Nichkhun

"What's wrong, babe?" Taec looked at me in alarm as I threw my cell phone to the floor and turned back over in bed. I flung myself into his arms, grief making me sob uncontrollably. Gone. My hopes, my dreams, our child...gone.

"You're scaring me, Khunnie. Please take a breath and tell me what's wrong, my brain is going crazy places."

I in a shuddering breath and looked up at my husband through blurry, tear-filled eyes "T-the b-baby. E-Ewon l-l-lost the ba-" I lost it then and cried harder. Taec didn't even seem to notice or care the ugly snot bubbles I was blowing into the crook of his neck and shudder as he sighed deeply and hugged me tight.

"I'm so sorry, babe." he said tightly, his own voice charged with emotion "Was that Ewon on the phone? Is he alright?"

I shook my head and jerked back with a start. I sat up, wiping my eyes and nose with two quick swipes of the back of my hand "No. That was the hospital! He asked them to notify us. ! What the hell is wrong with me? We need to check on him." brain spinning as my alpha urges kicked in to protect the omega, I was held back by Taecyeon's iron grip on my forearm.

"Hold on, babe. Take two minutes with me first. I need to be selfish and hold you for a few moments before I can get into the right headspace to alpha up and go see about our little omega friend."

I sighed and turned back over. Friend. He was right. Ewon had become so much more that just our surrogate in the past long weeks of this process to become parents. he was our friend now, it made my heart hurt to think of the pain that he was probably going through on our behalf right now.

"I wonder if his little sister is alright. If he was admitted to the hospital, do you think that she is okay?"

"Babe, think about how responsible and resilient that omega is. Do you really think that he wouldn't have a plan in place for her care if he should have an emergency?"

I snuggled up to Taec, doubt prevalent in my mind "Still. He doesn't seem to have a wide social circle. All he ever talks about about is Sica and her babysitter. Every once in a while, he mentions a co-worker? I think he's too busy working and being a dad to have a support system. And you know that he will downplay this if he can to us. He won't want to appear weak. We need to push our way in and help him if we can, once we know he's okay."

Taec's hand up the length of my spine, his calloused fingers sending a soothing tickle over my nerves that settled me and made me feel cherished. He sighed softly "You're right. He hasn't mentioned anyone else, and probably would flip if he knew we were even having this conversation. We need to push our way in like you said, and see what we cad do to help him. Even if this wasn't biologically his child, the waves of hormones in his body right now will be telling him differently. He's also going to be freaking out about the girl's school costs. We need to reassure him that we aren't dropping him. If he's still willing to proceed when his body heals, we need to let him know that we'll stay the course as well."

My husband's pragmatic words set my teeth on edge, although I knew he didn't mean it the way it came out. He was feeling this loss, too. His planning ahead to try again was just his way of processing. That was my Taecyeon. Set a course, stick to it, and when plan A fails, keep on trucking to plan B.

I lifted my chin to look up into his face, my palm over his cheek and jaw "I love you, Taecyeon. Thank you for understanding and being there for this with me."

Taec's eyes softened as he leaned forward and press a soft kiss to my lips. He hovered a scant breath away from touching me as he whispered "I'm all-in, babe. Of course I understand. We just lost our child, didn't we? Now give me a kiss so we can go check on our omega."

I smiled and kissed my husband, thinking of just how right his accidental turn of phrase had sounded. Our omega. Even if it wasn't true, I couldn't help but feel that on some level, it kinda was to me. Not that I would mention that aloud. I would never want my beloved alpha husband to feel like he wasn't absolutely everything that I needed in this life. Still. The phrase resounded deeply within me. Our omega.

*    *    *

When we got to the hospital, Ewon was in a cubicle of the emergency department getting a blood transfusion. Once we completely lied by insinuating that he was our omega, the nurse led us right back. He looked pale and weak, lying there on an uncomfortable-looking gurney as an IV line slowly pushed fresh blood into his vein.

He looked up at us as we walked in, his eyes telegraphing a series of emotions from grief, horror, fear, guilt, and remorse. I immediately walked over and sat down at the foot of his bed. I reached for his hand, sandwiched the cold limb between my own.

"Are you okay, Ewon? You're not in pain, are you?"

His eyes teared up, and he turned his head away to look at the wall behind him. His voice was thick as he spoke "Y-you shouldn't be here. The clinic will call you when I'm able to try again. Unless you want to b-break the c-contract and pick someone new. I understand if you d-do."

Taecyeon opened his mouth to speak, but I silenced him with a look. Turning my attention back to the omega, I his hand gently and spoke in a soft tone.

"We're not here about the contract, and pardon me, but the clinic. We're here because we care about you, Ewon. We consider you to be a friend. We needed to see you, and know that you were alright. Can you look at me? I'm worried about you."

He turned his head to look at me, a single tear running down his pale cheek. I leaned forward without thinking, and brushed it away with the pad of my thumb. My heart skipped a beat at the feel of his petal-soft skin, making me suddenly aware of my actions. His eyes widened at my touch, and I quickly pulled my hand away as I sat up again.

Taec pulled a chair over and sat down at Ewon's side, his strong hand brushing the omega's shiny hair back from his forehead as he spoke finally "Nichkhun is telling you the truth, little one. Our concern at the moment is just for you. And we mean you our friend...not you, a contracted surrogate. Please let us know what we can do for you. Do you want to talk about it? Or not talk about it? Either way is fine. Tell us what you need, Ewon."

Ewon bit his lip and looked between us with a bit of hesitation before answering softly "What I really need is a ride home. My phone and wallet are in my locker at work, so I'm kinda screwed in that department. I was just going to wait here until the dizziness passes and walk, but the idea of a ride is too tempting to refuse."

"Ewon." Taecyeon all but growled protectively "Of course we will drive you home. If it weren't for your little sister needing the familiarity of her routine, I would insist on taking you home with us to stay in one of our guest rooms."

The omega