Ch.281281. Just One Step

When preparing for your wife’s delivery, never show irritation or let it show. I never intended to anyway, but after hearing advice based on experience, I became completely convinced. Be careful with your words, always.

“I’m telling you this because you remind me of my son, so be careful, Siwoo. Got it?”

The doctor who gave me this valuable advice patted my shoulder.

“Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for the advice…”

As I blinked and expressed my gratitude, the doctor smiled quietly. It was a warm smile that was reassuring just to see, but the nurse standing beside him didn’t share the same expression.

“Doctor? It’s time to see the next patient.”

“Ah, is it that time already? Let’s go then.”

“Yes, doctor. I’ll go ahead.”

The nurse spoke firmly and walked ahead. The doctor glanced at me one last time, nodded, and followed behind at a leisurely pace.

──Why would you say such things to someone you’re meeting for the first time? Do you know how embarrassed I was?

──What’s there to be embarrassed about? I’m just warning you that such cases exist. Besides, I saw Siwoo, I mean your husband’s face. He looks exactly like I did when I was young, so I couldn’t just stay quiet…

──Oh, please. You’re saying you were that handsome? How can you say such rude things so casually…

“…Hmm.”

I didn’t intend to, but it felt awkward like I was eavesdropping. Even though they were talking about me, I pretended not to hear and opened the door to the delivery room, walking inside.

“Honey, what were you talking about?”

“Nothing special. Just, you know, helpful advice and stuff.”

I was worried she might ask for details. I held her hand and made up an excuse, and she nodded with a smile. Normally she would have persisted, but she seemed tired from the contractions coming at regular intervals.

“How are you feeling? Is it bearable?”

“Yes, for now… Heh.”

“What? Why are you suddenly laughing? Did something good happen while I was gone?”

“I’m just happy holding your hand, honey.”

“Really? Doesn’t it feel strange because of my calluses?”

It’s not something to brag about, but my palms have quite thick calluses. Probably from the metal barbells I carried around all the time.

The friction heat generated when gripping something during exercise is more intense than we think, so people who’ve exercised for a while all have calluses on their hands like mine. Since Hwa Nabi doesn’t, I thought she wouldn’t like the feel of my calluses.

“No? It’s not strange at all. I like it because it feels like a real man’s hand.”

Hwa Nabi seemed to enjoy the sensation, playing with our joined hands and gently touching my calluses. Finding it ticklish, I chuckled and said:

“Most people don’t like it, you’re quite unique, Nabi.”

“Wait a minute. Most people? Honey, have you held hands with other women?”

“…How could that be possible? I just heard it somewhere.”

“Oh, really? I thought…”

Hwa Nabi’s eyes sharpened for a moment, but returned to normal as soon as she heard my explanation.

…Even while lying down preparing for childbirth, she’s still as vigilant as ever. I just resolved to be careful with my words, and I nearly created an awkward atmosphere with another slip of the tongue. I need to be more careful.

“Anyway, if you want to hold hands, we can keep holding them. Today, you can hold them as much as you want.”

“Really? If I say I want to hold hands all day, will you hold my hand all day?”

“Yes, I’ll keep holding it until you let go first.”

She smiles happily at my joking remark. A genuine smile without any pretense.

Her eyebrows curve gently, and the corners of her mouth rise slightly.

“Even if you say that, I won’t let you off easy. You’re going to have a tough day, honey.”

“This is nothing compared to what you’re going through.”

Lying in an unfamiliar hospital bed to give birth—if that’s not hardship, what is? Thinking about it again made me feel sympathetic, so I reached out and stroked Hwa Nabi’s hair.

“If there’s anything you want me to do or anything you need, just tell me. I’ll do anything for you today.”

“Heh, your service is especially good today. Ah, I want to give birth every day.”

“Then we could form a soccer team with just our kids?”

That would be thirty children in just one month. When I joked like that, Hwa Nabi snickered. She must have found it funny too.

“Heh… ugh.”

While laughing, her expression suddenly froze. I could feel the strength in her hand, which meant a contraction had arrived.

“Nabi, are you okay?”

“…Honey.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“Something feels strange, I think my water broke… Could you call the doctor?”

*

To cut to the chase, her water had indeed broken. So she quickly received antibiotics, and after some time, when her cervix had dilated more than 4 centimeters, she also got an epidural.

I heard it was an injection that reduces the pain from contractions, helping the mother deliver more comfortably… but seeing Hwa Nabi still grimacing in pain after twenty minutes, it didn’t seem very effective. They did say effects vary from person to person, but of all people, Hwa Nabi had to be one of those rare cases.

As I watched, I felt both sorry and distressed, but there was nothing I could do except hold her hand. I wished I could take the pain for her, but that wasn’t possible.

…And so, Hwa Nabi, who didn’t even benefit from the epidural, had been fighting contractions for a full ten hours.

“Honey… what time is it now?”

“Eleven thirty PM.”

“It’s that late already… Did you eat dinner?”

“Yeah, I grabbed something.”

That’s a lie. There’s no way I could eat alone while Hwa Nabi was suffering with contractions every five minutes. So I skipped two meals in a row.

Normally I would have been suffering from hunger, but strangely, today I felt completely calm. The reason must be Hwa Nabi in front of me. Seeing her in such pain from contractions, I didn’t even think about food.

“Heh… what did you eat?”

“I just had some rice with water.”

“Oh, that’s not good… you’ll lose muscle mass.”

Even at a time like this, she’s worried about my body first? Her face was all scrunched up, but hearing her talk about muscle loss made me feel both grateful and a little amused. I shouldn’t be like this in front of someone who’s suffering.

Feeling sorry for her, I stroked her hair, and Hwa Nabi gritted her teeth and held her breath. Seeing that made me feel even more sympathetic. If only she could give birth quickly, she’d suffer less.

“Nabi. Just hang in there a little longer.”

“Ugh… honey.”

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“The pain is bad enough… but I’m so hungry.”

“…Should I give you some water?”

Obviously, you can’t eat anything during labor. The only thing allowed is the bottled water provided by the hospital.

Seeing her squeezing her eyes shut while complaining about hunger made me feel terrible. I wanted to feed her something, but that would cause problems.

“Yes, give me some water…”

“Just a moment.”

I put a bendable straw in the tumbler and brought it to Hwa Nabi’s lips. She moved her lips to take the straw into her mouth and carefully sucked to drink the water.

But she spat out the straw before even taking a full sip. I tried offering it again, but she weakly shook her head to refuse.

“You don’t want more?”

“No, I have no appetite.”

No appetite for water? The contractions must be so severe that she can’t think straight.

“Okay, I understand.”

I couldn’t force her if she didn’t want it, so I put the tumbler away. And instead, though it’s not much of a substitute, I held Hwa Nabi’s right hand firmly with both of mine.

“…Honey, you know what.”

“Yes?”

“I want to take back what I said earlier.”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“About wanting to give birth every day. This… I can’t do this every day. Even with you holding my hand, it’s not worth it.”

She seems to be in less pain now, muttering with a bitter smile. I gently massaged her hand and said:

“I’m sure, you’re going through so much.”

“Honey, I’m going to charge you for all this overtime later…”

“Sure, charge me as much as you want.”

“Really? No backing out…?”

“Yes, no backing out. I’ll let you do whatever you want, but let’s get through the delivery safely first.”

I’m not sure what she plans to charge me for. But if saying this helps ease Hwa Nabi’s pain even a little, that’s good enough.

Just as I answered without thinking, life returned to Hwa Nabi’s eyes. Then she slightly pulled our joined hands and stared at me intently.

“…Honey. Call the doctor please.”

“Why, is something else wrong?”

“No. It’s not that… I think it’s coming.”

“Huh? What’s coming?”

“What else? Of course, it’s Woo-ah…!”

…What? Is she serious? For a moment I thought she was joking, but seeing Hwa Nabi clenching her teeth, it seems she really felt something. I quickly pressed the call button at the head of the bed.

Within thirty seconds, a nurse arrived. I briefly explained the situation, and as soon as she heard, the nurse put up a partition and checked Hwa Nabi’s condition.

“Sir, please wait outside the delivery room immediately.”

“What? Oh, yes.”

It was a sudden expulsion, but there must be a reason they wanted me out, so I left in a daze. Outside the door, the doctor was waiting with two nurses, no longer in casual clothes but fully geared up.

As I exited the delivery room, the two nurses opened the door and went inside, as if trading places with me. The doctor, who was following behind them, stopped just before passing me.

“Sir.”

Our eyes met. Warm and familiar eyes. But the atmosphere was different from a few hours ago. He wasn’t smiling warmly at me, but had an intensely serious look.

“It will be over soon, so please wait calmly for a moment.”

The moment I heard the doctor’s confident words, I could sense it.

“…Yes. I understand.”

That soon, I would be meeting Woo-ah.