Blue

23

Hyunjin POV

"Are you sure you wanna do this? I don't want you to get upset." I hold his hands.

Jisung sniffles and nods. "I want one."

I sigh. I click the finalize button on the computer and see a small green check pop up on the screen. He hugs me tightly. I wipe the tears from my eyes and hug him back.

It's official. We just need to go to the center in person and sign a few papers and she's ours. I look at her picture on the screen.

She's two years old and adorable. She had a scar on her left cheek, and ate a lot, according to the description. She was chubby and she had the sweetest smile.

"What if we fostered?" I look at him.

"Foster? As in take care of them and raise them until they go live with another family forever?"

"Mmm, maybe not. You'd get so attached."

"You'd get attached too." He hits my arm with a smile.

I smile back. "We gonna go get the room all set up?" I ask.

He nods. We go to the bedroom finish setting up. We painted the walls white with a gray accent wall, a new gray and white striped rug, and a white bed. He painted yellow butterflies in the wall and made a bunch of white origami swans and attached them to strings and hung them from the ceiling.

"Do you think she'll like it?" He asks, fixing the flowers in the yellow vase.

"Of course. I mean, she's 4 months old. It's not like she could hate a room, really."

"Right. I keep forgetting." He looks down. "What's gonna happen with me? I still haven't heard back from the astrology center. Do I have to decline or whatever?"

"You still haven't heard back? You sent them your resumé a month ago."

"I know, I know. They haven't called or emailed me back."

"It's not like they have piles of resumés to go through. Like, I'm positive that there's not hundreds of people trying to work there."

"I'm aware. Three other people applied for the job and no one has gotten a response yet. So what's gonna happen if I'm accepted while we have the baby? I don't want you to drive her to work. Ever. And kids don't belong at the center."

"Hmm... I guess I could work from home." I shrug. "I just write stuff."

"Are you sure?" He grabs my hand and holds it.

"I'm positive. I'll just have to clear out my office." I nod.

"If I'm not accepted, what about then?"

"Then I can stay home. It's okay for me to stay home and work, even if you weren't accepted. Unless you want me to leave."

"No, I want you to stay so I can cuddle you." He hugs me.

I smile and hug him back. He gets on his tippie toes and kisses my lips. I fix his messy silver hair while he plays with my shirt collar.

"Is this a good idea? It's barely been a year..." I sigh.

"Why wouldn't it be okay? It's not like we're replacing Blue, nor are we forgetting him. He always will be our first kid. And, yes, it's been hard, and still gets hard, but that doesn't mean we can't move forwards. We won't be leaving him behind. We bring him with us and we can love our new baby with the same love we used with Blue. It won't be easy. But it'll be worth it. We can have a happy family again." He pecks my lips again.

I nod. "Yeah, I love having a family." I smile.

"Good." He boops my nose before going to the kitchen for a snack.

He hands me a packet of Fruit Gushers and spanks me playfully. I scoff and grab him again to pick him up until he apologizes. He giggles cutely.

"Say you're sorry." I hold him tightly.

He gives me one of his Gushers and wiggles out of my arms. "Didn't see you there." He giggles.