Yejin stretched and mechanically caressed her rounded belly. She sighed with satisfaction, her body exhausted and sore, but still high on endorphins.
Her pilates session had felt so good, she hadn't gone to her usual practice, but had trained at home instead, and now, the only thing she wanted was to jump in the shower, stay a lifetime under the warm water, and then, maybe she could convince her husband to share a dish of tteokbokki?
She smiled with anticipation and stood, followed faithfully by Kitty. Since the beginning of her pregnancy, Kitty had become very clingy, she wanted to follow Yejin everywhere, even more than usual, and very often sniffed her belly curiously. Animals were said to smell this stuff before humans, and Yejin wanted to believe it, she was convinced Kitty knew exactly what was happening and how their life was about to change. For the best.
She put a towel over her shoulders, around her neck, took her bottle of water and went out to go up to the bathroom.
She stopped on her tracks, frowning. She had heard something.
He had stayed in his office for a good part of the afternoon, going through meetings, but what she heard was not coming from his office.
She frowned again.
Was that... Music? Piano to be more exact?
She put down her bottle as she passed and followed the sound to the living room.
He was there.
His back was turned on her, and she leaned against a wall to watch him play.
The notes flowed hesitantly, then more confidently. She saw him mumble, think out loud, scribble on the sheet music in front of him, then try again.
His hair had grown, and seeing him like this, the evening light illuminating his broad shoulders with a soft golden glow, brought back memories.
Of secret dates in the past years, of him playing the piano and singing a song to her, before smiling shyly, his cheeks slightly red.
He really didn't realize how perfect he was.
"Come and sit..." he called over his shoulder.
She chuckled.
"How do you know?"
"I always feel your presence..."
"Waaaa, you really are an avenger..."
She walked forward with a smile until she was right behind him.
"I have to go take a shower, I'm all sweaty... But what are you doing?"
The loving look he gave her made it clear that he didn't care that she was sweaty, he took her hand and made her sit next to him, placing a light kiss on her cheek.
"I want you to listen to something..."
She looked at him curiously, picked a protesting Kitty from the floor, and watched carefully as his long fingers landed on the keys.
He took a deep breath and his fingers started to move.
A melody rose, soft, comforting, enveloping, and Yejin even wanted to snuggle up against him. His face was concentrated, his hair was falling over his forehead, his hands, so strong, so powerful, were dancing gracefully above the keyboard.
He started humming, and she felt a lump growing in her throat.
It was about the moon and the stars, rising sun and love, singing rivers and hope.
Was it possible to fall in love with the same man every day, again and again and again?
When the last note rose, he stared at the keyboard for a moment, before looking up at her.
"It's a lullaby..."
She blinked several times, feeling out of breath.
"A lullaby ?" she heard herself ask.
"Yes. I wanted to write our baby a lullaby, I have the melody and the lyrics, I need to refine the chorus..."
"You wrote a lullaby? For our baby?"
She was staring at him, not even paying attention to Kitty who jumped off her lap to jog away.
He seemed to hesitate, then he nodded.
She threw her arms around his neck, taking him by surprise, and nuzzled her face into his shoulder. She held back her tears as best she could but she tightened her embrace. She felt his arm go around her waist and felt a kiss in her hair.
"I take it that you like it?"
She pulled back to look at him. Her gaze traced the perfect curve of his nose and the sensual curve of his lips, the shadow of his dimples, the strength of his jaw.
"I love it. It's perfect... Our baby is so lucky to have the best appa ever..."
His smile at the word "appa" was worth all the nausea, ligament pain, and emotional roller coaster in the world.
"I love you..." he replied simply.
"I love you too... And I think our baby would like to listen to it one more time..."
He smiled happily and turned back to the keyboard.
The happiness she felt was incomparable to all the other joys she had experienced in her life. The future was so exciting knowing her first love by her side and she couldn't wait to write a new page with a new life among them.
