The next morning, Chaeyoung was woken up by a knock on the door, grumbling as she groggily shifted upright, rubbing her tired eyes and turning her attention to Joohyun, who was propped up on her pillows, a pair of glasses perched on the end on her nose as she finished off a book. She was already wide awake, her voice carrying across the room as she permitted Sooyoung to answer - they didn’t have to ask to know who it was - and then she turned to Chaeyoung, giving her a bright smile.

“Good morning,” Joohyun said, setting her book aside and giving her a gentle kiss as the door opened. Slipping off the glasses, she turned to watch the dark haired woman step inside and curtsy. “Good morning, Sooyoung.”

“Good morning, Your Majesty, Your Highness. It’s seven o’clock. This morning’s newspaper is waiting for you on the dining table; will you be having breakfast in the main breakfast parlour this morning?” Sooyoung asked.

Chaeyoung mumbled a vague greeting and smashed her face down into the pile of pillows as Yerim swept into the room, respectfully curtsying and greeting them before she pulled the curtains open and let in the dazzling sunlight. Listening to Joohyun’s reply, as well as a request for a bath to be drawn for them, Chaeyoung wrestled with the knowledge that she was pregnant. It hadn’t been a dream or a cruel joke, she was pregnant. She couldn’t help but smile as she stretched, her muscles aching slightly, and the sound of water pouring into the large tub reached her ears a moment later. As tired as she was, which now made sense, the thought of a warm bath and breakfast was enough to rouse her, along with the feather light touch of Joohyun’s fingers brushing against the silk pyjamas.

“So … last night was definitely not a dream then,” Joohyun conversationally said, her lips tickling Chaeyoung’s neck when she leant down to kiss the underside of her jaw.

With a laugh of surprise, Chaeyoung pushed herself up onto her elbows, giving Joohyun a look of awe, “can you believe our luck?”

“Well we’ve never done anything by half,” Joohyun shrugged, giving her a wry smile, “I should’ve known there would be a twist.”

“A good one, I hope,” Chaeyoung said, giving her a hesitant smile.

She was over the moon about it, but a part of her was trying to keep her excitement under wraps, because no matter how much they’d wanted a child, this was a little different to how they’d planned it. It should’ve been one of them, and Chaeyoung was for from being ungrateful about the whole situation, but Joohyun was taking it surprisingly well and that’s what bothered Chaeyoung. Her wife was stoic and stubborn, with a strong flair for the dramatics, yet she’d been so calm about everything last night that Chaeyoung almost felt stupid for worrying. She’d wanted a child, and now they were having two. It seemed perfectly surreal.

“Well it’s not how we planned it, but we should know that our plans never work out properly. I mean, I never planned to fall in love with you, and that was the most shocking thing of all. Anything else seems kind of … unsurprising at this point. And we were never going to have just one anyway, right? May as well get it all out of the way now.”

“You make it sound like an inconvenience,” Chaeyoung snorted.

“Well … I mean, not to sound ungrateful, but isn’t it? Being pregnant hardly sounds fun ,” Joohyun said, “I’m sure it’s a wonderfully meaningful experience, but I just know that there’s so much I won’t be able to do. I’d much rather get it all out of the way now so we can enjoy our family and go back to our normal lives.”

Spluttering, Chaeyoung gave her an amused look, shaking her head slightly as she sat up and kicked the covers back. She was fine for a few moments as she stretched her lithe muscles like a cat, but then there was a twinge in her stomach and she all but fell off the bed, lurching towards the bathroom with a hand clapped over . Her knees hit the tiled floor hard, and she was dimly aware of the dull pain that would undoubtedly leave bruises, before she emptied her stomach into the toilet bowl. It burned and she blinked back stinging tears as she gagged slightly, before practical hands were pulling her hair back and Yerim was asking her if she was okay. Joohyun was right behind her, shooing her away and gently brushing Chaeyoung’s hair back as she took the other woman’s place, and Chaeyoung wiped the back of , knowing her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

“You know what, you’re right,” Chaeyoung weakly joked, giving Joohyun a grim smile, “this isn't very fun.”

Snorting with laughter, Joohyun tenderly kissed her on her brow and helped her climb to her feet, flushing the toilet and nudging Chaeyoung towards the sink. The bath was still filling, no steam rising from the water, and they both lingered in the bathroom, going through their usual morning routine while Sooyoung hovered in the doorway and Yerim made the bed.

“Should I ask for ginger tea at breakfast, Your Majesty?” Sooyoung asked as soon as Chaeyoung finished brushing her teeth, an expectant look on her face as she waited for instructions. “It’s been known to help reduce nausea. I could ask the chef to bake ginger biscuits and cookies too, if you’d like.”

Clearing as she wiped the back of , Chaeyoung turned and gave their assistant a friendly smile, “oh, no, it’s fine. Just a passing thing. I must’ve eaten something funny last night; I feel much better now.”

Shifting slightly, Sooyoung gave her a cautious smile, choosing her words carefully as she slowly spoke. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, I know about your current, ah, situation. Both of yours, if I may be so prudent to say.”

Spluttering, Joohyun spat out a mouthful of frothy toothpaste and rounded on her assistant, her green eyes wide with alarm. “How?!”

Ducking her head down, Sooyoung shrugged slightly, “I’ve made multiple appointments for you with your doctors, ma’am, and then there were the pregnancy tests in the trash while Yerim and I were-”

“,” Joohyun muttered, and Chaeyoung gave her an amused look.

Apparently they’d both been rather careless around their assistants, but Chaeyoung was unbothered by it. They’d both known about the contract, which would’ve been a lot more damaging to their reputation than their joint pregnancies leaking, and she just carelessly shrugged. “Well, you both know protocols for our personal lives. There may be a few odd requests added to your duties, but other than that, things continue as usual, Sooyoung.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Sooyoung said, giving her a quick nod before hesitating slightly, “may I offer my congratulations on the matter?”

“Thank you, Sooyoung,” Chaeyoung smiled.

The other woman returned the smile and gave them a shallow curtsy before silently disappearing, leaving Chaeyoung and Joohyun alone in the vast bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Joohyun sauntered over to the tub and passed her hand beneath the running tap, quietly laughing as she shook her hand free of the drops of water and straightened back up.

“What?”

“Those sly buggers,” Joohyun said with amusement, shaking her head slightly as she glanced over at Chaeyoung, “they’ve known this whole time. The water is hardly even warm. We’re not supposed to have hot baths. And now that I think about it, there’s been a surprising lack of cheese on our tables.”

“What’s the bath got anything to do with it?” Chaeyoung asked.

Stripping off her pyjamas, Joohyun climbed into the tub, settling down in the water and resting her head back against the rim as she waited for Chaeyoung to join her. It was only a few moments before she’d let her own clothes puddle on the tiled floor and cross the room, her skin prickling with goosebumps, and slip into the water, which was just warm enough to be relaxing without it being hot. Chaeyoung suspected that she’d miss the hot baths with steam rising off the top if she wasn’t supposed to have them. The bath was so wide that they were both comfortable laying down, each angling to one side of the bath and letting the water soothe their muscles.

“You shouldn’t be in water that’s too hot,” Joohyun softly sighed, her eyes closed and her fingers gripping the side of the tub as bubbles rose with the steadily filling bath. The water drummed against the rising levels, sloshing back and forth as they moved, and Chaeyoung smiled slightly at the comfo