On the day of Bom's arrival in Gangnam, Jennie decided to stop by Jisoo's place for a little while to kill some time until she got there. The anxiety about letting everyone know about her pregnancy later that evening was beginning to creep up on her, and another sleepless night of throwing up the night before wasn't helping things. She was completely exhausted, but she was now officially over the twelve week mark so she hoped that things would start to level out now and she would get a little bit of a break.
"Hey! How are you?" Jisoo asked happily as Jennie stepped inside and made her way through to the kitchen where Jisoo was filling the kettle up with water.
"I'm good, how are you? Are you looking forward to seeing Bom tonight?" Jennie asked as she walked over to the table and pulled out a seat.
"Oh yeah, I haven't seen her for a few months so it'll be nice to catch up." Jisoo told her as she set the kettle on to boil. "Do you want a coffee?"
"Oh, uh, no I'll have tea, thanks." Jennie smiled despite the internal pain she was currently suffering through over having to decline the coffee offer.
Once both mugs were filled, Jisoo carefully carried them over to the table and set them down before sliding Jennie's over to her and pulling out a seat beside her.
"Oh I meant to ask, what time do you want us to come over tonight?" Jisoo asked Jennie as she brought the warm mug up to her lips. "Hayul's soccer practice was canceled tonight, something about a family emergency with the coach or something, so we're free whenever." she told her.
"Uh, I think Lisa said dinner would be ready around five, but we'll be home all day so it doesn't really matter, just stop by whenever you guys want to." Jennie smiled, trying to swallow down against the slight tightening of her throat as she thought about everything.
"Are you okay?" Jisoo asked, face slightly concerned as she eyed Jennie.
"I'm fine." Jennie assured her with a nod of her head, although the way Jisoo was currently staring at her indicated that she wasn't buying it in the slightest. Jennie sighed in defeat as she began to speak up again. "I guess I just... I have a lot on my mind." she admitted.
"Do you need to talk about it? You know that you can tell me anything." Jisoo assured her softly. "Whatever it is, you know I'm here."
"I know.. I just.. It's something that I can't tell you right now, and-..." Jennie cut off, feeling a slight stinging sensation behind her eyes as she willed herself not to cry. She rarely ever cried, and while this wasn't an extremely easy conversation, it certainly wasn't one that would make non-hormonal Jennie cry, and she knew that Jisoo knew that.
"Hey." Jisoo spoke softly, getting Jennie's attention before looking around the room, almost to check if there was anyone there despite the fact that it was just the two of them in the house. "I know." Jisoo told her simply.
"Wait you.. You know what?" Jennie questioned as she finally made eye contact with Jisoo once again after getting herself under control.
"I know, Jennie." Jisoo repeated once again. "You're exhausted all the time, and you just turned down a cup of coffee, plus Ella was a little worried a few weeks ago because she said that she heard you throwing up, don't worry I assured her that you were fine, and Lisa is even more protective of you than usual. You're my sister, Jennie, it wasn't hard to figure it out." Jisoo laughed kindheartedly.
"Oh thank god." Jennie breathed a sigh of relief. "Does Rosé..?"
"No, just me." Jisoo assured her. "I haven't said anything to anyone, I knew that you would tell us all in your own time, on your own terms."
"I'm so glad that you know, though." Jennie confessed, significantly more relaxed than she was a few minutes before. "We've been trying to keep it quiet until I was done with the first trimester, and yesterday was the twelve week mark so we planned to tell you guys and Bom tonight."
"Oh, so you're worried about how everyone will react?" Jisoo asked, reaching across the table to take Jennie's hand. "Just for the record, I'm so so happy for you guys, and I'm so proud of how far you've come with all of this."
"Thank you." Jennie smiled proudly, getting up out of her own seat to pull Jisoo in for a hug.
"Congratulations." Jisoo spoke into her hair before they pulled away and took their seats once again.
"I'm not so much worried about reactions to the pregnancy, it's more about how people will react to Ella. I know it sounds silly, I'm probably just being paranoid, but I really don't want her feeling left out or excluded from anything, you know? She's been the center of attention for her whole life, and now there's gonna be this brand new little baby that's half me and half Lisa, and Lisa has her own family and I just... I don't know, I just want her to know that she'll always be my baby too."
"Yeah, I get that." Jisoo told her with a little nod of her head. "But, from my perspective at least, Ella is no less family to them than this baby will be. Lisa's family has been her family for a while now, from the day you guys got married, and well before that too. They love the bones off of her, and that won't change just because there's someone else in the picture." she assured her. "Lisa isn't their blood, but she's still their family, just like how Ella isn't her blood either, but that doesn't make her any less of her mom."
"I guess I just didn't think about any of that, but you're totally right." Jennie agreed with a smile, already feeling a lot calmer about the whole thing.
She stayed at Jisoo's place for a few hours until she had to go back home and get ready for the evening. After hugging her goodbye and promising to act completely surprised when she sees her later, Jisoo pulled Jennie in for a hug and congratulated her once again before waving her off from the door.
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By the time Lisa left to pick Bom up from the train station, Rosé, Jisoo and Hayul were already making themselves at home. They arrived just over an hour early early like they usually did and helped Jennie sort the food out in the kitchen and bring everything through to the table in the dining room. Ella was in charge of making sure that everyone received a fork and knife beside their plates, and she took the job very seriously as the rest of them watched on in amusement.
Jennie could feel herself growing more and more nervous as the time ticked by, although she had to keep reminding herself that it was a good kind of nervous. She still struggled with that sometimes, her brain had a tendency to slip into her old habits when she was feeling particularly worried about something. She just felt the nervous butterflies begin to flutter deep in the pit of her stomach and automatically switched to panic mode instead of feeling happy and excited. Lisa always seemed to help with that though, which is why she was extremely grateful to see her walking in the door a few minutes later with Bom in tow.
Just the knowledge of knowing that Lisa was by her side was enough to calm her a little, and when Lisa made her way over to check in on her she could feel herself beginning to relax once again.
"Jennie sweetie! Hi! How are you?!" Bom called out before Lisa had the chance to ask Jennie how she was doing.
"I'm so good! How are you? How was the trip down here?" Jennie asked as she pulled Bom in for a hug.
"It was good, it went by quickly. I'm just so happy to be here, I missed you all so much!" she told them before Ella came running down the hall, closely followed by Rosé, Jisoo, Hayul and a very excited Oreo. "There she is! Hi munchkin!" Bom called out happily before pulling Ella into a hug. "How are you doing kiddo? You look so much bigger!"
"I'm good!" Ella giggled. "I'm gonna be a big si-"
"Bom!" Jisoo cut in before Ella could finish her sentence. "You look amazing it's so good to see you!"
"Oh Jisoo! Hi honey!" Bom bent down slightly to set Ella down before pulling Jisoo into a hug and then Hayul, and finally, Rosé.
Once they had all greeted one another with hugs and spent a few moments catching up, the group made their way through to the dining room as Lisa subtly pulled Jennie to the side and they walked behind the rest of the group.
"You feeling okay? Are you ready for this?" she asked in a quiet tone as her arm snaked around Jennie's waist and held her comfortingly close.
"Honestly I'm so nervous I feel like I'm going to throw up, although that could just be the baby." Jennie laughed. "I'm ready though, are you?"
"I'm so ready." Lisa told her with a barely contained smile. "It was so hard to not tell Bom on the drive home."
"Well, she'll know by the end of the night, and then we can talk about it whenever we want." Jennie told her happily as she intertwined her fingers with Lisa's arm, no longer wrapped around her waist but hanging between them now.
They spent the duration of dinner chatting back and forth and just basking in the familiarity of it all. Jennie adored when the entire family got together, she watched as Lisa helped Ella twist her spaghetti onto the fork, smiled at the way Rosé and Jisoo couldn't seem to tear their gaze away from one another whilst Hayul make pretend gagging noises and voiced her disgust. She watched Bom subtly sneak a few pieces of food from her plate under the table for Oreo, and it just felt like happiness. She could still remember the dinners she would eat alone with a sleeping baby glued to her chest, never even allowing herself to indulge in the fantasy that she would have this one day.
It gave Jennie the little boost of confidence that she had been lacking as she continued to look around the table. There was no shortage of love going around, and she couldn't wait to let them all know about the newest addition. Another little life for them to shower with love, a new member of their incredible family.
The rest of the evening passed by a lot more enjoyably now that Jennie wasn't as worried about telling everyone the news, by the time dessert was done she could barely contain her excitement, and a quick glance at Lisa all but squirming in her seat confirmed that she was feeling the exact same. When the plates were cleared Jennie ushered everyone into the living room before making her way back to the kitchen where Ella was helping Lisa clean up, although a spilled cup of sticky orange juice and a trail of foot prints from said spilled juice wasn't exactly the most productive.
"Hey babe, are you ready to tell everyone about the baby?" Jennie asked her as she lifted Ella up onto the counter top so that she could change her wet socks for her.
"Can we tell them now mommy?!" Ella exclaimed, shaking her legs around excitedly despite the fact that Jennie was currently trying to wrestle a clean sock onto her foot.
"Yeah babe, we're gonna tell them right now!" she told her excitedly, helping Ella back down onto the floor before tossing her sticky socks in the washing machine to be dealt with later.
"You can be the one to tell them if you want to." Lisa told Ella as she finished up loading the dishwasher and made her way over to them, stepping up behind Jennie and wrapped her arms around her waist. "I'm sure they would love to hear all about how you're going to be the best big sister ever."
"Yes please!" Ella called out, visibly struggling to contain herself as both Lisa and Jennie laughed.
"Come on then, let's go." Lisa nodded towards the door before taking Jennie's hand as Ella ran off down the hall in front of them.
Everyone was still sitting in the living room when they make their way back through, and instead of sitting down Jennie and Lisa made their way straight to the middle of the room before Lisa cleared her throat.
"So, uh, we have something that we want to share with you guys while we have you all together." she announced, once again wrapped an arm around Jennie. Jennie always adored it when Lisa did that, but she didn't know just how comforting it was for Lisa too, sometimes she just needed to hold Jennie close, to feel her near her. It grounded Lisa, and in this moment she needed it. "Ella, take it away babe." Lisa told her with a smile.
"We're having a baby!" Ella all but screamed as she broke out in a series of ridiculous dance moves that had both Jennie and Lisa laughing whilst the rest of the room completely froze.
"Wait.. you're.. you're what?!" Rosé called out a few moments later, shooting up from the couch as she stared at them with wide eyes.
"We're having a baby." Lisa confirmed with a beaming smile.
"I'm pregnant." Jennie announced proudly to the room as she held up a scan photo from their most recent trip to the OB GYN's office.
It was almost as if the visual confirmation of the baby was what was needed to unfreeze the room, because barely a moment later the two of them were attacked by a series of almost violent hugs and kisses placed on cheeks. Bom was crying as she took the photo from Jennie and scanned over it with her eyes. Rosé's own eyes were glazed over as she pulled Jennie in for a hug, voicing her congrats to the both of them as she did so. Lisa scooped up Ella so that she could get in on the action as they all smiled widely. It took a good few minutes for the room to calm down and they each took their seats on the couch once again.
"Oh wow. I just.. I can't believe this." Bom breathed. "A brand new little Manoban-Kim to go along with this little munchkin." she reached over to lightly tickle at Ella's sides as she giggled and squirmed in her seat.
"So that's why you've been so exhausted recently, I don't think I've seen you fully awake for a month." Rosé half joked at the realization.
"Jisoo figured it out." Jennie told her with a laugh. "I thought I did a good job of hiding it, but clearly not."
"You can't hide anything from me." Jisoo added with a smile.
"You're absolutely right." Jennie relented as she rested her head on Jisoo's shoulder. "I'm so happy that everyone knows now, it was so hard keeping it between us."
"It really was." Lisa agreed. "We're not telling anyone else until it's unavoidable, we want to just keep it between family right now."
"Yeah of course, you guys do whatever you think is right, we'll be here to support you both." Bom told them happily.
Everyone ended up spending the night at Jennie and Lisa's place that evening. They were up until the early hours of the morning just talking about life and everything about the new baby that they hadn't been able to the past few months. It felt so unbelievably good, Jennie hadn't had anyone to tell the last time, she had missed out on this part, but she had to admit that as she fell asleep on the couch with Ella sleeping in her lap, knowing that a new little life was on her way to join them, and Lisa's arm wrapped around her shoulder, she was so incredibly content and happy with the family that they had created for themselves.