Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 59

This is probably the longest chapter I've ever written, so enjoy!! 

12 years later

LIX: Jungkook

The two children play in the meadow: a small, dark haired girl, chasing her even smaller brother. Both of them have dark raven locks of hair, but while the girl has striking crimson eyes, the boy has soft, gold-flecked brown ones. Exact mirrors of my own. Neither are older than six, the boy only four, but they have already become the light of my life.

My children.

The first time I felt her stirring inside of me, I was overcome with surprise and fear. Never in any sex education program had I learned that boys could become pregnant. It was unheard of. I was afraid of what Taehyung would think when I told him the news, but I needn't have worried. Taehyung was overjoyed, no, ecstatic. The whole of the Sirius clan seemed to have heard the news in less than a day, and word quickly spread that King Taehyung would have an heir at last. The people were delighted, Taehyung was delighted, and I... well, I was afraid. A new life was growing inside of me, and I didn't know if I would be responsible enough to take care of it. Even though Taehyung assured me that I would be perfect, doubts still clouded my mind.

During the last few weeks of my pregnancy, Taehyung had become even more protective than usual, snarling when anybody tried to touch me. Though I was grateful for his protection, Jin was not, as he had to put up with Taehyung's anxious questions and concerns after countless times of telling him that I was fine. I was anxious too, but I never said a word about it. I could only hope that the baby would be born without any complications.

And then Areum was born.

All those times, I had thought that my mother had exaggerated the joy of holding her child in her arms. But now, I realized she had not captured it sufficiently enough in words. Those eyes, much too intelligent to be a human newborn, had stared back at me as the small mouth opened in a cry. Those hands, impossibly small, had grabbed my thumb with strength that she couldn't possibly have in that tiny body. There were no words to describe the feeling I felt at that moment. It was as if my soul had been replaced with a ball of light, shining with strong love and fierce protectiveness over the small child in my arms. Before that moment, I never knew that I could feel so strongly for someone who wasn't Taehyung. All of my fear and doubt flew from my mind right then and there. What did it matter, when I was holding my daughter in my arms?

Taehyung stayed unmoving by my bedside for three whole days, whispering into my ear how beautiful I was, how brave, how much Areum looked like me. With my sweaty hair sticking to my forehead, and my eyes glazed, I didn't understand how he could call me beautiful. Areum's eyes were a bright crimson; just a shade lighter than my own, though she spent much of her time either sleeping or crying. 

Taehyung wouldn't move an inch from my side, until Jin finally shooed him out of the healing center. But in less than one hour, Taehyung was back again, and there was nothing Jin could say or do to deter him. It didn't help that Lisa and Hoseok were all starting to crowd into the healing center on a daily basis, much to the annoyance of Jin. "Why don't you all just move in?!" He had snapped, after a particularly large crowd of vampires, including Xian, had asked to see me. "Jungkook can't have any rest with you all crowding his bedside. Honestly!"

But in the end, no matter how much I had enjoyed those visits from friends, I was glad when Jin pronounced me unable to see any more visitors. I was both mentally and physically exhausted, and craved alone time with just Taehyung and baby Areum. The new light of our lives. Even after I had been allowed to leave the healing center, Taehyung was still very, very gentle with me, as if he was afraid that I would break.