Lab Baby

Easier

Seonghwa shivers as he pries his eyes open in the bright sunlight. He slowly sits up to realize Coral is still fast asleep and the fire is mostly burnt out. Quickly he didn't want the fire to completely burn out especially if they have breakfast still to cook, he places another piece of wood in the fire and blew gently to bring it to life.

After the fire started to grow brighter and hotter, he gathered materials from Coral's van and around the campsite. The more he worked the brighter the sun grew in the sky and the more Coral slept. He frowns when she was still asleep after he has made a simple breakfast of eggs and toast, "Coral?"

She didn't budge at the call of her name, and Seonghwa's heart started to race. This was only their first time camping out with one another, she must be a heavy sleeper so there is no reason to panic. But if he listened over the crackling of the wood, he didn't even hear her make a noise to indicate she was in a deep slumber.

Seonghwa bites his lip and stands from where he was sitting to make breakfast, walking over to her body and noticing her blanket mostly covering her face and entire body. He squats down beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking softly, "Coral? I-I made breakfast, you should really get up and eat."

When she still didn't make a noise or twitch even a little, he grew worried. Panic began to rise as he lifts the blanket off of her face to let the sun shine but he instantly regretted it. He covers his mouth in shock as he steps away, noticing the dark blue lips and pale white skin of what was his closest friend since escaping the facility.

She looked as if she had been sleeping peacefully, but he knew she wasn't. A finger underneath the nose is quick evidence that she was gone. Seonghwa's chest immediately felt heavy as he sobbed, shaking his head at the thought of her passing after literally just telling her who he was and why he was running.

The urge to empty his stomach became noticeable, and he quickly moved away from her to purge whatever settled into his stomach from the night before. He was scared to look at her again, feeling that sickening feeling of knowing she wasn't alive anymore come back and settle in the back of his throat. He shakily gets back on his feet and pads over to the body of his friend, swallowing harshly before leaning down and covering her face and rest of her body with the blanket.

Silently, he stood there and gave his respects to her soul. He made sure to thank her for the ride, for the food she provided, and for the trust she bestowed on him with who he was and what his baby is. After sending his respects, he steps away from the body and began packing up his things. He needed to keep moving, his baby needed him.

The bus was full of supplies ranging from fire starters, to sleeping bags and tons of snacks and food supplies. Seonghwa packed as much as he could in his small bag he had stolen from the city, seeing another large bag of Coral's in the bus. He had taken that bag and filled it with all of the snacks and most of the foods that weren't refrigerated, then moved on to fire starter supplies and extra blanket for the baby.

He knows he will have to prepare for the birth, so he made sure to gather all of the supplies he could think he would need for the birth. Once both bags were full of supplies, he takes a deep breath and looks around the campsite and his eyes set on Coral's body. His chest suddenly felt heavy once more as he walked towards her, passing her with an apologetic glance, then ventured into the woods alone to continue his journey.

••••

Seonghwa's pregnancy snuck up on him on his travels, and before he knows it his belly has grown into a beautiful round shape. He had been doing his best to keep track of the days, and so far he has calculated that he is about three months into his pregnancy. However, if it were a normal pregnancy he would be about six months.

The journey the past few months has been hard on the pregnant male. Traveling on foot did teach him a few things such as what to avoid. He has ran into many wolves much like himself, but based on their presence and strong persona he knew they weren't omegas. They had to be alphas, but they seemed to leave him alone when they realized he was pregnant.

He assumed he was just approaching their territory and they needed to investigate the potential threat.

Something else he had come to realize, the snacks he and Coral had stocked were running low. He had one bag of chips left he had been snacking on trying to ration for this entire time and he wasn't sure how to hunt or scavenge for anything. Really, he wasn't sure how to do anything when it came to being with his wolf.

Sure he's used his strong sense of smell and senses when it came to the other wolves, and he's felt the presence of his wolf become stronger after being in the forests, but he was still as clueless when it came to hunting and gathering.

But he was starting to get desperate.

He finally cracked down and tried his hand at it, especially after the ration of chips were finally gone and he had no other snacks left. He had avoided shifting into his wolf (mostly because he was unfamiliar with it) so it took him a bit before he finally shifted comfortably into his beautiful white and black speckled wolf.

The first few attempts at hunting he tried on rabbits and squirrels, something small and not much energy needed to hunt down. He failed miserably those few times, but after a week and figuring out different methods, he finally managed to catch one squirrel and one rabbit. He was absolutely starving however, and knew that this wasn't healthy for him or his baby, but he didn't know what else to do. Hunting now after the first few months became easier and easier. Now, he catches at least two rabbits and three squirrels to ravish and enjoy a week.

Being heavily pregnant, traveling was starting to get more and more difficult but he had no choice and kept pushing himself. He slept in many caves, under many large tree stumps, and occasionally made a bed of leaves to rest on top of. Bathing was another story. He didn't have any shampoo, body wash, or hot water, so bathing in creeks and lakes became a well known thing for his body.

And just as his senses as a wolf became stronger, so did his motherly senses. His sense of smell was stronger, as well as his instinct to naturally protect himself and his little one. Everything he did was trying to in a way think of the baby and how whatever he was doing would affect it. Late at night, he finds himself staring at the stars and imagining his life here soon giving birth to his little one, wondering what the baby will look like and what it was.

Until his answers finally came to light. He awoke with s start after a rapid dream he had. It all happened so fast, what was just him being at the facility with his brother in the room turned into him holding a baby in his arms with thick black hair and a blue wrist band on the baby's wrist. Seoho was staring fondly at the baby, before he looked up at Seonghwa and smiled, "It's a boy."

"How do you know?" Seonghwa asked him, and his brother said something that he had never heard of, and it caught him off guard.

"The Moon Goddess is never wrong."

He thought about the dream after waking from it, rubbing his large belly and watching as his baby moved and kicked occasionally. He smiles as he cups the top, feeling what seems to be the baby's head pressing against the surface, "Is it true little one? Are you a boy?"

Of course he never expected a verbal answer, but a sharp kick to his hand along with a few nudges told Seonghwa that maybe his baby did understand him in some way. Only one way to find out however, and that time was approaching. He was scared for the actual birth, not knowing what to do and knowing he will be completely by himself when the time comes.

He shivers from the cold before wrapping another blanket around himself and curling in the sleeping bag, falling asleep to the movement of his baby in the womb.

••••