Work Text:
“gguk-ah, you really need to get some rest.” yoongi sighs, looking at his husband, fighting sleep in the nursery chair. jeongguk looks down at the baby-- their baby-- fast asleep on his chest. yoongi pads over to his little family, kneeling down with some difficulty.
jeongguk huffs a laugh, and yoongi rolls his eyes. “i’m not saying you’re old, if that’s what you think i’m going to say. i know your knees aren’t bad, it’s your back. and if you went to the chiropractor like i told you-- mnph--” yoongi quiets him with a gentle kiss, a hand moving to lay on their daughter’s back, rubbing softly.
“i’ll make an appointment if you’ll come to bed. being a stay at home parent still requires rest.” yoongi murmurs, reaching a hand up to run through his husbands hair, pulling the knots gently out of his long hair. (he’s not so secretly in love with how jeongguk has grown it out lately, and jeongguk loves when he plays with it, so it’s a win-win.) the younger’s eyes close, mouth opening slightly in contentedness. they immediately open up when mae lets out a pitiful little cough.
mae’s cold had significantly lessened after her appointment with the pediatrician, but jeongguk’s paternal instincts have been as haywire and high-strung as he was at the beginning.
“it’s the ear infection, she’s not comfortable laying on her back. but she’s only seven months, sids is still a risk if i lay her on her stomach in the crib.” jeongguk whispers, brushing a thumb over her thin hair and patting her bottom gently.
yoongi looks between his daughter’s restful face and his husband’s exhaustion, and then down at his watch. his eyebrows furrow in concern as he decides his course of action.
“here, let me see her.” he insists, urging the other to stand up and make the switch. when jeongguk finally does, (reluctantly, it should be noted) yoongi takes jeongguk’s spot in the recliner, raising the legs before scooting over.
jeongguk squints, confused. yoongi pats the little space next to him, and jeongguk catches on, giggling. he grabs mae’s blanket out of her crib and then a knitted blanket that one of their mothers had gifted them for the nursery. he takes care in wrapping her up gently but firmly to keep her from catching a chill, and then gently climbs over the armrest to tuck himself into yoongi’s side.
the knitted blanket gets tucked around yoongi and mae, careful not to cover her, and around jeongguk’s hips. jeongguk sighs in contentment, fitting himself to his husband and laying his head on yoongi’s shoulder to look down at their daughter.
mae had come to them as a sort of miracle.
they were freshly out on the losing side of an adoption case that they had been chasing for upwards of three months, exhausted and broken hearted. yoongi had just finished painting the nursery a soft green color for the baby boy when their lawyer contacted them to say that the maternal grandparents of the baby were fighting for the rights; which they ultimately won.
yoongi’s new promotion-- the one that allowed jeongguk to stay at home with their baby-- kept him overworked while exhausted, and jeongguk’s time alone sent him into a downward spiral. (there were times when yoongi would come home late just to find jeongguk in the same place, overthinking as he stared into space. jeongguk, in turn, feared that yoongi was going to leave him.) constantly, he wondered why he waited so long for heartbreak.
when an adoption agent contacted yoongi again, he hadn’t been too enthusiastic, the wound still fresh even four weeks later. jeongguk was finally finding time during the day to get up and clean the house or prepare a meal without losing himself, and yoongi was finally restricting his work to make time for his husband, so testing their chances again wasn’t in the cards.
but the agent was persistent and called back the next day, and then the next on a saturday that he and jeongguk were spending time together.
“what was that about?” jeongguk asked quietly when he returned. yoongi waited for jeongguk to tuck himself into his side-- his favorite way to cuddle-- before answering.
“it was the adoption agent. he’s been very persistent about this case the past few days, but i didn’t want to bring it up after-- well.” yoongi explained, not paying much attention to his husband’s reaction as he watched the television.
yoongi was halfway to forgetting about the conversation when jeongguk spoke up. “why don’t we ask about the case?” he asked, looking up at yoongi. “we don’t have to act on it, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” it might, he wanted to say, we can’t afford to get attached again.
instead, yoongi nodded and promised that they’d call back after they thought about it for a while.
“the parents are young, fresh adults. their parents didn’t support the marriage, and they’re not financially or mentally prepared to raise a child. they’ve already signed over the rights to any couple that agrees to meet with them first, but there are few people willing to enter a case in which the parents are still present.” their agent explained, and jeongguk let out a shaky breath as he looked up from the phone set on the table. “if you would like, i could schedule an appointment for you to meet?”
yoongi looked to jeongguk, who turned his head, refusing to meet his eyes. “would you mind holding for just a moment?” he asked, not waiting a moment before muting their end of the call to hear his affirmative. yoongi turned to jeongguk, gently laying his hand on his shoulder.
“what are you thinking, baby?” he questioned, worried that jeongguk isn’t communicating.
his husband had sniffled, looking at yoongi with glossy eyes. “i really want to meet with them, but i can’t let us get our hopes up. i can’t go through the heartache again.” he explained tearfully, wiping his wet cheeks.
unmuting the call, he checked to see if the agent was still on the line before continuing. “we’d like to meet with the parents, once without the baby, please. just to check and see if it’s something to take a chance on.” jeongguk inhaled shakily from beside him, and he hoped that he wouldn’t regret it.
taewon and jisoo were nervously fidgeting in their seats when they arrived. jeongguk, while a far cry more mature than the shy teenager he once was, still hid partially behind yoongi. despite the obvious anxiety and tension, once the meeting began both parties realized that they were what the other had been searching for.
jeongguk and yoongi were the stability and love that they hoped to find for the baby. taewon and jisoo were the responsible parties looking for stability for themselves and the baby, recognizing that they couldn’t be that for the child.
on the second meeting when they met mae, yoongi had fallen in love nearly instantaneously. cradling her against his chest, yoongi couldn’t imagine not bringing her home with them. jeongguk had been positively overwhelmed with emotion, trembling as he held her.
the next two weeks were jam packed with preparation as jeongguk and yoongi painted the nursery with a fresh coat of grey and exchanging the old dinosaur pillows with blush pinks and yellows. yoongi and jeongguk suggested that jisoo and taewon stay a night one weekend, to see how mae would handle the new place.
waking up for the first time to take care of the baby had been magical for jeongguk, who had eagerly woken at the sound of the baby monitor (he had volunteered to take it for the night to give the other couple rest, and themselves a chance to take care of her).
mae took her bottle and burping well, and ended up settling and falling asleep against his chest much like yoongi just found him.
just two weeks ago, right before the baby’s cold, their adoption was finalized after six months of placement, and they couldn’t have been more ready. they invited taewon and jisoo to attend the hearing, sitting in the back rows with jeongguk and yoongi’s parents to celebrate once the hearing was finished.
yoongi sighed in contentment, fighting back a chuckle when mae mimics him with a sigh of her own. he looks over to his husband to share the moment, only to find that jeongguk is fast asleep against him, curled sweetly at his side.
yoongi grins and shifts around for a few moments until he’s completely comfortable. faintly, he remembers something about an appointment, but puts it to the back of his mind when jeongguk and may decide to snuggle further into him. this is what he was waiting for.