Taehyung isn't sure what time it is when he hears his bedroom door open. But he hears Jeongguk shuffling in before the left side of the bed dips under his weight.
Taehyung doesn't move as Jeongguk puts his arm around his waist. Letting him wrap his cold legs around his warm ones.
"Are you drunk?" He asks after Jeongguk settles in. His voice is soft and heavy with sleep.
"No," Jeongguk responds quietly. His breath hitting the back of Taehyung's neck and sending chills down his spine.
"What's wrong?" Taehyung asks closing his eyes. Ignoring the way his heartbeat accelerates even in his state of fatigue.
"I don't wanna be alone," Jeongguk whispers tracing his fingers over Taehyung's baby bump. "I'm sorry for~"
"Shh." Taehyung shushes placing his hand over Jeongguk's. "It doesn't matter."
"It does~"
"Not right now." The brunette says in dismissal. "It's okay."
Jeongguk sighs softly as he hugs Taehyung closer. Closing his eyes as his presence alone brought him peace and comfort. "I love you, Tae."
"I believe you, Gguk."
~The next morning...~
"Get up, Jeongguk. We're going to be late."
"I'm up."
Taehyung huffs as he continues to get dressed. Pouting at himself in the mirror as he pulls his shirt over his bump. "You guys are making me look huge this morning."
He tried not to think so negatively about the growing size of his bump. Because he knew it meant the twins were healthy. But it was still hard seeing himself pregnant when it was the last thing he ever expected to happen.
"Jeongguk you have two minutes and I'm calling Namjoon to take me to my appointment." The brunette says walking out of the room. "I said two minutes!"
"I'm up! Jesus fucking christ." Jeongguk groans from the bedroom.
Taehyung chuckles as he runs his fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it look presentable. He hears Jeongguk stumbling out of bed before he hears him dragging to his room.
"One minute!" He calls, mostly just to piss Jeongguk off further.
"Do you think I'm a fucking magician? Give me five minutes!" The ravenette calls before closing his room door. Still mumbling profanities to himself as he goes to get ready.
Taehyung smiles as he walks to the kitchen. "Today's a Wednesday, you guys. So that means on Friday you'll be twenty weeks. And that means we're pretty much halfway through."
Taehyung's been talking to the twins a lot more since reading somewhere that the most significant sound the twins will hear is his voice. He wants them to recognize it when he enters his third trimester.
"If your other daddy doesn't hurry up we're leaving without him." He says pouring a cup of coffee. "What's taking him so long, hm?"
As if on cue Jeongguk walks into the living room dressed in his usual getup. His hair disheveled and his eyes puffy with sleep.
"Good morning, sunshine." Taehyung chuckles as he takes his vitamins.
Jeongguk mumbles a response as he sits down to pull on his shoes.
Taehyung grabs the cup of coffee he poured and walks over to Jeongguk. Sitting it on the coffee table in front of him before kissing the top of his head.
"Thank you." He says looking up at him. "What time is it?"
"Almost seven. The appointment's at seven-thirty." Taehyung says checking his phone. "We should leave now."
"Yeah," Jeongguk responds standing and grabbing the coffee Taehyung poured for him.
"Should I drive?" Taehyung asks as Jeongguk grabs his keys.
"No. I'm awake." He responds before letting Taehyung lead the way out of the apartment.
The appointment goes well. Dr. Song tells them that the ultrasound looks great and that the twins are progressing well. Taehyung's tests come back great and soon they're on their way out.
It seems the further along he gets the quicker the appointments go.
"Seokjin's meeting me and the others for lunch today," Taehyung says as Jeongguk drives away from the doctor's office. "Would you come?"
"As a sober companion?" Jeongguk asks glancing over at Taehyung.
"No. Just because I want you to." He says looking down at the ultrasound photo. "Aw, look they're facing each other."
"I see," Jeongguk says barely looking at the photo as he focuses on the road. "I would, Tae. But I have some stuff to take care of."
Taehyung pouts softly but he nods in understanding. "Alright."
Jeongguk glances over at the brunette to see if he was upset. Finding an unreadable expression on his face as he stares out the window.
He wanted to stay and do whatever Taehyung wanted him to but he had things he needed to sort out with his dad.
That, and he missed his visit with his mother last week.
~Jeon residence...~
"Ma?"
Jeongguk sighs as he tries the locked door again. Looking down the hall for someone to open the door for him.
"Ma, open the goddamn door." He groans in aggravation, still trying the locked door.
"She's been in there since Sunday."
Jeongguk follows his brother's voice to the staircase. Finding him standing at the top ready to go down. "Sunday? Why didn't you tell me that when I was here yesterday?"
"We had bigger problems." Jihyuk shrugs indolently. "She's a grown woman. Who cares if she locks herself in her room."
"Can you just open it?" Jeongguk asks disregarding Jihyuk's apathy concerning his mother.
Jihyuk sighs walking over to the door with his keys. "You should talk to dad before you go."
"Whatever." The ravenette says as the door opens. Walking into his mother's dim room before shutting the door on Jihyuk.
He walks over to his mother's bedside table and turns on the lamp. Finding his mother laying in bed with her back facing him.
"Ma?" He says kneeling on the bed and placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's me."
Mrs. Jeon doesn't respond to him. Keeping her tired eyes focused on something far away as she ignores his presence.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," Jeongguk says still looking at her expectantly. "I never miss a week. I wouldn't have done it on purpose. Okay, ma?"
Jeongguk sighs softly when he doesn't get a response. Standing up from the bed to clear some of the clutter piled on on her bedside table. Including food wrappers, drinking glasses, tissues, and her favorite prescription pills.
He wasn't phased by his mother's addiction anymore. Or by her alcoholism. It's been a part of his and her life since he was a child.
It was easier to keep her alive when he wasn't constantly lecturing her about getting help.
"It's not gonna happen again. Because you're a priority to me." Jeongguk says throwing away some trash before going to pull the curtains open. He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and his mother's hairbrush from the dresser. "I know I say it every time. But I'm serious this time. This week was just...fucking crazy. That's all."
He sits down on the bed next to his mother. Opening the bottle of water before asking her to sit up. She does so reluctantly before taking the water. Staring down at it dully.
This always happened when he stayed away too long. His mother would delve deeper into her addiction. Leaving her feeling lonely and forgotten about.
It was easy to feel forgotten in this house.
Jeongguk gently runs the hairbrush through his mother's tangled hair. Being sure that he wasn't hurting her. "You should call me when you feel bad, ma. I'll always answer if it's you."
"I just can't seem to get happy." Mrs. Jeon says with tears welling in her eyes. Her voice laced with pain that Jeongguk wishes he could take.
"You'll get there. It just takes time." He says swallowing his own tears. He couldn't stand seeing his mother cry. "I'll take care of you until you're happy."
"How can you take care of me when you're never here?" His mother says with a short laugh, void of any humor. "You always say you'll be here and you never are. And you want to look at me like I'm wounded whenever I drink. You don't know what I go through, you'll never understand."
"I don't look at you like you're wounded. I just worry about you~"
"Worry about yourself." Mrs. Jeon says pushing Jeongguk's hands away from her hair. "I'm a grown woman. If I want to self-medicate and wallow in my own self-pity then let me. I don't need you around to feel sorry for me."
Jeongguk watches with a hurt expression as she snatches her hairbrush from him and places it on the nightstand along with the water. "Ma~"
"You have a life, don't you? Go live it. And leave me alone. It should be easy because you do it all the time." She says laying back down and pulling the covers over herself. "Go, Jeongguk."
Jeongguk doesn't argue with her. He just leaves like she asked him to. It was easier this way.
He goes straight to his father's office. Walking into the room with knocking.
"I need to talk to you."
His father looks up at him as if he's lost his mind. His eyebrow raised in question. "Excuse me?"
"Can I talk to you, please?" Jeongguk rephrases impatiently. "It's important."
"It must be. Since I haven't seen your face around here in a while." Mr. Jeon says stacking the documents he was looking over. "What is it that you need? More money? Another car? Or a new phone maybe?"
"I want you to let mom move into her own place." The ravenette says with a hard expression. Clenching his teeth when his father laughs at his request.
"Where is this coming from?"
"It's coming from me. Staying here is literally going to kill her. And you know that."
Mr. Jeon looks at Jeongguk with a smug expression. "I don't think you understand why I haven't let her move out yet, Jeongguk."
"I don't. All you do is ignore her until she pisses you off." Jeongguk says. "It's not fair."
"That woman was my wife long before she was your mother. If anyone knows what's best for her it's me." Mr. Jeon says, his expression settling into a cold glare. "Believe me. She'd kill herself overnight if I let her go anywhere."
"Then let her get help. She's not happy because of where she is. And she's not going to get any better staying here." Jeongguk says desperately. "I just want her to be happy."
"She isn't going anywhere. End of discussion." Mr. Jeon says in dismissal. "I don't care what you want. Maybe you should focus more on your future in this family. Because it's not looking like you have much of one."
Jeongguk almost snaps back at his father. He almost tells him that he didn't want a future anyhow. But he stops himself. "So you're just gonna let her die?"
"That woman's already dead, Jeongguk."
~Later that day...~
Taehyung laughs at something Hoseok says as they have lunch. Loving how well his friends were getting along with Seokjin so far.
They'd been out for almost three hours now but the conversation just wouldn't die down enough to bring the gathering to a close.
"I hate to run you guys but I have to pick Saebin up from soccer," Seokjin says resulting in a choir of complaints from the rest of the group.
"Come on, you have to finish the story," Hoseok complains as Seokjin gathers his things.
"Next time. I swear." The older chuckles as he stands. "It was nice meeting everybody."
"You too. We'll do it again." Jimin smiles softly at Seokjin.
"Here, I'll walk you out." Namjoon volunteers standing from his seat.
"Bye, you guys." Seokjin smiles again before walking out with Namjoon.
Taehyung smiles as he watches the two leave the small restaurant they were sat in.
"He's such a nice guy, Tae. I'm glad you introduced us." Yoongi smiles softly.
"Right. I'm glad you didn't keep him all to yourself." Hoseok laughs leaning into Yoongi's side.
"How'd you meet him, Tae?" Jimin asks Taehyung. His eyes focused outside where Namjoon and Seokjin are still talking.
"Online. He was in one of my support groups." Taehyung says following his gaze. "We've been talking for a few weeks."
"Talking how?" Hoseok asks raising a suggestive eyebrow.
"Nothing like that, Hobi." The brunette says rolling his eyes at his friend. "He's an experienced carrier so I just ask him for advice and stuff."
"That's nice that you have someone that can relate to you." Yoongi nods.
"Yeah." Taehyung shrugs, not really wanting to talk about his pregnancy with his friends.
"How are things with Jeongguk? I haven't seen him in a while." Jimin says stirring his drink.
"Oh, he's fine." Taehyung nods.
"Just fine?" Jimin laughs at the brunette's short answer. "Are you sure things are okay?"
"Yeah. We're good." Taehyung chuckles. "We're just focusing on the twins right now."
"Have you gotten to know him any better?" Hoseok asks.
"Yeah. I have." The brunette nods. "We're doing good actually."
"That's good, Tae. I'm glad you guys are working things out for the twins." Jimin says with a small smile. "You'll have to let me know the genders so I can get them something."
"Yeah. Are you having a shower?" Yoongi asks looking at Taehyung.
"No. And you don't have to get anything. I've got it covered." He says awkwardly. He didn't know why he was so uncomfortable talking about his pregnancy to his friends. Maybe it was because he knew they couldn't relate to him in any way about it. "We should get going, yeah?"
"You're right. I have to work." Yoongi says checking the time on his phone. "Let's do it again next week."
"For sure."
~~~~~~~
Ik it's not Monday, just felt like posting...💜