little bundle of joy | taekook

Ten

We're currently in the bathroom, bath run with lots of bubbles but Taehyung is refusing to get in, not unless his bunny comes in with him.

"baby boy bunny can't come in with you, he'll get all wet" I try and explain for the fifth time. Taehyung's not listening, hot tears running down his cheeks as he sadly looks over at the stuffed animal he's grown quite attached to.

Taehyung's currently without clothes, a white fluffy towel is wrapped around his body as I try and calm him down in my arms.

"if bunny goes in with you then he'll have to go outside to dry and then he'll be all alone and sad bun, you don't want to make bunny sad do you?" I question, wiping some hair out of his face.

Taehyung shakes his head rapidly, choking on a sob and harshly wiping his tears with the back of his hand.

"bunny can watch you though, he'll sit right here okay?" I explain to him, picking up the rabbit and placing him on the counter, facing him towards the bath.

"bunny no go out?" Taehyung pleads, eyes boring into mine to make sure i'm telling the truth.

"Kookie would never lie to you, love" I give him a kiss on the forehead and dry his tears, before removing his towel and gently placing him into the warm bath. Taehyung's eyes are glued to his bunny the entire time until he's sat down completely, but I don't miss how his body and eyes relax at the feeling of warm water and bubbles on his skin.

I fake gasp, quickly gaining Taehyung's attention. "who's this?" I ask, picking up a rubber yellow duck from the cabinet and placing him in Tae's small open palm.

"ducky!" He squeals, dropping it into the water and giggling when it splashes. "Jinnie give taetae ducky" he tells me, looking up as I pour some water over his hair, making sure it doesn't go into his eyes.

"he did?" I ask, smiling as Taehyung nods his head excitedly.

"ducky like bunny but ducky quacks and it funny" he giggles, covering his mouth with his hands as he thinks about it.

I take note that he's slipped into an older headspace, still quite young, maybe 2 or 3 but a potential sign that he's due to slip out of his little space soon.

"kookie no quack acause kookie no ducky" he giggles, looking up to me and matching my warm smile.

I laugh with him, before pretending to quack, making Taehyung's box-like smile reappear.

"silly kookie, no ducky!" he scolds, dunking the rubber duck into the water and squealing as it goes flying in the air.

It almost makes me want to cry just watching him have so much fun. Taehyung's eyes fall close and a content smile forms on his lips when I gently massage the shampoo into his hair, getting rid of the chocolate from earlier.

Taehyung continues to tell me stories and scolds me when he deems i'm being too silly whilst I clean the rest of his body. Even briefly forgets about his bunny when I take him out of the bathroom to put him in a diaper and comfy clothes for the day, too busy explaining to me why Joonie isn't aloud in the kitchen because Jinnie scolds him.

I've quickly picked up on the fact that 'Jinnie' is Seokjin, 'Joonie' is Namjoon and 'hosbi' is Hoseok. They seem like they really take care of Taehyung which makes me wonder why he's been pushing them away so much recently.. I remember going to find his friends once college had ended yesterday after Taehyung had slipped at lunch.

-flashback-

"Namjoon!" I call out, catching the brunette in the hallway on my way to find either him or Taehyung's other two friends.