Chapter Four

It wasn't until the sun started to shine in my eyes that I woke up.

"Go away, sun! I need more sleep!" I groaned.

I heard a chuckle.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Atem said.

"How long have you been up?" I asked.

"An hour. The babies woke me up. You were sleeping like the dead, so I didn't wake you. Now I'm doing tai chi," he answered.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?" I inquired as I stood and donned my kimono-like robe.

He chuckled slightly.

"Cupcake, you know it's been a month since my heart attack. I'm totally fine," he told me.

"Yeah, but that arrhythmia still hasn't gone away, so I just figured," I said.

He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"I'm fine. The doctor gave me the okay to exercise."

I sighed.

"Fine. I'm going to feed the babies," I informed him as I left.

After both girls had been fed and put back to sleep, I heard something fall in the bedroom.

"Atem?" I called out.

Silence.

"Temmy?"

Nothing.

I sighed.

"This better not be a trick," I said as I walked back to the room.

I saw him sprawled out across the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, thinking it was nothing serious.

"I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest and I felt dizzy, so I laid down. I knocked over something, though," he explained.

"I'm calling your cardiologist," I said, "Stay there."

A quick phone call later, I was back in the room.

"You're having a stress test done next week. You're going in tomorrow so he can tell you about it," I informed him.

He nodded and wheezed slightly.

"You forgot your inhaler, didn't you?" I asked.

He nodded.

I sighed and grabbed it from the drawer of the bedside table, handing it to him after.

After he took it, I told him, "You need to be more careful. You know that exercise is one of your triggers."

He nodded.

"I know, but the doctor said it was good for my heart. You know I've always been one to exercise," he replied.

"Asthma is going to kill you one of these days," I snapped.

"And you'll get to say, 'I told you so.'," he said.

"To your dead body!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled.

"No need to get your-"

"Don't you say it, mister. I swear, I will hurt you," I stopped him in his tracks.

He snickered and finished his sentence.

"Undies in a twist."

I slapped his shoulder and screeched, "I told you not to say that!"

He chuckled and and sighed.

"Go do something for a minute. I have a surprise for you," he said.

I giggled and told him, "Okay."

I left to eat breakfast.

Soon after I had finished my waffles, I heard a familiar voice.

"Can you feel my heartbeat?" I heard Nichkhun say.

"Nichkhun? Then, it must be..."

I rose quickly from my seat and went to the bedroom.

"Surprise," Atem said.

I took in my surroundings.

It was decorated with things from our travels in Egypt and South Korea.

"Is today?" I asked.

He nodded.

"The anniversary of us getting back together," he answered.

"Yeah. Want me to tell you about it again?" I laughed.

He nodded again.

"You tell it so well."

I giggled.

"Okay, well, we were fresh out of high school. Remember we were the it couple? Well, anyway, we had gotten accepted to different colleges. We tried to make it work, but with me in Auburn and you in Berkeley, it was hard and we broke it off," I said.

He sat down, watching me intently.

I laughed slightly and continued.

"It had been about a year since we saw each other last. That's when we met in Egypt. We were both studying abroad. Seeing each other, I guess, rekindled old feelings and we fell in love instantly. I ended up transferring colleges to be with you and we studied our last two years in South Korea."

"Yeah, but you didn't say where 'Heartbeat' came in," he reminded me.

"Oh, yeah. When we were in Cairo, I took you back to my hotel room to show you some new music, only to find you had started listening to it too! Before I knew it, you were turning on some karaoke video, the song of which you wouldn't tell me, and you were going to sing. I didn't know how it was going to go, seeing as how you couldn't sing the last time we saw each other. But when you started to sing Heartbeat with your beautiful singing voice, I knew in my heart that I loved you. You sang it in Korean and everything. Said that song described how you felt after the breakup, so we dubbed it our song."

Atem smiled and stood, walking to the closet.

What he pulled out surprised me.

"You still have that thing!" I exclaimed at the sight of the old pink electric guitar.

"Well, you did buy it for me when we were sophomores. I had to keep it," he chuckled.

I smiled.

"Play something for me."

"How about our song?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Well, you'll have to ignore the lack of a heartbeat in the background, but here goes. You start me off as Nichkhun."

I smiled.

"Can you feel my heartbeat?"

We both sang this part.

"Heartbeat, heartbeat."

He did the speaking part and started to sing, still playing his guitar.

When he finished the song, it left a smile on my face.

"Neoleul salanghae, Mana," he said.

"Nado salanghae," I replied.

He walked over and kissed me.

I found my arms around him and his hands in my hair.

His lips tasted of Reese's Puffs.

"You taste nice," I told him in between kisses.

"Thank you."

He placed another kiss on my lips, this one more gentle than the others.

"Should we go further?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"Not now. Later, maybe," I told him.

He smiled as he planted a small kiss on my cheek and took my hand.

We walked into the living room.

"Mom was able to get the birth certificates while we were sleeping. Wasn't that nice of her?"

I nodded.

Atem wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

"Atem?" I broke the minute long silence.

"Hmm?" he replied.

"A-Are we still getting married?" I asked him.

He gasped.

"Of course! Why wouldn't we be?" he responded.

"I-I don't know," I said, trying to keep from crying, "I just thought that if we weren't married by now, we wouldn't ever be."

He sighed.

"Baby, what's wrong? You were so happy a few minutes ago, and now you're not," he spoke.

"I-I-I," I stammered.

Atem eyed me intently.

I tried to explain it to him, but all I could do was let tears fall.

"C-Cupcake, don't cry!" he stuttered, confused at my sudden crying.

"I-I don't know what to do!" I wailed, "I feel so scared of our future!"

"Shh," Atem comforted me.

He held me close to his chest.

"Just focus on my heartbeat, sweetheart."

It only made me cry worse.

"B-But, what if it stops while I lay here? You have that arrhythmia an-"

"Cupcake, is that what you're worried about?" he asked in a soothing voice.

"I-I don't know," I sniveled, "I just feel so sad and scared."

He kept his arms around me and rocked me back and forth.

"I don't think I'm ready to grow up, Temmy," I whispered.

He chuckled.

"Cupcake, you're twenty-four years old. I think you already grew up," he said.

I sniffled.

"I know, b-but it didn't feel like it until yesterday. We're parents now, Atem. We're not even married yet. People don't think to fondly of people like us."

He smiled.

"You shouldn't be worried about what other people think, but about what you think," he said.

"You always were so smart and poetic," I said as I nuzzled him.

He smiled as he planted a gentle kiss on the top of my head.

"I wish we were in high school again. No college. No responsibilities. Nothing but homework and love," I said quietly.

Atem chuckled.

"At least we have the girls now, though," he said.

I nodded.

I heard crying from the nursery.

"I'll be right back," I told him.

"I'm coming too," he informed me.

When I stood, I saw that I had bled through my pants and onto the couch.

"Oh, no," I said.

Atem looked at the couch.

"Don't worry. I'll check on the babies and clean this up. You go, uh, do what you need to do," he instructed me.

I sniffled slightly and went to the bathroom.

After I had put a pad in (*light gasp from all boys ever*), I went to the nursery, where Atem was rocking with Paris in the rocking chair.

"She just wanted some attention," he whispered.

I smiled and sat on the couch that was in there.

"You did so good, Cupcake," Atem said as he gazed lovingly at Paris.

"Well, remember you helped," I told him with a giggle.

Our cute moment was short-lived, though, because London started crying.

"I got this one," I said as I walked over to London's crib.

"It's alright, sweetie, Mommy's here," I said soothingly as I picked her up.

But, almost as soon as I got her out of the crib, she spit up.

I giggled and said, "Don't you know you're supposed to save that for Daddy?"

Atem chuckled.

And then, Paris spit up on him. I stifled a laugh as Atem wiped his face and told me, "Paris knows that, apparently."

I laughed and went to change London.

"Set Paris down and get a wipe for your face. I've got her," I told him.

"Gladly," he said with a slight chuckle.

After I changed both girls, I put them back in their cribs and sat down with a sigh.

"I don't think I'm ready for this," I said.

"You better be," Atem told me, "Because there's no going back now."

I sighed.

"We should have waited," I said harshly.

"In case you've forgotten, you were the one who asked for children. Well, you were high on pain medicine from having your wisdom teeth cut out, but you seemed keen on it when I asked you that night," he replied.

"You mean you took instructions from me while I was high?!" I exclaimed.

"No, I asked you after the medicine wore off!" he defended himself.

"I don't even remember that. I was most likely not all there. You shouldn't have done that."

He became angry.

"So, you regret London and Paris?!" he yelled.

Before I could tell him not to wake the babies or defend myself, he screeched, "Why don't you just leave then?!"

Tears materialized in my eyes.

"F-Fine. I'm sure your mom knows the best formula for them, so who needs me?" I quaked.

I turned quickly on my heels and went to mine and Atem's bedroom.

Quick as I could, I packed my Rilakkuma backpack with my essentials.

I decided right then that I would spend the next few days at my parents'.

Before anyone could protest, I was out the door. I called a taxi to take me.

When I got there, I hesitated to knock. I knew they would let me stay, but what I didn't know was what they would say about me leaving after just having the babies.

As soon as I had the courage, I knocked.

"Please let them be understanding," I thought.

When the door opened, my mom was surprised to see me standing there, especially with a lack of a pregnant belly.

"Mom, I need somewhere to stay for a few days," I told her before she could say anything.

"But, what about your baby?" she asked as I walked in.

"Babies, Mom," I informed her, "Both girls."

Her eyes lit up as she asked, "Either way, why are you here?"

"Atem and I had a fight," I answered with a sigh, "I don't even know what's going on anymore."

She motioned for me to sit on the couch.

After I did so, she said, "Tell me what's going on."

I started to cry.

"T-Today's the anniversary of when we got back together," I managed to say, "A-And we were having such a good day until I made a comment about not being ready for kids and th-then he snapped and told me to get out!"

I started crying harder.

"Mama, he doesn't love me anymore!"

She hugged me close to her.

"That's not true, baby, he loves you very much," she said, "You guys are just going through a hard time right now. It's a new experience."

I sniffled and asked, "Can I stay here until I cool off?"

She nodded.

"Of course, sweetie. Make yourself at home," she answered.

I smiled slightly and took my bag to my old room.

After I did so, I returned to the living room just in time to eavesdrop on my parents' conversation.

"She can't be here, Rania. She has responsibilities now."

"I know that, Seth, but she needs some time away from him."

I stepped fully into the room.

"Hey, Dad," I said.

"Hi, sweetheart. A pleasant surprise to see you," he replied.

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Cut the lies, Dad. I just heard you saying I shouldn't be here," I told him.

His face turned the deepest shade of red in embarrassment.

"Yeah, you should probably check before you say things. Mom, can I borrow your car?"

She nodded and threw me the keys.

I walked out and got in the car.

~Atem's POV~

I sighed.

I shouldn't have said all those things to her.

It had already been over an hour since she left.

I felt my phone ring in my pocket.

It was the number from the hospital.

I quickly answered.

"Hello?"

"This is Rachel from Sharp Memorial Hospital. Are you Mr. Muto?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, your fiancee was just admitted. She was hit while driving. A passerby called 911."

My eyes widened in horror.

"I'll be there right away," I answered, hanging up the phone afterwards.

I ran into the kitchen where my mother was.

"Mom, I need to borrow your car," I said quickly.

"What for?" she asked.

"Mana is in the hospital, Mom! I need to be there," I told her.

She walked over and gave me her keys.

"Stay safe, my son," she said.

"I will, Mother, I promise," I told her.