"Namjoon? As in Namjoon Kim?" I question with intense curiosity. There's only one Namjoon around this whole area, so I know for a fact it's him.

"Yeah." Jaebeom says, peeking at my face. "You know him?"

"I more than just know him."

"That sounds not too pleasing." He awkwardly chuckles and I shake my head.

"Oh, no. It isn't bad. I'm just shocked, is all. I'm Namjoon's nanny."

"Get out of here, really?" He asks with just as much curiosity in his tone. "This is such a small world."

"I'll say. I should've pieced two and two together when you both signed that deal on the same day." I laugh, mentally face palming myself.

"So where you live, that's Namjoon's home?"

I nod softly. "Yeah."

"Now I feel rude that I never speak when I stop by to see you or pick you up."

"No, don't feel that way. Have you ever even seen him when picking me up?"

Jaebeom takes a second to think, then shakes his head. "I haven't, actually. I honestly didn't even know what Namjoon looked like in person until our meeting. Just a quick headshot of his company photo that I barely paid attention to."

I take a moment to think. He had no idea that I was Namjoon's nanny and I had no idea that they were even acquainted. That rules out the possibility that he is using me for his benefit of running his company alongside Namjoon. I'm very relieved of that.

"You okay, baby?" He asks me, kissing my forehead.

"Oh, yeah. I'm okay. Just thinking."

"I'm not using you to get closer to Namjoon." He says. "Please know that. I didn't even know you were that close to him."

"Oh, no." I smile, shaking my head. "There was no way you could have known that I was his nanny. He doesn't talk about me like that for people to know who I am, unless they know me personally. I didn't suspect you of doing that to me at all."

Jaebeom releases a sigh of relief and smiles softly. "That makes me feel a little better. Because we have a great thing going here, and I don't want to mess that up."

"Aww." I snuggle in closer to him. "You like me that much?"

"Almost too much." He chuckles, but I can feel some tension and hesitation.

"Hey, look at me." I position myself sideways and tug on him to do the same. He turns over at my request and I can't help but smile at this beautiful man lying in front of me. I know he's tense because I'm Namjoon's nanny. I don't want us to be awkward in our relationship because of that fact, though. "Don't think too much about it, okay? We didn't know about the mutual business we both have with Namjoon."

"I really don't want you thinking deep down that I have ill intentions. I really care about you."

Jaebeom really does warm my heart. How did I get so lucky? "I know. And I really care about you. It's just you and me. We keep our business as our business, okay?"

"Okay." He nods, kissing my lips, then my forehead. "Now I really feel better."

"Can I make you feel even better than that?" I smirk, pushing him on his back and straddling him.

His hands grip my hips and I can feel him hardening under me, mind you we're still naked. "Could you please?"

--

"Can I have a Popsicle?" Jae runs from the pool and asks me.

"Next time, walk. I don't want you hurt okay?" He nods as I stand from my seat. "What color?"

"Blue!"

"And I want yellow!" Jin yells from the other side of the pool and I nod.

I enter the kitchen and quickly grab the treats for them, cutting open the top, and taking it to them. They sit at the table and eat them while talking with each other. I smile and take off my cover all, diving into the pool. I come up shortly for air and swim over closer to the kids.

"I'm gonna do that one day." Jin states, matter-of-factly.

I smile at her. "I don't doubt it."

"We saw mommy!" Jae bounces in his seat excitedly and I catch Jin from my peripheral rolling her eyes. "We go to the old house to see her."

"And were you happy to see her?" I ask, intrigued about how that visit went.

"I was! I miss mommy." Jae says.

I can hear in his tone that he misses her, but he continues smiling because of the fact that he got to see his mother. Jin, on the other hand, is very quiet and I know her well. She's holding her tongue and not expressing herself. She probably doesn't want Jae to feel some kind of way because of how she feels.

"Jinnie?"

She looks at me as I call her name and she just shrugs. "It was fine, I guess."

"What all did you do over there?" I ask, getting out of the pool.

"She told us about her having a baby." Jin mumbles, not very pleased.

"Yeah, we getting a baby sister." Jae says, still smiling. He's very excited, but Jin isn't going for it. "Mommy says I can name her."

"Have you picked a name for her?"

"Jae!"

"Honey, that's your name." I laugh. "Let's go inside, you two. It's about to be 6:30 and you have to get cleaned up."

Jae skips inside the house as Jin sighs. I watch her drag herself inside and my heart breaks for her. Her mother moves on with another man and is now having his baby. She's too young to process what's happening and I know it's frustrating to her. I have to talk to her and see where her head is.

I peek my head into the doorway and see her getting her pajamas from her drawer. "Jinnie, let's talk."

She nods and turns to face me. "Why is mom having another baby?"

"I have no idea, sweetie. You have to ask her that."

"That's not my full sister." She crosses her arms. "She's having a baby with that man and he's not my daddy."

"Did you meet him?"

She nods. "I don't like him."

I chuckle softly, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I know you don't, but this new baby coming is still your sibling. No matter who her daddy is. You're gonna have to be the best big sister that you already are, okay?"

"I don't want to. I only want Jae. Why did she have to go find some man to get a baby with?" My heart shatters when tears start to fall from her eyes and I have to stop the tears from stinging my own. "It's not fair to us, or daddy. He's a good daddy."

I open my arms and she rushes into them, crying her little eyes out. "Jinnie, I can't tell you why your mom wanted to have a baby with a new man. That's something that she needs to tell you herself when she feels the time is right. I agree with you that you have a great daddy, and your daddy is also doing the best he can to make sure that you and Jae are taken care of. Try not to think about it so much and let her tell you why she did what she did, okay?"

"Okay." She sniffles.

"Get all your things for your bath. You can use the one downstairs. I love you Soojin."

"I love you too, Harly." She kisses my cheek and rubs her face free of tears.

I leave her room to go check on Jae, who is already in the bathtub with the water still running. When the water reaches his desired height, he starts playing with the toys that are inside. I smile and walk to my room, keeping the door cracked so I can listen for the kids. Namjoon is working late tonight, so the kids won't get to see him before they fall asleep. I'm changing out of my clothes and into my robe when my phone rings. I answer it, even though I don't recognize the number. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Harlow?"

"May I ask who's calling?" I ask with my brows furrowed.

"Oh, h-hi. I'm Jada. I'm-"

My phone beeps in my ear and I pause this Jada woman. "Ma'am, could you please hold on for a second? I'm getting another call."

"I'll just call back in about half an hour."

I quickly switch over to the other line and put the phone on speaker so I can finish getting dressed. "Hi daddy."

"Hey. Did you get a call from someone named Jada?"

"How did you know?" I frown and tie my robe, sitting on my bed. "You clicked in as she was introducing herself. You know this woman?"

I hear my dad sigh on the other line and I don't like where this is going. "Harlow, don't freak out."

"Don't say that, because now I am. Who is she?" I ask, slightly panicking. "Dad, why do you know her and why is she calling me?"

"Harlow, Jada is your mother."

"My what?" I say, throat feeling dry all of a sudden.

"Jada, the woman that just called you. That's your mother."

I'm speechless. My mother? The one who abandoned me? The one that had me grow up without her to teach me the ways of being a woman? The one that forced my father to raise me alone? The woman who doesn't deserve to be called my mother?

"Harlow? You there?"

"I need a minute." I end the call and just sit in shock.

In my head is pure chaos, confusion, anger, and hurt. Who does she think she is calling me out of the blue? Does she expect me to rejoice and welcome her with open arms? Fuck that. I went 25 years without knowing her, and I'll go the rest of my life that same way. I don't want anything to do with her.

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Hi! How we feel about this chapter? This is just a filler, a very emotional filler actually 🥺 what you want for the next chapter? Harlow & her deadbeat mom interaction? More kid interaction? Harjoon interaction? Jaelow interaction? Let me know! 💕

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~S.xx