.thirty nine.
One night as they had gotten ready for bed, Minji and Eun were laid down in their bed. Now they were more comfortable with each other and slept side by side, with his arms around her through the night. She sometimes had terrible nightmares--of her being taken away and punished for loving someone else. In other nightmares she was in the courtyard of the palace with her husband. But it was nowhere near a friendly visit to his family. Yo stood by the front doors of the palace, hate filled eyes watching her and Eun while several guards surrounded them. In the dream he'd give the signal, and the guards struck them down. The two bleeding to death on the ground slowly.
Minji awoke from that nightmare crying, so startled that she was even hyperventilating and her crying was enough to wake her husband. He would always ask her what was wrong, and she'd explain that it was just a night mare. But still seeing the effect it had on her, he would pull her into his arms and hold her until she drifted off to sleep again. He liked holding her too, as it gave her comfort while he slept.
She scooted closer to him slowly until she found his chest to rest her head upon. She heard his breath hitch in his throat when she placed a hand over his torso, cuddling comfortably into his side. Her voice came out in a low and gentle tone. It was a conversation she had been wanting to have with him since their family visited to tell them the news about their siblings getting married. "Have you ever...given any thought to how many children you would like to have? I know your mother is very excited for us to start as soon as possible." She wondered, remembering how her father had been all but pleased. But Eun's mother was all for the idea of them already starting a family.
He hummed in thought for a moment before speaking. "I always wanted to have four children--two boys, and two girls. I will have nothing less." He informed her, the last part in a playful tone.
"That's so strange." She commented.
"What do you mean?" He asked her with confusion.
"I always wanted exactly that." She clarified after a moment. "Two boys and two girls."
When she talked about it with Jung, he told her that he wanted a lot of children, as many as possible. He didn't have a specific number in mind, but definitely more than four. Minji thought Eun would be the same, especially since he grew up in a family with many siblings. He had over thirty other brothers and sisters, yet he only really got to see eight of them on a regular basis. Still, it was a lot of people and she thought it would influence his decision making when having kids of his own.
"I always thought you were the type to want many kids though." She mentioned, when he said nothing back to her. He had only hummed and nodded, as he found the coincidence to be quite pleasing to him. They both wanted the same things in terms of family. "Since you have many brothers and sisters."
He began to explain, "Well that's why I don't want a lot of children. Because I have so many siblings, I haven't even met some of them yet. His majesty never had any time to spend with us. I remember I met him for the first time when I was four." Minji frowned at that. She couldn't imagine what it was like--to suddenly meet someone and have to accept that they were their father. "I was raised by my mother and grandfather with my brother Han. I never really thought about his majesty as my father, even now I still don't. I never felt like he cared about me. I think the only time I did feel like he cared was when he favored me over Jung-ah to get married with you. I don't want to be the same. I want our children to know that I love them."
Again, Minji was impressed by his moments of maturity. She knew that he would be a wonderful father.
"We'll get started whenever you feel ready." She said to him, a small smiling lining her lips.
