Blended

A Slightly Less Anxious Moment

Namjoon sat as patiently as he could on the couch. He'd had a few hours to calm down and had decided he liked it here. Seokjin was just so nice and made him feel safe. He wasn't sure about the other caregiver yet, 'Hoseok', he reminded himself. The man had been nothing but kind to him but he'd watched the way he snapped at the other baby, Jungkook, when Seokjin left the room. The other baby had only come over to meet him when curiosity finally got the best of him but the caregiver had snapped and said he was 'getting in the way' and told him to go play. Jungkook had been on the other side of the room hugging his stuffed rabbit ever since.

It seemed weird to Namjoon, the man was being sweet to him and the louder baby, Jimin. He had laughed it off when Jimin had purposely spilled the water on the table but then he turned around and snapped at Jungkook for just being curious. The two caregivers didn't seem to get along that well either. Other than coordinating what to do to care for the littles Namjoon had yet to see them talk to each other.

Namjoon watched as Seokjin reappeared, carrying Namjoon's cell phone. He'd asked for it when Namjoon had still been crying in his lap and the baby gave it willingly. After he'd calmed down, the caregiver had disappeared into his bedroom with it.

Jin's gaze fell immediately on Jungkook, smiling fondly as he walked over and plucked him off the floor and into his arms. He popped a red pacifier into his mouth, his smile widened as Jungkook sighed happily and laid his head on his caregiver's shoulder.

It was sweet and Namjoon wanted that so badly. He wanted Seokjin to hold him and look at him like that. It wasn't exactly jealousy, he didn't want the other to stop paying attention to Jungkook he just wanted someone to love him like that too. Namjoon liked Jungkook, he wasn't so loud.

Jimin had been nice to him but he was...a lot. Kind of like Taehyung was but not quite as bad. Jimin had been extremely interested in him and wanted him to play. He'd kept tugging on his arms and trying to give him all his toys. It had been too much for Namjoon and Hoseok had finally taken Jimin to his room to play and give Namjoon a break.

Seokjin sat down next to Namjoon and plopped Jungkook in his lap, gently pulling Namjoon into his side and letting the baby lean on him. Namjoon looked up at the happy baby sucking on his pacifier.

"Would you like to try one?" Seokjin asked softly, making Namjoon jump. He didn't realize how intently he'd been staring at the pacifier.

Seokjin leaned forward, tightening his grip on a giggling Jungkook as he tilted them forward and grabbed a package of new pacifiers off the coffee table.

"What color do you think he'd like, baby?" he asked Jungkook, involving the baby in the decision for both the littles benefit. For Jungkook to not feel like he was on the sidelines and because Namjoon was starting to look a little overwhelmed.

"Dat one!" Jungkook pointed at a bright yellow pacifier happily. He thought the older little would look cute with it.

"Good pick, baby" he praised, tickling Jungkook's side and smiling at the giggles it caused before opening the package.

He turned to the now shy little and gently pushed the pacifier past his lips, pulling away and letting him make the decision rather or not he wanted to spit it out. He could tell the boy was down pretty far but this was all still so new to him. He might get overwhelmed if they moved too fast so he was little the newfound little set his own pace.

Namjoon froze for a minute as if trying to decide how he should be reacting. He glanced at Jungkook, like he didn't quite know what to do before taking a few cautious sucks of the pacifier. That was all it took for a huge smile to break across his face and he practically melted into Seokjin's side, happy. He liked this.

Jungkook clapped happily, proud he'd made the right decision and the other little liked his pacifier. Namjoon couldn't help but giggle too at the other little's enthusiasm.

Jin was just happy. He was happy the newfound little had settled down. For a bit he was worried he was going to make himself sick with how much he was crying. Half of him expected him to try to push himself in big space but oddly he seemed quite settled in his little space. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned yet with how deep in his headspace the baby seemed to be. But for now he was going to enjoy it.

And Jungkook, this was the most settled he'd seen him in a while. And while that made Jin happy, he also felt guilty. Jungkook shouldn't be on edge all the time and Jin knew something was going to have to give soon but he just felt between a rock and a hard place. He knew he had to get the baby out of this environment but at the same time he couldn't abandon Jimin, who was also his baby. If he left with Jungkook he knew he'd likely never see the other little again and the thought of causing that kind of trauma to Jimin broke Jin. But at the same time, what was this doing to Jungkook? Jin was barely speaking to Hoseok anymore because of their constant fights about his treatment of the baby. They used to be best friends, maybe on the way to even closer but Jin couldn't get past the way Hobi was neglecting his youngest baby. And it's not like he could afford to leave. He couldn't even afford to put Jungkook in day care while he worked.

A little hand on his face broke Jin away from his thoughts.

"Appa, no sad." Jungkook pouted, patting Jin's cheek just a bit too roughly as Namjoon watched the two with a curious expression.

Jin took Jungkook's hand in his (saving himself from another unintentional slap) and gave the baby's palm a kiss before turning to Namjoon and doing the same, a bright smile breaking out on the newest little's face.

That smile dropped however at another knock on the door. Jin sat both the boys on the couch and got up to answer it as Namjoon watched curiously.

He froze when he saw Yoongi and Taehyung walk in.