The Heart Of Life

Chapter 5

It's surreal.

As Se-ri snuggles the baby on her bare chest for some skin-to-skin bonding - there's an immense array of emotions flowing from deep within. She doesn't know how she's happy and anxious and panicky at the same time. Happy that after 40 weeks, she's finally able to see how the baby looks like. Anxious because she's so small and so fragile and then she panics because this baby had just made her a mother and there's no turning back now.

But Se-ri is enraptured by the baby, heart bursting with an infinite amount of love she didn't know could contain. Allowing her gaze to linger on her minuscule features - big, round eyes, sharp nose, the cupid bow's lips. Se-ri is elated when she spots the dimples on her cheeks, unmistakably inherited from Jeong-hyuk, visible with the small movement of her lips.

So riveted with counting those perfect little ten fingers and toes, Se-ri doesn't realise Jeong-hyuk's standing by the door of the bathroom, after a quick freshening up, captivated by his two favourite people in the whole wide world, getting to know each other.

The baby stretches her hands then tucks it under her chin preciously, and Se-ri lets out a gasp. "Omo, you're so real."

"Of course she's real," Jeong-hyuk chuckles as he strides to her and perches at the edge of the bed, trailing a finger down the baby's soft, chubby cheek. Eun-a begins to fuss the same time the breastfeeding nurse comes to check on them, and he watches Se-ri whisper softly to Eun-a as the baby latches onto her swollen breast - his heart so full, bubbling and bubbling that he feels like he's going to float away.

This moment had only existed in his dreams, but now it's within the reach of his fingertips.

As Se-ri tends to the baby, Jeong-hyuk takes the opportunity to go through the overwhelming congratulatory messages and videos in Se-ri's phone because it's been vibrating non-stop in his pocket. Warmth settles in his chest. When he'd met her, she'd been a lonely soul, and now years after, she seems to have gathered reliable colleagues, acquaintances and friends along the way. Jeong-hyuk looks at Se-ri, tired but glowing, he figures that the replies can wait. For now, they need all the time in the world to bask in the comforting warmth of their new little family.

Se-ri and the baby are discharged home the next day, starting their journey as new parents. Their lives are suffused with a new meaning. The air smells sweeter, and the sun shines brighter. Jeong-hyuk seems to be humming a light tune every now and then, and all he plays are happy classical songs.

As expected, Jeong-hyuk fusses over Eun-a endlessly from the moment of her birth. He takes a week off from work, and is grateful when Se-ri's mother is here during the confinement period, helping out during the day when he resumes work.

Occasionally, he swings by home for lunch or when he has free periods in between classes, but they spend their days divided into chunks - Jeong-hyuk takes over once he's home from work until bedtime, and Se-ri picks up from the wee hours of the morning. Though, usually, Jeong-hyuk can't bear to be far from them, and he is mostly stirred awake when the baby is up for her night feeds. The three of them - passing their sleep-deprived nights in the loving glow of new parenthood.

Still, it isn't a bed of roses. Fresh from labour and even a week after, Se-ri is sore all over, especially at the area in between her legs and she tries her best to sneak in warm baths in the tub in between nursing the baby, gobbling down her meals and stealing quick naps. There's a bowl of seaweed soup every morning for Se-ri and she thinks she's going to swear off it for a while after this.

Their sleep system is turned upside down when the baby sleeps mostly throughout the day, and wakes up every two hours in the night for feeds. Se-ri has lost count the amount of times she has been vomited on, and Jeong-hyuk's beginning to think he smells like milk because of the spit-ups he's been getting every time he soothes Eun-a to burp.