The Eight | A BTS Soulmate Fic |

Chapter 81

The next few weeks were trial and error. The Muse was mostly able to avoid contact with her husbands, with the exception of morning meetings and a few other occasions throughout the day. Even when the whole band had to be together, she was able to stay far enough back and out of the way that even the managers were happy.

    Her heart hurt, and she felt a weird emptiness inside that Min-Ho had explained was where her husbands connections were. They were there, still connected, but not as secure and bright as they had been. She did understand that this was partly her own doing, since she was making an effort to not connect with them, even on accident. But they weren't connecting with her, either. And that made the hurt even more painful.

    With the care that Namjoon, Hoseok and Seokjin took of her, their creativity was flowing fast and furious. It seemed they all had ideas coming at them from all sides, and were delighted to be able to make something of them. She didn't know how the others were doing. She tried hard to stay away from discussing her husbands, unless it was necessary. Although she did hear in passing that Yoongi was having issues with a track he was working on.

    And even though she was able to mostly avoid actual contact with them, just having to see Yoongi, Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook every day was a special kind of torture. Knowing she wasn't good enough for any of them. She wasn't what they needed right now. In time, she found out that the managers were behind their decision to break it off. But that didn't make it any easier. She was stuck in those relationships, for better or worse.

    Knowing that her Warrior Husbands were not able to stand up to these people for themselves or for her hurt and disappointed her. How were any of them going to stand up and protect their child if they weren't even man enough to do it for themselves? She supposed that was being a little unfair, but she wasn't feeling very fair. Nothing that had happened to her in the last few months had been fair. But she was doing the best she could with what she had.

    By the time they got back to Korea, she had the slightest little bump starting to form. It was Namjoon that noticed it first. She was laying on the bed watching him write while she munched on the bowl of fresh veggies he insisted she eat every night she was with him. He actually insisted she do this every night, but Hobi and Jinnie were easier to talk into chocolate cake instead. Joonie looked like he was deep in thought, just staring into space, when his hand reached out and slid across her abdomen,

"You're starting to grow, Yeppeun."

Startled, she dropped her carrot onto the bed and reached down to caress her tummy with both hands, noticing that it was harder than it had been, and most certainly not as flat.

"Have you tried reaching out to the baby yet? Like Min-Ho said?" Joon finally looked up from her belly to her face. She shook her head. He tilted his head to the side at that,

"Why not?"

She had no real answer. She just hadn't done it. Perhaps it didn't feel real yet? Even with the changes that her Warriors, mostly Namjoon, had been making to her diet and occasional exercise routine, it still hadn't really sunk in that she really was pregnant. She's said it. They've talked about it. But it still felt abstract in her mind.

   Namjoon gave her the sweetest smile with the sweetest dimples and stood up from the bed. Grabbing her hands, he took her into the bathroom and turned on the water to fill the tub... At the proper temperature with just the right amount of bubbles. She shook her head at how adorable and annoying he was. His wife would be a happy, pampered woman.

"There." he said when it was just right, "Relax and take some time to explore. See if you can connect with the baby, and what that feels like."

    Once she was in the tub and all alone she laid back and thought of the other times she was relaxing in the bath when her husbands would connect with her. Tears welled up in her eyes at the memories, but didn't fall this time. She was making progress.

     After a few deep breaths The Muse closed her eyes and concentrated on her body, on how it felt. She rested her hands on her stomach and felt the little bump. In her mind she found herself following a path of flowers, all different kinds and colors. Petals floating this way and that. She heard a fast, rhythmic sound, and realized it was a heartbeat. Her baby's heartbeat.

The tears that started to fall were happy tears this time. She continued following the path of flowers until she came to a point she couldn't seem to pass. Looking ahead, she saw a little bed of petals in the garden, where the tiniest arms and legs were happily waving about. She wasn't able to get close enough to hold the little one, but she could hear that happy heartbeat and see the movement of the tiny human on the bed of flower petals. Pink flower petals. She understood now, this was her baby girl. She was having a girl. And this baby girl was happy and healthy.

    Joy burst through The Muse. She opened her eyes and got out of the bathtub as quickly as she could, wrapping a towel around herself as she burst into the main room,

"It's a girl! It's a girl! Joonie! I'm having a baby girl!" she was speaking fast as she rushed to him, tears streaking down her face. Namjoon jumped up off of the bed and grabbed her shoulders, afraid something was wrong. She took a breath and looked into his eyes,

"A girl, Joonie. I'm having a girl." Namjoon pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight, a laugh of delight bubbling up from his throat as her happy tears soaked his shirt.

It wasn't long before Seokjin and Hoseok were at the door, needing to know what was causing the rush of emotion they felt coming from her.

They were both overjoyed at the news that they were going to have a niece to spoil, even shedding some tears along with their Muse at the joy of the new life they had coming into the world.