— Next day —

Tuesday, March 15th, 2022.

5 am.

I leave the bathroom after taking a shower and brushing my teeth, but I make my way back to the bed. My legs are painful, and each step I take feels wobbly.

Loving this pain, I do not complain but think about what caused this for the hundredth time since I woke up. I still cannot believe this happened, it feels like a dream.

I drop my eyes on Jungkook, who is still sleeping, and walk up towards him. Without expecting it, his eyes open as I was gazing at him. The first thing he does is smile at me. "Good morning," I do not think about leaving the room anymore, a broad smile forms on my face, and I crawl up to him on the bed to press a kiss on his lips. "Good morning," his husky voice shivers me, and he smiles but has a hard time opening his sleepy eyes.

"You're tired, aren't you?" I slide under the blanket but remember that he is naked, and I hug him. "A little," he rubs his hand over his face and chuckles, keeping his eyes close for a few more seconds. "You still have one hour left to sleep," I try to find a way to comfort his sleepiness, and he wraps his strong arms around me. "Hm," he rests his head on mine, and he holds me tight. "I don't want to."

"But you're going to be too tired to focus at work," I worry about him but feel his hands rub my back. "I'm fine. I'd rather cuddle you. Especially this morning. I need it more than on any other day."

I smile, my face resting on his chest and feeling his heartbeat. We both remain silent after these fond words, and he caresses my back, breathing in a soothing manner, giving to me what I always thought to be unreal with a man after such a meaningful night.

I thought this could only happen in fiction or movies, but I guess I was wrong, and I am happy that I was because this is the best feeling ever.

"Did you get enough sleep?" he softly asks but clears his throat, speaking with difficulty because of the hoarseness in his voice. "No, I'd need a whole day of sleep, if not more to fully recover from last night," my answer gets him to laugh. "I'm sorry for causing this."

"Don't be...I don't mind," I smile and do no feel scared to say it. "Oh, really?" he lowers his chin and makes us both look at each other, and I lay my eyes on his gorgeous features. "Yes, really."

He chuckles and brings one hand up to my face, his eyes staring into mine. He does not say a single more thing but strokes my cheek with his thumb, gazing at me with love and fondness.

That is when he looks at me like that, that I realize how lucky and happy I am. I love him so much.

"I didn't hurt you, right?" this question gets asked again as if my answer last night was not reliable. I shake my head. "You didn't. Don't worry, I loved it a lot. You made me feel good like never I did before."

Those words put a smile on his face, and I kiss his lips again, craving for them and the softness they bring to me. "I realized afterward how rough I was at the end, so I was worried."

"Be rough again next time, please," I whisper, not owning the words I said. His expression does not express any shock but rather good surprise. "You're dirtier than I thought."

"I just hide it well," I feel bashful about the sentences that keep on escaping my mouth with no restraint. "You do, but I don't want you to hide it when we're in bed," his reply calms me down in a quick second, making me wonder how dominant and rough he can be during sex. I love him to be in full charge, so I would like to see him when he does not hold back at all.

"But I don't know what you like the most," I tell him the truth. "We should have a talk about this. Knowing each other's preferences is very important to be comfortable during sex."

"True, I'd like to talk about it too," I agree with this idea and opinion, and he expresses some relief. "Good. We'll do it," he brushes his warm hand down my neck. "But let's cuddle now, I didn't do it enough last night," he envelops my waist with his arms and rolls on the side to both lie down on the bed. This big, tough man snuggles his head in the crook of my neck to bury it in the pillow, and he keeps me close to his warm body.

I feel so good and delighted with him, this is insane. I will never understand how his ex-wife was able to cheat on him and not love him anymore, he is the most endearing, loving, caring, and precious man I have ever met in my life.

"I love you," he whispers near my ear, and I hug him with my arms and legs as if it was the last time. "I love you too. I love you more than anything."

•••

6:20 am.

"See you later, baby. I love you," his hand rubs my side, and his lips press a goodbye kiss on my lips. "I love you too," I smile at him. "Be careful on the road," I repeat those words that I always important to me, and he nods. "I will," he peeks at Hyejoon who was willing to tell him goodbye too today since he is done eating. He squats down to the level of his baby and kisses his forehead. "See you later, my baby boy. I love you."

"Goodbye, daddy. I love you too," he hugs his father back, this heart-warming moment making me soft. Jungkook pampers his son with another kiss, and he moves up, but Hyejoon turns towards me and grabs my hand.

This is the cutest thing ever. I am also surprised to see that he never cries once his dad has to leave the house, he must be used to this.

"I love you all, see you later," he greets us all, and his little baby waves his hand at him. He makes me want to cry because of how adorable he is. "Come home soon, daddy!"

"I will, baby," he giggles but sends him a flying kiss, and he gives me one more look full of sparkles before stepping out of the house.

Once the door is closed, Hyejoon asks for my attention, and he stretches his arms up to make me understand what he wants, so I bend over and pick him up. "Do you want to play?" I carry him to the living room, and he nods, playing with his fingers in his mouth. I grab his favorite plushie that was left on the sofa, and I give it to him, but he hugs it right away and rests his head on my chest.

I need to look for a learning game that is way better than a simple toy.

I go down on my knees right in front of his box of toys, and I look at what is in there but hear Hajoon come back from the bathroom.

"Y/n," he squats down next to me, and I check what he wants. "Don't hate me, okay? I swear I didn't mean to—"

"What have you done again?" I sigh, fearing the worst. "I was doing my stuff in the bathroom...when...by accident...I, uhm, I hit your box of tampons with my hand and caused everything to fall...right into the toilet..."

"That's all?" I raise my eyebrows, relieved to hear this since I thought he broke or lost one of my important belongings. "What do you mean 'that's all'? Aren't you gonna kill me for that? I had to throw them all out."

"No, I don't care. I can buy new ones. As long as it was not something I always use, it doesn't matter," I reassure him, even though I always like to take every opportunity to punch him. "Oh, well. If you say so, good. I was ready to run," he smiles but sits down on the floor to stay near us.

"I can act like I'm mad if you want though, I don't mind," I suggest to do, playfully, and he scoffs. "No, thanks. I already have to stand the annoying girl you are every day. This is enough as a task."

My eyes stay fixed on him, my look turning dull instantly. "I hate you."

"I know you don't," he states with confidence, smiling broadly at me but being cute. I cannot even hold back from smiling, so I shake my head and glance back at the toys.

"What are you doing with mommy, buddy?" he speaks to his little brother, and this adorable one raises his head from my chest. "Playing."

"Playing? What are you going to play to?" he does not put an end to the conversation but chat with this little boy, and I get a matching letter game out. "Games," he makes it simple, and Hajoon laughs. "Ah, and what kind of game?"

"This," I show it to the little one so that he can answer, and he points his finger at it while holding his plushie. "This."

"Interesting, what is written here? I can't read it," he does it on purpose to make him say the words, so I help him to read the letters and answer properly. I do one syllable at a time but notice that he is only struggling a little, doing an amazing job with the pronunciation. "Good, that seems fun. Can I play with you?"

"Yeah!" he agrees with no hesitation, so I move back and put the box down, place Hyejoon between my legs and cross them while Hajoon is opening the game.

He takes everything out, including the cards with the words written on them and an image, and the letters one by one.

"All right, let's start with this," he lies down on his flat and grabs a random card. He lays it in front of Hyejoon. "Can you say this word?" he asks him. "Daddy has a white one, and he drives us to some places with it sometimes."

"A car?" he manages to say it right, and I smile, unconsciously. "Yes, baby. A car. Now, I want you to find this letter among all the ones here," he covers the last two letters to only leave the 'c' within sight, and Hyejoon leans over the cubes to find it.

"Once you have it, show it to mommy and ask her if this is the good one, okay?" he does it, making my heart melt since this is very important and meaningful to me. Hyejoon nods his head, and he takes hold of one wooden cube to check the letter, compares it with the one he sees on the card, then lifts it up to me, not even thinking twice before doing it, which makes me feel like he is getting used to his brother calling me 'mommy'.

"This is good," I let him put it down under the piece of paper, and Hajoon makes him do the same for the two other letters, then once the word is complete, I cannot hold back from letting him know that he did great. "It's perfect, my baby," I kiss his chubby cheek, and he smiles.

•••

12:40 pm.

"The baby is finally asleep," Hajoon stretches his body while yawning and steps towards me. "Need some help?" he lays his hands on the kitchen counter as I am washing the dishes, but I shake my head. "No, I'm fine. Don't you have any work to do?"

"Nope. I'm free, so I can chill," he follows each of my moves with his big eyes that he inherited from his dad. "And most importantly, annoy you."

"Oh, yeah, and you do that very well. Trust me," I joke around too since he enjoys this a lot, and his soft chortle fills the room. "I know. I'm a pro at that," he lowers his eyes to the floor as a meowing just left the kitten. "What? Do you come to me just because dad is not here? You don't deserve my love," he talks to her as if she could respond, and she meows back at him, so I let him converse with this pet.

"Sure, you're as fake as the girl next to me," no matter what he says, he still takes her in his arms. "Shut up, goddammit," I snap back, feeling on the verge of hitting him in the face. He glances up at me, presses a kiss on the kitten's head, and smirks at me. "The good thing about her is that she never talks compared to you."

"She meows, so that's even worse because you don't understand anything," I turn the faucet to stop the water from flowing. "I understand her, you're just too dumb to communicate with animals."

I shoot my eyes towards him but only see him cuddle her. "Let go of her so that I can punch your face."

"My face?" he points his finger at his features and gives me a look of disapproval. "Don't destroy this pretty face. Got it? My dad will hate you for ruining his attractive son's features."

"Arrogant jerk," I mumble and take hold of the dishtowel, and he puts the kitten down. "But you love me like that, stop pretending."

I smile and ignore him while drying the dishes one by one.

"By the way, I'm going to pierce my helix and get a tattoo this weekend, could you come with me, please?" he changes the subject and becomes kind again. "To hold your hand and make sure you don't cry?"

"Yeah, you know I'm a baby," he does not even deny or try to argue, so I gaze at him. "I will. What kind of tattoo will you get?" my curiosity has control over me. "I don't want to tell you. My dad doesn't know either. I'll let it be a surprise."

"Really?" I do not hide my astonishment. "Aren't you scared that he might not like it?"

"No, I know he will," he does not doubt at all. "And where do you want it?"

"On my arm, 'cause, you know, my dad has different tattoos that are meant for me and Hyejoon, but he has one that is an ultrasound heartbeat, and it was the first time he heard my heart beating. He told me that he never cried in his life as much as he did when he heard it, and this tattoo means a lot to him, but he got the same for Hyejoon, so I want a tattoo that is related to him and Hyejoon as well," he gives me more explanations about it but makes my heart melt. "This is so sweet. I didn't know about this."

"He has so many tattoos that it is literally impossible to see every one of them," he chuckles. "But I'd love to get a matching tattoo with him in the future," he runs his fingers through his fluffy hair and leans back on the counter. "And you...if you'd agree to it," these last words that I would never have expected to hear affects me, deeply. I gaze at him, not believing what I just heard. "Me?"

"Yeah...I mean, in the future. A tattoo that links us all with Hyejoon...I know my dad will not think twice before doing it, but...I don't know about you..." he does not realize what he just caused. "I..." my hold on the fabric that I have in my hands softens. "You have no idea how much this means to me..."

"Really?" he smiles, maybe surprised to know that I do not hesitate. "Yeah. I love this idea so much."

"I'm relieved to hear that, I thought you would find it weird or too rushed, but it's really just in the future when you'll have lived for more time with us," he explains his point of view as he must have feared my reaction. "I know. Don't worry."

"I'm kinda stressed out though," he tucks his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. "What if I pass out like a weak little girl?"

"I'll laugh," the seriousness quickly disappears, and he glares at me but smiles against his will. "Thank you for being such a caring mom."

I laugh but still cannot get used to him calling me that. "I'm joking. I'll be worried."

"I know you will," he believes this more than any other, and I am not ashamed of it. I care about him a lot, and he knows that. "By the way, what are you going to do with your house?"

"I talked with the landlord but the payment is too big, so your dad told me that he will pay the rental for a few months, then once it will be low enough, he will pay the rest in once. I told him that I would find a job and pay it myself, but you know how he is," I tell him about what happened, and he scoffs. "I know him way too well, but you can still use it from time to time. Like, my dad is very romantic as you must have noticed, so you could go there for a dinner together, or a day just alone with him without having me and Hyejoon around. My dad doesn't like to put us aside, but I know that he told me that since you're young and that you haven't experienced anything in a couple, he wants to do those things with you and make you feel how it is to live those types of moments with your girl or man."

"He said that?" my brain sends dopamine through my body at the sound of these words, and he affirms what he just revealed. "Yeah. I don't know if he told you about that, but we had a conversation the other day, and he was talking about the fact that he's a bit worried. He loves you a lot, but he's scared that your age gap, and the fact that he has us, could ruin your experience. Like, when a couple is young and that it's their first relationship, they often go on dates, they always spend time together, they only focus on each other because they don't have to worry or care about any kids, their life is very similar, but here, it's the total opposite, so he's worried about it because you're not supposed to be taking care of a baby at your age, neither have a stepson of two years younger than you, and all that stuff."

"Oh...he didn't tell me about that," I shake my head, realizing that he has more worries than I thought about our relationship and how I feel. "But honestly, if I was scared about my future or life with you and Hyejoon around us all the time, I wouldn't have waited for him. I love this life a lot, and I wouldn't want it to change just to live a 'couple life' like the people of my age have."

"That's exactly what I told him," he smiles, agreeing with me. "You waited for him for more than one year, even though you got hurt because of what was happening in our family. So that's obvious that you know what you're doing and what you want."

"Yes, you're totally right," I put the dishes down, loving this serious conversation I am having with him. He remains quiet after my answer, and he looks at me putting the dishes in the cabinets.

"I'm genuinely happy that he found you. I can see that he feels way better and happier than in the past, and I just...appreciate the fact that you show him that you love him," the tone of his voice makes me believe that he is getting things off his chest after keeping them to himself, and I listen carefully. "This is very important for him...after what happened...he needs that. He was terrified about the fact that you wouldn't love or want him anymore, you know. I even lied and told him that you were very close to a guy the other day, but that was when you were not together yet, and he was trying so hard not to show that it hurt him and made him jealous that it was obvious as hell. So I feel like you really came into our life at a perfect time, if this had happened earlier or later, things would have been so different, and we wouldn't be here, in this house, happy with a healthy life and family."

I smile but wait before speaking, this is so significant. He can act like a dumbass most of the time, but once he is serious and lets his emotions talk, his maturity just shows, and that is the greatest thing about him.

"I don't know what to say," I nervously laugh, glancing away and not finding the right words. "You're gonna make me tear up. I love your dad so much...it's like...I don't know...you have no idea how happy this makes me to hear all of this. I feel lucky to be a part of your family, so I do believe that it was worth the pain and wait."

"You're an amazing girl, but I'm gonna shut up now 'cause I don't wanna see you cry," he laughs and walks away as if he absolutely wanted to avoid this situation, so I let him go.