m u s e

epilogue | 15

'babe, I think it's time'
she whispered as she shook him awake,
it was around 1pm and she knew he was deep in sleep.
Julian grunted and rolled over,
'it's time....it's time...'
he mumbled his voice still filled with sleep.
then his eyes flew open!
'IT'S TIME!'

despite the contractions, Iris smiled at his adorableness.
he scrambled up out of the bed and phoned his mother who was staying over at his mother-in-law's not too far away.
he hurriedly explained what was happening as he grabbed the pre-packed pregnancy bag that had all the things she'd need.

she had hobbled behind him as he made his way to the garage to pack the things in the car,
he looked shaky and was breathing in short shallow gasps, if he continued like that he'd probably pass out.

she reached out and grabbed his arm,
'look at me....ju look at me,'
when she got his attention she smiled at his expression and she watched as his eyes softened,
'we're going to have a healthy baby boy and we're going to be okay'
she whispered.
he breathed in and out deeply before nodding,
kissing her on the lips.
'okay'

____

when they got to the hospital,
the grandparents were already there, they had all actually rented a place close to the hospital just for the occasion,
despite them both having actual houses in the suburbs.
Iris already knew her son would have two set of grandparents that would spoil him completely and a dad who would be putty in his hands.
she rolled her eyes,
she'd have to be the disciplinarian...

_____

when she had heard his cry after hours of pain and pushing,
she was overcome with relief and an immense tiredness which quickly morphed into joy when the nurse brought her her baby.
'it's a healthy baby boy'
the nurse said with a smile.

when she held him and saw his almond shaped eyes, dark hair and wrinkly purplish skin...she decided that he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

'Mihail Lee'
ju said softly as he watched his son hungrily latch on to his wife's breast.
she looked up at him, repeating the name softly
'I like it'
she said as she ran a finger through the newborn's soft hair.

Julian couldn't believe how lucky he had gotten,
the year away Iris had spent in Columbia while he worked as an assistant in a psychologist's office and worked on his debut research paper on
Split Personality Disorder,
he had quickly realized that he didn't ever want to spend another moment without her by his side.

as soon as her plane had landed he'd proposed.

and here they were two years later,
with the final consummation of their love.

he blinked back tears as he kissed her forehead before kissing the hair of his son,
'I love you so much it's hard to breathe'
he whispered.

she angled her head so she could look him in the eyes,
'I love you more,'
she said
and they both gazed into each other's eyes, wondering how they got so lucky.

their moment was interrupted by the eager grandparents who piled in to welcome the newest member of the family.

as Iris watched the two new grandmothers coo over the newborn and her dad and Hyeon clap her husband on the back congratulating him.

she was overcome with the feeling she usually went to the indigo elephant to feel,

the feeling that she was witnessing something greater than time itself.
something that transcends anything she could ever hope for.

__________
THE END
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