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I don’t think parenting is a joke.

In fact, I already know very well how much trouble young kids can cause. That’s partly why I suggested taking our time before having a child.

I haven’t raised a child myself, but I’ve seen a lot of kids of various ages in the orphanage. From newborns to elementary, middle, and high school students.

Just because they’re past the newborn stage doesn’t mean kids grow up by themselves, and just because they’re middle schoolers doesn’t mean they’re all fine and dandy. Those high schoolers even start thinking differently when they hit their teens.

But still, I wanted a child. It wasn’t a calculated thought… right? When you have someone you love, don’t you just naturally want to have a child together?

“Okay.”

After seriously thinking it over, Ha-yoon nodded and said that she agreed to “six kids.”

Jua and Ji-hye felt the same way. They seemed to think there was no need to argue further.

That meant they thought the same things I was thinking.

Should I be relieved? There are four of us. This means our combined efforts for childcare would be double compared to an average couple.

There are plenty of families raising three sisters or four sisters, so how could the four of us not manage six kids?

It doesn’t mean we have to pop out six at once; we can plan properly and have two at a time, slowly.

After agreeing to that, we checked our finances again.

Excluding the support we received from our parents-in-law, the money we had saved up wasn’t too shabby for now. With a little subsidy here and there and the money we were making, calculations hinted that it might be enough for the time being.

“…”

We looked at each other and nodded.

It was the moment we firmly decided.

*

The first one to have a baby was Ha-yoon.

And shortly after, I did.

At first, I thought I could manage it physically. I had been keeping up my fitness, and most importantly, the work we did required good stamina.

But having a child wasn’t as easy as I thought.

It brought about a lot of issues. My back hurt, my shoulders were stiff, and getting used to the bodily changes wasn’t easy at all.

When asked if changes occurred day by day, I couldn’t imagine anything overwhelmingly big, but changes were definitely noticeable, and it was tough in many ways.

Still, having the person I love by my side was a good thing.

Sitting side by side with Ha-yoon in the sunlight, sharing a chair and holding hands, made me happy. My body felt heavy, yet the child inside was precious. Naturally so, since we had truly wanted this child.

We liked sitting together in silence, gazing out the window while holding hands. Sometimes, we would place our hands on each other’s bellies to check on the baby.

Isn’t this the fruit of love? It was a child we would love for a lifetime. That round belly was so lovable.

The ones who fussed around us were Jua and Ji-hye.

“Ji-eun, are you okay? Are your arms and legs numb? Do you want me to massage you?”

“Ha-yoon, if you need anything, just let me know. If you need to go somewhere, I can help you.”

Ha-yoon and I smiled and said we were fine, but those two seemed to think we weren’t really okay.

And of course, the biggest event was the day the child would be born.

To be honest, I hardly remember it.

All I recall is the overwhelming pain. Ji-hye and Jua were doing their best to support me, and even Ha-yoon called out my name, but everything else is a blur.

In the final moments, I was gripping Ha-yoon’s hand tightly—

“Ji-eun.”

When I came to, I found myself holding a baby from Ji-hye.

A scrunched-up little one with hair soaked from the water. Honestly, I couldn’t grasp it at first. It was hard to believe that such a tiny, red-skinned baby came from my body.

But soon, my vision blurred. I could feel the warmth of the baby’s body, even through the blanket around me.

As warm as the baby was, I felt my body warming too.

We decided to name the baby Ji-yun. The child Ha-yoon gave birth to was named Eun-ha.

Thus, we had our first set of twins.

…Though I’m not sure if we can call them twins when they came from different wombs.

*

For about a year, we focused on parenting.

Since everything was new, all of us were a bit clumsy.

I learned that letting the milk build up in my chest was painfully uncomfortable. It didn’t take long to realize that nursing the baby was a process of enduring physical pain.

Is it amazing?

The baby Ha-yoon had looked like me. The baby I had looked like Ha-yoon.

All daughters. Well, I’ve heard it’s just how it goes. We weren’t especially hoping for a son, so I wasn’t dissatisfied about it.

However, after about a year of focusing on parenting, we had somewhat figured things out. We could think about how to divide the roles among the four of us efficiently, how to organize things, and how cooking could be managed; we gradually became aware of it all.

So, a little over a year after Ji-yun and Eun-ha were born, we made plans for our next child.

*

It’s quite strange.

People online often joke about families behaving that way— but despite the passing of time, our love hadn’t faded.

I was a bit worried at first if we could really keep this relationship going for life, but as long as we respected and loved each other, leading a family that’s a bit different from others wasn’t impossible.

“…Ah, it moved.”

Ji-hye, kneeling in front of me with her ear against my belly, smiled and said that.

With her own belly sticking out, she was thinking about the baby inside me while sitting in front of me.

“I think I kinda get it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are there men who are oddly serious about getting women pregnant?”

“…Did you see that in a cartoon?”

“Well, I saw it in a drama.”

I chuckled, rubbing Ji-hye’s head.

It wasn’t as tough as the first time.

I only had that one experience, but that experience gave me strength for the second time. It wasn’t easy, but with a bit of familiarity, we leaned on each other and moved forward.

Jua, who had helped out with raising a baby once before, and Ha-yoon, who had been raising children alongside me for the past year, now knew the condition of our bodies well, so they didn’t fuss around us too much.

Still, giving birth wasn’t easy.

This time, I remembered the road to the hospital, but ironically, the moment of giving birth was absent from my mind.

“Ji-eun.”

When I saw Jua holding my hand with tears glistening in her eyes, it was around the time I felt a small child nestled in my arms again.

They say that when a person becomes a mother, their brain releases a rush of chemicals that makes them forget the pain as they hold their child in their arms, and I guess that’s true.

For just an instant, I forgot all about the pain and felt only the joy of having my child in my arms.

This child’s name is Eun-hye. And the child Ji-hye gave birth to is named Ye-ji.

Those were the names of our precious treasures.

*

And then, another year passed.

Ji-yun and Eun-ha had grown a lot. While we still couldn’t completely detach the idea of them being “kids,” they weren’t even close to being independent, making it hard to remove them from our sight. They were at the stage where the term “newborn” barely applied anymore.

They had gained a bit of weight, and now they were running around instead of just walking.

And, we could finally take a little breather. They were three in months, or five in Korean age, so they could finally go to kindergarten.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we were slacking off at other times in raising them.

It just meant we could give a bit more attention to those kids who still couldn’t completely shake off the “newborn” label.

“I haven’t given up, so know that.”

“Hmm? Give up?”

One day, while taking care of the kids, I blinked at Jua suddenly saying that.

“I want to give birth to your child too, and I want you to make me a mother.”

“…”

I chuckled dryly.

Jua seemed a bit irked by my laughter, but when I put my hand on my hip and leaned in to say this, she quieted down right away.

“Do you think I wouldn’t want that?”

Of course, it should be that way.

Shouldn’t it?

From the very beginning, I had said I would give birth to all three of my wives’ children.

That vow filled with love could not turn into a lie.

And by now, I was really getting used to taking care of the kids.

 

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