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The sun was shining brightly in the sky and the wind was blowing softly during the middle of the summer. Children were playing in the park, laughing and squealing while running around, their parents looking from afar making sure nothing bad could happen.
In the garden of one of the houses not far from the park, a family was getting ready to welcome some guests for a barbecue and some friendly time together, their children included. Their oldest daughter was five, all dressed in a pink dress, twirling around to make sure the bows her mother sew on the fabric were showing and sticking well. Next to her, her brother of three years was looking at her, clapping enthusiastically at her twirls.
"Peach, Woo-Jin, come outside to help me set the table" a female voice shouted from outside, the children immediately running outside. The girl, Peach, had long hair, slightly curled, dark brown and a beauty mark on her left cheek. She had a wide smile on her face at the thought of seeing her friends, so she hurried to help her mom with anything she needed. The pink bow on top of her head kept sliding down her head as she did not tie it tight enough, and her mother chuckled at seeing her pout. The woman leaned down and made sure the bow on her head would stay the way Peach wanted, patting her head before telling her to go ask Papa if he needed any help.
Woo-Jin, on the other side, looked shyly at his mom, bright-eyed, trying not to let the stack of napkins he brought from the house fall from his tiny hands. His mom cooed at him, calling him cute, and got the napkins from his hands to place them on the table.
"Thank you, my handsome gentleman" she said, smiling as she ruffled his hair, dark brown in color as well.
Before she could look around to see if anything was missing, the children immediately squealed, running at the backyard gate, screaming for their friend's name as soon as they saw him and his parents.
The woman looked around for their friend, seeing only his parents walking, but the moment the gate opened, she snorted, not believing her eyes. The boy, three years in age, slightly older by a few months than her Woo-Jin, was holding onto his mother's leg, resembling a koala holding onto a tree. She did not know if she should laugh out loud or go pry him off her friend.
"Ah, Yoongi-ah, come here and help me with the barbecue" her husband called to the newcomer, and the moment his voice reached the guests, the boy looked around, searching for him. Letting go of his mom's leg, he slid down and landed on the ground smoothly, before running in tiny steps to his friends' side, immediately holding onto Peach's hands, who giggled.
"Hello, Karla" her friend greeted, sighing and plopping into a seat by the table after setting down a giant plate of cookies on it.
"Ah Micky, are you ok? How come Jun-Ki did that?" the bright woman immediately asked.
Her friend was shorter than her and had a tired expression on her face. Her short, brown hair was ruffled by the wind, and her brown eyes were barely opened as she immediately reached for a biscuit to snack on. She looked like a mess, a complete opposite to Karla, who had on a summer dress, a bright smile, and looked like she slept perfectly for months.
"Totally ok, guess he was not in the mood to walk or be carried" Micky shrugged, reaching for a glass and the tea pitcher set in the middle of the table.
"How come you both look more tired than me with just one kid though? I have two of those" Karla laughed at her friend, and Micky sighed, groaning at her question.
"Well, when your kid is the Devil, kind of hard to look like a royal family. I told you we would be screwed if the kid inherited my childhood traits" the shorter girl groaned into her glass of tea, looking at the liquid like she wished it was a different thing.
"Come on, it can't be that bad" Karla giggled, but one stare from her friend made her stop, wondering exactly how much of a tyke the little boy was. Looking at him, she could notice nothing bad. He was slightly taller than Woo-Jin, his black, curly hair, inherited from his mother, being ruffled by the wind as he ran after Peach, clearly letting the girl run away from him. His eyes were black like two coals, and she had to wonder why it reminded her of a cat her friend owned long ago.
Before they could set in another conversation, the children screamed once again, all three running towards the gate, jumping on a set of guys walking in the yard.
"Uncles!" Woo-Jin laughed loudly as he jumped in the open arms of one of the guys, immediately being lifted off the ground and twirled around. The crying voices of the kids left below him as they wanted the same thing to happen, did not reach his ears, his tiny arms reaching for the sky, imagining he was flying all over the word, almost reaching the clouds. Before his fingers could touch the white, fluffy clouds, the wind whooshed by his ears and soon his feet were touching the ground once again.
Woo-Jin could only stare in amazement as his Uncle Kookie captured both children next to him, and twirled with them around, managing to bring them both higher than his head. He loved his Uncle Kookie, the strongest man he ever saw.
"Look, mommy, I am Anpanwoman" Peach giggled, reaching with her hands for Jun-Ki's chubby fingers to hold onto them "We both are super-heroes, weeeee" she laughed, immediately jumping up and down the moment their uncle put them back down. Before she could ask for more, fingers reached for her side, traveling up and down, making her squirm and run away from the assailant.
"Ah-ha-ha, how could you forget about Uncle V? Here to make you laugh all day long, mwahaha" the deep voice of the other man followed her around the yard as she ran away, laughing and crying at the same time.
The two women could only laugh, Karla always snapping pictures of what was happening. While Taehyung was running around after the children, picking them up and pretending to eat them, Kookie approached the two women, sitting between them and immediately reaching for the cookies. Micky snorted at him, and before she could ask anything, soon a tall girl flung herself around her neck. She could only laugh at the girl dressed in a blue dress, who was looking up at her with a pout.
"Auntie, don't ignore me. Huuuuuuug meeeee!" the girl whined, and Micky complied, turning around to hug the girl. Moon-Hee was the same age as Peach, and she had black, straight, and dark brown hair, and loved hugs, especially surprise hugs. After Micky let her go, she immediately jumped on her other auntie, swiping a cookie from the plate before running to join her dad and friends.
"She has more and more energy with each day, Kookie. It is good both you and Taehyung are just as energic" Karla turned to look at the younger man.
"More like he has the same energy as her, I just take her out for runs to try and deplete some of it" he laughed, his bunny smile lighting up the entire area.
"So, noonas..." he started getting swatted by Karla the moment that word left his mouth, and he knew it would irk her, so he wanted to keep annoying them, knowing Micky would snap soon if he continued. "What? You let Felix call you that, why not me?" he asked, adorable pout in place, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He knew the reason why, and honestly, he would let Felix call him noona as well, in that deep voice of his.
"Shush now, Kookie, remember last time you brought that up in front of the guys?" Karla immediately whispered, and Kookie actually shut up, remembering the small flames of jealousy burning in the background. Yoongi was the worst as he did not know Micky actually got to work with Felix and introduced him to Karla and Kookie. It has been three years since then, but now and then, the mention of Felix just makes Yoongi feel like he needs to remind his wife exactly who she was married to, not like she disliked those moments or anything.
Micky only rolled her eyes at the two and looked out into the street, wondering where the others were, before finally seeing the third woman of their group slowly waddle down the street, her husband holding onto her waist. She smiled softly at the image, reaching for the camera and capturing that moment, to have more things to tease her friend with. Lyla was six months pregnant, the last of the group to actually decide if she wanted a child or not, especially after witnessing Peach and Jun-Ki's behavior as newborns. In the end, their sweetness got to her, and her husband, Hoseok was more than happy to help with creating their own mini-me's. They did not want to know the gender of the child, but Micky had an inkling it was a girl, and she was known to be quite right to these kinds of guesses.
When they entered the yard, the children cheered and waved at Lyla, trying not to do a repeat of what they did the last time they saw her, when she almost fell from being swarmed by the energical kids. She grinned at them and pat their heads before letting them drag Hobi to their play area, where Taehyung was telling them about stuff. When she reached the sitting area, she immediately took a seat at the shade, grabbing biscuits to dig into while the barbecue was ready.
"Man, the heat is killing me" she immediately groaned as she closed her eyes, and Kookie got one of the fans on the table, making sure she was cool enough. She gave him a thumbs-up, and breathed softly, letting the laughter of the children relax her. "Can't wait for this kid to come out, so I can roll around on my bed and sleep" she whined, and the other two who went through this chuckled. They knew exactly what she meant, especially Micky, who loved sleeping on her stomach and sprawled like a starfish on the bed when Yoongi was gone to work.
"Soon, just wait a bit more" Micky said, her eyes darting to the gate as it once again opened, this time NamJoon and Jimin entering the yard, the children tugging at their hands.
"Auntie Jimin, come listen to Uncle V tell us about the tooth fairy" Jun-Ki said, and every adult in there had to force themselves not to start laughing at how the child called Jimin.
"Ah, Jun-Ki, how many times do I have to tell you? I am a man, so I should be called Uncle" the mochi man told the child and bent down to pat his head, trying hard not to pout.
"But mommy said beautiful people are Aunties, and handsome people are Uncle. You are too beautiful to be Uncle" Jun-Ki defended his reasoning, stumbling on some of the longer words, but his eyes fierce enough to let everyone know he was right. Jimin was too busy melting at the adorable face the kid was making to actually get angry, so he just nodded, letting Jun-Ki hold onto his fingers, and followed him like that. Of course, when the other children followed his lead in calling him Auntie, he felt he made a grave mistake, but the happy faces of the children stopped him from commenting.
The women chuckled, waving NamJoon over, making sure the three actual cooks of the group would cook, shooing Kookie to help them with anything Jin and Yoongi needed. NamJoon was well-intended, he was just a clumsy person by nature, and the last time he tried helping, he dropped Micky's favorite plates on the ground, and her icy aura made him sure to stay away from her, and also buy her another set like that, and some books she wanted. Needless to say, she would have forgiven him either way, but he now knew how to get on her good side if a thing like that happened again.
"Hello there, No-driver-license-NamJoon-who-made-Jimin-drive-him-here" Micky saluted, teasing one of her closest guy friends, giving him the coffee pitcher.
"Oh come on, girls," he said, not really minding that, especially since it was true. "I brought the tent the guys wanted to set up for the kids, of course I had to ask Jimin to help" he said, watching Kookie run for the car in the street to bring the tent out.
As they started talking about stuff from their week, Jun-Ki approached the adults, looking at his mom with a serious expression.
"Mom, if I knock a tooth out, will the Tooth Fairy still pick it up and leave me money?" he asked, and Micky froze. Of course Taehyung had to talk about that.
"No" she replied, before turning to look at her child. "The tooth has to fall for itself, otherwise the Tooth Fairy will not want it"
Both child and mother looked at each other, blinking slowly, and the other adults were slightly worried Jun-Ki would start crying at her blunt tone. But he only nodded before running back to the group.
"Yaah, V, don't start talking about aliens!" Micky shouted, and she could see the tall man freeze and smile awkwardly at her, and she knew he was in the middle of that exact talk. She was about to go there and tell him to change the subject, when Hobi screamed, pointing at something.
They all turned around and saw the barbecue flames were higher than usual, and somehow NamJoon was around, and they all wondered if it was his fault. But before either could react, Micky sat down, one eyebrow raised as she watched Jun-Ki drag the fire extinguisher that was set up by the door. All adults froze, most extremely worried, just two looking curiously at the kid. The children were crying, hiding behind the adults nearest them, screaming Jun-Ki's name.
"Micky, stop him!" Karla immediately shouted at her friend, but the short girl shook her head. And while Jin was trying to go put the fire out, Yoongi stopped him from doing so.
Jun-Ki stopped walking when he was about two meters away from the slight fire and struggled to straighten the metal tube. When he did manage to do so, he grabbed the hose and pointed it at the fire, taking out the pin to the nuzzle, pressing it down. In a matter of seconds, the adults stared at the three-year-old putting the fire out, stopping when the barbecue was covered in foam, before turning to go back to his friends like it was nothing.
Micky and Yoongi stared proudly at their son before Karla cried in front of her friend.
"How, why? How does he know that?" she asked, befuddled by the calm behavior of her friend.
"Well, you know how his favorite lullaby was Fire before he turned one, right?" Micky answered with a question, and everyone just stared at her to see where the logic was. "And ever since Mic Drop, he was fascinated with fire...I wonder why" she finished, rolled her eyes as she remembered the face her kid made when he saw the explosions in the video. Before anyone could comment on that, they heard a faint 'Did you see Seokjin, did you see Seokjin' being mumbled in the tune of Mic Drop.
Yoongi facepalmed, remembering where Jun-Ki learned it from, looking at Micky with a slight shake of his head, and Jin only laughed, picking the boy up, clearly loving that little tune.
"Ah, no wonder you are my favorite nephew" Jin said, ruffling his hair.
"Your only nephew so far" Yoongi commented, keeping an eye on NamJoon as he was cleaning the barbecue.
"If I am your favorite, that means I can marry Peach" Jun-Ki said, not missing a beat, looking at the girl who was now running with Moon-Hee, leaving Jin flabbergasted as he was looking at his daughter.
Karla immediately squealed, nodding at what Jun-Ki said, preparing the wedding mentally. Jin was too shocked to say anything, putting Jun-Ki down, watching him go to Peach and take her hand.
"Now, now...you are both too young" Jin tried saying, coming out in a hoarse whisper and Yoongi chuckled. The guy would probably lock his daughter first before letting her date by the age of fifty. And with the way he was chasing after the two running children who were chanting 'we are getting married', all the adults agreed mentally.
When Woo-Jin grabbed Jimin's hand and declared he will marry auntie Jimin then, it was Karla's turn to choke on air, immediately going into 'over-protective mama bear' mode. Everyone laughed all around, letting the two adults run on overprotective juices until they tire themselves out. Moon-Hee declared she will never get married, she will get rich and travel the universe. Taehyung was proud of his daughter, and Hobi just asked why would she try getting richer than she already was. That got all the children to run him around until he reached the pool, the children immediately pushing him in, laughing at him to never doubt their queen.
Lyla could only stare at the debauchery that was happening, a hand on her swollen stomach, wondering if her child will be just as spunky and wild.
"It will be fine, Lyla, stop worrying" Micky turned to her friend. "If I can handle mini Daechwita and his minion friends when at the house, you will handle a mini-sunshine" she laughed, patting her hand.
And that is when Lyla remembered who her husband was. Besides being a perfectionist and hard worker, he was also the energy bomb amongst them two, and their group of friends. Her face paled as she could only imagine the kid barely sleeping, always demanding someone to play with, probably ready to run around the moment he is born. Before her mind could run amok with those kinds of scenarios, two very wet hands were placed on her cheeks, turning her head upwards. Her eyes locked with a very wet Hobi, drops of water sliding down his face, falling onto her forehead and cheeks, but the moment he smiled, she forgot all about her worries. No matter how energetical he was, he would always be there with her to help her, she would never be alone. And when he leaned down to kiss her forehead, she giggled, slightly blushing as she heard the kids go 'oooooooooooo' and ' eeeeewwwww' at the same time, Jin immediately glaring at Jun-Ki as a warning not to try that.
Then she started laughing when Jimin 'kidnapped' Woo-Jin, and before the girls could start a rescue mission, the almighty Karla whooshed in and saved him from the witch, as she called him. Everyone started laughing, Jimin pouting as she clearly stole his one true love, before bribing her with chocolate to forgive his witchy ways.
Lyla felt slightly more relaxed, her mind deciding not to worry before the child was already there, looking out into the yard at Taehyung and Kookie coming out of the tent they finished setting, looking dead tired and sweaty from not understanding the booklet on how to set it up well enough. And before they knew it, the barbecue was set once more, the kids running around and laughing, Jun-Ki sometimes throwing all kinds of bombs the adults were not expecting. Micky would just look unimpressed at the shocked adults, stating he does that all the time at home, just laughing at Jin mouthing 'never' at her when Jun-Ki did something like that.
Karla could only look at her family sprawled all over the yard, laughing and playing, knowing all her friends were family as well, and she snuggled closer to her husband as he was turning over the meat and veggies, knowing well they could not ask for a more perfect afternoon. And when she heard Yoongi coughing back at the table, staring in shock at Micky, who looked non-plussed at him, her eyes grew wide. Scratch the perfect afternoon, nothing could top this perfect day. Hearing Jun-Ki shout Daechwita, trying to look like a ruler, Karla nodded to herself, knowing he would make a good husband for Peach, even if Jin would throw tantrums at this moment.
NamJoon could only stare at his friends, he was close by when Micky told Yoongi "You know when you told fans your second mixtape was not ready to drop, then you dropped it almost a week later? Well D2 is on his way" and while it did take him a moment to understand it, Yoongi caught onto the reference in a second. NamJoon looked worriedly at the frozen statue that was his hyung, wondering what went through his head at the news, but the moment Yoongi melted into his gummy smile, NamJoon knew it made him happy. And not wanting to intrude in their intimate moment any longer, he went to ask the others if they needed any help with anything.
By the time the barbecue was done, the yard was silent, the birds chirping from the branches of the trees, and the adults looked adoringly inside the set-up tent where the children were softly sleeping, their energy drained out from being Anpanmen and Anpanwomen, and from running around from pretend to be angry adults, chasing the kids all over the yard. The adults sat around the table, some taking pictures of the group huddled over each other in their sleep, some wanting to separate some children holding hands in their sleep, and some wishing one day they would get to hold their own child like that. And while they started eating and whispering about some other plans, they let the worry of the future wash away from them, looking at each other, knowing they would have their friends, their big family right there, with them, forever.