Hey, this is Deanae; I hope you like it.  It's a bit fluffy, which isn't really my strong point, so forgive me if I make stupid mistakes.  Also, I spell-check on microsoft word, but there could still be errors.  Forgive those as well please!!!  :D

Taemin was leaning in to kiss me; his lips were parted and mine were awaiting.  My hands were reaching up for him and his were reaching down to me and our lips had just barely grazed each other after a long night of lustful eye contact when-

The baby monitor went off and I groaned; my eyes barely opened as I flipped the covers back, taking a stand and stumbling to the door.  The baby got louder as I entered the room, half-asleep, and I approached the cradle lightly.

She looked up at me and immediately broke out in a bubbling, gurgling, baby smile.  On any other occasion I would’ve smiled back, enchanted by the delicacy of human life and the tiny limbs of my niece.  However, I wasn’t in that sort of mood, if you could even have a mood while sleep-walking at two in the morning.

“Shhh…” I mumbled, picking her up and tucking her close to my chest.  She burped and giggled, grabbing hold of my nightgown and on it.  “Night little baby… nightie-night-night…”  I continued to sing an incomprehensible song as she slowly slowed and relaxed in my arms.

“Mmmgggrrmmmmaaaaa…” she breathed, and fell asleep.  I carefully placed her back in the crib and kissed her forehead.

“Good night sweetie,” I whispered, and tip-toed from the room, cautious about the creaky floorboards and squeaky hinge.  I went back to bed and managed to get under the covers before realizing that I wasn’t tired anymore, which really sent me into a bad mood.

“For god’s sake,” I hissed as I got out of bed again, standing in just a thin, flimsy nightgown and feeling cold with the night’s chill.  It was getting warmer, but not fast enough, and I was still annoyed with the light, fading snow on our lawn every time I went out.  “I can’t get a break, can I?”

The stairs were even colder on my bare feet than the air was on the back of my neck, and I shivered as I entered the kitchen.  Late night snacks were a common occurrence, only bolstered by the fact that I had taken the official ‘night-watch.’

That entitled sleeping with the baby monitor next to me, and getting up to soothe the awoken baby whenever the occasion called for it.  It meant a lot of walking, little time for home studies, and no sleep.  I wasn’t sure how much more my poor heart could take.

Literally.  Being the heart condition patient that I was, I was ordinarily told to relax and take a week off for personal recuperation; but with my sister’s ex-fiancé gone and off doing whatever it was that he wanted to do away from his recently-separated ex, I had to fill the gap that my sister wasn’t able to cover up by herself.

On any other day, on any other night, I would’ve been happy to be down in the kitchen making a sloppy sandwich.  Who didn’t like food?  But there and then, frustrated and shaking and yawning without desire for sleep, I was pissed.  I was angry.  I was miserable.

It didn’t go as far as to regretting helping my older sister (I was that kind of person: kind and caring and worrying about everyone), but it certainly had reached the point where I wanted to ignore the baby’s cries, regardless of what my sister would think.

Obviously I hadn’t ever done that, and never would, but the thought was tempting, certainly as I bit into the bread and heard her begin to mumble and whimper, readying herself to bawl.  I sighed and tossed the pathetic excuse of a snack into the trash, not even hungry, and climbed the stairs again.

My niece was sniffling and clutching at her onesie, looking adorable besides her tears and snot.  Her eyes were pools of sparkling cocoa; her lashes were damp and dark; her tiny lips were pink and puckering as a sour expression sprouted on her face.

“Baby,” I cooed softly, sitting next to the crib and sticking a hand through that plastic bars so she wouldn’t cry.  Her fingers curled around my own and I smiled, despite myself, feeling better as her cries died down and her palm finally relaxed after what felt like hours.  I was so tired at that point and so fed up with being tired that I let myself drown in the anxiety and the drowsiness; I closed my eyes, breathed a deep breath, and slept.

Taemin was there, in front of me, smiling.  I grinned back, feeling elated.  I hadn’t seen him in months and video chats could only get you so far.  I wanted to hold him, I wanted to kiss him, I wanted to be with him.  More than anything.

He began to speak, mouthing something I couldn’t make out.  I leaned closer, eyes squinting in confusion.  He tried to speak again, but I heard nothing.

“What?”

“Laura.”

“Yah?  What?”

“Laura!”

“Taemin!”

“LAURA!”

I awoke, jolting upright and to my blurry senses.  An immediate sensation swept through me; well, my arm.  I hissed in pain and felt my arm yanked back to the cradle, where I was jammed at the elbow.  My sister eased me to my feet after dislodging my arm, and let me lean on her as I yawned.

“I woke up and went to check, only to find you like this.  Are you alright?  What time did you wake up for her?”

“Ummm….”  I tried to form a coherent thought and failed, falling even more heavily against her.  “Uhhh…”

“It’s alright, don’t think about it.  You should take a nap,” she said, and I could only nod lazily before letting her lead me to my bedroom, and my bed, and I fell back into the long, pulling dregs of sleep.

Taemin’s POV

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, slicking it back.

The dance room was always hot and I was always sweating, even with slower songs; I was just too focused on the music to reign in my energy and the result was always the same.  Exhaustion.

But I liked that about dancing; it made me feel accomplished.

“How’s your girlfriend?” Minho asked, and I smiled, thinking of her, before frowning, thinking of her situation.

“She’s okay, I guess; she’s been really busy lately.  I’m just hoping that she picks up the phone.  If she doesn’t…  Well…  She needs her sleep,” I explained, feeling deflated about her condition and ecstatic about the possibility of seeing her.  “I’ve gotta go,” I announced, and disappeared before Minho could say bye.

The dorms were crowded with clothes and I pushed a way through to my bed, eager to make the call, hopeful that she’d pick up.  I wanted to try before I got into the shower and clicked her contact photo, choosing the option to face time her.  My phone rang and my live picture showed up on the screen waiting for her to make the connection.

I watched the status bar and nearly leaped in joy when I saw it go from pending to connecting.  I held composure just long enough to straighten my hair somewhat and clear my throat, praying I didn’t sound too breathless, something that looking at her usually did anyways.

Her visage appeared and I jumped, banging my head on the bunkbed above me.  I yelped and she got worried; I could tell from her creased forehead and higher tone of voice.

“Are you okay oppa?”

“Yah, Laura, I am; I just hit my head on the bed,” I said, and she smiled a tiny, nearly invisible smile.  “How are you these days?”

“Oh,” she said, looking away to something behind the phone, “I’m, good.”  She didn’t sound good, and I for the first time noticed the heavy bags under her eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she said, and yawned, cuing me in on exactly what the problem was.

“Just tired?”

“Just?” she exclaimed, letting me in on a little bit of her anxiety.  “I’m so tired, it’s not even funny.  Getting up from the couch to grab my phone to answer your call made me want to take a nap, which I’ll probably do after this.”  She yawned again and I had the sudden urge to embrace her.

“You should go now,” I suggested, wanting more than anything to be there and falling asleep with her.  “I won’t mind.”

“But I’ll mind; I wanna talk with you oppa,” she mumbled, leaning down to rest her chin on her hands after setting her phone to stand by itself.  “You wanna talk to me too, right?”

“Of course, but I’m also worried about you.”

“Don’t be; that’s my job,” she whispered, and her eyelids fluttered shut for a second before she shook herself awake again.  “I worry for my sister and I worry for my niece and I worry about myself, so worrying about you can’t be that much more.  I’ll be fine, oppa.  Just talk with me a few minutes.”

“Okay,” I consented warily, knowing that she was wrong about that whole thing: I already worried about both of us.  “What about?”

“Whatever you want, Tae…  Whatever, you… want…”  She slowly drifted back to sleep, eyes closing and lashes fluttering down to coat her cheeks like blonde snowflakes.  I smiled and gently reached out to touch the screen, imagining her hair under my fingers and her cheek in my palm.

I sighed as I realized she wasn’t going to wake up, and ended the call.  I wanted her to sleep, but I wanted to be there; I wanted so much… it almost seemed unfair for me to want so many things, seeing as though I was famous and had found amazing friends and was the boyfriend of the best girl in the world.  It wasn’t fair for me to covet so readily.

Then an idea came to me, and I hurriedly rushed to find the contact, distant in my list from being so unused.  I searched for a minute before finding it, and I clicked the call button.

I tossed the phone onto my bed after I finished my conversation and undressed, only in my boxers as I grabbed a towel and headed for the shower, wanting to wash away the sweat and the worry and the longing to see Laura, feeling accomplished and confident in my plan to do just that.

I giggled in glee just to myself as the water began to run and I stepped under it after shedding my underwear and setting down the towel.  Laura wasn’t going to believe what I just did for her; she’ll never be able to thank me enough for-

“I have to wash my face!” someone shouted as the door opened, and I jumped in surprise before realizing I’d remembered to shut the blue shower curtain.  “I won’t be long.  Oh, but make sure to hurry up; Key’s sitting out there brooding.  He wants to take a shower too.”

“Sure thing,” I responded, recognizing the familiar voice of Jonghyun beyond the plastic.

“Cool,” he said, and the water steaming above me began to burn as he the faucet.

“OW!”

Laura’s POV

The clink of the dishes woke me.

I was snoring away, slowly making up for my sleepless night when my mom accidently roused me while loading the dishwasher.  She apologized and I waved it away, telling her I needed to get up anyways, which I didn’t, but now that I was awake I might as well get some studying done.

I was taking college online because of everything going on in my life, from the heart condition to the baby niece, and studies were pretty rough as of that moment.  I sighed and pulled the computer closer so that I could rustle through my documents, looking for the paper that was due in a week.

I eventually found and opened it, just resting my fingers on the keys when my mom sat down next to me.  She laid a hand on my arm soothingly, and I immediately began to worry.

“Is she back on the tube?” I asked hurriedly, nervous that while I’d been out my niece had had to go back onto her feeding tube; premature babies often needed the supplement, and it was so often that I was constantly worried about her.

My mom smiled, though, and I relaxed.

“No, she’s alright; this is good news, sweetie.”

“What is it?”

“Well,” she said, grinning wider and looking around as if for eavesdroppers, “I got a call earlier today.”  She reminded me of a teenage girl, nearly giggling as she spoke.  “Guess who it was?”

“Really, mom?”

“Really.”

“Was it dad?”

“No.”

“Danika?”

“No.”

“Who?”

“Taemin!” she said, excited as she’d ever been.  She was always happy while talking about him, happy that someone loved her daughter, her baby, as much as she loved her.  “He called me earlier and proposed something that I couldn’t refuse.  He wants you to come visit him and the rest of the band for a couple weeks as a chance to rest up and regain some energy after being so busy with the baby recently.”

I was so thunder-struck that I couldn’t respond, trying to wrap my head around what she’d just said.  When I managed to recapture my composure, I could only say a few words.

“But, the baby-”

“I’ll take over for the two-and-a-half weeks you’ll be gone.”

“But, your-

“I’ll take shorter shifts at work, and I don’t have any studies to work on, so I’ll get enough sleep.”

“But, my studies-”

“That’s the point of online college, honey; you can finish the rest of that paper you have due, but after that you have the option to push your other assignments back for a small period.  You can always work on them there, but I have the feeling you won’t.”  She smiled and I couldn’t help but do the same, an unfamiliar emotion sweeping through me for the first time in months.

Excitement.

“I’m going to Korea,” I breathed, and she nodded, taking my hands.  “I’m seeing Taemin.”

“You’re seeing Taemin.”

“Oh my-oh my-” I couldn’t finish the sentence because my chest suddenly felt rigid, but it was nothing worse than what I’d dealt with for the past couple weeks.  My mom leaned forward, looking nervous, but I just grinned and hugged her tighter than my chest was, squeezing her before letting go.  “Thank you so much.”

“Of course, sweetie,” she said, cupping my cheek gingerly as I noticed tears pooling in my eyes.  “I don’t know when your flight will leave because I haven’t booked it yet, but it’ll be in a week or so since that’s when he said he had the most free-time, so take this opportunity to pack your bags and get whatever you want done.”  I sniffled and smiled a sappy, melting smile.  “I hope you get plenty of time to sleep and to eat and to spend with him.”

My mom hugged me again before standing up, a single hand on my shoulder being her way of saying she had to finish the dishes.  I wiped my face and closed the computer, feeling rejuvenated.

“Me too, mom; me too.”

Baby’s POV

My blankie was warm.

My crib was colorful.

Everything in my room was squishy.

I liked it.

Wait.  Maybe I didn’t.

Yah, definitely… my blankie was too warm.

I wanted someone to take it.

I was burning.

I started to cry, knowing someone would come to my aid.

I cried louder, hoping she heard.  She, being my Lalla; or something like that.  I couldn’t really talk yet.

I was hot.

So I cried.

And she showed up.

I giggled.

Being a baby was so fun.

Taemin’s POV

A week-and-half later, I knew what it meant to be too excited.

I’d bothered and bugged my band members into practical chaos, unintentionally; I was too hyper.  I had too much energy, too much expectation for the day Laura got off that plane and flew into my arms.  I barely ate the day before, barely slept, barely could contain myself as I was escorted to the airport by my manager, who had allowed me to go on one condition: I had to stay in the car.

It was worth it.  The other option, waiting at the dorms, was out of the question.  I had to see her as soon as possible; if I didn’t, I would explode.  Anyway, regardless of my choice, the others wanted me out of the house for a bit; I was wearing them a little thin around the edges.

So I jumped around the back seat as we pulled into the parking garage, bursting with energy that I knew she’d have none of.  I could already imagine her trying to act overly energetic for me, and I smiled.  I knew she’d be way too tired to show how she truly felt, but I knew how she felt and just how strongly she loved me, so I didn’t mind.  I just wanted to see her.  I needed to hold her for the first time in months, and my chest started to ache as I squirmed in my seat.

I’d been relieved over the past couple weeks that her chest hadn’t been hurting her lately, even with the extensive stress and exhaustion.  She always told me when her heart started to act up, and I always made sure to call or to text or to send something through the mail to make her feel better.  Surgeries were the worst, and I tried every time to go and meet her, but sometimes I couldn’t; I was just glad she hadn’t had one in a long time.

I was so hyped by the time I saw my manager walking towards the car, Laura’s bags in his hand and Laura herself behind him, smiling such a wide smile I thought I’d never seen her so happy.

We hugged and we kissed and I lifted her from the ground in my embrace, not a care in the world about the potential paparazzi or their photographs.