«We can't know for sure,» Joong said, his voice slightly shaking. But they knew.
Woo was the first one to touch the baby's dimpled cheek. San held on to his boyfriend with shaking arms, not sure what to think.
«It can't be,» he mumbled.
«We'll have to wait for the DNA test,» Maya whispered, but she kept staring at San and Wooyoung. Worry was plastered all over her. When Seonghwa saw the fear in her eyes, he made sure to smile warmly at her.
«It'll be okay, love,» he said.
«I know,» she smiled weakly.
«San, are you okay?» Hongjoong asked.
«I don't know.»
San wasn't worried about being the father. He was worried about not being the father. During the next few weeks, the entire family was bonding with their newest member, but he did the most. Clearly, everyone expected the test to show that he was Minjun's father, but what if they were wrong? What if it was actually Seonghwa or Jongho like they had originally expected? That would be so painful. No matter how much Minjun would still be in his family, he wanted to be his father. His biological father. He hadn't thought about this before the boy was born, but now... Now it meant everything.
«Are you okay, my love?»
Wooyoung crept onto San's lap and San put his face against his neck and just breathed him in.
«I'm okay.»
«You're thinking about Minjun.»
«Yes. I'm sorry.»
«What are you apologizing for? I completely understand.»
«I'm sorry for it taking up so much of my mind.»
«That's okay, love. I wouldn't want it any other way.»
«But what if I am Minjun's father?»
«Then I'll be just as happy as you.»
«Really? I always imagined you and me having kids together. This... I don't want you to feel left out.»
«We can still have kids together, babe. But I can never birth any for you, and I couldn't think of anyone better to do so than Maya. We will truly be one big family now.»
«Are you really going to be okay with that?»
«Yes. Minjun's going to love me. I'll be the dad that spoils him.»
«Yes, you will, won't you?»
Wooyoung giggled and San leaned up to kiss him.
«I love you so much, Wooyoungie.»
«I know. I love you too.»
San fell into deep thoughts again, and Wooyoung just held him.
«What if I'm not his father?» he eventually said.
Wooyoung understood perfectly fine. That was San's biggest fear at this point.
It was time to make some big decisions. Like where to live. Would they stay in the UK? Would they go back to Korea? Or maybe they should go to the US where they might have bigger possibilities when it came to making music again.
«It needs to be unanimous,» Hongjoong said as they were all sitting in their tiny living room, discussing it. Minjun was being bottle-fed by Wooyoung, and Maya leaned on Seonghwa's shoulder while watching her baby.
«I'll go wherever you want to go,» Maya said. «I would like to be able to work with design, but I can do that pretty much anywhere, really.»
«But how do you feel about the different options?» Hongjoong pressed. «You must have some opinions.»
«I do, of course.»
«Won't you tell us? Please?»
«Well,» she said, straightening her back and looking at the ceiling for a moment. «I feel like the UK doesn't have enough possibilities for you guys. Living in LA, on the other hand, there would be a million things for you guys to do there, and you know people in the business there.»
«But?»
They knew her too well. Maya had to smile.
«But I think all of you miss Korea, a lot. Your families are there, and Korea is still home to you guys. Honestly, in many ways, it is for me too. And I really want Minjun to know Korean culture firsthand. Maybe he'd even be able to build a relationship with some grandparents? My own family is a big no, so... Korea is his heritage.»
Maya's eyes found San's. They were both a little teary-eyed. San was worried about telling his family about MinMin, but at the same time, he knew they would love him regardless of the untraditional family the ten of them had. But first, they had to know the DNA result. None of them had told their families anything yet.
Maya went alone to the doctor to get the results. She had asked them not to tell her, but to just put the answer in a closed envelope.
«Is the result conclusive?» she asked.
«Yes, it's conclusive. The name of your baby's father is in here.»
She took the envelope and held firmly onto it as she left the room.
The apartment was slightly chaotic when Maya got back, but silence immediately fell over it when she put the envelope on the coffee table. Yunho was the one to have Minjun in his arms right now, with Mingi entertaining the little one with funny faces.
«Should we wait for tonight?» Hongjoong asked.
Immediately several of them protested.
«I can't possibly wait that long,» San said, he was already shaking.
«Let's just open it now,» Maya suggested, and they all agreed.
They sat down around the table and Maya handed the envelope to Hongjoong.
«Me? Why?!»
«Well, I can't do it!» she said. «Who better than our captain?»
Hongjoong took a deep breath and opened the envelope. He pulled the letter out and unfolded it. Everyone was staring at him as he was looking at the letters. He didn't hold them in suspense, that would be cruel.
«The father is Choi San,» he read and gave the letter to San. «You're a daddy now, San-ah. Congratulations!»
San sobbed like a child in Wooyoung's arms. Maya cried too. In fact, most of them shed a few tears. There were so many emotions in the room.
«I'm so h-happy,» San said and looked at Maya. «I can't believe it!»
«I'm happy too,» she smiled warmly.
«I'm sorry to anyone who is feeling sad right now that their name wasn't read, but...» San closed his eyes and gave up on talking. Wooyoung just pulled him back into his arms.
«Seeing your happiness makes up for that,» Seonghwa said with a little smile. Yes, he had had just a tiny hope still, and the second San's name was read, it was painful. But this was good. No one would be a better father to Minjun than San. Maya took Hwa's hand and kissed him warmly.
--
a/n
Sorry for making you wait (like two days) for this, but life happened.
The story is truly getting close to the end. Just one or two more chapters now... I do have a few bonus chapters in the making though, including a WooSan smut, as requested. Just saying.
It's kinda scary and very emotional to start wrapping up Striptease. It's been a huge part of my life for quite some time now. But I do hope you'll take a look at more of my stories, and maybe follow me to get notified when I do something crazy like start a new story. Which I feel will happen pretty soon actually.
Love ya!!