.sixty four.

-

"He's a boy, and he's very small and frail despite all the life he took from you."  

-

It was the middle of the night when Minji and Eun were cuddled up together in bed. She had hardly been able to sleep, as laying down was uncomfortable for her and she couldn't find a spot in which to sleep in. It didn't help that Eun clung to her desperately while he slept, and she didn't want to disturb him, so she said nothing of it to him. From their bedroom window was the beautiful sight of the moon shining in the sky above, and the stars decorated the night sky in a marvelous blanket. She was slowly starting to drift off to sleep when she felt a pain in her belly.

Minji flinched, her hands quickly going to touch her pregnant stomach. "What is it, Jinki?" she whispered to her baby with gentle words. 

There was a silence for several minutes before she felt a shooting pain, and she remembered it was the same as when the twins were going to be born. Though she was weak, she turned her in her husband's arms and shook him away with trembling hands. Of the late, her hands shook a lot and were always cold. Her doctor informed her it was due to the baby making her weak. Her hands shook because they were tired, and they were cold because her blood was weak and therefore not getting enough circulation through her body.

The tenth prince woke up after a few tries, his eyes blinking back tiredly. "What's wrong, jagi?" He asked her in a husky voice full of sleep. When he saw the pain reflected in her eyes, the desire to sleep completely left his body. He sat up in bed quickly and asked her in words full of fear and worry. "It's time?" Ever since she had informed him of their baby's love for him, he had eased up on the accusations of the baby being a horrible monster. Still, in the back of his mind he resented the baby. He just wasn't as vocal about it as he had been the previous months. It was all for Minji's sake because she didn't have much time left and he wanted to enjoy their time together without any arguments or bad blood.

When she nodded her head, his thoughts raced in a panic. Only he, Minji, the twins, and their one overnight maid were in the house at the moment. They had a few options to go fetch the doctor, but none were options that Eun wanted to do. He could stay with the twins and send their maid to find a doctor. He could go find the doctor himself. Or he could run to his younger brother Han's house and get him to summon the doctor for him. Eun didn't want to leave Minji alone in the house, while being in pain. But he thought the best option was to send the overnight maid out to Han's house, and ask him to bring the doctor to them. It would be momentary, and the tenth prince gave his wife a kiss on the lips, assuring that he would be right back.

He woke the maid and gave her specific instructions to hurry to Han's house and ask him to summon the doctor. Then he asked her to come right back and help take care of the twins while his wife was in labor. The maid nodded and left the house in a hurry, Eun picked the two one years olds in his arms and raced back to his room where Minji was now laying on her back, her frail hands rubbing her belly slowly. 

When she looked up at him with confusion as to why he was holding two startled and crying one year olds in his arms, he explained to her, "I sent their over night maid out to tell Han to summon your doctor. She'll be back in a few minutes."

Minji nodded, sweat beading on her forehead as Eun tried to rock the two crying babies back to sleep. Their maid came back with Soon Deok within twenty minutes that felt like hours to them. She took Soohyun from Eun's arms and Soon Deok offered to take Eunbi too, but Eun held onto her, trying to get her to sleep. It was more comfort for himself, having something to do instead of standing there watching his wife in pain. Soon Deok was almost as far along as her younger sister, and even through her pain, she offered her sister a seat by the edge of her bed so that she wouldn't get tired.

It was nearly an hour before Han returned with the doctor, and by then her contractions were very close together. Eun held his daughter tightly in his arms, wishing with all of his heart that it would be Minji who would live that night. 

The doctor quickly set up everything--still it would be several exhausting hours of pushing, and bloody linens, and a lot of pain. The doctor was not sure if Minji would even make it through it all. The nurse took Eunbi from the tenth prince, informing him that all of the noise would startle her once the birthing process would start. Eun parted with his daughter unwillingly, as he remembered from their birth that it really was something children shouldn't see. He remembered a bit over a year and a half how he almost left the room because he was feeling queasy and weak from watching his wife a bloody suffering mess.

Han left the room as well. He had seen many things on the battle fields, but he wasn't prepared to watch a woman give birth. He dropped a hand on his brother's shoulder and solemly wished him good luck, especially because he knew the chances of Minji surviving were minimal.

Only Soon Deok, Eun, and the doctor remained with Minji, and it was going to be a difficult next several hours.

-

The sun was rising over Goryeo and Minji was still trying to push the baby out. 

"She can't do it." The doctor turned to Eun. "She's too weak and soon enough he won't be able to breathe in there. She's tiring herself out and they'll both die."

Eun went to sit by his wife's wide and brought a cold wash cloth to her forehead. He leaned in close and pressed his lips to hers. He could see how much it was affecting her now, not being able to push the baby out. She was growing desperate and there were tears stinging at her eyes. As much as he wanted her to be the one to live, he had to encourage her to do her best, since it would only help her in the end. 

"I know you can do this, jagi." He whispered to her gently. "Don't think about the pain."

His words were enough to make her break out into sobs. She brought her hands to her face and cried, feeling like she was a terrible mother for what was happening to her child. "I can't do it, love. I'm weak. He's going to die because of me."

"No." He shook his head, giving her reassurance. "You can do this."

Minji was comforted by his support, especially considering that he was no longer against the idea of her having the child. It was too late already to protest anyway and all he could do was to show her that he was by her side no matter what. It filled Minji with happiness, and she thought, that as her dying wish, she could ask him to take care of and love Jinki. She would feel her heart and her body significantly weakened by her pregnancy. She didn't know exactly how much time she had left, but she could feel her life coming to an end.

She took in a deep breath to gather some strength and continued pushing with all her might, this time, Eun took her hand in his, sitting by her side. It was a few more hours of pushing when the doctor informed them that the baby was almost out. He assisted her the rest of the way and she sunk back into the pillows tiredly as they heard a baby's crying fill the room. 

Minji felt her eyes drooping closed, the room was spinning around her, and her chest heaved tiredly. Yet, she still held her arms out to reach for her baby. The doctor had cut the umbilical chord and brought the crying baby to his mother. "He's a boy, and he's very small and frail despite all the life he took from you." Minji didn't like the way he was wording things, but she shook the thought away. It was a happy moment for her, and she wasn't going to let anyone tarnish it for her.

"My Jinki..." She said weakly as she brought the baby to her chest.

Eun watched her bitterly because he could see how happy she looked with their baby, despite what he had done to her. The baby instantly calmed when he was in her arms, snuggling close to her as though knowing that she was the only person who loved him and wanted him to live. 

The general's daughter looked towards her husband, offering, "Hold him, Eunnie."

But the tenth prince only gave a shake of his head. "I can't."

Minji didn't argue it with him and instead asked her sister to hold the baby. Soon Deok had similar thoughts about the baby as Eun did. Everyone around them thought the same thing, but she would never tell her sister about it. She wanted Minji to feel supported and loved until her very last moment. She quickly reached forward to take the child in her arms and was softened at the sight of him. He was just a tiny baby who wanted to live and had no idea the toll that his development and birth was taking on his mother. She quickly regretted all the negative thoughts she'd had about him during her sister's pregnancy.

"Eun..." Minji said through her battered breaths. The doctor was still in the room, cleaning his equipment. But the room was mess of blood and fluids. It was a gory scene that no one could ever get used to. For Minji it was especially different because in the present people just went to the hospital where things went on more smoothly. "I'm not going to make it past today. I can feel it. My body wants so badly to give up and finally rest."

Her husband's eyes brimmed with tears. "Stop, Hak Soon." He pleaded with a shaking voice. "I don't want you to go without me. Please don't."

She looked at him with a weak smile, her hand slowly touching his face. "I don't want you to think of it that way, like I've chosen to abandon you and the children. Think that our love was temporary but beautiful, and that if the opportunity presents itself, we will be meeting again. Possibly in another life. I will be there waiting for you, every day." Her words came out in a tired voice that they could all barely hear. But he was the only one who really needed to hear it. Still, her words made tears spill from her sister's eyes as well. She was her younger sister, only sixteen, and she was already on the brink of losing her life. Life was fleeting and unfair like that. The good died young.

"Hak Soon please..." He cried, unable to contain his tears.

"Eun..." She continued, feeling her life slipping away. "I never thought that arrogant little tenth prince would be someone important in my life, but you have been. You have been my greatest love. My best friend. The love of my life."

"And you are the rain of my soul." He told her, taking her hand in his and bringing it to his tear soaked face. He could feel it already, her hands were cold, her face was pale. She was more dead than alive at that point. The only thing that was really keeping her there were the last requests that she had for him. 

"Promise me you'll take care of Jinki, and that you will love him like you have loved me." She asked of him. "He's ours, and he is a part of me. Don't mistreat him."

The tenth prince was a sobbing mess by that point. He could barely get the words out as he replied to her. "Only for your sake, only because you have asked this of me, I will try to love that child."

"Thank you love." She offered him a faint smile.

And then, she closed her eyes.

-

the chapter we've all been dreading. the baby has been born, soon deok is still pregnant. minji has asked eun to take care of the baby with her dying breath. 

anyway, im going out with my cousin noww.

but i hope you all enjoy the chapter. thank you loads for reading. i hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. i will try to update again tomorrow, since i have the day off. i had the day off today, yesterday, and tomorrow as well.

-clary