Katy glared at the room, “this is bull.” Junito sighed and tapped her back reassuringly. 

“It’ll be okay, let’s just get your stuff and go okay?” Katy turned to him and glared. 

“Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That she was leaving.”

“Well, Katy. She’s my best friend, it's kind of my job to know everything you know?”

She stepped closer to him and shoved a well manicured finger into his chest. “Are you trying to say something?”

“N-no. I was just. Look, you were busy, I get it.”

“Don’t ing patronize me!”

“I’m not! I’m just trying to make you feel better Katy.” Junito put it hands up in surrender, “I swear.”

Katy grumbled and turned away from the overgrown child and walked into Saeron’s bedroom. Or well, old bedroom. She blinked rapidly, refusing the cry. The bed was made, everything so clean and organized. She snickered, “such a Girl Scout”. 

“She said she put all your stuff in the closet because she was afraid it might start collecting dust.” 

Katy turned to Junito who was opening the closet, she watched him pull out a green cubby filled with all her stuff. She looked around the room again, she didn’t want her stuff. She didn’t want any of this, she wanted Saeron back in that bed waiting for Katy to show up. She wanted to be sitting on the floor watching Saeron do sit ups. She wanted to lay on her chest and about how annoying the throat could be. 

“Junito, why did she leave?”

“Huh?” He rubbed at the back of his neck and sighed, “she wants to be a marine. You knew that.”

Katy rolled her eyes, yeah she knew that. She knew everything about Saeron, actually. Maybe not, she didn’t know she could just leave like this. Just roll out like a brisk wind. “But she just up and left. I don’t care that she wants to fight for her country, but why leave like that? She wouldn’t even talk to me. I mean who does that? Who just leaves? Is she gonna just leave the marines when they upset her too?” She wiped angrily at the tears trailing. 

 Junito bit his lip and pondered on what to say. Heaving a sigh he pointed to his best friend's bed, “sit, let’s talk.” Katy did as asked, pulled a pillow onto her lap and fought with herself not to smell it. “Listen, imma be honest a’ight?”

“If you’re just gonna be a tool-“

“I’m not. Just honest. It might hurt. You and Ronnie were together for five years Katy and for five years you put her on the back burning and focused more on Joy. I know you’re always saying you need time but damn girl, you had five years. Joy is special, but she isn’t ruin your relationship for a cookout special.”

“That’s your cousin.”

“Yeah she is. And I love her, but she shouldn’t have come first. She isn’t and wasn’t your girlfriend, Ron was. I know you knew Mari first but you literally canceled plans to be with her, that’s not how you keep a relationship. Look, if I’m being completely honest. You’re the bad guy here, if you weren’t going to treat Saeron right you should have never gotten with her.”

“That was my plan! I wasn’t going to get with her, I already knew I wouldn’t be good for her Juni. I knew this, but then she got hurt and we kissed and I just. I don’t know, I just wanted to feel wanted by someone who didn’t see me as a conquest or a sister. I was really starting to fall for her you know. I just didn’t know how to show it.” 

Junito shrugged, “look, either make a move on Joy. Or give up.”

Katy looked around the room, “it feels wrong making that decision in Ron’s room.”

“She would want you to just make a final decision.” 

“You know what. You’re right. I’m going to go to her right now.”

Junito grinned, “right now?”

“Yep! I’m done chasing. I need to just commit.” Junito watched Katy pull up Joy’s number and call. She watched her face morph from excitement to fear and jump from the bed. “Okay, I’m coming”. 

“What’s going on?” Junito asked, following Katy down the steps and to her car. 

“Joy had an allergic reaction to something, she’s at the hospital with Maya.” With fear pumping in their veins they navigated New York traffic to Lincoln hospital in the Bronx. “Hi, we’re here for Joy Maribel Ruiz-Garcia”. 

The woman nodded, asked for their ID’s and sent them on their way. They found Joy’s room and walked in finding Maya talking to a blonde and her friend. “Hello?” Katy greeted. 

“Hey guys!” Joy said, voice choked. 

“Hey cripple. What happened?” Junito joked, Katy eyed the two women. 

“I was choking, Wendy here saved me actually. She’s pretty cool huh”. Joy said, eyes sparkling. Katy swallowed, feeling a rock settle harshly at the pit of her stomach as Wendy smiled shyly at Joy. 

“It was nothing. I should leave, I Uh. Just wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay. Your mom sounded so frantic.” Katy watched the blonde, Wendy tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, she watched Joy stare transfixed on the woman. 

She swallowed harshly, reading in between the lines. Watching little ties of fate start to glow between the two women, watching her last chance fizzle and burn away. Did Saeron know it would end like this? Is this why she tried so hard? Is this how I made Saeron feel? 

“Can I come tomorrow?” Wendy asked, fingers grasping the hem of her jacket. Don’t look at her like that! 

Joy grinned, “I’d love that. Heh, you know where I’ll be” she chuckled. Katy turned to Junito who was watching her like she might collapse to the ground, his eyes boring into hers. 

So this is how it feels huh. To always be a little too late. 

————/////————/////————/////————/////—————/////————

“Babe wake up.”

I grunted, “no!”

“But baby our appointment.” I shoved the pillow into Joy’s face. 

“Woman. We are too early!”

“But amor, the early bird gets the worm. Remember? You taught me that.” With a sigh I let Joy excitedly pull me from bed two hours early for our appointment. “We’re going to have a baby! We should get a dog.”

“We live in a small apartment honey, we don’t have room for a dog. We also work hectic hours, we’ll never be home for them.” Joy pouted at me and held my toothbrush to me. I pat her cheek and start brushing my teeth as she continues to ramble on excitedly. 

“We should start looking to move. This place is too small. We should move into a house, with a yard.”  I rinsed my mouth and looked curiously at Joy. We just moved here, what is she thinking? Moving already. 

“Babe, we haven’t even finished unpacking here. We literally just got our living room set.”

“I know. I know. But I don’t want our baby living in this environment.”

“The environment is whatever we make it babe.” Joy sighed and I stepped closer, I cup her cheek. “I get what you're saying. So, we’ll look. Okay?” 

“I love you. Do you think it’ll take right away?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know babe. It took a couple tries for Seul and Rene. It could with us too. Or it could happen right away. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, today is just the questions day.” I giggle as Joy starts hopping in place, grinning like a baby with ice cream. She’s so cute. 

—————/////—————/////——————/////—————/////————

Joy parked the car, “I think I should get a truck.”

“Like Seulgi?” Joy nods and holds her hand out for me to take.  

“Yeah, something with more space. But more bulky in case of an accident, nobody is gonna survive if the eclipse gets hit.”

“But you love your car.”

“I know. But it’s not practical for a family.” I chuckle. Look at my mature baby, the woman who just two days ago thought we were going to be kidnapped by a Mexican Cartel.” Joy holds the door open as I walk in, I squeak when I bump into someone. 

“Oh my god I am so —Eric?”  Eric grins at me and then Joy. 

“Hey guys!”

“Hey bud, what are you doing here?” Joy asks, brow raised. Oh my god, are he and Katy trying to have a baby? 

Eric grins, and stuffs his hands into his pockets. “I’m a donor, I signed a contract a while back with a couple that said if my was used I’d be informed. So if in the future the kid, or I want to meet we can. The couple is pregnant, I just got called in to be notified of it all.” Joy stared wide eyed. 

“You’re donor dude!”

Eric grinned and nodded, his hair flopping all prettily. “Yeah, I have been for a year. But this is the first time I’ve been used. Crazy right? I’m a father without even knowing.”

“That doesn’t scare you? What if they want to meet?” Eric shrugged. 

“Then we meet.”

“How many times have you donated?”

“Mm, the last time makes my third time.”

“So you could have three kids?”

“Yeah, I guess so. But hey guys, I’ll catch you later. Katy and I are having breakfast at some weird cat cafe. See yah later!” We watched him go. 

“Holy he must be an angel. Oh my god baby, what if they use his on us!” I grimaced. 

“That would be weird I feel like.”

Joy nodded and threw an arm around me, “imagine he was Seulgi and Irene’s donor. How funny would it be if the guy they hate gave them a kid.” I chuckled, that’s the kind of luck our friends have. 

“I’d lose my , now come on. Let’s make a baby.” Thirty minutes after checking in we were called in by a woman with the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen. 

“Hello! My name is Hyoyeon. My name can be hard for some to pronounce so dr. Hyo is perfectly fine. It’s a pleasure to meet you ladies.” I leaned forward to shake the Doctor’s hand. “So ladies. Is this your first time?” We both nod and I think my heart is about to burst out of my chest. “Oh this is exciting. On your paperwork it says Joy is carrying?” Joy does a little dance in her seat, I bet she doesn’t even notice. 

“That’s me”, she holds her hand up like she’s a kid in class. 

“That’s exciting. You think you’re ready?” Hyoyeon’s eyes are bright and Joy stares back grinning and nodding. Oh she’s going to be the perfect fit. “Awesome! Okay so, let me run you down what we’re going to do. We’re going to go over your recent health and family health problems. Take some blood. Run some tests to make sure you aren’t sick or anything. Then, you’ll come back in a week for your results. If everything is okay and checks out, then we begin testing and talking about insemination. Then, you’ll monitor yourself for a month. Come back, we’ll run a pregnancy test. But, if you find yourself feeling ill. Or anything. Take a pregnancy test, and come right in.”

I took a deep breath, my heart pounding and my nerve endings fried. I gripped Joy’s hand, this is it. This is bigger than a marriage. This is bigger than any commitment. This is a baby. Our baby.

“Let’s do this doc.” Joy says, kissing our clasped hands. 

—————/////—————/////——————/////—————/////————

I hefted my bag over my shoulder and walked into the Hive, Irene was already sitting down at her seat. “No sir. We cannot order your pizza for you.” I chuckle and set my purse down before sitting beside Irene who points a finger gun at herself and pretends to shoot. “Kill me” she mouths. “Sir, are you aware that calling 911 for a non emergency is a federal crime subject to a 1200 dollar fine and 3 years in jail?” Irene leans back in her seat and pulls off her headset before smirking at me. “Works everytime.”

“You bring up the fine price every time you do that.” She shrugs, “worked didn’t it? I mean really, who calls for pizza? People are so stupid. So, spill.”

I sign into my monitor and then turn  to Irene, “they ran some tests. And we have to monitor Joy’s period and ovulation period for optimal results. That doctor Hyoyeon is awesome.” Irene grins and pulls me into a tight hug. 

“Oh god. This is so exciting. Hyoyeon is great, she is always so excited and positive. I love it. You’re gonna have a July baby if this all goes according to plan. You think you’re ready?”

“If I wasn’t, I would have told Joy to hold on. I’m nervous though, we’re getting married in March. If this all goes according to plan, Joy will already be four months pregnant by the wedding. She isn’t going to be able to drink during New Years this year. She’s going to be miserable. I’m so excited.” I gush. Irene grins and shakes her head, I jump when my monitor lights up with a call. I slip on my head seat and smile as my day truly starts up. I’m gonna have a kid. 

“9-11 what is your emergency?”

“Hey! There are potholes everywhere! When are you people going to fix it?” A woman yells, I grin and turn to Irene. 

“Ma’am, are you aware that calling 9-11 for a non emergency is a federal crime? It is a 1500 fine with up to 8 years in federal prison.” The line clicks and Irene smirks. 

“Did it work?”

“Like a charm. Hey wanna hear something crazy.”

“What?”

“Eric is a donor!”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Imagine he’s our donor. Wouldn’t that be wild.”

“That’s disgusting.” I roll my eyes at Irene. The day rolls on like usual when it’s time for lunch, Irene and I take a walk to a Subway down the street. “Hey. Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead”. 

“Have you noticed anything weird with Seulgi?” I think back and immediately think of Seulgi on the balcony smoking. 

“Um well. We had a weird conversation a while back. She was telling me about some of her worries.” 

Irene sighs, “I think she’s smoking again.  Also, she’s been really edgy.”

We order our food and sit down to wait, “what do you mean?”

“Well her car and her clothes have been smelling like cigarette smoke again. Whenever we go out, she has buds outside her car door.”

“Have you asked her?”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to her. Do you know she almost pulled her gun on Joy’s cousin?”

“What!”

“He was excited to see Tiffany and Taeyeon and was like rushing the car. Seulgi started shaking, she went right for her belt. I’m getting scared for her.” 

“A while back, when you guys told us about the pregnancy and we spent the night. I found Seulgi smoking on the balcony, she was nervous she said. She kept going on and on about what if she died. And how scary the world was. Did something happen at work?”

Iren shrugged and stood to get our sandwiches. “I don't know. That’s what scares me. A week ago she came home with her arm bandaged. Someone bum rushed her and cut her arm. I’m scared Wendy. She doesn’t have an easy job.” 

“The shakes and nervous behavior, do you think the job is getting to her?” 

“I don’t know. She doesn’t talk about work anymore and she’s always putting herself in front of me when we’re out. She’s always trying to convince me to stay home. She doesn’t want to go out to eat. She set up a camera outside the door, she isn’t locking up her gun anymore. I’m really scared, the last time she was anything like this was during the bank shooting.” I grimace at the memory, of thinking Joy was going to die. Of watching Joy rush into gunfire. Of thinking I was going to lose my best friend. 

My heart sinks at the memories of Joy holding a shaking Seulgi at night. Of Joy calming Seulgi down. Of Seulgi’s scars. Her limp. 

“Have you looked up any S.W.A.T busts?” Irene nods and her hands shake as she sips from Pepsi. 

“I was going through Seulgi’s drawer to see if she was low on anything like underwear or bras. She had a big book, I opened it and she has News clippings of all her busts from the time of the bank. Do you know just like a week ago she took down a Meth lab? Around the same time as the cut on her arm. And a little before that, some man took his family hostage and guess who was on the photo as the member who shot him? My Seulgi. My sweet, cuddly bear. My Seulgi shot a man in the head and then just came home like nothing. Before that, they followed through on a warrant on a man who was suspected of molesting children. She’s doing all these dangerous things and she’s paying the price and she won’t talk to me and I don’t know what to do.” 

Oh Seul. I held Irene’s hand as she wept, “we’ll figure this out Irene. Seulgi is going to be okay.”

Don’t worry Seulgi, you’re not alone. I know you feel it, I know you think the world is evil. But we’ll save you Seul, everything is going to be okay. “I’m so scared.” Irene cried. 

“Don’t be. We’ve got you.”

—————/////—————/////——————/////————-/////————/////————

Seulgi stepped off the truck with her shield held up, she felt too pats on her shoulder and walked to the front door. At the door, her partner hooked a chain around the gated screen door and stepped back. They stepped to the side, her captain spoke into the mic on his shoulder and the truck pulled back, the metal door flying off. Another man, with a sledge hammer rushes forward, hits the door with a great force and it slams open. With her shield back up, Seulgi enters first. Gun trained as she traces the room for hostiles. A man turns a corner and rushes at them, with only a second of thought Seulgi yells for him to get on the ground. 

He does not. She shoots and he drops. She carries on into the house, her teammates behind her. They break off into two groups, she and two others go up the steps to sweep upstairs. A woman is upstairs screaming and trying to pull her robe closer against her body. 

“Ma’am NYPD. Please get on the ground.” Seulgi commands.

“Who are you! Get out of my house!” The woman kicks at Seulgi’s shield and Seulgi rushes the woman knocking her into a wall. 

“Tie her.” She commands, Sanchez zip ties the woman’s hands and stuffs her into the bathroom for safety. He joins Seulgi and his other teammate as they brace against a wall and call into a room. “This is the NYPD. Lie on your stomach with your hands above your head. 1” Seulgi turns to Sanchez, he steps forward to kick the door. “2”

On three he kicks the door and pulls back to fall behind Seulgi and her shield. A man plasters himself to Seulgi’s shield and she falls back under his weight. 

Sanchez turns to his other teammate, they reach to pull the man off. Seulgi pushes at the shield, it pushes painfully against her chest. The man punches at the shield. 

. She thinks as she braces her knees against the shield just trying to make space. She briefly wonders where her teammates are and why they aren’t pulling the man off. 

She wonders what Irene is doing. If she’s safe. She reaches for her side arm, just barely able to grab it strapped to her chest. With a broken howl she fires into the man above her, his body shakes and stutters as she focuses on nothing but emptying her clip into him.  

Her body is dragged away and her arm is pushed down, she fights the arms trying to restrain her. “Kang!”

“Get off!” She yells, kicking and punching above her. 

“It’s me! Seulgi it’s me!” She looks up long enough to realize it’s Sanchez. 

“Sanchez.”

“Yeah. Are you okay?”

“Where were you! Why didn’t you get him off?”

“We were  trying. But it all happened so fast, we went to pull him off but you had already pulled your side and began firing.” 

Seulgi shakes her head. Impossible. He had been on top of her for awhile. They had a chance. “No. He. You had like thirty seconds.” Sanchez shakes his head as Seulgi sits up on her knees. 

“No. It all took place within five seconds Seul.” 

Seulgi looks up to see the large man lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Someone yells clear from the room as Romero walks out holding two small children reaching for the dead man on the ground. 

She swallows as she spots the resemblance. Oh god. He was just trying to protect his kids. She turns to Sanchez. “Why didn’t he listen? Why didn’t he comply? I told him to lay down. Why would he make me do that!” Her hands shake as she looks at them. 

This world is evil. 

—————/////—————/////—————/////—————/////————

I laugh as Irene glares at Joy. “You’re cheating.”

“You cannot cheat at Connect Four Irene.” Irene rolls her eyes. 

“You keep choosing the middle.”

“That’s strategy not cheating.”

I shake my head and stand up to get more popcorn from the kitchen when the front door opens. Seulgi smiles at me, “hey Wannie”. 

“Hey there buddy. How was work?” I walk to Seulgi as she sets her bag down and shrugs. 

“Eh the usual. Sarg gave me a badass parfait. He’s on a health cleanse” I hug her and the scent of cigarettes hits me. Oh Seul, are you okay? 

Seulgi’s arms wrap around me tight and when I think to pull away she only squeezes tighter. “Are you okay?” I ask quietly? 

She nods. “Just tired.” She smiles, she looks so broken. Seulgi steps past me and Irene meets her halfway. “Hey baby” Seulgi greets and lifts Irene up in a hug. 

“Hey, how was work?”

“Pretty dull. Nothing new”, I meet Irene’s eyes over Seulgi’s shoulder. I glance over to Joy who is eyeing Seulgi, she nods and then Seulgi does the same. 

What is going on.