2026
"God, my back kills." Rae complained, trying to stretch the muscles in her back. She was sitting on a couch backstage, her seven soulmates well into hair and makeup for their big comeback show. All seven of them were done with their military service, and as they promised ARMY at the end of 2022 when Jin went in, they were going to come back stronger than ever.
Rae knew it was coming in mid-2022, having discussed it with them at length. Jin had gone first, and then gradually after that the rest had too. Rae had only been alone for a few months before Jin returned in 2024 - his service being shortened by luck of the draw. Rae had been thrilled to go and get him when he was released, and they didn't separate from each other for at least a week afterwards.
That week of being on each other came back and bit them real quick - a month and half later Rae's period was late and they discovered she was pregnant. She had gotten her IUD taken out when Jungkook - the last of her soulmates to enlist - had gone in, since it was due to get out and replaced. However, she hadn't replaced it, which resulted in Aura Grace Kim being born nine months later. Rae and Jin had Hoseok and Yoongi by their sides when she was born, having gotten out in just enough time to see their first daughter come into the world.
Everyone fell in love with her when they first saw her, stealing all their hearts as soon as she looked at them. It was decided then that they would start their family now, via IVF, and whoever's egg stayed, was what they got.
That was what happened this time around, except two had stuck, so Rae was pregnant with twins. She was a little over halfway through, and she was over it. Yoongi and Taehyung were waiting on her hand and foot - since DNA testing had proved that the two babies were biologically theirs. Everyone else was doing everything they could to help her take care of Aura, and do their comeback.
Rae was thankful that she could produce sitting down and at her house, at least.
"I've got you, babe. Sit forward." Jade got up from her position on the floor, walking to her best friend and attempting to massage her back. Her best friend had been a saving grace in the time that her soulmates were gone, and she couldn't thank her enough. It was currently Rae's turn to support her, as Han was doing his enlistment and had six months left to go.
"Momma, where dadda?" the little girl - a female version of Jin - had trotted over to her mom, gently resting her little hands on her knees. She had done her hair in little tiny space buns, dressing her in a home-made BTS shirt for the show. It was her first BTS concert, naturally, and the little girl was incredibly excited. She put BT21 stickers all over her ARMY Bomb that her fathers had gotten for her and carried it with her everywhere the second that she had gotten it.
"Dadda and Appa's are getting ready for their concert, baby." Rae said to her. When Rae found out she was pregnant, she left the discussion of who was going to be called what up to the boys. Somehow, they had come to the agreement that they would all be Appa, but whoever the biological father was would be something different. In this case, Jin was Dadda - her first word and everything.
"But want dadda!" she started to whine. Aura Grace Kim was absolutely, without a doubt, Jin's baby. She followed him everywhere, always wanted to be in the same room as him, be held by him, everything. That wasn't to say she wasn't the shadows of her Appa's as well - oh no, she followed all of them around everywhere. But if Jin was in the room, all of them were chopped liver.
"We have to wait for Uncle Chris to get here." Rae said, hoping that her trump card would work.
"Uncle Chris coming?!" the two year old squealed. As much as she loved her Dadda and her Appa's - Aura Kim's favorite person in the world was her Uncle Chris. Rae was relieved to see that distracting her from Jin not being in the room worked.
"Of course Uncle Chris is coming. All of your other Uncles too, and your Halemeoni's and Harabeonim's. It's a very special day." Rae said to her daughter. A smile lit up her face as she jumped with excitement. Jade had paused to take a video of the little girl jumping up and down, making the two of them laugh.
"Where's my munchkin?!" an Australian accent called from the doorway. The toddler squealed, running over to her Uncle Chris to get tossed in the air. "Stop getting bigger! You're too big and Uncle Chris doesn't want you growing anymore." he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Uncle Chris, that not how it works!" Aura said. Rae held back a loud laugh as Jade couldn't help but bust out laughing, Christopher also trying to contain his laughter at the toddler's one-liner. "Need get bigger to be big sister." she finished.
"Alright, I guess you can get bigger. Only a little bigger, though." he said back to her, sitting next to his sister. "How are you feeling?" he asked Rae.
"Like absolute crap, thanks." she said back to him. Rae kept telling her soulmates that these were the last two - but she had a feeling it wouldn't be. Jimin told her they needed to have at least one more to make an even number, she saw his point. But with how miserable she was at the moment, it could be a while.
Beautiful, are you still in the green room?
Yup. Aura was asking for Jin, but my brother showed up. Crisis averted.
We'll be there soon. It's 15 minutes to go and security is coming soon to bring you to the box.
"Get ready to be forgotten about." Rae told Christopher. He rolled his eyes as Rae got up to attempt to organize some of the mess that her daughter had made to entertain herself. Soon enough, she heard the dramatic shouts of her soulmates coming closer and getting louder.
"Dadda?" Aura squirmed off of her Uncle's lap and bolted to the door just in time for Jin to walk through. "Dadda!" she yelled, reaching her arms out and demanding to be picked up. Of course, he obliged the request. She gently rested her little head on his shoulder as he started to talk to her, making sure she tucked her ARMY Bomb in safely as well.
Heaven forbid she lets anyone else touch it.
"Are you being good for Momma, tiny?" Jin asked her, placing a very light kiss on her head. The little one nodded as she took her head out of his shoulder to see her Appa's all slowly entering the room as well. Her little eyes lit up seeing them done up for their show, a complete transformation from what she usually saw.
Rae's eyes went wide as well seeing them dressed up - it never failed to amaze her, honestly. They were in an all-black ensemble, unique to each of them, and their hair was completely grown in. Nearly all of them had decided to grow it out in some way, shape or form. Yoongi had back the long hair that made her go feral before he toured in 2023, and Jungkook had finally grown his enough to put in a complete bun. ARMY were going to lose it when they saw.
"Are you excited, bun?!" Jungkook asked her happily.
"So excited!" Aura replied back with a smile. "Gon dance like Appa the whole time." she was now gesturing toward Hoseok, signaling that she was talking about him. One thing that they had done really well in teaching her was creating a way for them to know who she was talking to or who she wanted - by using either direct eye contact or a little gesture. Rae couldn't believe how well it actually worked.
"That's my girl!" Hoseok said, stealing her out of Jin's arms and dragging her into his own.
"Ya - what about me?!" Jimin said, starting to tickle her. She laughed out loud as Jimin and Hoseok started to dote on her when Rae felt arms go around her waist.
"Feeling okay?" Yoongi asked her. Taehyung had his hand on her shoulder as well, making her smile.
"Besides my back? Fine, actually." she said to him.
"I wish we could help with that." Taehyung said sadly.
"Comes with the whole pregnancy thing. I'll be fine." she said to him. Taehyung gave her a kiss on the temple as Yoongi snuck around and pecked her lips.
"Alright, security is here to bring you guys to your seats. The box has food, water, juice for the baby, alcohol for the ones who can drink it." Namjoon appeared in the doorway, walking over to Rae. "If you get too tired, just - "
"Joon, there is absolutely no way I am missing this. Your comeback show, and Aura's first BTS concert. Nope." she said to him. He let out a laugh as he pressed a kiss to her lips.
"My turn!" Aura said, making the room laugh. She was in Jungkook's arms now, each of her fathers taking their turn to give her a kiss on the cheek, ending with Jin who held onto her for a little while longer. "Dadda, have to go! You go sing now."
"Aish - okay, okay! Have fun tiny, we'll see you when you get back!" Jin said to her. Rae was given a kiss by everyone on their way out, Christopher having picked up his niece for the walk over to the VIP box. They had a perfect view of the stage, and of course, some ARMY saw them arrive and started to freak out.
"Here, baby. Put these on." Rae said to her gently. The two year old didn't fight as she placed the headphones over her little ears, thanking her mom quietly as she turned on her ARMY bomb and got it ready. There was a small platform before the railing, perfect for her to balance Aura on, so she picked her up and placed her there. "You ready?!" she asked her excitedly.
"Yes! I so excited for BTS concert!" she squealed. Jade was snapping pictures of the two of them a mile a minute, recording every little cute reaction and promising to forward it all to her.
A couple minutes went by before the stadium lights went out and ARMY started to scream. Rae held onto her daughter tightly as she started to jump, her little eyes going wide as the VCR of her fathers started playing.
"ARMY, make some noise!" Jimin shouted in his microphone, causing ARMY to go nuts just as Run BTS played. True to what she had told Hoseok earlier, the two year old was already dancing and singing along.
It was a complete full-circle moment. From running into them 6 years ago after their tour and bonding, to watching in the VIP box with their daughter at their comeback show. Rae couldn't ask for anything more.
*****
and here we are. the end. i'm not gonna try to get too sappy, since i did last week. i promised you announcements, so here we are.
announcement 1: i will not be leaving this little universe i have created entirely - i will be publishing a book called 'Blossomed' which will consist of one shots with Rae and the boys! i have so many little things i wanted to do, but they didn't quite make the cut for the story, so i decided i will do oneshots. they might not be frequent, but they will be happening. make sure you follow me to see when that goes out.
announcement 2: my next fic will be a yoongi x reader and i am calling it................. home. i don't know when i'll be putting that out, as i'm still writing the beginning portion of it, but here is the summary:
"Min Yoongi couldn't ask for anything more - the success of the first installment of Love Yourself had taken his career to new heights and he was finally living the life he always could have wanted. You could not be any prouder or happier for your husband and all he has accomplished, but being "SUGA's wife" doesn't come without battles of your own."
it's going to be a little bit of a different story for me, with a focus on mental health and just fluffy, domestic yoongi goodness. something to make my heart happy.
thank you for all the support!!! love you all!