The two weeks seemed to drag by, and Chaeyoung was b with nervous the entire time. They had a charity event at Glaston City’s children’s hospital, posing for photos as they sat beside the children and talked to their parents, and then there had been a new art exhibition they’d donated to at the museum, which they were obligated to attend to unveil the new additions, and that evening they’d attended a performance of Jane Eyre at the Royal Theatre, which Chaeyoung had thoroughly enjoyed, if only because she was so enraptured in the performance that she forgot to worry that it would be ten days in the morning and long enough for it to give a positive answer on a pregnancy test. The worry was back when she went to bed that night, curled up beside Joohyun with her arm thrown across her wife’s stomach, her heart beating a mile a minute and a lump in . It was a warm night, and she could barely handle the thin sheets pulled over her as she listened to Joohyun flip the pages of the novel she was reading, reading glasses perched on her nose as she read in the yellow glow of the lamplight. It was a quiet night, and Chaeyoung knew that if she was outside she’d be able to hear crickets humming in the garden, and there wouldn’t even be a wind to rippled the surface of a lake. It was like the whole world was holding its breath with her.

As if sensing the tautness hidden beneath Chaeyoung’s stillness, Joohyun marked her page and set the book aside, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes as she set them down on top of it. Chaeyoung was still wearing her glasses and she felt gentle fingertips graze her skin as they were plucked off her face, before the feeling of soft lips brushed her forehead. “Don’t worry about it,” Joohyun mumbled against her skin, her hands Chaeyoung’s tangled hair in a comforting manner, “worrying won’t help things. Besides, it’ll give you wrinkles.”

“Well if it works then I’ll take the wrinkles,” Chaeyoung grumbled, burying her face in Joohyun’s neck.

“Just hold off until the morning, okay?” Joohyun murmured, sounding nervous as she reassured her wife.

Nodding, Chaeyoung sighed, trying to force her muscles to relax as she told herself that it wouldn’t help anything to worry - Joohyun was right - and she listened to the gentle thumping of her steady heartbeat to calm herself down. If Joohyun wasn’t that worried then Chaeyoung shouldn’t worry either. It was easier said than done, and long after Joohyun had turned the light off Chaeyoung was still thinking about the morning. She wasn’t supposed to be having a blood test until the start of next week, but ten days would be long enough for it to show up on a pregnancy test, and Chaeyoung was of course way too eager to wait until the official test to find out whether it had worked. Eventually she managed to get to sleep though, her mind sinking into unconsciousness as the tiring day caught up with her, and with the warm embrace of Joohyun making her feel safe, she slept soundly.

---

“Have you peed on the stick yet?” Joohyun’s muffled voice came through the bathroom door, and Chaeyoung stared down at the pregnancy test balanced on the edge of the sink.

“Yes.”

“Well what does it say?”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, “nothing yet. It’s only been ten seconds.”

“Can I come in yet? I don’t know why you wouldn’t let me in in the first place,” Joohyun complained outside, and Chaeyoung crossed the bathroom to open the door for her, giving her a withering look.

Stepping into the room, Joohyun walked over to the marble sink, picking up the stick and peering down at it as if she could will the answer into existence. Walking over to her, Chaeyoung plucked it out of her hand and set it back down on the edge of the sink. “Because watching your wife pee on a stick isn’t exactly attractive.”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to have to watch you give birth, which is decidedly even less attractive, so I think you have bigger things to worry about in the future,” Joohyun said, and Chaeyoung grimaced as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Feeling the nervous flutter in her stomach, Chaeyoung had to fight back the nausea that rose at the thought of the test result, and Joohyun reached out and grabbed Chaeyoung by the shoulders, giving her a gentle shake as she gave her a slightly amused smile. Stepping closer, she kissed Chaeyoung on the cheek, her expensive perfume enveloping them in a cloud, and let out a quiet laugh, making Chaeyoung’s heart flutter slightly.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“I know you’re only saying that so you can pretend like you won’t care if it’s negative,” Chaeyoung sighed, “but I am worrying. We have to have an heir. What if it doesn’t work?”

“Slow down you silly cow,” Joohyun laughed, “wait until the test result first, okay?”

“Right,” Chaeyoung agreed, her forehead resting against Joohyun’s as she inhaled slowly, steadying her nerves.

The three minutes were torturously slow, and Chaeyoung couldn’t bring herself to check the stick still perching on the edge of the sink as three minutes came and went, and when Joohyun picked it up, she didn’t have to ask what the result was, because the quiet, disappointed murmur, followed by a few moments of heavy silence was enough to let her know that it had been negative. Swallowing the lump in , Chaeyoung nodded, leaning back against the sink, the cold marble digging into her back as she tried to come to terms with the disheartening results. Softly sighing, Joohyun tossed the test into the small bin beside the counter and reached out to grip Chaeyoung by the shoulders, giving her a tender look as she looked up at her.

“Well … maybe the test is wrong,” Joohyun hesitantly said, giving her an encouraging smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “The blood test will be more accurate. We should wait until then before we jump to conclusions.”

“Joohyun, it’s okay,” Chaeyoung said, giving her a tense smile, “you don’t have to sugarcoat it.”