Finest Jin

Secret Keeper

I slept in late the next morning. When I finally hauled myself out of bed, it was nearly 11am. I came into the living room, where the children were engaged in a game of Uno. I snagged an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it.

"Good morning, Eomma." Atticus came to me, squeezing me tight in a good morning greeting. I ruffled his blonde hair. 

"Hey Boy. You winning?" 

"No," he pouted. "I think Brigette is cheating."

The brunette scowled at her brother.

"I am not. I am just really lucky today."

I leaned on the island, untying my housecoat. It was hot in here.

"Eomma..." Cher began. 

I held up a hand to silence her.

"Hang on. I need to talk to you guys about something very important. I ask that you please stay quiet and let me explain everything first."

Cher looked worried.

"So, I made a mistake. And now there are some consequences to that decision and I am going to deal with those. But..." I scanned the four faces, 2 sets of blue eyes, 1 brown, 1 green, that were all fastened on me. "It also affects you, so we need to discuss things now."

Éowynn raised her hand as though she was in class. I waved it down.

"So...I was...intimate...with SeokJIn. And sometimes that can lead to..."

"Eomma." Cher interrupted me again, tucking her red hair back behind her shoulder.

"Shh...please...let me finish."

"But Eomma..."

"Cher! Stop...What I am trying to tell you is that I am...pregnant." I blew out a long breath and waited for their shocked gasps to end. "Yes. I am pregnant...with Kim SeokJins' baby." 

Éowynn and Cher were perfect twins, mouths hanging in open 'o's, eyes wide. 

"Yes, so...I am 4ish months along. Half way done, almost. So...due in October...ish." My gaze took in the 4 statues, some holding cards loosely in their fingers, some cards discarded near their score sheet. 5 tidy rows of numbers. Scratching out win or lose. Perfect calculations. That was math I could handle. Add one baby. Minus Jin...this algebra was beyond my comprehension. But I was working it out. 

"So, Cher, you have been doing university courses online for some time now. I was thinking that maybe you might be willing, you and Éowynn, to just switch to full online schooling and help with the baby. Then I could keep my job and we will do just fine."

Chers' head dipped down. Her eyes fell to her cards.

"Do you not want to do that? I can look into other options..."

Cher tried an awkward smile. 

"No, it's not that. I just..." Her eyes went over my shoulder, then back. A sign. "I was trying to warn you that we have company." She gritted out the words. 

My stomach hit the floor as I heard the muffled click of the bathroom door opening. I turned, coming face to face with the wide brown eyes atop a perfectly sculpted face. His full lips were held in a permanent gasp. 

Jimin.

This was not how it was supposed to go. He looked like a deer in headlights too. I knew that he had not intended to eavesdrop on such a sensitive topic. But he had clearly heard every word. It was a very small apartment.

"Jimin...hi."

His eyes crinkled up in apologetic mirth.

"Noona...sorry." He put his arms out to hug me. Such a contradiction. The sweet expression of a boy but he looked down at me and held me against the body of a man. When he pulled back, he peeked down at my tummy and grinned. "Congratulations." He bit his lip, looking over his shoulder at the Nerd Herd. "I am going to be an uncle. And you all get a new brother or sister."