For the next few days, Sehun and you routinely checked up on Youngwoo, who was rapidly gaining weight.  His tiny arms and legs grew plump and smooth.  Though he still had a long way from being released from the ICU, it comforted you to watch his body grow stronger.

Youngwoo wiggled his tiny feet around in the cubicle as if responding to your light taps on the plastic barrier.  His eyes, fully opened, stared back at you and then at his father. 

“________ssi, I think Youngwoo is healthy enough to be held,” the nurse informed.

With a gasp and eyes twinkling, you beamed at the idea.

“Really?” you asked and she nodded.

Behind you, Sehun placed his palms onto your shoulders, and shook them excitedly.  His eyes curved as he smiled brightly. 

Carefully, the nurse lifted Youngwoo out of the box.  He squirmed around from the unfamiliar movements.  Instinctively, you moved forward with your arms held out.  The moment his newborn skin touched yours, he stopped crying, instead, he stared straight into your eyes, making a cute “heh” sound.  You felt your heart turn into mush. 

Sehun bent down and planted a kiss on the baby’s forehead. 

“Young-ie, this is Omma and I am Appa,” Sehun introduced cutely. 

Rocking your son in your arms, you brought his tiny head up to your lips.  You’re pleasantly surprised when his infant hands reached out and touched your cheek. 

Your arms grew weak.  Actually, your whole body felt weak, like ice melting on top of a burning stove.  But it felt so good, so heavenly and surreal.  Like being lifted off your feet, floating across an endless sky.  Or comparable to the times when your lover laid his lips against yours.  Or the times he teased you by softly blowing into your ears. 

You held your breath.  A tickling sensation instigated on your chest and unknowingly, your pulse quieted and your breathing evened. 

It amazed you how someone you barely just met, had so much effect on you.  You were in love.  Not the infatuation kind of love, but the kind that you could not control.  The kind that flowed through every pore of your skin, through each vein in your body.  There was nothing – nothing in the entire world you would love more than the little miracle that slept peacefully in your arms. 

His beautiful lips curved upward, causing Sehun and you to giggle in delight.  You kissed his button nose. 

“He really looks like his father,” the nurse commented and Sehun wiggled his eyebrows proudly. 

You lovingly elbowed your fiancé in the stomach at his silliness.  But you had to admit, she was absolutely correct.  From Youngwoo’s gorgeous half-moon eyes, to his defined nose, and chiseled lips – everything about him resembled his father.  It was as if someone had simply Xeroxed a miniature copy of Sehun. 

“You’re going to be a heart breaker, just like your dad, aren’t you?” you joked, giving your fiancé the side eye as your lower lips protruded outward.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Sehun sheepishly laughed in response. 

After a few more minutes, the nurse returned and said, “He’s still fragile, so he needs to go back into the cubicle now.”

With one last kiss from Omma and Appa, you hesitantly handed the little sleeping angel back to the nurse. 

—– 

“Did you sleep well?” Sehun asked with his arms wrapped around your waist. 

You turned around in bed to look at him, “When did you get here?”

“I snuck in last night.  But then I got a little sleepy so I caved in,” he answered, burying his head into one of the pillows.

You slid your fingers through his messy hair. 

“The doctors are going to yell at you,” you half joked, sniffing in Sehun’s cologne. 

He looked up from the pillow and asked, “For what?  For sleeping in bed with my wife?”

“Tsk.  No, for sneaking in passed the visiting hours,” you replied, slapping his arm. 

Pulling you closer to him, he whispered, “Shh…stop talking so loud or I’ll get caught.  Go back to sleep.”

“Buft Eh caont,” you said, muffled against Sehun’s chest. 

“What?” he asked, repositioning so that you weren’t suffocating in his embrace.

“I said, ‘I can’t fall back asleep’,” you repeated, trying to look at his eyes but because his grip on you was so tight, all you could see was his sharp jawline. 

“Why?” he sleepily inquired while drawing circles on your back with his finger.

“Because a Pabo came onto my bed and hugged me from behind, in the middle of the night,” you joked.

“Should I leave then?” Sehun pretended to get off the bed but you pulled him back down.

“No.  No, stay with me,” you pouted and Sehun laughed with satisfaction. 

“But that Pabo wants you to sleep well,” he reasoned, playing with a strand of your hair. 

With your arms around the back of his neck, you pulled him close so that your foreheads were against each other.

Closing your eyes, you confessed, “Actually, I can’t sleep because I’m still so excited about getting to hold Youngwoo.  I want to see him again.”

You fiancé laughed at your clinginess and gave you a light peck on your lips. 

“My Silly Penguin, you have a lifetime to hold him.  Now, go to sleep,” he instructed, pulling you into his chest again.

But…I don’t have a…lifetime.

However, perhaps Sehun’s cologne was lined with diphenhydramine or perhaps it was the warmth of his body, but you felt intoxicated and so secured.  Therefore, slowly you drifted into deep slumber. 

A few hours later, Sehun fed you some congee and a sandwich, despite you telling him that you could do it yourself.  You practically inhaled the food, overly excited that as soon as you finished, you would be able to hold your little boy again. 

“I have a surprise for you,” Sehun mischievously informed as he wiped the corner of your lip with the back of his hand. 

Raising your brow at him, you replied, “I smell something fishy.  What is it?”

He zipped his lip teasingly and you rolled your eyes.  With one last gulp, you finished your meal.  Immediately, you held out your arms and legs, moving them up and down childishly for Sehun to carry you onto the wheelchair.  Of course, you knew that by now, you were able to walk on your own but what girl would pass up an opportunity to cuddle with her man? 

Sehun gladly picked you up and said, “Peguin, I think I’m feeding you too much.  You got heavier.” 

Pretending to be insulted, you scoffed and clunked his forehead with your fist. 

“Just kidding, Babe.  Just kidding.  You’re actually as light as a feather,” he chuckled, retreating his previous statement. 

“Reeeeeally?” you asked in a low tone and Sehun nodded in reassurance so you bluntly stated, “Well then, guess we don’t need the wheelchair today.”

He swayed you around in his arms and you giggled into his chest.

“We can do that too,” he agreed, heading for the door with you in his arms.

“No.  No.  I was just kidding.  Actually, I can walk by myself,” you patted his shoulder to tell him to let you down but he kept going. 

So you relaxed in his arms.  Looking up, you admired his milky, smooth skin, his perfectly craved jawline, his drool worthy collarbone.  You always knew he was handsome – you knew from all those years of memorizing his features from afar, but today he was exceptionally manly. 

“You’re daydreaming while staring at me again,” he looked down at you momentarily as he walked. 

“N-no.  No, I wasn’t,” you lied, flustered from being caught red-handed. 

“You were.  But I would too if my husband was so handsome,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

You hit him on the chest and joked, “I’m gonna throw up.”

As he turned the corner, he leaned forward, pretending to drop you.  You squirmed and held tightly onto his neck.  Laughing, he you up to re-adjust his hold.  However, as he caught you, you turned your face around and your lips accidentally met his.  Your eyes widened and you turned away, not sure why your cheeks were burning up.  It wasn’t like you’ve never kissed him before.  You turned to Sehun again.  His face completely amused by the incident.  Punching his arm, you tried to wipe the smug off his face but he was too proud.  Instead, he bent his neck and kissed you fervently. 

At first, you whimpered into the kiss, but slowly the whimpers became moans.  You kissed back just as passionately.  With you still in his arms, Sehun turned so that your back was against a glass wall.  Automatically, you wrapped your legs around his hips.  The heated moment engulfed both of your rational minds. 

“Ahem,” someone cleared . 

The two of you broke from the kiss.  A nurse crossed her arms and shook her head unapprovingly at you.  She lifted her finger and pointed to her left, where a group of young patients sat in a circle.  You looked up at the sign that read “Children’s Department” and gasped.  Immediately, your legs released its hold around Sehun and you tapped on his shoulder to let you down.

Embarrassed, Sehun and you bowed your head apologetically.  He took your hand and you guys ran off to avoid any further humiliation.  Midway to the ICU, while still running, Sehun broke out in a fit of laughter.  You slapped his arm.

“Tsk.  What are you laughing at?  That was mortifying,” you said, but couldn’t control yourself from laughing along.           

Abruptly, Sehun stopped in his tracks at an empty hall. 

Cupping your face into his hands, he gazed into your eyes.  Your heart pounded and you began to wonder if he knew hypnosis.

“I love you,” he said and leaned in to kiss you but you placed your hand onto his cheeks to stop him.

“I love you too,” you sweetly replied and then reminded, “But our little boy is waiting for us.” Plus, that surprise Sehun promised was tempting you.   

Sehun threw his head back in disappointment but nodded.  You laced your hand into his and dragged him off to the Intensive Care Unit.

With a giggle, you swung the door open in anticipation. 

Your smile dropped, immediately. 

A woman, around her early forties and dressed in a velvet dress, stood before you.  Happily, she rocked Youngwoo back and forth in her arms. 

Don’t breathe.

“Omunim,” Sehun greeted.

You let go of his hand. 

On reflex, you darted over to the woman and forcefully snatched Youngwoo out of her arms, startling her and Sehun.  Youngwoo started to wail from the brute force. 

“________ah, what are you…” Sehun’s voice trailed. 

An excruciating pain spread across your thighs but you ignored it. 

“Why are you here?!” you growled, holding Youngwoo close to your chest to protect him from the monster in front of you. 

The woman looked sadly at you but your expression remained cold and unforgiving. 

“I called her here, ________ah,” Sehun confessed.

His eyes looked back and forth from you to your mother, puzzled at the situation.  Patting your son’s back to stop him from crying, you turned around and glared at your fiancé. 

“I thought it would be appropriate to let Omunim meet her grandson…” he cautiously added.

“This was your surprise?!” you howled angrily at him, “I am absolutely speechless, Oh Sehun!”

Baffled by the volume of your voice, he squeezed your shoulder to calm you down but you flung his hand away angrily.  Youngwoo’s cries heightened from the chaos.  You relaxed and soften your voice, his back to quiet his sobs. 

“I think I should go now,” the woman murmured with her head hung.

She retrieved her purse from a chair and walked passed you to the door.  You shivered at the close proximately but don’t move to stop her.  However, to your dismay, Sehun turned to run after her.  Instantly, you grabbed his arm to stop him.

“________ _________”