“I am looking forward to a new encounter. The child who resembles both of you... It must be very lovely.”
“I’m looking forward to it, too. It feels like a dream. Honestly, there are more times when I feel it isn't real yet.”
“Your body will become more and more difficult, so take care of your health. If there is anything you need or want, let me know.”
“Yes, father.”
At my answer, he smiled even more deeply, folding the wrinkles around his eyes.
In the past, he was a duke who was infinitely stingy with his smile, but these days, it's nice to see my father's easygoing smile often.
Seeing Enrique growing up by 1 centimeter every time I visit, and seeing the growth of the Seymour twins, who once competed fiercely with each other but now find their own happiness and aptitude.
It was good to close my eyes and feel the child in my stomach, which is still not clearly noticeable, and above all, I like the fact that Isidore is always by my side.
I feel it every time, but he made me feel special and like a great person. It instills confidence and courage that even if a rough wind blows, it will not collapse even if shaken.
And sometimes, when I felt pathetic, he made me respect and love myself more with his endless encouragement.
“By the way, what would be a good name for our Teunteun?”
_____In english, ‘Teunteun’ here means strongman; strong guy. But I chose to use a Korean name because it sounds cute.
There is no concept of 'Taemyeong' in the Empire, so Isidor was very amused whenever I called the baby in my belly our Teunteun.
_____‘Taemyeong’ or temporary name, the temporary name given by a pregnant mother while the baby is in the womb until the baby is born.
Even now, he laughed while making cheek wells, and kissed my still concave belly.
“I've been thinking really hard to find a better name than Teunteun...”
Isidore reached out to the bedside table and opened a thick notebook. Looking at the traces of agony, I smiled.
“I think all the good words in the world are in this.”
“Would you like to choose the one you like the most?”
“Umm....”
I was staring at the notebook, and suddenly saw a letter that caught my eye, so I poked it with my finger.
“How about Vanessa when she’s a girl and Barres when he’s a boy?"
“Great. ”
10. Barres and Vanessa
In Seymour, a lot of twins are born. The characteristics of that Seymour lineage were fully exhibited in me as well. Fraternal twins of different genders came to us.
Barres and Vanessa.
It was Barres, a boy, who came into the world first with a difference of 25 minutes and became an older brother. He looks just like me with curly purple hair.
“I’ve never seen a baby with such distinct and dignified features. There is no doubt that he will become a very handsome man in the future.”
People said with admiration every time they saw Barres, especially Arin Oslo, who made a fuss every time.
‘He’s handsome.’
Not because he’s my son, but objectively, Barres is very handsome. Although he looked a bit ferocious because of his sharp eyes and coldly closed thin lips.
‘Isn’t it a bit...’
Barres resembles me like an alter ego, except for the emerald eyes that he gets from Isidor. The heartless atmosphere unique to Seymour's bloodline flows from a 13-month-old baby…
“Ugh...”
However, tears suddenly began to form in the child's sharp eyes.
“Abu, Abu!”
“Barres! Daddy is here.”
As soon as the child was desperately looking for him, Isidore, who should have been in the office, showed up like crazy in the baby’s playroom.
“Abba!”
Despite his appearance, Barres had a lot of tears.
'Even the clumsy look is similar to me.'
When he opened his eyes and his mom or dad was not around, if he heard a strange sound, or an insect flying in, he was so frightened that he often shed tears like chicken droppings.
If his dad doesn't show up for a certain amount of time even after quietly leaving him to the nanny, he whimpers sadly like now, as if he's worried.
“Barres, are you surprised that daddy disappeared?”
Isidore skillfully picked Barres up, and the child, who exploded with sadness, was caught in his arms, gasping for breath.
"Abu."
"Yeah."
Isidore rubbed his back roughly up and down, and rubbed his cheeks against his chubby cheeks as if he was cute.
“Baba! Baba!”
Barres suddenly reach out into the air.
“You wanted to play with Tommy, didn’t you?”
Isidore responded kindly, waving his attachment doll and smiling with his lips slightly parted as if he had never cried before.
On the other hand, Vanessa, his younger sister, was briskly playing with her toys, whether her dad came or not.
"Mama! Bird!"
She claps her hands and laughs while pointing at the chirping bird through the window.
If Barres and I were alike, Vanessa, with her gleaming blonde hair, seemed to have jumped out of a childhood portrait of Isidore.
When she smiled with her eyes narrowed, or twitched her plump peach-colored cheeks, she was so cute that I involuntarily grabbed my heart and collapsed.
"Tree, up! Birds."
Vanessa with curious eyes, continues to talk to me with her ruby eyes shining.
“Now you know how to say that it’s up in a tree. Our Vanessa is so smart.”
Sometimes I can't believe that such a brilliant and wonderful child is my daughter. It's true that I'm an idiot and a nerd, but Vanessa was a real genius.
“Vanessa, what's your daddy doing?"
“The Duke!”
She pointed at Isidore, and Vanessa replied bluntly.
“I can’t believe you already know the duke? Genius... Right?”
“What about your mom?”
"Leader!"
Even insight.
“What about Barres?”
“……”
“Brother, try it on Barres.”
Besides, my smart daughter had a firm conviction not to call Barres, brother.
“… Crybaby!”
“Where else did you learn the crybaby?”
"Boo."
Fortunately, the crybaby was asleep in his dad's arms, so he didn't hear Vanessa's cry.
“Is your brother a crybaby?”
“Mama! Whoa, whoa…”
When I ask again, stroking her soft blonde hair, Vanessa whines as if she has become too lazy to answer and stretches out her arm. They were twins, so as soon as I held her in my arms, she closed her eyes and fell asleep right away like her older brother.
“Our Teunteun are sleeping well.”
“They haven’t slept that much these days.”
Isidore and I stood with slightly tired faces because of the children who kept waking up all night, and when our eyes met, we laughed at the same time.
“Because they look the prettiest when they sleep.”
“Carefully.”
Just in case they woke up, he and I carefully put the child we were holding onto the bed as if it were a pottery bowl.
They are fraternal with completely different appearances and opposite personalities, but it's amazing that they look exactly alike when they're sleeping.
“Honey, can you see it? Here, another baby tooth has grown.”
Isidore pointed to the child’s lips and whispered in my ear.
“His hair has grown a lot, too.”
The wiggling fingers and toes were also so cute. I didn’t realize time was passing by just looking at them like this.
“By the way, my son is a crybaby because he looks like his dad.”
I said playfully while wiping the dried tears in Barres' eyes, Isidore let out a short sigh.
“Maybe I'll cry again when I go back to that time.”
In his words, I inadvertently recalled that time.
When I was pregnant with twins, I had a relatively easy life in the beginning without morning sickness, but in the second half, as the two children grew larger, they started to press on my organs, so I suffered quite a bit.
I couldn’t sleep properly, and it was hard for my body, but it wasn’t mentally exhausting. It was all thanks to Isidor who took care of me by my side.
After nine months filled up like that, the painful contractions came that made stars fly in front of my eyes.
Isidore shook off all the servants who tried to stop him, entered the delivery room, and calmly comforted me. He even slowly reminded me of the breathing techniques I had learned from the priest, so even in the midst of my hectic mind, I thought he was very mature.
But after giving birth, as soon as I opened my eyes, I faced Isidor, who was in tears.
“I was worried. Just in case, you, uhh, won't open your eyes.”
I recalled that after confirming that there was no problem with my body, the tears poured out as the worries and regrets he had accumulated over the years melted away.
I cried a little as I hugged Isidore, who buried his face in my arms and gasped for breath. It was a memory that I feel affectionate now.
After covering the children with blankets, I went out to the terrace with him and had tea time.
Even if we were busy with childcare and had a hectic schedule, we always had time to be alone at least once a day.
As Isidor naturally leans my head on his shoulder while looking at the new magic light, and he brushes my hair.
Starting from the toys the children played with this morning, to the current situation of Armand, which has already opened the 15th store...
As we were having a small talk while drinking tea, he suddenly stared at me with his eyes open.
“Apart from work and children, do you have anything else to say to me?”
"Well… I think you look very handsome today.”
“That’s just right. As if your mouth hurts when you say you’re pretty.”
“Looks like there’s something you want to hear all of a sudden. Liked you or loved you.”
“You know everything, but you didn’t do it on purpose. To make me want to hear more for no reason.”
I heard it last night and this morning as soon as I opened my eyes, and he always demanded my expression of affection.
"I like you. I love you."
“I love you too.”
And he said it so often that my heart fluttered and overflowed.
The two of us stopped talking and casually held hands, played with our feet, and then our lips collided.
His lips, which had been on my lips for a long time, reached the tip of my chin and came down to my neck and collarbone.
There is no way I can resist the heat he gives me. I lightly bit his shoulder as I gently embraced his large body.
---∞oOo∞---