She woke up late the next morning, the weak sunlight already streaming in through a slit in the curtains, and Chaeyoung groaned as she reached out for Joohyun, finding her side of the bed empty and cold. Slowly pushing herself up, she looked over at the vacant spot and frowned slightly, blinking away sleep as she sat up, stretching her aching muscles and yawning widely. Her yawn was cut off by the lurching in her stomach, and Chaeyoung clamped her teeth together, clapping a hand over for good measure as she stumbled for the bathroom, the tiles cold beneath her feet as she burst into the room and made for the sink directly in front of her. The bitter taste of bile coated her tongue and she quickly brushed her teeth as she let the vortex of cold water rinse the sink clean.

The door creaked behind her as Chaeyoung rinsed out and she straightened up to look in the mirror, smiling as she reached for a hand towel and wiped . Joohyun stepped inside as Chaeyoung turned around to face her, and cool fingers brushed her sweaty hair back from her face, feeling refreshing with her high temperature. “Good morning,” Joohyun murmured, a soft smile curling her lips as she gave Chaeyoung an appraising look, making sure she was okay.

“Good morning,” Chaeyoung said, tenderly thumbing the curve of Joohyun’s cheekbone, “you were up early today.”

“I didn’t want to wake you. You look tired, are you sure you don’t want to rest a while longer?” Joohyun asked, taking in the dark circles ringing Chaeyoung’s eyes.

Shaking her head, Chaeyoung wrinkled her nose slightly as she smiled, “I think I’d prefer breakfast.”

Stealing a quick kiss, Joohyun nodded, “of course, darling. What’ll it be? Bacon? Eggs? Pancakes? All three?”

“Bacon, yes,” Chaeyoung agreed, “god, I feel like I could eat a whole pig.”

“Come on,” Joohyun laughed, plucking the toothbrush out of her hand and setting it down in the little holder.

Lacing her fingers with Chaeyoung’s she gently led her out of the bathroom, through the bedroom and out into the hallway. The floorboards were cold beneath her bare feet as she let Joohyun lead her towards the stairs, a few steps creaking as they descended through the house. It was so peacefully quiet, and Chaeyoung relished the fact that they were alone, for the most part, left to their own devices as they made their way into the kitchen. Their cupboards had been fully stocked for their visit, and they began to pull out boxes and packets from everywhere as they fell into companionable teamwork. At one point, Joohyun a small radio, tuning it into the nearest station and filling the room with the staticky sound of thick Irish brogues that Chaeyoung could hardly follow. A moka pot sat on the stove top, brewing fresh coffee - the one cup they would allow themselves per day - and Chaeyoung scrambled eggs in a large skillet while Joohyun mixed flour, eggs and milk in a bowl, a light dusting of white on the front of her pyjamas. Aoife sat on the fringes of the busy kitchen, tail wagging as the smell of cooking food filled the large room, taking the edge off the chill as they made breakfast.

Soon enough, they were sitting at a table for two in a conservatory overlooking the gardens behind the house. It was like a glass box, and so cold that they each had to fetch thick dressing gowns and woolly socks to sit near out there, staring out at the red and orange leaves crowding the medley of trees, and the neat flowerbeds of varying plants, tended to by the groundskeeper. They would undoubtedly be going for a walk through them later on, and Chaeyoung made a note to take her sketchbook with her. For now, they sat in the weak late morning sunshine streaming in through a dozen windows, eating eggs and toast and pancakes, with a heaping plate of crispy bacon for Chaeyoung, who slipped a few rashers beneath the table for the grey dog waiting at her feet. She felt marginally better with a full stomach, even if she still felt like she could use a quick nap, although she knew that it was just a side effect of her pregnancy - one which Joohyun was yet to exhibit.

In fact, her wife seemed much the same as always, with her brusque attitude and casual indifference. She drank her coffee with a healthy dose of milk now, and not quite as strong, was as strict in her vegetarian diet as she had been the day Chaeyoung had entered her false courtship with her, and still rose at the crack of dawn on most days. A few weeks earlier than Chaeyoung, and she was showing no nausea - which she surely would’ve complained of if she had - had yet to start darting off to the bathroom what felt like every few minutes to use the toilet, or complain about aches and pains. Chaeyoung was quite offended at the way that Joohyun seemed to be going through the early weeks of her pregnancy. If Chaeyoung hadn’t seen it on a scan herself, she would’ve doubted the truth of the matter. There were no signs at all, except for the fact that there was a baby growing inside her wife. It had only been a few weeks, and she was still trying to come to terms with the fact that they were both having babies. It was a strange thought to think that they would have two princesses in a little over half a year.

“What’s got you so lost in thought, hm?” Joohyun asked, shaking Chaeyoung out of her musings.

Shrugging as she set down her coffee, Chaeyoung gave her a searching look, “are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Joohyun scoffed, her brow creasing slightly, “why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong , it’s just … you’ve been looking after me, and I don’t want you to think that you’re not allowed to be, well, pregnant. I know I’ve got morning sickness now, but are you sure you’re not starting to feel it? I want to look after you too. We’re in this together.”

Quietly laughing, Joohyun reached out across the table, holding her hand open for Chaeyoung to take it, and gently ran her thumb across Chaeyoung’s knuckles. “Yes, we’re in this together. Of course we are, I know that you silly mare, but I really am fine . As fine as one can be when they know they’ve got … well, I suppose mine’s like a tadpole right now. Not much is happening right now. Princess Pea on the other hand has got webbed fingers and toes right about now.”

“Tadpoles and webbed fingers? You’re making it sound like we’re having frogs, not babies,” Chaeyoung spluttered, a vaguely amused look on her face.

“Well it’s not a baby yet, is it?” Joohyun reasonably argued, “give it another couple of months and it might start looking like one. Just think, our next scans will have heartbeats. I suppose that will be exciting.”

“You’re so nonchalant sometimes,” Chaeyoung sighed, shaking her head as she gave Joohyun an amused look. “Are you going to stay this way the whole time? What about when they’re born?”

Flashing her a smile as she arched an eyebrow, Joohyun took a bite of toast with a generous spread of apricot jam spread across it. “If I stay this indifferent through pushing a child out of me, I think you might have married a sociopath, darling. And I suppose when they’re born … they might be cute, I guess.”

“Might? What, you think we’re going to have ugly kids now?” Chaeyoung laughed.

“Not to be arrogant, but have you seen me? Have you seen you? Have you seen our fortune?” Joohyun laughed, “it’s probably impossible for us to have ugly children, but if we do - if - then I don’t know, we buy them a plastic surgeon and a fashion designer. I mean, what can’t you buy with money these days? Half of Hollywood had the same treatment. When they’re born… that’s another matter though. You know when they come out all gross? I’m not touching them until they’ve had a good wash and actually look human.”

Choking on a laugh, Chaeyoung gave her wife an incredulous look. “Joohyun!”

Gesturing helplessly, Joohyun gave her a wide-eyed look, “what?! Do you want to hold a baby that’s covered in blood and other nasty goo?”

“I mean, no , but-”

“See!”

“But , I want to hold my baby - our baby,” Chaeyoung said, her face lighting up and her eyes misty-eyed as she envisioned it. “I can picture it. It’s me first. It all goes well and she’s tiny and perfect, and she fits into my arms like they were made to hold her. Sometimes she looks like me and sometimes she looks like you. And we have a couple of weeks with her, just the three of us, and you like to hold her while you