Worth the Wait

            The first half year away from Ryeowook moved slowly.  I honestly thought I would go mad.  My cousins did not seem very concerned about it.  Yesung thought I was being dramatic.  Heechul actually was being dramatic and barely left his room.  And Leeteuk was too busy with pack business and his mate’s pregnancy to worry about my moodiness.  But my aunt, Eunjin, sympathized with me.  She had originally been engaged to another, before being mated to my uncle, but it thankfully fell through at the last minute.  She had always loved my uncle.  So, she at least understood the despair I felt.

            Sora, although she had been engaged to my eldest cousin as a teenager and simply had to wait a few years until they were permitted to mate, was still a great listener whenever I wanted to talk.  She felt bad that she had no solution to my problem, but I just felt happy that someone cared. 

            And then there was my best friend, Changmin, who was far too busy running his practice, but would still stop to have lunch with me in the middle of his hectic day just to chat.  As a beta, he was more levelheaded, since he did not have hormones mucking everything up for him.  He could look at a problem more objectively than us alphas or the omegas.  But even my doctor friend, who had spent several years in his teens learning from experienced doctors from other packs, could not find a cure for my problem.

            It was not until January, when Sora finally gave birth to her litter, that I felt any relief from the doldrums of life.  She had miraculously given birth to two male alphas and one female omega.  Congratulations were pouring in from all over the territory and even from outside of it.  Although it was winter, there was still some trade throughout the packs and word travelled fast about twin alphas being born.  It was the news of the year.

            Maybe it was because the boys were receiving so much attention or perhaps it was due to the fact that I’d learned, through my own love, that omegas in other packs were just utterly disregarded.  Leeteuk and Sora loved their daughter just as much as their sons, but I could tell that this regard was only that strong within the family itself and no one else was quite as impressed with her birth as we were.  So, she automatically became my favorite of the three.  And, I was so often found walking the halls with her when I wasn’t sleeping or working, that she became fonder of me than anyone else in the family, except her mother.

            “Miyoung is not going to forgive you when you leave her tomorrow,” Sora pointed out, holding onto the younger of the two alpha boys as we walked through the gardens connected to the den.

            Miyoung was flapping her arms, looking around at the colorful flowers, but refused to let me put her down in the grass near them.  She always wanted me to hold her and this was going to cause trouble when I left for a few weeks for Heechul’s mating ceremony. 

            “I’m sorry,” I honestly apologized.  It was Sora and my aunt that would have to put up with her bad mood when she realized I wasn’t coming home in the evening to play with her, like usual.  “If it didn’t mean seeing Ryeowook as well, I might be tempted to skip it altogether just for her sake.”

            “Heechul would never forgive you if you didn’t go with.  Clearly, he refused to let my mate skip out this time and I have to part with him as well,” she complained, “but at least he is leaving me with Sooman and Eunjin.  They are helpful enough with the triplets.  But Miyoung does not like her grandparents as much she likes her uncle Kyu.”

            I was technically Miyoung’s second cousin, by blood, but since I’d been raised as a brother to my cousins, Sora refused to let me off with calling myself a cousin to her children.  I was their uncle.  And, in turn, Sora often referred to me as her younger brother.  The first time she introduced me to someone as such, shortly after mating Leeteuk, I was confused and looked around for Yesung, thinking she was talking about him.  But when she kept patting my arm and said again, my brother, Kyu, my heart nearly stopped.  Leeteuk had always told me he thought of me as his little brother, not his cousin, but hearing his mate say as much confirmed it.  I had been rather indifferent to Leeteuk’s mate up until that point, not knowing her quite well enough to form a solid opinion of her, but that moment had sealed the deal for me.  I was one of her biggest fans.

            I kissed my niece’s cheek and she leaned in and kissed my lips.  I felt confident that Ryeowook would forgive me for kissing this pretty little omega, although I felt certain she would be the only exception.  And that was perfectly fine.  “I will miss you to pieces when I am gone, sweetheart.”

            Sora looked over at us and smiled.  “You will make an excellent father someday, Kyu.”

            I took a deep breath.  I had likely formed such a close relationship to Miyoung because I knew I would never have children of my own.  “I don’t think that will ever happen for me, Sora.”

            She walked along the path for a little while, cooing quietly to her son, without commenting.  There was an orange and black butterfly among the flowers, which she pointed out to him, before it flew off.  I picked one of the yellow flowers that Miyoung was trying to reach and handed it to her, watching her so she didn’t try to eat it. 

            “So, if you don’t think you’ll ever have children, why have you been renovating your house all spring and putting on an addition with Kangin, Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Donghae?” she finally asked, reaching a bench near the pond and sitting down. 

            Although she was very focused on her children, one would never accuse my sister-in-law of being unobservant.  I sat down beside her and pulled the flower away from Miyoung’s mouth.  “I guess there’s still part of me that likes to dream.”

            Sora pat my arm.  “You are still only seventeen years old, dear.  I hope you don’t give up on your dreams for a long time.  Even if you don’t end up with Ryeowook, it does not mean you won’t be happy with someone else.”

            I didn’t want to disagree with her, so I said nothing, but I knew that if I didn’t end up mated to Ryeowook—somehow, someday—I would not want to be mated to anyone else.  My heart simply belonged to him alone…and maybe also to my niece. 

            “We’re back and far less stinky,” Leeteuk announced, coming up the path with his eldest alpha son, after just having changed his dirty diaper.  “I wish they’d spend a little more time in wolf form when outside.  Then we could just have the gardeners clean up after them and daddy wouldn’t have to do it!”

            Sora rolled her eyes at her mate.  “You hardly ever have to change them!  I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”

            Leeteuk gave her a sheepish smile and then began flying his son around the pond.

            “I know you’ve been looking forward to this trip all year, but we will miss you both very much while you’re gone.  I hope you hurry back,” Sora simply said.

            Miyoung shoved the flower in my face and smeared pollen all over my cheek.  “Thanks for sharing with uncle, sweetheart!  I’ll miss you, too!”

            I spent the night packing.  This time, there were a lot of long sleeved shirts and cardigans in my luggage, despite the fact it was plenty warm out and looked to stay that way the whole time we were gone.  It was mid-summer, a little later than we were there last year, and a little hotter.  I still managed to get most of my attire into one large trunk.  I had another bag for other personal items and a few books I wanted to bring along.  But my most valuable items, I kept on me.  Of course, I didn’t really own much of value.  I had the locket that Ryeowook had given me the year before.  I never took it off.  And then I also had a ring.

            Heechul walked in while I was sitting on the bed, looking at it, and stood in the doorway.  “Are you going to give it to him while you’re there?”

            “I think so,” I said, looking it over.  It was just a simple silver ring—I couldn’t afford more than that—with an inscription on the inside.  “Assuming he still feels the same way he did last year.”

            “You think that he’s changed his mind about you in a year?”

            I shrugged my shoulders.  “It’s a long absence.”