Paper Roses 9/9 [FINALE]
Title: Paper Roses 9/9(Final Installment to Paper Cuts and Paper Cranes)
Author: giveitupjessica
Rating: PG-NC-17 (depending on the chapter)
Pairings: 2min, onkey, jazzhyun, taemin/sulli
Genre: AU, romance, comedy, pregnancy, angst
Summary: I walk into the room. Today was going to be one of the most important days of my life. I was more nervous than I've ever been in my life. I notice a bouquet of roses on the table on the other side of the room. I walk over and admire them. I pull the little heart shaped paper from the middle of it. Don't be nervous baby. I'll be right beside you the whole time. I love you and I will continue to love you until the last rose in this bouquet dies I smile and bring my hand up to feel the flowers in front of me. That's when I realize every last one of them are made out of paper.
A/N: So as I said in the previous chapter, I did write in Onew's POV. I left this one open ended and kind of vague for when I start on Paper Clips and Other Office Supplies which probably won't be any time soon. I kind of want to focus on Misguided Angel right now. Oh and I will also get that master fic list posted as well. haha. So much to do. So sad to be saying good-bye to this fic. I'm going to miss it. Anyways, I hope you like this final chapter and it isn't a let down. I tried to focus on all the couples again in this chapter PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!
CHAPTER NINE
TEN YEARS LATER
“YEOBO! BABY GIRL! HURRY UP! WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE!” I call up the stairs.
“It doesn’t take 20 minutes to walk across the street honey!” Key yells back to me.
“What are you two doing up there? It’s a barbeque, no need to get all fancy.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good!”
“How much longer?”
“Beauty takes time!”
“Fine, Eli and I will meet you over there then,” I grab my son’s hand and head for the door, grabbing the bag of fried chicken we were bringing on the way there.
“Appa,” Eli says as we leave the house and start to make our way across the street.
“Yes Eli?”
“Why is umma a boy? Aren’t ummas usually girls?”
“Why? Does it matter that umma is a boy?” I ask him.
“No.”
“Would you love umma any more?”
“No.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“Because some stupid kid named Kevin at school was teasing me about it the other day.”
“Well don’t listen to Kevin. It doesn’t matter that umma is a boy. He loves you very much and would do anything for you. That’s all that matters.”
I let go of his hand once we’re safely across the street and he runs over to ring the doorbell. I can’t help but smile, my life was perfect. I was married to a beautiful man who I find myself loving more and more with each passing day. We have two amazing children. Gwiboon who just turned 10 a few weeks ago and Eli who is 3. They can be a handful sometimes, but we wouldn’t trade them for the world.
We were now living in a nice little suburban neighborhood. Key was an established designer and I was working with Minho and Taemin at Choi-Lee Enterprise, they changed the name when they took over for their dads. Actually, we were all living in the neighborhood. It was almost like when we lived in the same apartment building all those years ago. Key and I live across the street from Minho and Taemin while Jazzy and Jonghyun live next door to them. The realtor who sold us the houses about five years ago was probably still enjoying her huge commission check.
“Eli!” Minho says when he opens the door, picking my son up before turning to me, “Where’s Key hyung and Gwiboon?”
“Still getting ready.”
“It’s a barbeque.”
“That’s what I said and Key said there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look your best.”
“Of course. He is the Almighty Key-va. Come on in,” he moves aside and I step into the house.
“Uncle Minho,” Eli starts as we walk towards the backyard.
“Yes Eli?”
“Where’s Kyujong?”
“I think he was going to the bathroom when I was coming to get the door.”
Kyujong is Taemin and Minho’s first child. It was definitely a relief when he was born four years ago. They were trying so hard to have a child, but nothing worked. I’m actually surprised Taemin didn’t get pregnant while we were still in college. Those two couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, they still can’t. Anyways, it was almost a miracle when Taemin finally got pregnant with Kyujong, but then he almost lost him and it was just an ugly pregnancy. But he was born right on time and healthy as a horse.
I’m glad that Key’s pregnancies weren’t like that though. I saw what it did to Minho and Taemin. Gwiboon was a little more stubborn, just like her umma. She wanted to make a grand entrance and ended up being a week late from her actual due date. Talk about being fashionably late. Eli, on the other hand, practically came right on out when Key went into labor with him.
“Onew hyung!” Taemin says as he walks out of the room, a tiny baby girl resting in his arms.
“Hi Taeminnie,” I greet before bending down to kiss the baby’s forehead, “Hi Taeyeon.”
Taeyeon is their second child. This time around it was a lot easier for them. Taemin got pregnant right after they decided they were ready to expand their family. And she was a gorgeous baby girl, the splitting image of her umma. Even though Taemin carried her to full term, she was still tiny. The doctor’s were scared at first, but after they realized she was perfectly healthy they let it slide. I mean look at who her umma is, Taemin is tiny, only makes since that his daughter would be tiny too. I’m surprised he can even handle Minho’s weight when they have sex because no doubt Minho is the one who tops in the relationship.
“Appa! I wanna see too!” I look down and Eli is tugging on my shorts, “Okay.”
I bend down and pick him up. Eli has been fascinated with Taeyeon since she was born a few months ago. He kept on asking me where babies come from until last week when he finally gave up and realized I wasn’t going to tell him the truth. He was a smart kid and didn’t believe the whole stork thing. I guess when you think about it, a bird bringing a couple a baby is kind of far fetched.
“Aigo! Yeppoda!” Eli exclaims.
“Shh,” Taemin says, finger held up to his lips, “She’s sleeping Eli, so you have to be quiet okay?”
“Okay,” he then turns to me with a serious expression on his face, “Appa.”
“Yes Eli?”
“Is it okay if I marry Taeyeon?”
“What?” I’m taken by surprise and I hear a giggle escape from Taemin, “Why do you want to marry her?”
“Because I think she’s pretty.”
“Eli, she’s still a baby though.”
“I can wait until she’s as old as me.”
“You can?”
“Uh huh.”
“Well then you better ask her umma and appa if it’s okay first.”
“Is it okay?” he asks, turning to Taemin just as Minho is walking up to us, he had left to go and check on the grill. He wraps an arm around Taemin’s waist and bends down to kiss his daughter.
“Is what okay?” Minho asks, looking from me to Taemin.
“Eli here wants to marry our Taeyeon,” Taemin informs him.
“Oh is that so? You want to marry my baby girl Eli?”
“Ne!”
“Do you love her?”
“Ne!”
“Will you treat her right?”
“I’ll treat her like appa treats umma.”
“Promise not to break her heart?” Minho holds out his pinky finger.
“Promise,” Eli links his pinky finger with Minho’s.
“Then yes you can marry her. Just let her grow up first okay?”
“Ne!” he reaches out his hand and softly touches one of Taeyeon’s, “Did you hear that Taeyeon? We’re going to be married. You’re going to be my yeobo one day. So hurry up and grow up okay?”
We all let out a laugh as we listen to my son talk to his future bride. The doorbell rings soon after our laughter finally dies down.
“I’ll get it,” Minho says, “And honey, you might want to go and check on Kyujong, he’s been in the bathroom for awhile now. I’m thinking he’s playing in the sink again.”
“Oh okay yeobo,” Taemin turns to go to the bathroom, but I place a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“Eli and I will go and check on him. You just worry about my future daughter-in-law,” I smile before walking to the bathroom. I can already hear Kyujong’s unmistakable giggle and the sound of water splashing. You’d think he’d be in the pool instead of playing in the sink, but nope he prefers the sink.
*~*
When I open the door I’m not surprised to see the rest of my guests standing on the other side, “Hey everyone, come on in!”
I step aside as everyone files in and makes their way to the backyard. I take the bag that Jazzy is holding from her before linking our own hands. We were still as close as we had ever been. She was still my best friend, even though sometimes I’d fib and tell Taemin he was my best friend. He knew that that position was and always will be Jazzy’s though. He was a close a second.
“How are you feeling?” I ask her, helping her out onto the deck that leads to our backyard and the pool.
“I’m good.”
“How’d the doctor’s appointment go?”
“Good. Everything’s going just fine this time around as well.”
“I’m glad,” I smile and place my free hand on her growing belly. She was pregnant again, with their third child. Her second pregnancy was much like Taemin’s first. Difficult to say the least. They were actually pregnant at the same time which reminded us of our mothers being pregnant with us at the same time.
“Umma!” Junghee, Jonghyun and Jazzy’s second child, calls as she runs up to us.
“Yes sweetie?”
“Can I go swimming now?”
“Ask appa. If you’re going to go swimming, he needs to go with you.”
“Appa said to ask you though.”
“Jjongie!” Jazzy yells.
“Yeah?”
“Will you just go with your daughter into the pool?”
“I don’t want to go swimming yet!”
“I swear sometimes it’s like having three kids at home instead of just two,” she says to me as she let’s out a sigh, “Buggy!”
“Yeah umma,” Yoogeun walks over to us. He was growing so fast these days. He was already at his dad’s shoulder in height. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the same height as me when he got older. Where he got the height from in the first place was a mystery. Jonghyun definitely wasn’t tall and neither was Jazzy. She told me height probably skipped a generation in her family, which could be true since her father was a fairly tall man if I remember correctly.
“Will you go swimming with your sister?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you, take Junghee inside and go and change first. I put the bag with your swimming clothes on the couch.”
“Okay, come on Junghee,” he grabs his little sister’s hand and they walk inside just as Onew, Eli, and Kyujong are walking out. Eli and Kyujong just in their swim trunks now. Onew must have changed them before coming out which would explain why they took so long to join us.
“Yeobo! There you are!” Key says as he comes over to his husband. He immediately cuddles into Onew’s side.
“Umma, can we go swimming now?” Eli asks.
“I want an adult to go swimming with you guys,” he answers.
“Don’t worry yeobo, I’ll go with them. I already have my swim trunks on,” Onew tugs at his shorts.
“Did you come over wearing them?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
“I didn’t know you were going to swim too. I didn’t pack you a pair of dry clothes to change into later.”
“It’s okay, we live across the street. If anything I can just run over and change.”
“Or you could just borrow a pair of my sweats hyung,” I add.
“That too. See I’m covered yeobo,” he kisses Key on the cheek.
“Gwiboon,” Key says as he turns to the girl who is sitting on the edge of the pool, soaking her feet.
“Ne umma?” she replies.
“If you wanna go swimming now, you better go change.”
“Maybe later.”
“Okay.”
“Baby!” I hear Taemin call from inside the house, “Could you come here for a second?”
“Sure thing,” I let go of Jazzy’s hand and walk into the house. Taemin is standing at the fridge, “What’s up baby?”
“Can you grab her carrier and bring it outside?”
“Sure thing,” I walk over to the living room and grab the baby carrier and the stand for it. I go back outside and set it up near the table before going back into the house, “It’s all set up, want me to take her?”
“Could you? I need to finish the fruit salad,” he’s staring intently into the fridge, “I thought I bought a cantaloupe at the market yesterday.”
“You did,” I tell him.
“Well them where is it?”
“Um,” I take our daughter from his arms and he starts to dig around in the fridge.
“Baby, where did I put?” he asks me as he continues to shuffle things around in the small space in front of him.
“Well you see. Kyujong and I got hungry after breakfast this morning. You know after we came back from playing soccer at the park.”
“You two ate it! The whole thing?!” he turns to me and places his hands on his hips.
“Well you never said it was for tonight. How was I supposed to know.”
“I can’t believe the two of you ate the whole cantaloupe by yourselves.”
“We were hungry. Running around, kicking a soccer ball can do that to you. I can run to the store and get another one if you want.”
“Do you mind? Cantaloupe is always so nice to have in the summer.”
“Sure thing, I’ll just go set Taeyeon down outside then run to the store.”
“Thank you baby,” he leans up and gives me a kiss before I walk outside.
I place my daughter in her carrier and turn to Jazzy who is currently telling Key about her latest doctor visit, “Jazzy, Key can you watch Taeyeon for a little bit? Taemin is inside finishing up some things for dinner and I need to run to the store.”
“Sure thing,” Jazzy says to me.
“I’ll go and help Taemin,” Key says and gets up to make his way to the kitchen.
“Baby,” Jonghyun comes over to us and takes a seat beside his wife, “You feeling okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing Minho. Jjongie is just overreacting.”
“She had a bad case of morning sickness before we came over. I was tempted to just stay at home with her and just send the kids over, but she insisted. Said we can’t break a tradition just because she’s throwing up.”
“I’m pregnant Jjongie. I’m going to get morning sickness. Sometimes it’s really bad, sometimes it’s nothing. Geez you act like this is our first pregnancy.”
“Well after what we went through with Junghee, can you blame me?”
“I’m fine. If I wasn’t, I’d tell you okay? So quit worrying,” she kisses him softly on the lips then turns to me, “I thought you were going to the store.”
“I am. Thanks for watching her.”
“No problem.”
“Want anything?”
“Ice cream and French fries.”
“Got it. Be back,” I run inside and grab my keys from the counter, “Baby just the cantaloupe?”
“Um, can you grab a watermelon as well. Oh and some juice boxes for the kids. I just checked the pantry and we’re running low.”
“Anything else?”
“No, but if I think of anything, I’ll text you,” he sets down the knife, his cooking skills have greatly improved since we got married. No more honey ramen, a food experiment gone awry. Of course it happened not too long after we got married and he was just learning how to cook. But still, I can never look at honey and ramen the same every again. He leans up and kisses me, “Thanks again baby.”
“Anything for my wife,” I kiss him again before I walk into the garage and drive to the market.
*~*
I was definitely living my dream life. I had a beautiful wife, a son, a daughter, and another baby on the way. I was still working in the music industry, however I’ve long since hung up my coat as a singer. I’m now working on composing songs for artists. It was easier for me to be able to spend time with my growing family. I didn’t have long days and I didn’t need to go off on tour. It was better this way. Plus, it kept us out of the limelight. Although, on occasion I still get noticed when I’m out in public.
Jazzy was a housewife for the most part. She stayed at home and took care of our kids. And don’t think I forced her to do that. She wanted to be a housewife. And it’s not like she didn’t have the option to work if she wanted to. She just preferred not to. Well actually, she did do a little bit of work from home that involved her family’s company. She would on occasion have to read over contracts and whatnot. But she told me numerous times that me and the kids were her priority and didn’t want to focus on anything else.
I pull her close to me and we both look over at Taeyeon. It still amazes me at how tiny she is. Junghee was probably twice her size when she was born and she was one month early. I look over at the pool and see all of our kids playing, Onew fit right in with them as he partook in a splash war with Yoogeun. He looked like a big kid. My eyes then fall on Junghee and Kyujong, they’re sitting on the steps talking to each other. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that that is exactly what Minho and Jazzy looked like when they were younger. I still found it eerie that Taemin and Jazzy both got pregnant at the same time and our kids were born within days of each other. Much like Minho and Jazzy, except Kyujong was born 4 days before Junghee.
“What are you thinking baby?” I hear Jazzy ask from beside me.
“Is that how you and Minho were when you were growing up?” I nod in our daughter’s direction.
“Pretty much. It’s kind of like déjà vu sometimes when I see them together.”
“We’re not going to be like your parents though right? We’re not going to talk about them getting married to one another and giving us cute grandkids.”
“No, Junghee and Kyujong can marry whoever they want. If they happen to marry each other, great. They’re still way too young to be thinking about marriage. So we’ll just cross that bridge when we get to it and just enjoy them when they’re this little and still kind of listen to us.”
“Sounds good to me,” she rests her head on my shoulder and a hand on my leg. I absentmindedly begin to rub her back as she begins to rub my leg, “Did you tell anyone yet?”
“Tell anyone what?”
“About the baby.”
“Not yet. I’ll save it for later,” she turns her head up to look at me and I bend down and kiss her lips.
“I love you, you know that right?”
“Yes. You tell me every morning when we wake up and every night when we go to sleep and then like twenty times in between.”
“I just want to make sure you know.”
“You married me didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“So I know.”
*~*
“Hey Gwiboon,” I say as I swim up to the side of the pool where she’s currently lounging on a chair. I bring my arms up and rest them on the edge.
“Hey oppa, what’s up?”
“Aren’t you going to come and swim?”
“I don’t want to get my hair wet.”
“You can put on one of those bathing cap things.”
“No, then my hair will get all smushed. I’ll end up having like helmet hair. And that’s not cute.”
“Aw, come on Gwiboon. Come and join us, the water feels great!”
“No thank you.”
“You know you want to!”
“I know I don’t.”
“Come on Gwiboon. Gwiboonie! Please for me?” I give her my trademark puppy dog eyes, the ones I know she can’t resist.
“Fine, if it’ll stop your pathetic begging I’ll come and swim for a little bit. But you better not get a single drop of water on my hair.”
“I’ll try not to,” I smile at her and then swim over to the steps where my little sister and Eli are currently sitting. Onew appa is sitting on the edge with Key umma and they’re cuddling. Gross. Sometimes I think our parents are too affectionate with each other. I really don’t need to see them getting all lovey dovey with one another. I look over to the deck and see my own parents cuddling as well. Geez, do they not see that kids are present here. So gross.
I feel a small splash from beside me and look over to see Gwiboon. She looks pretty cute in her little one piece bathing suit. Well I’ve thought she was cute since the beginning of this year. Even though she can be a total diva like Key umma, I still like her a lot. Her feistiness is actually one of the things I like the most about her. I mean for a girl, she can pretty much hold her own. Kind of like how umma is sometimes when her and appa get into their arguments over nothing. I think half their arguments are fake and they just have them so they can make up afterwards.
“Okay oppa. Let’s swim,” Gwiboon says to me.
“But if we swim, you might get your hair wet. We can just wade around in the shallow end and like talk or something.”
“Sure. That works for me. What do you want to talk about?”
“How’s school going?”
“It’s fine.”
“No one’s picking on you right?”
“No, not this year.”
“Not even that stupid Changsung kid.”
“Nope, he’s left me alone since you beat him up last year.”
“Good. No one messes with you and gets away with it.”
“What do you mean by that?” she cocks her head to the side in question.
“I mean that no one is allowed to hurt you and make you cry just like no one is allowed to that to Junghee either. Not on my watch at least. I’ll make sure they pay.”
“Oh I see,” I see her mouth start to pout a little, “What about you oppa? How’s school going for you?”
“It’s fine. Nothing exciting. I got stuck with a stupid teacher again this year. He’s always giving us weird assignments. And last week he broke us into two groups and we ran around the school trying to capture each other. It had something to do with a war or something. I don’t know. It was weird.”
“Oh I heard about that from my friend. Yeah, it does seem weird.”
A heavy silence falls on us and we continue to walk back and forth in the shallow end of the pool. I can feel eyes on us. I’m sure Onew appa and Key umma are the ones watching us. I don’t understand why though. We’re just walking. We’re not even talking at this point. I wish I knew how to break the silence.
“Gwiboonie,” I say.
“Yoogeun oppa,” she says at the same time. We both let out a nervous laugh and I see her blush. I can feel my own cheeks getting a little warm.
“You go first,” I say.
“No, you said my name first. So you go first.”
“No, I insist, you first.”
“I forgot what I was going to say.”
“Oh okay,” and there’s that heavy silence again.
“What were you going to say?”
“Oh nothing important.”
“Say it.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Say it oppa. Please?”
“Okay,” I bring my hand up and scratch the back of my head.
“I’m waiting,” we’ve stopped walking now and are just standing in the pool. She was now in front of me and I turn my head to look in a different direction. I couldn’t look at her. Looking at her made me nervous.
“I just want to tell you that… you look really cute in your bathing suit,” I say the last part really softly hoping she doesn’t hear it. My cheeks are getting hotter. She isn’t saying anything, maybe she didn’t hear me. Thank goodness.
“Dinner’s ready!” Taemin appa yells. Saved by my appa! WOO!
I start to walk towards the stairs and she doesn’t follow me right away. I’m a few steps away when I feel something grab my hand. I look back and see Gwiboon smiling at me. She walks the few steps so that she’s standing right beside me now and fixes our hands so that they’re laced together.
“Thank you oppa,” her smile get bigger and I smile back. We walk like that the rest of the way to the steps. Right before we reach the first step, we let go of each other’s hands.
*~*
It took me awhile to process what he said and when I finally realized it, I was happier than I ever could be. I know I just turned 10, but I’ve had the biggest crush on Yoogeun oppa ever since I can remember. So hearing him tell me I look cute just made my whole year. And then the fact that he blushed after saying it, just made me happier.
So I took a chance. I grabbed onto his hand before he got too far from me. I was relieved when he didn’t try to shake my hand lose. So I took it a step further and laced our fingers together. The smile he gave me after I did that told me he didn’t mind it. We walked like that until we reached the steps.
I had to admit that I loved the way my hand seemed to perfectly fit with his. And the way a little jolt of electricity shot up my spine when I first grabbed onto it. We ended up taking seats next to one another during dinner. I was probably permanently blushing now. The butterflies in my stomach were working over time.
So imagine my surprise when he laces our hands again in the middle of dinner when they accidentally brushed under the table. I look over at him and he’s just staring straight ahead, a small smile on his lips. I can’t help but smile as well as we sit there, holding hands under the table.
“YAH!” we immediately let go of each other’s hand at the sound of my umma’s voice. Did we get caught?
“DINO BOY! WHAT THE HECK?” apparently Yoogeun’s appa did something to make my umma mad again. Those two never seem to get along, I asked appa about it one night and he just told me that that’s just how their friendship was. I think they’re just weird.
Phew, that was a close one. Magically, our hands find each other again. I’m literally jumping for joy inside.
“So everyone,” Yoogeun’s umma says as we’re all finished with dinner and dessert is being set on the table, “Jjongie and I have some good news.”
“What is it Jazzy?” umma asks.
“Well it’s about the baby,” she rubs her growing belly.
“Everything is okay with the baby right?”
“Yes everything is fine. Except it’s not baby, but rather BABIES.”
“Wait, what?” Minho, Kyujong and Taeyeon’s appa, says a look of confusion on his face.
“We’re having twins!” Everyone is jumping out of their seats to go and congratulate them. But not us. We’re still sitting here. Holding hands and smiling.
Author: giveitupjessica
Rating: PG-NC-17 (depending on the chapter)
Pairings: 2min, onkey, jazzhyun, taemin/sulli
Genre: AU, romance, comedy, pregnancy, angst
Summary: I walk into the room. Today was going to be one of the most important days of my life. I was more nervous than I've ever been in my life. I notice a bouquet of roses on the table on the other side of the room. I walk over and admire them. I pull the little heart shaped paper from the middle of it. Don't be nervous baby. I'll be right beside you the whole time. I love you and I will continue to love you until the last rose in this bouquet dies I smile and bring my hand up to feel the flowers in front of me. That's when I realize every last one of them are made out of paper.
A/N: So as I said in the previous chapter, I did write in Onew's POV. I left this one open ended and kind of vague for when I start on Paper Clips and Other Office Supplies which probably won't be any time soon. I kind of want to focus on Misguided Angel right now. Oh and I will also get that master fic list posted as well. haha. So much to do. So sad to be saying good-bye to this fic. I'm going to miss it. Anyways, I hope you like this final chapter and it isn't a let down. I tried to focus on all the couples again in this chapter PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!
CHAPTER NINE
TEN YEARS LATER
“YEOBO! BABY GIRL! HURRY UP! WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE!” I call up the stairs.
“It doesn’t take 20 minutes to walk across the street honey!” Key yells back to me.
“What are you two doing up there? It’s a barbeque, no need to get all fancy.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good!”
“How much longer?”
“Beauty takes time!”
“Fine, Eli and I will meet you over there then,” I grab my son’s hand and head for the door, grabbing the bag of fried chicken we were bringing on the way there.
“Appa,” Eli says as we leave the house and start to make our way across the street.
“Yes Eli?”
“Why is umma a boy? Aren’t ummas usually girls?”
“Why? Does it matter that umma is a boy?” I ask him.
“No.”
“Would you love umma any more?”
“No.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“Because some stupid kid named Kevin at school was teasing me about it the other day.”
“Well don’t listen to Kevin. It doesn’t matter that umma is a boy. He loves you very much and would do anything for you. That’s all that matters.”
I let go of his hand once we’re safely across the street and he runs over to ring the doorbell. I can’t help but smile, my life was perfect. I was married to a beautiful man who I find myself loving more and more with each passing day. We have two amazing children. Gwiboon who just turned 10 a few weeks ago and Eli who is 3. They can be a handful sometimes, but we wouldn’t trade them for the world.
We were now living in a nice little suburban neighborhood. Key was an established designer and I was working with Minho and Taemin at Choi-Lee Enterprise, they changed the name when they took over for their dads. Actually, we were all living in the neighborhood. It was almost like when we lived in the same apartment building all those years ago. Key and I live across the street from Minho and Taemin while Jazzy and Jonghyun live next door to them. The realtor who sold us the houses about five years ago was probably still enjoying her huge commission check.
“Eli!” Minho says when he opens the door, picking my son up before turning to me, “Where’s Key hyung and Gwiboon?”
“Still getting ready.”
“It’s a barbeque.”
“That’s what I said and Key said there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look your best.”
“Of course. He is the Almighty Key-va. Come on in,” he moves aside and I step into the house.
“Uncle Minho,” Eli starts as we walk towards the backyard.
“Yes Eli?”
“Where’s Kyujong?”
“I think he was going to the bathroom when I was coming to get the door.”
Kyujong is Taemin and Minho’s first child. It was definitely a relief when he was born four years ago. They were trying so hard to have a child, but nothing worked. I’m actually surprised Taemin didn’t get pregnant while we were still in college. Those two couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, they still can’t. Anyways, it was almost a miracle when Taemin finally got pregnant with Kyujong, but then he almost lost him and it was just an ugly pregnancy. But he was born right on time and healthy as a horse.
I’m glad that Key’s pregnancies weren’t like that though. I saw what it did to Minho and Taemin. Gwiboon was a little more stubborn, just like her umma. She wanted to make a grand entrance and ended up being a week late from her actual due date. Talk about being fashionably late. Eli, on the other hand, practically came right on out when Key went into labor with him.
“Onew hyung!” Taemin says as he walks out of the room, a tiny baby girl resting in his arms.
“Hi Taeminnie,” I greet before bending down to kiss the baby’s forehead, “Hi Taeyeon.”
Taeyeon is their second child. This time around it was a lot easier for them. Taemin got pregnant right after they decided they were ready to expand their family. And she was a gorgeous baby girl, the splitting image of her umma. Even though Taemin carried her to full term, she was still tiny. The doctor’s were scared at first, but after they realized she was perfectly healthy they let it slide. I mean look at who her umma is, Taemin is tiny, only makes since that his daughter would be tiny too. I’m surprised he can even handle Minho’s weight when they have sex because no doubt Minho is the one who tops in the relationship.
“Appa! I wanna see too!” I look down and Eli is tugging on my shorts, “Okay.”
I bend down and pick him up. Eli has been fascinated with Taeyeon since she was born a few months ago. He kept on asking me where babies come from until last week when he finally gave up and realized I wasn’t going to tell him the truth. He was a smart kid and didn’t believe the whole stork thing. I guess when you think about it, a bird bringing a couple a baby is kind of far fetched.
“Aigo! Yeppoda!” Eli exclaims.
“Shh,” Taemin says, finger held up to his lips, “She’s sleeping Eli, so you have to be quiet okay?”
“Okay,” he then turns to me with a serious expression on his face, “Appa.”
“Yes Eli?”
“Is it okay if I marry Taeyeon?”
“What?” I’m taken by surprise and I hear a giggle escape from Taemin, “Why do you want to marry her?”
“Because I think she’s pretty.”
“Eli, she’s still a baby though.”
“I can wait until she’s as old as me.”
“You can?”
“Uh huh.”
“Well then you better ask her umma and appa if it’s okay first.”
“Is it okay?” he asks, turning to Taemin just as Minho is walking up to us, he had left to go and check on the grill. He wraps an arm around Taemin’s waist and bends down to kiss his daughter.
“Is what okay?” Minho asks, looking from me to Taemin.
“Eli here wants to marry our Taeyeon,” Taemin informs him.
“Oh is that so? You want to marry my baby girl Eli?”
“Ne!”
“Do you love her?”
“Ne!”
“Will you treat her right?”
“I’ll treat her like appa treats umma.”
“Promise not to break her heart?” Minho holds out his pinky finger.
“Promise,” Eli links his pinky finger with Minho’s.
“Then yes you can marry her. Just let her grow up first okay?”
“Ne!” he reaches out his hand and softly touches one of Taeyeon’s, “Did you hear that Taeyeon? We’re going to be married. You’re going to be my yeobo one day. So hurry up and grow up okay?”
We all let out a laugh as we listen to my son talk to his future bride. The doorbell rings soon after our laughter finally dies down.
“I’ll get it,” Minho says, “And honey, you might want to go and check on Kyujong, he’s been in the bathroom for awhile now. I’m thinking he’s playing in the sink again.”
“Oh okay yeobo,” Taemin turns to go to the bathroom, but I place a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“Eli and I will go and check on him. You just worry about my future daughter-in-law,” I smile before walking to the bathroom. I can already hear Kyujong’s unmistakable giggle and the sound of water splashing. You’d think he’d be in the pool instead of playing in the sink, but nope he prefers the sink.
*~*
When I open the door I’m not surprised to see the rest of my guests standing on the other side, “Hey everyone, come on in!”
I step aside as everyone files in and makes their way to the backyard. I take the bag that Jazzy is holding from her before linking our own hands. We were still as close as we had ever been. She was still my best friend, even though sometimes I’d fib and tell Taemin he was my best friend. He knew that that position was and always will be Jazzy’s though. He was a close a second.
“How are you feeling?” I ask her, helping her out onto the deck that leads to our backyard and the pool.
“I’m good.”
“How’d the doctor’s appointment go?”
“Good. Everything’s going just fine this time around as well.”
“I’m glad,” I smile and place my free hand on her growing belly. She was pregnant again, with their third child. Her second pregnancy was much like Taemin’s first. Difficult to say the least. They were actually pregnant at the same time which reminded us of our mothers being pregnant with us at the same time.
“Umma!” Junghee, Jonghyun and Jazzy’s second child, calls as she runs up to us.
“Yes sweetie?”
“Can I go swimming now?”
“Ask appa. If you’re going to go swimming, he needs to go with you.”
“Appa said to ask you though.”
“Jjongie!” Jazzy yells.
“Yeah?”
“Will you just go with your daughter into the pool?”
“I don’t want to go swimming yet!”
“I swear sometimes it’s like having three kids at home instead of just two,” she says to me as she let’s out a sigh, “Buggy!”
“Yeah umma,” Yoogeun walks over to us. He was growing so fast these days. He was already at his dad’s shoulder in height. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the same height as me when he got older. Where he got the height from in the first place was a mystery. Jonghyun definitely wasn’t tall and neither was Jazzy. She told me height probably skipped a generation in her family, which could be true since her father was a fairly tall man if I remember correctly.
“Will you go swimming with your sister?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you, take Junghee inside and go and change first. I put the bag with your swimming clothes on the couch.”
“Okay, come on Junghee,” he grabs his little sister’s hand and they walk inside just as Onew, Eli, and Kyujong are walking out. Eli and Kyujong just in their swim trunks now. Onew must have changed them before coming out which would explain why they took so long to join us.
“Yeobo! There you are!” Key says as he comes over to his husband. He immediately cuddles into Onew’s side.
“Umma, can we go swimming now?” Eli asks.
“I want an adult to go swimming with you guys,” he answers.
“Don’t worry yeobo, I’ll go with them. I already have my swim trunks on,” Onew tugs at his shorts.
“Did you come over wearing them?”
“Yeah. Why not?”
“I didn’t know you were going to swim too. I didn’t pack you a pair of dry clothes to change into later.”
“It’s okay, we live across the street. If anything I can just run over and change.”
“Or you could just borrow a pair of my sweats hyung,” I add.
“That too. See I’m covered yeobo,” he kisses Key on the cheek.
“Gwiboon,” Key says as he turns to the girl who is sitting on the edge of the pool, soaking her feet.
“Ne umma?” she replies.
“If you wanna go swimming now, you better go change.”
“Maybe later.”
“Okay.”
“Baby!” I hear Taemin call from inside the house, “Could you come here for a second?”
“Sure thing,” I let go of Jazzy’s hand and walk into the house. Taemin is standing at the fridge, “What’s up baby?”
“Can you grab her carrier and bring it outside?”
“Sure thing,” I walk over to the living room and grab the baby carrier and the stand for it. I go back outside and set it up near the table before going back into the house, “It’s all set up, want me to take her?”
“Could you? I need to finish the fruit salad,” he’s staring intently into the fridge, “I thought I bought a cantaloupe at the market yesterday.”
“You did,” I tell him.
“Well them where is it?”
“Um,” I take our daughter from his arms and he starts to dig around in the fridge.
“Baby, where did I put?” he asks me as he continues to shuffle things around in the small space in front of him.
“Well you see. Kyujong and I got hungry after breakfast this morning. You know after we came back from playing soccer at the park.”
“You two ate it! The whole thing?!” he turns to me and places his hands on his hips.
“Well you never said it was for tonight. How was I supposed to know.”
“I can’t believe the two of you ate the whole cantaloupe by yourselves.”
“We were hungry. Running around, kicking a soccer ball can do that to you. I can run to the store and get another one if you want.”
“Do you mind? Cantaloupe is always so nice to have in the summer.”
“Sure thing, I’ll just go set Taeyeon down outside then run to the store.”
“Thank you baby,” he leans up and gives me a kiss before I walk outside.
I place my daughter in her carrier and turn to Jazzy who is currently telling Key about her latest doctor visit, “Jazzy, Key can you watch Taeyeon for a little bit? Taemin is inside finishing up some things for dinner and I need to run to the store.”
“Sure thing,” Jazzy says to me.
“I’ll go and help Taemin,” Key says and gets up to make his way to the kitchen.
“Baby,” Jonghyun comes over to us and takes a seat beside his wife, “You feeling okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing Minho. Jjongie is just overreacting.”
“She had a bad case of morning sickness before we came over. I was tempted to just stay at home with her and just send the kids over, but she insisted. Said we can’t break a tradition just because she’s throwing up.”
“I’m pregnant Jjongie. I’m going to get morning sickness. Sometimes it’s really bad, sometimes it’s nothing. Geez you act like this is our first pregnancy.”
“Well after what we went through with Junghee, can you blame me?”
“I’m fine. If I wasn’t, I’d tell you okay? So quit worrying,” she kisses him softly on the lips then turns to me, “I thought you were going to the store.”
“I am. Thanks for watching her.”
“No problem.”
“Want anything?”
“Ice cream and French fries.”
“Got it. Be back,” I run inside and grab my keys from the counter, “Baby just the cantaloupe?”
“Um, can you grab a watermelon as well. Oh and some juice boxes for the kids. I just checked the pantry and we’re running low.”
“Anything else?”
“No, but if I think of anything, I’ll text you,” he sets down the knife, his cooking skills have greatly improved since we got married. No more honey ramen, a food experiment gone awry. Of course it happened not too long after we got married and he was just learning how to cook. But still, I can never look at honey and ramen the same every again. He leans up and kisses me, “Thanks again baby.”
“Anything for my wife,” I kiss him again before I walk into the garage and drive to the market.
*~*
I was definitely living my dream life. I had a beautiful wife, a son, a daughter, and another baby on the way. I was still working in the music industry, however I’ve long since hung up my coat as a singer. I’m now working on composing songs for artists. It was easier for me to be able to spend time with my growing family. I didn’t have long days and I didn’t need to go off on tour. It was better this way. Plus, it kept us out of the limelight. Although, on occasion I still get noticed when I’m out in public.
Jazzy was a housewife for the most part. She stayed at home and took care of our kids. And don’t think I forced her to do that. She wanted to be a housewife. And it’s not like she didn’t have the option to work if she wanted to. She just preferred not to. Well actually, she did do a little bit of work from home that involved her family’s company. She would on occasion have to read over contracts and whatnot. But she told me numerous times that me and the kids were her priority and didn’t want to focus on anything else.
I pull her close to me and we both look over at Taeyeon. It still amazes me at how tiny she is. Junghee was probably twice her size when she was born and she was one month early. I look over at the pool and see all of our kids playing, Onew fit right in with them as he partook in a splash war with Yoogeun. He looked like a big kid. My eyes then fall on Junghee and Kyujong, they’re sitting on the steps talking to each other. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that that is exactly what Minho and Jazzy looked like when they were younger. I still found it eerie that Taemin and Jazzy both got pregnant at the same time and our kids were born within days of each other. Much like Minho and Jazzy, except Kyujong was born 4 days before Junghee.
“What are you thinking baby?” I hear Jazzy ask from beside me.
“Is that how you and Minho were when you were growing up?” I nod in our daughter’s direction.
“Pretty much. It’s kind of like déjà vu sometimes when I see them together.”
“We’re not going to be like your parents though right? We’re not going to talk about them getting married to one another and giving us cute grandkids.”
“No, Junghee and Kyujong can marry whoever they want. If they happen to marry each other, great. They’re still way too young to be thinking about marriage. So we’ll just cross that bridge when we get to it and just enjoy them when they’re this little and still kind of listen to us.”
“Sounds good to me,” she rests her head on my shoulder and a hand on my leg. I absentmindedly begin to rub her back as she begins to rub my leg, “Did you tell anyone yet?”
“Tell anyone what?”
“About the baby.”
“Not yet. I’ll save it for later,” she turns her head up to look at me and I bend down and kiss her lips.
“I love you, you know that right?”
“Yes. You tell me every morning when we wake up and every night when we go to sleep and then like twenty times in between.”
“I just want to make sure you know.”
“You married me didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“So I know.”
*~*
“Hey Gwiboon,” I say as I swim up to the side of the pool where she’s currently lounging on a chair. I bring my arms up and rest them on the edge.
“Hey oppa, what’s up?”
“Aren’t you going to come and swim?”
“I don’t want to get my hair wet.”
“You can put on one of those bathing cap things.”
“No, then my hair will get all smushed. I’ll end up having like helmet hair. And that’s not cute.”
“Aw, come on Gwiboon. Come and join us, the water feels great!”
“No thank you.”
“You know you want to!”
“I know I don’t.”
“Come on Gwiboon. Gwiboonie! Please for me?” I give her my trademark puppy dog eyes, the ones I know she can’t resist.
“Fine, if it’ll stop your pathetic begging I’ll come and swim for a little bit. But you better not get a single drop of water on my hair.”
“I’ll try not to,” I smile at her and then swim over to the steps where my little sister and Eli are currently sitting. Onew appa is sitting on the edge with Key umma and they’re cuddling. Gross. Sometimes I think our parents are too affectionate with each other. I really don’t need to see them getting all lovey dovey with one another. I look over to the deck and see my own parents cuddling as well. Geez, do they not see that kids are present here. So gross.
I feel a small splash from beside me and look over to see Gwiboon. She looks pretty cute in her little one piece bathing suit. Well I’ve thought she was cute since the beginning of this year. Even though she can be a total diva like Key umma, I still like her a lot. Her feistiness is actually one of the things I like the most about her. I mean for a girl, she can pretty much hold her own. Kind of like how umma is sometimes when her and appa get into their arguments over nothing. I think half their arguments are fake and they just have them so they can make up afterwards.
“Okay oppa. Let’s swim,” Gwiboon says to me.
“But if we swim, you might get your hair wet. We can just wade around in the shallow end and like talk or something.”
“Sure. That works for me. What do you want to talk about?”
“How’s school going?”
“It’s fine.”
“No one’s picking on you right?”
“No, not this year.”
“Not even that stupid Changsung kid.”
“Nope, he’s left me alone since you beat him up last year.”
“Good. No one messes with you and gets away with it.”
“What do you mean by that?” she cocks her head to the side in question.
“I mean that no one is allowed to hurt you and make you cry just like no one is allowed to that to Junghee either. Not on my watch at least. I’ll make sure they pay.”
“Oh I see,” I see her mouth start to pout a little, “What about you oppa? How’s school going for you?”
“It’s fine. Nothing exciting. I got stuck with a stupid teacher again this year. He’s always giving us weird assignments. And last week he broke us into two groups and we ran around the school trying to capture each other. It had something to do with a war or something. I don’t know. It was weird.”
“Oh I heard about that from my friend. Yeah, it does seem weird.”
A heavy silence falls on us and we continue to walk back and forth in the shallow end of the pool. I can feel eyes on us. I’m sure Onew appa and Key umma are the ones watching us. I don’t understand why though. We’re just walking. We’re not even talking at this point. I wish I knew how to break the silence.
“Gwiboonie,” I say.
“Yoogeun oppa,” she says at the same time. We both let out a nervous laugh and I see her blush. I can feel my own cheeks getting a little warm.
“You go first,” I say.
“No, you said my name first. So you go first.”
“No, I insist, you first.”
“I forgot what I was going to say.”
“Oh okay,” and there’s that heavy silence again.
“What were you going to say?”
“Oh nothing important.”
“Say it.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Say it oppa. Please?”
“Okay,” I bring my hand up and scratch the back of my head.
“I’m waiting,” we’ve stopped walking now and are just standing in the pool. She was now in front of me and I turn my head to look in a different direction. I couldn’t look at her. Looking at her made me nervous.
“I just want to tell you that… you look really cute in your bathing suit,” I say the last part really softly hoping she doesn’t hear it. My cheeks are getting hotter. She isn’t saying anything, maybe she didn’t hear me. Thank goodness.
“Dinner’s ready!” Taemin appa yells. Saved by my appa! WOO!
I start to walk towards the stairs and she doesn’t follow me right away. I’m a few steps away when I feel something grab my hand. I look back and see Gwiboon smiling at me. She walks the few steps so that she’s standing right beside me now and fixes our hands so that they’re laced together.
“Thank you oppa,” her smile get bigger and I smile back. We walk like that the rest of the way to the steps. Right before we reach the first step, we let go of each other’s hands.
*~*
It took me awhile to process what he said and when I finally realized it, I was happier than I ever could be. I know I just turned 10, but I’ve had the biggest crush on Yoogeun oppa ever since I can remember. So hearing him tell me I look cute just made my whole year. And then the fact that he blushed after saying it, just made me happier.
So I took a chance. I grabbed onto his hand before he got too far from me. I was relieved when he didn’t try to shake my hand lose. So I took it a step further and laced our fingers together. The smile he gave me after I did that told me he didn’t mind it. We walked like that until we reached the steps.
I had to admit that I loved the way my hand seemed to perfectly fit with his. And the way a little jolt of electricity shot up my spine when I first grabbed onto it. We ended up taking seats next to one another during dinner. I was probably permanently blushing now. The butterflies in my stomach were working over time.
So imagine my surprise when he laces our hands again in the middle of dinner when they accidentally brushed under the table. I look over at him and he’s just staring straight ahead, a small smile on his lips. I can’t help but smile as well as we sit there, holding hands under the table.
“YAH!” we immediately let go of each other’s hand at the sound of my umma’s voice. Did we get caught?
“DINO BOY! WHAT THE HECK?” apparently Yoogeun’s appa did something to make my umma mad again. Those two never seem to get along, I asked appa about it one night and he just told me that that’s just how their friendship was. I think they’re just weird.
Phew, that was a close one. Magically, our hands find each other again. I’m literally jumping for joy inside.
“So everyone,” Yoogeun’s umma says as we’re all finished with dinner and dessert is being set on the table, “Jjongie and I have some good news.”
“What is it Jazzy?” umma asks.
“Well it’s about the baby,” she rubs her growing belly.
“Everything is okay with the baby right?”
“Yes everything is fine. Except it’s not baby, but rather BABIES.”
“Wait, what?” Minho, Kyujong and Taeyeon’s appa, says a look of confusion on his face.
“We’re having twins!” Everyone is jumping out of their seats to go and congratulate them. But not us. We’re still sitting here. Holding hands and smiling.