important notice!!

if you don't wanna see aera pregnant i suggest you skip this chapter and read the "abortion" one instead. there's not really any use of you reading this chapter because aera's gonna agree to have the baby and things will start getting happy, which i know will bug you. so yeah, please don't stay here just to say how wrong their decision is. i get your point and i respect it, which is why i made two endings of this series. so yeah, see you on the abortion part if you don't support this pregnancy? ✨✨

those who are staying, happy reading! i hope you like the interaction coming up 😌✨❤️

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aera didn't think it would be this hard to confront her friends about the news. it's been a week full of self consolidation, constant assurances that she'd be fine and a few panic attacks anyway. so she might as well risk it more and just spill the beans to her friends too. how wrong can it possibly go? they shouldn't really have a reason to be mad, other than what's considered for the sake of their platonic love, however for some reason the thought of telling jake about her pregnancy makes her nervous.

it's not like he wouldn't support her or won't understand her situation. he would. but that didn't lessen the sense on uncertainty that kept weighing her shoulders down. she sits in the backyard of the mansion— yes they moved to the mansion, since aera said that she couldn't stand being alone during the pregnancy and didn't want her child to grow up alone, without anyone to play with and without any elders' support. jungkook was already in the mansion ever since he married, he brought sana with him to the mansion, claiming to live there rather than abandoning it for a three bedroom apartment. he wanted his child to grow up where he grew up with his siblings.

aera's wish to stay together made him more than just happy, and eventually haewon and jimin decided to move in as well for their family bond and a chance to experience how it might feel to live with a big family. so now the jeon siblings along with their respective little families combined together in the prestigious mansion of memories, happiness, health and wealth, to form one big, joint family— under the name "jeon".

the kids, jiwon and jieun are happy to be here, finding the huge space joyous to play and run around, often making the elders chuckle, especially when jieun would frown and try her best to climb up the stairs for back in the apartment where they lived, stairs weren't something she crossed paths with. jiwon would play soccer with jungkook and jimin in the backyard even go skinny dipping in the pool sometimes, then get scolded by his mother for being naked.

aera felt home in the mansion, but felt warm and relaxed seeing jimin's kids playing around the way she remembered herself playing. how jimin would have to remind her to be careful every now and then and yet she would do as she pleased just for the sake of fun, enjoying the way jimin would chase her around to feed her sometimes or get her ready for school. the little scoldings, laughs, jokes, and most importantly the hugs and kisses at every turn of the mansion, made aera smile, happy with her decision of coming back home with her brothers specifically.

"aera, jake and clay are here!" haewon's voice is audible from the kitchen where she's been busy feeding jieun. sana is in the shower, jiwon went to school, jungkook to his studio and jimin office. aera despite not liking the fact that she was forced by jungkook to take an off for a few days, she finds herself relax at home, not even allowed to do anything other than playing with the kids or doing work that concerned herself. haewon is just as caring as jimin is with aera, and that warms up her heart, understanding why jungkook has been looking for a mother figure in her since the day she married jimin.

aera makes her way inside, hearing jieun's babbles and screeching screams probably unhappy with something, making aera chuckle. she smiles as her eyes meet jake and clay already sitting on the high stools by the island counter, "hey," she lets out softly, sitting nearby and glances at haewon who places a cup of hot chocolate in front of her, "i don't feel like having anything right now, unnie,"

"why? are you not feeling well?" haewon asks.

"no no, it's just i ate some fruits a few minutes ago. i'm full,"

"ah okay," haewon smiles, wiping her daughter's mouth and asks the boys, "one of you likes hot chocolate right?"

"jake," clay answers.

"he's a rich person, he likes starbucks that's all," jake comments, "but me, noona, i like everything,"

haewon laughs at him, giving him the cup of hot chocolate and nods for aera to stay by jieun for a moment, "i'll make you some coffee," she smiles at clay, while aera moves her stool closer to jieun's high chair, letting the baby play with her hands. "so how's everything with you two?"

"great actually," jake wipes the side of his lips, "i got promoted after i supervised a major case and now i'm one of the senior officers,"

"that's good! congratulations, jake," haewon beams and asks clay then, who just shakes his head shyly.

"aye come on man! i'll tell you noona," jake says once he has finished the drink, "he's selected as the prime medical representative of south korea with four— or was it three other people?"

"four," clay says.

"yeah right, so our clay with four other people are going to represent our country in the seminar with the world health organization,"

"oh my god! and you're shying away from telling this?" haewon shakes her head, handing him a cup of coffee, "you kids are really amazing. your families must be super proud of you,"

"they are," clay nods with a smile, taking a sip of the coffee and hums, "thanks noona. you're something else when it comes to cooking,"

"mm-hmm," haewon chuckles, wiping her hands and takes a deep breath, carrying jieun up and pats her back, "now jieun will take a nap. say bye to everyone," she cooes at her daughter, who smiles at the boys before waving and clay stands up.

"ah you won't play with us today?"

"jieun so s'eepy..." the baby replies.

"okay then, no worries. jieun should go and sleep. we'll play later,"

"okiee," jieun nods, making the elders laugh at how cutely she nodded. haewon exchanges a glance with aera, mouthing her that she'll be upstairs in her room if they need her. aera nods, returning the smile and watches her head up the stairs, disappearing at the end.

"so, how's everything?" clay asks, sitting beside aera, who shrugs her shoulders lightly, leaning forward on the counter, "are you okay?"

"better than before," she nods, turning to face the boys with hesitation, fiddling with the hem of her shorts, "uhm i have something to tell you guys..."

"we're listening," clay sips on the coffee, being just as calm as jake who's resting back, scrolling through his phone, but they both know that his attention is more on aera's voice.

"last month," she starts, "i went to this club... drinking and stuff. i wanted to just let loose for a night. i met a guy there... he was alone too, just drinking by himself. we started talking, and i won't lie he was attractive, looked like a decent man. an-and i wasn't over kevin yet, i wanted to forget, i wanted— for one night to not care about anything... and that man, he needed some company for the night. that's how we started talking and one thing lead to another..."

"so you hooked up? that's what you're saying?" jake speaks, making it sound as cool as it's normal and aera sighs nodding her head, "and why do we have to know this?"

"because now i'm pregnant," she hushes out, waiting for the reaction which takes a few seconds to rise until the two boys finally gasp. clay standing right beside her with a confused frown pinching his eyebrows together and jake still in his place, his anger growing up eventually as he asks the name of the man. aera sighs softly looking down, feeling ashamed at this point that she doesn't know anything about the person who's the father of her child.

"who was he, aera? do we know him?" clay asks.

"no..." she shakes his head, standing up and tries to calm herself down, "let's go upstairs...?"

"no, just tell me who the fuck is that guy? how dare he touch you—"

"it was consensual..." aera mumbles, growing restless every second and takes jake's hand, tears blurring her eyes, "please... let's talk in my room,"

"okay," clay nods before jake could react, eyeing the friend that it would actually be better to talk in her room than out here in the kitchen. jake follows after the two quietly, although the puffs of his annoyed breaths linger in the air midst pure silence. opening the door of her room, she inhales deeply, letting the boys in first while she tries to steal every little second to calm herself down before finally facing them.

"talk," jake starts, sitting on her bed.

"stop barking," clay hisses at jake, rubbing aera's back and sighs softly, "take your time. and let me know when i've to kick his ass," he says, throwing the shittiest look to jake, making him scoff.

"i'm pregnant. it was just a one night stand... i didn't stop him— i— fuck, i wanted it to happen. but i just... for some dumb reason, didn't even think that i could get pregnant... i don't even remember if we used any protection or not. the night's too blurry in my head..."

the boys remain silent for a moment before jake speaks up, "so, what now? i don't wanna sound like an asshole, but did you think of abortion or anything?"

aera nibbles on her lip, "i did. i cried a lot, begged everyone to let me get an abortion. but i'll be keeping the child... i'm financially and overall stable, the sex was consensual. i can't abort the child. the doctor said those are the grounds for abortion, i guess?"

clay nods slowly, reaching out to hug aera and strokes her hair, "are you okay with this?"

"not yet," she closes her eyes, lips quivering with the a potential sob as she shakes her head, "i feel like dying... it's so scary, knowing that i have a life developing inside me and i'll have to give birth in a few months... that i'll be responsible for this child, i'll have to take care of it and love it and everything... it scares me and i have no idea what i'm gonna do... if i'll even make it or not... i don't wanna turn out like my parents..."

"you'll do fine," clay assures, "i can't possibly imagine how it must feel to be under that pressure, but know that it's gonna be okay. some things are better left in the hands of time,"

"i don't know..." she sniffles, rubbing her eyes and pulls away, "i didn't tell oppa or unnie anything about this, but..." she gulps, glancing at jake and then at clay, "i can't sleep. i'm having these— i don't know weird cravings? and no not the pregnancy ones..." she sits on the bed, covering her mouth as she cries silently, making the boys frown. jake gets up quickly, looking around for some water and grabs the bottle as soon as his eyes land on it, twisting the lid open and helps aera take a sip.

"shh, don't cry," he hushes out, cupping her face and wipes her chin where a drop of water slid, "relax, okay? now tell me, what's wrong?"

"alcohol..." she stares at him, nibbling at her lip, "i used to drink a lot... almost every evening or night... now i can't because of the pregnancy... and i can't sleep at night. i can't drink, i can't take any pills or literally do anything,"

jake glances at clay, both sighing softly before clay decides to speak, "how long has it been?"

"a month," aera clutches on the edge of the bed, throwing her head back as she stares at the ceiling, breathing slowly and gradually quietens down on her own, "what should i do?"

"try not to think about alcohol? i don't know," jake thinks, turning to clay, "hey, you're a doctor, you suggest something,"

"honestly, you can try distracting yourself. for example, you can go for a walk or maybe play with the kids? or wait, you like to paint right? do that,"

"yeah, right," jake chimes.

aera nods slowly, deciding to try it from today and leans forward between the boys, hugging them together, "i love you both so much," she hushes out and jake chuckles, kissing her cheek to which she doesn't act to wipe off today and just closes her eyes.

"comfortable?" jake mumbles, stroking her back and she nods subtly, "good," he hums, glancing at clay who nods, pulling away and stands up, as jake slowly brings her up and lays down on the bed, taking off his jacket and shoes quickly, "c'mere," he nods.

aera looks between him and clay, getting a chuckle as clay winks at her, kicking off his shoes as well and joins the two, cuddling aera from the free side, having her trapped between their big bodies. "are we sleeping now?"

"yeah, i'm free today and yous said you haven't slept well," clay hums.

"same," jake adds, wrapping his arms around her as he turns her back against him, making her face clay, "perfect," he breathes out, spooning aera while she's forced to stare at clay. she's about to complain when a phone starts ringing and by the annoyed wince clay gives, she concludes it's his phone. he pulls it out from the pocket of his pants, answering on seeing that it's his girlfriend.

"yes baby?"

"yes baby," jake mocks in a low tone, making aera chuckle.

"right now? i'm a little busy— no, of course not. jake's at work," clay lies and jake gasps, offended at how his girlfriend doesn't like him hanging out with his friend. "oh, yeah. can we go a little later?"

"you should go," aera whispers, "don't keep her waiting because of me,"

clay nibbles on his lip, opening his mouth to say something but is shut down faster and his eyes widen in response, "i know that, baby. i'll be there in time. you can go first with riah. i'm with aera right now, actually. she kinda needed to talk about something," he says, "yeah, fine. bye, love you. i'll be there before the show begins don't worry,"

after putting his phone on the nightstand, clay lays down and aera hugs him without a word, closing her eyes. although when she thinks she might sleep, a hand travels over her abdomen, resting there like it was some sort of pillow. aera squints her eyes, following the hand up to the arm and finds jake smiling nervously as he caresses her belly, "what are you doing?"

"i thought you must be hurting..." he admits, leaning closer and places a kiss close to her jaw, "you're too precious to be going through all this,"

"can you stop?" clay makes a weird face and jake smirks, showing him a middle finger as he snuggles closer to aera, getting a playful giggle from her. clay stops to take a moment, glancing at her smiling in jake's hold as he doesn't stop and leaves a few more ticklish smooches around the right side of face, where he can reach easily.

"hey uhm, i think i'll go. i just remembered i had to buy something for soomin. it's soon going to be our one year dating anniversary,"

"damn, that's romantic," aera says and clay smiles, rubbing the back of his neck while his eyes move to jake, making an eye contact that asks the latter to take care of her. jake stares for a moment, nodding slowly and clay smiles at the two, leaning down for one last hug which aera gives quickly and jake does too,  little hesitantly.

"kiss her if she cries," clay whispers, "love her, bro. you're the only one who can," jake nibbles on his lip, glancing between aera and clay, nodding slowly as he feels himself smiling softly, "i'll go, but yeah call me if there's anything. and also, she's not all yours,"

jake chuckles at that, returning the brotherly hug and pats clay's back, "have fun with your girl," he mutters with a slight smirk, making clay laugh as he pulls away and waves at aera before heading out.

aera sighs deeply, sitting up on the bed and leans against the headboard, grabbing the remote of the tv and looks at jake, "movie?"

"sure, if you don't wanna sleep," he shrugs his shoulders, hesitating a little but then, taps on her shoulder, getting a hum from the girl, "can you uhm... okay don't think i'm a creep or that i'm trying anything... but i think you should wear a crop top,"

aera stares at him dumbfounded, not understanding where this is going, so she asks, "why?"

"you look good in those," he says.

aera looks down at herself. she's dressed in a big t-shirt that's definitely not hers, probably one of her brothers', and a pair of cotton shorts. biting her lip in an attempt to hide her smile, she looks at jake again, "i don't look good right now?"

"you do! of course you do," he bites his tongue,  "nevermind, forget what i said,"

aera laughs at him, getting up and walks to her closet, pulling out a plain, small crop top with spaghetti straps and arches a brow at jake. he doesn't react, just watches her as she closes the door and after a few seconds, makes her way back towards the bed, not hidden under a baggy t-shirt, but hugged by a tiny crop top. "your crush on me is showing," she whispers mischievously and jake rolls his eyes.

"as if,"

she giggles, stopping on her track to lock the door before climbing up next to him and makes him rest against the headboard, so she can comfortably lean on him and pulls the blanket over, sending him a smile once she's settled in the warmth of his body, "brat," he clicks his tongue, wrapping his arm around her waist, resting his hand on her belly and leans down, "you're gonna be a mom... that's..."

"i know," aera nods, "that's scary,"

"well yeah," jake hums, grazing his fingertips on her skin, watching her relax, "but isn't it kinda fascinating too? you'll have a son or a daughter, just like jimin hyung's kids. and because you're beautiful, your baby will be beautiful too," aera laughs at that, scrunching her face as she looks at him over her shoulder, making him smile. "yeah, i'm not lying. imagine a really cute baby who will call you... uhm what would you like? mom? mamma— what did you call your mom?"

aera thinks for a moment, leaning against his chest properly so she can also look at his face and replies, "mamma,"

"cute," jake chuckles, "so now, imagine a very cute baby calling you mamma, laughing when you're happy, and playing hide and seek with you. isn't that adorable? and just think how cool of a mother you'll make. like the one who knows how to kick guys in the nuts, the one who's a lawyer, the one jams to a wide music range from doja cat and post malone and cardi-b, to cigerettes after sex and conan gray and so much in between. i have a feeling that you'll be the coolest mom and your baby will love you for who you are,"

aera stares at him, not reacting to any of his words but stays quiet, not repulsing to the idea either. jake smiles softly, holding her hand and kisses the back of it softly, "if you're worrying about the child not having a father, then please  get up and look around. not too far, just in your mirror," his words hit like a truck and aera's eyes fill with tears at the mention. jake chuckles however, never letting her go and continues speaking, "did you need your parents to grow up well? you turned out way better than they could've possibly raised you,"

"it was different. i had my brothers with me," aera protests.

"and your child will have you," he says.

"what if i mess up? what if i hurt him... or her?" aera pulls herself straight, sitting face to face with jake and he pulls her closer, neither of them minding when he causally brings her on his lap and places his hands on the small of her back,

"you need to give it some time. no one is perfect, no matter how much a parent loves their child, they do have margins for making mistakes. do you think your brothers never took a wrong decision while they were raising you?" jake asks not protesting when aera shifts a little, placing her arms around his neck and leans in for a hug, sighing on his shoulder.

"they did,"

"see? but do you love them any less because that? no right? because you know that they're also humans just like me and you," he says, "you just need to give it some time. the rest will work out on its own and i know you can do this,"

aera nods slowly, moving her hair from her face and mumbles, "not to sound controversial, but it's true that kids without fathers face more difficulty than kids who have their fathers, isn't it?"

"keeping some bullshit people of the society in mind, unfortunately yes," jake doesn't lie, "it's gonna be tough— definitely not easy for you. raising a child all by yourself, managing work and home, but y'know what's more fascinating, aera? that us, humans, can push ourselves beyond the point where even we want to give up. when life's going hard on us, we go harder, and that's absolutely beautiful because we manage it anyhow. most of the people are never ready for the problems life is going to throw at them, but they make it out anyway because they don't stop. we don't have to plan every step, baby, we just need a reason to keep going,"

aera smiles through teary eyes, pressing her lips on his cheek for a moment longer than she would normally have. jake however, cups her face, tilting her face so he can easily lean down and kiss her on the lips. aera closes her eyes, tears flowing down and jake holding her close. the kiss is warm and slow as if it was his way of promising her that he wasn't going to leave her alone in this at any point.

jake breaks the kiss for a mere second, his hand caressing the skin of her abdomen as he hushes out to her, "please don't ever hate your child, sweetheart. that's the only thing that can actually break a child," he says, kissing her again and takes her hand in his, letting her touch her own belly and hums, "love this kid. because if you don't, i'm still gonna do it anyway, for both of you,"

aera releases a soft breath, staring back at the pair of eyes watching her closely, realising today they grew up indeed. she looks down, feeling jake's hand giving a gentle squeeze on her hand, "yes," he emphasizes, getting a soft gaze from aera, "i'll kiss you again if you keep looking at me like that,"

aera glances down, gulping down her nervousness and jake's about to say something more when a knock echoes at the door, making aera jump slightly in her place. jake's hands loosen on her body, releasing a sigh as he lets go of her and nods for her to take the door. aera stands up, fixing her hair and glances at the mirror once before opening the door and smiles on seeing sana standing there.

"hey, uhm can i borrow your charger? i can't find mine, i don't know where jungkook kept it last night," she says, getting a nod from aera as she turns back around, quickly grabbing her charger from the electric socket near the night stand and hands it over to sana, "thanks," she beams, her eyes travelling inside where she finds jake, who's standing awkwardly giving her a smile.

"uh hi, did i disturb you both?"

"no, not at all. we were just watching a movie," aera says, "clay got some work, so it's just us,"

"ah okay. anyway, i'll leave you guys alone then. enjoy your movie and— why don't you grab some snacks?"

"good idea! i was just thinking about that!" jake chimes, getting questioning looks from the girls, making him flustered, however before he reacts haewon joins at the door as well.

"what's going on here?" she asks.

"nothing noona, i'm just a bit hungry,"

"ah you kids," haewon shakes her head, and sana suppresses her laugh, arching up a brow at him. jake pleads her virtually to not say anything, getting a knowing smile from sana as she glances at aera too, making the girl look away instantly.

"unnie, could you please make some spaghetti for us?" aera asks, grabbing jake's hand and pulls him out of her room, shutting the door right after, "we'll be on the terrace. clay said i should do things that make me happy, and painting is one of them,"

haewon smiles at her, nodding instantly, "you should definitely do that," she cups aera's cheek, "and let your oppas know that you're their strong girl, yeah?"

"mm-hmm," aera grins, kissing haewon's cheek just like she always did ever since the day they had their first girls' night when aera was just fifteen and haewon was still new as jimin's wife. the only reason aera's closer to haewon could be that she's known her for more years and practically grew up in front of her. haewon's presence with jimin completed aera's family in unsaid ways whether or not anyone noticed it. but the empty spot of a motherly love that aera missed was fulfilled only after haewon came in her life.

sana is not a bad person either. she's amazing, outgoing and competitive just like jungkook. her jokes are funny and she's got an awesome taste in fashion, be it some classy dress or mind-blowing make up. she loves getting all dolled up and be ready everyday, one reason she claims for it (other than her own love for make up and dresses) is that jungkook loves seeing her flaunting herself. aera loves sana for who she is and would much rather sit and have a nice chat with sana than spending her weekends alone. although other than some friendly meetings with jungkook and just twice without him, aera doesn't remember any extra time spent with her for both the girls were too busy in the past few months, aera especially with her life going like a roller coaster.

still she was happy that they don't have any awkward tension between them and she loves the fact that sana is jungkook's wife. the only difference between sana and haewon's behaviour towards aera would be that haewon tends to be baby her more often just like her brothers, never disregarding the fact that jimin always did call aera his daughter; whereas sana, having been met with aera much later in life, during the divorce phase, doesn't treat aera like a child. they have a bond more like that of two friends than a motherly influence.

"i'll help you," sana offers to haewon, stepping beside her while she looks at jake and aera, "you guys should go and paint,"

"unnie," aera eyes her to not make it sound weird and the elder girl chuckles, leaving with haewon.

"what was that?" haewon asks.

"jake likes her," sana whispers all giddy and haewon gasps.

"i've been saying that since they were sixteen!"

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a/n- jake x aera shippers how are we feeling???! 😍😍😍😍😍 hsksksksksj please don't forget to comment nd let me know what you guys think okay? 😌💅✨

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