Healing Harper-MYG✔️

#thirty-eight#

Winter mornings can often be deceiving.

Waking up surrounded by warmth and still air, only to have to step outside and be frozen stiff by the frigid air.

Unfortunately for Yoongi, he'll be out in the cold sooner than he wants to be.

But much to his happiness, he gets to see his girlfriend this morning before he's off.

He expected her to still be sleeping before he left but she woke up just in time. She showered, they had breakfast together and now he has to go.

"Do you know what time it is?" Harper asks, not having the faintest concept of time at the moment.

"7:45."

"Wha-? You might be late for work."

"I'll make it on time. It's okay. I wanted to see you before I left but I didn't want to wake you. You seemed really tired."

"You do, too. Listen to your voice."

"Believe or not, this is just what I sound like after a good night's rest."

"We should get you a good night's rest every night then. I like this voice on you." Harper puts her arms around his neck.

"Yeah? Every night?"

"Mhm."

They share a kiss before he starts grabbing his things for work.

"Onyx is officially six months today." Harper tells him as he puts his shoes on.

"Yes, I know." Yoongi replies. "I wanted to get him like a little cupcake or something but I don't know about all of that sugar."

"He rarely has any as it is. I was going to say that I want to have a little celebration for him on Sunday. I know that it's just his half birthday but still."

"Whatever you want to celebrate for him, we can. Today's actually an early day for me. I'm out at four so we can go grab stuff for him when I get off. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect." Harper smiles at him.

"Alright. I'll see you later, baby. Give Onyx forehead kisses for me."

"I will."

"Alright. I-." Yoongi drags it out as he realizes what he's saying. "-will call you on my lunch."

"Okay."Harper smiles softly as she opens the door.

Yoongi leaves her apartment and she closes the door behind her. She puts her back against it as she stares aimlessly at the carpet. She puts the mail of her thumb in her mouth and smiles to herself.

Memories from the night before play in her mind as her heart rate picks up.

His lingering touches, their kisses, the way he held her even in the midst of the action. How aware that he was of every part of her.

Yoongi was so mindful of everything even though he, himself, was lost in lust. He didn't hurt Harper at all. Not once was she startled from the sexual headspace because of sudden panic. Not once did she feel painfully uncomfortable.

There was a dull ache to start from the stretch but it was nothing that she didn't expect. Her thighs are a little sore but again, she hasn't used those muscle groups for anything in a long time. She expected that.

What she didn't expect, was for Yoongi to have already gotten Onyx up and changed in his apartment before he left for work. She didn't expect to still see him in her apartment. Harper expected for him to have been long gone, stripped away from her by the rising of his post-sex clarity.

Instead, he stayed with her through the night. He held her all night. He felt her touch when she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back to sleep right away.

Harper admired his beautifully sculpted features, quietly praying that he'd stay with her. Silently hoping that this wasn't his endgame.

She had burrowed herself deeper into Yoongi's chest and he pulled her closer as if he hadn't heard her. He held her as her words tugged at his heart. He wondered how someone could possibly make her feel like this. He wondered what all she's been through for her to feel like she has to beg for these things.

Yoongi was already going to do right by her. But that did nothing but fuel his desire to show her different. It did nothing but push him to prove people wrong about anything they could think of her.

Harper does deserve love. She does deserve happiness. She deserves all of the good things that the world has to offer.

And he made sure to make her feel it last night.

Harper steps away from the door and walks down the hall. She gathers her things to shower before texting Mrs. Min. She lets her know that she's getting ready for the day and will be over shortly.

Mrs. Min texts her back telling her to take her time. Onyx is just up having breakfast at the moment. He's got a bottle and a small portion of oatmeal.

Harper takes a fifteen minute shower and gets dressed in leggings and an oversized long sleeved tee shirt before heading next door. As soon as she sees her son, he squeals in excitement.

He starts to crawl to her and she picks him up, squeezing his little body.

"Hi, bear. I missed you so much. How was he?"

"He was fine." Mr. Min says. "I gave him some mashed up pasta with his dinner bottle last night and he loved it. We watched National Geographic, played on our tummies, then he was out like a light."

"Oh, that's good. He wasn't too fussy or anything?"

"No." Mr. Min shakes his head. "I think he wore himself out during the day and got enough calories in so he didn't have a hard time falling asleep at all. He did wake up at about four but it was only to scoot closer to Jewel. They slept right next to each other all night."

"That's good." Harper expresses. "Jewel might be the key to getting him to sleep in his crib. Yoongi said that when he put him in there with Jewel, he was fine. I mean, Yoongi also stayed in there with them for a good chunk of time but he said that Onyx was fine with him."

"I would try it more often." Mrs. Min says. "Do his normal night routine and start putting him in his crib with Jewel, turn the mobile on and stay until he falls asleep."

"How long should I do that for?" Harper asks her. "Like how long should I continue to stay in there at night before he'll be okay for me to just put him down and let him fall asleep?"

"Well, he'll have to get used to falling asleep on his own at some point. I think that last night was his first time, right?" Mrs. Min asks.

"Yes, it was." Harper nods.

"So then maybe the key is making sure he's getting enough calories, which you've been doing because he sleeps pretty much through the night. He doesn't wake up because he's hungry. So then maybe the next check off the list is making sure he's comfortable and stays comfortable."

"You know I was reading online last week," Mr. Min adds. "And I saw an article about good bedtimes for babies and toddlers. It said that they enter the deepest parts of their sleep between the hours of eight and twelve."

"So if I start getting him to sleep by seven o'clock or 7:30, he'll sleep through the night and get a good night's sleep, then."

"Right. I think getting him to bed past eight, he'll reach a state of exhaustion or restlessness."

"I do try to get him down before eight but it's hard sometimes because I'm getting ready for work and he's getting fussy because he's tired. Most night, I can do it and it works but sometimes it doesn't and he's still up when Yoongi gets in to take him."

"Mmm, I see." Mr. Min says as he looks at his wife.

"Maybe getting a set schedule for during the day will help. He already eats at a certain time and naps around the same time everyday, right?"

"Yeah. So maybe I can just tweak things in between five and six or six and seven. So maybe his bedtime can be 6:30 and he gets his bath at six. That way he can go right down for the night, Yoongi can get good sleep, too. And they'll both be up at a good time the next morning. I'm usually up by the time that he has to leave for work anyway."

Harper thinks about how their schedules work together as she speaks. This seems like an optimal approach to the situation. It's clear how much good sleep affects Onyx's behavior and stress level throughout the day.

Sleep quality also affects Harper's mood throughout the day. And it affects Yoongi's mood and possibly, his quality of work if he has a surgery. He prefers to be very well rested. Either way, he can push through to do what he needs to. But over time, that won't be good for him.

That's not something he's willing to do with the type of work that he does.

Harper doesn't want it for him either. She wants all three of them to be well rested so that they can have good days.

"Yoongi told me that he was off early today so I'll talk to him when he comes home." Harper tells them. "We're going to get cupcakes and some little things for Onyx's half birthday today so-."

"It's today?!" Mrs. Min asks as she looks at her phone. "Oh my god, it is. I didn't even remember."

"It's okay." Harper assures her. "There was a lot going on yesterday so I don't think that I told you guys. And it's not like you've known him his whole life. It's not something that I would expect you to remember, you know?"

"Oh but we should. His birthday is in July, right?" Mr. Min asks.

"Yes."

Mr. and Mrs. Min sigh and look at Onyx. They can't believe that they forgot. Yoongi told them before they left their house to come here. But there has been a lot going on since they've arrived. It wasn't unlikely that it would slip their mind.

Harper doesn't blame them. Yoongi wouldn't blame them. It really is okay.

"We should still go out and get him something. A little gift for him to have. Another stuffie would be good." Mrs. Min says to her husband.

"And a pacifier. For Yoongi's sake, of course."

"He lost another one?" Harper blinks at them.

"He said that he found one in the car but then he couldn't find the one that was here. So he boiled the one he did fine in a pot so disinfect it and then gave it to him." Mr. Min explains. "I didn't think that he really lost them as much as he said that he did."

"I think Jewel is taking them." Mrs. Min says.

"Why would Jewel be taking them?" Her husband asks. "What use does he have for infant pacifiers?"

"Maybe he's collecting them. You know cats make weird collections of things."

"Yes, but pacifiers?"

"Onyx is his favorite human. I think that's been made very clear. Maybe he's collecting things from him." Mrs. Min stares at her husband.

"Yes, but what will a cat do with pacifiers, Aera?"

"People don't use everything that they collect. Maybe he just likes the look of them."

Harper watches with a small smile on her face as Yoongi's parents debate. She sees a little of Yoongi from both of them and finds it to be so cute.

I miss him already. She thinks to herself.

Is that an obsessive thought? She catches herself and wonders.

I don't want him to come home right this very moment but if he did, I wouldn't be upset. I can't wait for him to get off of work later so we can go to the store together.

Am I being clingy? Is that what that is? I don't want to be clingy. I can just be casual. What if he thinks I'm one of those girls who get crazy after sex? It wasn't just sex. We're in a relationship but still. I'm not clingy.

I'm not.

But what if he's thinking about everything while he's at work? What if he's second guessing the relationship? What if he's-

"Bababaaaaa." Onyx coos as he reaches for the rope chain around his mother's neck. He tugs at it and Harper looks down.

She doesn't wear necklaces. She has nothing left of her jewelry collection after she left Jahlil. And she hadn't had the money nor the interest of getting any of it back. She had bigger things to worry about and even now, they're still a luxury for her.

Harper also limits the amount of things she wears that Onyx can pull on. She learned her lesson when he was about three months old. She hasn't put on a piece of jewelry since then.

As she looks down at the necklace, she sees the familiar pendant dangling from it. She holds it up to get a better view and stares at it.

The detail in the compass is truly incredible. She's never seen this close before to pay enough attention to it. She's always been distracted by the man that owns it instead.

Harper can't believe the intricacy in such a small piece of jewelry. It's beautiful.

Mr. Min sees the compass around her neck as she holds it up. His lips part as he taps his wife discreetly. She looks over at him and he gestures to Harper with his head. Mrs. Min looks to see what he's on about.

There's a soft smile on her face as she sees the pendant in Harper's hand. She's seen it for her whole life. Almost every single day that she's been on this earth, she's seen that pendant.

It was her mother's, her grandmother's, her great-grandmothers. Passed down to each daughter of the Min family.

But she only wanted one child and out came Yoongi. No one ever said that the tradition of it being passed down to a daughter had to be biological. Everyone else just had daughters so it happened that way.

When Yoongi was a young boy, his mother used to tell him that he'd have to pass the necklace to his wife when he got older.

However, the times began to change as Yoongi got older. The world around them began more openly changing. Heterosexual was no longer the default and that was made clear.

Mrs. Min would hear from her friends at work about their children 'coming out' to them. She would hear about the way they handled the situations.

Some of them were in ways that she could never understand.

How could they turn away their children for loving who they want? They can't control that. Nobody can.

How could they turn away their children for expressing that they are uncomfortable in the body that they live in? That they are experiencing mental and emotional havoc that their gender dysmorphia is causing them.

So instead of pushing the word 'wife', Mrs. Min had a conversation with her husband about the things that she was learning. Her husband had been hearing and learning about these things as well.

And though he didn't understand at first, he educated himself.

It led them to have a conversation about their own parenting and how to adjust if they needed to. From there, they spoke with Yoongi one night when he came home from school.

Yoongi assumed that it was a casual conversation until he realized where it was going. He knew that, based on tone, it wasn't a joke. They were being serious.

However, he chuckled anyway.

It was funny to him because he'd never heard of such a thing. Parents have conversations with their children about sex. They have conversations with them about chores. About grades, relationships.

But he's never heard any of his friends talk about their parents coming to them about their sexual orientation without any prompts whatsoever.

The Mins hadn't known how to go about the conversation but wanted their son to know that it was okay if he didn't like women. Or if he liked more than women, that was okay too.

He expressed to them that he was sure he liked women. He hadn't really explored any other options to know if he only liked women but he gave them what he could for the time being.

From that point on, though, the Min parents referred to Yoongi's future significant other as his 'partner', knowing the options could possibly have a range.

It's something that he started doing as well because of them.

So ever since Yoongi was in high school, Mrs. Min has been telling him that the necklace should be passed down to her other his partner or his daughter.

Because of everything that they had been learning, Mr. Min decided to also buy something in the event that Yoongi's partner wouldn't be into necklaces.

A Patel Philippe watch customized with a compass face and the thinnest of hands for a clean telling of time. The compass is functional, which costed him more money than he cares to ever tell.

But he wanted to contribute something as well and felt it necessary for the playing field to be equal.

"I didn't notice this this morning." Harper says, a little confused. "He must have put it on while I was sleeping."

She looks up at Mr. And Mrs. Min, who are both staring at her with small smiles on their faces.

"I've never seen that necklace on another woman since you've given it to him." Mr. Min tells his wife quietly.

"Neither have I." She replies just as quiet.

Harper looks between them, getting a read on the situation she's in. The necklace must hold significance for them to be so surprised by her wearing.

It doesn't seem to be bad surprise, based on the smiles on their faces. But it's surprise nonetheless.

"Babaaaa." Onyx repeats, holding the chain in his hand.

"Not baba, baby bear. You had a baba already."

"Babaaaa." He coos, holding the necklace in his hand and moving it up and down.

"Be careful, papa. I don't want you to break it." Harper slowly pries his fingers from the chain.

Onyx becomes distracted by his mother's fingers, grabbing them to put into his mouth. He chews on them like they're the last thing he'll ever eat.

"You know what?" Mrs. Min snaps as she stands up. "Did Yoongi ever give you those teething rings that we sent him?"

"Teething rings? No." Harper shakes her head.

"He probably forgot." Mrs. Min says. "He's always got a lot going on in his head at any given moment. It never stops working, his brain."

"It did during the holidays." Mr. Min vouches for his son. "I haven't seen him that relaxed since before he went to med school."

"And he slept good, too." Mrs. Min adds. "You know, I've noticed the bags under his eyes have been going away."

She opens the fridge and pulls out a Tupperware container. Inside are three triangular teething rings. They've already been boiled and have just been set in there to cool.

"Yeah, he looks so well. Like a pre-med student and not post-med." Mr. Min jokes and his wife chuckles.

She picks a turquoise colored teething ring and puts the container back.

"Try this for him, sweetheart." Mrs. Min hands it to Harper as they sit on the couch. "He put them in the fridge instead of the freezer. I assume there's a reason for that."

Harper's lips turn down, unsure of why that would be. She didn't know that he had these ones to begin with.

"Here, bear." Harper holds it out for Onyx.

He stick his tongue out, feeling the teething ring with that first. He feels the temperature of it and squeals, snatching it from his mother. He puts it into his mouth and starts chewing on it.

"Oh... maybe it's too cold from the freezer." She says observing her son's enthusiasm.

"Aahh, that makes sense." Mrs. Min nods.

"He's also not quite teething yet so the freezer may make it too hard. It seems he just likes to chew on things for right now." Mr. Min adds.

"Yeah, he does. Mostly his fingers and mine and Yoongi's thumbs. We have to wash our hands constantly because he's bound to put them in his mouth at any point in time."

Onyx chews on the teething ring as he looks up at his mother. He smiles at her as she talks, laughing while she speaks.

"Oh, he's such a happy baby." Mrs. Min coos.

Onyx tosses the teething ring on the floor and reaches for her with a smile. He crawls out of his mother's arms and she lets him. He pulls on Mrs. Min's pant legs, using them to lift himself up. He crawls into her lap and she holds her hands out. He grabs onto them and she helps him stand up.

She gasps, expressing enthusiasm as she looks at him.

"Good job, Onyx." She claps for him, Harper and Mr. Min joining her.

Onyx looks at them and giggles as he claps along. The sheer joy expressed on his face is almost tangible.

Seeing her son so happy makes her want to cry. Seeing her son so loved makes her want to scream in a room to herself. It's what she's always worried about him having.

The love and support from other family. The experience of having memorable moments with family.

She's his mother and he'll always have her, of course.

But Harper has always wanted him to have other family to go to. She's always wanted him to other family to spend time with and see.

A healthy family model. A healthy relationship with members outside of herself that truly love and care for him. Or just people that love and care for him in general.

In the midst of starting all over on her own and by herself with him, these are the thoughts that often plagued her. She wondered if she was making the right decision by taking him away from Jahlil and his family.

She wondered if it was in Onyx's best interest to do that. She debated between leaving an abusive relationship and having no one. Or staying and giving Onyx the family that she wants for him to have.

But that isn't the family that Onyx deserves.

He deserves better. He deserves healthy. He deserves loving and kind.

Jahlil and his family aren't any of those things. Not to her, at least. Not even from the beginning was his family ever any of those things.

"Wanna try again?" Mrs. Min asks as she holds her hand out for him. He grabs her arms and she picks him up to sit on the ground.

"You should be getting him to crawl to you first." Mr. Min cuts in. "Him walking before he's ready, he could become bow-legged from that."

"Yes, I know. We'll practice crawling first. But there's no harm in his using me to stand up or bounce. If he's trying to, then he must be ready for at least that much."

"Let's see who he crawls to first." Mr. Min sits next to his wife. "Harper, take him that way and let him pick who he crawls to."

"You're going to be so upset when he comes to me first." She replies.

"In your dreams, Aera."

She scoffs and sits next to him with her legs crossed. Harper finds their bickering endearing as she picks Onyx up. She takes him back a couple feet before setting him back down.

He looks at her, trying to figure out what to do now. He doesn't know why she moved him away from Mrs. Min. Nothing was happening. He didn't need any help. He wasn't in distress. He was fine.

"Come on, Onyx." Mr. Min calls to him.

The infant turns and looks to him at the sound of his name. There Mr. Min is, smiling and gesturing him on. He gets on his hands and knees and Mrs. Min puts her arms out. She doesn't say anything, she just smiles and waves him on.

Onyx looks between them but ultimately chooses Mrs. Min. He squeals as he crawls to her and Mr. Min gasps dramatically.

"Oohh, my chest. I'm gonna die of heartbreak." He puts his hand on his chest and groans.

Mrs. Min picks Onyx up as he reaches her and smiles. She laughs with the baby as he looks at her. His eyes are shiny and wide as he grins.

"He reminds me so much of Yoongi when he was this age." She says.

"Because of the smile, right?" Her husband agrees.

"Yes. Yoongi just never grew out of his gummy smile. Onyx probably will." She chuckles in response.

"For now, they're like twins."

The Min parents chuckle together about it. Harper can't help but smile with them thinking of it. Their smiles are very similar. Even the shape of them, she's noticed when they're laughing together, is the same.

Onyx looks at Mrs. Min and her husband. He giggles to himself, kicking his feet as they smile and laugh with him.

Harper sits on her feet as she watches her son interact with the older adults.

It's not the family that she expected for her son...

But it's the family that they've got.

######

Yoongi stares at the the walls of his new office with his hands in his pockets. He inhales deeply, taking in the scent of fresh air and Pinesol.

The office has been deep cleaned, per his request. All of the furniture in the room is new, per Dr. Mitchell's order. And of the equipment in the room is brand new as well, per Hyde's order.

He insisted that all he needed was the room to be cleaned but they insisted that everything he brand new. A brand new office for a brand new Director.

He even got a new mini fridge, a coffee machine and a new futon for when he needs a nap after long surgeries.

Yoongi's added his own touches to it as well. He's set up his desk the way that he had it in the old office. The wall behind the desk displays his degrees and the pictures that he's taken with his parents beneath them.

It's starting to come together, feeling more and more like his own. He still feels like it's missing some things but he'll find more decor when the time comes. He usually gets things as he comes across them if he can't think of any in the moment.

Yoongi walks to sit at his desk, ready to check his emails. He's been at work for about four hours now and the majority of that was getting moved and settled into the office.

He knows for a fact that there are things waiting for him to respond to in his emails. Some calls that need to be made, papers that he has to sign. Maybe even meetings to make and brief people on.

It feels weird for him to think that he won't be doing a surgery for almost every one of his scheduled shifts.

It's a nice change.. just different.

As he logs into his desktop, his phone buzzes on his desk. It's a text from his mother.

Mom: I'm very proud of you ❤️

He smiles at the text before licking his phone up to text her back.

I haven't done anything

You have done more than you
think. How is the new office?

It's a lot bigger than the other one

I don't know what it's missing but
I feel like it could use something else

Let Hailey take a look at it

She'll tell you exactly what it's missing

Yes, I know

She and Taehyung will gift me
candles and make this place feel
like a studio apartment

You've got to love them

They're the perfect duo

They are

How are Harper and Onyx?

Onyx is crawling around like
no tomorrow. Harper is
crawling around with him
playing hide and seek

I've noticed that he laughs like her

In a baby giggly type of way but
they're the same

Yeah, they look alike when they're sleeping, too

It's so freaky. You'd think she made
him by herself

I said that too. He's so much
like her. It's beautiful to see

He loves her so much. The
way that he watches her do
anything is beautiful

So true

I'm going to let you get back to
work. I'll see you later. I love you

I love you too, Mom

Yoongi sets his phone down, locking it as he looks back to his computer screen. He reads through the emails in the order that he received than, responding if needed.

When he gets to the second to latest email, he sighs as he opens it. Just seeing Jahlil's name mildly stressed him out.

He reads through the email, making sure that he has all the information that he needs.

Jahlil has been successfully transitioned into the physical recovery unit and discharged from the hospital. He was admitted at eight o'clock this morning, signed by Tanner Young, the surgeon taking over the med case and Lionel David, the physical therapist.

Yoongi also has to sign the documents, as he is now the overseeing director for the case. He decides to sign them electronically, wanting to get it done and sent back off immediately.

He then opens the most recent email from a 'Phillip Decker'. The name isn't too familiar to him but he does remember hearing it at the promotion party.

He opens it up and reads through it before responding. The email was congratulating him on his promotion and then asking, for clarification, if he would be removing himself for on-call E.D. hours.

Yoongi has yet to do so and the schedule for the following month has to be made and sent out. Within the schedules, the doctors on call are usually marked on the sides with the days that they're available.

If Yoongi is removing himself from the E.D. on call schedule, then Dr. Decker has to know before sending the schedule out.

It takes Yoongi several minutes to respond as he contemplates what his decision should be. He's thought a lot about it since being promoted but hasn't come to a full agreement with himself yet.

He's already doing a lot with being the Director, learning the roles and duties of this position. He also realizes that he has family to think about now.

He doesn't want to neglect his relationship with them because of work. He's seen how that plays out with his colleagues. It's not in his book of 'things to achieve'.

So he replies to the email stating that he can do on-call twice a month, if needed. If they have other people to do it or have other people that they could possibly call in, then call them first.

He should be and needs to be the last resort for emergency department on-call.

After sending the email, he looks at the time on his watch. He has a meeting in a few minutes for a surgical rib fixation briefing.

A woman was in a car accident and has several broken ribs. She was stabilized the night before and has a surgery scheduled for two o'clock today.

It's nothing that Yoongi hasn't seen before. He's performed many surgeries for this type of injury and has his own idea of what should be done. It's a pretty basic procedure, needing only to be tweaked to fit her specific rib injuries.

Yoongi gathers his laptop and meeting essentials before heading out of the office. He locks the door behind him and walks down the hall. He greets nurses and doctors as he passes by with a wave and a smile.

He reaches the door to the meeting room and steps inside.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Min."

He's greeted by the surgeon on the case. Yoongi looks at Han as he walks to take his seat.

"Good morning, Director Min." He's greeted by the attending nurse.

"Good morning, Nurse Tate." He readily greets her. "How are you this afternoon?"

"I'm good." The man replies. "I was at your promotion event last night. I was going to stop by and say hi but you were talking with friends. I didn't want to interrupt."

"Oh, you could've come to say hi. They wouldn't have minded. I could have introduced you. They're good people."

"Yes, Delilah, her fiancé annndd who was the other woman?" Dr. Han asks, tilting his head curiously.

Yoongi looks at him as he opens his laptop. Han genuinely looks like he doesn't know but that doesn't change Yoongi's reaction.

"I didn't know that you came, Han. Didn't see you at all." He responds, deflecting from the question.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Min. You know that. If you weren't getting chatted up all night, I'd have come to speak to you as well."

"I'm sure you would have." Yoongi turns his attention to his laptop as he starts it up.

"You did leave in a bit of hurry as well. But I would have too if I brought a date like that. She works in the emergency department, doesn't she?"

Yoongi blinks at his laptop screen as he types the password in. Without missing a beat, he calmly responds to the poking being done at him.

"You could have brought your wife and faired out just fine, I think. I'm sure she'd have loved to be the woman in your company."

"You're married?"
"I didn't know you were married."

Nurse Tate and one of the surgical techs turn to Dr. Han in shock. He sits up and clears his throat as he looks at Yoongi.

"I'm not married. I mean, I am. But we're separated." He clarifies.

"Does she know that?" Yoongi asks casually as he pulls up the PowerPoint for the meeting. He stands up and turns on the projection board, grabbing the remote from its holder.

Dr. Han's mouth opens and Nirse Tate closes his. He looks at the surgical tech with the same 'oop' expression. They open their laptops, getting ready for the PowerPoint.

"Are we ready to start now or does anybody else have any pointless questions and comments to make?" Yoongi stands at the front of the room, looking at each and every person individually.

They all avoid his eye contact or look away immediately when he looks at them.

"Great. Let's get started."

######

"You asked him what?" Hailey snickers as she listens to Yoongi explain what happened in the meeting.

"He was minding my business so I minded his." Yoongi says, opening the salad container he's just shaken up.

"To be fair, Harper looked good, okay? I'd have been asking who she was, too." Delilah inputs. "However, the way that he said that makes my skin crawl and you're absolutely in the right for checking him the way that you did."

"I don't want to be inserted into any drama with these people. Really, I don't." Yoongi states. "But what he said just really... rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know. He's made jokes about talking to other nurses and staff before. He does it all the time, actually."

"We all think it's weird because he's married." Hailey says. "But it's even more weird now because-." She looks around before whispering to him. "She's your girl."

Yoongi knows that that's exactly why it irked him so bad. He wouldn't have said what he had, had Han just kept his mouth closed about Harper.

The combination of him being in his business and said business being Harper really ticked him off in the moment though.

"Ouu, am I sensing some jealousy here?" Delilah raises an eyebrow and wiggles her fingers at him.

"It's not jealousy. There's nothing to be jealous of. He couldn't pull Harper on a desperate day. I'm annoyed."

"You sound like Luca." Delilah narrows her eyes at him.

"Luca is smart."

"Luca is in love." Delilah corrects. "And what's his is his and nobody else's."

"I don't own Harper." Yoongi frowns. "She's her own person."

"Your person. Just like you're her person." Hailey says.

"Just admit you got a little protective and we'll let it go." Delilah extends an olive branch.

Yoongi sighs through his nose as he takes a bite of salad.

"Fine... whatever."

Hailey snickers to herself as she takes a bite of her steak sub. Delilah grins at Yoongi and he looks away from them.

A part of him doesn't regret what he did at all. He's tired of Han and his constant poking and prodding. He eggs him on purpose and Yoongi never says anything past passive aggressive to him about it.

But the comment about Harper? It needed to end there and never be brought up again. That is one thing that he will not tolerate.

Though another part of him does wish that he'd have kept his mouth closed. What he said was a completely impulsive response. It's the way that he'd have responded to anybody outside of work had it been them that asked.

But this is his job. This is where he's meant to be professional and keep things that way. This is where he's meant to do what his degree qualifies him for and go home at the end of the shift.

This isn't a cat house. He doesn't come to bicker or fight with coworkers. He doesn't come to argue or entertain any of the drama going on. Nor does he insert himself into it. Not directly or indirectly.

Really, he doesn't know what came over him. It feels like it was an impulsive thing to do. And that's what Yoongi wants to blame it on. Impulse.

But not having total regret of saying what he said makes that a little hard to do.

By responding the way that he did, he just confirmed to Han that he and Harper are something more. He took Han's comment personal because that's exactly what it was to him.

He meant what he said to Harper the night before. He likes his life private, not a secret.

Yoongi doesn't really care if people find out or know that they're dating. If he did, he wouldn't have walked into the dinner hand-in-hand with her.

He wouldn't have held her hand in their laps for most of the event. He wouldn't have, so openly, introduced her to Luca as his girlfriend. He definitely wouldn't have kissed her so many times right outside of the building.

Yoongi doesn't want to feel like he's hiding anything. Because he isn't. He isn't hiding his relationship but he also isn't broadcasting it and telling everybody.

If they see, then they just see.

He just knows that some people in this building are nosey. Some of them will start to pay attention to her because of him. They'll talk, they'll gossip, they'll start to mind her business.

He doesn't want that for her. It's not intentionally bad. But it does get obnoxious at a point. This is why he tunes most of it out.

Though some of it always seems to find him.

Kyra walks into the lounge and Yoongi takes another bite of his salad. She takes a seat at the table and Hailey blinks at her.

"I thought you didn't work today."

"Do you think that I would be here if I didn't have to be?" Kyra asks. "They changed my schedule because James left."

"Oohh, right." Hailey says, remembering that Nurse James got accepted into medical school.

"Yep." Kyra folds her arms. "Now I have to work in PEDS today and then PEDS E.D. tonight. So that should be fun." She says sarcastically.

Delilah sneaks a glance at Yoongi. He doesn't show any reaction to her words so she can't tell if Harper's going to be down there or not tonight.

He's very good at masking his reactions and emotions to things while he's working. A part of it is just from being in the medical field. Another part of it is Kyra managing to suck the joy out of every conversation that she participates in in his presence.

Yoongi finishes his salad with 30 minutes left in his lunch. He throws the container into the garbage and waves to Delilah and Hailey.

They tell him they'll 'see him later' as he exits the lounge, he walks to the bathroom to brush his teeth before heading back into the hall.

His phone starts to buzz in his pocket as he walks down to his office. He takes it out and sees that Harper is calling on a FaceTime video.

He slides the arrow over knowing that he's not far from his office. He smiles when he sees Onyx's face there instead of Harper's. Yoongi can't help but chuckle as the baby squeals from seeing him.

"Does Mommy know that you have her phone?"

"Babaaaaa." Onyx picks the phone up and looks at it.

"Yeaah. Where's Mommy?"

Yoongi watches as Harper comes to stands over Onyx. Her eyes widen as she picks him up.

"How did you-? I don't even know how he called you. I thought that he was on the camera."

"It's fine. I was about to call anyway." He pulls his keys out of his pocket as he gets closer to his office door.

"What'd you have for lunch?" Harper asks as she allows Onyx to keep holding her phone.

"Salad. What'd you have?"

"A chicken quesadilla."

"Oohhh." Yoongi groans as he puts his hand on his stomach.

"Don't worry. I can make you one when you get home from work."

He brightens up and smiles and she laughs at his dramatics. He unlocks his office door and steps inside.

"I'll be home in-." He checks his watch. "Two hours."

"How's work today?" Harper asks as she sets Onyx on couch with her.

She holds the phone in her own hand and Onyx whines. He reaches for it and she looks at him.

"I can't hold it for a second?"

Onyx's face begins to turn down and Harper gives it back before he starts crying.

"Unbelievable." She mutters.

"Work is fine." Yoongi expresses what he can. "I had a surgery briefing today. That was a little awkward but everything's okay now."

"Why awkward?" Harper wonders. "What happened?"

"One of the surgeons, Dr. Han. I told you about him, right?"

"Yeah. He's the one that you were put against for the promotion, right?"

Yeah, him. He said something that I didn't really like before the briefing even started. So I said something back that I don't really think was appropriate to say in front of other people. Or at all, to an extent. It kind of just came out... I guess. I don't know how to explain it."

"What did he say?" Harper asks, wondering what Yoongi could've possibly responded with to make him feel regretful of his words.

"He said he was at the dinner last night and that he was going to speak to me- which I know is bull. But he said he was going to come speak but I left early."

"We left around when everybody else started leaving."

"Exactly but I didn't even get into that." Yoongi sits at his desk, propping the phone up.

"He said he'd have left early too if he had the date that I did so I politely reminded him that he has a wife at home that he could have brought but decided not to."

Harper pushes her lips together as she stares at the phone. She presses them into a thin line as she tries not laugh.

It's from disbelief, more than anything.

For one, she's disgusted that about Han's words toward her. In a general sense and because he's married.

And for two, she can't believe that Yoongi said that to him in defense of her. She wants to find it cute, she does.

But apparently, this guy has it out for Yoongi. She doesn't want him to cause Yoongi any more trouble.

"He isn't going to bother you again after this, is he?"

"He didn't look at me a single time during the briefing after that. He was the first one out of the door when it was over so I think that he's done bothering me."

"I understand why you regret saying what you did to him. But I don't think that you completely should." Harper tells him. "If he bothers you and you're always passive about it, maybe this will get him to leave you alone. Finally biting back at him, you know? That doesn't mean that you have to be involved in any drama after this. You've just put your foot down with him. And on your first day as Director, too."

Yoongi sees her point. It sets the tone for the way he's going to handle things here on out. He isn't going to do anything too differently but he is the director of the unit now. He needs to act like it. He can stand his ground while still maintaining his professionalism.

"If professionalism is what people expect from you, then they also need to be professional." Harper says to him.

If they're not going to be, then he can match the energy that they give. People seem to be doing a lot of dishing out of what they can't take when it comes to Yoongi and he knows that.

He'd rather nip everything in the bud now since he's been long tired of it.

"You're right." Yoongi agrees with her. "Next time something comes up, I'll just remind them not to speak on things that they wouldn't want spoken about."

"Babababa." Onyx cuts in as he smiles. He kicks his legs in excitement from hearing and seeing Yoongi talk.

He hasn't seen him in a few hours, this is peak joy for the infant. 

"I know. That's so crazy, right?" Yoongi responds to Onyx. "They're so rude. That's not very nice."

"Aaahhh babaaa."

"Noooo, I can't beat them up. That's not nice either, Onyx."

Onyx hears the word 'no' and looks up at his mother. His lips are poked out in visible confusion. She laughs as she hugs him.

"It's okay, bear. He didn't mean it like that."

Onyx's lip turns into a pout and she kisses his cheeks.

"It's okay. We're going to get cupcakes later to make up for it, okay? Tell him. Say 'you owe me cupcakes'." She points Onyx's finger at her phone and he giggles.

"I do owe you cupcakes." Yoongi nods. "You're half a year now. When you turn one, we'll get you a cake. Then you'll have to share with everybody."

"Oh my. Can you imagine?" Harper says, thinking of Onyx's first birthday. "He'll have grown so much by then."

"He's gonna be eating whole cupcakes by then. I doubt that he'll be able to finish one now but when he's one?" Yoongi raises his eyebrows. "He's going to be taking our food all the time. Now he gets full fast so we get a little bit of a break. After he turns one though, nothing will be ours anymore."

"That's with every child, though." Harper says. "Welcome to parenthood."

She realizes what she's said right after it's out of her mouth. Yoongi hesitates in his response, seeing the panic in her eyes.

"Not that I'm saying you have to be his father or anything. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant in a general sense. It was more of figure of speech, I guess. I'm not telling you that you have to be anything to him. I'm just-."

She stops talking, feeling like she isn't making any sense. She's rambling and gambling over her words, not being able to get a grip on what she's saying herself.

How could she expect him to?

"We're together, Harper. We've both started conversations about longevity and discussed them. We want this for the rest of our lives, that's the goal. I'm going to be in the household with him, he's going to grow up with me, I take care of him with you. I'm going to be helping raise him."

Harper hears his words as he says them. He's making nothing but a lot of sense. She doesn't see how the scenario that he's creating is anything but the obvious.

Yoongi is a parental figure to Onyx.

But she feels a sense of guilt in admitting that... or saying exactly what he is to her son out loud. She would feel wrong if she openly voiced that.

The phone in Yoongi's office begins to ring and he sees the extension number on it. Knowing that it's an important call, he sits up in his seat as he looks at the FaceTime call.

"I have to take this call. It's the physical recovery unit."

"Okay." Harper says in a quiet tone.

"We can finish talking about this later though. Tonight after Onyx's little celebration."

"Okay."

"I'll see you later."

"See you later." Harper replies.

They look at each other for a few more seconds. Yoongi sees the sudden sadness in her eyes and wishes that he didn't have to hang the phone up.

But he doesn't know what he's being called for and that would be a HIPAA violation if he ever saw one.

They hang up the phone and Yoongi answers the one in his office.

"Hello? This is Dr. Min."

"Good afternoon, Director." Lionel David's voice comes through the line. "Sorry to bother you."

"It's fine. I know you wouldn't call if it weren't important."

"Of course. I'm calling to see if you have the direct line to the surgeon on Mr. Collins's case. I called the one that's listed but the line went dead. So I want to make sure that I have the correct one."

"I just had a meeting with him earlier today." Yoongi says as he looks up the surgeon on his work account. "I know that they were fixing phone lines in a lot of the offices on the floor this week so that might be why it's out."

"You guys are getting new phones?" Dr. David says and Yoongi chuckles at his 'awe man' tone.

"Yeah. The company we were with is being bought out or something like that so they're giving us all new equipment."

"Luckyyy."

"They're giving them to all the buildings. I think the hospital is first then the medical offices then you guys and the x-ray building."

"We're always last." Dr. David sighs. "Except with the Wi-Fi. We got that fixed first."

"I was just about to say that." Yoongi replies as he scrolls through the directory. "Oh-, here we go. I found the number and his email information. I'm going to email it all over so you can add it to your contact information."

"Alright. Thank you, Director."

"No problem. Bye."

Yoongi hangs the phone up and looks at the time on his watch. With a sigh, he starts the last of his work for the day:

Going over surgeries that are due to take place throughout the rest of the week.

######

"Come on, bear." Harper says as she puts Onyx into his car seat.

It's almost five o'clock and she's getting ready to run out to the store.

Yoongi has been home for about thirty minutes in his own apartment. He stopped by Harper's to let her know that he was there before going into his own to shower.

The plan is to go to the grocery store, grab cupcakes for Onyx's small celebration and anything else they see that they need for their homes while they're out.

A candle and a birthday hat wouldn't hurt either. Maybe some light grocery shopping as well.

Knocks on the door are heard as Harper straps Onyx into the car seat.

"It's open." She calls.

Yoongi opens the door as she's standing up. He holds his hand out for the car seat and she hands Onyx over to him.

The baby's eyes brighten and he screeches as he sees Yoongi again. Her reaches for him and is stopped by the straps of the car seat.

He starts whining and fussing and Yoongi gives his thumb to him. It calms him down enough but he tries to put it in his mouth.

"You're lucky I washed my hands before I came over here." Yoongi takes a teething ring out of his coat pocket and hands it to the baby. Onyx takes it eagerly and starts chewing on it.

Harper puts her coat and boots on and Yoongi gets a good look at her. She's not really looking at him and he's noticed. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel the slightest bit abashed.

"Baby?" Yoongi puts his hand on the small of her back.

"Hm?" Her eyes are innocent but warring.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." She says with a small nod. "I'm just worried about getting everything done and keeping Onyx on his schedule. It's almost five and then we have to come back home, get him cupcake, give him his bath. And then I still have to get ready for work."

"Don't get yourself worked up about any of that. We'll have his celebration, wear him out and he'll be ready for bed by the time you're getting ready for work. Everything will be fine."

Harper wants to believe that but she's too tired today to really feel it. She got a great night's sleep the night before. But as the day has gone on, she's becoming increasingly more fatigued.

"Alright." Harper yawns and covers her mouth.

Yoongi guides her closer to him and she hugs her arms around his torso.

"I missed you." She says without thinking.

"I missed you too. That's why I want to hurry up and get out so we can come back and get a nap in." Yoongi rubs her butt for comfort.

"Promise? Can we cuddle?"

"Of course, baby." He pecks her lips and she kisses him back.

Yoongi warms at her open affection, kissing her cheek after their lip lock.

Harper grabs her keys as Yoongi steps out of the apartment. She locks the door behind them and they walk down the hall together. Onyx sees his mother walking in front of him as he's carried and his eyebrows tug together.

Harper gasps and waves at him with a smile. He smiles back as he looks up. Yoongi looks down at him hearing his sudden laughter.

He looks back at Harper to see her sticking her tongue at Onyx. She sees that she's caught and they together.

"I didn't know what he was laughing at for a second. He scared me." Yoongi says as they get on the elevator.

"He was looking at me like he didn't know where he was or something. He looked concerned so I was cheering him up."

"How was your day with him today? Did he take a nap?"

"He took three naps, actually." Harper informs. "Well, the first one was a little bit after I got over here after you left for work this morning so maybe he was just tired still. But then he had another one after we ate some snacks and then again after lunch."

"So he should be kind of okay in the store, do you think?"

"Uuhh..." Harper tilts her head. "I don't think he'll be tired fussy in the store but depending on the number of people and the volume of the place, he might be a little cranky."

"You know what I was thinking about on my way home?"

"Hm?"

"You know those headphones that kids wear at concerts? The noise blocking ones?"

"Do you think we should get him some?" Harper wonders. "He's only six months. Do you think he'll keep them on?"

"I think it's something that we should talk to his doctor about. We should see how this outing goes first though. If he's still fussy, if he still seems overstimulated, then we should talk to the doctor."

Harper sighs as they step off the elevator. She's already thought about these things. In fact, she noticed that Onyx has been rolling over the way that he did at the doctor. After she and Yoongi got off the phone, she did tummy time with Onyx.

Dr. Yu told them to keep an eye on the rolling to see if he did it a specific way all the time. She realized that he did but was curious as to why that mattered.

The information that she found and the hole that she fell into, she wishes that she would've just minded her business.

Who is google to say about her child? They tell people not to google their symptoms anyway. They give you the most dramatic results they can come up with. Google isn't a licensed medical professional.

They're a search engine.

When they get down to the car, Yoongi straps Onyx into Harper's back seat. She gets into the passenger seat and hands him her keys. She's not in the mindset to drive. She's much too distracted at the moment.

Yoongi notices and doesn't mind driving. He holds her hand in his as he pulls out of the parking spot.

The drive to the grocery store isn't too long. It's not very far from their apartment building.

When they arrive, they part ways. Yoongi goes to grab a few groceries that they both need and Harper goes to grab cupcakes and the other small party things.

A birthday hat, a birthday ribbon pin for Onyx's shirt. A gift for him to 'sort of' rip open.

While she does that, Yoongi grabs other food items before stopping at the deli. He makes it before they close and orders his cold cuts for the week.

"Oh, my." The older woman behind the counter says, getting a peek at Onyx.

He's out of the car seat and being held now. He kept squirming around and starting to cry while reaching for Yoongi so he just took him out.

Onyx is wide awake, looking around at everything surrounding him.

"Isn't he just so precious? Eddie, come look at this young man's son." The older woman calls to the man working the meat slicer.

Yoongi doesn't know if he should correct them or not. He doesn't really want to. But he wonders if Harper would prefer if he did.

Is he meant to refer to Onyx as 'my girlfriend's son' forever? 'My fiancée's son'? 'My wife's son'?

That feels so weird and he isn't very fond of it.

Eddie pokes his head around the corner and smiles at Onyx.

"Oohh. Ain't he just as cute as a button? How old is he?" Eddie asks.

"He's six months old today."

"Oohh." The older people say together.

"The way he's clinging to you, he must be a daddy's boy, isn't he?" The woman asks.

Yoongi tilts his head and pushes his lips to the side.

"Yeah." Eddie laughs. "He is. That face told me everything I needed to know. He ain't gonna say it cause his momma probably hates it but he a daddy's boy, alright. Look at the way he holding on to him."

The older woman, whose name tag reads 'Regina' smacks her teeth and looks up at him. She puts her hands on her hips.

"Now how you know that? You just think everybody's like Tyler." She refers to Eddie's son.

"Because people always saying 'momma's boy' this and 'momma's boy' that. 'Boys always favor their mother and girls always favor their fathers'. Now look." He gestures to Yoongi and Onyx.

"Oh, whatever." She waves him off as she looks to Yoongi. "I bet you if y'all have another one, they'll be right up under her."

"He's up under her a lot now." Yoongi says. "Just in public and when he's tired, he's like this with me."

"See? Where he go?" The woman looks around for Eddie whose gone back to slicing meat. "He always running off before I can get the truth out to him."

"Yoongi?" Harper asks as she approaches, looking at two different brands of teething cookies.

"Yes?" He turns to face her.

"I don't know which one that I should get. This one had more on the shelf. But these ones look better. I don't really know what the difference is." She looks at him for help and notices the older woman standing behind the counter.

Harper smiles and waves politely.

"How you doing today, sweetheart?" Regina greets.

"Good. How are you?"

"I'm good. I was just telling him how beautiful your baby boy is."

"Oh, thank you." Harper brightens up.

The older woman smiles and nods at her.

"And you picked a good man. Y'all baby got to fussing and he just calmed him right on down. No problems at all."

Harper opens her mouth like she's about to say something but decides against it. Eddie finishes slicing the ham and hands it over the counter to Yoongi.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Y'all have a good day now."

"Thank you. You too." Yoongi says as Harper grabs the cart. "I got it, honey."

He takes it back from her and she walks alongside him quietly. He feels her silence and suspects the reason why. But that isn't a conversation to have in the middle of a grocery store.

So he waits until they're checked out and back in her car.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... just thinking. I'll be okay."

"Thinking about what?"

"People keep calling Onyx your son. Everywhere that we go, every time that we're out, they call him your son. Or think that he's your son."

"Is he not?" Yoongi asks as he drives the way home.

Harper looks at him and her eyebrows twitch in confusion.

"I don't know if that's something that I'm comfortable with saying."

"Why not?" Yoongi wants to know.

Genuinely, he wants to understand why she feels like this.

To be honest, it's nothing that he's done to prove otherwise. It's nothing, personally, that Yoongi has done to make her skeptical of anything.

"I don't like the idea of people questioning me on anything. Onyx doesn't look like you. He looks like me. And how would people think of me if they knew that I was calling you the father of my child like that? How would that make me look? Would they think I was lying to you or something like that?"

"Why do you care?" Yoongi asks bluntly.

Harper frowns at him and scoffs, sitting back in her seat. She shakes her head and crosses her arms as she looks out of the window.

Yoongi knows that she's upset by what he's said. But he's frustrated by what she said and the entire scenario surrounding all of it.

The fact that she's blaming herself for a situation that's been out of her control since before Onyx was even born bothers him. It also hurts him to basically reject the idea of him being Onyx's dad.

In every sense of the word, minus the biological, he is Onyx's father. She can argue with herself but these are the facts.

The rest of the drive is silent.

Yoongi carries Onyx's car seat upstairs and they both take their shoes and coats off.

He takes a sleeping Onyx out of his car seat and carries him to his nursery. He'll wake up shortly but he can rest for right now. He shouldn't be in earshot of the conversation anyway.

Harper follows behind Yoongi, leaning against the doorway as she watches.

Yoongi looks down at Onyx as the baby sleeps in his arms. His long dark lashes contrast against his warm brown skin. Yoongi puts his pacifier in his mouth so that he won't fuss.

He's has noticed that the dip in Onyx's Cupid's bow looks a little deeper when he has the pacifier in his mouth. His chunky cheeks move as he soothes himself with the binkie.

Yoongi kisses the baby's temple and lays him in his crib. He smooths his hair on the side that was against his chest. He swallows thickly as he looks at the infant. He inhales deeply as he backs away from the crib. Waking out of the room, he cracks the door and looks at Harper.

She backs herself against the wall but he doesn't move any closer to her. He stands against the wall across from her in the hall. She knows full well that Yoongi would never hurt her.

But she also knows that he's frustrated and doesn't want to be in anybody's way while they're like that.

"I may not have helped create him. But you're not gonna tell me that that's not my son." Yoongi says as his voice thickens.

"I love that little boy just as much as I love you. I'd do anything for him. I do everything for him. I am here for everything. I experience things with him just like you do. I don't care whose DNA he carries. That's my son, Harper. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you guys. I'm not leaving you. I'm not leaving him. You can forget it. This is my family and I don't give a damn what anybody thinks. Our family is not anybody's business. Nothing that we do is anybody's business but ours."

He's pissed off and it shows.

"You're letting what you figure people are going to say into your head and I don't like that. You're not wrong for allowing me to be a father figure to him, Harper. You have done nothing wrong at all. You are allowed to move on. You are allowed to have your family. And even if you weren't, do you really think I give a damn? Of all people, me?"

Harper looks at him as he pours his heart out to her. She's hearing everything that she's saying. She's taking everything that's being said and processing it in that very moment.

"I'm sorry." She apologizes and swallows thickly.

The potential of people's words do bother her. They do hurt her. She's seen what people say about single mothers on the internet. She's seen what people say about them having their boyfriends around their kids on the internet.

And it hurts. That, she can admit. She knows of the way that Yoongi loves and cares for her son. Even if she didn't see it, Onyx does.

He is nowhere near old enough to understand that he implications of him calling Yoongi 'dada'. But through action, Onyx has associated him very heavily with that role.

To Onyx, Yoongi is his father.

He doesn't even know any other man to place into that role. There is no other person to place there.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Harper." He holds his arm out for her and she allows him to hold her as she hugs him.

"I just want you to understand that I'm here. This is my family. And I don't intend on going anywhere."

"I don't want you to." She holds her arms out and he steps into them.

Yoongi's long tresses fall from behind his ears. Harper's fingers push his hair, curling it behind his ears.

Her eyes focus on his plush pink lips as she licks hers. There's a strong possibility that her heart can be heard beating out of her chest if you listen close enough.

Harper bites the inside of her cheek, feeling her nervousness begin to rise at his silence.

She opens her mouth, feeling the need to apologize again, not knowing what else to say. Yoongi rolls his eyes before kissing her. He barely lets her finish before his lips are on hers.

His hands grip her waist and she closes her eyes, feeling the relief of his reassurance.

Her back is against the wall to carry the stability for their heated kiss. Yoongi's hand rubs down to her butt, cupping the thick of it in his hands.

He leaves her breathless and gripping at the sides of his shirt as he speaks.

"Stop that."

Harper smiles giddily as she looks up at him. He kisses her cheeks and she closes her eyes, basking in the love.

"You should go shower now and put on something comfortable to lounge in during his little party." Yoongi says, hands reaching to fix the necklace resting on her skin.

"I think this looks better on you than it did on me." He admits.

"I doubt that. I didn't even know that I had it on until Onyx was reaching for it. When did you sneak it on?"

"This morning while you were sleeping. I wasn't sure if you'd be awake before I left for work or not and I really wanted to give it to you today."

"It's beautiful. Your parents were staring at me with it on. I was getting nervous."

"It was my grandmother's. Well, my great-grandmother's then my grandmother's. Then my mom's. Now it's yours."

Harper stares at him in surprise. She wasn't expecting that answer.

"Yoongi, this is generational. Why would you give this to me? Your mother gave it to you. No wonder they were looking at me crazy." Harper reaches to unclasp the necklace and Yoongi stops her.

"No, that's not why. This necklace has been passed down to the Min women in my family, yes. But my parents only had one kid and I'm not a woman."

"But I'm not a..."

"Yet." Yoongi clarifies.

Harper feels the compass pendant around her neck. It means more to their family than just being a necklace. It means more to Yoongi than just being a necklace.

It's symbolic of family, of love... of marriage.

"You don't think you're biting off a little more than you can chew?" Harper proposes the question.

"No." Yoongi shakes his head confidently. "I think I eat just fine. Don't you?"

Harper's face flushes as she stares at him. She fights her smile as she walks into her bedroom. She gathers her things to get in the shower and Yoongi snickers to himself as he walks to the kitchen.

He doesn't know if she'll ever stop being flustered when he says things that are out of pocket. Then again, he doesn't know if he'll ever stop when she says things like that to him.

At most, they'll just match each other's energy one of these days. No telling where that could take them, though.

While Harper is in the shower, Yoongi washes his hands and starts setting up for Onyx's mini birthday party.

There's just cupcakes, snack platters and a toy that he's sure to love.

It's an intimate gathering, consisting of just Harper, Yoongi, Onyx, Jewel and the Min parents.

By the time that Harper gets out of the shower, Onyx is awake and sitting up in the crib. Harper and Yoongi hear him fussing at the same time but he tells her to just focus on getting dressed.

Yoongi gives Onyx his bath while Harper gets dressed. He picks out a cute pajama set for the baby boy before bringing him into the kitchen. He texts his parents, letting them know to come over.

They bring Jewel over with a gift for Onyx. They just have run out to grab it while Yoongi and Harper were out as well.

Harper comes from the room in a white long sleeved shirt under a lilac scrub shirt. Her pants are also lilac and she's paired them with white crocs.

There's no need for her to tie her hair back tonight. It's shoulder length and isn't in the way of her vision nor will it limit her ability to do her job.

"You look beautiful." Yoongi compliments.

"You say that every day."

"Because you look beautiful every day."

"Will you stop it?" Harper mumbles into his chest as he hugs her.

"Never." He whispers back.

"Maaaa."

Harper freezes in her love stricken motion. She stares at Yoongi, wondering she's hearing things.

"Maamaaamama."

"I know he's just stringing words together but he's saying 'mama'." Harper says her thoughts out loud.

"No, he's definitely saying it." Yoongi says looking at the six month old.

Onyx is reaching his arms in the direction of his mother. Harper slowly turns her head to see him and he starts bouncing on his butt, growing impatient.

"Okay, I'm coming." She moves promptly to pick him up.

Yoongi and his father chuckle at her haste. Mrs. Min smiles fondly at the interaction.

"You're saying 'mama'?"

"Maaaaa." Onyx yawns and lays his head on his mother's shoulder.

"Honey, why aren't you taking pictures?" Mrs. Mom pats her husband's arm.

"Oh, right." He takes his phone from his pocket. "We should probably speed this up anywho. He's losing his mojo."

Onyx rubs his eyes and turns his head into Harper's neck.

"Oohh." She coos. "We'll just sing happy birthday and get you to bed, okay? You can have your cupcake tomorrow for a snack."

"I'll give him a piece with his lunch tomorrow." Yoongi says.

"Good plan." Harper says, grabbing the candle from the counter.

Yoongi opens it for her and places it into one of the cupcakes. His father takes a lighter from his pocket and Onyx pushes himself closer to his mother's body at the sight of the flame.

"It's okay. It's not going to hurt you."

Jewel figure-eights around Yoongi's ankles and he picks the cat up.

"Hey, you." He scratches behind the cat's ears, earning rolling purrs and slow blinks.

The adults start to sing 'happy birthday' to Onyx on Mr. Min's cue. Onyx hasn't the faintest idea what's going on but everyone is smiling and clapping and that, he can do.

Rather drowsily, of course.

Mr. Min records until the end of the song and even catches Onyx dozing off in his mother's arms.

"I'm gonna take him to bed before he wakes back up." Harper tells them.

"We're going to head to bed, too." Mrs. Min tells her. "We'll have our cupcakes tomorrow with Onyx. It's too late to have them now."

"Okay. I'll see you guys tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow." They hug Harper and Yoongi good night before walking back over to their son's apartment.

"My dad said they're thinking about moving out here." Yoongi tells Harper as they walk back to the nursery. "They talked about it again last night and have decided that they're going to."

"Really?" Harper's eyes light up. "Did they say when? What about their house? And yours?"

"We'll sell them. It takes about six months to close on a house anyway so they can use that time to find a new one close by. When I close the deal on my house, I'll keep that money to put towards a new house as well when the time comes."

"So where are your parents going to stay until they buy a new house? In your apartment?"

"My parents have the money to buy a house right now without the money from the other one. It would just be a matter of them finding a good house that they both want. It'd have to be close by us, in a good neighborhood, by a good school district. Things like that."

"I always said that that's what would take me the longest to find a house too." Harper expresses. "I used to want like granite countertops and super shiny things I know I could never afford. Now I just want neutral colored stuff. Things that are beautiful but not flashy."

"'Not everything that glitters is gold'." Yoongi quotes.

"Exactly. But whatever the inverse is for that." She says and they laugh quietly together.

Harper kisses Onyx's forehead before laying him in the crib. Jewel jumps from Yoongi's arms and into the crib as well. He curls up next to the baby, sharing warmth as he purrs against him.

"What time is it?" Harper asks as they walk from the room.

"We've got about an hour and half until you have to be at work." Yoongi says, looking at the time on his phone.

"Nap time?"

"Yes." Yoongi pumps his fists.

Harper giggles at his ridiculousness. She grabs his hand and pulls him into her bedroom. They leave the door open as they lie down on fresh, cotton scented sheets just in case Onyx cries.

"Wake me up when it's time for you to go. I want kisses goodbye." Yoongi mumbles as Harper curls into him.

"Okay." She mumbles back.

######

"Babe, I have to go." Harper giggles against Yoongi's lips.

"Okay. One more."

Harper kisses her boyfriend's lips for the fourth time as she says goodbye. He releases her from their hug so that she can make it to work on time.

"I'll see you later."

"See you when you come home." Yoongi tells her .

Harper smiles as she walks down the hall. She zips her coat up while waiting for the elevator and takes her keys out of her pocket.

Tonight is her first shift out of the emergency department since the incident. She'll be back up on the third floor in her usual unit. Thankfully.

She likes the emergency department but she couldn't do it every day. Having to physically see the chaos, the injured people, their distraught families....

It's a lot for her to take in.

Almost too much.

Harper arrives to her shift three minutes early and clocks in at the desk. She switches out with the other receptionist that was there, taking her place.

"I finished most of the paperwork." Nina tells her. "There's just a few things left that I wasn't able to get to. Garrett should be here soon too, though. He gets in at 9 or 9:30, I think."

"Okay, I'll finish it up. I think it's 9:30. Thank you." Harper replies as she sits at the desk. "Have a good night, Nina."

"You too, Harper." Nina waves to her with a smile.

Harper looks at the work on the desk in front of her. Nina did get most of it done but she's sure by the end of the night, she'll have more to split between she and Garrett.

As she's starting the work, the phone on the desk rings. She picks it up and greets the caller.

"Third floor trauma unit. You've reached the receptionist's desk. How can I help you?"

"Hey.... Who is this?"

Harper hears Kyra's voice through the line. She can hear the way that her tone changed upon hearing who it was.

"The third floor trauma unit. How can I help you?" Harper repeats in a professional tone.

"Can I speak to somebody more experienced that actually knows what they're doing?"

Who do you think trained me? Harper thinks in response.

"All receptionist staff are trained the same and I'm currently the only person on staff for this unit. However, if you'd like to call back in about an hour and a half, I'm sure we could get something figured out for you."

There's a pause on the other end of the line and Harper raises her eyebrows as she waits for a response.

"Uhm.. okay, well." Kyra says with an attitude. "Anyway, there's going to be a woman coming up there in a minute. Her son was admitted from the E.D. so if you could just assist her and let her know where her son is, that'd be great."

"....so do my job that I was trained to do. Okay, great. Is there anything else that I can help with?" Harper replies in her same kind tone.

"No.."

"Alright. Thanks for the heads-up. I appreciate that. Have a great rest of your shift." Harper says before hanging the phone up.

She sighs and goes to typing. The elevator door down the hall open and she hears the clicking of heels against the hospital floor.

Harper looks up as the woman comes around the corner.

"Good evening." She greets.

"Hi. I mean, good evening. I'm sorry." The woman is flustered and looks ready to burst into tears.

"Uhm, I'm coming up because-. Well, they said that my son was admitted and is having emergency surgery right now. He was in an accident and I just-." She puts her fingers against her mouth, composing herself for a few minutes.

"His name is Ryan Bellevue."

"Okay. Well, let's get you checked in and make sure we all have the correct information for him, alright? From there, we'll get a nurse out here to talk to you about what happened and what's going on with him, okay?"

"Okay. Do you know if he's going to be okay? His father should be on his way soon. I'm not good with talking... about stuff like this. I can't even think. Oh my god."

"I wasn't here when your son was brought up and admitted so I don't know exactly what's going on with him. But I do know that the emergency surgical team here does and will do everything that they can for him. I know, as a mother, that might not seem like much right now through your panic because I'd be the same way." Harper relates to her on a more personal level.

Putting herself in the woman's shoes, she'd probably be inconsolable.

"But it's something to hold on to. Some things may seem out of our control when it comes to our kids but we can make sure to get them the best of the best of everything. And you've got that here with him."

The woman wipes her eyes and nods as she takes a deep breath. While she's composing herself, Harper looks up her son's information.

She asks for her photo ID card for verification before giving her a visitor's bracelet. The woman sits in a chair in the waiting room patiently, expecting the nurse to be out shortly.

Sometime after nine o'clock, Garrett shows up for his shift.

"Hi, Garrett."

"Hey, Harper." He greets with a wave. "I wasn't sure if I'm supposed to be here at nine or 9:30 so I'm here at 9:15 just in case."

Harper laughs as she looks up the schedule for him. Her eyes widen dramatically and her mouth falls open.

"I'm late?" Garrett asks, a little panicked.

"No, I'm just messing with you. You're early." She waves him off and he smacks his teeth.

"You play too much." He sits at the desk and puts his water cup down. "You been busy?"

"Mmm, kind of. I was doing paperwork mostly. Mrs. Bellevue over there came up for her son." Harper nods in her direction. "A visitor came for the trauma recovery side and that's been about it."

"Much calmer than the E.D., huh?"

"Yes. The emergency department is fine for a night or two. But every day is a little... stressful."

Garrett shrugs. "You get used to it. I mean, seeing the injuries is always hard each time but you learn to leave work at work after a while down there. I think seeing it all the time kind of desensitizes you."

"Yeah, I don't want to do that." Harper shakes her head.

"Good thing you're stationed back up here then. I was worried you wouldn't come back at all after what happened. Crazy lady."

Harper pushes her lips into a thin line at the mention of the incident with Miss Sullivan. She really hadn't expected to see her. She knew that she was up here but just hoped that she could skirt by without being seen. Or spoken to. Or acknowledged.

She hoped that she could, rather.

"You were standing here when everything happened." Harper says out loud. "I don't want anyone else to know anything. My son's father and I haven't been together since before he was born. He's not a good person. The situation was embarrassing enough and I-."

"The hell he isn't a good person." Garrett tells her. "That was not his first time being here, I can tell you that. You don't have to explain yourself to me. Your privacy is your business. I'm not going to say anything to anybody about it. As far as I'm concerned, the lady's looney and you got a surrogate. I don't know nothing. I don't want to know nothing. I'm practicing willful ignorance."

Harper smiles at him, chuckling a bit. He smiles back at her.

"You're safe up here." He assures.

"Thank you."

Garrett and Harper both turn to the front of the desk at the sound of heavy footsteps. It's the sound of thick soles boots against the tiles polished floor.

It's not something they're unfamiliar with. The security at the hospital wears them for their uniform. The sound is memorized at this point.

However, this doesn't seem to be a security guard for St. Juniper's hospital.

Not dressed this professionally.

"Good evening, ma'am." Garrett greets with a smile. "How can I help you tonight?"

The approaching woman's eyes move from Garrett to Harper.

"Are you Harper Taylor?" She asks, ignoring Garrett's greeting.

Harper is thrown off by the acknowledgment of the woman she's never had a conversation with in her life. Nor has she ever seen her before.

She looks at Garrett who's furrowing his eyebrows in obvious confusion. He doesn't know who the hell she is either.

"Who's asking?" Garrett answers for her.

The woman snaps her eyes to him as he stands up.

"Paula Duntz. Lawyer for Segel Law Firm."

Garrett looks at Harper whose face has blanked. She's completely confused but extremely off-put by the situation.

"So I'm asking again, are you Harper Taylor?"

"I.... For what?" Harper asks timidly.

She can't think of any reason as to why she would be asking for her. She's never contacted a lawyer or a law firm for anything. She's never been in any trouble with the law. The most contact that she's had with the police is being stopped for mandatory checkpoints in order to get on the expressway on the Fourth of July.

"On behalf of the county family courts and Jahlil Collins, you've been served." The woman sets the manilla envelope on the desk and Harper's heart drops.

She stands up, snatching the papers from the desk.

"What?" She says under her breath.

She looks up at the woman whose already walking away. Her heart beats erratically in her chest as she tears the envelope open. Removing the papers, she reads the first sheet, getting the gist of what they're for.

"Harper, are you okay?" Garrett asks.

His voice is drowning out as Harper stares at the papers. She's so confused. She doesn't understand how this could be happening.

Harper doesn't know how he could have known anything. She's so lost that her mind wraps itself up trying to piece things together.

But nothing makes sense.

"I have to go home." She says quietly.

"Do you want me to call Dr. Mitchell?"

"It doesn't matter. I have to go home. I need to go home now."

"Alright. Just-." Garrett looks around. "Uhhh, shit. Alright. Get home. I'll call Mitchell and tell her that it was a family emergency."

"Thank you." Harper says as she grabs her bag. She stuffs the papers back into the envelope and puts it away into her bag.

Pulling her phone out as she walks, she dials Yoongi's number. As it rings, she searches through her bag for her keys.

Her eyes are tearing up as she speed walks down the hall to the elevator.

"Where are my- oh!"

"Hello?"

She stumbles back a bit as her body bumps into another. Her phone drops and clatters to the floor, cracking the screen in the corner. Her keys drop to the ground and she grabs them first.

Standing back up, she looks at the person she bumped into.

Harper watches as Kyra picks her phone up.

"Hello? Harper?"

Kyra looks at the phone screen as it lights up. It's on speaker phone after brushing Harper's fingers when it fell.

Kyra hears Yoongi's voice and sighs through her nose.

"You should really be careful where you're stepping." Kyra says casually as she looks up at Harper. "You might be in somebody's way."

She holds the phone out to her and Harper takes it from her.

"Harper?" Yoongi calls her name, feeling uneasy about her not responding.

"Yes?" She responds as her hands begin to tremble.

Kyra holds her eye contact as she watches her speak to Yoongi.

"You're scaring me. Are you alright? Did you buttdial me?"

"No, I-. I'm just calling to tell you that I'm coming home."

Harper's voice is shaky as the rest of her body is. The tension and terror in her eyes in obvious.

"Already? Did something happen?"

"Babaaaaa."

She hears Onyx coo on the other line. It breaks her out of her frozen trance and she blinks. Grabbing her car key in her hand, she breaks eye contact with Kyra.

Walking swiftly past her, she heads to the elevator and pushes the button.

"I'll talk to you when I get home."

"O..kay. Do you want me to..."

The sound of Yoongi's voice trails out of earshot as Harper gets onto the elevator. Kyra watches the doors close before walking down the hallway.

One could almost say that she looks... satisfied.

A|N
#Almost 15k words. Whew. I know y'all got a lot to say. Let it out