"Okay, so now that the tomatoes are all mushy, we can put in the herbs- yep those ones, good job! Now put the lid on, good, and we let it cook for a little while."
Yoongi helped Doyun off the chair he was propped up on to help him see inside the pot on the stove. It was his second time showing his son how to cook the pasta dish, and he already seemed to have some of the steps memorised.
"When do we cook the pasta?" Doyun looked up at his dad while he put the chair back.
"You cook the pasta once the sauce is ready. That way it doesn't get overcooked." Yoongi explained.
Doyun nodded firmly, determined to remember that little piece of advice. Now that they had a bit of free time while the sauce cooked, he decided to look for Taehyung, wanting to see the pretty white snake again.
When they first met, Doyun went absolutely nuts. He was so excited to play with the large snake, even more so since he knew there was no risk of getting hurt. Taehyung was patient and gentle with him, obliging to the little boy's requests, wrapping around his leg, his arm, his neck even, flicking his tongue out since Doyun found it funny.
Y/N eventually had to tell Irene and Wonho about Taehyung. She tried her best to ensure that they knew she was no hybrid kidnapper, that Taehyung wanted to be here. They understood well enough, and with Irene's past of growing up with hybrids, she hated people who mistreated them.
The first few times Doyun came over, Irene and Wonho stayed as well. All of them would hang out together, but usually the 3 humans would chat in the kitchen, sometimes with Jin as well, while Yoongi and his son went off into the living room or backyard to have some father-son bonding time.
Now, the couple would drop Doyun off, hugging him goodbye before going on a date. Y/N and Irene could call themselves good friends now, both trusting to leave their panther hybrid in the other's home. Depending on what was convenient, they took turns in visiting each other.
Today was an earlier start than usual, Irene dropping Doyun off early before heading in to work. It was a student-free day at his hybrid school, the teachers getting the day to prepare class work and term schedules. Usually Irene would leave Doyun with her parents on days like this, but she decided to offer first dibs to Yoongi.
Yoongi never turned down an offer to have Doyun, and today was no exception. They'd started off the day by soaking up the morning sun. The two of them didn't shift into their panther forms very often, but when they did it was usually to lie in the sun. Once their sunshine was hidden away behind the clouds, they wrestled and play-fought, letting their inner animal come out to play. Yoongi was impressed by his son's growing strength.
This was followed by obligatory video games. Doyun wasn't usually allowed to play videogames on weekdays, but since it was Friday and there was no school, it was basically the weekend anyway. Jungkook loved teaching Doyun how to play, it was his forte. Usually this kept Doyun occupied enough for Yoongi to prepare food, if Jin wasn't around to do so.
Now that it was nearing 5 o'clock, Yoongi decided to start preparing dinner, and of course teach his son along the way. Young boys needed to eat good food if they were going to grow big and strong, and he wanted his son to know how to cook for himself when he was older.
He had received a text from Irene saying that she and Wonho would go out for dinner after work, and pick up Doyun on the way home, around 9pm-ish. Yoongi had no complaints about this, it only meant that he'd have more time to watch a movie or two with his son after dinner.
"When's Y/N coming back?" Doyun whined as he sat at the kitchen bench watching his dad tidy up.
He must have already entertained himself enough with Taehyung, Yoongi thought.
"She should be back around 5:30. Do you miss her?" Yoongi smiled at the idea of Doyun disliking being apart from Y/N just as much as he did. He had grown fond of her after all.
"Yeah," the kid mumbled, tracing a pattern into the bench while his tail flicked behind him.
"Me too. But don't worry, she'll be back soon."
Maybe it was selfish of Yoongi to pretend like this was his real life, like Doyun lived here and not with Irene and Wonho. It was greedy to imagine Doyun calling Y/N mummy instead of Irene, it was dangerous to dream about him never leaving. He knew he shouldn't think these things, because it only made it more difficult to give his son back up to the sweet couple every time.
He shouldn't think these things but he couldn't help himself. He always wondered what would happen if Irene and Wonho just never showed up, if they just left Doyun with him and Y/N. He could be with his son every day, he could raise him. He could have a family with Y/N.
But he knew that would never happen. At the end of the day, he would always have to give him back. It only reminded him of how helpless and powerless he truly was, at the mercy of the (thankfully kind) humans around him. He wondered if he was human, if it would be different, if he would be able to keep his boy.
Of course it would be different, idiot. He thought to himself, of course he would be able to keep him if he was human. He could do anything he wanted if he was human. But would he have ever met Y/N if he was human? Or Jimin or Hobi? Or Felix? Or the rest of the guys? He would like to think so, but he also knows how to be realistic.
No matter how many disadvantages he has being who he is, he has many reasons to be happy about the way things turned out. He has a family he wouldn't trade for the world, he has his son in his life, and he has his love, Y/N.
"Maybe we should make Y/N a dessert as well?" Doyun suggests, but Yoongi knows exactly what the young boy is playing at.
His sheepish voice gives him away completely, the kid has always had a sweet tooth - not something he got from his father, that's for sure - and he'll take any chance to get his hands on some sugar.
"Hmmm what kind of dessert did you have in mind?" Yoongi plays along, not sure if he wanted to give in so easily to his son's request, but not really seeing the harm in allowing dessert on a Friday night.
"Cake!" Doyun shouts immediately.
"It's too late to make cake, we don't have time. Anything else?" Yoongi laughs at his eagerness, unable to stop laughing when Doyung slumps in his chair disappointedly.
"I don't know any other desserts." He whines, arms crossing in front of him.
"Yes you do. Just because cake is your favourite, doesn't mean you don't know any other desserts." Irene had warned them of Doyun's love of cake, so Yoongi made sure not to indulge him too much.
"We have ice cream in the freezer, what if we cut up some fruit and have that?"
"Hmmm," Doyun stroked his chin, considering the option carefully. "What flavour ice cream?"
"We have vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and lemon." Yoongi answered with a smirk, already sure that Doyun would agree.
Still, the young boy tried his best to put on a stoic front, his poker face giving nothing away (in his mind) while he continued to stroke his chin like a mafia boss.
"Deal!" He finally exclaimed.
"Deal." Yoongi confirmed with a chuckle.
Soon enough, Y/N was home from work and listening to Doyun tell her all about his day. She sat on the couch with him while Yoongi finished cooking dinner, scratching the small fluffy ears as he described the game he learned with Jungkook.
Yoongi watched from the kitchen, letting himself get lost again in his fantasy world. The world where this was their everyday, normal life. Where Irene and Wonho wouldn't be here in a few hours to take his son away from him. The world where he could even pretend that Doyun was Y/N's son, no matter how impossible it was.
He didn't have to try very hard to pretend that Doyun was her child instead of one of the heat partners he had been with. She treated him like her own, wrapped him up in safe hugs and kissed his face until he pretended to be grossed out. Yoongi thought that maybe even Y/N might also pretend that this was real.
He knew that as long as she was with him, she wasn't going to be having children. They had mentioned adoption once or twice in passing, but they hadn't really talked about having kids. So maybe this was her way of having a kid, her way of also pretending that she had a family with Yoongi. Even if it was only for a few hours.
"Oh Doyun, your mum texted and asked if you wanted to have a sleepover tonight? If you don't want to, it's okay, but she thought you might already be asleep by the time they come to pick you up anyway..." Y/N asked carefully.
They'd been having regular visits with Doyung for months now, but they'd never done a sleepover. She wasn't sure how the young boy would feel about it, if he would be scared away from home for that long.
"Do I get to sleep with you?" Doyung pulled himself out of Y/N's arms to look at her, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Sure, if you want to!" Y/N relaxed a little, happy to see the boy's positive reaction.
"Yay! I want to sleep over!"
Yoongi laughed from the kitchen, but inside he was thrilled. He could sleep with his Y/N and his Doyun tonight, he could spend the whole night with his family. He'd had dreams of falling asleep with his arm wrapped protectively around his young child, Doyun was a little older than that, but it was still his dream nonetheless.
Y/N tried to calm the excited young panther hybrid by promising to respond to his mum, telling him that he could borrow one of his dad's shirts to sleep in since he had no pyjamas with him. That only made Yoongi's heart melt even more, thinking of seeing his son in one of his t-shirts, the size being too big and swallowing him up, Yoongi practically cooed at the mental image.
After rallying up the rest of the pack, everyone was fed and settled comfortably in the living room. Doyun picked the movies of course, and a few hours later, surrounded by his favourite uncles, the little boy looked like he was ready to pass out.
Y/N and Yoongi said their goodnights to everyone and took Doyun to bed. Yoongi was usually excited to go to bed, but tonight he was even more excited that he got to spend the next 10+ hours with his son as well.
Yoongi got to work finding an appropriate sized t-shirt, or at least, the most appropriate sized t-shirt that he had available for his son. Meanwhile, Y/N gently woke up the sleepy boy to get him to use the bathroom before putting him to bed.
It was all so domestic, so homey and cosy and Yoongi wanted to do this every night. He tried not to get too caught up in his head, tried to enjoy the moment while he was in it, but he couldn't help but already feel the sting of his son having to leave tomorrow.
He reminded himself that even though that was the case, this was still more than he ever expected. He never thought he would ever even hear anything about his children that he unintentionally helped create, let alone get to spend time with them almost every week. He was lucky.
Y/N's efforts were eventually successful, and in no time she was carrying the half-asleep boy to the bed. Sitting him on the mattress, while attempting to keep him upright, she pulled his clothes off carefully and pulled on the t-shirt Yoongi had found.
It was definitely way too big, but it was better than nothing. Not to mention, it was absolutely adorable. Yoongi took over while Y/N went into the bathroom to wash up, pulling his son up the bed until he was resting on a pillow and tucked under the covers. He quickly got changed himself, not wanting to waste any time when he could be cuddled up to his precious boy.
For a few minutes, it was just the two of them. Doyun was dead to the world, fast asleep, but Yoongi didn't care. Lying on his side, with one arm under his head, he lifted his other hand up to sweep away the hair resting on the boy's face.
Yes, he was lucky. Things may not be exactly the way he wanted them to be, but it was still more than he ever expected.
Y/N came out of the bathroom and quickly changed, carefully tucking herself in on the other side of Doyun and flashing Yoongi a smile.
She was absolutely smitten with the young boy. Irene and Wonho had done an amazing job as parents, Doyung was just the sweetest little thing, so polite and thoughtful. She wondered if Yoongi was like this as a child as well.
Yoongi smiled back, definitely counting himself as lucky. He was spending the night with his two favourite people in the world, and he had never felt so lucky in his life.
Who would have thought, from nearly 5 years ago when the three of them sat pitifully in their small room in the shelter, that their lives would turn out like this. Yoongi had resigned himself to a future of bouncing around from owner to owner, ending up at the shelter in between each one. He had only hoped that his next owner wouldn't be abusive. That was the most he could hope for for him and his pack.
But for things to turn out like this, it really was indescribable. He genuinely couldn't think about it too much, because it would make him scared that he would blink and it would have all been a dream. Scared that he would wake up back on that hard, small bed in their small room. Scared that he would wake up just to watch people walk past their room without a second glance, opting to adopt a single hybrid instead.
"Hey, stop thinking. I know what you're doing." Y/N snapped him out of his depressive thoughts.
They knew each other well enough by now that they could tell when the other was overthinking - something Yoongi had been doing a lot of since he learned of his son's existence.
"Sorry, just thinking how lucky I am." He told her honestly.
Yoongi carefully leaned over Doyun to place a gentle gentle kiss on Y/N's cheek, a silent thanks for pulling him out of his downward spiral.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
The End
A/N: Sorry this took a while to come out, I was putting it off :(
This book is now complete, and will be marked as such, however, I have a couple of random chapters that I wrote that may feature as an epilogue.
Thank you all so much for reading my story. I really hope you enjoyed it, and it gave you a little bit of happiness. <3