Continued from here...

Joonmyun had now officially hit the third trimester of his pregnancy, something that was impossible to miss if you looked at him. ‘You’re all bump’ his mother had told him the other day and he couldn’t disagree with her. He wasn’t any bigger than he should be but he was carrying all out front so if you looked at him side on the fact he was pregnant was impossible to miss. And unlike during his first few months of pregnancy the fact there was a baby in there was now hard to forget. In the beginning it had been so hard to get his head around it, even after the reassurance of his first ultrasound, even with something as tangible as the print out of his baby to ground him there had been times when he’d felt like it wasn’t quite real.  He thought back to before he’d had even the ultrasound picture as proof and to the nightmare that had had him questioning whether the baby inside him existed at all and smiled wryly at how ridiculous that had been, a hand smoothing the fabric of his sweater over his now seven month bump. His son definitely existed and he now spent nearly all day every day letting him know it. If his ever more protruding belly getting in the way every time he moved wasn’t enough of a reminder then the activity level of the little boy he was carrying definitely was. At his last appointment with his midwife he’d been told to keep a record of how often he kicked over a set period of time and determine an average so that if there were any changes or any reason to worry it would be obvious to him. He’d tried to do this and had almost immediately given up. He was going to settle on ‘if he isn’t constantly making his presence known I should be worried’. If he continued to be as active once he was born they were going to be in real trouble he'd told Kris. Kris had been too focussed on the hand he had on his bump and the movement underneath Joonmyun’s skin to pay him much attention. It had been weeks ago that Joonmyun had first excitedly grabbed Kris’ hand and held it to his stomach but the amazement hadn’t worn off. Whenever Kris got the chance he was at Joonmyun’s side, his hand pressed to his skin so he could feel their son move for himself.

It was shame Kris was at work, he would have been having a ball over the last hour Joonmyun thought smiling fondly at his middle. Their son had been doing some real acrobatics. He’d been sitting in the armchair in the corner of the sitting room, feet up on a footstool, trying to mark the pile of History papers he’d brought home. But the pile of papers still sitting on the table beside him, yet to make it back into his bag, were a testament to just how distracting having a baby practicing a gymnastic floor routine inside you could be. He’d tried to ignore it in the beginning but after marking a second paper with an unnecessary line due to surprise at being kicked particularly hard he’d given up. But the baby seemed to have settled down now. He should get back to work. The sooner he got the papers at his side marked the better. He now had the day he was supposed to finishing work and going on maternity leave tentatively scheduled in but he had a lot to do before that could happen. He had papers to mark and lessons to plan and while that wasn’t physically demanding,  well it was still hard work and he was looking to forward to when it was all done and he could finally relax.

_______ ________

When Kris came through the front door half an hour later the pile of papers on the side table had only diminished by one.

“Get much done?” Kris asked cheerfully, once his shoes and coat were off and he started across the room towards him.

Joonmyun’s response was a frown and a snort that meant ‘if only’.

Kris’s mouth twitched as he fought back a smile. “Is he kicking?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

With a sigh Joonmyun shook his head. It was hard to stay annoyed at their son when Kris was so ridiculously enamoured with him already. Whenever he saw his eyes light up like that any irritation at being beaten up from the inside always faded away. “Not right now. He was, earlier, but I think he tired himself out.”

“Then why the face?” Kris asked, looking slightly disappointed. He’d obviously wanted to say hi to their baby and that was always more satisfying when he got a push against his hand in return.

“I wasn’t making a face.” Joonmyun argued. He’d been expressing his irritation at the situation, that wasn’t the same thing. “And he might not be kicking but he’s still making it hard to concentrate.”

“How so?” Kris asked, as he crouched down by Joonmyun’s armchair so he could look him in the eye. He seemed confused. “Are you hungry? Are you hurting?”

Joonmyun shook his head. For once he was neither. He’d had a pretty substantial lunch and the armchair he was sitting in was surprisingly good at supporting his back. “No, I’m okay. But our little one, he has hiccups and it’s hard to mark papers when my hand jerks every time he jerks.”

And Kris’ eyes widened in fascination, his gaze going to Joonmyun’s middle. “He gets hiccups now?” he asked.

“All the time.” Joonmyun told him, unable to help a smile. “You’re usually at work when he starts, that’s all.’ Kris’ obvious amazement at the fact was just too cute. “Watch…” he said and he pulled his sweatshirt up so there was now only the thin-fabric of his t-shirt covering his bump.

Kris watched in awe as his bump twitched once, twice, three times in time with their son’s  hiccups. “That’s amazing.” He breathed, his hands automatically going to frame Joonmyun’s rounded belly. “Will he do it again?” he asked when he wasn’t immediately met with another twitch. “Has he stopped?”

“Just wait.” Joonmyun told him, leaning back so Kris had better access. He could feel the heat of his hands through the fabric of his t-shirt. It was nice he thought with a sigh. “They usually come in threes.” He told him. “And it usually lasts a while. He won’t be done just yet.”

And sure enough, there he went again, hiccupping once, twice, three times. Kris rubbed one hand over Joonmyun’s bump, the widest of smiles on his face.

He might not have finished even half the work he had to do but Joonmyun couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed about it, not anymore, not with Kris there, with is hands on either side of his belly so obviously in love with their son and everything he did. He still had time. Marking papers and planning lessons, it could wait. Work might be important but spending time with his family, that was more important. And yes, the baby wasn’t here yet but that didn’t mean they weren’t already a family and he was going to enjoy spending time with them while he could. There were days when he felt tired, when he felt like he’d been pregnant forever and he was done with it all but he was well aware of the fact that the next few months were going to fly by. They were going to be over before he knew it. He should cherish moments like this he thought, a hand going to join Kris’ on his bump. Because he wasn’t going to be pregnant forever and he was sure once it was over, he was going to miss it. He was going to miss feeling his son move inside him, he was going to miss feeling so close to him. He should make the most of it.