This was the fourth morning Krystal woke up in - what should she term this- an alternate universe?

As much as she wished for this to be a dream, the past two days have proven otherwise. She was in a reality that she's always been a part of, except not remembering how. 

Sitting up and looking around the bedroom that was now at least familiar, she studied the surroundings again. 

There were pictures of her family in all corners of the room. A wedding picture of Minhyuk and herself, an informal family portrait of them in the hospital when she had her second baby, pictures with their respective families. 

It was a really cosy space. 

Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to face the day ahead. 

When she stepped out of the room, it was a usual sight that greeted her, Minhyuk busying in the kitchen. 

"Morning, princess." He gave her his daily morning kiss on her forehead, something that she had gotten used to in the past few days. 

They still slept in separate rooms, understanding how she felt, Minhyuk hasn't tried to speed up anything to jolt her memory. He took his time with her, explaining everything that she needed information on. 

Like how she remembered him at age 22, he's always thoughtful, meticulous, warm and reliable. 

In fact, apart from the morning kisses and little touches that she knew was from habit, her relationship with Minhyuk for now could almost be platonic. So much so that she actually wondered if they married out of love. 

To which Jessica hit her on the head and chastised, "of course you married out of love! Would Jung Soojung do that if otherwise!?" 

Her sister had a point. 

Lounging on the couch after breakfast, she was accompanied by Ddadda the cat. Petting it absentmindedly, she smiled when it purred comfortably at her touch.

Minhyuk told her they'd lost Chichi last year from old age. 

"Don't you miss chichi, ddadda-ya?" Krystal looked at the old cat on her lap. "I wished I remembered her." 

"You'll remember her in time to come." Done with the dishes, Minhyuk joined them. Moments later, he prodded her, "the kids will be back tonight. Are you ready?" 

As if reading her thoughts, he added, "if you need more time, I can get them to stay with my parents a little longer." 

"No, let them come home!" 

The answer was instinctive, blurted out of her before anything else.  

"I want to see them too." 

Her husband beamed at her answer, "of course! I'll make arrangements." 

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Krystal hasn't been so fidgety in a while, Minhyuk had earlier set off to his parents for the kids. 

He briefed their families respectively after they returned from the hospital a few days back.  

The news was a shock to most of them to say the least. Jonghyun even thought the couple was trying to prank everyone before April Fools. 

Words of concern came from the people who knew over texts and calls, Minhyuk thought it was better to postpone physical meetings for Krystal to familiarise and feel more at ease with the situation. 

So back on the couch she was again with ddadda, flipping through multiple channels for something to distract her. Picking up a half read book only to put it back down shortly after. 

When the electronic lock on the front door beeped, Krystal stood up so fast that Ddadda almost fell off her lap. 

"Oh honey, I'm sorry!" She put him down and wrung her hands in anticipation while looking towards the foyer. 

There were snippets of conversation that travelled in. A really boyish voice contrasted nicely with Minhyuk's soothing one. 

"Ok, now remove your socks and what's next?" 

Struggling with pronunciation, she could hear the littler one reply earnestly, "hana, two!" 

"You got Korean and English mixed up buddy, but you got left and right right." 

Krystal heard a squeal of laughter that was shortly replaced by footsteps running in. 

"Mommy!" 

She heard him before seeing him, next moment, she found herself kneeling down to be on eye level with the toddler. 

Her son. 

"Baby..." 

He gave Krystal a quick peck on her cheek and ran into his room behind. 

"That's our boy." Minhyuk looked really accomplished saying that. 

Looking up, she saw him with a baby carrier on his front. There she was, her baby girl sleeping peacefully in it leaning on Minhyuk's chest. 

"And this is Ellie." He lowered his volume when Krystal moved closer. "She fell asleep when we got down the car, let's put her in the crib." 

Nodding, she followed closely as they made their way to the room beside hers. 

Krystal could only look on in awe as Minhyuk expertly took Ellie out of her carrier to the cot as she slept through everything.  

"Come on, pat her a bit," he pulled her closer to the babycot, "she loves it when we do that." 

She reached out her hand doubtfully, putting feather light pats on the baby's back as she slept. True to Minhyuk's words, Ellie stretched out a little before curling back to sleep in a more comfortable position. 

The smile on Krystal's face seemed to warm the room. Moving closer, Minhyuk put his arms across her shoulders. "She's beautiful isn't she? Just like you." 

He led them out of the room a few minutes later and pushed her towards the playroom, "go on, have some fun with him. He misses you all the time." 

Left alone in the doorway, she took a deep breath before stepping in. 

"Hey baby," Krystal called. The toddler in question looked up, before giving a wide beam. 

"Mommy!" He ran over and pulled her down to sit on the unoccupied kiddie chair, "mommy, diaper." 

"Diaper?" She blurted out in surprise. 

Her two year-old then turned around and pointed to his own diaper, "Wet! Change!" 

"Oh, you want mommy to change it?" 

Nodding, he ran out and came back seconds later with a new diaper. 

As if on auto pilot, she brought him to her bedroom and cleaned him before putting the new diaper on him. 

Happy with the nappy change, the toddler laid on her bed comfortably. Krystal sat beside and looked at him roll around gleefully. 

From pictures earlier, she'd knew that he was a copy of his dad except Minhyuk kept telling her that he resembled her more in terms of personality. She can't help but marvel at how amazing all these are. A little person whom she gave life to behaving so much like herself. 

"Hey baby, we are home." She smiled down at the newborn on her bed. "Let's get to know each other better ok?" 

Krystal made a pinky promise with her son who was obviously not making sense of anything.

Wait, was that a flashback? 

"Soojung ah," Minhyuk's head appeared by the doorway, "do you want to take a walk? We always bring the kids down for some activity if we can, you up for it?" 

Krystal nodded, quickly looking for a jacket to change into while her toddler continued to roll across the bed. She'll think about what came to her mind later. 

When she was ready to leave, Minhyuk was waiting in the foyer with Ellie strapped to him and putting on baby mittens for her. 

"Since it's just a short while we usually don't bother with the baby pram. Come on, let's go!" 

The neighbourhood they lived in was typical of any other apartment complexes. There were lots of facilities and wide gardens perfect for strolling. 

Like any usual autumn evening, there were a few others who enjoyed their time in this weather around the area.

Most of them seem to knew Minhyuk better, saying hi when they passed and praised how pretty their children were. Krystal would always smile and nod along gratefully.

Fifteen minutes in, they took a seat on the bench while their toddler ran around the playground beside. 

"Do you want to hold her?" 

"Do you want to hold her?" 

This time, she saw herself in a hospital ward, exhausted but still trying to sit up. 

Minhyuk handed their daughter into her arms, bringing her closer as he sat beside. 

"Thank you again, Soojung ah, barely 24 hours and I love her so much already." 

She looked up at him with a little frown.

"But of course, I love you most." He kissed her temple.

Ellie was looking up at them both from Minhyuk's lap and held out her hands when Krystal gingerly extended her arms. 

She thought the baby would cry but Ellie only snuggled closer once she settled in her mother's arms. 

Minhyuk reached out to poke the baby's cheeks gently, "she really takes after you no? Always snuggling when you can too." 

Krystal blushed at the comment, choosing to look down at Ellie and combing through her soft hairs. In the past few days, she found out that being around Minhyuk in close proximity always gave her this feeling. 

The closest she could describe it as was butterflies. She never recalled feeling this way in whatever memory she has of him, until now.