Taehyung was feeling confident as they walked down the trail. He felt like he had a bounce in his step and a twinkle in his eye that hadn't been there since separating from his wife. The others noticed Tae's extraordinary mood, and how it seemed to infect them all. The whole mood on the hike was of hope and wonder.
The Muse had her own camera again, and was trying to make sure she took in all the sights. She was getting pretty sweaty as they moved, though, and was jealous of the others and their ability to take off their outer layers. She noticed Jungkook and Jimin stayed pretty close as they walked. They tried to be nonchalant about it, but she felt their intentions of being close to her.
She was having mixed feelings about it. After her explosion the night before, she seemed to have exercised some demons. They knew how she felt now. They knew what they had done wrong. Part of her wanted to allow them the opportunity to work on their relationship. But, the stronger urge was to keep them at arm's length until they knew about Petal. She didn't want to get her hopes up just for them to freak out and leave her again.
Her Warriors all said that her husbands were all good men, and that none of them would walk away from their responsibilities. But they already had. She was a part of their responsibilities, and they had all walked away from her. What would stop them from doing it again?
They made it to the glacier and were greeted by a snow covered paradise. The lake was frozen over and the rocky beach that met it was filled with other travelers that were just as enamoured with the sites as they were.
"Yeppeun." Joonie pulled her to the side, "We have to get a Petal picture here!"
The Muse looked around, noting the amount of people there were wandering around.
"Joonie, I don't know," but, once again he had her posing with her little belly out. Proof for Petal when she got older that she had traveled to such a lovely place.
"Hyung?" Jungkook called to Namjoon in between throwing snowballs at Jinnie, "Why do you always take Yeppeun away to take pictures of her? I want to take pictures, too!"
Taking his chance, Jungkook made his way over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, yelling "Selfie!" as he held his camera up to capture the moment.
Jimin and Tae came running to do the same with their phones, their enthusiasm reminding her of puppies as they vied for their photo ops. Yoongi had also made his way over to them, quietly asking permission before pulling her close for a selfie. She tried hard to keep her body turned at an angle so that the belly wouldn't press against them. It was harder than it sounds. Luckily, they all took it as her trying to keep her distance as she had been since they came together again.
These pictures were vastly different from the selfies they used to take together. Her smile was no longer as bright as it was in the earlier pictures, and didn't reach her eyes, but she had let them touch her. She didn't shy away or ask them to keep their hands to themselves, and that was a huge win for them. But once Yoongi got his picture and released her, she immediately stepped away and headed to be with Hoseok, who was sitting on a log and enjoying the view.
The Muse scooted in next to him and slipped her arm through his and snuggled up to his side.
"Do you have any snacks?" she asked sweetly.
Laughing, Hobi waved his arm toward where her husbands stood talking, "Jiminnie brought the snacks and water." his back straightened and he looked at her, "Yeppeun! You need water. Have you had any since we started the hike?"
She laughed and shook her head. "No, I haven't. I didn't want to have to stop and pee in the bushes every twenty minutes. It might look suspicious."
He nudged her with his shoulder and encouraged her to go get a snack from Jimin, who had the stash in a bag.
"You can't avoid them forever." Hobi said gently, "You told them off last night. I think they get it now. They've been miserable, Yeppeun. Give them a break."
The Muse leaned away and gave her Warrior a dubious look, "Jung Hoseok. Just because they understand what they did doesn't mean it's all been automatically forgiven. Besides, I'm not going to truly let my guard down until after they know about Petal. That'll be the biggest test." she said the last part almost to herself as she turned to gaze at the glacier and the snowy landscape, both dreading and anticipating the end of this trip when her husbands will finally know that they are going to be fathers, and she won't have to hide anymore.
It wasn't too long before they were rounded up to head back to the trail head. The Muse did break and ask Jimin for a tangerine she could munch on while she walked, but her mind was firmly on the back of contraband chocolate that Jinnie had bought her that was waiting in the RV. She didn't bring it because she thought it would melt in her pocket. But it did give her something to push her forward on the trail. She was getting tired and hungry and she really had to pee. Most trail goers would understand having to pee in the bushes, but this crew definitely would not.
She was damn near dancing when they finally got to the end where the bathrooms were, and almost knocked over Jinnie in her rush to get to them. The world was a much better place when she was done. Not only had she emptied the bladder that Petal was putting a little more pressure on every day, but she had washed her hands and could almost taste the chocolates waiting for her in the RV.
Back in the RV with Hobi they were on their way for their first night of camping on this trip. Jimin kept looking back at her and her snacks with a concerned look. The Muse just sipped her water and popped another piece of chocolate in her mouth with a challenging look in her eye until he turned back around to face forward. Midway through the trip Jimin got up and made his way to the back of the RV, a strange thing since he was a stickler for safety. He stopped at the refrigerator and got out the veggie snacks that Joonie insisted she buy.
Jimin opened them and set them on the table in front of her before heading back to his seat. He hadn't said a word. Hoseok thought it was hilarious and his laughter filled the RV. Petal perked right up at hearing her Uncle Hobi and kicked hard enough for The Muse to feel a little poke. She laughed and quietly told Hobi that Petal was excited to hear him. His face was full of joy as he wrapped his arms around her, "Tell that Petal of mine that I will play with her very soon."