Nayeon 

 

Most people would be asleep at five o'clock in the morning—sneaking in those last precious moments of sleep before waking up to face the day—but not Nayeon. 

 

Not today. 

 

Nayeon looked over to the hospital bed where Dahyun currently sat, slightly reclined as she cradled the tiny pink bundle in her arms, instinctively running a finger down the bridge of Haeun's tiny button nose, then repeatedly counting ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes as her own heavy eyelids began to fall.

 

"Dahyunie," Nayeon whispered, "You need to try and get a little bit of rest. You've almost been awake for…” Nayeon glanced at the time on her phone, “over twenty-four hours." 

 

"I just don't want her to be afraid or lonely," Dahyun replied, her gaze still not moving from the tiny sleeping girl in her arms. "She's never been asleep away from me, unnie. What if she needs me?" 

 

"She won't be lonely," Nayeon smiled, her bunny-like teeth showing brightly, "I'm not going anywhere, and she's literally going to be six inches from you. What she needs is for you to sleep. You just had a baby, Dahyun." 

 

Dahyun sleepily nodded in hesitant agreement, placing a tiny kiss on Haeun's forehead, taking in the indescribably sweet, milky scent of her downy feathers of hair before placing her in the plastic bassinet beside the bed. 

 

Dahyun was fast asleep in no time. 

 

Nayeon continued to stay awake though, pushing through her exhaustion to watch over her sister and her tiny niece. 

 

It's almost six o'clock in the morning when a familiar face walks through the door. 

 

The elder Mrs. Kim stood, a sort of regretful but happy look on her face. 

 

Nayeon caught the older woman's attention, alerting her that the two younger girls in the room were fast asleep. 

 

"Is she okay?" The older woman whispered. 

 

She was supposed to have been here—here to hold her daughter's hand and help her as she became a mother—and she had been fully prepared to move into the dorm for the last two weeks of Dahyun's pregnancy. However, her granddaughter had been as much of an unpredictable troublemaker as Dahyun had been as a child, and had decided to come three and a half weeks early. 

 

"She’s great. They both are. She pushed for an hour and a half, no pain meds, no complications. She was a total rockstar. Six pounds, eleven ounces. Baby is the healthiest premature baby the doctor has ever delivered," Nayeon whispered, filling Mrs. Kim on what she has missed. "She was born about,” Nayeon glanced up at the clock above the door frame, “five hours ago." 

 

Mrs. Kim looked at Nayeon with teary eyes, "Was someone holding her hand?" 

 

"I didn't let go for a second," Nayeon nodded reassuringly. “She did so good.”

 

The older woman crossed the room, glancing at the tiny bundle in the bassinet before walking over to see her own twenty-two year old baby, her hair still matted with sweat, her monolid eyes closed gently. 

 

Her daughter was a survivor. 

 

Her daughter was a mother. 

 

But in this moment all that the older woman could see was the little girl that she used to hold in her arms. 

 

"Eomma, I had a baby," Dahyun mumbled, still mostly asleep. "She's so pretty, eomma. She's perfect. My Haeun." 

 

"Shh," Mrs. Kim gently ran a finger down the bridge of Dahyun's nose, before placing a kiss on her messy, jet black mop of hair. "Go back to sleep baby girl, you did a good job today. You can introduce me to her soon. I'll still be here when you wake up." 

 

The older woman crossed the room again, sitting in the chair beside of Nayeon, who was doing her best to get comfortable in the maroon colored vinyl recliner.

 

"You know you can go home and sleep in a real bed? We'll keep an eye on them."

 

"That's okay. I promised her I would stay, so I'm staying," Nayeon replied. "It's the only way I could convince her to sleep" 

 

"We're glad she has you, Nayeon. All of you."

 

Nayeon smiled. 

 

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

…

 

It’s four o’clock on a Monday afternoon when justice finally comes. The details of his arrest are plastered across every new network. 

 

Agency executive arrested after multiple ual assault allegations. 

 

Agency exec admits to ‘relations’ with multiple trainees, including a 14 year old Taiwanese girl. Claims acts were “immoral, but always consensual.” 

 

Dahyun felt the blood in her veins run ice cold as she saw his face—a face she’d only seen in her nightmares since the assault.  

 

“You don’t need to watch this,” Nayeon said, walking to grab the remote. 

 

“Don’t,” Dahyun replied, as she protectively held the baby at her a little bit closer, a subconscious instinct.  “I have to see this, unnie. I need to know.” 

 

Nayeon sat beside Dahyun on the couch in silent support, running a comforting hand across the younger member’s back. 

 

Haeun was sleepily nursing as Dahyun watched the television, tears streaming down her face as she listened to reports and allegations that she had no doubt were true. 

 

“You could come forward too, you know,” Nayeon suggests softly, “If you wanted to. We would stand with you.” 

 

“I know. It wouldn’t change anything though,” Dahyun replies, running her fingers across the soft feathers of jet black hair atop her daughters head. “And it’s not just me I have to think about. She’ll be old enough to understand eventually, and I don’t want her finding out like that…” Nayeon watched as Dahyun’s posture changed slightly, her maternal protective instincts in full force, “And I won’t let him find out about her. She’s my daughter, not his. He doesn’t get to know she exists.” 

 

Haeun whines softly in her sleep, an exclamation point to Dahyun’s statement. 

 

Nayeon nods, understanding. She doesn’t know what else to say, so she simply sits there, a comforting presence for her younger sister. 

 

After a few minutes—once the news has finally gone off and the image of his face has disappeared—Dahyun speaks up again. 

 

“I just hope those girls have someone they can talk to,” Dahyun sighs, leaning against Nayeon while moving Haeun to rest on her shoulder. “One of them was only fourteen, unnie.” 

 

Nayeon knows why this particular girl hit a sore spot most of all. 

 

Dahyun not only saw a reflection of what happened to herself, but she also saw Tzuyu, and that thought hit entirely too close to home. 

 

“I know,” Nayeon replied, reaching a hand out to rub the top of Haeun’s head, a small contented sigh escaping from the babies lips. “I hope so too.” 

 

“Unnie,” Dahyun begins, unsure how to form her feelings into words. “Thank you.” 

 

“For what?” 

 

“You guys were here for me the entire time, before I could talk about what happened, before I was myself again, before I knew about her,” Dahyun ran a hand across the sleeping baby’s back. “And you were here for me after I found out about her, you took care of me. You girls were my rock, and my safe space, and...just...gomowayo.” 

 

“We’d do it again in a heartbeat, Dah. You know that, right?” Nayeon replied, teary-eyed. “That’s what family’s for.” 

 

Jeongyeon

 

The late July sun seemed to be angry as the sun rained down in the peak of the day, making it hard to be outside of any length of time. 

 

Thankfully, Dahyun was currently inside, clad only in shorts and a tank top as she lounged on Jeongyeon and Momo's bed, her shirt rolled up exposing the pale flesh of her very prominent bump. 

 

"Daebak," Jeongyeon chuckled as they watched the baby's movements, amazed at how visible they now were from the outside. “This is crazy.”

 

“I know,” Dahyun smiled, running a hand across her eight-month bump. "It feels even weirder from the inside,"

 

"Agi," Jeongyeon sing-songed, trying to get the baby's attention as she laid her head next to Dahyun's midsection, playfully—and gently—poking her stomach to get the attention of her unborn niece, giggling when the baby kicked and stretched in reaction. "Agi, are you awake?"

 

"Jeong-imo is such a meanie, isn't she?" Dahyun chuckled, watching as Jeongyeon continued to play with the baby. “She won’t let you sleep, huh?” 

 

"Momo-yah, come look," Jeongyeon called out, noticing Momo as she walked past the doorway. 

 

Momo turned around, walked into the room and sat on the bed opposite of Jeongyeon, sandwiching Dahyun in the middle. 

 

"Watch this," Jeongyeon smiled, running her fingers across Dahyun's stomach before gently prodding one particular spot—which Dahyun had earlier confirmed was a tiny foot pushing against her side— watching as the baby jumped and kicked in response. 

 

"Don't poke her," Momo said protectively, a small pout crossing her lips. 

 

"She's okay, Momo-unnie. Come here," Dahyun smiled, grabbing Momo's hand and using it to nudge another spot on her stomach—an elbow this time—allowing Momo to observe the baby's very hyperactive movements. "She's in a playful mood. Jeongyeon does this with her in the mornings sometimes. Jihyo-unnie likes to do it too." 

 

"She's almost out of room. It looks like she's gonna kick right through you." Momo laughed. 

 

"Feels like that too sometimes." Dahyun smiled. "She still has to keep growing though. Four more weeks." 

 

Oblivious to the conversation going on around her, Jeongyeon continued to play with her unborn niece, utterly captivated at every one of her very obvious movements.

 

(A few months prior, Jeongyeon had actually been the first of the members to feel the baby move. 

 

Dahyun was a few days short of being at the halfway mark—20 weeks—and was still quite shy about her pregnancy, still struggling in her futile attempt to hide her ever growing bump, even to the point of being shy around the managers, despite the fact they all knew her condition. 

 

“Unnie,” Jeongyeon heard a quiet voice catch her attention from across the living room, “Come here.” 

 

Jeongyeon crossed the room, walking to check on the younger member. “Is everything okay?” 

 

“Shh,” Dahyun held a finger to her lips, shushing the older girl. She held out her hand, taking Jeongyeon’s hand and gently placing it on the curve of her stomach. “Feel,” Dahyun whispered, waiting, hoping that the tiny movements she felt were finally able to be felt from the outside. 

 

Jeongyeon felt the tiny flutters under her fingertips, her eyes widening in shock. “Is that her?” 

 

Dahyun shyly nodded, a small smile stretching across her face, her teeth barely peeking through the separation of her lips. “That’s her, unnie.”

 

“Daebak,” Jeongyeon breathed, in awe of the magical, tiny kicks. "Hi baby.")

 

Jeongyeon smiled. Somehow those memories seemed so long ago, even though they were only a few short months past. The one thing Jeongyeon knew for certain was that she couldn’t wait to finally hold the little girl in her arms. 

…

 

Jeongyeon loved spending time with Haeun, and was more than willing to babysit her niece any time that Dahyun had a work schedule. The nearly three year old little tofu baby was always full of energy, but she was also well behaved most days, and surprisingly quiet. 

 

Thus Jeongyeon was caught completely off guard when she heard a sudden, startling crash during what was supposed to be naptime, followed by the sound of a familiar cry filling the dorm. 

 

Jeongyeon ran towards the sound, recognizing where it came from immediately.  

 

"Haeun-ah, what are you doing?!" Jeongyeon ran into her and Momo’s bedroom, immediately noticing the crying toddler, surrounded by the wreckage of what used to be Jeongyeon's Lego Hogwarts set. "You okay, kiddo?" Jeongyeon rushed over, scooping the tiny girl up in her arms, intently looking her over for any damage. 

 

Looking up into Jeongyeon’s eyes, Haeun burst into tears again, burying her face into her auntie’s neck. 

 

"Shh, it’s okay," Jeongyeon cooed, running a hand down the tiny girl's back, "Just tell Jeong-imo what's wrong. Are you hurt?" 

 

"Jeongie, mad." Haeun sniffled, using her limited vocabulary to try her best at expressing her feelings. "’Eunie, bad." 

 

"No," Jeongyeon looked at Haeun's teary, monolid eyes, her heart breaking at the pitiful sight. "'Eunie isn't bad. And I'm not mad. You scared Jeong-imo," Jeongyeon planted her lips on Haeun's tiny cheek, wiping away tears with a kiss. "I was afraid you were hurt. What were you doing in here anyways? You were supposed to be napping," Jeongyeon questioned, her tone light as to not alarm the already upset girl any further. 

 

Sniffling, the girl used her whole hand to point to the pile of Legos that now covered the bedroom floor.

 

"Blocks?" 

 

Jeongyeon chuckled, now understanding what the girl’s intentions had been.  She ruffled the messy waves of black hair on Haeun's head, “Yeah agi, we can play blocks." Jeongyeon smiled, sitting down on the floor, with Haeun in her lap.  

 

The two of them happily made a Lego creation that was assuredly not Hogwarts, and Jeongyeon couldn’t help but smile as the girl looked back at her with a familiar gummy smile, proudly beaming at the mess of blocks that was supposedly a castle. 

 

“Daebak,” Jeongyeon’s jaw fell agape, in awe and wonder at the most impressive Lego creation ever made. “Let’s put it on my special shelf, and we can show your eomma when she gets home from work.” 

 

“Jira?” Haeun asked, a mischievous, dimpled smile crossing her face.  

 

Jeongyeon laughed, rolling her eyes. “Okay,” She stood up, immediately playing along with the three-year old’s favorite game, kicking her feet through the wreckage of blocks that remained in the floor. “Jeongjira!”

 

Jeongyeon happily laughed along, sufficiently pleased that she’d turned the tiny girls tears into laughter once again. 

 

Momo

 

Momo sat on the couch, happily watching one of her favorite Pixar movies while scrolling through Instagram on her phone, making sure to save all of the cute baby toys, nursery decorations and anything she thought Dahyun might find interesting. Momo was excited to be an aunt. Elated even. She knew the entire situation was unfortunate, unplanned, and incredibly unexpected, but she was already head over heels for this little girl she had yet to meet. 

 

Dahyun was ready to be a mom. Anxious to hold this tiny little creature in her arms, to look into her precious little face and see this perfect person she'd been growing for the past eight months. In this moment, however, she was just ready to be able to walk ten feet without her feet swelling or her back aching. 

 

Momo seemed to notice the younger member’s discomfort and urged her to come sit in her lap. 

 

"Momo-unnie," Dahyun groaned, embarrassed. "I'm huge. I'm gonna break your leg, and then the group will be short two members next month." 

 

Momo rolled her eyes, gently pulling the younger girl forward and into her lap, where she could gently rub the small of her back. 

 

"You aren't that heavy, you know?" Momo cupped her other hand around Dahyun's bump, affectionately rubbing tiny rhythmic circles. "She is growing a lot though."

 

"She's running out of room," Dahyun smiled, placing her hand atop Momo's hand on her stomach, before wistfully sighing, "One month left." 

 

"She was very active last night," Momo leaned her head against Dahyun's back as she continued feeling the tiny movements beneath her fingers.

 

"She was," Dahyun replied, smiling. "I think part of that is because her Momo-oba kept her up by talking to her, though." 

 

"Sorry," Momo shrunk away slightly, guilty. "I just didn't want her to be lonely if she was the only one awake." 

 

“It's okay, unnie,” Dahyun chuckled. “I'm glad she'll always have someone to talk to. One of these days it'll be her talking your ear off." 

 

A cheesy grin crossed Momo's face, before she gently craned her neck to place a tiny kiss on Dahyun's cheek, "I can't wait."

…

 

Momo was fairly certain that this was her favorite moment of her entire life. Cuddled up on the couch, holding her niece in her arms as she watched Monsters Inc. The moment may have seemed small to anyone else, but to Momo it was everything. 

 

“Mo-ba,” The two and a half year old tofu baby broke the silence, her small voice wavering slightly, before she began sniffling. 

 

“Haeun-ah, what’s wrong?” Momo inquired, repositioning the girl in her lap. 

 

“Bad,” Haeun pointed to the television screen, which currently showed a particularly frightening—at least by the standards of a toddler—scene in the movie.

 

“It’s okay, Randall isn’t that scary,” Momo smiled, wiping a stray tear from the girl's chubby little cheek. “Do you want Momo-oba to hold you until he’s off the screen?”

 

Haeun didn’t say a word in response, rather she clung to Momo like her life depended on it, burying her face in Momo’s neck. 

 

Momo smiled, running a comforting hand across the girls’ back, quietly reciting the words of the movie under her breath—as this was surely the thousandth time she’d seen the film herself—hoping that Haeun wasn’t too scared of the purple lizard on the screen. 

 

As the movie came to an end, Momo couldn’t help but notice how heavy that the girl had become in her arms.  She turned her head the best she could to check on the girl, not the least bit surprised when she saw Haeun fast asleep, a tiny contented sigh escaping the girl’s lips as Momo repositioned herself. 

 

Momo couldn’t help but be reminded how fast that time was flying by, how quickly her tiny niece was growing up. 

 

At this moment however, Momo only saw the same squishy faced baby that Dahyun had brought home from the hospital, all soft and pink and so very loud. 

 

Momo wasn’t sure how many more times she would have like this—her niece finding comfort in her embrace, feeling safe enough to allow herself to fall asleep even in a moment she was frightened—so she was content to let it last for as long as it could.   

 

Sana

 

...Blood. 

 

She’d never seen so much blood before. She clutched her stomach, pain radiating through her body as a feeling of utter emptiness overtook her….

 

Dahyun woke in a cold sweat. She glanced over at the LED lights on the clock that flashed the current time, and slid out of the bed, careful not to wake Chaeyoung, who was sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room. She walked through the dorm, making her way to the bathroom. She washed her tearstained face, and smoothed her t-shirt over top of her bump, letting her fingers linger there along the curve of it for a brief reassuring moment. 

 

Still there. 

 

Safe. 

 

She shuddered, the images from her nightmare still lingering. 

 

Quietly she walked to Jihyo and Sana’s room, and slipped into the bed beside Sana. 

 

Sana turned over, awakened by the younger girl's appearance in her bed. 

 

“Youokay?” Sana sleepily mumbled, her eyes barely open. 

 

“Nightmare.” Dahyun whispered, her voice shaky as she pulled the covers over herself. 

 

“Was it him again?” Sana asked cautiously, more awake now as she propped herself up on her arm. 

 

(Nightmares had been a common occurrence when Dahyun had initially been recovering from her assault, so Sana was no stranger to Dahyun crawling into her bed, just needing to be held by her sister, assured that it was only a dream.) 

 

“No,” Dahyun replied, “I…I lost the baby,” Her voice was small, like she was afraid if she said the words, they would suddenly be true. "It felt so real."

 

“C’mere.” Sana pulled Dahyun close to herself, “It was just a dream. It wasn't real. Agi’s still in there.” Sana gently rubbed Dahyun’s bump as she snuggled up against her. "Do you want me to go get you a glass of water or a snack or something?" 

 

"No, I'm okay, unnie," Dahyun replied, her voice still quiet. 

 

"Hang on," Sana stood up and crossed the room, grabbing her glasses and unplugging her cell phone. She left the room for a brief moment before returning with a small glass of water—one that Dahyun finished in a matter of seconds despite insisting she wasn’t thirsty—the light from her cell phone still illuminating the room. 

 

Sana turned her phone and pointed it towards Dahyun, revealing a bright, cartoonish picture of a cute and happy looking assortment of vegetables—a cucumber, a sweet potato and a bell pepper. 

 

"She's eighteen weeks, right?" Sana asked, already aware that she was correct. "So according to these apps, she's the size of one of these...maybe a little smaller though seeing as her eomma is so short." 

 

Dahyun glared—somewhat playfully, somewhat annoyed—at Sana. 

 

Sana smiled, removing her glasses and sliding back into her big spoon position, hand gently resting along the curve of Dahyun's stomach. "She is still growing in there, and she's healthy, and she's happy. She needs you to get some sleep though,” Sana placed a quick kiss on the back of Dahyun’s head before closing her eyes. 

…

 

The seven o’clock rays of sun shone through the window, signaling that the day had finally broke, the anxiety of the night finally past. 

 

“Mmm,” Sana whined happily as she wrapped her arms tighter around Dahyun, snuggling the younger girl closer to herself. 

 

“Unnie,” Dahyun mumbled, voice still gravely from just waking up, “You’re squishing me.” 

 

“I can’t help it. You are so fluffy.” Sana sleepily giggled, burying her face in Dahyun’s shoulder. “Like a little dubu teddy bear.”

 

“I know,” Dahyun sighed, exasperated. “I’m really not looking forward to weighing in this morning. It seems like I’m gaining consistently every few days now.” 

 

“Isn’t that good though?” Sana asked, lazily drawing circles across Dahyun’s tiny baby bump. “Means agi-dubu is growing.” 

 

“It is, I know,” Dahyun sighed, “It’s still not easy though, especially when I've had to worry about staying in shape for so long.”

 

“Well, just think of it as being for her,” Sana replied, hoping to ease the younger girls’ anxiety. “It’s not for forever, she just needs a soft, squishy home to grow and be healthy in.” 

 

Dahyun smiled, drawing herself closer to Sana. “You keep saying ‘she’. We still don’t know if she's a she, you know?”   

 

“Sana-oba knows,” Sana giggled. “That’s my niece in there. And when she is finally here, I’m not ever gonna stop cuddling her.” 

 

“I think I’ll have to hold her some too, Sana-unnie,” Dahyun laughed, amused at Sana’s excitement. “I mean seeing as she is my baby.” 

 

“You called her ‘she.’” Sana’s smile widened

 

Dahyun rolled her eyes, feeling slightly caught.  “Okay, so maybe I have a feeling, but I don’t care either way. As long as agi is healthy, I really don’t care what it is.” 

 

“She’s a girl,” Sana replied, “Just wait, you’ll see.”

…

 

It was just past midnight when Sana opened her eyes, a sort of sixth sense alerting her to the tiny cries coming from the crib in the next room. Dahyun was still asleep beside her, so Sana rolled out of the bed, and walked across the hallway to the next room. 

 

“Shh, it’s just a dream,” Sana walked to the crib, picking the fifteen-month old up and allowing her to cuddle into the nape of her neck, teary eyes and snotty nose soaking the collar of Sana’s shirt. “Sana-oba’s here. It was just a bad dream, you’re safe. I’ve got you.” 

 

Sana walked to the rocking chair in the corner of the nursery, hoping to calm the girl before bringing her into the other room, allowing Dahyun to sleep a little longer. 

 

Tiny little fingers sleepily twirled through Sana’s hair, as Sana rocked the girl back and forth. Eventually the girl's cries ceased, content to just be held and rocked by her auntie. 

 

Sana stood up, still holding the girl in her arms, and crossed the hall and entered the bedroom, placing Haeun in the bed between herself and Dahyun. 

 

When morning came, Sana was awakened by the familiar feeling of tiny brown eyes staring at her, only inches from her face. 

 

“Oba,” Haeun exclaimed. Tiny hands found their way to squish Sana’s cheeks and slobbery lips came soon after. “Ppoppo, ppoppo.”

 

“Oh, you want ppoppo huh?” Sana chuckled, her voice still gravely with sleep, turning and kissing her niece’s chubby tofu cheeks, eliciting giggles from the girl. "I'll show you ppoppo ppoppo." 

 

As soon as Dahyun sat up in the bed however, Haeun's attention was immediately elsewhere, anxious to start her daily routine,  "Eomma, moyu." 

 

“Someone has turned her into an affection monster,” Dahyun laughed, adjusting her shirt as Haeun snuggled up against her chest.

 

“It’s not my fault,” Sana pouted. “She’s just really cute.” 

 

“How’d she wind up in here anyways?” Dahyun asked, repositioning the girl in her arms. 

 

“She woke up at about three. I heard her and went and got her before she woke you up.” Sana replied, grabbing her glasses from the bedside table. 

 

“Was she okay?” 

 

“Yeah,” Sana replied, “She just had another nightmare. Nothing Sana-oba couldn’t rescue her from though.” 

“Thanks unnie,” Dahyun smiled, smoothing down Haeun’s waves of black hair. “You somehow always know how to help us with our nightmares.” 

 

Sana smiled, “That’s what I’m here for.” 

Jihyo

 

*Crash*

 

Jihyo woke with a start on this particularly cold Saturday night. She was a light sleeper, unlike most of the others in the group, so the sudden loud noise immediately woke her up. Curious, she rubbed her eyes and rolled out of bed, walking towards the noise. 

 

When she made it to the kitchen, she found glass all over the floor, plates obviously having been shattered. Dahyun stood guiltily on top of the countertop, a hand hovering over the barely noticeable bump between her hips. 

 

“Dahyun-ah, what are you doing? It’s three in the morning,” Jihyo asked, walking to grab the broom and clean up the shards of dinnerware in the floor. “And why on earth are you standing on the counter?” 

 

Dahyun bit her lip, nervously holding back laughter at her current situation. “Mint chocolate chip ice cream.”  

 

JIhyo’s confusion wasn’t cleared up at all by the younger girl’s answer, and her very obvious facial expression let Dahyun know that. 

 

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it,” Dahyun continued, sitting down on the counter. “I was going to sneak out here and get some, but Tzuyu must have been the one to put up the bowls. She put them on the top shelf, and I couldn’t reach them, so I climbed up here, but Momo-unnie must have left her dishes on the counter again, because I didn’t see them and I kicked them off the counter when I climbed up here, because my contacts aren’t in,” Dahyun rambled on, “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

 

“No, it’s okay,” Jihyo smiled, as she put down the dust pan. She walked to the freezer and grabbed the pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, grabbed two spoons and hopped up onto the counter beside of Dahyun. “I didn’t know you even liked mint ice cream.” 

 

“I usually prefer chocolate,” Dahyun grabbed the spoon and happily began eating directly from the pint. “But this is literally all I’ve been able to think about all night.” 

 

Jihyo chuckled quietly. “I guess baby has a sweet tooth.”

 

Dahyun smiled, savoring every second of the cold, sweet flavor. “You have no idea. I’ve been trying not to give in to any of these cravings, because I don’t want to gain too much weight,” Dahyun shrugs and takes another bite, “but I have never wanted sweets this much. Cravings got the best of me tonight I guess.” 

 

“It’s okay,” Jihyo put a spoonful into her own mouth, “We all need ice cream every now and then. Besides the doctor said you needed to gain some weight, right?” 

 

Dahyun looked away, embarrassed. “Yeah, she did.” 

 

“Alright then,” Jihyo slid off the counter and onto her feet. “Enjoy. Doctor’s orders.” 

…

 

Jihyo and Dahyun were currently walking through the park, thirteen-month old Haeun happy and content in her stroller. There weren’t very many times when they had a chance to get out of the house unbothered, but thankfully the paparazzi had been warned or sued within an inch of their lives, so they actually were able to enjoy this moment. 

 

“It’s so nice to be able to get out and enjoy this weather,” Dahyun stated, happily pushing the stroller in front of her. 

 

“I know,” Jihyo nodded, taking in the beauty of the changing colors of the trees. “It’s amazing.”

 

Up ahead, Dahyun happened to notice an ice cream cart, and her destination was set. 

 

Jihyo seemed to have picked up the unspoken signal, as she was already getting out her wallet to pay. 

 

After they both got what they wanted, they continued to walk down the path, the sun beginning to set, as a gentle fall breeze blew through the trees. 

 

“Hang on,” Dahyun stopped, putting the brakes on the stroller as she grabbed a tiny blanket from the diaper bag. “I don’t want her to get chilly.” 

 

Dahyun crouched down in front of the girl, covering her up with a blanket with her free hand. 

 

“Eommamama,” Haeun babbled, her tiny dimples showing as she smiled widely.

 

“Hi baby,” Dahyun smiled back, leaning forward to place a kiss atop the soft waves of black hair on the girl’s head. 

 

Giggling, Haeun reached forward for Dahyun’s ice cream cone, her little fingers going right into the cold treat. Shocked, she shivered looking inquisitively at her hand. 

 

“You wanna try?” Dahyun laughed, wiping off the girls’ sticky fingers before giving her the tiniest bite of ice cream from the top of the cone. “It’s cold.” 

 

Haeun’s face lit up, thrilled at the exciting new flavor she was experiencing. 

 

“Yummy huh?” Dahyun cooed at the girl, who was still happily smacking her lips. “I think she likes it.”

 

“Yah, are you remotely surprised?” Jihyo chuckled, taking a bite of her own ice cream cone. 

 

“No, I guess not,” Dahyun smiled. “She’s always had a little bit of a sweet tooth.”

Mina

It was the middle of the evening, one particularly rainy day in July. Mina had been baking cookies—an after dinner snack per the request of her very pregnant little sister—despite the fact that the oven somehow seemed to heat the dormitory an additional ten degrees. 

 

Mina tried her best to take care of Dahyun—of all of her sisters really—making sure that everyone was happy and healthy and that everything was perfect. Mina had gone through some difficulties of her own, dealing with her anxiety disorder, so she couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of stress that was now an everyday reality for Dahyun. 

 

She couldn’t fix her sister’s problems. 

 

She couldn’t carry her burdens for her. 

 

She could only offer small, seemingly unimportant encouragement through backrubs, baked goods and being someone to talk to.     

 

“Dahyun-ah,” Mina called out, walking through the dorm with a plate of warm cookies in hand. “I made chocolate chip and sugar cookies, but I wasn’t sure which one you—” Mina turned the corner, entering the younger girls’ room, smiling softly at the scene in front of her. 

 

Dahyun was fast asleep, horn-rimmed glasses still on her face, messy bun still adorning the top of her head. There was a baby name book resting atop her prominent bump, and a notebook filled with potential names written in hangul, as well as a few Bible verses written in English, the words, “God’s grace” carefully underlined in colored pen. 

 

Mina walked over—sitting the plate of cookies on the small table beside the bed—and gently moved the book aside, removed the younger girls’ glasses and gently nudged her, trying to reposition her without waking her fully. “Lay down on your side so you don’t get a neckache, Dah.” 

 

“Notasleep,” Dahyun mumbled sleepily, monolid eyes barely opening. “Just...resting my eyes.”

 

Mina smiled, rolling her eyes. “Come on, you need your rest.” 

 

“Mmhmm,” Dahyun nodded, running a tired hand along her stomach as her eyes closed again. 

 

Mina helped the younger member get comfortable in the bed, endlessly amused at the fact that Dahyun was fast asleep in less than thirty seconds after insisting she wasn’t sleepy at all.

 

…

 

“Meeba,” a tiny voice caught Mina’s attention, as chubby little hands patted her lap, desperate to be noticed. “Hold you.” 

 

Mina put her Switch down, and scooped the girl up in her arms. “Where’s your eomma at?” She asked, looking around the living room for any sign of Dahyun. 

 

Haeun pointed towards the kitchen, and seeing as she wasn’t upset by the question, Mina assumed that the girl’s mother wasn’t far off. 

 

Without saying anything, Haeun cuddled up in Mina’s arms, her squishy little cheek resting on Mina’s shoulder. 

 

“Haeun-ah, are you sleepy?” Mina asked, feeling the girl grow heavier and heavier in her arms. 

 

“Ani,” Haeun protested, her tired voice telling a completely different story. 

 

Mina smiled. There wasn’t a day that went by that she wasn’t amazed at just how similar Haeun was to Dahyun. 

 

(It had been two and a half months since Haeun had entered the world, and Dahyun, freshly off of maternity leave, was anxious to prove herself by getting back to work as full force as she could, determined to work at her previous pace, and eager to retrieve her pre-pregnancy body. 

 

“I just nursed her, and she’s asleep for now,” Dahyun stated, pulling her hair into a quick ponytail as she relayed instructions to Chaeyoung and Mina. “I’ll be back in like an hour or so,” she yawned, shaking herself awake afterwards. “But call me if she wakes up or anything, and I’ll come right back up.” 

 

Dahyun left the bedroom, and to the best of her sister’s knowledge, had made her way to the gym on the downstairs floor of the building. 

 

However, Mina soon discovered this was not the case, as she walked into the living room to find Dahyun, having fallen fast asleep in the middle of putting on her shoes. 

 

Mina smiled, walking over to the couch and carefully removing the half-laced shoe from Dahyun’s foot, and moving the younger girl to a reclined position. She covered her with a light blanket before turning the light off and walking back to the bedroom. 

 

“She fell asleep putting on her shoes again, didn’t she?” Chaeyoung asked, looking up from her sketchbook, a knowing grin on her face. 

 

“Yep,” Mina nodded, walking over to check on the sleeping bundle in the crib in the corner of the room. “She really does need to be kinder to herself. Haeunie is still nursing like every hour, crying or needing to be held in the times in between. She is working full time and being a full time mom. No one is expecting her to be right back to how things were before she was born.” 

 

“Dahyun expects it of herself though. I think she worries about how everyone sees her now. She thinks that her image has changed.” Chaeyoung replied. 

 

Mina couldn’t disagree. Dahyun’s image had changed. Her body was slightly softer, rounder, but that was not what had changed her image. 

 

Mina had watched Dahyun overcome such great hardship, recover from the unspeakable thing that had happened to her, grow and nurture a human being inside of her own body, give birth, and then become the greatest mother that Mina had ever seen—apart from her own mother, of course—and Mina, while she often had trouble expressing her feelings with words, felt a deep sense of admiration and respect for her younger sister. 

 

“Did you wake her up?” Chaeyoung asked, pulling Mina from her thoughts. 

 

“No,” Mina replied, “The gym will still be there when she wakes up. Besides, she looked like she needed a nap.”)

 

A tiny contented snore from Haeun brought Mina back into the current moment. 

 

Mina leaned back, making sure that the two year old was in a comfortable position before picking back up her Switch and continuing to play her video game. 

 

A few minutes later, Dahyun walked into the room, sippy cup of chocolate milk in hand. 

 

“Is she asleep?” Dahyun asked, surprised. 

 

“Yeah,” Mina grinned, “She just climbed up in my lap and fell asleep. She’s never done that before.” Mina’s smile grew as Haeun buried herself further in the nape of her neck. 

 

“Gwiyeowo,” Dahyun came closer, running her hand over the dark feathers of hair atop her sleeping daughter’s head, smiling as a contented little sigh escaped from the girl’s lips. “She must have just needed her Meeba.” 

Dahyun leaned forward, kissing the top of Mina’s head. “Thank you unnie.” 

 

“For what?” 

 

“For always being there for us.” 

 

Mina nodded, touched by her younger sister’s sentiment. “Always.” 

…

 

Chaeyoung

 

Chaeyoung carefully ran her paintbrush up and down the wall, every further realizing the creation she had imagined. 

 

"She's really gonna love it in here Chaengie," Dahyun smiled, leaning against the doorway, resting a hand on her swollen abdomen. 

 

"You weren't supposed to see it until it was done," Chaeyoung pouted, wiping her paint splattered forehead with the back of her hand. 

 

"Sorry," Dahyun laughed, waddling through the doorway and sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, keeping herself busy by folding the pile of freshly cleaned onesies in the laundry basket on the floor beside her. 

 

"This was supposed to be a surprise for you too. I wanted you to have a space where you can feel safe to just focus on being her eomma, without having to worry about being 'Twice's Dahyun.'" Chaeyoung smiled, running a hand through her hair. "I know this is still a lot for you to be going through, so I just wanted to do something for you."

 

"Chaengie, I—" Dahyun was unable to express her thanks without crying as she felt the familiar sting of tears that were barely kept at bay.

 

"I know," Chaeyoung replied, her own eyes misty. "I love you too, unnie." 

 

Dahyun put her attention to the tiny purple "Hello World" onesie in her hands, laying it across her stomach in size comparison, perplexed at how a person could actually be that small, before the tiny movements she felt inside her belly reminded her that her very own tiny person was in fact a reality, and would be making an appearance in the next two months. 

 

"So do you care if I sit here and watch you while I fold her clothes?" Dahyun asked, "I promise I'll still act surprised when it's done. My memory has been awful lately anyways." 

 

"You can watch," Chaeyoung flashed a dimpled grin before turning to continue her work. "But no critiques til I'm done." 

…

 

Chaeyoung was dreaming of swimming. She could feel the waves, the warmth of the sun on her skin. She could smell the salty ocean air. A wave crashed over her face, leaving a sticky residue. 

 

This unfamiliar sensation pulled her from her peaceful state, wiping the substance from her cheek in the dream and waking herself up in the process, only to notice the bright blue paint that now covered her hand. Perplexed—she hadn't painted anything the night before—she sat up in the bed, surprised fully awake at the sight of her two year old niece, playfully covering herself—her black wisps of hair now caked in pink and purple—the floor—a path of tiny handprints surrounding the girl—and apparently her auntie—with Chaeyoung's acrylics. 

 

"Chaeng-imo!" The girl exclaimed, eyes bright. "Colors! Yeopo!" 

 

Chaeyoung smiled sleepily, trying her best not to scare the little baby tofu sitting on the floor. "The colors are pretty, aren't they?" Chaeyoung stood up, scooping up the girl in her arms and surveying the damage. 

 

"Where is eomma?" Chaeyoung asked. "And why aren't you asleep?" 

 

"Eomma sleepin'" Haeun pointed towards the bed across the room, where Dahyun was still fast asleep. 

 

“‘Eunie needs to be ‘sleepin’” Chaeyoung glanced over at the clock, noting that it was only six in the morning. “Come on, let’s go give you a bath before this paint dries in your hair.” 

 

Chaeyoung walked to the bathroom with the paint covered two year old in her arms, careful not to spread paint anywhere else in the dorm.

 

As Chaeyoung ran the bubble bath, she couldn’t help but notice Haeun’s proud little giggles as the baby tofu examined herself in front of the mirror. 

 

“You are a troublemaker, Dubs,” Chaeyoung laughed, putting the girl into the bathtub. “Why were you getting into Chaeng-imo’s paints?” 

 

“Chaengie colors, yeopo!” The girl exclaimed, reaching up to grab Chaeyoung’s bleached and dyed locks of hair. 

 

Finally she put two and two together. 

 

“‘Eunie,” Chaeyoung said softly, carefully scrubbing the paint from the girl’s jet black feathers of hair. “Chaeng-imo has special colors for her hair. Not for babies.” 

 

Haeun pouted slightly at the comment. Chaeyoung splashed the water slightly, making the girl smile again.

 

“Haeun doesn’t need special colors. She’s beautiful already. ‘Eunie, yeopo.” 

 

Tzuyu

Tzuyu kept herself busy in the weeks following Haeun’s birth, not to keep herself away from the situation, but quite the opposite in fact. She wanted to help Dahyun as much as possible, and more than anything, she didn’t want to miss a single moment where she could be spending time with her tiny niece. 

 

Currently, the young girl was cradled in her mothers’ arms, smiling as Dahyun played with the girls’ freshly bathed wisps of hair. Tzuyu couldn’t help but smile when she watched a sleepy smile crossed Haeun’s face, the baby utterly content at the attention she was receiving. 

 

However, Haeun was still a six week old baby, and her contentment quickly turned to sadness. Tiny whimpers turned to full on wails as the baby’s cries filled the room. 

 

“Shh, eomma’s right here,” Dahyun cooed, carefully holding the girl with one arm as she managed to her flannel top, shrugging the corner of the shirt from off of her shoulder. “I know it’s time to eat and take a nap.” 

 

Tzuyu, still incredibly shy around Dahyun feeding, diverted her attention elsewhere in the room, her eyes searching for anything that she could conveniently be distracted by. Not finding anything to turn her focus to, she simply picked up her phone and began scrolling through her SNS feed. 

 

A few minutes into her social media distraction, Tzuyu was caught off guard by the tiniest, happy little noises that filled the room. 

 

“Is that her?” Tzuyu asked, turning to face Dahyun.

 

“Humming? Yeah,” Dahyun nodded, her gaze still fully focused on the girl in her arms. “This is a new development. It started yesterday morning.” 

 

Tzuyu couldn’t help but be amused at the cute little hums and grunts escaping from the tiny girls’ lips as she nursed. “Why is she doing that all of the sudden?” 

 

“The pediatrician said it could be a number of things. Sometimes they hum because they feel safe or happy. Sometimes they do it because they are enjoying their milk and they think it tastes good. Sometimes they hum to fight sleep,” Dahyun said, furrowing her brow. “I think that’s what she’s doing right now.”

 

Tzuyu chuckled softly, the girl’s tiny vocalizations still filling the room. After some time had passed, the precious sound grew quieter and quieter, eventually replaced by quiet little breaths as the girl had finally nursed herself to sleep. 

 

“She thinks it keeps her awake,” Dahyun whispered, adjusting her shirt and repositioning the sleeping girl in her arms. “But I’m pretty sure she just sang her own lullaby and put herself to sleep.” 

 

A dimpled smile crossed Tzuyu’s face, “Gwiyeowo.”

…

 

Tzuyu was near panic. 

 

Not because she didn’t know what she was doing—babysitting her eighteen-month old niece while Dahyun was working, the older girl having been asked to be a co-host on a special episode of Idol Room—but rather because she had done everything that she knew to do—fed her dinner, bathed her, put lotion on her and put her into her softest pajamas—and the girl was still inconsolable. 

 

(Dahyun had originally intended to decline the offer, but her sisters encouraged her to take the job, insisting they would all babysit. That seemed like months in the past now that Tzuyu was here alone, the other seven members busy with their own schedules while she was doing her best to comfort her niece).

 

“‘Eunie,” Tzuyu’s voice was soft, but firm as she tried to calm the crying girl. “You need to go to sleep and you won’t be so grumpy. Tzuyu-imo promises. Eomma will be back when you wake up.” 

 

Haeun’s unintelligible cries continued, though Tzuyu was able to make out the words ‘eomma’ and ‘moyu’, so she had an idea of what her next course of action would be.

 

Tzuyu walked into the kitchen with Haeun still in her arms, grabbed a bottle of milk from the refrigerator and warmed it up in the microwave. “Eomma is still working agi,” Tzuyu walked into the nursery with Haeun in one arm and a fresh bottle in the other. “But she made moyu for you before she left.” 

 

Tzuyu positioned the crying girl in her arms, trying her best to get the girl to take the bottle—which was a longshot at best—in hopes that she would quit crying, or at the very least calm down. 

 

On any given day, the girl would have been much easier to console, distract or content. However, she had been teething, going through separation anxiety, and really only wanted to be held and rocked and nursed by her eomma, so of course, the girl pushed the bottle away as soon as Tzuyu had even attempted to bring it near. 

 

“Okay, okay, we won’t try the bottle,” Tzuyu said, bringing the crying girl closer in her arms, “So maybe we are just gonna be sad right now. That’s okay, TzuTzu will just hold you and rock you until you aren’t sad anymore, okay?” 

 

Haeun pulled herself closer, burying her face in Tzuyu’s neck, soaking her auntie’s neck in warm, salty tears. 

 

Tzuyu simply held Haeun close, rocking her, humming soft lullabies to her in hopes to calm her. 

Eventually the sobs stopped, and they were replaced with an almost sadder sound, as the eighteen month old sniffled, her breaths hitching slightly. 

 

“Shh,” Tzuyu cooed, repositioning the girl, cradling her in the crook of her arm, looking down at her little dimpled face, much like she had done from the time she was born. “It’s okay, ‘Eunie.” 

 

Haeun reached up, her hand finding a comforting and familiar resting place on Tzuyu’s dimpled cheek. “Joowee,” Haeun looked up at Tzuyu, her big, sad, monolid eyes still filled with tears, “Want eomma.” The tiniest, sleepy whimper escaped from the girls’ lips. 

 

“I know agi,” Tzuyu ran a finger across the bridge of the girls’ nose, monolid eyes finally closing in exhaustion. “I know.”

 

It was nearly ten o’clock when Dahyun came home to the dorm, quietly making her way into the nursery to check on her daughter and youngest sister.

 

Tzuyu was still rocking the sleeping girl in her arms, singing gentle lullabies in hopes she wouldn’t wake up until Dahyun had returned. 

 

“Was she okay?” Dahyun asked, a guilty look on her face. 

 

“She cried for a while,” Tzuyu stated matter-of-factly. “I tried the bottle, still no luck there. I think she just really missed you though.” 

 

“I missed her too.” Dahyun nodded, walking over and taking the girl from Tzuyu’s arms. 

 

“Eomma,” Haeun sleepily mumbled, immediately curling herself against Dahyun. 

 

“Shh, eomma’s here, go to sleep.” Dahyun hushed, running a hand up and down the girl’s back. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me with her Tzuyu,” Dahyun whispered as she gently laid Haeun in her crib. 

 

Tzuyu shrugged off the compliment—feeling no need to be thanked for spending time with her niece—and stretched as she stood up from the rocking chair, “so how did filming go?”

 

“It was good. I told Doni about Haeun’s obsession with our old episodes of Weekly Idol.” Dahyun smiled, catching one last look at her baby’s sleeping face before turning off the light and walking out of the room. “He was quite amused.” 

 

“You should take her with you some time when you film. She won’t know what to do with herself.” Tzuyu smiled. 

 

Dahyun would in fact take Haeun with her the next time that she co-hosted Idol Room, and Haeun would immediately waddle up to Doni and reach to be held, being the tiny social butterfly that her mother made her to be. The television host would wind up holding the girl—making her giggle while insisting to Dahyun that the girl would be a better co-host than Defconn or himself—between takes. But that wouldn’t be for another month. 

 

For now, Dahyun smiled, catching one final look at the contented girl, snoring softly in her crib, her little tummy raising and lowering rhythmically as she breathed, stretching the smiley tofu patterned fabric of her pajamas. 

 

“Sleep tight, agi,” Dahyun sighed, closing the door behind her. “Eomma loves you.” 

 

“She knows that,” Tzuyu replied, “She loves you too, and I’m pretty sure she’s your biggest fan. She’s going to be so excited to see your episode when it airs.” 

 

Dahyun’s smile widened, the thought of Haeun’s happy little face, her dimpled smile squishing her cheeks up, making her monolid eyes disappear almost completely. 

 

Haeun truly made everything worth it.