smile back. “You’ve always been grumpy.” I mutter earning a chuckle from him. “Exactly. . . my grumpiness is for a lifetime. So you have no choice but to receive it.” He tells. Before I could open my eyes again, I already felt his lips against mine and so I automatically kiss back.

Just then, Yojoon let out a soft coo making us both let go of each other’s lips and look down to him. He was done feeding and had his eyes open, looking up at us. I glance at Yohan who’s sitting on Soomi’s lap right now while eating. I signal Soomi to bring the toddler to us and so she did. “You guys are seriously the cutest ever.” She tells as she gently places Yohan on the other edge of the bed. “Yohan, be gentle okay? Just look at your dongsaeng. See, he’s wide awake right now.” I tell and let the toddler glance while hugging my neck. I gaze at Kyungsoo again who’s doing the same and his head was placed against mine again.

It’s all imperfectly perfect.

Our paradigm of intimate and momentous relationship. Our family.

He showed me all the best and all the worst possible things he could ever show and that’s why I’m this much in love. . .

It was my choice, it was my effort and persistence to reach such high with my other half. It wasn’t easy at all. In relationships, you’d need to exert that much amount of effort together with that person.

You don’t use emotions alone to keep love growing because in the midst of all; things, troubles will arise . . . measuring your strength as one.

So always heads up~ with your full confidence and patience to face what love has to offer. . . ‘cause it’s just as simple as mind over matter.

|| Link to Baekhyun/OC side-story:

||   WANTED: Daddy's Love

Note:

Anyone who would love to buy me coffee for my hard work to put up this rollercoaster ride of story, like a dog treat for your Otornim lol, and to also support me as a creator, you are very free to do so, although I am not forcing anyone, it's your choice babes! You can check out the link below if you're interested. ;)))

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