It was a little over a month from the time they met that Dahyun got news of her niece being born, not that she could tell it to her wife, the person who would be the happiest to know about it. No, the information came through Jackson, hearing it from one of his boys placed to make sure Jaebum’s family was safe and sound. Nayeon had opened up that one night, but morning came and she was back to normal, well, her normal. Meaning, she was back to acting as if nothing happened and she didn’t have a brother who was missed dearly.

Understandable, given the situation, but the pale woman wished her wife would open up more, even if it meant hushed conversations with a signal jammer in the middle of the night. At least it would be something. Still, keeping secret tabs on the Parks was better than not knowing anything at all, and Dahyun will settle for that until the time comes and she can’t keep distant anymore.

Jihyo gave birth to a lovely, chubby and smiley little girl, Jaebum soldiered through the labour like a champ, even after Jihyo had broken his fingers. He was so thrilled that the real pain of having his left hand rendered useless only came after everything was said and done. Momo and Chaeyoung arrived as soon as they could, but still managed to get there before their niece (yes, they claimed themselves the cool aunts, sue them) was born, Youngjae didn’t get to leave his work early, so he would be there when he got there, Jaebum was happy that his friend could take the time to call, he knew how hard it was for the other man to take time off.

Sana came into the world after long and tiring hours, that neither one of her parents would change anything about. Jaebum got a few more days off, he couldn’t really do much with his broken hand anyways, and his boss claimed he never laughed so much in his life, until the man himself got his right hand broken by his second born a few years later, so the time off was well deserved. Sure enough, his work mates also had the time of their lives poking fun at him for having his hand broken by his wife during labor. Youngjae did his best not to mock his friend, but couldn’t hold it for too long. None of the girls understood, but were just told it was a guy thing and let it go.

Things were that much livilier for the Parks after that, and Momo and Chaeyoung had to be thrown out of the house from time to time because they refused to be away from little Sana. On another part of society, little Mina came around a few weeks after Sana, on a quiet afternoon, and Dahyun didn’t struggle much, certainly didn’t break Nayeon’s hand when welcoming their little girl to the world. Jackson was also in the room, he may or may not have threatened the medical team, but let’s not get stuck on details. He demanded to see his little sister being born, and nobody managed to get him out, not that either Nayeon or Dahyun were complaining or anything.

Nayeon knew how much her wife meant to the young man, she was his saviour, and he was the most loyal son anybody could have asked for. She had witnessed how good of a man Dahyun had made out of him and how endless his kindness was, obviously, she loved him as her own after a while, and was more than thrilled to have him in the room with them, Mina was as much a part of his life as she was theirs, and he was as much their son as they were his mothers. Sure, it took a little innergrowth from the older woman, and a lot of personal struggle, but things fell into place just fine.

Mina was almost enough to make Dahyun forget she was supposed to keep tabs on a certain mother-in-law and an annoying brat, almost. About a month after Mina was born, Jackson came home looking troubled, unsurprisingly, Nayeon was the first one to notice, and made sure to take Mina and spend some time at the garden, enjoying the cloudy weather and giving her wife and son time to talk things out. Jackson loved both his parents very much, but his connection with Dahyun went beyond her own with the boy, and Nayeon understood that they needed to talk things out without her around from time to time, and it was perfectly alright.

Dahyun would tell her about it later, and Jackson would talk to her as well, once he sorted himself out, that was one of the hardest things for her to overcome, thinking she was being left out in the beginning, but, one day, she walked in on the young man breaking down in violent sobs in her wife’s arms, and she understood that there were times he didn’t want to show his weak side to her, and both needed their moments alone. Now she just wishes he would be well enough by the end of their conversation to talk to her too, sometimes Jackson would just lock himself in his room for days, not even bothering to eat, and she worried a lot during those times.

“What’s eating you up like that?” Dahyun asked, as soon as Jackson enters her room.

“Can I talk to you, mom?” He answers, taking out his own jammer.

“Sure, come sit with me and tell me all about it.” Dahyun got the message, he never called her ‘mom’ if things weren’t very serious.

Jackson made sure the door was locked and his jammer was working well before speaking up. Sure, the supposed scouts were playing checkers outside their van and not paying any mind to the surveillance they were supposed to be doing (he had just checked on them), but all caution in the world wasn’t enough. It was also a good thing they were distracted, as they didn’t notice the disruption on their signal.

“Alright, we are secure, talk to me.” Dahyun cues, as soon as they are done with precautions.

“The old lady and that brat are moving suspiciously. I think they might be planning something and I don’t want anything to happen without me allowing it to happen.”

“Now that’s the opposite of what I wanted to hear, and I’m not standing aside and allowing anything to happen outside our grasp.”

“I think it’s time to take that kid out, that old woman won’t be able to do much else with him gone, and we both know she is careless enough to put herself in trouble once her only support is gone.” His voice grows angrier at each word.

“Well, time to take him out, then. Just tell me when I’m needed, I’m ready.” Dahyun agrees. “Just promise me you will be safe.”

“Everyone will be safe, mom. Just trust me and let me do what I have to do.”

“If you can come home to me safely, I have nothing to complain about.”

Dahyun gives Jackson a kiss on his forehead and the young man took his leave. It was hard keeping Nayeon and, most importantly, little Mina out of the Kim family business completely, but both had been doing an excellent job so far, and fully intended to keep it up, plausible deniability and all. Not that the Kims were involved in illegal activities, well, not officially and not that anyone could prove anything, but when one gets to a certain level of power, some creative solutions were needed.