While several situations were brewing in the background, life for Iris and Jin Liwei was filled with excitement and anticipation with equal doses of anxiety and even fear.
Summer was coming.
Meaning, the Jin twins' due date was fast approaching.
Iris' belly was now humongous. Even Jin Liwei who loved his wife's pregnant body couldn't help but feel frightened seeing her toddle with such a huge belly.
Despite the doctor's constant assurance that everything was normal, it still boggled him how his wife hadn't been crushed yet by the enormous baggage she carried inside her. Not that he wanted his beloved wife to be crushed in any way. It was just that the gap between Iris' physique and the size of her belly was too ridiculous, and frankly, terrifying.
Even seeing Long Jinjing who was also pregnant with twins wasn't as nerve-wracking. It was because Long Jinjing gained a considerable amount of weight as her own belly grew bigger. She didn't look as fragile as Iris who generally maintained her former slender physique.
It wasn't only Jin Liwei who thought like this. His brother-in-law, Lu Zihao, also worried for his little sister more than his own fiancée.
Iris looked too frail while Long Jinjing's chubbier body looked sturdy enough to give birth to twins. Furthermore, Long Jinjing hadn't really been troubled by any difficult symptoms throughout her pregnancy. The obvious differences between the pregnancy experiences of the two women were causing both Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao to lose sleep over Iris' situation.
At the moment, Iris was feeling extremely restless. The discomfort of carrying her twins was intensifying with each passing day. She barely had any proper sleep for the past couple of weeks. Her temper hadn't been the best and Jin Liwei experienced the full brunt of her irritable moods.
Iris felt bad while watching her husband try everything to make her feel better.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. Again. I just can't seem to control my temper."
"Don't worry about it, love," Jin Liwei reassured. "I know it's because our boys are being naughty again."
She shook her head while massaging her belly. "I think they're also getting restless like me. They want to come out soon."
Jin Liwei looked at her belly. His breath caught when he saw it literally ripple in front of his eyes. He glanced at his wife in concern. Iris' brows were furrowed in discomfort.
Despite the obvious pain, she still tried soothing the twins. "Calm down now. You're Mommy and Daddy's good little babies. Hush, my loves."
Jin Liwei had a lot of things to say to his naughty boys who kept on twisting and turning inside their mom but he restrained himself. His wife had grown extremely protective of their babies during the final trimester of her pregnancy. He could no longer scold them for hurting her without her scolding him instead.
He touched his wife's belly and joined her in trying to soothe the twins. However, he tried transmitting his displeased thoughts through his hand and hoped that his twins could move more carefully inside their mother. It pained him seeing his wife so uncomfortable.
Iris glanced at the time and reminded him, "You should be heading to your meeting now."
"Five more minutes," he muttered, extremely unwilling to leave his wife.
She chuckled and patted his face. "Go. The earlier you finish the meeting, the faster you can come back home."
Jin Liwei sighed and had to drag himself away from his wife. He kissed her on the mouth and went to the walk-in closet to get his tie and suit jacket.
Iris toddled after him and grabbed his tie. "Let me."
After putting his necktie on for him, Iris pulled him for another kiss. "I'll have the kitchen send lunch to you at the company later."
"No need. I'll finish the meeting early and come home to eat lunch with you."
She raised an eyebrow. "Don't rush. Take your time and finish everything that you need to do at the meeting so they don't have to always call and bother us at home."
"Alright. I'm off."
He gave her a final kiss on the lips before leaving with obvious reluctance. The bedroom door closed. Two seconds later, it opened again and he returned.
"What is it?" Iris asked. "Did you forget something?"
"En."
Before she could ask again, he leaned down and kissed her swollen belly. "Bye, boys. Be good to your mom."
Iris chuckled in amusement. Finally, he left. She plopped down on the chaise longue and tried finding a comfortable position.
Thinking about her husband who was so reluctant to leave her side, she couldn't help but smile despite the growing irritation she felt over her current discomfort.
Jin Liwei had been doing his best to stay with her as much as possible especially after she entered her third trimester. He often worked remotely from home, but there were still times that his actual presence was needed at the company.
Today's meeting was important because it involved a few of Jin Corporation's international projects, particularly for the other Asian branches.
Jin Liwei was now working on weakening the power and influence of the Singapore branch while at the same time strengthening the other Asian branches in order to keep the balance within the entire Jin Corporation. He needed extreme finesse in handling this situation so that the mysterious power backing the Youngs wouldn't notice his plan and counterattack too early.
Iris sighed but determination filled her eyes as she analyzed the chaos that might result if the Youngs and the mysterious power backing them succeeded in their scheme to swallow Jin Corporation whole.
"But first, I need to give birth to both of you safely first," she said while continuing to massage her belly.
As soon as she felt well enough after giving birth, she was going to personally join the war against the threat to Jin Corporation as a hacker. She couldn't just let anybody target her husband's company without doing anything.
Jin Corporation wasn't just a livelihood.
It was a legacy.
