4 MONTHS LATER

16 June, 4 pm.

"Deep breath princess... Take a deep breath and try to relax...", Kai murmured to Jay, holding her hand. She was lying on the bed in the labour ward.

Kai had brought her to the hospital an hour back when she had started feeling her contractions. Her parents too were present there in the labour ward. Kai held on to one of her hands while her mother held the other.

Jay concentrated on breathing deeply to distract herself from the pain and pressure. The doctor kept checking on her at intervals but it didn't look like the baby was ready to come out yet.

"Aarrrghhh!", Jay groaned in pain again as another series of painful cramps clutched at her lower abdomen. Kai gripped her hand tight and soothingly rubbed her back as she clutched her eyes shut because of the pain.

The doctor came in to check on her again. "This is going to take a long time, okay, Jay?", he told her, gently, "This is because it's your first pregnancy. The labour lasts quite some time. As far as I can see your opening through which your baby will come out still needs to dilate another centimetre till your labour is established."

Jay nodded tiredly. Her mother picked up the damp towel and dabbed her face with it. "You better eat something before the contractions start coming faster.", the doctor told her, "Usually ladies prefer to come to the hospital only when their contractions start coming at intervals of five minutes. But because this is your first time, it's good that you are here." He gave her an encouraging smile and walked out of the ward.

The series of contractions gradually faded and Jay breathed. "You better eat something.", Jay's mother said, "You're going to need the energy later!"

Jay nodded quietly as her mother handed her the food she had packed. She tried to sit up straighter and Kai helped her by supporting her back. "Let me feed you...", Kai smiled at her. "Okay...", Jay whispered, smiling back.

Jay's mother hid a smile as she stood up from her place. "I'll go see if your father wants something to eat, okay?", she told Jay gently. Jay nodded accepting the piece of meat that Kai was holding out on the chopsticks.

Kai kept feeding her steadily till she couldn't eat any more. She sighed and leaned back against the bed. Kai wiped with a tissue and sat down beside her again.

"Mmmm?", said Jay, pouting her lips. Kai knew what she wanted. He grinned and pecked her pink soft lips lightly and nuzzled his nose against hers, his hand on her bulging tummy, softly caressing it. After he was done kissing her lips he leaned down and planted a kiss on her tummy too.

"Jinhyun-ah! Appa is waiting for you out here! Hurry up and come out! But don't hurt mommy too much okay? Appa doesn't like to see mommy get hurt.", Kai spoke to her tummy. Jay chuckled softly. She alwars liked to watch these talks Kai apparently had with their baby girl.

She still remembered how delighted Kai had been when the doctor had informed them that they would have a baby girl. "We're going to have Jihyun!", he had squealed like a three year old. She could just see it in her head how Kai was going to spoil his daughter to the heavens.

Kai rested his cheek on her tummy and smiled cutely at her. Jay had this insane urge to pinch his adorable cheeks. She smiled back at him and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I hope she has your eyes...", she whispered.

"You do? Why?", Kai asked her. "Because they're cute! And they go all crescent shaped when you smile!", Jay giggled.

Kai took her hand and brought it to his lips. He placed a long deep kiss on the back of her hand. "I love you...", he whispered, "You know that right?

"Of course I know, Kai", Jay said, "I love you t- HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!"

Jay gripped her stomach as her contractions started again. Kai hurriedly got up from his position and held her tight around the shoudlers. "Shhh... It's okay... It's okay... It will go away...", he tried to calm her.

"Aaarrrrrggghhhh!", Jay cried, as the pain radiated to her lower region and back. The doctor hurried into the room again and checked on her. He straightened up smiling.

"Congratulations Jay! You are now officially in labour!", he announced.

"Arrrrggghhhh!", Jay answered with a scream.

"Okay, ", the doctor continued talking to distract her from the pain, "Now over the next six hours your contractions are going to come faster and faster till your opening is sufficiently dilated to let your baby out okay? You need to keep uo your strength!"

"THIS IS GOING TO GET WORSE??!!", Jay hollered into the doctor's ears.

"This is what all women go through Jay! This is going to be a tripled up version of your period cramps okay?", the doctor told her.

"There is a time and place for complete honesty, doc!", Kai groaned as Jay screamed frustrated at the news.

"Sorry Kai! She has to know!", the doctor hollered over Jay's screams.

"Princess! Princess look at me!", Kai shouted, trying to get her to calm down.

Aaaarrrrghhhhh- OH!", Jay gave a strangled squeal as water gushed out from between her legs onto the sheets.

"There! Her water's burst!", the doctor said. He lifted up the hospital gown he was wearing and examined her. Turning to the nurse he said, "Cervix dilated 3.5 cm" The nurse jotted it down, immediately.

Jay again calmed down as this series of contractions too passed. "Okay now, princess?", Kai asked, worriedly. Jay nodded, panting heavily.

"Now listen to me, Jay.", the doctor said, "The contractions, as I told you earlier, are going to get worse. We are expecting that by around 10 pm tonight you will be fully ready to give birth. After that it will be a matter of one to two hours till your baby is out, okay?"

Jay nodded. "Let's shift you to another bed till we change these sheets.", the motherly nurse gently smiled at her. Jay slowly sat up, helped by Kai and gingerly got to her feet. Kai supported her along with the nurse and they began moving her to the next bed.

Jay sat down on the next bed and sighed. "It's going to be a loooooong night!", she said leaning her head on Kai's shoulder.

16 June, 8 pm

"HOW MUCH LONGER?", Jay screamed as the contractions showed no indications of stopping at all.

"Little more honey... Hold on...", Lihwa calmed her, gripping her hand tight. Ming held her other hand and patted her face with a damp towel. Luhan and Lihwa had turned up with Ming an hour back to relieve Kai and her mother.

They had insisted that Kai and Mrs. Lee go out an take some time off, while they take care of Jay. It was lucky for them that Luhan's and Lihwa had decided to visit them at this time from China. Kris was busy with work, so Ming had tagged along with them.

Kai clenched his fist, the lines of worry etched on his forehead, as he heard Jay screaming from the labour ward. "Man this is all my fault!", he groaned.

"It's okay, Kai!", Luhan consoled him, "Jay's strong! She'll get through this!"

This didn't stop Kai from worrying though.

Inside the labour ward, Jay's relaxed again, as her contractions subsided. She panted and lay back on the bed. After a while, she calmed down.

"Okay now?", Lihwa asked. Jay nodded silently. They stayed silent like that for a while.

After some time, Jay asked, "Jiejie...what did the doctor say...about your...?

Lih