"Her cries weren't that bad, but it was a fucking plane, and everyone was just looking. I think half the plane hated us at the end of it. There was this bitch down the aisle that couldn't stop glaring at me—Fuck!" The growl was almost a shriek. "Of course, I wanted Rumiko to shut up! I'd shut her up myself if I could. I think I almost lost my shit then, spent two hours locked in the lavatory because I think it was soundproof or at least I hope it was— FUCK. Fuck." He wrung his hands, blinked harder as he stared blankly at her face. "We should have stayed we're not changing back. Nothing's fucking happening!"
"Shit," Ezra winced moving forward to give him a pat on the back. "I'm so sorry bro. On the bright side, Amber's pretty good as you. She can take your place easily tonight." His comment made MinJae grow quiet, a dark look in his eyes. And Amber pursed her lips, handing Ezra their daughter who made a soft whining noise that had the man immediately on alert and bouncing. She turned to MinJae hand rubbing his arms and leading him out of the craze before he tried to kill someone.
"How about you take a bath first? I'll make you some warm honey tea, then you can sleep on my couch. It's the softest in this place because I stole all the pillows." She assured, smoothly drawing him away from the noise of an incoming show and towards a quieter spot.
"What if we switch?" his voice was trembling, "I think I could die if I have to dance. I thought staff would help on the plane; Kang Min was there, but he couldn't do a thing. Rumiko cried harder in his arms." He rambled on as she pulled off his shirt, pulling him into the bathroom for a dip. He stumbled, zombie like and swaying into the hot water. She winced at the bruise on his hip.
"There's coffee," she answered leaning against the sink. "And time for you to rest. Where did you get the bruise?"
"I hit the sink during turbulence," he answered back through the fog of steam, "think I've been awake for 72 hours. I can't do this, can you just take over?" he groaned through the rush of the water. "And Rumiko, the crazy kid, she almost bit off your nipples." This time Amber let loose a laugh that she covered with her palm quickly.
"Oh, she did not."
"She fucking did," was his hissed-out response, he cursed when he dropped the shampoo. And she swiftly opened the door to pick it up for him, handing the bottle over. "It hurt so bad, there was a wound, I had to put on a bandage. It's still here."
"Could happen," she answered with a nod. "I've heard of women that had theirs drop off completely. They just tape it right back. I'd go to the doctor if it gets inflamed."
"No," was his ashen reply. "You're kidding."
"I'm not."
"Our uh, wounds? Symptoms? Don't stay with us when we switch back, right?"
"Yeah…They don't," she gazed at him apologetically. "You're going to see that bite on your nipple when we switch back."
"Fuck," he sighed, stepping out in all her naked glory. towelling her hair. It was a strange dynamic to look at one's own naked body with the soul of her lover. But she was pretty damn used to looking at her own ass. He glanced up at her with a dip in his brow. "You were right about the breastfeeding, fucking hurts."
"Yeah," she answered not wanting to push his buttons. Quietly she took the towel, rubbing the water out of his hair and for a moment they stood in silence. He seemed to fidget, bouncing on his toes before he had the urge to speak. His voice trembling as he spoke.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, stared up at her, "I guess our bond wanted me to experience that. This. Being a real mom."
"You can say what you're really thinking," she answered, helping him with the cream and he sighed against her as she massaged his shoulders, digging into the spots that she knew she liked. He laid his face against her shoulder with a groan. "This is my revenge. You must kind of hate me, dislike me a little?"
"No," he shook his head, "I hate it, but I'm part of her development, you get to rest, your nipples aren't getting bitten off. It makes sense. We're really co-parenting now." She felt a rush then a warmth that spread across her cheeks. It was better knowing that he was exhausted and on the verge of a breakdown and yet those words escaped his lips filled with sincerity and truth.
"You're kidding."
"I'm not."
"Oh."
She exhaled, felt a rush of warmth spread through her system as her smile grew.
"God, that sounded so hot and sexy I could kiss you."
He giggled then just as she smoothed down his shirt. "Not like this. I don't want to kiss myself. Fucking disgusting. It's like incest."
"Me too, but I will when you're back."
"Our situation is a compromise," MinJae continued as she led him to the couch, he sank into it with a groan, "and I like that. It makes me feel like a better guy. Like a father that can do more than what normal fathers get to do. You know? I like being part of the process."
"You've always been better than all the fathers out there," she assured, and he smiled, shaking his head.
"I was a little mad that I had to be you for a while but now I think it's only fair that we share and I'm not just doing you a favour? Like it has become my job to feed her? Because in the first place it was my job to share the workload?" His brows furrowed as he finished his tea. "It makes sense that we're doing everything together."
She smiled, fluffing the pillows, and turning on the humidifier. "Better keep up that promise."
"Hikaru was the one who lectured us about it." He answered with a shrug, "we had books on invisible labour. And feminism things. It was a nice read."
"You're belittling yourself," she chuckled, patting his cheek, "It's not like you don't do any housework."
"Yeah," he nodded, "but it was mostly the older guys. If you notice the younger ones are on the couch most of the time. Hikaru, Casper, Oliver and Ezra are like our dads. They're the ones pulling the weight, cooking, cleaning. We've just got minor roles."
"Babies," she teased.
"Sorry I'll show you that I'm better," he grinned then yawned as he snuggled under the covers, an eye mask over his face. "That's the only way to do it. You're so much better with care. Y'know when Ezra said that shit with that attitude when I was talking about the plane, I could have punched him in his ugly face. You're the only one that actually cared about how shit I felt."
"No, no. He was just being a little crass. He'll understand if you talk to him, but you know I'd have stepped in if he got too far. I'll lecture him tonight after the show, won't mention your name. Promise I'll solve everything, you just have to sleep as much as you need."
"Yeah, I love you," he mumbled, falling quickly to sleep. Quietly, she placed a blanket over him then tiptoed out of the vicinity with only one thing on her mind. She cornered the first soulmate she could find. Oliver was startled when she swooped in on him, he gaped at her.
"Amber?"
"Yeah, quick seduce me," she hissed, her eyes darting to the sounds of a gurgling baby in the opposite room.
"What?"
"Just—Fine, I'll do it myself," she pulled them close, fingers tracing up his throat to cup his chin bringing him down closer. Her soulmate gulped, eyes wide and nervous. He stared back but then faltered looking away.
"This is awkward… MinJae's face is just not it—"
"Shhh, quiet." She hissed trying to focus, stared at his face and filled herself with his uncanny ability to manipulate her heart and burn her from the inside out. Handsome face flawless with makeup, curls twisting to his eyes that seemed to reveal the depths of his sunny, god-like soul . She'd be lying if she said he wasn't the most good-looking man she'd ever seen. She licked her lips and felt her face grow hot.
"Oh," he breathed, and his pupils dilated growing wider as she transformed. And suddenly there was no space between them but colours bleeding from his skin, ink travelling across his flesh. His cock snuggled against her throbbing core, swelling, warm and hot against her flesh and begging for her to stay. She inhaled, gave a shaky gasp as his fingers tightened around her waste, only for her to pull back stalking out of the room. "Wait."
"Sorry babe," she called back, "I'm a mom on a mission." She pushed open the door to swoop down to her baby, not giving a damn about the occupants in the room staring at her with wide eyes. The child gurgled, laughing as she tickled her belly and cooed, rubbing her nose against soft milky skin. "Did you miss me, baby?"
God, she missed Rumiko, soulmates be damned.
And for the first time in a long time, there was surety of a beautiful future in a life of endless love.
*
Gorgeous was the word she'd describe her soulmates' realm of dreams.
Within nirvana was an oasis of endless stars that didn't seem to care whether her ass stayed on the seat for the entire performance. God no, because genuinely, there was love in the dome of endless cheering.
With her hand on the microphone, her eyes twisted to the side catching a glimpse of her own body on a cushion, shielded behind stage, protected and yet supportive. MinJae had his eyes on the monitor of real time performance, with their baby by his side noise cancellation earphones to her head. Amber grinned as MinJae waved, and her lips moved to the microphone to begin.
They'd end on a good note, pumped full of adrenaline with her impossibly stable live singing as an object of fixation all over the media. They'll be smiling, champaign popped over a dinner of barbecued meat, with her boys all over her and the baby. Rumiko would try her first bite of finger foods with a greedy love for apples. And they'd make jokes about their apple-pie queen creating a baby obsessed with apples.
It seemed that within the greatest calamity, there would always be an impossible opportunity.