Five months later…

            “I’m sorry, Yoona, but we have to do it,” Yunho stated.

            “I know,” Yoona said at the verge of tears. 

            Unlike the usual, Yoona was not in her scrubs and lab coat.  She was in a patient gown as she stared at the wall with a blank look on her face.  It was a foreign feeling to be on the other end of the rope.  She had treated hundreds of patients, but she never thought that she would ever be on the other side.  Her bump had grown, and she was now six months along. 

            She continued to stare at the wall as she held her hands together.  Yunho knew that she was disheartened because of the fact that she had been put on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy.  Her body could no longer withstand the stress from work and her family, and she had begun to bleed profusely.  She managed to notice it before it got worse.

            “You can go back to work later,” Yunho advised.

            He was making it sound easier than it actually was.  Yoona knew that it was not going to be the same.  She would have a child to worry about, and she was putting her own at risk for working so hard.  She needed to stop working; she needed to stop being selfish.  Her life didn’t revolve around her own needs anymore.  She had a baby on the way.

            “I’ll be on maternity leave for about two months.  I’m going to be on bed rest for three months.  That’s five whole months away from my patients, research, and work,” Yoona said quietly.

            The door burst open to reveal a distressed Seunghyun.  He looked flustered as he looked at his wife on top of a hospital bed with a thin hospital gown on.  There were bags under her eyes, and she looked at her stomach with a blank expression on her face.

            “I heard that you were performing an appendectomy and then you started to bleed,” Seunghyun breathed out, “Are you okay?  Is the baby okay?”

            Yunho put his hands together as he looked at Yoona while she nodded at him.  Yunho handed Seunghyun the file that detailed the whole incident.  Yoona was performing a routine appendectomy on a six-year-old girl, and she felt blood trickling down her legs.  She called for an on call general surgeon to take over for her due to the fact that there wasn’t another pediatric surgeon on the clock, and she went to see a doctor right away.

            The doctor decided that she needed to stop working and be on bed rest until she delivered safely.  In fact, a group of doctors advised her to go on bed rest.  The baby was at risk for a spontaneous miscarriage, and Yoona knew that she would be heartbroken if she had miscarried a baby she had been carrying for the past half year.

            “I’ll leave you two alone,” Yunho stated as he made his exit, “You two obviously need privacy.”

            Yoona and Seunghyun watched the door close and then Seunghyun took a seat at the foot of Yoona’s hospital bed.  She avoided eye contact with him as she cleared .  She was embarrassed because he had been urging for her to take a break from work.  She had refused because she didn’t want a pregnancy to stop her from her research and work.  She thought that she could handle it all, but she guessed wrong.  The stress was too much on her body, and she needed to take it down a notch.

            “Darling, I told you that you need to take it easy,” Seunghyun said softly.

            “I was taking it easy.  I had cut my surgeries in half.  I only perform surgeries that are four hours or less.  I’m never on my feet for longer than five hours,” Yoona defended, “It’s just not fair.  I am working to change the world, but I can’t do that for five months.”

            He kissed the top of her head, “It’s only five months, baby.  Just look at the bright side.  At least you’ll be able to deliver a beautiful baby.”

_________________

            “Okay, so let me get this straight,” Jessica rested her hands on her hips, “Seunghyun’s family is going to come over here?”

            Jessica and Yoona were in the living room to Yoona’s home as they watched a Korean drama that they had been keeping up with for the past two weeks.  It was Jessica’s day off, so she figured that she would visit her favorite pregnant friend.  Yoona was drinking a cup of hot cocoa as she curled up against her soft fleece blanket on the comfy sofa.

            Yoona nodded, “And they’re staying here to be exact.”

            Narsha, Sulli, Chaerin, Uee, and Min were on their way from Korea, and Yoona was on her second day of bed rest.  She was not allowed to be up for more than three hours, and she was not allowed to work.  She hated that she was cooped up at home, and now, she had to entertain Seunghyun’s cousins and sisters.  Seunghyun and Taecyeon were the only males in the family, and the women in the family were very protective over those two. 

            “Do you think they’ll like you?” Jessica asked.

            Yoona laughed, “No, they probably won’t like me.  They won’t like the fact that my idea of fun is reading my old comic books and looking at old medical journals.  Seunghyun told me that they’re a little more on the party side.”

            “Doesn’t he come from a political family?” Jessica asked.

            “Yeah, he told me that his older sister is the mayor of Seoul,” Yoona agreed.

            Jessica sighed as she crossed her legs and leaned back on the sofa.  She understood Yoona’s frustration; there was so much going on in the hospital, and she hated that Yoona wasn’t there to take a part of it.

            “Dr. Son is absolutely relieved that you’re gone,” Jessica reported, “My brother is letting her take the important pediatric cases now, and she’s ecstatic.  Don’t worry.  My brother is likely to give you back the interesting cases when you return.”

            “It won’t be the same,” Yoona said in a low tone, “I won’t be able to spend my whole day at the hospital.  I’m going to have a child to go home to.”

            “Just don’t look at it in a bad way,” Jessica advised, “This child is coming, and we just need to prepare.  You’re going to love your child, Yoona, and your child is going to love you, too.”

_________________

Yoona’s POV

            “They’re going to love you,” Seunghyun whispered into my ear. 

The doorbell rang, and my husband had his hand around my waist.  My bulging stomach was showing because I was wearing a dark purple dress that highlighted my baby’s presence inside my body.  My hand rested on my swollen belly as I weakly smiled at him.

            “They’re going to hate me because I stole you from them,” I stated.

            I could already imagine their judgmental eyes on me.  I was married and pregnant to Seunghyun, and I had not even met them once.  I sighed as I watched him open the door to reveal his cousins and sisters.  His cousins and sisters looked very fashionable and successful women.  I had to admit that for the first time, I felt a little intimidated.  I uncomfortably shifted in my standing position as Seunghyun returned to his spot next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.  He leaned down and kissed my temple as I halfheartedly smiled.

            “It’s finally nice to meet all of you,” I said in my flawless Korean.

            English was my main language, but I wanted to show my fluency in Korean.  I wanted them to at least think I was competent.

            I think they were surprised that I knew Korean, and they looked a little impressed.  I bowed my head to them, and they returned the bow.  I immediately noticed them look at me up and down to check what I was wearing.  I felt like I was under a microscope.

            “You know Korean?” one of them asked.

            I had studied their faces through the pictures on Seunghyun’s phone.  The one who spoke was Chaerin.  She was the prosecutor cousin who Seunghyun said was very tough.  Her hair was dyed blonde, and her eyeliner was what stood out the most to me.  She looked beautiful, and I knew she was a very outspoken woman.

            “Yes, my grandfather and parents only spoke to me in Korean as a child,” I informed her.

            Sulli asked, “So how far along are you?”

            “It was absolutely shocking,” Narsha laughed, “We were already surprised enough that we found out Seunghyun was married, but when he told us that he was expecting a child with you, we were absolutely dumbfounded.”

            Uee added, “Yeah, it would have been nice if we were updated.”

            I could already feel their disapproval for me.  There was something about the way they looked at me that told me that they were angry that I had stolen Seunghyun from them.  They were angry that I had stolen him away, and I had attached myself to him by getting pregnant with his child.  I cleared my throat as Seunghyun awkwardly laughed.

            “Well, we’ve been very busy, and so have you all,” Seunghyun reasoned.

            Sulli asked, “How far along, unnie?”

            “I’m six months along,” I said, “Well, we should settle all of you in your rooms.  I bet you’re all tired from your flight.”

~~~~~~~~~~

            Yoona was alone in the kitchen drinking a cup of chamomile tea while she sat on a stool.  Seunghyun’s sisters and cousins were sleeping, and Seunghyun had just gone to sleep fifteen minutes ago.  Yoona needed time alone, and she fe