⚠️TW:mentions of deadnaming⚠️
"I want to go camping so bad." Harper groans.
"Have you never been before?" Yoongi asks.
"No." She shakes her head. "I've never had the opportunity to go. "I really want to though. I want to experience all of it. Sleeping in tents, rolling out the sleeping bags, eating s'mores, watching the sunset."
"And the bugs?" Yoongi asks, side eyeing her.
She laughs at his expression.
"No, not the bugs. Minus the bugs. We do not have to deal with those. We'll bring bug repellant. Like off spray."
"You know what else really keeps them away?" He asks, rubbing her feet as they lay on the couch.
It's been a long day for the both of them. After an emergency room visit, meetings and enough tears of guilt to fill a sink, they're finally back home together.
Onyx has been wiped down and put to bed for the night. Jewel is asleep in the crib with him, having gotten in after the infant fell asleep.
Onyx didn't seem to be scared of him. He was just very wary. He didn't reach out to touch him and kind of shied away at first.
He didn't cry, though. He was just cautious. It took several of Jewel's gentle nuzzles in order for Onyx to smile.
Even still, the baby didn't reach out to touch him. He just let Jewel lay in his lap and observed him.
"What?" Harper responds to Yoongi.
"Lavender."
"Really?" She asks, eyebrows furrowing.
"Yep. But it has to be fresh.. Like the actual plants. Or we can dry the flowers out and put them in our pockets. That works, too. They don't like the smell. It's too strong."
"I never knew that."
"I'm an encyclopedia of information." Yoongi says. "Useful or useless, depends on who you ask."
"I think that it's very useful." Harper tells him. "You know a little bit about everything. You never what you might need to know one day.... Y'know?"
He scrunches his nose and shakes his head as Harper chuckles.
"You're like my dad. My mom actually told me that she loves you because you laughed at all of his jokes while we were at their house." Yoongi tells her.
"I wasn't being a kiss-up. They were actually really funny." Harper gets serious as she points out.
That makes Yoongi laugh even harder.
"He is not funny."
"He is too. You're a hater."
"Okay, he's funny sometimes. I'll give him that." Yoongi bargains.
"Oh, whatever. Dad jokes are funny. You'll see. Watch. When you're older, you're gonna be telling them. And I'm not going to laugh."
"That's okay. Onyx will. He already thinks I'm funnier than you."
Harper's mouth drops as she looks at him.
"You are not funnier. He just uses you as like the scapegoat. What did his doctor say? He snitches to you? I think that's what he said."
Yoongi smiles softly. He doesn't know if Harper remembers Dr. Yu's exact words but he does. He compared the situation to parents with their child of any age.
Yoongi thinks that maybe he might have taken it differently than Harper did. Or maybe he focused more on the details in the wording than she did. But it stuck with him.
"I'm going to take you camping one day." He says softly.
"I don't want to set up my own tent though. You heard how I left that part out, right?"
Yoongi rolls his eyes and tickles the middle of her foot. Harper yelps and giggles as she pulls it back away from him.
"If I set up the tent, you're doing the s'mores." He makes a compromising offer.
"Fine. I'll do the s'mores. You're in charge of the tent."
"Teamwork makes the dream work, baby."
"You sound like a P.E. teacher."
Yoongi throws his head back with laughter. It's contagious and Harper can't help but to laugh as well.
###
"How are those s'mores coming along?" Yoongi walks into the kitchen to check on them.
"Good." Harper says as she holds a marshmallow over the eye of the stove.
Yoongi went out and bought marshmallow stick along with a few other camping essentials. A small scale tent included.
They've pushed the couch and coffee table off to the side to make room for it when Yoongi set it up. They put two sleeping bags there and a battery powered 'starry night' light projector that Harper had gotten from Amazon for Onyx.
"This is the last marshmallow that I can roast because you and Onyx are eating all the-."
Yoongi grabs a graham cracker and holds it out for Onyx to munch on. As Onyx sucks on the cracker and uses his gums to mush the small pieces up, Yoongi looks at Harper.
"...crackers."
"You got the cinnamon ones. They're really good by themselves. Aren't they, Bear?" Yoongi asks Onyx.
His big brown eyes looks up at him and he smiles. He coos as he chews the cracker.
"See?"
"He's just agreeing with you because you're you." Harper narrows an eye at the both of them. She sticks her tongue out at Onyx and he giggles.
"He's probably a daddy's boy."
"I pushed him out."
"Ohhh, you can't use that. That's not fair."
"Why? Because you lose?" Harper teases.
Yoongi narrows his eye playfully. Even if he did help create Onyx, there's nothing that he could say to her to trump her having to grow and get him out.
"I hope your bonnet slips off in the middle of the night." Yoongi says.
Harper gasps and laughs as he walks away.
"Is that a threat? Did you just threaten me?"
They laugh together as he sits on the floor with Onyx. He sets the baby in between his legs and they watch the television together.
Harper watches as they stare at the episode of Elmo. There's looks of neutrality in their faces until Mr. Snuffleupagus comes on.
Onyx coos and waves his arms up and down in excitement. Yoongi smiles softly as he looks down at him.
Harper puts the last marshmallow on a graham cracker, smacking a piece of chocolate on top before smushing another cracker above it.
She walks to the living room with the fresh batch of marshmallows and sets the plate on the floor. She sits down next to Yoongi and Onyx reaches for a s'more.
"Hold on, Bear. That's a lot for you to eat at once." Harper says. "Try a little piece of marshmallow."
She rips a piece off and holds it between her fingers for him. Onyx opens his mouth and sucks on her fingers. His eyes widen at the taste.
Yoongi chuckles out loud. "It's good, right?"
Jewel saunters in the room and lays next to Onyx. The baby looks over at him and stares for a couple seconds. Jewel rolls over onto his belly and nuzzles his head onto Onyx's leg.
As if something's clicked suddenly, Onyx puts his hand out and pats the cat's stomach. Jewel purrs as he lies there.
"Guess they're best friends again." Yoongi says as he watches them.
"I think that Onyx was just shaken up because it was so recent." Harper says softly.
"He'll completely forget that it even happened by the time that he's one. He still may have a subconscious fear of dogs but that's about it. He won't remember anything."
"Oh, man. What about Sid?" Harper asks, reminding Yoongi of Hailey's dog.
She put him up the last time that they were there because she wasn't sure how Onyx would do. He's a big cuddler and he's never been around a baby before so Hailey didn't want to risk him overwhelming Onyx.
"Sid's a calm dog. He's just friendly so he's kind of overwhelming at first. It's just because he's excited though. He doesn't mean to be like that." Yoongi explains. "We'll just have to ease him into it like we did with Jewel."
"Not so soon, though. I want to give it some time."
"Well, of course. I was thinking that we could invite our friends over on Wednesday night. My mom should be feeling better by then for the most part. She's just got a head cold."
"We could do an in-home dinner and a movie." Harper offers. "You can make that taco pasta you gave to me that one night. It was so good."
Yoongi smiles at her. "Now Onyx can have some too. I'll make him his own little bowl so that he's not stealing everybody else's."
"Good idea. I'll give him a bottle a little bit beforehand."
"I want to see what he likes and doesn't like now so that when he turns one and is off formula, we already know what he really likes and can introduce to new things, too."
Jewel starts sniffing Onyx's leg and licks the spot where the stitches are. He then nudges his head against the baby's leg. Onyx coos and pats his stomach, earning purrs from the cat.
"Onyx, give him some rubs." Harper instructs.
She shows him how to do it and Onyx continues to pat. He looks at his mom's hand while she rubs, confused about how to do that. As he attempts to, his eyes light up.
"Yeah, see. He's soft, isn't he?" Harper encourages with a smile.
Onyx beams back and rubs the cat's belly.
"Good job, Bear." Yoongi claps softly.
Onyx stares at him for a few seconds before looking at his mother. He reflects their smiles before putting his clean fingers into his mouth.
"You're going to fall asleep soon, aren't you?" Harper asks quietly.
Onyx leans back and lays against Yoongi's torso. He starts watching Sesame Street again as he grows tired.
As his blinking slows and his eyelids get too heavy for him to keep open, he begins to hum.
"Yeah, he's not going to be up for too much longer." Yoongi says with a quiet chuckle.
"When we're finished with our s'mores, let's get in the tent so he'll be comfortable."
Onyx rolls over and lays his head on Yoongi's thigh. As he continues to him, he puts himself to sleep. He drools on his thigh and Harper snickers at Yoongi's cringing face.
"He slobs on me every time he falls asleep." Yoongi picks him up and lays him against his chest.
"How do you think I feel?" Harper asks. "He likes to fall asleep on my chest and gets slob on my boobs."
Yoongi cracks up at that, finding it hilarious. Harper takes a bite out of another s'more and gives Yoongi a bite too.
"These are really good." He compliments.
"Thank you. I used to go to summer camp when I was a kid so they taught us how to roast marshmallows and stuff. It took a couple years until I didn't burn them anymore. Or set the entire thing on fire and char it."
"I can't get them good like this." Yoongi shakes his head. "One side is always more brown and almost burns. Or the outside browns too fast and the inside doesn't get cooked and gooey."
"You have to slow roast them. Like a rotisserie chicken or something."
"Well, when you put it like thaat." Yoongi says and Harper laughs.
Their eyes focus back on the show for a couple minutes as the quiet blankets over them.
"I wanted to thank you the other day." Harper says softly as she looks at him.
"For what?" He replies, looking to her.
"Coming down for Onyx. I really wouldn't have known about the bacitracin had you not come down." She rubs her son's small fingers as they rest on Yoongi's arm.
An incident where she went to the hospital for help could have turned into a nightmare. A horror story of medical malpractice in the medical field.
Harper is always so on guard when she has her son. She's always vigilant and careful, watchful of what he does and what he gets into. She's a very cautious and preventative type of parent.
Some of the things in her apartment are baby proofed already and Onyx has just learned to crawl.
So the fact that she would have missed what Kyra was doing frustrates her greatly.
But there's also the fact that Kyra is a nurse and should have known better. All that she seemed to to do was read over the injury description and nothing else.
Because of Kyra's negligence, her son could have went into anaphylactic shock or worse.
She understands that people make mistakes and that is why, initially, she wasn't upset. But then she started to think more about it after the situation, after they had gotten home, after she wasn't in panic mode because of everything.
Harper realized that there is no excuse for what she had done. There is no reason that any of that should have transpired. Kyra is a medical professional. She's gone through the education, the training, all of that. She's been working in the hospital for a while.
Even if she wasn't, it's basic training and basic knowledge that everything on a patient's file should be read through. Especially things like allergies and sensitivities.
Harper knows that even as a pharmacist. If she was to get an order in for a medication from a doctor, she'd still ask about allergies to make sure that there wasn't one to an inactive ingredient in the prescription.
This is something that the doctor writing the prescription should already be aware of and do. But you really never know. And sometimes, the script could be coming from a drop-in clinic or an urgent care rather than their primary care physician or regular gyno.
You can never be too sure. Harper always thinks that it's good to double check.
But Kyra did not do that. Not even with someone as young as an infant.
Working in the medical field, it's never a place where you should get so comfortable with your job, that you start to cut corners.
You should never become too confident in yourself that you begin to initiate your own protocols and behaviors despite the proper training and medical procedures.
They are set in place for a reason. It doesn't matter how many times everything was all set with other patients. Every person is different and could require a different set of procedures.
Harper is more than justified to be upset about the situation.
"You don't have to thank me for that." Yoongi responds to her. "My father called me and I just blanked. All I could think about was making sure that he was okay. Had Kyra done her job properly, this wouldn't have happened."
"Dr. Hyde said that they were writing her up but you said it wasn't her first time doing something like that. How does she still have a job?"
"Because what she did before could have been written off as an error and she was new to the E.D. There was a patient with extreme pain so he was prescribed a Xanax or Percocet, one of those. But while they were waiting for the pharmacy to clear it and have it ready, he was admitted and moved out of the room. So by the time the medication was ready, somebody else was in there." Harper listens to Yoongi explain the situation.
"Kyra was going to administer medication to the wrong patient if the woman hadn't noticed. The woman that was in there had been clean for a little over three months, I believe. She'd recognized the pill and told Kyra that it wasn't for her. Freddy was scolding her about the situation but the woman told him that it was fine. That God was just using Kyra to test her recovery."
Harper raises her eyebrows at that. She can't argue with another's religious beliefs. There's nothing to debate about that. She grew up in a Christian home.
"Freddy still had to write her up but the woman wouldn't make a statement against Kyra about anything or speak to anyone else about it. She didn't want her to get in trouble. And we can't argue with her about that. It's not by our discretion to tell her that it wasn't God that was testing her. Who are we to tell her that? Freddy explained that even if God was testing her, Kyra was still in the wrong for checking anything."
Religion and medicine are very difficult topics to discuss in the same playing field. Sometimes when they cross paths, patients disregard medical advice that could save their lives. Or the lives of their children.
Yoongi has experienced it for himself and it's hard for him to witness. Emotionally, it takes a toll. But he cannot argue with them. He can only respect their decisions.
He's learned to create a balance between what he believes in and what he's educated in regarding medicine. Yoongi is agnostic, not really tied to any religion.
He could debate on either side but when it comes to medicine, he's headed by the facts. But again, the respect for the beliefs and religions of his patients always comes at a very close second after he gives them his medical advice.
"So she couldn't really be reprimanded because the woman was saying how she'd go to the media about the lack of care for religious beliefs. All that it would of been was a write-up, anyway. But still, that's not the point." Yoongi says.
"She doesn't pay attention to her job half the time because she's too busy sticking her nose into places it doesn't belong. I don't even know why she was came to tend to Onyx anyway because Hailey was our nurse. We were fine waiting for the bactroban."
Harper gets that incessant feeling as she listens to him speak. It's like a constant buzzing in the back of her brain. It bothers her so bad that she internally cringes at herself.
Yoongi notices the subtle change in her expression. It's nothing more than an eyebrow twitch and and a lick of her lips. But it's the way that she does it that lets him know something is bothering her.
"You two don't seem to get along very much." She takes a bite of her s'more.
"No, we don't." Yoongi states.
"..Did something happen?" She asks quietly. "Between the two of you?"
Onyx shifts in Yoongi's arms, almost throwing himself out of the man's arms as he slumps down. Yoongi opts to just cradle him instead.
"Nothing serious. We went on two dates last winter and after that, it got hard to find time for a third. She was upset about it but I was busy with work and I was on call way more back then. I was working toward becoming a a surgeon II. But at the time, only myself and Dr. Tegan were up for being promoted. And it was the winter season so there were a lot of accidents and things like that. I didn't have the time and I was realizing that it was a bad time for me to be trying to date."
Harper chews her s'more as she listens. She'd be lying if she said that it didn't mildly irk her to know that he went on dates with Kyra. It isn't an insecurity thing.
More of a 'you went on dates with her and now you have to keep seeing her and she's in your business every chance that she gets' type of annoyance.
Kyra's odd glances and some of her comments now make sense to Harper. She wasn't crazy when a part of her felt like the woman was being shady. It was an inkling of a feeling but Harper knows now that she wasn't tripping.
Initially, she just assumes that she was. Because she knows nothing about Kyra, has nothing to do with this woman at all. Whatsoever.
So it didn't make sense for Kyra to be making such comments and throwing such negativity in her direction.
Even now, it doesn't. Two dates and then it didn't work out? Why the hostility behind it?
"So you told her that?" Harper asks. "That it was a bad time for you to be dating?"
"Yes. I texted her and told her that I needed to speak with her, preferably in person. I said that so my words wouldn't be skewed or she wouldn't take it why other way than exactly what I meant it. But she called me and insisted that I just tell her right then and there. She said that she got anxious when people told her they need to talk like that. Which I understand so I told her."
"And how'd she take it?" Harper wonders, wanting to know more about the situation.
Every detail, actually, so that it can never be used against her. So that nobody can ever say that something more happened than what really did.
Harper never wants to be left in the dark about situations that could possibly involve her. Especially ones like this where she's being thrown dirty looks because of a situation she knew nothing about.
"Uuhhm." Yoongi scoffs and scratches his head.
His eyebrows raise before furrowing. His lips poke out before he licks them.
"Not too.. great. Evidently. I mean, at first, it kind of seemed like she did." He tilts his head as he thinks about it.
"She expressed that she was disappointed about the situation and then like a week later told me that she was actually upset. Which I didn't really understand because I explained the situation to her. But then she started to talk about coming to her if I ever needed her and insinuating a friends-with-benefits relationship, which I was not comfortable with. And again, I explained all of this to her. I was just as upfront with her as I am with you. That's when she started the whole 'how do I expect any of my relationships to work if I'm always putting work first'. I'm 'never going to be able to be in a relationship because I'm always at work'. Stuff like that. And I had told her about Adaya so she threw that back in my face while she was upset saying that she 'couldn't blame her for leaving me'."
Harper looks at him in mild surprise. She can't believe that any of those things were said. All of that because he was working hard to get the promotion that he wanted.
That seems a little out of touch.
"That pissed me off for various reasons. And by that point, all possible interest in the woman was gone. So I very respectfully told her that I didn't want to continue any conversation with her outside of work and blocked her contact from my phone. And since then, she's just been mad at me. Making unnecessary comments, giving her input when never asked. Just trying to bother the hell out of me."
Harper bites the inside of her cheek as she takes all of the information in.
"So she was basically just like Adaya." Harper comments.
"Right."
"And she's been making comments at me because of what happened between the two of you."
"Right. I think she probably recognized you at the dinner from the cafe that day."
"Oh, yeah. When she said that she didn't know that you had a son." Harper pieces things together. "Which I know now is bull because she went on two dates with you."
"Mhm. Just stirring the pot. As usual." Yoongi nods.
"Wow. So then she probably knows that we're dating then now, huh?"
"She can guess or assume. But so can anyone else that was at the dinner that night when we walked in together. Or if they saw us outside of the building kissing. We don't owe anybody an explanation for anything, Harper. You definitely don't."
Harper swallows thickly. Her skin crawls at the similarity in words that she's heard before.
Nobody needs to be in their business. Nobody has to know what they've got going on.
"Bitches just nosy and tryna hop in your spot, Harper. I'm not gonna keep telling you this shit. I don't fuckin' know that girl. I saw her at the gas station, she copped a couple 30s off me and that was that. Nothing more, nothing less. You trippin, man. This why I don't like you being on social media and shit. Bitches start gettin in your head and tryna break us up. And you gonna let them acting stupid and shit."
Yoongi watches as her features slowly blank. Her eyes become more distant and her shoulders begin to drop.
"Harper?" He reaches out, brushing his thumb across her cheek.
Her eyes widen a little before they roam to him. She wants to ask him so many questions. She has so many things on her mind that she refuses to let out of her mouth.
Did anything else happen? Are you sure that you didn't have sex with her? Did you ever kiss her? Did you really like her? Do you think that you would have been with her the way that you are with me had you not been working so much? Had things happened at a good time, do you think that you two would be together?
"Yes?" She looks into his eyes as she tries to keep the composure of her own.
"What are you thinking?"
Do I tell him and look crazy? Do I ask him and seem like I'm questioning things? Do I seem clingy? Do I look insecure? Do I want to look like I can't handle this relationship?
"Private." Harper says. "But not a secret?"
"Yes. If people know that we're together, I don't really care. But nobody needs to be in our business."
Harper doesn't look any less uneasy, she doesn't look any less conflicted or concerned and he can see that. Though she's trying to keep her emotions and expressions under wraps, her body language is giving her away terribly.
He feels like she's thinking too much about it. But he knows of what she's been through. She doesn't know what a healthy version of the concept looks like. She doesn't know what the actual concept looks like at all.
It's something that they'll have to work through together. It's something that he'll have to show her rather than tell her.
"If Garrett starts talking about his wife and I have something relevant to the conversation to say but it involves us...?"
"Then tell him."
"But what if other people are around? Nurses? Doctors? Techs?"
Yoongi shrugs. "You're my girlfriend. I said private not hiding. People are going to start figuring out sooner or later anyway when we keep showing up to hospital events together. This isn't supposed to be stressful or giving you anxiety. Just..." He's trying to find the right words to say things without seeming like he's invalidating her feelings.
"Don't overthink it. I just mean that nobody needs to know the details of our personal business type of thing."
"Okay." Harper says.
She understands what he's saying to the fullest extent. It's the other things that she can't get seem to get out of her head.
"Here. You take Onyx and get him comfy in the tent and I'll wash the dishes." Yoongi leans toward Harper and she takes Onyx from him.
"Thank you."
Yoongi deadpans as he looks at her. She smiles softly as he sighs.
"Get my baby to bed or we're gonna have some serious beef, Miss Taylor."
"My baby."
"Who'd he fall asleep on tonight?" Yoongi asks as he gets up to clean the dishes.
Harper opens her mouth and narrows her eyes. "That's not fair. I was making s'mores."
"You weren't when he fell asleep. He was wide awake when you were doing that."
"You know what?"
Yoongi starts to laugh and Harper gets up to get inside the tent. She scowls at him playfully as she takes Onyx inside.
She pushes the top of the 'starry night' light and it dimly illuminated the roof of the tent. Harper lays Onyx on his back and Jewel comes in to lay at the space above his head.
Yoongi and Harper have a sleeping bag spread out over the floor with space in between just for the infant.
Harper gets comfortable with the blanket and looks at her son. Her chest blooms with a fluttering feeling seeing him sleep so peacefully. She loves Onyx so much. With everything in her. She really can't put it into words.
He's such an amazing baby. She knows he'll grow to be an amazing kid. How could you not love him? Look how much that Yoongi does.
Yoongi.
Just thinking his name makes her stomach erupt with butterflies. Knowing that he's about to be laying with her soon feels impossible.
She often wonders if she's going to wake up from the fever dream one morning. She'll go to text him and won't be able to find his contact. She'll have dreamt up and imagined the entire thing.
That's how surreal this feels for her.
But she knows that all of this is reality. The anxiety surrounding their relationship in the back of her mind makes that clear.
It's both a blessing and a curse, the anxiety is.
It's a constant state of worry yet grounds her enough to keep her going.
All of this is real. She's really dating Yoongi. He really cares for her and her son. He's not a figment of her imagination, dreamt up to help her cope with her loneliness.
He's as real as they come.
"You're not sleep yet. Good." Yoongi says as he crawls into the tent.
Harper smiles as he snuggles up as close to her as Onyx will allow. He shuffles as Yoongi lies down, moving himself against his mother's chest.
"I am pretty tired though." She comments as she grabs her bonnet.
She puts it on over her hair and Yoongi smiles softly.
"You're so pretty."
"Stop it." She looks away from him and he laughs.
"I'm starting to think being shy is just a part of your personality."
"No." Harper denies. "You make me feel like I'm a middle schooler with a crush or something. Quit it."
"That's a funny way of saying that you're in love with me but I'll take it."
Harper's mouth falls open as she smiles. "I did not say that."
"I know you didn't say it." He bends his arm and rests his head on his hand.
Yet you still said it.
Harper bites the inside of her cheek as she tries to hide her smile. She looks away from him to Onyx and he admires her side profile.
The line of her jaw, he's memorized. The map of her face, he knows by heart.
If Yoongi went blind tomorrow, he'd still be able to see her.
An unforgettable face for him. Impossible.
Even if his mind forgot the visuals, his fingertips would remember every part of her body that they've ever traced.
The curve in the small of her back. The stretch marks on her hips and stomach, the dip in her collarbone, the round of her cheekbones.
"Are you ready to meet the lawyer tomorrow?" Yoongi asks softly, not wanting to wake Onyx.
"Yeah. A little nervous but I'll be okay. I just want to get everything over with. But I know that's it's not going to work like that." Harper reasons with herself.
"The whole of this process is going to make me so mad. I can already feel it." She says.
"Don't stress it, Harper." Yoongi puts his hand on her waist, rubbing the skin up her shirt.
"I know that it's hard and that's a lot easier said than given everything that he's done to you. But trust me when I tell you that we'll do everything to keep Onyx safe. He's not going to get custody of him."
"He is not a good person, Yoongi." Harper lays her head on the pillow. "He's not in the right crowds, he's not into the business of anything legal. I don't want my son around any of that. I never did. I never wanted any of this."
Harper becomes emotional just thinking about all of it. She doesn't know what got her to this point. She can't pinpoint the exact moment that all of this went to hell for her. All that she knows is that she can't help but blame herself for putting Onyx into this situation.
She blames herself for the life she's given to Onyx. For the choices that she has to make to keep him out of harm's way. He shouldn't live like this. This shouldn't be his life.
It kills her that she's done this to her son.
And she only ever blames herself.
Yoongi picks Onyx up and puts him on his chest before hugging Harper to him as well.
"It's okay, baby. It'll be alright." He kisses her forehead.
He doesn't know what else to say. What else is he supposed to say? He's a man of his word but that doesn't mean he's very good at them in every situation.
Much like Harper, he feels more than he can articulate properly.
His eyes water as he swallows thickly. He's not going to let any harm come to either one of them. Not Onyx, not Harper.
Whatever he has to do, then he will.
But he won't let anyone hurt them in any way.
That he can assure her.
######
The next morning, the quiet tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' plays in the tent.
Onyx sleeps on his stomach with his head turned to the side. The lullaby coaxes him from his sleep and he twists his face up.
Feeling the material of the sleeping bag, he starts to fuss. He opens his eyes and picks his head up. Looking around, he sees Jewel already waking to comfort him.
But he still doesn't feel the familiar warmth beneath him.
He rolls onto his back as he starts to cry.
"Baaaa!"
He sits himself up and crawls toward his mother as the warm tears fall onto his cheeks from his lashes,
She wakes up immediately, eyes darting open. She sees Onyx crying and sits up to grab him.
The sound of a brisk walk comes down the hallway and Yoongi is popping into the tent as she cradling him.
"What's wrong?" He asks. "What happened?"
"I don't know." Harper replies groggily. "I just woke up and he was crying coming to me."
Harper rocks Onyx in her arms and Yoongi gets into the tent. He sits next to her as she comforts and consoles their son.
She notices that he's already in his worn attire and assumes that it's before eight o'clock but definitely after six. He's dressed so she'll assume that it's a little after seven.
Maybe 7:10, 7:15.
Yoongi looks around and finds Onyx's stuffie to give to him. He grabs it and puts his head into his mother's neck.
"I don't know what happened, Bear." She pats his butt. "What was it?"
Yoongi rubs his back and Onyx rubs his eyes.
"He's still sleepy. I think he was just startled out of his sleep or something." Yoongi says, watching Onyx's eyes flutter.
"Maybe because he was on his stomach and not his back?" Harper offers.
"Maybe. I put him on his stomach when my alarm went off because he seems to sleep better like that. And Jewel kept sniffing him and his nose so I figured he'd have been fine. I guess not."
"It's okay. Maybe he only likes being on his stomach when he's laying on somebody's chest. That way it's like chest to chest type of thing. I think that he's really aware of his surroundings."
"I know. Sometimes I think that he's hyper aware." Yoongi crawls back out of the tent and holds his arms out for the baby.
Harper passes Onyx to him before crawling out herself. She walks with Yoongi back to the nursery to get him changed and dressed into comfy clothes for the day.
"Do you think his stitches are itchy?" Harper looks at them and wonders.
"Don't know but just in case," he grabs the spray from the changing table and gives it a good shake.
"I picked this up while I was getting the stuff you and Dad couldn't. It's anti-itch specifically for babies and toddlers."
"Oohh. How'd you think of that? I would've had to Google something." Harper looks at him.
"I didn't. I was just walking down the aisles looking at everything making sure I wasn't leaving without forgetting anything that he might need. Hence the many new baby food flavors in the fridge."
Harper blinks as he administers the anti-itch to Onyx's stitches. She watches Yoongi put his pants on before picking him.
He's got his fingers in his mouth as he sits up straight in the man's arms. Harper leads the way back down the hall so that she can make his bottle. She also makes him a small amount of oatmeal to eat as well.
Yoongi helps him hold his bottle as he drinks it.
"Are you excited to start your first full week as Director?"
"I am. I'm a little nervous too, though, to be honest."
"Why? You know you'll be great at this job. You're more than capable and you deserve it."
Yoongi smiles at her words of encouragement.
"Just because it's new. I have a whole unit to run. Nurses, doctors, surgeons, techs. I have a few different teams under me now. It's not like before where it was just my team under me. I have to, essentially, run everybody's."
"Mmm. I see. Do you think it's overwhelming?"
"It can be, I assume. I'll just have to get used to it for a while before I'll feel really comfortable." Yoongi expresses.
"I'm proud of you." Harper tells him. "I know that it's a lot to be doing these things so fast and being promoted to the highest position possible in your field so quickly. But you've worked hard for this. You have the work, the education, the credits and the dedication for this. You're really meant for this, Yoongi."
There's a small smile of adoration on her face that makes Yoongi's heart leap. He swears that she could sweet talk her way into just about anything with him.
Though that's never her intent, she means everything that she's saying to him. There's no ulterior motive to it. She's completely genuine in the love for his craft and being able to watch him execute it real time.
"Please don't ever back out of this relationship." Yoongi groans.
Harper giggles as he rolls his head back.
"I won't if you won't." She replies, hugging her arms around his torso.
"Now why would I go and do something like that?" His hand snakes around her waist.
"I don't know." Harper says, genuinely vexed by the question.
There's a deeper meaning to her response and he senses it in her tone. That if he ever did decide to leave her, she really wouldn't know why. Not while everything is so well between them right now.
"I wouldn't."
Yoongi kisses her face before kissing her lips. With each peck, Onyx giggles out loud. Yoongi starts doing it just to hear him laugh and Harper grins.
"See if you can talk to Dr. Mitchell today about that pharmacy tech position. Just until you get your degree and can work as a pharmacist."
"I emailed her yesterday so I'll check to see if she followed up with me."
"Okay. I'm gonna pop some French toast sticks in the toaster real quick and then head out for work."
"Don't worry, I'll do it. I'll make you some black tea before you go to take in a thermos, too. Just go finish getting ready." Harper says as she grabs Onyx from him.
"Thank you, baby." He kisses her forehead.
"Of course."
Yoongi walks off down the hallway and into her bedroom. He finishes doing his hair, going for a soft look today. He doesn't really feel like gelling it back. Plus, he likes when Harper runs her fingers through his hair.
She does that a lot more when his hair is soft and in its natural state.
As he's making the final touches to his appearance, he realizes that he doesn't have his cologne. Harper's favorite one isn't over here.
"Harper?" He calls from her doorway as he looks through her perfume selections.
He takes the cap off of the one that he thinks she wears the most. He assumes since the bottle is two thirds of the way gone. Smelling it from the nozzle, he nods.
Yep. Definitely my favorite one.
"Yeah."
"Can I use some of your perfume? The one that smells like clouds?"
Harper laughs. "You're going to smell like me all day at work."
"Yeah..... okay?"
"Yes, baby. You can wear it."
"I'll buy you a new one when I have the time to run out again."
Harper doesn't reply and he can feel the eye roll from the bedroom. He sprays himself on his neck and wrists and rubs it in.
It's a soft scent and it's meant to stay that way. It's exactly the way that he loves it on her. Now she'll be with him all day.
Yoongi eats breakfast with his family before heading to work. He gives his girlfriend and their son kisses as he leaves with the thermos of tea in his hand.
######
"Oh wow. You smell good today, Director Min. What are you wearing?" One of the nurses asks as she warms her food up.
"Thank you. And I'm not sure actually, it's my girlfriend's." Yoongi takes his food out of the microwave as he speaks.
He realizes what he said and feels a sense of pride for that. It's his girlfriend's. Right. Because Yoongi Min has a girlfriend.
She makes him the happiest that he's been in years. She makes him feel the most valued than he's felt romantically since... well, ever.
Harper adds so much value to Yoongi's life that if he already wasn't worth a million bucks, then he definitely is now.
"You have a girlfriend?" The nurse asks, bewilderment clear on her face.
"Mhm." Yoongi stirs his pasts in his bowl, mixing everything together before popping it back into the microwave.
"Yoongi, good morning." Delilah greets as she walks into the lounge room.
"Good morning, Delilah. How are you today?"
"I'm good. Yesterday was one of my patients' due date and I don't think that little boy wants to make it out any time soon."
"Ou. Induction?"
"I'll give him another 36 hours before we schedule it. Not too many babies come on their due date anyway. She's just over it. He's almost nine pounds and she doesn't even look pregnant from the back. I told her she can start trying some safe labor inducing methods now if she wants to."
"I hope she has a safe labor and delivery."
"Me too, me too. But she will. She'll be alright. How's work for you so far? How's the family?"
"Work is work. I'm just getting used to everything. Half of it is so new so it's different with the transition. And my family's good. My mom's feeling a little better but now my dad's showing symptoms so they're not too happy about that."
"I bet they're not. They love seeing the little one." Delilah sits at the table with her food.
Yoongi walks to the table with his food and sits down across from her. He watches as she eats her salad with her low fat ranch dressing.
Her wedding is less than three weeks away. She's gotta make it to fit into her dress, which she's been adamant about as any bride would.
"Hailey and Co. are going to watch him tomorrow morning when Harper and I go." He says, speaking a little quieter than before to keep people out of his business.
"I was just about to ask who's going to if your parents are sick. I could have talked to Luca about it and he'd have been glad to take him for the day."
"Right. Then he'd have come home swearing in Italian."
Delilah laughs out loud and covers her mouth. Yoongi snickers as he takes a bite of his pasta. They snicker together until Taehyung walks into the lounge.
He walks to the fridge, grabs his food and warms it in the microwave.
"Good afternoon, Tae." Delilah chirps.
"G'morning." He says plainly as he stands by the microwave.
Yoongi raises an eyebrow as Delilah looks at him with furrowed brows.
Taehyung is oblivious as he types on his phone. His fingers are moving at a lightning pace as he frowns. His jaw clenches and unclenches as he taps the screen.
He seems so sucked into whatever he's typing that the beeping of the microwave is what pulls him out of it.
With a frustrated sigh, he pushes the button to open the machine. He grabs his food out and sets it on the counter. He puts his phone into his pocket and grabs a plastic fork and spoon.
As he walks to the table, his eyes focus on the floor.
"Are you alright, Tae?" Delilah asks.
"No, I'm not alright. Can you talk some sense into your friend before I lose my shit?"
Yoongi slows his chewing as he hears Taehyung curse. Delilah purses her lips as she looks to Yoongi.
He stands up, grabbing his bowl as he does so.
"Come on. Let's go talk in my office." Yoongi grabs his phone from the table as Delilah and Taehyung stand up.
They all walk down the hall to Yoongi's office and the door barely closes before Taehyung starts spilling all of his frustration.
"Her family is coming to town, for what, I don't fucking know. But they're coming to town and and reached out to her because they want to 'have a conversation' to 'fix things'." He puts air quotes and Yoongi's face twists up.
"Didn't they tell her that they would file for restraining orders if she ever came near them again?"
"My point exactly! Why the hell do they all of a sudden want contact with her? And if I could show you the messages and the way that her sister was speaking to her, it wasn't familial. It sounded like how I would write a note to a patient or something. Like very cut and dry, professional type of thing."
"Then why do they want to talk to her?" Delilah asks. "They've never had any interest in having conversations with her before this. Not seeing her. Not being around her. Nothing. So I'm confused as to why they want to see her all of a sudden."
"Oh I would love to know and I'm probably going to find out because Hailey's actually agreed to see them again."
"What?" Yoongi and Delilah look to be shocked.
"That's what I said." Taehyung sits on the futon with a huff. "I don't know where any of this coming from. It's so random. Like, I just-. I don't understand. You guys know how disrespectful they've been towards her. It's so sudden that they've decided to be in contact with her again. Just out of the blue."
"Maybe her father's sick or something?" Delilah asks. "A lot of parents finally decide to come around while they're dying. He's a pretty religious man. Maybe the guilt is getting to him."
Taehyung puts his head and closes his eyes.
"I don't know. I have no idea. But I'm so mad right now and I'm trying not to be but how can I not?"
"It's not like anybody can blame you." Delilah says as she takes a seat in the chair in front of Yoongi's desk.
Yoongi sits in his office chair and stabs some pasta with his fork. He's also upset now. Rightfully so.
Hailey's family has treated her like the dirt beneath their feet for years now. They've said so many horrible things to and about her. They've gone as far as saying that they've told people she passed away simply so they don't have to speak about her in conversation.
The hatred for her that has oozed from their filthy mouths is despicable.
It bothers Yoongi to no end. It bothers all of them immensely.
"When is she supposed to be meeting with them?" Delilah asks as she eats more of her salad.
"Wednesday morning. I can't go with her because I'll be here working."
"She's supposed to go with you and Harper to find Harper a dress, right?" Yoongi asks Delilah.
"Yeah. That's after work, though. We planned to meet at five because I have to work until three."
"I don't want her to go anywhere to meet with them alone, though." Yoongi says. "I'm off that day, I can go with her."
"I was going to suggest Luca." Delilah says.
"Hailey wouldn't want to pull you away from your family on your day off either, Yoongi. She's not going to let you go with her."
Yoongi sighs and rubs his forehead. He knows that it's true. He just doesn't feel comfortable letting Hailey walk into that by herself.
But now that he's thinking about it, Luca would be a good one to go. For one, he's easily the most physically intimidating out of all of them. Luca just looks like he could cause some problems if he needed to.
Six foot three, broad shouldered, tattooed from knuckle to chest, 260 pounds of muscle mass, always has a mug on his face like he can't stand the sight of anyone in the room.
He wins by a long shot.
For two, Yoongi hadn't thought of Harper being liable to wonder why she wasn't asked to go. Granted, she doesn't know Hailey's family like that. But if everyone else is busy, she'd like to be there in support of her friend.
Yoongi would have to inform Harper that Hailey doesn't have the best relationship with her family. And that may lead to curiosity.
And the answer behind it is something that is so beyond not Yoongi's business to tell that he's rather just avoid the entire situation in general.
"Luca, it is then." Tae says. "He's not going to let them push her around."
"At all." Delilah adds. "First comment he doesn't like and he's out of the door, taking her with him."
"Is that before or after he tells them about themselves with a blank face?" Yoongi wonders.
"Immediately after." Taehyung inputs.
"She's going to be fine with him. We have nothing to worry about. If he sees the conversation heading south, he'll pull the plug. Trust me."
"It's not that that I'm the most worried about. It's Hailey. She's got it in her head that things are going to be different. That this is going to be a much different outcome than the previous times." Taehyung tells them of his biggest concern.
"I just don't want her to get her hopes and they send them crashing back down again. She keeps trying because they're her blood but they've been terrible to her. I want to have an open mind and hope that they're different now but I just can't."
Yoongi and Delilah both understand the sentiment. After everything that Hailey has been through, she deserves peace. She deserves a good life, a happy life.
However it may be that she chooses to live it, whoever she chooses to live it with, her family should support her.
Yoongi thinks that she's much like Harper. It's just manifested itself in a different way. They truly are harmless in nature. They've been scarred too many times. But while Harper is likely to run from a situation than deal with it at all, Hailey would try to stay to fix it because of how much she values bonds.
She doesn't know when to let go, in a sense.
"Maybe Harper should be the one to go with Hailey." Yoongi says suddenly.
"Harper doesn't know anything. We'd be throwing her into the lion's den." Taehyung voices.
Yoongi slowly shakes his head. "No. I don't think so."
"You want me to trust you about Hailey's parents on a whim?" Taehyung narrows his eyes at him.
"...yes. I know the situation is sensitive but I have a strong feeling about this."
Taehyung stares at him for several seconds. Yoongi stares back. Neither of them blink and neither of them move. Delilah looks in between them, staying neutral as she eats her food.
Taehyung concedes with a heavy sigh. "Fine. I'll talk to Hailey about it. But if she tells me no-."
"Then the answer is no. I don't want her to do anything that she isn't comfortable with. I really just think Harper would be a good person to go with her. I'll stay home with Onyx and Jewel. They can come back to the apartment afterwards until it's time to go out with Delilah."
Taehyung bounces his leg, feeling anxious about the entirety of the situation. He has no choice but to allow Hailey to go see her family.
She's a grown woman and can fully make her own decisions.
He just doesn't like them.
His phone buzzes and he looks at it.
H💛: I know you're upset and I'm sorry
I'm not upset with you
I'm upset at the situation
It's almost been a year and half, Tae
Please? All I'm asking is that you back
on this
Just once?
This is the last time, Hailey.
I mean it. I will lose my shit
about this.
I know. Thank you
Stop it. I love you
I love you, too
We'll talk more when we get home.
I'm almost done with lunch.
I'll see you in a minute
Okay
Taehyung finishes his lunch with Delilah and Yoongi before heading out of the office. He pops a piece of gum into his mouth as he and Delilah walk to the third floor elevator.
"Yoongi smells different today, no?" Tae asks as they wait for the lift.
"He does." She replies as the doors open.
They get onto the elevator and stand next to each other and out of the way out of the other people.
"He smells like Harper." Delilah continues.
"Aah, he does. I couldn't pinpoint the scent but I knew it wasn't Hailey's. It was just very familiar."
"As many perfumes as Hailey has, how do you memorize all of them?"
"I don't know actually. She's engrained in my brain just from scents sometimes. When we're in the office, I can tell where she's been because the room smells so much like her. I think the nurses think I'm crazy for saying that because they never smell her like I do."
"Well, you guys live together, eat together, sleep together, shower together. At this point in the relationship, I would hope that you knew each other well enough to pick up on scents."
"When you say it like that, you make it seem like we're married already or something."
"Speaking of that, when is that happening? When are we doing that?" Delilah asks as the elevator opens to the fourth floor.
The pair step out and walk out into the fourth floor hall. They walk to the bridge and cross it to get to the medical building.
"Hailey wants to wait until her paperwork is finalized and everything before we do anything legally binding like that."
"With the way that politicians have been forcibly trying to turn back the hands of time, she's been scared. And I don't blame her. So am I."
"The country might have pulled bullshit on a federal level. But locally, she's still protected. In a familial sense, she'll always be protected. Worse comes to worst, we move to Italy with Luca's grandparents in their multi-million dollar mansion with their excessive amount of rooms."
"You know, I forgot that your in-laws are loaded." Taehyung comments. "You and Luca did everything to thrive here on your own that I forget."
"It's Luca's pride. He didn't want to take anything from his family. And his parents didn't want to take anything from his grandparents. So all of them just pretended like everything was fine here until they got on their feet."
"Italian men and their pride, huh? His only weakness is you."
"As it should be." Delilah says with a smile. "I've got an appointment to rush to. I'll see you later. Tell Hailey that I said I'll call her later tonight."
"I will. See you later."
Taehyung walks to his end of the hall and swipes his badge on the monitor. It clicks and blinks green, allowing him to open the employee entrance to the pediatric doctors' offices.
Taehyung scopes the floor. His eyes land on his girlfriend as she types on the computer. He walks past the desk and Hailey looks up at him.
"Dr. Kim?" She calls.
"Yes?" He replies as he turns to her.
"Your 3:15 appointment's running a little late. Mom said she'd be here by 3:20 at the latest."
"Is it Rory?"
"Yep."
"That's normal. She's getting shots today so she probably isn't happy."
"Yes, I saw that. The nurse that was supposed to be her attending said that she 'wasn't going to deal with that' today so I'm going to do it." Hailey says loud enough for the other nurses to hear.
"I think she likes you better anyway." Taehyung replies.
The statement earns glances from other nurses around them that are hearing their conversation. Not that either of them care.
"You're everybody's favorite nurse." Tae finishes his thought.
"That's probably because I actually like and care for the kids that come in here. Because you know, that actually matters for working in the pediatric field."
Taehyung smiles at her passive aggression.
"Of course."
"Dr. Kim, there are notes on your 3:15 that you should look over before she comes in." Another nurse speaks to him from down the desk.
"I've already seen them but thank you for reminding me." He says as he puts his hands in his pockets.
He looks back to Hailey. "I'll see you in a minute."
She smiles lightly and nods.
"You two are so obvious that a blind man could see it." Nurse Kaiti scolds playfully.
"What do you mean?"
Nurse Kaiti side eyes her and Hailey smiles.
"The chemistry is more than there, Hailey. He gives you eyes like he's secretly in love with you."
The woman can't help but to smile, even though she tries to hide it. 'Secretly' is such a funny word to use to describe Taehyung's love for her.
It's so loud. What does this lady mean 'secretly'?
"Maybe he is." Hailey shrugs. "Who knows?"
"I say go for it." Nurse Kaiti says. "The way he looks at you, women would kill for, you know."
"Yeah..." Hailey looks down the hall toward Taehyung's office. "I know."
######
Hailey and Taehyung walk into their home and take their coats off. They're greeted by their dog as they remove their shoes.
"Hey, Sid." Hailey coos as she pets his head. She scratches behind his ears and kisses his head.
"You hungry? I bet you are. Come on, let's get you some food." She puts her phone and bag on the couch as she walks through the living room.
Taehyung walks down the hall and into the bathroom as he unbuttons his shirt. He gets his towels and things out for the shower before realizing that his body wash is in the bedroom.
He walks into the room to find Hailey taking out a wide purple sleeve.
She opens it up and grabs the orange dilator. As she's taking it out it, Taehyung opens his mouth.
"What are you doing?" He asks, glancing at her hands then back up to her.
She looks at him as she grabs the lube. He's unbuckling his belt as he walks further into the room.
"It's Monday." She states. "I have to dilate."
"Okay?" Taehyung takes his shirt off. "Do you want to use that today?"
Hailey looks down at it then back to him.
"I didn't know if you'd... want to help me." She admits softly, eyes jumping away from him and back.
"Why wouldn't I? It's more comfortable for you that way."
"....because we got into an argument earlier and I didn't know if you were still upset with me."
Taehyung takes his pants off and tosses them into the dirty clothes bin.
"I'm not." He says as he tosses his shirt in. "But even if I was, that wouldn't stop me from wanting you."
He takes the orange dilator out of her hand and puts it back in its sleeve. He holds his hand out for the lube and she gives it to him. He puts it on top of the nightstand and helps Hailey out of her clothes.
Her perky breasts begin to peak as Taehyung takes her bra from her body last. It falls to the ground and she subtly shies away from him.
"You're beautiful." He kisses her nose. "You know that?"
"Mhm." Hailey hums.
"Look at me." He tilts her head up and she nervously meets his eyes. "I mean it."
"I know." Hailey replies as his lips touch hers.
Taehyung kisses her and her arms wrap around his torso, pulling herself closer to him.
The tips of her manicured fingers slip into the waistband of his boxer briefs. She slowly slides them down as Taehyung slips his tongue into her mouth.
Hailey feels the length of his rigid cock spring out of his underwear. Taehyung turns them so that her back is to the bed.
As they're kissing, she reaches and grabs the lube. She flips the cap open with her thumb and he gets on the bed. Hailey gets in between his legs and squirts some of the slippery substance into her hand.
She starts at his tip and and rubs the lube onto him. Sitting on her knees, she holds his thigh with her left hand as she massages his erection in her right.
Hailey gets the lube equally distributed down and around the length of him before setting it back on the nightstand.
She rises to her knees and straddles his lap. With his hands resting on her hips, he helps guide her down onto him.
Hailey lets a slow breath put through her nose as he settles into her. Her body conforms to him, feeling the subtle ache to the stretch.
Taehyung closes his eyes and rests his head against the headboard. He massages Hailey's hips as he basks in the warm heat that she so graciously offers him.
She doesn't have to give him anything. She doesn't have to trust him this much. She doesn't owe Taehyung anything.
But to know that the trust for this is there, it means so much more to him than anything. Especially because Hailey was wary of him when they first met.
Scared of what he might say if he ever found out. Even more terrified of what he might do.
They were going through family pictures of themselves when he started to get an inkling. He was nervous to ask, wasn't sure how to bring it up. Eventually, he figured that it wasn't his business so he didn't ask any further questions. The curiosity was on his face, he tried to mask.
The conversation was held off until they ran into her father and sister at the grocery store. Hailey looked bright eyed and hopeful for all but a second.
It wasn't until she was addressed as a different name that everything really clicked into place for Taehyung. He had suspected but it was then that he really knew.
He watched as all of the light drained from Hailey's eyes. The blood pumping under her beautiful brown skin seemed to forget to pump as her heart sank, leaving her with a paling complexion.
Taehyung knew nothing of the situation but read it very well.
Hailey's father addressed her as a person that she never truly was. As someone that she holds dear to her but never really felt comfortable with.
Taehyung doesn't know who 'Daniel' is. He's never met him. Doesn't care to meet him. This is what he expressed to Hailey's father.
That night, Hailey cried to Taehyung. She shed tears that she'd been holding in for years. She yelled, she screamed, she threw things.
All of her pent up rage and frustration from years of mistreatment, finally hit the fan. She was growing tired of it.
That encounter at the grocery store seemed to fuel her growth in a way.
And Taehyung has been with her through it all.
"What time is it?" Hailey asks as she gently pushes his bangs to the side of his face.
"I don't know. About 5:30 I think. Set the timer on my phone. Yours is in the living room."
Hailey grabs Taehyung's phone from the bed and sets a twenty minute timer.
"You think you can last ten minutes?" She questions as her thumb hovers over the 'start' circle.
Taehyung scoffs in amusement before laughing.
"You still ride on your knees. Can you make it ten minutes?"
As if taking that as a challenge, Hailey taps the 'start' circle. Taehyung slides so that he's lying back on the bed and smiles as she puts her hands on his chest.
"Clock's ticking." Taehyung grabs her waist. "Time to dilate." He grins.
######
The sound of blocks banging against one another is heard in the living room as Onyx watches Sesame Street.
The intent was for him to visually see the letters while The Count sang the alphabet song. But Onyx did not care for the purpose at all. He saw blocks and started playing with them.
Even now, he holds a tan S in his hand, bringing it to his mouth. Harper figured that he'd do this. It's how he learns so all of the blocks have been sterilized already.
There's a knock at the apartment door and Harper gasps dramatically from next to him. Onyx whips his head to look over at her expectantly.
"Who's that?" She coos as her eyebrows raise and her eyes widen. "Do you know who that is?"
She gets up from the floor and walks to the door. She unlocks it and swings it open. Onyx yells and throws the block in excitement.
It startles Jewel as it hits him and he jumps out of his nap.
Onyx crawls toward Yoongi who also gasps dramatically.
"Hi, Bear!" He picks him up and kisses his cheeks.
Onyx curls up into a ball of giggles at the sudden attack of affection. Harper smiles at the interaction and Yoongi glances at her as he steps further into the apartment. She closes the door behind him and locks it back.
"How was work?" Harper asks him as he sits on the floor.
"It was good. I enjoyed today for the most part. How was everything here?"
"Good. I put out blocks for Onyx to play with to sing with the Count but I don't think he cares very much. I want to get him familiar with the letters and the shape of them so as he grows, they're not completely foreign to him."
"Smart. That's a really good idea." Yoongi looks at the blocks on the floor.
They're out of order and half are flipped over.
"He put them in his mouth, huh?" He asks as he sees a corner of a few of them wet with drool.
"Yes, he did. He really likes that 'S' though. It seems to be his favorite.
Jewel gets up and looks around at all of the blocks around him. He looks unsure of where to step.
Onyx crawls back over and picks up a red block. He shakes it in his head before tossing it back down. Yoongi and Harper watch as he does that with a few of the other colors as well.
Blue...
Green...
Yellow...
Orange...
Onyx picks up a pastel pink 'B' and puts it into his mouth. Yoongi's eyebrows twitch and he glances at Harper. She's smiling, blissfully unaware.
Yoongi clears his throat softly. "I had lunch with Taehyung and Delilah today."
"Really? How was that?"
"Good. Well, kind of. Tae was a little pissed off."
"Why?"
"Hailey's family is asking to see her and they don't have they best relationship. Taehyung can't go with her because he'll be at work. Delilah will also be at work."
"What day is she going? I'll go with her." Harper suggests.
"It's the day that you guys are supposed to go out for dresses. Delilah suggested that Luca go but I asked Tae to see if Hailey would be okay with you going instead."
"If she says no, that's okay." Harper says. "I know we haven't been friends for too long for her to feel entirely comfortable letting me in on her family situation if it's rocky."
It'd be completely understandable if Hailey said no and Harper would harbor no ill feelings about it. She cannot make her tell her something that she isn't comfortable with.
"I'm not sure what she's going to say but Taehyung will let us know by the end of the night. Or Hailey will call or text you. Whichever."
"Luca would be a good option to go too, though." Harper agrees with Delilah. "Nobody's going to say anything to get under his skin."
"Do you think he looks scary?" Yoongi teases.
"No, not scary. He just looks like somebody you don't want to mess with, you know. Like the type to be quiet until he needs to talk. He is actually pretty quiet. He didn't say too much at the dinner that night." Harper remembers.
"Luca doesn't like crowded spaces like that. It wasn't his event and he didn't really know anybody that was there. He's an introvert."
"His presence is so loud, though." Harper says. "That's so weird." She whispers.
"Maybe his body language, his aura speaks for itself."
"Yeah, that's true."
"Did Dr. Mitchell get back to you about pharmacy tech position?" Yoongi asks as it suddenly comes to his mind.
"She did, actually. Pretty quickly. She said that it's mine. I just have to send her proof of my degree and I have to get re-interviewed for it since it's an entirely different position. But other than that, I think I'm in the clear."
"Whaaaat? Look at you. Oh my god. Your foot's in the door now. So as soon as you finish your final semester, it'll be nothing but a promotion."
"I'll already know the systems and the layout and everything. It hasn't really sunken in yet but I think that it will after I actually get the job."
"We'll celebrate as soon as you get you new-hire email." Yoongi tells her.
"We don't need to celebrate that. It's fine."
"Yes, we do. You're going to have half of your dream job, Harper. All that schooling, all of that hard work. Everything you've been through in the last year and you're one step closer to something that you want out of life for you."
"It's really to support Onyx now." Harper says as she looks at him. "To give him a good life, the best one possible."
"You've wanted this long before Onyx was a thought in anybody's head. Two things can be true at once and it's okay to admit that you're doing this for you. You're allowed to do that."
Harper wonders if it makes her selfish for admitting such a thing. If saying that she's not necessarily becoming a pharmacist for her son but for herself.
Onyx has no understanding of the difference. He doesn't get a single bit of it.
Does that make it worse somehow? Harper doesn't really know.
"Working as a pharmacy tech, my hours will change. You won't be able to watch Onyx for me. We'll be working at the same time."
"Don't worry about that. I'll talk to my parents. I know they'll have no problem keeping him while we work."
Harper hopes that his words are true. She knows that they don't mind watching him for a couple of hours. But an entire shift feels like a lot to her.
She isn't sure how they'll feel about doing that five days out of the week. Isn't that a lot?
She'll have to talk to them about that. She'll pay whatever they need her to pay for the week. Knowing that it's going to the well-being and good care of her son, the cost is nothing.
"At this rate, I think we should just get baby stuff for your apartment too. Because hauling everything back and forth is a lot."
"Wait a minute." Yoongi narrows his eyes. "All you've ever carried over is a diaper bag and the play mat. I've carried the heavy stuff."
"That diaper bag is heavy."
"Because you packed diapers like I was going to be keeping him for days at a time."
"I'd rather be over-prepared then under-prepared." Harper says as she laughs.
"Aaahh!" Onyx suddenly screams.
Both Harper and Yoongi look at him, scared by his scream.
Onyx looks back and forth between them as he puts the block back into his mouth. He smiles and hums as he drools.
"You just want attention, huh?" Harper asks.
Onyx squeals in response, going back to banging the blocks together.
"Good job, Onyx. You making music? Are you going to play the drums?" Harper coos to him.
"I should get him a little percussion set." Yoongi says.
Harper side eyes him. "Now why would you do that?"
"He needs some entertainment in here. Things like that help kids learn. Percussion sets, shaped blocks, some bigger trucks that he can roll. They promote fine motor skills while teaching him how things work in the world."
"Brain stimulations build big brains, yes I know."
Yoongi smiles at her and Onyx yells again. Harper looks at him at him as if to say that he 'can't be serious'.
"Dadaaa!" Onyx looks upset as he yells.
He bangs the block on the carpet and Yoongi's mouth slowly falls open. His head turns to Harper as he looks at the baby.
When he does look at Harper, she's staring at Onyx. She's smiling softly but it's kind of bittersweet.
"Dada! Babaaa!" Onyx shouts as he holds the slobbery block up.
"Me?" Yoongi points to himself. "You want me to have it?"
He holds his hand out and Onyx grabs him arm, leaning into it. He doesn't know the weight of his own body and Yoongi has to reach out with his other hand to catch him. He sits the baby on his lap and Onyx goes back to banging the block.
Hitting it against Yoongi's leg this time, he focuses back on the TV.
Harper takes a slow breath in as she looks over at the pair of them.
"When you tell people about Onyx, what do you say? What would you say?" She wonders as her eyes begin to well.
"Do you mean how would I introduce him?"
"Yes." Her voice is soft as she tries not to cry.
"As my son."
"All the time?"
"Every single chance I get, yes." Yoongi promptly responds. "I want you to know that I mean that, Harper. He really is mine."
Harper bites the inside of her cheek. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah." She wipes her cheeks as she sniffles. "He's your son."
Yoongi smiles at her, taking her hand into his. He kisses her knuckles before flipping it and kissing her palm.
"Since you're going to take full paternal responsibility, you're on bath duty tonight." Harper says as she quickly hops up.
"Wha-?" Yoongi watches her scurry away. "But he's been splashing." He calls after her.
"You could probably use another bath anyway, hospital man."
"I-."
Harper starts laughing at her own joke and Yoongi runs his tongue along the inside of his cheek.
"Your mother thinks she's funny." Yoongi stands up with Onyx. "She's not, by the way." He clarifies to the infant as he takes him to the bathroom.
He gets the baby tub out and sets it into the tub. Running the water, he checks the temperature before starting to fill the tub. He adds two squirts of soap to make some bubbles.
Yoongi takes Onyx's onesie and diaper off before getting him into the tub. The baby feels the water and starts splashing as soon as he's in it. He kicks his feet in a pedaling motion and smack the water.
"Hold on a second, Bear. Let me bathe you first then you can splash all you want."
He's going to tire himself out and be ready for bed. It's best to get the bathing out of the way so that all he'll have to do later is take him out, oil his skin and get some pajamas on him.
Yoongi squeezes soap onto the washcloth and lathers it up. He washes Onyx's body before doing his hair. He likes that part the least and is likely to fuss about it.
"Aaahhhh!" Onyx moves his head away and starts kicking.
"I have to wash it, Onyx. I'm sorry."
The infant continues to splash and starts getting water everywhere.
"Onyyxxx. I'm almost done. Let me finish. It'll be over before you know it."
Yoongi gently massages the baby's hair, making sure not to miss any spots.
"Why do you have all this hair anyway? You're six months. Were you born with hair like this? You must've been, right? For it to be this long? I know the first time I saw you, you had hair on your head already."
Onyx stops splashing to listen to Yoongi talk.
"I think I was a bald baby. I didn't have a lot of hair. And it was probably a lot thinner than yours. Grandma can show you pictures. I don't think I have any here with me."
With Onyx having stopped flailing, it gives Yoongi the chance to rinse his hair properly. His eyes flutter with the soothing feeling.
"Yeeahh, you're getting tired now, huh?"
Onyx starts to hum and Yoongi chuckles. He grabs his towel from the bar and positions it over his shoulder. Pulling the plug in the baby tub, he starts letting the water out.
As it drains, he takes Onyx out and wraps him in the towel. He takes him into the nursery and grabs his baby lotion and hair oil.
He walks in Harper's bedroom after to find that she's already got a diaper and some pajamas laid out for him.
Yoongi pats the baby's back dry as he holds him. He doesn't want to rub because Harper never does. He also feels like Onyx's skin is too soft and sensitive to rub dry.
As he's patting the infant dry, he feels his shirt begin to dampen. He stops moving and looks at Harper.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Am I being peed on?" He asks blankly.
Harper looks at his shirt and laughs.
"If that's not water, then yes."
Yoongi looks down at Onyx, whose starting to fall asleep in his arms. As Harper giggles, she gets up from the bed, holding her arms out for Onyx.
Yoongi hands the infant to her to get a better look at his shirt.
It's definitely baby pee.
He laughs to himself as he walks into the hallway. He pulls his shirt off and throws it into the trash before walking to the bathroom.
Yoongi cleans his chest with soap and water then cleans the baby tub out. He sets it upside down inside the tub to dry.
As he's walking back into the bedroom, Harper is applying the lotion to Onyx's body. She's already got his diaper on and he's still asleep.
"It feels like you set me up but I'll let it slide."
"How'd I set you up? I didn't know he was going to pee on you. I just knew he was going to splash like crazy."
Harper puts Onyx into his pajamas and picks him up. She gets ready to take him into the nursery and looks in Yoongi's direction. She double takes when she sees him.
Bare chested, she sees the ink that she so clearly missed during their time of intimacy.
Before she stares for too long, she takes Onyx into his nursery. Jewel is already in the crib as she laying him on his back.
Harper gives Jewel scratches behind her ears and goodnight pets before turning the mobile and night light on for Onyx.
She walks back into the bedroom and slows her steps.
Yoongi has his head bowed as he types on his phone. His hair has fallen to the sides, shadowing his side profile.
He hears the pause in step and looks up from his phone. He turns his head to look and sees Harper staring at his back. It takes him a second to remember what would draw her attention like this.
He'd assumed that she noticed it before. He was completely naked when they had sex. He didn't even keep his socks on.
In Harper's defense, it was the very least of her concerns. The size of him was enough to think about alone.
Toward the top of Yoongi's back, is beautifully small collection of lilies. One is in full bloom, another hasn't quite bloomed yet, another is in the process of blooming.
The stems have small leaves growing from them, some falling from their place.
"It's pretty." Harper says as walks over.
Her fingers smooth over the skin, feeling the goosebumps raise where her fingers travel. Her touch is soft and greatly welcomed.
"Thank you. Do you want to see the rest of them?"
"Yeah."
He turns to face her and her hand circles around to his shoulder. She looks at his chest and sees what could be a small paint brush stroke of pastel green shade. On top of it is the outline of the number 13.
It's tattooed at the base of his sternum.
"Why 13?"
"People call 13 'an unlucky number'." Yoongi tells her.
"Then why get it tattooed?"
"Those people also call black cats unlucky." He gestures to the nursery with his thumb.
"Fireflies." He points the space just above the crease of his left elbow.
"Green paint."
Harper looks at the color swatch under the 13.
"All things that I happen to like. The reasons are all misunderstandings that were lost throughout time. Things that people no longer wanted to do the research on as time went. They just accepted these things to be true because everybody else did. The origin story is lost."
Harper smiles up at him as she puts her arms around his neck.
Having Yoongi all to herself, all for herself feels like such a dream. She'll keep saying it. Over and over again until it finally sinks in that this isn't a dream at all.
She's living this. Fully lucid, fully enthralled, fully enamored by this man, she is.
He's attractive in more ways than the physical. Everything about this man is so beautiful to her.
She could fall so far into Yoongi that it'd have her questioning everything before him.
He could pull her so far past the point of passion and devotion that she'd lose all recollection of ever going without it.
A fool's game, love is often called.
Harper's fingers thread into the nape of Yoongi's hair. He licks his lips as their noses touch. A purposeful brush of affection, an intended gesture of tenderness.
Ever the fool I'll be.... Harper thinks as her eyes close.
Yoongi lips find hers while his hands caress the skin of her waist. He pulls her closer, pressing his chest against hers.
The delicate balance between them strengthens as Harper's tongue slips past his pink lips.
He exhales as he feels the warmth of her tongue glide against his. He tilts his head as she becomes more confident in herself.
Harper's hands slide to his chest as warmth blooms there. His skin trembles under her touch, feeling overloaded with endorphins.
Harper's phone vibrates on the desk and they're withdrawn from their headspace.
Yoongi presses a long final kiss to her lips before looking over at her phone.
"It's Hailey." He grabs the phone for her as she pouts. He chuckles at her before kissing her forehead.
"Don't worry. I'll make it up to you." He lightly pats her butt with a smile.
Harper answers her phone as they get into bed.
"Hello?"
"Hey, I hope I didn't wake you." Hailey replies.
"You didn't. Yoongi and I just got Onyx into bed not too long ago."
"Okay, that makes me feel a little better then. I'd have waited to call until the morning but there's too much going on in my head for me to wait."
"It's fine. We're literally just getting into bed. What's going on?"
"I'm meeting with my family this Wednesday and we don't have the best relationship. I'm hoping for the best but Tae can't come with me, Delilah has to work. I was wondering if you would like to? You can say no and that's totally fine but I just don't really feel comfortable going by myself."
"I'd love to go. I don't have much of anything to do anyway. I'm meeting with the attorney tomorrow morning and we're going out Wednesday anyway so that's fine. Yoongi can stay home with Onyx."
"You guys are bringing him over here, right?" Hailey confirms. "I know Mrs. Min is still wary about having him over in Yoongi's apartment. I texted her earlier to check up on her."
"Yes, we are still bringing him over there. Probably around 8:30 at the latest."
"Okay. Well, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow morning and on Wednesday."
"See you tomorrow. Have a good night."
"You too. Good night."
"Good night."
Harper hangs the phone up and lays down with Yoongi. He envelopes her in a hug and she lays her head against his chest.
"All good?" He asks.
"All good."
He kisses her temple as she closes her eyes.
"Good night." He speaks lowly.
"Good night, baby."
He smiles tiredly as he closes his eyes.
Their hearts beat the same message, though neither of them verbalize it.
A|N
#Literally only saying this one singular time and that's it. If I see a single transphobic or insinuated transphobic comment, I'm muting you. (And no, there will be no warning response.)
#If there's something that you want to know more about or want better understanding of, then just ask. I educate myself on almost everything I write about but if I don't have an answer, I'll do the research to find it for us :)
#Packed couple of weeks ahead for our MCs. I'm excited