The Meaning of Family: The Collections

Family Vacation (7/9)

With the knowledge that Sammie's birthday would coincide with their day in Belize, they had agreed while booking excursions that everyone would do whatever it was that Sammie wanted to do. The then eight-year-old had surprisingly wanted to see some Mayan ruins, and the now nine-year-old was bouncing with excitement from the moment she woke up. She couldn't stop talking about how much she couldn't wait to see the ruins as they were getting dressed, as they were eating breakfast, and as they were waiting in line to get off the cruise ship. Once they were on the tour bus, driving towards the ruins, she couldn't help but ask every few minutes how much longer it would be.

When they finally did arrive at the ruins, Sammie ran ahead of everyone else, yelling over her shoulder. "Daddy, come take a picture of me!" Yoongi lightly smiled at his daughter's excitement but didn't bother to quicken his pace as he leisurely walked over to where she was already posing in front of one of the structures.

"Caleb, please be careful!" Kortni called out to the four-year-old as he climbed onto some of the rocks, and Taehyung had to assure her that he would be okay to keep her from having a full-on mommy freak out.

The family slowly split up to go off in different directions, Jayden taking Jungkook by the hand as he had apologized for being a jerk, again, the previous night. Instead of following after one of his children, Jin lagged behind with Namjoon, as he had noticed the younger male had been fairly pouty for most of the morning. "Alright," Jin sighed, linking his arm with Namjoon's, "What's up?"

"Nothing," Namjoon muttered, hoping to avoid talking about it.

Jin, however, would not accept that answer. He stopped Namjoon from walking forward and moved to stand in front of him. "We'll have been married for 20 years come next week, I'm pretty sure I can tell when something is bothering you."

Namjoon stayed quiet, trying to avoid Jin's gaze as he knew the second he looked at his puppy dog eyes, he would spill everything. Eventually, Namjoon became to weak to continue averting eye contact, so he sighed and told his husband what was troubling him. "My mother tried talking to me again this morning at the breakfast buffet."

Jin bit his lip, his own mood dropping from seeing all of the pain his husband was in. He stepped closer to Namjoon and wrapped his arms around his neck. "I know that whatever it is your mom did must be unforgiveable, otherwise you wouldn't be this upset right now." Namjoon nodded slightly at Jin's words, bringing his hands to rest on Jin's hips. "But she's not important. What's important is that you are a good man who's dedicated his life to helping people, and you have an amazing family who loves and accepts you, all of you." A small smile spread across Namjoon's face as Jin leaned in a pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I know we don't really say this out loud much, but I do love you."

Namjoon nodded again, lightly squeezing Jin's hips. "I love you, too." He lightly pressed his lips to Jin's, slightly nibbling on his bottom lip before the 45-year-old pulled away.

Jin smiled up at him, unhooking his arms from around Namjoon's neck and running them down his arms until their hands were interlocked. "Come on, let's go celebrate our granddaughter's birthday." Jin tugged at his arm before turning around and leading Namjoon in the direction of the first son he saw.

The family enjoyed their time at the ruins. The kids ran around gleefully, the adults took plenty of pictures, and Jungkook even managed to get a few sketches done. The kids tired themselves out enough that they immediately conked out on the bus ride back to the port after lunch. After returning to the ship, the family spent the rest of the afternoon in their respective rooms until time to get ready for dinner, it was finally formal night.

The young girls enjoyed dressing up like princesses for dinner, even with Sophia constantly fussing with Presley's hair clip, making sure it stayed in place. As the cruise was providing photo ops for everyone who wanted to show off their fancy clothing, the family made sure to basically have a photoshoot before making their way to the dining room for dinner. They enjoyed a delicious meal, as they did every night, before heading back to their rooms for an early night. As they stepped out of the elevator on their floor, Caleb and Austin insisted on getting piggyback rides from Jimin and Hoseok, who then turned it into a race to their rooms.

"Hold on a sec," Taehyung stopped walking as Kortni grabbed onto his shoulder, using him as support as she removed her heels. "Finally, my feet can breathe."

"If you hate them so much, why'd you wear them in the first place?" Taehyung asked, intertwining their fingers as they continued the journey to their room. "Your comfort is more important."

"Well, aren't you sweet?" Kortni masked the compliment with sarcasm, but Taehyung knew how much she meant it.

"If you want, I can show you how sweet I can be." He commented as he slipped his free hand into his pocket, fingering the piece of jewelry he had placed in there while getting ready for dinner.

Kortni playfully cocked her head. "I don't know, I'm not sure I can handle the disappointment-"

"Marry me~" Taehyung interrupted her, obviously catching her off guard as they stopped in the middle of the hallway.

Kortni was so shocked that she responded in the best way she knew how, with humor. "Damn it, I was wanting to ask you first."

The couple giggled quietly as Taehyung lowered himself to one knee and pulled the ring out of his pocket, which stunned Kortni into silence again as she realized how serious he was. "Will you, Kortni Rachel Stephens, make me an even happier man by marrying me?"

Kortni choked out a laugh, trying to cover up the tears that were threatening to spill over. "You're a complete idiot if you think there's even a chance that I'll say no." A smile broke out across Taehyung's face as he slipped the ring on her finger, standing up afterwards and encasing her face as he pressed his lips to hers. Kortni pulled away to speak, letting her lips brush against Taehyung's as she whispered two simple words. "Screw waiting~" Kortni had already tugged him down the hall and into their room by the time Taehyung registered what she had said and what it meant.

As it would be a night they would think back on for years to come, Taehyung set the pace slow and sensual as he slipped her dress off. This annoyed Kortni, as she wanted nothing more than to rip his suit off, but she complied with his pace anyway, letting him take control.

A couple of hours later, they were still lying in bed cuddled up together. Taehyung was peppering Kortni's face with kisses as she took hold of his hand and intertwined their fingers together. "You know, we still need to go tuck the boys in and tell them goodnight."

Taehyung grunted quietly in response as he pulled back to look her in the eye. "Just a few more minutes." Kortni rolled her eyes and Taehyung couldn't help but smile softly at her. "I love you~"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess I love you, too." Kortni squealed as Taehyung pinched her, soon laughing as Taehyung pressed their lips together again.