One week later, Seo-yeon sat at the breakfast table with a cup of warm milk while her mom flipped through a baby magazine.
"Look at this crib," her mom said, pointing at a page. "White wood, with a little mobile on top. Oh, and this one is even prettier. We'll need two."
"Mom, it's too early."
"It's never too early." Her mom closed the magazine. "We're going shopping today. The mall opened a new floor just for babies. We'll buy clothes, shoes, blankets, everything."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
Seo-yeon sighed, but she was smiling. "Okay."
"Go get ready. We'll leave in thirty minutes."
Seo-yeon got up and went to the stairs. Behind her, she heard her dad rustling his newspaper in the corner. He had been behind it the whole breakfast, but he hadn't turned a page in ten minutes.
She stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked back. He was staring at the same page, his eyes moving slowly over the same line.
"Daddy," she said. "Do you want to come with us?"
"No," he said at once. "I have work to do."
"Okay."
She went upstairs. When she came back down in a loose dress and flat shoes, her mom was waiting at the door with her purse. Her dad was standing next to her, adjusting his watch as if he had just happened to walk by.
"We're leaving," her mom said.
"Hmm," her dad said.
"Are you coming?"
"I didn't say that."
"Then we'll go without you."
"Fine." He stood there for another few seconds. He didn't leave, and he didn't turn around. His eyes kept moving from his wife to his daughter and back again, and Seo-yeon could read them as clearly as if he had said it out loud. *I want to come too. I want to buy the baby clothes.*
She bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Daddy," she said. "Get the car keys."
His face lit up for half a second before he scowled. "I suppose I could drive you. It's a long way. You shouldn't take a taxi in your condition."
"Of course," her mom said, hiding a smile.
---
The mall was crowded with Saturday shoppers. The three of them took the escalator up to the fourth floor, where a large sign hung above a bright entrance. *Little Cloud Baby & Kids.*
Inside, everything was soft and colorful. There were racks of tiny clothes in white, yellow and mint green, shelves of stuffed animals, and rows of strollers lined up like cars in a showroom. A saleswoman in a pastel uniform came over right away.
"Welcome. Are you shopping for a newborn?"
"Two newborns," her mom said proudly. "Twins."
"Congratulations! Let me show you around."
Her mom didn't wait for the tour. She walked straight to the clothing section and started pulling things off the racks. Onesies, rompers, tiny socks, knitted hats with bear ears.
"This one is for a girl," she said, holding up a pink romper. "And this one for a boy. Oh, and this blue one. And this yellow, in case they're the same."
"Mom, we don't know what they are yet."
"That's why I'm buying both."
Her dad had wandered over to the shelf of stuffed animals. He picked up a big brown teddy bear and examined it carefully, turning it over in his hands. Then he put it in the cart.
"Daddy," Seo-yeon said. "What's that?"
"It's for the babies."
"You said you didn't want to come."
"I'm only helping to carry things," he said, and he picked up a second bear for the other baby.
Seo-yeon pressed her lips together. Her mom just shook her head and kept shopping.
---
They went from that store to the next one. The second was a furniture shop called *Sweet Dreams Nursery*, where her mom picked out two white cribs, a rocking chair, a changing table and a tall dresser. After that, a third store for strollers, a fourth for bottles and sterilizers, and a fifth for blankets and bibs. At each counter, her mom pulled out a black card, handed it to the cashier and signed without looking at the total. The cashiers smiled and asked if she wanted everything delivered to the house.
"Yes, please," her mom said every time.
By the fifth store, Seo-yeon's feet were aching. She sat down on a bench near the counter and leaned back. Her back hurt, and her stomach felt strange.
"Mom," she said. "I'm tired. Let's go home."
Her mom turned around with three shopping bags in each hand. "Baby, we haven't even shopped for anything."
"We bought two cribs and an entire store of clothes."
"That's just the beginning. I have two babies on the way. I have to be ready. When they come, they'll need enough of everything."
"Mom, are you going to finish all of Daddy's money on them?"
"Your dad has so much money," her mom said, waving her hand. "I can never finish it on my grandbabies. And even if I did, your dad wouldn't say a word." She smiled and patted her cheek. "So don't worry, baby. Mommy's got you."
Her dad, who was standing a few steps away holding three bags of his own, cleared his throat.
"I won't say a word," he said gruffly. "Buy whatever they need."
Seo-yeon looked at the two of them, her mom with her bags and her dad with his teddy bears, and she felt her eyes sting.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"Don't thank us," her mom said. "Just rest, eat well, and stay healthy. That's all we ask."
"And let's find a place to sit and eat," her dad added. "You look pale."
"Okay, Daddy."
They went to the food court and ordered a big table of dishes.