Author’s POV:

Jessica’s Pregnancy Calendar – Week 7

Watching his wife sleeping soundly, Kris didn’t have any complaints. Only seven weeks into the pregnancy, Kris has already noticed a few changes in his wife’s normal day. Jessica tends to sleep longer and deeper, she gets tired easily, and she still gets nauseous from time to time. Kris couldn’t deny the fact that he was feeling a little upset by the fact that Jessica barely needed him to sleep anymore. The pregnancy made her knockout as soon as she got into bed. But of course, Kris was glad that she was getting the rest she needed. Little blip must be growing a lot inside of her.

Kris had constant worries for his wife, now that she’s carrying their baby. Constantly throughout his workday, he would wonder if Jessica was doing okay. Still not finding the right time to tell the rest of the members about her pregnancy, Jessica has been keeping little blip a secret. His wife didn’t want to take a maternal leave either, telling him that she could still do her work regularly, despite her tiredness. Kris worries about her a lot and makes sure to call her frequently during working hours.

In the corner of his eye, Kris saw the clock on the nightstand change and turn into a clear ‘7:00am.’ He had disabled the alarm because he wanted to do the favor and wake his wife up instead. It’s starting to turn into a daily routine, as Kris would automatically wake up before the time they were supposed to rise and wonder about his wife before it reaches time to wake her up. He wanted to take care of his wife and little blip as much as possible.

Sliding his arm around her gently, Kris leaned forward and placed several light kisses on her cheek and temple before whispering in her ear. “It’s time to wake up, baby.” He knew Jessica barely heard him, so he rubbed his palm in a circular motion on her back before trying again. “Wake up, beautiful. It’s time to get up.”

Jessica squirmed around before giving a grin. She did small little stretches before she ended up hugging onto Kris in contentment. Giving her fluttery kisses, he slowly beckoned her awake. For a moment after Jessica opened her eyes, they blinked at each other happily.

“Morning, handsome.” Jessica grinned, her eyes still half droopy, but still repaid his compliment towards her. “I don’t want to get up.” She pouted and snuggled into the crook of his neck.

“You’re going to have to. We’re going to be late for work.” Kris ran his fingers through her soft hair repeatedly, earning a hum of contentment from her. “Come on, sleepyhead.” He saw that she really was not willing to get up.

Kris got up from the bed and realized that Jessica had cuddled into the fluffy white duvet instead. Seeing that she had no plans to move, he took matters into his own hands and pulled the duvet off her body. Kris chuckled when he saw that Jessica only scrunched up her body and hugged onto her pillow in defense.

“Let’s go, boo.” He scooped her in his arms and effortlessly prodded towards the bathroom before setting her down.

Tiffany had seen her best friend walk into the office hours ago, but never seen a sign of her ever since then. They had an ongoing project that they needed to work on, but it didn’t mean that they were too busy. Jessica and Tiffany would normally converse throughout the day and even get off topic at certain points, but things started to change and Tiffany noticed.

Wanting to spend more time with Jessica, Tiffany decided to grab a couple folders and files before sauntering over to Jessica’s office. It’s been a while that they talked and spent time together. She missed her best friend and she wanted to have fun conversing about each other’s lives. Now that Tiffany was engaged, she wanted to share her joy to Jessica, but she rarely had the time to do so.

Opening the door to Jessica’s office quietly, Tiffany only realized that her married friend was neatly curled in the office chair, sleeping soundly with what looked like Kris’ blazer over her. Pursing her lip, Tiffany only sighed when Jessica didn’t even flinch at the sound of the shutting door.

“Sica~” Tiffany called out, skipping her way over towards her desk. “Sica, wake up. Why are you sleeping during working hours?” she sat there for a moment and was amazed at the fact that Jessica didn’t even move a bit. “Hey…Jessica…” she reached over the desk and nudged her best friend. “Answer me. Can you hear me?” she shook the woman.

Jessica took in a deep breath and squirmed in her seat, jarring awake. “Oh, Fany…when did you get here?” she mumbled, trying to shake her sleepiness away.

“Just now. I wanted to work with you. We’ve barely been talking ever since my engagement. I was too excited and busy for the past weeks to even talk to you.” Tiffany grinned, showing that she was trying to make up for time that they missed.

“Oh.” Jessica shifted Kris’ blazer to drape around her shoulders. “Well, we can talk now.” She smiled, stretching out her legs. “…On second thought, we can talk a minutes later. I have to use the restroom.” She scrunched up her face apologetically.

Tiffany rolled her eyes playfully. “Of course.” She nodded her head knowingly. “You’ve been peeing a lot frequently, Sica. Especially during the engagement dinner. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Jessica only stilled at her best friends quick senses. “…What do you mean?” Her facial expression resembled a deer in front of a driving car’s headlights.

“Sica…” Tiffany sighed, leaning back in her seat. “You were sitting beside me the entire night, but you’ve been constantly making bathroom trips. You were obviously having to empty your bladder over and over again.” Jessica chewed on her lip, already feeling a little guilty that she didn’t tell Tiffany about her pregnancy. “Sica, you need to stop drinking so much water.” Her words threw Jessica off completely.

“What?” Jessica was dumbfounded.

“I know water is good for you, but you don’t need to drink it every other second. That’s why you need to pee all the time. Just drink slowly. You’re not going to become dehydrated from not drinking water for least five minutes.” Tiffany thought she knew what was going on. “You’re still on your juice box craze, aren’t you? That’s why you have to pee so much!”

Jessica blinked for a moment before shrugging her shoulders shyly. She wasn’t technically lying to Tiffany. She has been drink lots of water and staying hydrated. Although she hasn’t touched any juice boxes in a while, at the mention of them, she felt like having some now.

“Sica, just lay off the juice boxes, will you? You’re just bothering yourself by going to the bathroom a dozen times throughout the day.” Tiffany laughed.

“When a woman has to pee, she will pee.” Jessica joked, getting up from her seat. “I’ll be right back, Fany.” She walked out and made her way towards the nearest bathroom.

When Jessica arrived back, she found Tiffany already in the midst of going through files. Taking a seat in her chair, Jessica only started to work as well. She barely even touched her work before falling into a slumber ever since she got into the office. The pregnancy fatigue was really taking its toll.

“So, what’s going on in your life?” Jessica asked, trying to be as upbeat and awake as she could be, even if she was feeling really tired already.

Tiffany only stopped what she was doing and gave her friend a look of obviousness. “You clearly know what is going on in my wonderful, lovely life.” She giggled happily at the thought of her engagement. “I want to know about yours. What’s going on?

“Err…” Jessica contemplated whether or not she should tell Tiffany about baby blip.

She and Kris decided not to announce anything during the dinner two weeks ago. They didn’t want to ruin Kai or Tiffany’s happy moment. More or less, they just couldn’t find the right timing to tell everyone. They also didn’t know how to tell them. It was a little disorganized and not thought out well enough. Jessica knew all the members deserved to know, but she didn’t want to tell without Kris.

“Just the usual.” Jessica ended up replying. “Married life.” She smiled.

Tiffany broke out in an ecstatic eye smile, as she couldn’t help but think about her own relationship. “I still can’t believe I'm engaged!” she squealed.

Jessica laughed. “So when’s the wedding?”

After dinner, the couple decided to head to an outlet and walk around. Doctor Lee had instructed Jessica to get in some exercise throughout the pregnancy, so it’ll make it easier for her to continue to stay fit after the baby comes. Out of curiosity, the two spotted a baby store and went in.

Jessica immediately perked up once she saw how they had tiny displays. “Kris, look how tiny these booties are~” she held up a pair of baby shoes in her palm.

Kris’ eyes widened when he held the puny shoes. “They look like peanuts in my hand.” He over exaggerated to prove his point.

“Well, you do have big hands.” Jessica placed the booties back on the shelf neatly.

“And you know what they say about big hands.” Kris wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

Jessica only rolled her eyes in equal sarcasm before they started to roam around the shop together. They kept awing at how little and tiny the accessories were. Jessica just couldn’t help but compare how big Kris seemed in contrast to the things in the store. Her husband just looked odd in a shop like this and she couldn’t help but finding it adorable and amusing at the same time.

It wasn’t until they reached the clothing section and the baby utilities that they realized were going to have a baby. A child. An addition to their family. It wasn’t going to be just the two of them anymore. They were going to raise an infant from now on. Both Kris and Jessica became overwhelmed all of the sudden.

Jessica tightened her hand around Kris’ and caused them to meet eyes. Both saw the surge of emotion that they felt in each other’s eyes. Not sparing another second, they engulfed each other in a comforting hug.

“It’ll be okay.” Kris wrapped his arms around her securely and protectively. “Don’t worry. We still have time.” He kissed the crown of her head, trying to reassuring himself as well.

Nodding her head, Jessica only remained tucked in his embrace. “We have a lot of reading to do.” She suddenly spoke, making Kris confused. “I’ve been meaning to get these books.” She reached off to the shelf adjacent to them and took a book.

“What To Expect When You’re Expecting?” Kris read off the title in a questioning manner.

Jessica agreed. “Yep. We’ll be getting two because we’ll read together.” She grinned.

Kris only groaned and had a bored look. “But I already read a bunch of papers at work.”

“I do too, so you have no excuse.” Jessica took two of the same book off the shelf.

“Let’s just buy one so after you’re done reading, you can just give it to me. We can save money that way.” Kris tried to get away with reading as much as he can, after seeing the thickness of that book.

Jessica only looked into Kris’ eyes with a sentimental expression written all over her face. Kris only wavered with one look from his wife and agreed.

“O-Okay.” Kris stuttered and surrendered. “Sure.”

Jessica only reverted her sights back to the shelf and spotted another book on baby names. “Should we get this one too?”

“If you want. We’re naming him Kris junior anyways.” Kris said, as if they both reached a decision already.

“And suppose our baby is a girl?” Jessica arched an eyebrow up.

“We’ll name her Jessica then.” Kris settled the mini dispute.

Jessica expected that and shook her head with a grin. “I don’t want our child to have a matching name. They’re special enough to be original.”

Kris hummed, agreeing with her. “That’s true. I say we should get the book later. You’re not even showing yet. It’s a long way from now, until little blip comes out.”

With finality, the two purchased their books and walked out. The overwhelming feeling that got within that shop still stayed with them, but they chose to ignore it. They have a lot of reading to do and within nine months, they’re going to have to be ready for a baby. The whole thing just seems too surreal to believe.

Later that night, Jessica was diligently doing their laundry. She was seated on the bed by herself and calmly folding Kris’ white shirts with precision. Laying out his shirt, Jessica was supposed to fold it, but instead, she ended up staring at the crisp tee.

A tremendous amount of emotions flooded through her. Within another year, she’s going to have to fold even more clothes. Next year, she’s going to fold white shirts that were five times smaller than the ones Kris wears.

A surge of fear encompassed Jessica. She started to panic. Her life will no longer be about herself or Kris. What are going to the plans that they had once the baby arrives? Did they even have a plan? They were going to be parents. They won’t be able to do the things they spontaneously want to do. They wouldn’t be able to leave the house with ease, let alone go out and have fun. They had a responsibility. A lifelong one.

Were they willing to give up everything?

Jessica panicked. What are they going to do? Were they even ready for this? They didn’t think she could get pregnant that easily. This was all dawning on her now. It made her scared and frightened.

“Jess, did you know where I put my phone?” Kris walked into the room, still in search for his cell phone. He stopped in mid-action when he registered his wife’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

The wife only looked up at her husband with a wide, fearful look. Her lip quivered before she slipped off the bed and pounced onto Kris in a tight hug. Kris only welcomed her with open arms and embraced her warmly. Jessica sniffled and he instantly became worried.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Kris asked calmly. He wondered why her mood plummeted. He was aware of possible pregnancy hormones and speculated whether or not his wife was going through that phase already.

Jessica tightened her hold on him. “Kris…I don’t think I’ll be a good mother.” The tears involuntarily flowed out.

Her words took Kris aback. His wife seemed so happy and delighted over the past weeks that they’ve found out about the pregnancy. Kris never expected her to become this way. He didn’t see it coming. Jessica’s realization of the reality hit her late and made Kris understad what was in store for them as well.

“Don’t say that. You’ll be a wonderful mother.” He comforted her, her hair lightly. “We still have time to learn and prepare. I’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll become great parents. Don’t worry.” Kris knew he was scared as well, but he needed to be strong for his wife and baby.

Jessica looked up at him with unsure eyes. She was really concerned. She could tell that Kris was just as scared as she was. They had said that they wanted a baby and that they were ready for it, but when the reality came, it seemed to shock them, even if they had thought everything through. Pregnancy is life changing.

“We’ll be okay.” Kris gave a reassuring smile. “You’re the one who said that we needed to read that book.” He grinned, trying to lighten up her mood.

Jessica peeked a smile and slumped her head onto his chest. “I was.”

“Like our mothers said; call them when we need them. They’ll be there for us too.” Kris knew how much Jessica was going to go through for their baby. “I’ll make sure you’ll be treated like a queen.”

“Of course.” Jessica glanced up at him quirkily. “Because I’m queen bee.” She giggled, copying Father Wu’s words from before. 

{Author's Note}: Sorry for the slow update. Author-nim had a bad week. >_<" PLease leave your precious comments~ They'll make my day :)