Taecyeon

Kai and I both arrived in the hospital parking lot just behind the ambulance. We took the time to park, and by the time we reached the hospital doors, I was ready to shove his mothering mantras down his sacral chackra. But Ewon would be less than pleased id I did that.

They'd already moved Ewon to the birthing room. Thankfully, we'd preregistered, and both Kai and I were on the list of approved birth attentants, so we were quickly guided to his room.

It was chaos. A nurse was trying to ask Ewon questions, Nichkhun was butting in with answers that made no sense, and Ewon was growling. Maybe groaning, but his teeth clenched and bared, it sure looked like growling. Kai stepped into the chaos like hippy Moses into the Red Sea, raising his arms and saying "Breathe, dudes."

Surprisingly, everyone did. Or at least they stopped whatever they were doing long enough to look at Kai. Maybe they were wondering what kinda drugs he was on and where they could get some. Not gonna lie, I'd had that thought a few times. Kai looked around the room and sighed "This room needs a good smudging, but we'll have to make do with the crystals. Crystals just take longer to soak up the bad juju."

"There's bad juju?" Ewon said, eyes widening.

"What's smudging?" I whispered to Nichkhun.

"Just unfocused pain, life bringer. Nothing to worry about. We are creating a sacred space for you to meditate on bringing new life into this world."

"It's some kind of wavy smoky thing." Nichkhun replied "I think they use them in exorcisms."

The nurse rolled her eyes "Can we please finish the questionnaire?"

We weer left alone in the room after that. Nichkhun and I sat on either side of Ewon, holding his hands, while Kai sat at his head "You know this child as well as you know yourself, Ewon. Let's listen to him. What color would the babe find most healing right now?"

"Uh..." Ewon panted "G-green?"

Kai nodded encouragingly "Your instinct will giude you. If the color changes, that's okay. Now fill your womb with this color. Just imagine this color washing over your womb, filling it until it overflows. Take deep breaths. Your womb is a basin of liffe, let it fill with your healing color. And when it overflows, let if form a waterfall. let that waterfall pour over your root system and back into Mother Earth."

I'd really had it up to here with Kai's hippy mumbo jumbo, but Ewon was actually relaxing, so I wasn't going to argue.

"Just keep breathing and flowing. The babe is happy and healthy. He's excited to meet you, and scared of the journey. But aren't we all? We've all felt that terrifying moment where our stomach leaves our body behind, right before we make the leap into the great and beautiful unknown."

For once, Kai actually said something that made some sense. I squeezed Ewon's hand and reached across his stomach for Nichkhun's. We'd all taken a leap into the unknown of this relationship, and it had been terrifying and exciting, it still was. But it was worth it.

Ewon screamed suddenly "The baby is coming right. ing. Now."

Kai nodded and went to Ewon's propped-up knees "Do you mind, Ewon?" With permission, he lifted the gown. The derpy haze of happiness I'd come to associate with Kai wiped away for a moment, replace by a thin-lipped press of determination. He pressed the nurse call button, and within a minute, a nurse stuck her head in.

"If the doctor would care to deliver this baby, the time has come."

The nurse kept her expession professional, but it was clear she had about as much patience for Kai as I did "It's too soon for a first-time birth. He'll be a few more hours at least. he hasn't even had an epidural."

"I respectfully suggest you perform an assessment before dismissing my statement."

The nurse may have rolled her eyes, but she hid it well as she came in and greeted Ewon gently. She asked his permission then lifted the gown. pursed into a surprised 'o' "Ah...let me...just...try not to push!"

She gave a quick glance at Kai's calm face and she hurried into the hallway "Get Dr. Hwang!"

Within a flurry of moments, Tiffany was there, and Kai was back at Ewon's head, telling him "Focus o guiding the flower of you love through a channel of warmth and light. We welcome you, child. The world welcomes you. The birds welcome you..."

I had to stop listening, but thankfully there was plenty going on to distract me. Ewon was pushing, screaming, and then suddenly, Tiffany, held up a baby: red, sticky, squirming, and beautiful. The next moments were a blur as the nurse handed me the scissors, and after a brief look for permission at a crying Ewon, I cut his cord. And then our baby was in Ewon's arms, and we were crying. All three of us.

Tiffany pulled down her mask and tossed her gloves in the trash "It's a good thing your doula called us when he did. That boy of yours was determined to come, doctor or no! He just about birthed himself onto the floor!"

Kai had faded into the backgroud, but he came around to touch each of our foreheads with a pale-white stone, saying "I ask the goddess to grant these parents guidance in raising this child to be a citizen of the earth."

I wasn't sure about any goddess, but in that moment, I was grateful for Kai. He might be a little crazy, but he had a good heart, and he had proven to be just what we needed. So much of the craziness in our lives had happened just when we needed it these last few months. I wasn't exactly ready to buy into Kai's whole belief that the universe gave you exactly what you needed, but it certainly had given me more than I expected. It was hard to believe in this moment that there had been a point in my life where I had never wanted kids. As I looked at my family, minus our Sica, I couldn't imagine it any other way.

*     *     *

I couldn't believe how tiny our boy was. His entire palm was only about the size of my thumb. How could something so tiny and so perfect be real? It had been over twenty-four hours since his birth, and I still wasn't over it.

"Time's up." Nichkhun said making grabby hands at me "My turn."

I spun away from him "You stalled handing him over last time. I get at lest two more minutes. The clock starts when he's in my arms, not when you're supposed to hand him over."

Was it childish that Nichkhun and I were fighting over time with our child? Was it ridiculous that we had a fifteen-minute timer set to indicate when to switch turns? Yes and yes. My only excuse was that we were exhausted and our baby boy was too cute to handle. It was scrambling our daddy brain cells, turning us to mush.

Little boy started rooting, making that tiny newborn whimper that was just a-freaking-adorable.

"Give him here." Ewon commanded "He's hungry."

I handed him over to Ewon easily, and if I gave Nichkhun a triumphant smirk as I walked over to wrap my arms around him, who could blame me? I kissed most of Nichkhun's pout away. it was hard to be upset watching Ewon feed our baby, though. It was so right. So natural. Once the baby latched on, Ewon looked at us tiredly "So when do we get to go home?"

"Soon." I promised "The nurse said the pediatrician needs to come consult with us, and