Healing Harper-MYG✔️

#thirty-nine#

"Does Mommy know that you have her phone?"

Kyra hears Yoongi ask as she steps into the hallway. She followed him out with the intent to have a conversation with him but now she's overhearing another one.

"Dadaaaaaa."

Kyra pauses in step at the sound of a baby's voice. Her eyebrows furrow as she questions what she just heard.

"Yeaah. Where's Mommy?" Yoongi asks as he smiles at the phone.

Kyra hears the baby's squeal in excitement and watches as Yoongi chuckles. Her heart beats faster in his chest, stunned at the possibilities.

"How did you-?" She hears a very familiar woman's voice.

"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." Yoongi pulls his keys out of his pocket as he gets closer to his office door.

Kyra stops by the elevators, having heard enough of the situation. With a clenched jaw, she pushes the bottom elevator button.

Hearing such a jovial tone from Yoongi makes her sick. A baby addressing him as 'dada' makes her stomach churn.

She gets onto the elevator and pushes the button for the first floor. She checks the time as she takes the ride down. She's got about ten minutes before her lunch ends.

But she doesn't mind being early to her next assignment for the day.

She gets off the elevator on the first floor and walks through the lobby. Crossing the bridge over to the physical recovery center, she makes her way past the receptionist's desk.

As she enters the patients' lounge unit, she spots her client sitting at a table playing cards with another patient.

Seeing someone moving in his peripheral, he looks up at her.

"It's two o'clock already?" Jahlil asks, finding time to be flying.

"Yep. Almost." Kyra replies.

"Damn. I'll have to finish this game with you later." He tells the other man at the table.

"No problem, champ. I'll catch you when you finished."

"Ready?" Kyra asks as Jahlil puts the cards on the table.

"Yeah."

She grabs the handles of his wheelchair and rolls him out of the room. Jahlil licks his lips as he rests his elbows on the armrests.

"How's your back been feeling?" Kyra asks. "Are the meds helping?"

"Yeah. They ight. The doctor said they can only do so much cause they don't want to dope me up and shit."

"It's just for pain management. They need you to be aware for when you do recovery treatment."

"A lil perc ain't gonna do shit to me. That morphine shit is what I don't want."

"You never know." Kyra says. "You need to be all the way there to take care of your son."

There's a quiet pause as she waits for him to respond. Based on what she's heard him say before and what he's told her in the trauma unit, she knows that he won't though.

"She does let you see him at least sometimes.... right?" She inquires.

"Nah." Jahlil shakes his head. "I told you she took him and left because I didn't want to be with her anymore. Bitch just disappeared. Me, my mom and my sister all was looking for her. Had to put it on Facebook that and shit that she was missing. Nothing came up. Then come to find out, she all the way out here. Like how she even get the money for this shit? She was broke last time I checked."

"It's definitely not cheap to be out here." Kyra agrees. "I mean, some places are better than others. Like if you're in a complex apartment rather than a whole house one. But it's still more expensive and that's exactly why I stay in the city."

"But you probably could afford it if you really wanted to. You're a nurse. She was working at a call center and was barely even going cause she was tryna do other shit. For her to move out here, she had to be doing some other shit." Jahlil says as he starts to think back on it.

Kyra wheels him into the physical therapy room to help get him set up for his session. As she locks the wheels, Jahlil scoffs and shakes.

"If I find out she was fuckin' with somebody else while she was pregnant or while we were together, it's gonna be a problem."

His words trigger something in Kyra's mind. His spoken thoughts cause silent ones in her head.

What if that is the case? She thinks.

What if that is what was happening and that's why he's is so secretive? Was he apart of an affair? Her eyebrows twitch at the thought.

And he found out that Harper was pregnant? What if that little boy really is his? Her heart jumps at the panicked thought.

She's so caught off by the possible revelation that it makes her feel sick to her stomach. The baby can't be his. She doesn't want it to be.

There's no possible way that Yoongi fathered a child.... Just without anyone knowing? It adds up to her, though.

Of course he doesn't want anyone to know about his private life. And that's probably how she got the money to leave Jahlil. It wasn't hers and she had help.

"Do you think the baby's not yours?" Kyra asks casually.

Jahlil frowns and smacks his teeth. "Nah... I know it's mine."

He pauses, feeling a sliver of doubt.

"It better be." He says suddenly as he looks at Kyra. "Do you think it's not?"

"Oh, I don't-." She shrugs as she raises her eyebrows. "I don't know. I'm just asking. I mean, with everything that you're telling me, it just-. I shouldn't be talking to you about this. These are personal matters for you to discuss with family, your mom."

"But I'm asking you from a professional standpoint. Like what do you think DNA wise?"

"I don't really know. I've never heard anything about the baby. It's like she keeps him a secret or something. I saw her outside of work a couple times. She had him with her and she was with-."

She cuts herself off.

"With?" Jahlil pushes her to finish her sentence. "She was with another man with my kid or something?"

Knowing what he gets himself into, Kyra doesn't want to tell Jahlil that Harper was with Yoongi. She doesn't want to tell him about anything that involves Yoongi on this situation.

She knew that he shouldn't be with her, that he shouldn't be around her. There was a reason and she felt it. Seeing them together at the promotion ceremony was deeply unsettling for her.

The emotion that she felt was something similar to that of rage. She wanted to smack him across the face for showing up to the event with another woman.

How dare he? And right in her face?

After time and time again telling her and others that he didn't have the time to date. After telling the table at lunch that he hadn't been on a date in forever and 'wasn't focused on that'.

Yoongi said that he wanted something with longevity but didn't have the time to pursue anything.

With that baby being so young, was it because of that? Is that why she was so quick to deny the baby being his in the cafe even though he said nothing?

How could he pop up to such an important event for him with some random woman?

Nobody had really seen her before she started working at the hospital.

It was so out of the blue that everything happened. Harper starts working on the trauma floor a couple months before Yoongi gets the Director position.

Kyra's eyebrows furrow in deep thought. That's suspicious if she ever heard of it.

"My medical advice to you..." Kyra tells Jahlil, "..,is that you get a DNA test."

Her saying those words confirms it for Jahlil that Harper was seen with another man with the baby. To him, that means that there's a possibility that that's not his son.

And that enrages him. He knows that that could not be possible. He always kept an eye on her. He always kept tabs on Harper. Everything that she did, he knew. Every place that she went, he knew.

Jahlil constantly told Harper that he was 'big on communication'. The streets where they lived were dangerous and 'anything could happen to her'. He 'just wanted to make sure that she was safe'. He was 'protecting her'.

He had her so locked down, that he even had her location. She never went somewhere that he wasn't aware of.

Or so he thinks.... So he thought.

"I can get that when I go to court?" Jahlil asks Kyra.

"Yeah. If she left before she had the baby, your name isn't on the birth certificate. And if somebody else's is-."

"I'll kill her and him." Jahlil speaks boldly, bluntly.

"You can get him taken off." Kyra says quickly. "If DNA proves that you're the father, you can take her to court to be put on the certificate. Just tell them what you told me. She left you and all that."

Jahlil looks at Kyra as he thinks about what she's saying. He can kill two birds with one stone this way.

Get Harper back in his vicinity, and find out if she was cheating on him.

"My mom got the papers already filled out and everything." He tells her. "But I don't know where she stay at to serve her."

"But you know what nights that she works." Kyra informs. "Right?"

Jahlil's eyebrows twitch in subtle confusion before he remembers.

"Right. I do."

"Then there you go. Problem solved." Kyra claps her hands together.

"After the DNA and everything done, what I gotta do from there?"

"I'll give you more medical advice about that when the time comes. You just let me know if you need it."

"Aight. Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Of course. It's messed up what she did to you." Kyra says quietly. "And little boys need their fathers. You guys are supposed to be a family."

"Right. I just want my family back."

######

Startled out of a comfortable sleep, Yoongi sits up in the bed. Hearing the door to Harper's apartment burst open makes him jump up.

He walks into the hall too see her speed walking down it. Her eyes are bloodshot and her jaw is tight. Her eyebrows are pulled together as she walks past him.

"You're home already?" He asks as she storms into the room.

Sliding the closet door open, she reaches up top to grab a black duffle bag. Yoongi watches as she sets it on the dresser. She grabs her undergarments from the top drawer and stuffs them into the bag.

"Harper?" Yoongi calls.

She slams the drawer closed and goes back to the closet. Squatting down, Yoongi watches her pull out a small black safe. She keys in a four digit code and pulls out her and Onyx's birth certificate and social security cards.

"Harper, what's going on?"

"I have to go."

"What?"

"I have to take Onyx and go." Her voice cracks and Yoongi's eyebrows pull together.

"What are you ta-? What's wrong? What happened?" He's almost panicking himself as he watches her put the papers into the black duffle.

"Harper, can you please stop and talk to me for a minute?"

"What does he want from me?!" She raises her voice. "He yelled at me, he hit me, he lied, he cheated. He hated me! What else does he want?!"

She slams the manilla folder that she was given on the dresser. Yoongi wraps his arms around her as she cries. She holds onto him, burying her face into his chest.

As he's consoling her, he reaches for the folder. He opens it up and takes the papers out, reading them to see what's gotten her so upset.

Due to her words, he knows that it's something to do with Jahlil. But opening that folder to see a court date and the reason why, that he was not expecting.

There's no way that he can be serious.

He can't really be taking her to court for custody of a baby that he doesn't even know.

"Who gave this to you? How did they get this to you?" Yoongi questions. "He can't serve you himself. Did his mother do it?"

"No. It was a lawyer. I don't even remember her name. She just came, asked if I was Harper and gave them to me."

That still doesn't answer the question of how the hell they knew where to look for her. How the hell did they know that she was going to be there?

All they know is that she works in the hospital.

Is it possible that the woman went to the emergency room first? When she didn't find her there, could she have asked where Harper was?

Yoongi doesn't know what the protocol is behind that. If a civil service worker comes and has to serve somebody, do they have to tell them where the person that they're looking for is?

How does that even work?

He's not sure. But he's going to ask in order to find out.

"You don't have to run from him, Harper." Yoongi assures.

He picks her head up and wipes her tears from her cheeks.

"This isn't a case that he's going to win. He abused you during your entire pregnancy. If he really cared about him at all, he wouldn't have done that. He's a danger to both himself and Onyx. I don't see this working in his favor."

Jahlil trying to get custody of a baby that he's never met, after abusing the mother during pregnancy, doesn't look like it's going to fair out for him.

He was just hospitalized for being shot in, what police have narrowed down to be, a gang-related drive-by.

Putting Onyx in the hands of a man like that would be catastrophic. No judge would approve that. No judge would rule in that man's favor.

"We should call my attorney's office first thing tomorrow morning."

"You said there's nothing to worry about. Why do I need an attorney for this if there's nothing to worry about, Yoongi?" Harper is on the verge of tears again thinking of all the possibilities.

"Because they've got one already. It's not just them we're fighting against. Lawyers will find ways to flip and pull things from anywhere. Whether their client is in the right or in the wrong, they have to defend them. That's their job, Harper."

"I don't understand why anyone would want to defend him. He can't have told her the whole story. There's no way that he did and she'd be willing to defend him."

As a woman, how could she look Harper in the eye with so much distaste while serving her papers if she knew?

As a human, how could she find Harper to be the enemy?

"I don't know, baby." Yoongi rests his cheek on her head as he hugs her.

"But we've got a week and half to get a good lawyer and get the case together."

Yoongi hopes that it'll be quick. In and out.

But he knows better than to think that.

Jahlil is filing for full residential custody. He has to have something ready or something against Harper to make him that confident.

But Harper isn't going to go down without a fight and Yoongi won't allow her to. Her biting back against Jahlil's petition will prolong the case, hold off the ruling until everything is taken into account.

Yoongi doesn't see any way that Jahlil will gain full custody of Onyx. Situations like these are the times that he's kind of glad that the justice system is typically on the mother's side.

But on the other hand, Harper is a victim of domestic violence. He's seen so many of those cases fail the victim.

This is half of the reason that he wants to get her a lawyer. A really good lawyer.

The way that the justice system handles domestic violence cases, Harper is going to need one.

"I don't know what to do." Harper says as she stares out of the bedroom window.

Her head is against Yoongi's chest, hearing the dull thud of his heartbeat. It calms her body as her mind is at war with itself.

Fight or flight is at a standstill.

She wants to run. That is her first thought.

To take her and Onyx's things up and run from all of this. States away where nobody her. Miles away where nobody can hurt her and Onyx. Across the country where she's free from proximity of such imminent danger.

The only thing stopping her is the possibility of instability again and the man providing her comfort.

In just a few months, he's changed how she feels about life. Things started to look up again when she met Yoongi.

In just the few weeks that they've been dating, he's changed how she views relationships and the prospect of family.

And Onyx.

He's grown so attached to all of the Mins. He's seen Yoongi everyday for half of his life. He views him the way that he views his mother. Onyx knows about what time he's going to see Yoongi every day.

He knows that he can cry all he wants to when he's around and his needs will be met. He's learned that Yoongi will laugh and clap with him. He's learned that Yoongi will help him sleep. He'll help him soothe himself.

When Onyx is feeling overwhelmed, he's learned that he can cry for help and Yoongi will whisk him away.

If he's hungry, Yoongi will feed him. If he's uncomfortable in his diaper, Yoongi will change him.

If he's sleepy, Jewel will lay by him while he tries to go to sleep by himself. If that doesn't work and he gets upset, he can get Yoongi's attention and be rocked.

Onyx has recognized the permanency in the man's role. Subconsciously, he's recognized that Yoongi does everything that Harper does.

And Harper never goes away. She may for a short amount of time, but she always comes back. Yoongi is just the same.

"We get a lawyer and go to court." Yoongi responds to Harper. "That's all that we can do."

His mind is thrown off by the fact that Jahlil went to this length. He doesn't understand what the goal is. He can't possibly care about Onyx.

The only thing that he can think of is that Jahlil just wants to keep Harper in proximity. Under the rouse of wanting his son, he's going to further put her through his abuse.

And depending on how the case goes, the courts may just give him the out that he needs to do so.

"I don't want you to stress it right now. Don't stress it at all." Yoongi soothes her.

"Onyx is right in the room. He's even sleeping in his crib with Jewel."

"I want to go see him." Harper detaches from Yoongi and walks over to the nursery.

He walks behind her as she steps into Onyx's room. Harper doesn't pick him up, though she really wants to. She doesn't want him to wake up and see her like this.

She also just doesn't want to mess with him while he's so peacefully sleeping.

"I'm going to run you a bath so that you can relax." Yoongi back hugs her. "We can talk more about everything in the morning. I want you to get good sleep."

"Okay." Harper melts into him as he kisses her shoulder. "Can you sit in there with me?"

"Of course. Go get undressed and get your things ready. I'll start the bath."

Harper walks back into her bedroom and Yoongi walks into the bathroom. He runs her a bath and adds some of her liquid soap to create some bubbles.

Harper comes into the bathroom in just a towel shortly after.

"It smells good in here." She comments.

"I tell you that your soap smells good all the time."

"I think that I'm nose blind to it unless I'm just walking into it or walking past after I've already showered."

"I think that everyone's like that with their daily soap." Yoongi says as Harper hangs her towel on the hook.

She gets into the tub and sits down in the heat of the water. It soothes her muscles and feels good against her skin. Closing her eyes, she relaxes against the back of the tub.

"I know you said we'll talk more in the morning, but I can't get it out of my mind." Harper tells him.

"I just don't understand what he stands to gain from any of this." She inhales deeply before letting out a sigh.

"He's being manipulative. That's all that is." Yoongi says. "He doesn't care about Onyx. He's just using him as a scapegoat to get to you. He just wants to bother you. I know that it's making you angry and it's frustrating but you can't let him get to you. Everything else in your life is great. Everything with Onyx is fine. We need to focus on that. Just our lives and Onyx."

"But Onyx is apart of all of this. Jahlil isn't on his birth certificate. If he wants custody, rhetoric have to do a DNA test. And then what? What happened from there?" Harper asks, speaking her thoughts out loud.

"That's why I want to call and talk to a lawyer tomorrow. I want to make sure that we know everything, that we have the whole process laid out, I don't want him to try to blindside us with anything. I want everything, every option to be laid out on the table for us."

Harper nods along as she listens.

At least if they know everything, they can prepare for themselves for any possible outcome. They can be ready for anything involving.

That's what Harper prefers. She prefers to be ready for everything. She prefers to have a game plan for any and every possible outcome so any possible scenario.

Harper doesn't even like putting herself in scenarios and situation that she doesn't think that she'll be able to get out of. If there's even a chance that something will fail, she's likely to not engage at all.

"Tomorrow's Friday. You have to be to work in the morning." Harper reminds him.

"I know. I'm going to call the attorney's office at around seven. Hopefully, I'll be able to speak with somebody over the phone and have something for you by my lunch hour."

"I'm scared to go back to work." Harper voices as she opens her eyes. She stares at the shower wall ahead of her.

How can she continue to go to a place where they know that she is? How can she keep showing her face in a place where she's constantly being publicly embarrassed? Where she's being continuously harassed?

It's only been twice but Jahlil and his mother know where she works. How many more times must it happen for her to decide that enough is enough?

"Don't be. He's not even in that building anymore. He has no purpose to be in that building and neither does his mother. They can't just roam the hospital because they feel like it. That, they can be removed for."

"But they know where I work, Yoongi." Harper emphasizes. "They could have whoever come to do anything. I don't like that they know that. I don't feel safe there. I can't be safe anywhere where they know that I am."

Yoongi bites the inside of his cheek as he thinks. If she feels unsafe, then he can't tell her that she doesn't. He won't tell her to 'get over it'. This is a genuine concern for the both of them. He'd never invalidate her feelings that way.

"I don't know what else there is that you can do." He says out loud as he mind wanders. "I mean, you can talk to Dr. Mitchell and see what else the hospital is hiring for or look it up on the website. She keeps that pretty up to date. But other than that, I don't know where else would be a good option with good pay. Do you want to work at a different hospital?"

"No." Harper shakes her head. "I like this one. It's close to everything and I don't know anybody at the other ones."

It'd be better and safer for her to be at St. Juniper's where she is known and knows that she will be protected to an extent.

Her friends there may not be able to stop her from being served with court papers. But they can protect her in other ways. They've done things already that have proved that to her.

"I'll call Dr. Mitchell tomorrow morning while you're at work and talk to her. Or I'll email her if she doesn't answer."

"I can look at the site right now and see what positions are available." Yoongi takes his phone out of his pocket and goes to his web application.

"Will they allow me to move, though? I know they need receptionists."

"Receptionists are easy to find and even easier to hire. We don't require previous experience for that nor is a degree required. You need a high school diploma or GED but that's it. Everything else, you're pretty much trained and taught how to do when you're hired."

"I can always pick shifts up there too." Harper suggests. "Do you think Hailey would join me if I ask?"

"Of course she would. The only reason why she doesn't now is because she'd be overworking herself. She's a pediatric nurse and she does OT in the PEDS emergency department. Then she'd be working as a receptionist for either floor, too? Mitchell would lose her head if Hailey was running around like that."

It's understandable. Hailey works hard in any department that she's placed in. It'd be a bit of overkill for her to try to split her time in three directions every week.

She still has a life to live outside of the job. Dr. Mitchell's treats every employee that she hires as the humans that they are.

They all need breaks. They all need time to themselves every now and then. A lot of them have families that they need to spend time with as well.

Work is also important, especially the work that they do here at the hospital. But their personal lives should not be neglected for their jobs and Dr. Mitchell holds this value to a very high degree.

"Well, hopefully I won't have to run around like that either. I mean I'll only be doing two things max, anyway so I'll probably be fine." Harper says as she looks to Yoongi.

"Mmmm." He pushes his lips to the side of his mouth as he scrolls and reads the available jobs.

"What is it?"

"A lot of these job listings are nurses and surgical techs. Doctor's assistants, pharmacists things like that."

"Pharmacists?" Harper perks up. "They're hiring for those?"

"Yeah. They're also hiring pharmacists. This job listing was just posted a day ago, though."

"Do you think a lot of people have applied already? I shouldn't anyway, actually."

Yoongi's eyebrows furrow, twitching as they pull together.

"You went to school for pharmaceuticals?" He asks.

He remembers that she said she went to school. But he can't remember if she told him for how long or what for.

"Yes." Harper answers.

"What-? So what the hell are you working as a receptionist for?" Yoongi is blown by the revelation.

Harper laughs at the expression on his face. It's twisted up in confusion and bewilderment.

"Because I never got to finish. Being pregnant with Onyx and the stress of that and leaving Jahlil was just too much for me at the time. I only have one semester left. That's why I said that I shouldn't apply. I don't have my degree for it. I could be a tech or an assistant right now though."

"Then go back."

"What?" Harper looks at him.

"Go back to school. You have the time to do so now. You have the freedom, the range."

"I don't have the time for any of that right now. There's too much going on and I've got Onyx and that's really expensive too. I have to start paying off the debt from my previous years soon anyway."

"I'll pay for it."

"No, Yoongi. I couldn't ask you to do that. You do enough."

"You're not asking me to do anything, Harper. I'm offering to do it. I want you to finish school. You've got one semester left and your degree is in your hands. You can have your dream job."

"Aren't you paying off your own student debt? You went for 10 years. I can't imagine the bill you've got racked up."

"Eh." Yoongi shrugs. "It's not too bad, actually. I've had scholarships, my parents and grandparents saved up a good amount of money for me to go. I probably owe about as much as you'll owe when you're finished. Which is significantly less than what most owe."

"I'll owe like 170k by the time I'm done." Harper spills.

"Yeah so about the same almost. I think that I owe about 106 thousand right now. But I've only been out of post-graduate school for 10 months and my salary at the hospital didn't go up until after I got my Mastery of Surgery certificate. And then it'll go up again next month on the first." Yoongi mumbles the last sentence to himself.

Harper raises her eyebrows at him, blinking a few times.

Realistically, Yoongi has the money in his savings to pay off the majority of his student debt right now. The only reason that he hasn't is because it counts as an account in good standing on his credit.

If he pays it off and that goes away, then his credit score will drop. It won't be drastically or in any way that'll really affect him, though.

He didn't care about making the monthly payments when he graduated. He doesn't mind paying them now. He pays well over the minimum every month.

But now he's got other things to think about. He's got a future to plan for, a family to provide for, a a baby boy to raise and a future wife to support.

He's got to do what he's gotta do.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Hm?" Yoongi hums, drawn out of his thoughts as he looks at her.

"You look like you're thinking about something." Harper pulls her knees to her chest. "Tell me about it."

He smiles softly as he looks at her. He gets off the toilet seat and sits on the floor by the tub facing her.

He also hugs his knees to his chest and locks his phone, setting it aside.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes. I want to know everything." Harper says with a smile. "Tell me everything that's on your mind."

"I was thinking about..." Yoongi starts speaking and feels a sense of deja vu with this conversation.

He's sure that he hasn't had this exact one with Harper. He can't remember if he had this exact one with Adaya either. But it's the telling of his hopes for the future. Of what he wants and is striving for. The things that he's planning for.

This, he knows that he's spoken to Harper about before. He's spoken to Adaya about them before. And maybe that's where the inkling of nervousness is coming from.

He's never been the type to beat around the bush for anything. He's never been the type to date for the hell of it. He's never been the type to do anything 'just because'.

Yoongi dates to marry. He invests into things because he sees prosperity in them. He sees longevity.

Maybe that would scare the average person off. Maybe talking about a future too soon would ward them away. But Yoongi just wants everything to be out on the table.

He never implies that he and the woman would get married immediately or after six months of dating. But he does make it known that that is the end goal for him.

He's a life partner, marriage and kids kind of guy. He's 'traditional' in the sense that he wants to be a provider. He wants to allow the space for Harper to thrive in where she's comfortable.

But sometimes he wonders if she takes him seriously. Yoongi knows Harper well enough to know that she's more 'flight' than 'fight'. He knows that she probably takes everything that he says with a grain of salt. Not putting all of her eggs into his basket, never truly sure if he means what he says.

More or less she's going with the flow but always ready to run if she has to.

Yoongi knows full well that Harper is the type to indulge in their relationship, thinking it's all a facade that he'll break her from one day.

She'll live in the 'fairy tale' for as long as it exists, only to run at the first sign of danger.

But this ain't danger. This isn't a facade. This so real life. This is their life.

"I was thinking about how I'm going to go about doing everything for us." Yoongi finally responds to Harper.

"I know that I'm going to sell my house and buy a new home here. I know that I want you to help me in that home finding process. But there are other things that I want to do, too." He explains.

"Like..?"

"Like I want to get all our student debt paid off. I can pay off most of mine and then we can pay yours off together or with the money that I get from selling the house."

"I can't allow you to pay off my student debt, Yoongi. It's mine."

"Yeah and when we get married, it's gonna be ours. I'd rather clear all of that before we tie the knot. I want all of our money after that to be spent on our family and maintaining that and our lifestyle."

Harper inhales deeply as she nods. He's making sense. He has never said anything to her that didn't make sense. He's always making good points and she's happy that he's so... open about everything.

He listens to her and actually processes what she's saying rather than listening just to make his own point again.

Harper has to learn to do the same again. She never listens to anybody just to reply. But when she's expressing herself, she expects the replies to be argumentative and cyclical.

She expects them to not have a resolution but rather to be simply to put her off for a while. To get her to be quiet and discourage her to where she won't bring it up again.

With Yoongi, she hadn't had an argument. It was simply a disagreement. It started that day and finished that day. With reassurance and a final solution, they settled it.

That's what the conversation of disagreements and expressions of emotions are for. That's what they should be for in relationships. To find a solution. To compromise, if warranted, and come to common ground.

Expressing how they feel in the relationship is a sign that they want it to work out. It's a sign that they want to work to be better and stay together.

The second one of them stops communicating, the progress in the relationship begins to lack. The strength will begin to dwindle. The bond will begin to break.

And though Harper's fight or flight is usually 'flight', she doesn't want to run from Yoongi.

"Okay.." Harper thinks as she speaks slowly, getting her thoughts together before she speaks them out loud.

"How about we go with your plan then?" Harper offers knowing that that's probably the smartest thing to do.

She's regretful that she can't be of more help for anything right now. It's upsetting to her that's he was in such a situation that's ruined her for the man willing to be with her now.

It upsets her that she allowed anybody to let her get to such a point.

"I'll go back to school this fall and when I'm done, I'll start paying the debt back. I think that now is too soon to buy a house or... get married."

"Mhm." Yoongi nods and hums to show his active listening.

"But I think that we can come up with like.. a five year plan for ourselves and keep that as a guide. It's going to take a couple years to pay back my debt for pharmacy school anyway."

"So then let's say that the payoff goal is two years then." Yoongi suggests. "By the end of year two, we should both be debt free. I'll sell the house by my mom and dad's because I was going to do that anyway. It'll take five or six months to close on it once it's bought. That brings us to what? July, August? As a tentative schedule, I mean."

"Well, February is right around the corner." Harper reminds him. "Are you going to put it up for listing next month?"

"I could. It'd just be a matter of meeting with my realtor, getting everything out, deep cleaning. The house is practically new. I'm not there often at all."

"Okay. So we can do that to get that out of the way. By the time the house is done being sold, it'll be close to September. That's just in time."

Yoongi nods as they map everything out. Ideally, they want to get the big stuff out of the way first. That's what they're both thinking.

Yoongi selling his house, getting this court stuff over with Jahlil.

"Everything can be settled by the time you go for your final semester. The less stress, the better. I don't want you to be stressed at all but it's a section of med school." Yoongi jokes.

"Yes... the stress comes as a part of the experience." Harper agrees as she laughs.

She grabs her wash cloth and Yoongi hands her the soap. He sits with his back against the tub as Harper starts to wash her body.

"For sure by the end of the year, I want you to get back in school and I'm going to sell my house. When we finish those things, we'll reconvene and plan from there. Sound good?" He looks back at her and she nods as she smiles.

"Sounds good."

"Good." He stands up and leans in to kiss her.
She picks her head up pecks his lips.

"I'm going to go get my laptop from my apartment so that I can email the attorney's office."

"Okay. Can you check on Onyx and Jewel for me before you go over?"

"Yes, I will." Yoongi says as he walks out into the hall.

He walks into Onyx's nursery to see him sleeping with his head on Jewel's back. Jewel is also asleep as if there isn't such a weight on him. Yoongi takes his phone from his pocket and snaps a picture before heading back out.

"They're both still sleeping. I'll be right back." He calls as he walks down the hall.

He leaves the apartment, closing the door behind him. As he unlocks his own apartment door, he hears and sees his parents on the couch talking. They're watching the Golden Girls.

"Where's Onyx?" Mrs. Min looks at his empty hands and arms. "I know that you didn't leave him over there by himself."

"I didn't. Harper's home from work."

"Already? She just left a little while ag-. Is she okay?" Mrs. Min goes through a series of many different thoughts.

Yoongi tilts his head and sighs as he walks into the hallway. He goes into his room to grab his laptop and takes out his charger as well.

"She's going to be fine. But we may need you to watch Onyx tomorrow depending on how everything goes."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Mr. Min asks.

As Yoongi comes out of his room, he sees both of his parents standing at the end of the hall.

"Onyx's donor decided that he wants to take her to court for full custody of a baby he knows absolutely nothing about."

"What?" Mrs. Min twists her face up.

"Please tell me you're joking." Mr. Min says sarcastically.

"I wish that I was but I can't even picture myself making a joke like that. Harper was served while she was at work."

"By who? How did they know where she was?"

"My question exactly. I'm going to email Hyde right now and ask what the protocol is for civil service workers coming to serve people. Because I feel like that's something that should stay exactly what it is. Civil... between the two parties. If party A doesn't know where party B is, then maybe party A shouldn't be trying to serve party B."

He's speaking specifically about Harper's situation. He's so annoyed by the thought of somebody in the E.D. telling that woman where Harper was, that it's making the hairs on his arm stick up.

"Full custody?" Mrs. Min repeats what her son said. "Is he mad?"

"He knows nothing about Onyx. He's a complete stranger to him." Mr. Min adds. "What does he expect to gain?"

"Full custody, apparently. But my thing is, you're going to take Onyx away from his mother all while knowing that she isn't going to let you. So she would be forced to be around you because you have her son." Yoongi deduces Jahlil's play.

"And I don't even think that he'd be the one to keep Onyx because his mother does all the talking for him. Even when we sat in the briefing about Jahlil's move to the recovery unit, she was the one asked about the proxy papers again."

The Min parents roll their eyes at the information.

"So you guys are going to call the office tomorrow?" Yoongi's father asks.

"I'm going to email them tonight, along with Hyde. And then I'm going to call them in the morning and try to get Harper into the office as soon as I can. They've already got a lawyer. The court date is in a week and a half."

Mrs. Min sighs. She crosses her arms and looks at her husband. He puts his hands in his pockets and looks back at her.

With everything they've just been told, neither of them are going to want to go home. Not while all of this mess is being created.

A courtroom is no place for any kid, let alone an infant.

"I'll call our agent tomorrow morning and talk to him." Mr. Min tells his wife. "See if we can get the ball rolling for house hunting."

"I'll spend the morning with Harper tomorrow and make sure that she's okay through everything." Mrs. Min replies. "I don't want her to start feeling overwhelmed with everything going on. Ugh. Why did he even have to show his face again. This is exactly what he wanted. This is exactly why he kept her on that proxy. This is ridiculous. He's not going to win this case. He knows that, right?"

"This is a tactic, honey." Her husband watches as she walks into the kitchen. "He's trying to get to her and he's gonna get to all of us if we don't stay level headed."

"I am level headed. I'm pissed but very level headed." She assures.

"We're entitled to be upset but we have to keep everything as normal as possible. I don't really know what's going to happen but we just have to work through it."

"I don't trust any of this, Yoongi." His mother addresses him. "Everything about it feels wrong."

"Yeah... I know. But.. there's nothing that we can do now except go through it. We just have to do everything the right way."

"How long do these cases usually take? A couple months, just about? They should be out of hair by the summer. The sun will come out and the demons will be banished back to their natural habitat." Mrs. Min speaks it out loud as she puts the cup of water to her lips.

"I hope so." Yoongi mumbles. "I'll see you guys in the morning. I love you."

"Love you too, honey. Tell Harper good night for us."

"I will." He exits his apartment and heads back over to Harper's.

Mr. Min looks at his wife when the door clicks closed.

"I'm not going back home while things are like this."

"I know that. I'm not either. Call the realtor in the morning like you said and we'll talk about finding a house here. We don't need anything big. A two or three bedroom will do just fine. A room for us and a room for Onyx. Maybe a third in case they all stay the night for holidays or things like that."

"If need be, I'll go out there sometime next week to sign the papers to get our house on the market. We can get an apartment out here until we find a nice place." Mr. Min takes his phone out and sets a reminder alarm for the next morning.

Mrs. Min sits on the couch and picks her phone up. As she looks at her lock screen, she begins to question the way of the world.

Why do such horrible things happen to such good people? What is the reason? There can't be a very good one.

Harper is a good woman. Her heart is pure. Her eyes are kind. Her nature is that of innocence. She's been well-nurtured and aged by the experiences that have made her.

She's wise in mind due to her trauma. It's kicked the naivety right off of her personality scale.

Mrs. Min can't imagine that Harper has ever done anything to anybody to deserve any of the things that she's going through.

All of it is undeserved and classified abuse.

She wishes that she could take Harper and Onyx away from all of it. Just up and move them across the country.

She could. It wouldn't be difficult for her to do.

But it isn't fair for Harper to have to uproot her life because of her baby's father. Harper shouldn't have to live in fear or keep running from him. She shouldn't have to be scared of him anymore.

He isn't this scary, terrifying man that he's made Harper to believe. Mrs. Min can only hope that one day she sees Jahlil for the weak man that he truly is.

She hopes that Harper is able to break free from the fear associated with him.

Harper should fear nobody.

One day, she will realize this.

######

The next morning, Yoongi's alarm goes off at six o'clock in the morning. He rolls to turn it off before cuddling back into his girlfriend.

Harper holds him closer to her, putting her head on his chest.

"How long have you been awake?" Yoongi asks as he rubs her back.

"Not long."

"Mm." He kisses her forehead. "Then go back to sleep. Onyx isn't up yet so you have the time."

"I know." Harper replies as they sit up. "But I don't.. think I'll like it when you leave when I'm asleep."

"What do you mean?" He fixes the band of her bonnet on her head.

Harper's lips part as she looks at him. Wanting to say something but not being able to express what she feels happens often for her.

It's frustrating by itself but adding that with the communication for her relationship, it's the most annoying thing that she's ever experienced.

"Does it make you feel..." Yoongi thinks of the right words to phrase. "..like I'm leaving you?"

"I don't know." Harper says as she looks down at the blankets. "I just don't like waking up and you're gone. It's more of a mental thing than anything. I'll be over it after a while I think. I just need some time. It's fine." She shakes her head.

Yoongi assumes that it's tied to why she was ready to panic when he wasn't in bed the morning after they had sex. Maybe it makes her feel lonely or used. Or that everything is temporary.

He doesn't want her to feel like that nor does he want that feeling to eat at her for any amount of time.

"Do you want to come eat breakfast with me?" Yoongi asks. "I mean after I finish showering and getting ready, I'll come back over and we can have breakfast before I go to work."

"Okay. I have to call Dr. Mitchell anyway to see if I can get ahold of her before tonight." Harper pulls back the covers and gets out of the bed.

Yoongi grabs her hand and pulls her gently back and into his lap. He kisses her shoulder and she smiles at the affection.

"I have to stay at work for my regular shift today." He informs. "So I won't be home until about 4:30."

The anxiety of being alone with her thoughts for so long is written all over her face.

"I have to get new blades for my razor and Jewel needs more kitty litter. Do you want to go on a Target run with my dad while I'm at work? I'll give you my card."

"Oh, yes. I want to get Onyx some bath toys now that he's sitting up."

"That's a good idea. He can have some fun while he's in there now. He doesn't have anything else that can go in the tub with him right now."

"We can also use this to see how well he does. I don't think we paid much attention to it in the other store."

"He started to fuss." Yoongi confirms. "But I think he was conflicted because he doesn't like the lights. But he was getting mad that he couldn't see me with the visor part of his car seat up. So I had to take him out and hold him."

"Okay... I'm going to call his doctor's office then today to schedule a follow-up appointment. But I'm calling Dr. Mitchell first. Actually, let me call her while I'm making breakfast so that I don't forget." Harper stands from his lap and he follows her into the bathroom.

They both grab their toothbrushes and the toothpaste to brush their teeth.

"Whatever house that we get needs two sinks." He says his thoughts out loud.

"Agreed." Harper says as she puts her toothbrush in her mouth.

They brush their teeth together before Yoongi goes over to his apartment. He grabs his things to shower and finds his father in the kitchen making tea.

"Good morning, Dad. You having tea for breakfast?"

"Good morning, son. And no. Your mother doesn't feel well. She's feeling a little warm this morning."

"Oh, do you think she's got a fever?"

"No, I took her temperature. She's just a little warm but not too much. She said that she's a little congested as well."

"It is that time of year." Yoongi says. "Might be a head cold. I've got medicine to knock the symptoms out for a while but it's a cold. It's gonna have to run its course."

"That's what I told her, too." Mr. Min says. "But she's trying to get better as fast as she can because of Onyx."

"Oohh." Yoongi realizes.

"What?"

"I asked Harper if she could run out with you to Target for me. Mom was going to have to watch Onyx but if she isn't feeling good, then he shouldn't be around her too much."

"We can take him with us. The store isn't too far away. And I can him some baby shades while we're in there to see if that helps."

"Baby shades?" Yoongi raises an amused eyebrow.

"Yeah. Like the little ones in the infant clothing section? I wonder if they'll have them out though. It's not summer yet."

"They might. Who knows? If not though, Harper's just going to keep the visor on his car seat up. He does better when she does it and holds his hand than when anybody else does it."

And by anybody else, he means himself. Onyx is content with holding his mother's hand while only seeing her chest. He can feel her hand and smell the scent of her skin and know that it's her. That provides enough comfort for him.

If it's Yoongi, he needs to see him or he's going to feel like he's alone. That visor is just always in his way now that he's a little bigger in the seat.

"Alrighty. What time should I be ready to go then? I want to set everything for your mother so that she'll be good when I go."

"Uuhh. Probably not until after I leave. I'm going to ballpark it and say around 10 or 11. She's going to have to get herself and Onyx ready."

Yoongi walks back to his bedroom and flicks on the light. He looks around before going to the closet. He pulls out a pair of black slacks and a dark grey dress shirt.

He hops into the shower as his father is bringing back the cup of tea for his mother.

She's sitting up in bed searching through the blankets.

"Honey, have you seen my phone? I want to tell Harper that I shouldn't see the baby today."

"It's okay. Yoongi is already over here. He's in the shower right now. He'll tell her when he goes back over. We're going to run out to Target today and take him with us."

"How is she going to work tonight, though?" Mrs. Min is concerned. "You shouldn't be in his face much either. You're always in mine. You're probably not too far behind me with the cold."

"Harper can't miss anymore work, though. I don't know how understanding that her job is going to be but I can't imagine they like her missing work this much."

"What can they do?" Mrs. Min asks. "Fire her for being a victim? They had to service that man in their emergency O.R. He was also a patient there. They weren't going to turn him away in his need because she works there even if they did know. So they can't fire or penalize her for prioritizing her safety after the fact. You know what that is? A lawsuit."

Mr. Min looks at his wife as he passes her the cup of tea. Her hands are trembling so he helps her take small sips from the mug.

"Yoongi wouldn't let it get that far." Mr. Min knows his son. "He has a lot more pull now. And even before the promotion, the hospital and their staff really respect him. Even the Board really does. They wouldn't do anything to upset him."

"They also probably don't know that they're dating. You know how Yoongi is." Mrs. Min counters.

"That's true but I think that once he intervened, he'd tell them to make it known and vouch for her. Hailey and Taehyung would as well. Even Delilah. I've finally had the pleasure of meeting her. She's such a lovely woman."

"Yes, you told me when you came after the girls' day. Her husband owns that steakhouse downtown, right?"

"Right. It's beautiful there. It's just how people say it is. You know they travel for that one."

"We should go together for our anniversary. I hear they have the best cheese."

"You want to go to a steakhouse for their cheese?" Mrs. Min raises an eyebrow.

"Why not?" He raises an eyebrow back. "Cheese is everywhere but it's hard to come by good quality cheese, you know? The kind that makes your mouth water before you even taste it."

"Have you forgotten of your lactose intolerance?"

"Of course not. But that cheese will be worth it. Trust me. I'll take one of those pills before I go."

His wife rolls her eyes and he laughs.

"You're so gross."

"But you'll love me anyway."

Mrs. Min side eyes him as she takes another sip of her tea. He can see her smiling as she drinks.

Of course, she'll love him anyway.

"When you go to the store, can you grab some green tea too, please? Yoongi only has herbal tea and black tea here. That's the only kind that he drinks. I think that he's using the black tea as a coffee substitute."

"Oh, that makes sense. I was wondering why it was in there. He's never drunken it before. He said he was going to cut back on the coffee."

"It's the caffeine that he needs to cut back on." Mrs. Min elaborates. "I think that's he's only drinking it like two or three times a week and in small sizes only."

"Threats better than a large every morning. It's his schedule change that's doing him some good too, though. He's actually getting some sleep."

"And Onyx isn't screaming at three in the morning anymore. He sleeps pretty much through the night."

The Min parents sigh as they look at each other.

"There's a lot going on, it feels like." Mr. Min voices his thoughts.

"There is." Mrs. Min confirms. "But you know what? It's better that Harper has us by her side through all of this. Had she and Yoongi met and became nothing more, that man would have still ended up in the hospital and his mother would have still called her out. She'd be going through this alone."

"That's true. I'm happy that she and Yoongi have each other. They'll get through all of this and be alright on the other side. They'll have us and they've got their friends. And Hailey, that little firecracker."

"Ah, yes." Mrs. Min chuckles. "I love her. I knew that I would like her since Yoongi first told us about her and Taehyung. But now that I've gotten to meet her in person and talk to her, I like her even more now. She's like another child of ours. She and Taehyung."

"Speaking of, I wonder if she's had any contact with her family. Her father and sister." Mr. Min asks.

Both he and his wife feel a little somber at the thought. With the holidays having passed, they always think of her during that time. They know that it has to be hard for her to not be around them.

Well, she would if she could. But she isn't welcomed around any of them. They've told her that multiple times. The last year and a half, she's been no-contact with them.

Taehyung couldn't sit by and continue to watch them berate her. He couldn't let her continue to try with them knowing that the conversations always end in her crying and them verbally abusing her.

Going no-contact was the best option for her.

It hurts that she isn't able to be with or see her family on the holidays but Taehyung always gives her a little extra love those days. His family does as well.

They love Hailey like their own. Taehyung's sister looked him in the eyes and told him that he's 'not allowed to date another woman because she'll dislike her on purpose'.

It was funny at the time because he and Hailey weren't dating yet. The attraction was so obvious, though.

"I don't think that she has." Mrs. Min responds to her husband. "That's something that Yoongi would have been happy to update us about had anything changed for the better. Some people just never come around."

"But she's their family, Aera."

"I know, Dal. A parent's love shouldn't be conditional but some people shouldn't have become parents so... you know how I feel about that. At the end of the day, Hailey still has us and Taehyung's family and now she's got Harper and Onyx. She and Harper will be really good friends. They're already kind of close."

"I can't wait to see everybody at Delilah's wedding next month." Mr. Min says with a cheeky smile.

"Oh my. Yes. I forgot about that. Well, not forgot but- there's been a lot happening. Yoongi was going to bring us plus ones but then he met Harper so she has her own invitation now. They can each have us as a plus one."

"Yoongi said he talked to Luca on the night of that dinner. He and Delilah don't mind if they bring Onyx. He'll just be the only baby there. They're nieces and nephews are all older. Five to seven, I think he said."

"Oh, that's going to be so beautiful. I can't wait."

"I'm going to buy a really good camera before then. My phone isn't going to cut it." Mr. Min shakes his head.

"Do you want to go back to work?" His wife asks. "You seem like you miss it."

"I don't miss working, necessarily. I just miss taking pictures. But that's okay because now we've got a lot of things to document with Yoongi and his family so."

"I won't lie to you. He had me a little worried for a while." Mrs. Min expresses.

"With being alone so much?"

"Yes. There's nothing wrong with him wanting to be by himself. But I thought that he might become complacent there and... give up. And that would have concerned me a lot because all Yoongi ever talked about was getting married and having kids and all of these domestic things. I thought that he was starting to lose hope."

"I was worried for a bit too. But Yoongi hadn't given up. I think that he was just being cautious. He didn't want to have another pointless relationship or anything like that. He's become particular about how he dates and why he dates. But this is good for him. It's worked out for him."

"Dad?" Yoongi calls from outside the door.

"Yes? You can push the door open. It's cracked."

"Oh." He pushes the door open and stands there in his work attire. "Good morning, Mom."

"Good morning, sweetheart. Don't come in here. I've been sneezing." She blows him a kiss from the bed.

"Dad told me you're not feeling good."

"Yeah and you don't have any medicine in this place."

"I haven't gotten sick in a long time. I haven't needed it."

"Oh, ho-ho." Mr. Min starts laughing. "That's about to change."

Mrs. Min gasps when she realizes. She starts laughing too. Yoongi looks between them, not understanding the joke.

"Oh...kaayy. I'm going to have breakfast with my girlfriend while you two have your giggle fest."

"Give Onyx kisses for us. Tell Harper that we said good morning."

"Will do." Yoongi says as he walks off. "I'll see you guys later."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Yoongi walks over to Harper's apartment and locks the door behind him. She's in the kitchen, making waffles as she talks on the phone.

He recognizes Dr. Mitchell's voice immediately.

"No, I completely understand that. I was going to call you later on my lunch but I'm happy that you called me earlier than that. Garrett called Hyde's office last night and he called me right after. I don't know who told her of your location. The E.D. doesn't have access to the trauma schedule. That's an across the board thing. No floor knows whose on schedule for other floors except the medical professionals."

Harper checks the waffle maker as she listens to Dr. Mitchell talk.

"Doctors don't even have access to other doctors' schedules that aren't on their floor. They have to just call and email to figure it out kind of thing. The most a person in the E.D. could have done is instruct the lady where the trauma floor is but that's only if she already knew you worked up and asked where the floor is. Asking about you specifically, we're not required to give that information out unless it's law enforcement. And even then, depending on the situation, I'd ask why or if they have a warrant."

"So she'd have to had already know that I worked on the third floor in order to be able to serve me?" Harper asks for clarification.

"Right. But then that's the other thing, Miss Sullivan only saw you come up there to drop some papers off to Garrett, didn't she?"

"Yeah that's the only time that I was up there that she saw me. She could have told her that I'd either be in the emergency department or the trauma unit and that's how she knew."

"How would she even know where you were coming from though?" Dr. Mitchell wonders. "You could have been coming from anywhere in the hospital for all she knows."

Harper sees what she's getting at and her heart beats faster in her chest. Everything is all so confusing to her and she's having a hard time grasping the concept of anything surrounding this.

"I don't know." She groans. "This is so stressful already. This is why I didn't want anything to do with them because how did they even find me to begin with. Like this is crazy."

"Don't stress yourself about it too much." Dr. Mitchell advises. "I'll talk to Dr. Hyde and see if I can find out exactly what happened. For now, just stay home until I can ensure your safety in the building. You can work from home until then. I'll get you set up with a login and password so that when Yoongi comes in, I can get him a hospital laptop to give you when he gets off. I'll send the paperwork that needs to be done to your work email."

"Okay. Thank you so much, Dr. Mitchell."

"Of course. If you have any other questions or concerns, email me or give me a call. I'll be in some meetings throughout the day so I may not answer right away but leave a voicemail and I'll call you."

"Alright."

"I'll talk to you later. Have a good day, Harper."

"You too. Bye."

The women hang up and Yoongi walks into the kitchen. Harper hears his footsteps and turns her head to look at him.

He back hugs her as she takes the finished waffle from the cooker.

"You're gonna work from home today?"

"Yeah. She's going to give you a laptop to bring home when you get there. She also said she's going to talk to Hyde about who the woman talked to to know where I was."

"I heard that part. If he doesn't know, they'll have to get the footage pulled from the security room."

"How long does that take?"

"Mmm." Yoongi hums as he thinks. "I don't know, actually. Probably no more than a day, I'd think. It just happened last night so it's not too much for them to go back or go through."

"I hope they can just get it figured out so we know just what was said or what happened."

"I think you should get a no contact order too. Just in case." Yoongi suggests. "Oh! Dammit. I still have to call the attorney's office."

"It's okay. Let's eat first and then you can call them on your lunch. I can wait."

"Are you sure?"

"The call will still be made today so it's fine. I just want to eat right now and have a good morning." Harper says as she starts plating their food.

She's trying to keep her stress and agitation low. She doesn't want to get super worked up and not be able to focus on anything throughout her day.

Yoongi sits to eat with her and they talk about much less stressful topics. Delilah's wedding being one of them.

Harper realized that she doesn't have a dress to wear to the wedding and she doesn't know what she's going to put Onyx in. She actually knows nothing about the wedding at all. All she does know is that wearing white on another woman's wedding day isn't okay.

"I should call Hailey and ask about that. See what she's wearing and then maybe she can help me with what I should get."

"You've got a few weeks to figure it out but it'd be better to get it sooner rather later. If it needs alterations or anything, those could take time."

"Alterations?" Harper repeats. "I'm just going to buy it in my size."

"Yeah but sometimes clothes fit perfect in some places and not so perfect in others. Or maybe you just don't like the way something on it looks but you like everything else so you want to get it fixed."

Harper has never thought of getting anything altered. She just buys her clothes and if they fit weird, she makes them work.

"That costs extra though." She realizes. "I'll just make it work if something does come up."

Yoongi looks up at her mid chew. He wants to tell her that money isn't a concern but how would that come off?

It isn't a frivolous spend and it'll be the first wedding that Harper has ever been to. He wants everything to be perfect for her even if it isn't their event. It's still a first experience for her.

"Don't worry about the money." He tells her, knowing that she won't pick anything at a ridiculous price anyway.

"Just pick something that you really like and we'll go from there." Yoongi looks at her as she chews her bacon.

She nods as she picks up her glass of water. She can't wait to attempt Delilah's wedding. She's always wanted to go to one.

It's such a beautiful time in people's lives. It's a wonderful event and she's always dreamt of having her own someday.

But even being a guest is good enough for her.

Yoongi sees the way that the corners of Harper's mouth twitch after their wedding conversation. She's thinking of things in her mind and it's making her happy enough to physically smile.

He thinks that it's adorable.

Them attending a wedding together will be fun for the both of them. They'll be celebrating the union of their friends while getting a feel for the event.

It's too early to talk about a wedding, but Harper did say that she wanted to create a five year plan.

Maybe they can discuss what falls where when they have the proper time. For now, he's content with just getting to know her better and learning her more in their relationship.

Her and the chunky cheeked infant in the nursery.

######

"Yoongi said that he needed which things?" Mr. Min asks as he and Harper step into the Target store.

"Blade replacements for his razor and kitty litter for Jewel. He sent me pictures of which blades that he needs." She says as she takes her phone out.

"I know what cat litter he uses but we're definitely going to need that razor picture because I don't know about that one."

"Uhm.." Harper pushes the cart with Onyx's car seat in as she looks at her phone.

She goes to the text thread and taps the photo before showing it to Mr. Min.

"Oh, I know this brand. Should've known he used these ones, honestly. He doesn't play any games when it comes to his skin."

They walk toward the hygiene aisles and Onyx starts getting fussy. Harper gives him his pacifier and he spits it back out. He bends his back, not wanting to be in the car seat any longer. He reaches for Harper as his lip trembles.

"Okay, okay, I'll get you out."

She takes him out of the car seat to hold him and Mr. Min grabs the cart.

"Do you know which aisle they'd be in?" He asks Harper as they approach them.

"I think it's the next one if I'm not mistaken."

They walk down and turn the corner, seeing the shaving creams. They walk further down and scan the shelves.

"Oh yeah, they've got to be down he-." Mr. Min is cut off by the sound of a dog barking.

He and Harper both look down the aisle as they stand in it. Standing in the middle of the aisle is a man with a dog. He's looking through the brands of manual razors as his dog barks.

"Shh. Be quiet, Manor." He shushes his dog.

Harper holds Onyx closer to her on instinct. Mr. Min looks from the dog to the man and back again. Seeing the vest that the dog is in, Harper goes back to scanning the shelves but stands a couple feet away.

Onyx puts his head against Harper's chest and starts whining. He rubs his head against her jacket, trying to push his ears against it.

"Is that a service dog?" Mr. Min asks over the barking, seeing the distress in Onyx.

"What does it look like?" The man rebuttals.

"Like you slapped a vest on a dog and walked it into a Target. What's he doing all that barking for?"

"What are you implying?" The man turns and asks him. "Are you saying that because I'm not in a wheelchair that I can't be disabled?"

Onyx starts to cry as the dog continues to bark. His little screams are loud in Harper's ears, projecting down the aisle and into the areas around them.

Harper holds his head to the side, pushing his left ear against her coat and covering his right with her hand.

"Of course not. But I am saying that service dogs are trained. They don't bark at regular people just coming down an aisle and they damn sure wouldn't be growling like this." Mr. Min gestures to the dog.

The dog is standing on guard, growling at Mr. Min.

"Well, maybe he sees you as threat with the way you're yelling at me."

"He was barking the second we started coming down here. I'm not yelling. I'm trying to speak to you over your dog."

"Excuse me." A Target employee comes into the aisle. She assesses the situation and looks at the service dog.

"Is there a problem?" She asks, wondering what all the commotion is.

"Yes, actually, there is." The man tells her. "This man is trying to threaten me because of my service dog."

"What?" Harper and Mr. Min say at the the same time.

She's grabbing the razor replacements for Yoongi and puts them into the cart as she looks at him.

"That is not what happened." Harper tells the employee.

"Okay. Is your dog a service dog?" The employee asks.

"Yes, he is."

"Okay, then you are allowed to have him in the store-."

"See, asshole. That's what I'm trying to tell you."

"Unless," the employee continues. "He becomes disruptive or a danger to the other guests."

"Excuse me?" The man asks. "The only reason he's barking is because this man is threatening me!" He shouts at the employee.

Onyx's cries turn into overwhelmed screams. The dog pounces forward with a growl. Harper shrieks and turns away from him.

Mr. Min's eyes widen as the owner pulls on his dog's leash. The dog's mouth opens as he lunges.
Mr. Min pushes the dog away with his foot as Onyx lets out a sudden shriek.

Harper's expression turns into pure horror as she she looks at her son's leg. His sweatpants have a tear in them and the outer side of his leg is bleeding.

The dog smacks into the bottom shelf and whimpers from pain.

"Oh my god!" Harper pulls Onyx's pant leg up.

Seeing the small gash makes her feel like she's going to faint. She's flooded with terror and anger.

Mr. Min yolks the man up.

"Is that your goddamn service dog?! Huh?! Is that what he's trained to do?!"

"Oh my god." Harper repeats to herself as she panics.

Two security men walk into the aisle as the employee escorts Harper out of the aisle. She rushes to get her some gauze as Mr. Min pushes the man into the shelves.

He walks away, grabbing Onyx's car seat and taking his Kelly's out of his pocket.

"We have to get him to the hospital." Harper says as she applies pressure to the wound. "I don't know how bad it is." She starts to cry as they walk.

"Hold him here and call the damn police because I'm coming back." Mr. Min tells the security.

"The police have already been called. Make sure the baby's okay then come back as soon as you can. We're going to need you in order to file a proper report."

"Alright. I'll come right back." Mr. Min says.

"What's your name so I can let guest service know when you come back?"

"Dal Min. D-A-L Min." He calls as he walks to the car. The security man nods in acknowledgment.

Harper holds Onyx as she gets into the back seat with him. She knows that she should probably strap him into the car seat but the hospital isn't too far from here and she can't bare to put him down.

The way that he's clinging on to her is breaking her heart as he cries.

"I know, I know. I'm so sorry, Bear." She sniffles as she cries. "I'm so sorry."

Mr. Min gets into the front seat and pulls off from the parking lot. He does a little over the speed limit to get to the emergency room.

As Harper is rushing into the building, Mr. Min calls his son. He answers on the second ring, having just got out of a meeting.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I just dropped Harper and Onyx off to the emergency room but I've got to get back to Target for the police so-."

"What?" Yoongi asks, completely thrown by the sudden rushed information. He stops walking down the hall as he listens.

"Some asshole brought in a dog that I really don't think is a service dog how it was acting and the damned thing got Onyx's leg."

"What the fu-?" He catches himself and looks around the hall. "Alright, I'm going down now. I'll call you in a couple minutes."

He hangs up the phone as he jogs down the hall. His heart is beating faster as his adrenaline pumps. His hair is pushed off his forehead as the air from jogging billows into it.

He sees Dr. Han and stops in the hallway.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Doc?" Dr. Han asks in a curious, condescending tone.

"My son's in the emergency room. Here's the schedule for your surgeries next week." Yoongi hands him the folder and continues down the hall to the elevator.

"So-." Han looks at the folder then to Yoongi's back. "You have a kid?" Han calls after him in complete confusion.

Yoongi takes the elevator down to the emergency department and speed walks through the 21+ department.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Min." He's greeted by a nurse as he enters the PEDS department.

"Hey. Have you seen a-?"

He stops at the sound of Onyx's cries. The nurse waits for him to finish his question.

"Never mind. Found him." He walks off and the nurse stands there confused as she watches.

"O...kay." She pokes her lips out as she walks to the desk.

Harper stands at the receptionist's desk as she gives the lady his information. Hailey walks by and double takes.

"Oh my god. What happened?"

The bracelets print for Harper and Onyx and Hailey takes.

"I got them. Take the next people."

"Thanks, Hailey." The receptionist calls.

"Does Yoongi know? He's upstairs." Hailey asks as she walks Harper down to a room.

"I'm right here." Yoongi says out of breath.

Harper turns to him and he sees the blood on the gauze.

"There was a service dog in the Target we went to but he was really aggressive and he was barking a lot. It was bothering Onyx so he started to cry and your dad asked the guy about the dog and the owner got upset with him like immediately." Harper explains as they walk into the room.

"Can you get his sweats off for me, Harper? I have to see how bad it is." Hailey asks as she washes her hands in the sink.

"Yeah." Harper sits on the bed and Yoongi stands next to her as he listens to the story.

"So the guy got mad at your dad for asking and started raising his voice when the employee came and the dog started growing at him and all of that was a lot, even for me. Onyx starts screaming and trying to cover his ears so I was helping him. But I guess that set his dog off because he fucking lunged and nipped his leg as I was trying to turn him away from the situation."

Harper takes Onyx's sweatpants off and has to move the gauze as well. Hailey gets a look at the wound and frowns.

"He was bleeding a lot more when it first happened." Harper says through her sniffles.

"Yeah, that's what usually happens. Babies and toddlers bleed a lot because their blood is flowing a lot faster. But they also clot a lot faster too, which is good." Hailey says as she looks at it.

Yoongi looks over her shoulder and frowns too.

"It doesn't look that deep. He's going to need a stitch or two."

"What?" Harper's heart breaks in her chest as her eyes water.

"They're going to numb him up before they do it." Yoongi assures her. "He's not going to feel a thing."

"Yoongi, can I talk to you outside for a second?" Hailey asks as she takes her gloves off.

He looks at her, unsure of why he needs to go. Hailey's great at her job. Nobody would doubt her work for anything.

She tilts her head at him and clenches her jaw, blinking a couple times.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm coming. Baby, I'll be right back."

"Okay."

He kisses her forehead as she holds Onyx against her. He and Hailey step out of the room, closing the curtain behind them.

"What's the matter?" Yoongi asks as they walk to the desk.

"She said it was a service dog so it should be up to date on all its shots. But a service dog wouldn't act like that so I don't know if it is up to date on all its shots or not."

Yoongi sighs and pushes his hair back.

"Fuck. I didn't think about that."

"He's gonna need a tetanus shot if it wasn't, Yoongi. He just got his last DTaP last week. That's not long enough. Can you call your dad and see if he can find out? I don't want to scare Harper if I don't have to."

"Yeah, let me ask." Yoongi takes his phone out of his pocket and dials his father's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, is everything alright? Is Onyx okay?"

"I'm thinking he's only going to need two stitches but that's not what. I'm calling about. He just got his final tetanus vaccine last week. Hailey needs to know if he'll need one today, though."

"He's up to date on his shots. I actually just asked about that and he called his vet to confirm because I didn't believe him." Mr. Min says. "But this bum just said told the police that his dog isn't a 'trained service animal' but he's still 'of service to him'."

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me." Yoongi scoffs.

"Ooh, I wish I was. I'd have punched him right in the gut if the police weren't standing there."

Yoongi rubs his forehead as he closes his eyes.

"Alright. I'll let Hailey know and call you later. Thank you."

"Don't thank me for that. Just call me later to update me. I'm filing the police report now."

"Okay. Text me and let me know what happens."

"Okay. See you soon."

"Bye." Yoongi hangs up the phone and slips it back into his pocket.

"He's up to date. But he's not a registered, certified or trained service animal."

"Clearly." Hailey says with an eye roll. "Alright. I'll go get antibiotics then and then tell the doctor what's going on."

"He needs a script for bactroban. He's allergic to bacitracin." Yoongi informs.

"Thank you for telling me but I already know. Read it on his medical file. I'll go put the order in to the pharmacy. They have that on hand."

"Alright. Thank you." He says as they part ways.

"No problem. I'm the floating nurse so somebody else will probably be in to check on him. Keep him comfy until I get back."

Yoongi walks into the room and Harper looks at him.

"What'd she say?"

"She wanted to make sure that he wouldn't need a tetanus shot today. And she didn't want to worry you if she didn't have to so she asked me to call my dad to see if the guy's dog was up on all his shots."

"Was he?"

"Yes." Yoongi confirms. "Onyx isn't going to need a shot today. Hailey's putting the script in for his bactroban and then after that, they'll give us the liquid lidocaine to numb him before stitching."

"Okay. And how long is that going to take?"

"The stitching process is going to be quick. Not too long. It's waiting for the lidocaine to numb him that takes the longest time. That's like a 20 minute wait."

"You don't have to stay the whole time. You're still at work."

"I'm on lunch." Yoongi tells her. "Well, I took it ten minutes early but I wasn't going to do anything but watch House until it was time anyway."

"Is that like Grey's Anatomy?" Harper asks.

"What?" Yoongi laughs. "No. It's so much better."

"I don't know. A lot of people like that other one." Harper tells him.

"It's nothing but drama. Which is fine, I guess. But I prefer the melodramatics of medical drama."

Harper snickers as she looks at him.

"You sound like a theatre kid."

"And what if I tell you I am?"

"I'd tell you that I wouldn't be surprised." Harper shrugs. "You point out all the stuff that regular TV watching people don't pay attention to. Like you pointing out the lighting changing in movies depending on the mood of the scene. Who does that?" She teases.

Yoongi crosses his arms as he runs his tongue along his teeth.

"Alright, I'll give you that."

Harper looks at the way that his biceps stretch the fabric of his shirt. It pulls in some parts of his chest as well but not in the way that's straining the fabric at all.

He just looks... big.

"What do you want to do this weekend?" Yoongi asks her, forcing her eyes to meet his.

"I don't know. I feel like I should go out for dress hunting but I don't really want to go out anywhere at all. I just want to stay home with Onyx."

"Then we can stay home with him. Just us, Jewel, some snacks."

Onyx pulls on his pacifier clip attached to his sweater. Harper takes the hint and puts it in his mouth so he can self soothe.

"He's never going to want to be put down while we're out again." Harper says out loud.

"That's fine. Maybe it's best we keep him in until we figure out what's going on anyway." Yoongi suggests.

"I'm going to have to call the doctor on Monday if I don't have time after we leave here today. They'll probably tell me to schedule a follow-up appointment for this anyway."

The curtain to the room opens and both of them look at it. Harper sighs and looks away from the entrance back to her son.

Kyra says nothing as she walks into the room. She sets down the small plastic cup and washes her hands at the sink.

Yoongi watches as she does so. She finishes up and dries her hands before putting gloves on. She dips the cutip into the plastic cup and Yoongi stands up.

"Whoa. What is that?"

"The antibiotic for his scratch." She says plainly.

"It's not a scratch. He was nipped. And what is it? Hailey just put the order in for the bactroban."

"We have bacitracin on hand-."

"And he's allergic to it which is exactly why I asked for the bactroban." He snatches the cutip out of her hand.

"Where's Hailey? Who's the attending doctor?" Yoongi asks as he walks past her. He throws the medicine in the garbage and looks out onto the floor.

"Freddy's the attending."

"Perfect." He finds him by the desk and walks over.

Freddy double takes when he sees him. He looks at his attire and tilts his head.

"You're not scheduled to be on the clock down here today."

"Yeah, I'm not. Where the hell is Hyde?"

Freddy hears the obvious anger in his tone and his mouth opens and closes. Yoongi is always composed on shift. He's never known this man to be upset about anything.

"In 21 plus. What happened?"

"Nothing that he needs to report to Hyde." Kyra comes over speaking with an attitude.

"What? It's written in the notes, flagged on his summary and his PEDS account that he's allergic to bacitracin. So why the fuck would you walk in the room ready to give him bacitracin?!" Yoongi raises his voice as he grows angry.

"That's not something to take lightly for anybody, especially not a child." He snaps. "He's an infant. Do you know what could've happened had you given that to him?!"

"An allergic reaction, Yoongi. We have epinephrine." Kyra says defensively as her eyebrows pull together.

She's never heard him yell. Shes never heard him curse like this. Majority of people have never heard him curse at all.

Kyra has never seen him so angry. In fact, she's never seen him angry at all. It's unsettling, almost scary for him to be this way toward her. The most that he's ever expressed is annoyance. But she always chucks that up to his personality or him just having a bad days

Kyra looks at him as if he's upset for nothing. Her reaction is as if he's overreacting.

"That's not the point! He could be anaphylactic for all you know. You could have killed him!"

"But I didn't!" Kyra shouts back. "It would have been an honest mistake and like I just said, we have epi-pens. You're making this more than what it is!"

Yoongi looks at her as his lip curls. He's in awe of the audacity that she has. He's never seen anything like it in his life.

"Yoongi, breathe for a second." Freddy puts his hand on the man's shoulder.

Yoongi turns to look at him, ready to argue if he's made out to be the bad guy about this. It's unlikely but the way he's feeling right now, he's liable to argue with anybody.

"I know you're upset and it's completely justified." Freddy glares at Kyra before looking back to Yoongi. "But you have a baby boy in there that you need to be here for. And all of these other kids are in here, too. I'm gonna go get Hyde and have him come in to talk with you, okay?"

Yoongi stares Kyra down as his nostrils glare.

"Yeah. And get her off this damn floor. I don't want to see her face again. She's a danger to every patient in here."

Yoongi walks away and goes back into the room. Harper looks at him as he walks inside and slides the door closed behind him. She heard all of the yelling but was too stunned at the sudden uproar to keep up.

She also has her son in her arms to watch over. Onyx heard the yelling and got fussy. And Harper is more worried about him that an argument that Yoongi is capable of handling by himself.

Onyx sees him and starts whining again. He reaches his arm out and Yoongi picks him up, cradling him against his body as he sits down. He looks pissed and it's obvious.

"You okay, buddy?" He grabs Onyx's pacifier and puts it into his mouth. He stops whining and his eyes flutter.

Harper is stuck in her seat watching them. She wouldn't have known that the cream was bacitracin had he not said anything. She doesn't know how long that scripts take. She'd have trusted that the nurses are on the same page and that Kyra was giving her son the proper medication.

Onyx is anaphylactic and that wouldn't have been good at all. It would have went very wrong, very quickly.

"You're okay, Bear." Yoongi whispers to him quiet. "Go to sleep. I'll make sure you're numbed up really good so you don't feel a thing." He kisses his forehead as he rocks side to side.

Hyde walks into the room about ten minutes later followed by Hailey with the bactroban.

"They were taking to long to bring it up. I went down to get it." She says. She hands the plastic cup of medicine to Harper along with a cutip.

"I'm going to speak it with some mild soap and water and then you can apply the cream."

"Okay."

"Good afternoon, Miss Taylor, Director Min." Dr. Hyde greets them both.

"Hello." Harper waves.

"Kyra needs to be gone. Put under investigation. Today." Yoongi states. "There is no reason she should have come in here with a medicine that's flagged on an account for a patient that's in St. Juniper's pediatric database."

"I also put it on the summary notes for this current E.R. visit. Had she looked at them, she'd have seen it." Hailey vouches.

"He's anaphylactic." Harper says quietly as she looks at Onyx.

"I talked to her before I came in here." Hyde speaks to everyone in the room. "She said it was an honest mistake. But her not reading flags or summaries could be fatal. It doesn't matter what the case is. Freddy's going to do her write-up and she'll have to sign it before she leaves. Because of what the incident is, it's going to be pushed to the Board. I'm putting her on desk duty until then."

Dr. Hyde turns to Harper.

"I sincerely apologize for her actions. That's not a representation of St. Juniper's Hospital. I'd fire her on the spot but because of the nature of the situation, an investigation does has to be done. Instances like that aren't things that we take lightly here."

"It's alright." Harper tells him. I mean, you shouldn't be the one apologizing. I know that you are all Herat at what you do. One person doesn't the lot of you."

"Yes but one bad apple ruins the bunch. Especially if it's an apple that's liable to cause a fatality." Dr. Hyde hesitated to look Yoongi in the eye but does so anyway.

He swallows thickly as his gaze meets the director's.

"I apologize to you as well, Yoongi."

"This isn't the first time that she's done something like this, Hyde." Yoongi tells him.

"I know. But this is far worse." Hyde tells him.

In other words, the repercussions for Kyra's actions will be a lot more severe than previously documented.

"I'm going to get the stuff ready and come in to do the sutures myself. We're looking at two, just so you know, Miss Taylor."

"He's going to be numbed for that, right?" Harper asks.

"Right." Hyde nods. "Hailey will bring in a little cup of lidocaine for you and we're going to have you apply it every minute until it's gone or the majority of it is gone. Then I'll come in and stitch him up and you guys can get out here."

"Will I be able to put anything on it? What if they start to itch?"

"Nothing for the first 24 hours. You can wipe it clean with a damp cloth but his leg shouldn't be fully submerged for a full day. The stitches will be dissolvable and should be gone between seven and ten days. If they're not gone by then, then you'll have to call Dr.-" Hyde looks at the paperwork. "Yu. Oh, Christian."

Dr. Hyde recognizes the name immediately.

"He's great. I love that guy. Uhm-. So yeah, just call Dr. Yu and schedule an appointment to get his stitches taken out. It'll just be a quick snip where they haven't dissolved yet."

"Okay."

"Alright. With that, I'm going to make sure everything is ready for little mans sutures so we can just get it done when it's time. Get that antibiotic on. Hailey-." Dr. Hyde turns to her and she raises an eyebrow.

"Never mind. I'll be back when in 20 minutes." He steps out and Hailey looks at Harper.

She hands her the bactroban and Yoongi distracts Onyx as she does it. Onyx sucks on his pacifier and smiles at the man.

"You're being such a big boy, you know that? You're taking this like a champ. That dog was mean, wasn't he? Yeah, I know." Yoongi coos to Onyx.

The baby giggles drowsily, his eyes closing as he laughs.

"Oh, you're tired, huh? Did Mommy bring your blankie?"

"It's in the diaper bag."Harper remarks as she finishes applying the antibiotic.

Hailey takes the plastic cup from her and tosses it onto the trash.

"Alright. We're gonna wait about three minutes and then start putting the lidocaine on with the cutip. I have to go check on another kid. He's like three rooms down. If you guys need anything, just call for me."

"Thank you, Hailey."

"Of course. See you in 20." She steps out and closes the curtain behind her.

Harper sighs and sits back against her seat. Yoongi puts his free hand on her thigh and she grabs it. He intertwines their fingers and she stares at his fingers.

"I feel so bad." Harper says. "I should have just stayed home. I should have never even taken him out of the house. I should have left the aisle as soon as that dog started barking but I didn't think anything of it. He had on the vest and I was just thinking that he would calm down."

The guilt of what happened settles into Harper. She can't but help but think that all of this is her fault. She should have just asked Mr. Min to go and she could have stayed home with Onyx.

"It's not your fault, Harper. You're not to blame for somebody lying about a service animal and bringing their belligerent dog into a Target. They make it harder for people who actually do have and need service dogs. You have every right to be upset about what happened but do not blame yourself. He's going to be okay. He's got to get a couple stitches but he'll be alright in a week."

"What if he gets scared of Jewel because of what happened?" Harper asks as she stares at the floor.

Yoongi's eyebrows slowly furrow. He hadn't thought of that as being a possibility. He doesn't know how this incident will affect Onyx's interaction with Jewel.

"If he is scared of Jewel now, then we'll just have to ease him back into it until he isn't anymore or until he's comfortable with being around him again. Jewel would never hurt him but I'm not going to force him around if Onyx isn't comfortable with him."

"I'm never taking him in public again." Harper says. "He's going to stay home unless he's going to the doctor or to Taehyung and Harper's house. That's it. Those are the only places he's allowed to go now."

Yoongi knows that she's exaggerating to an extent. She probably won't take him out anywhere for a while but he'll go out eventually.

"You're a wonderful mother, Harper." Yoongi tells her. "This doesn't take away from that at all."

"So why do I feel so horrible?" Harper asks as she starts to apply the lidocaine.

Onyx dozes off in Yoongi's arms, making it easier for her to apply the liquid.

"You're a parent, Harper. When anything happens to a parent's child, they feel a sense of guilt. That doesn't mean that you did anything wrong, though."

But I knew that you needed to get out of the house for a little while. I saw it in your face that you needed some fresh air. I thought that would help. It did nothing but make it worse. I'm sorry.

"I shouldn't have asked you to go to Target in the first place. It was for things that I needed. I could have waited to get them when I got off from work. I'm sorry." Yoongi apologizes.

"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known." Harper shakes her head.

"I just want peace. Like why can't I have that? Every time I do something, left and right, something else is being thrown at me."

Harper wants to be able to breathe like she's not on a limited supply of oxygen. Like she's not breathing from a reserve.

Knowing that the next couple of weeks are going to be increasingly hard for her, Yoongi makes a plan to give her an escape at least once a week.

A day where she can just relax and bask in peace.

Starting this Sunday, he's going to give her a day of pure bliss during the week. No better time than before she has to face Jahlil in court. He's going to reassure her before the time even comes.

He already has an idea of what they can do as a family in mind.

A|N
#Wheewww. I know this chapter was a lot to take in. But things are starting to happen and pick up. Predictions? Hopes? Dreams?

#Thank you always, Kae <3