ETY | MW [✔]

20.

There were some days when the pain was sharp and the anger threatened to overwhelm him. Those were the days when he trained for hours with Taehyun and Jay, pushing his body to its limit in an attempt to quiet his mind. Once he'd exhausted his body, he'd spend hours lying with Wonwoo in the lounge, often with his ear or his hand pressed to the omega's stomach. They'd talk. About everything, anything, nothing. Or just sit in silence, feeling the baby kick and hearing its heart thumping away, fast like a little hummingbird.

That was where the healing happened. For him and for Wonwoo. They often talked about Zuho and Juyeon. They looked through all the information Wonwoo had gathered over the years, searching for anything, no matter how small, that might have been missed. There wasn't much but they found a few leads to chase up. It was slow going, as anything learned was no more than a tiny dot in a huge picture.

Mingyu did his best to help distract Wonwoo from the frustration of having to delegate even the safest of jobs for the duration of his pregnancy. They were in this together, after all.

The months passed, and as the baby grew, the pain grew less. Until the night Wonwoo woke him with a hand on his shoulder and two words that sent a thrill of fear and excitement through him.

"It's time."

They were ready. They'd been ready for weeks. Bags packed, car on standby, Doctor Bae on speed dial.

Ten minutes later, they were in the car, Taehyun driving, Seungkwan in the passenger seat, with Mingyu holding Wonwoo in the back, doing his best to make his mate comfortable. The contractions would come and go, and Wonwoo was so stoic during them, that he almost didn't realize they were happening at first. But he quickly noticed the pattern. Wonwoo's hand would tighten around his, his breathing would slow to a very deliberate inhale-exhale, and he'd close his eyes like it took every ounce of his focus.

"You're doing great," he murmured in Wonwoo's ear, brushing a stray strand of hair from his forehead. That earned him a smile, relaxing some of the tension he felt at watching his mate in pain.

The contraction eased, Wonwoo leaning forward to whisper in his ear. "You're doing great too."

They hit a bump in the road, and the omega grimaced, the smile disappearing.

"Sorry," Taehyun called back. "Pothole."

"It's okay," Wonwoo said, cradling his bump. "This little one has a built-in shock absorber. He doesn't care if you drive like a madman."

"I care," Mingyu said quickly. "Drive like a normal person."

The car slowed dramatically, and Wonwoo snorted. "Do you want me to have this baby in the back seat, Taehyun?"

They accelerated again as Seungkwan laughed, twisting around in his seat. "Well, I know you're doing okay if you're making jokes. But we need to time the contractions so say when."

"They're fifteen minutes apart," Mingyu answered before Wonwoo could.

"That's your daddy. Knows me better than I know myself," he heard his mate murmur and glanced down to see Wonwoo stroking a hand across his bump.

"Another hour and we'll be at the clinic. Can you hold on that long?"

Wonwoo nodded, relaxing back into Mingyu's arms. "Oh yeah, this little guy is in no rush to go anywhere."

*****

The room they were ushered into when they arrived was different to the exam room they were used to. It was bigger, for one. And comfortable. It looked more like a bedroom. Mingyu helped Wonwoo over to the bed, still marveling at how quiet his mate was despite clearly being in some discomfort.