Two months later, Seo-yeon stood in front of the mirror in her old bedroom, turning to the side.
She was almost four months pregnant, and her body had changed. Her stomach, which had been flat for so long, now curved out in a small, round bump. With twins, it showed earlier than it would have with one baby. She placed both hands on it and smiled.
Her face had changed too. The nausea was gone, and the dark circles under her eyes had faded. Her cheeks were fuller and her skin had a soft pink color, as if she had a light on inside her. Even the housekeeper had said so that morning.
"Miss Seo-yeon, you're glowing," she had said, setting down the breakfast tray. "It's the pregnancy glow. My sister had it with her first child. Everyone kept asking if she was in love."
"I'm not in love," Seo-yeon had said, laughing.
"Of course not," the housekeeper had said, with a knowing smile.
She turned the other way in the mirror. The dress she was wearing, a loose cream one that tied at the back, used to hang on her. Now it was tight across the middle. Her mom had already bought her three new maternity dresses, and a fourth was on its way.
"Look at you," she whispered to her stomach. "You two are growing fast."
A small flutter moved under her palm, like a bubble popping. She froze.
Then it came again.
"Oh," she breathed. Her eyes filled with tears, and she laughed at herself. "Hello, you two."
---
"Seo-yeon!" Her mom's voice came from downstairs. "Are you ready?"
"Coming, Mom!"
She slipped on her flat shoes and walked down the stairs, one hand on the railing, the other on her bump. Her mom was waiting at the bottom with her purse over her arm. She stopped talking when she saw her.
"Look at that bump," she said, clasping her hands together. "My goodness. It's growing every day."
"Mom, you said that yesterday."
"And I'll say it tomorrow." Her mom came closer and placed a hand on Seo-yeon's stomach. "Have they moved yet?"
"This morning. Just a little flutter."
"Oh, my baby!" Her mom hugged her carefully. "That's the first of many. I felt you at around this time too. You were a very active baby. You kicked so much your father thought you'd be an athlete."
"What did I turn out to be?"
"A sleeper," her mom said. "You were always asleep."
Seo-yeon laughed.
"Now, listen." Her mom stepped back and picked up her purse. "You know what day it is today?"
"Tuesday?"
"Your prenatal checkup."
"Oh." Seo-yeon touched her forehead. "I forgot."
"I didn't. I wrote it on the calendar in red ink." Her mom raised an eyebrow. "Come on. Your father is waiting in the car. He took the day off."
"He took the whole day off?"
"He said he wanted to be there. Don't tell him I told you."
Seo-yeon pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. "I won't."
---
Her dad was sitting in the front seat when they climbed into the car. Mr. Cha was at the wheel.
"Good morning, Daddy."
"Good morning." He turned halfway around. His eyes went to her stomach, then quickly back to her face. "Did you eat?"
"Yes."
"Did you drink water?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"Did you..."
"Honey," her mom said. "Let her breathe."
"I'm only asking."
"You're asking every five minutes."
"It's a long drive," he said, and faced forward again.
Seo-yeon leaned back against the seat and smiled. Her dad stayed quiet for a moment, and then she saw him glance into the rearview mirror at her belly. He caught her eye and looked away.
At the hospital, the nurse recognized them right away.
"Miss Han! Come in. The doctor is expecting you."
They went straight to the same examination room. The doctor, the calm woman in her forties, greeted them with a warm smile.
"Congratulations on getting this far. How are you feeling, Miss Han?"
"Good," Seo-yeon said. "Much better than before. No more nausea. And this morning I felt them move."
"That's wonderful. Quickening usually starts around this time." The doctor patted the table. "Please lie down. Let's see how our little ones are doing."
Seo-yeon lay back. Her mom took her hand, and her dad stood at the foot of the bed, hands clasped behind his back like a soldier at attention.
The doctor squeezed gel onto her stomach. It was cool, and Seo-yeon flinched.
"Sorry. It's always cold at first."
The probe moved across her skin. A gray image appeared on the screen. This time it was much clearer than the first one, and Seo-yeon could make out shapes. She could see two heads and two small bodies curled up in the dark.
"Oh my God," she whispered.
"There they are," the doctor said. "Both of them. Let me check the heartbeats."
She tapped a button, and the room filled with the sound. It was fast and strong, and a second heartbeat joined it a moment later, slightly out of rhythm, like two drummers playing together.
Her mom pressed a hand to her mouth. Her dad took off his glasses, wiped them on his sleeve for much longer than necessary, and put them back on.
"Both heartbeats are strong," the doctor said. "Their measurements are right on track. Baby A is a little ahead in size, but they're both healthy."
"Baby A is bigger?" her dad asked.
"Only slightly. It's normal for twins."
"Which one is A?" he asked.
"The one on the left." The doctor pointed. "That one."
Her dad leaned in, squinting at the screen. "He looks like a good one."
"We don't know if it's a he yet, Daddy."
"I can tell," he said stubbornly.
The doctor smiled and moved the probe a little. "Actually, that brings me to a question. At this stage, we can usually see the babies' sex clearly. Would you like to know?"
Seo-yeon stared at the screen. Her heart started to beat faster.
She looked at her mom, who nodded eagerly. She looked at her dad, who tried to look uninterested and failed.
"Yes," she said. "I want to know."
"Are you sure? Some parents prefer a surprise."
"I'm sure."
"All right." The doctor adjusted the screen, then moved the probe carefully over her stomach. She studied the image for a long moment, then smiled and tilted the screen so that all of them could see.
"Baby A is a girl," she said. "And Baby B..." She moved the probe to the right. "Baby B is a boy."
Nobody said anything.
"A girl and a boy," the doctor repeated. "Congratulations. You're having one of each."
Seo-yeon's eyes filled with tears. "A girl and a boy," she whispered.
Her mom burst into tears first. "My baby! A boy and a girl! Oh, thank God!" She leaned over and kissed Seo-yeon's forehead, then her hand, then her forehead again.
Her dad stood very still. His mouth was moving, but no sound came out. Then he took a step forward, put one hand on the rail of the bed, and looked at the screen as if he were trying to memorize it.
"A boy," he said, in a low, rough voice. "And a girl."
"Yes, Daddy."
"Hmm." He cleared his throat. "That's good. That's very good."
"Daddy, are you crying?"
"No."
"You are."
"My eyes are dry," he said, and wiped them with the back of his hand.
The doctor smiled and printed a few pictures from the screen. She handed them to Seo-yeon in a small envelope. "Here are your first photos. The left one is the girl, the right one is the boy."
Seo-yeon held them in both hands. The images were grainy and gray, but she could see two small shapes with tiny curled fists.
*My babies,* she thought.
And for a moment, she thought about Minjae. About how he would have looked at these pictures. Whether he would have cried like her dad, or whether he would have laughed.
She pushed the thought away and wiped her eyes.
---
On the way home, the car was loud. Her mom couldn't stop talking about names, colors and clothes, now that she knew she could buy both pink and blue in the right amounts.
"We'll have to repaint the nursery," she said. "Half pink and half blue? Or maybe yellow for both?"
"Yellow," her dad said suddenly.
Her mom stopped. "You have an opinion?"
"Yellow is gentle. It works for boys and girls." He looked out the window. "Also, I want a name for the boy. I've been thinking."
"You've been thinking?" Seo-yeon said. "You didn't tell us."
"I'm telling you now." He cleared his throat. "Jun-ho."
"Daddy, that's the name of a superstar dad"
"Is it?" He frowned. "Then, Do-yun."
"That's another one."
"Then what's a name that isn't?"
"Anything else, Daddy," Seo-yeon said, laughing. "Anything else."
Her mom laughed so hard she had to lean on the door. Mr. Cha tried to keep a straight face and failed.
Seo-yeon looked out the window at the passing streets, one hand on her stomach, the envelope resting in her lap.
"A boy and a girl," she thought. "One of each."
The flutter came again, as if they had heard her.