2 Halves Make a Whole | ym

32 Weeks & Counting

"I want tteokbokki." Jimin announced as he sat on the edge of the exam table he'd gotten so used to over the past two months.

"Tteokbokki?" Yoongi repeated, fingers gently running over Jimin's thigh where his hand rested.

Jimin nodded. "With extra gochujang."

Yoongi blinked. "Extra gochujang?"

The omega nodded again. "Can we go to Seokjin's restaurant after this?"

"We'll go wherever you want." That answer pleased Jimin, the omega letting out a quiet purr as he leaned down to kiss his mate.

As he sat back up, Dr. Graham arrived. "How are we feeling today, Jimin?"

"Today's the first day I haven't thrown up in three weeks." Jimin informed her. "And the first I've been able to stomach something other than ice cream in a week."

"That's good." She smiled at him before turning to Yoongi. "And you must be his mate." Yoongi nodded and quietly introduced himself. "So, other than the nausea and food aversions, what other symptoms have you been dealing with?"

"I'm really tired all the time, and I've been really bloated."

Dr. Graham hummed and nodded. "All very typical, but you should be happy to know that those symptoms should clear up over the next few weeks. Now, your urine and blood tests have all come back clear. There are no abnormalities or anything to bring up concerns. And since we just did a pelvic exam for you two months ago, you get to skip out on that lovely part of this visit, but we will do another one later in the pregnancy to make sure everything still looks good and that your body can handle labor and delivery." Jimin nodded in understanding. "So, all that's left is for you to see your pup."

An ultrasound technician was called in within the next few minutes, and it didn't take long for Jimin to be lying back on the table with his shirt pulled up to expose his stomach. "This might be cold." He was warned just before a gel was squeezed onto his stomach, causing him to hiss. The technician moved the wand across his stomach as Yoongi took his hand in his, intertwining their fingers until a blurry image finally appeared on the screen. "And there's your pup." Jimin squinted his eyes, but no matter how he looked at it, it still just looked like a blob of gray on the otherwise black screen. "It doesn't resemble a pup much yet, but there's its head, its arms, and its legs."

"It looks like a blob." Jimin said honestly, making Yoongi laugh and squeeze his hand.

Dr. Graham gave a small chuckle as she studied the ultrasound alongside them. "It seems the pup is currently measuring at about half an inch, which puts you at about the six-week mark." She typed a few things into the computer next to the machine. "We're looking at your due date being sometime late November or early December." Jimin continued to look at his pup on the screen, wondering when that moment would hit where he was finally completely excited for the pup to come. "How about we get that heartbeat going?"

"We can hear it now?" Yoongi asked in slight surprise.

"Possibly." The doctor answered. "It is still a bit early, so it might not get picked up, but rest assured that their little heart is beating." She pointed to the area on the screen that showed the pup's heart rate, setting it at about 160 bpm. She pulled out a doppler reader and pressed it Jimin's abdomen, moving it around for a few seconds until, finally, a very faint heartbeat began sounding through the room. At the sound, there was a little flutter of something in Jimin's chest, causing him to squeeze Yoongi's hand. But it was gone just as fast as it appeared, being replaced with the same worry and anxiety that Jimin had felt since first finding out he was pregnant.

***

"Cravings are a bitch, aren't they?" Seokjin chuckled as Jimin scarfed down his bowl of tteokbokki, not even flinching at the spices despite how much gochujang he'd insisted Seokjin add into the sauce. "Chocolate was my big one in the beginning, and I don't even really like chocolate all that much. When he was getting ready for work, Namjoon would make me a hot chocolate every morning and leave it on the nightstand for me to wake up to. Surprisingly, it helped with my nausea too."

"All Jimin's eaten for the past week is vanilla ice cream." Yoongi said, smiling at the sight of his omega finally eating something more substantial.

Jimin nodded as he swallowed his food. "I was getting so sick of it too, but it was the one thing I never threw back up."

"Our bodies like to work in mysterious ways." Seokjin mused as his gaze fell on something behind the pair, his eyes lighting up immediately. "Hi, puppy!"

Jimin glanced over his shoulder to see that Namjoon had just returned from work with Jae propped on his hip. The five-month-old pup smiled brightly at the sight of his Eomma, reaching a hand out and babbling happily. Seokjin babbled back as he took him into his arms and pressed a loud kiss to his chubby cheek. "You ready to have one of these?" Namjoon asked with an amused expression. Instead of responding, Jimin stuffed his mouth full of more tteokbokki.

***

Jimin was hunched over the toilet as all of the tteokbokki he'd eaten expelled itself from his body. Yoongi was sat behind him, rubbing his back comfortingly until he had nothing left to throw up. "I knew it was too good to be true." Jimin groaned as he sat back, accepting the wad of toilet paper Yoongi passed to him so he could wipe his mouth. "I think there's something wrong with me." He said, leaning back against the wall.

"Morning sickness is normal." Yoongi reminded him, assuming Jimin was referring to throwing up. "It affects 75% of pregnant omegas-"

"No, not that." Jimin said before sighing deeply, looking down at his lap as he played with the drawstrings on his sleep shorts. "I thought...I thought that seeing the pup or at least hearing its heartbeat would make something click for me. That I would finally stop worrying so much and just be happy. But I'm not." He sniffled a bit as he looked up, feeling the urge to cry grow stronger as he met Yoongi's gaze. "I just want to be happy and excited about this pup, but I just can't. And I can feel how excited you are, but I know you're not showing it because of me, and it-it just really sucks."

Yoongi sighed quietly as he moved to sit by Jimin, wrapping his arm around him. "There's nothing wrong with you." He assured his mate. "You're the kind of person who likes to plan everything out and you don't like surprises. Well, this pup was a huge surprise, so it's expected for you to struggle with accepting them."

"What if I never do?" Jimin asked tearfully. "What if I go through this whole pregnancy and give birth to them and just...resent them? For throwing a wrench in my plans?"

"You won't."

"But how do you know that?"

"Because I know you." Yoongi said, squeezing Jimin lightly. "You may hate the unexpected, but you also love so much. You have so much love to give, and I have no doubt in my mind that our pup will be on the receiving end of at least a little bit of that love." He pulled Jimin closer so he could press a kiss to his forehead. "Don't stress."

"I'm trying really hard not to." Jimin said as his stomach started to churn again. "I'm not finished." He said as he scrambled back to the toilet just in time for another round of vomiting.