Eyes Full Of Stars || Park Sunghoon

67 ¦ A Star Is Born

Sunghoon POV

The meeting has been dragging on for over five hours now and I don't think I'll make it out of here before tonight.

"Mr. Park," the secretary suddenly speaks up, bursting into the middle of the meeting and interrupting the head of department in his presentation. She stands in the doorway with my cell phone in her hand.

At that moment, a call comes in on it. "Who is it?", I inquire. The middle-aged lady adjusts her glasses and glances at the display. "A certain Leela," she announces to me, frowning.

The ringing stops before the secretary even reaches me. I take the cell phone from her hand and listen to the message Leeela left me on voicemail.

"I have no idea when you'll hear this message, but I hope soon. Dolores and I are at the hospital, so it's on. Come quick!"

Immediately, I shoot up from my chair and glance around. "I've got to go, my wife... I'm going to be a father," I blurt out and before anyone can even retort, I grab my jacket and storm out of the company and into the adjacent parking garage where my car is parked.

I jump in and dial Leela's number. At the same time, I buckle up and turn on the engine, pull out of the parking garage and hit the gas.

"Hello?!", Leela says into the receiver. "Leela?", I ask excitedly, loosening the tie around my neck. I'm afraid I'm already too late.

"Is that Sunghoon?", I hear Dolores' voice in the background. At the sound of her enchanting voice, a relieved sigh escapes my lips. "I'm on my way," I say, stepping harder on the gas pedal as the light in front of me threatens to turn from green to red. "How far is she?"

"It's all happening so fast, the cervix is already wide open," Leela explains to me. It seems pretty hectic around her and she looks audibly overwhelmed with the situation.

At that moment, I hear Dolores whimpering in pain in the background. My heart skips a beat. Of course I'm glad Leela is there, but it breaks my heart that Lola has to go through all of this without me so far.

"Just hurry, I don't think it will be long." Leela and I hang up and I focus on the road ahead. It's only ten minutes to the hospital, if I make it through okay. Ten minutes until I can stand by her. Every second I'm not by her side is a second too many.

TimeSkip:

"Breathe, Mrs. Park!", I hear a woman's voice echo from the birthing room, to which a midwife leads me. Without knocking, I yank open the door to see Dolores sitting in the birthing chair, sweating and crying, holding Leela's hand, barely able to look.

"Mrs. Park, look, your husband is here," says the midwife with whom Dolores has spent weeks preparing for this moment. Her exhausted green eyes fix on me. "Hoon," she whimpers softly, releasing Leela's hand to reach out for me instead.

Immediately, I take the place at her side. "Breathe, Jagiya," I say, placing my free hand against her flushed cheek. Demonstratively, I take a deep breath through my nose and blow the air out through my mouth.

"Breathe," I repeat my words. Dolores follows suit. She takes a deep breath through her nose and pauses briefly before letting the air escape through her quivering lips. She repeats this process several times until her muscles seem to gradually relax.

"You're doing wonderfully!" the gynecologist praises the young woman, who contorts her face in pain. I can't bear to see her suffer like this. "Keep breathing," I remind her, stroking the back of her hand reassuringly with my thumb.

"Okay, it's time, push!" the doctor instructs her. With all her might, Dolores begins to push, her fingers gripping my hand so tightly it hurts. "I can already see the little head!" the gynecologist announces a few agonizing minutes later.

"You're almost there, a few more pushes!" Crying, Dolores squeezes her eyes shut and the grip on my hand loosens a little. She is completely exhausted, powerless. "I can't take it anymore," she sobs softly, shaking her head.

It takes her a few seconds before she grips my hand tightly again with her fingers and begins to squeeze again. And that's when I suddenly hear it. The crying of a baby. The crying of our baby, our son.

Relieved, the young woman lets herself fall, not letting go of my hand. A tear makes its way down her red cheeks and a soft laugh escapes her quivering lips. "Congratulations, it's a beautiful little boy," the doctor announces over the continued crying of our son and places him on Dolores her chest.

Only now does she let go of my hand to place her hands on the little person's body. Gradually he calms down and finally stops crying altogether. Dolores looks at our son's face, with more tears of joy and relief running down her cheeks.

Smiling, I look at the little miracle in her arms and before I can hold it back, tears of joy are streaming down my face as well. "He's got your nose," Lola states softly, fixing her beautiful green eyes on me.

Laughing, I brush away a strand of hair hanging in her face and place a kiss on her forehead. "I love you," I whisper, looking at Daniel. His eyes are closed. "And you, little dwarf"

"Have you decided on a name yet?" inquires Lola's midwife, looking questioningly back and forth between us as she carefully lifts our son from Dolores' chest and wraps him in a cloth. "Daniel," Dolores says firmly, reaching for my hand again.

Gently, I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb. "That's a wonderful name," the midwife replies, leaving the room with Daniel to take him to his first postpartum checkup.

"You did so great," I say, eyeing my beautiful wife. My endless love and admiration for this woman grows with each passing day that I get to spend with her by my side.

Never before have I felt such strong emotions for a woman. Dolores has made me feel, made my broken, cold heart beat after all these years. I love her. I love our child. And I want to be there for them for the rest of my life and be a good person, a good husband, and a loving, caring father who puts the well-being of his family above all else. The kind of father we both deserved. The kind of husband my mother and Lola's mother deserved.

"You wouldn't believe how incredibly happy I am," I say, resting my forehead against hers. "I'm happy too," she replies with relief. "I love you so much, Sunghoon." "And I love you," I reply, kissing her lips, which are graced with a smile.

A/N: Tbh i cringed writing this but it's almost over