"Well, that's everything." Taehyung sighs as he walks through my front door, sliding out of his shoes.

Walking over to the couch, he lays down with his head in my lap as he stares up at me while I play in his slightly wavy hair, "You say that like you're moving out or something. I'm sure you'll end up spending the night eventually or coming over just to visit like usual."

"Yeah, I know," He gives me a tight-lipped smile, "but I was enjoying playing house with you. Now we have to pretend nothing has changed when everything has changed. Even when I spend the night, it's not like I can wake up with you in my arms or feel you snuggling closer to me when you get cold at night."

Staring into his brown eyes, I don't respond right away. We've been so lost in our little bubble for the last week that it almost feels strange going back to life before our confession as if that time never actually happened. At least in front of Isabelle and until I talk with her. I just don't want to overwhelm her the moment she comes home. As selfish as I was able to be as of late, I have to go back to being a responsible mother and putting my child before myself. I know Taehyung understands, but it does still suck knowing we won't have that same level of alone time for quite a while.

"I'll talk with her at some point, baby. Then we won't have to sneak around as much." My hand that has been resting on his chest is pulled up to his lips as he gives it a chaste, gentlemanly kiss and a reassuring smile.

A knock on the door catches our attention and we both quickly walk over to it as if we're two parents excited to see their baby girl for the first time in what feels like ages. Taehyung is the first to reach the door as he peeks through the peephole and turns to grin at me as I approach the door as well.

"Who is it?" I ask as if I didn't already know, setting an example to her that you always ask before opening the door.

"Isabelle James!" Her tiny little voice calls out from the other side.

"I taught her that," Taehyung whispers proudly as he continues to watch her through the peephole with a wide boxy smile and his eyes forming into cute crescents.

Opening the door, Taehyung slides behind it to prepare himself to surprise her as I take the opportunity to joyfully swoop her into an embrace as she giggles with her small arms holding onto me tightly. I start to tear up by the feeling of her in my arms. I knew I missed her but I didn't realize I missed her this badly until now. Her strawberry scented shampoo brought back a flood of emotions that I didn't anticipate as I lean back and pepper her squishy cheek with kisses, unable to get enough of my little girl's affection.

"Why are you crying, mommy?" She asks with her brows knitted as she wipes away the tear starting to run from the corner of my eye.

"She's just happy you're home little one." Aunt Gigi smiles from the doorway, waiting her turn to greet me with Isabelle's small suitcase in tow.

"I missed you, too, mommy." She smiles, showing me her full row of white baby teeth with small gaps in between each one.

Stepping out into view, Taehyung crosses his arms over his chest with a fake frown, "What about me?"

"Tae Tae!" She screams out, abandoning me still crouched down at her level as Taehyung picks her up and holds her tightly as if she was his entire universe.

My heart rejoices at the view of two of my most cherished people being so happy to see one another once again. There's no doubt that the week must have felt like forever to her. Especially since she had never been away from me for that amount of time and also knowing how much she would pout if she hadn't seen her Tae Tae for more than three days. She's always had him wrapped around her little pinky. He didn't call her his princess for no reason.

Looking up at Aunt Gigi, she winks at me and nods at the two of them conversing as if they were old friends catching up, completely lost in their little world. As I watch them, my anxiety subsides about how Izzy will eventually take the news about Taehyung and I being together. To be honest, I'm not even sure she'll understand what that even means now that I think about it.

Hearing them start a conversation about all of the activities Izzy did while she was gone and Tae dramatically gasping as if it was the most interesting news of his life made me wonder why I was even worried about any of it in the first place. He was quite literally her favorite person on this planet.

"Thank you for watching her." I reach out and hug my beautiful aunt as she shuts the door behind her.

"Any time. Mission accomplished, right?" She whispers in my ear before leaning back and giving me a knowing smile while her eyes flit over to the tall, very handsome man currently talking about her first time sliding in the mud.

Taehyung glances over at me with a wink and I bite down on my lip when I feel the swarm of butterflies fluttering around inside of me. Looking back up to Aunt Gigi, I nod my head as I do my best to not squeal out in pure happiness, "Right."

"Are you going to stay here tonight? It's Saturday." Izzy asks him with a hopeful tone.

Looking back over to me, Taehyung gives me a small grin before turning his attention back to my daughter, "Not tonight, sweetheart. Maybe next weekend. I'm sure your mom wants to spend some time with you."

"But I want you both to spend time with me." She pokes out her bottom lip with big, round eyes, and my heart flutters at the adorable expression.

As if it was well-rehearsed, Taehyung and Izzy both slowly turn their head to look at me, now with Taehyung's bottom lip poked out as well while they bat their eyelashes at me. Rolling my eyes with a chuckle, I look back to Aunt Gigi with a look that says see what I have to put up with?

Sighing as if I wasn't thrilled at the idea myself, I nod my head in agreement and earn another embrace from my three-year-old as well as one from Taehyung. His, however, lingered a little longer as he sneakily kissed my temple before pulling away with Izzy being none the wiser.

Turning to face Aunt Gigi as Izzy and Taehyung walk hand-in-hand to the kitchen to start getting drinks together, I do my best to calm my blushing cheeks, "Are you staying for dinner?"

She leans in closer with a quirked brow to whisper, "And risk missing seeing you two awkwardly try to act normal when you both clearly have other thoughts? I wouldn't dare! What are we eating?"

"Is it that obvious?" My eyes widen as I swiftly look over to my little girl sitting down in her chair at the table.

"To an adult, yes," She chuckles, "but to a child, no. When are you planning on saying something to her?"

Knitting my brows and pouting my lips, I scan my brain for any kind of answer to that question but eventually sigh and let my shoulders sag at the same time, "I'm really not sure. How do I do this? How do I bring it up?"

Gently grabbing my chin, Aunt Gigi redirects my attention to the table where Taehyung and Izzy are giggling together about something between the two of them, "Do you honestly think she'll be upset? You'll find a way, Victoria. Quit overthinking it."

Nodding, I wrap my arm around her and start to walk to the dining room where I tell her to take a seat while I pull out the food from the oven. It's been a while since we've eaten dinner together as a family and it feels good to go back to normal. Tae has always been a part of our little family and as I watched him converse with my daughter and my aunt while being completely comfortable with them both, I can't help but to smile and feel a warmth radiate in my chest.

Halfway through dinner and conversation, Taehyung and I find a moment where we lock eyes without anyone else noticing. A brief moment of admiration, trust, and happiness is shared between us as he sneakily mouths the words I love you, making my cheeks turn that shade of pink that I've noticed he adores and causing him to shyly drop his gaze back to his plate with a smirk.

By the time dinner is over, Aunt Gigi says her goodbyes with promises that she'll at least text when she makes it back home. Thankfully tomorrow is still Sunday so there's still one more day that I can fully spend with my loves. I have so much work I still need to catch up but it can wait. Time with her is much more precious to me.

Taehyung gets Aladdin ready to go on the television before offering to do the dishes and clean the kitchen so that I can bathe Izzy and get her ready for the night. Even though this kind of thing is typical with the three of us, it feels different this time around and I can't stop smiling to myself the entire time I'm getting Izzy dressed in her pajamas. Especially when we start to giggle as we hear Tae singing A Whole New World to himself while he waits for us in the living room.

"Mommy?" Izzy questions as I continue brushing out her hair after her bath.

"Yes, my love?"

"Why didn't my daddy want me?" She innocently asks but the fact that the thought even crossed her mind starts to break my heart.

"What-what made you ask about that?" I do my best to clear my throat so she won't be able to notice my change in demeanor.

She shrugs while she plays with her doll's hair, "My cousin's daddy is around but mine never was and I see the daddies come get their kids from school."

"Does that make you sad?" I set down the brush and take a silent deep breath before braiding her hair into two braids for the night.

"No, I have Tae Tae and he does like me. I was just wondering why my dad didn't like me like Tae Tae does."

I hear a slight creak in the doorway and turn my head with tears in my eyes when I look up to meet Taehyung's concerned expression. I'm guessing he heard her ask this unforeseen question. She's not a completely naive kid. She's very smart for her age and takes notice of quite a few things, such as the fact her cousins go visit their father or that her friend's fathers are around. I would see the look on her face when she'd come home from preschool stating that it was going to be another Doughnuts With Dad day but thankfully Taehyung always showed up for those occasions.

I always figured a day would come that she would ask about the man who knocked me up and left without a word, abandoning all responsibility. I just didn't think the day would be today. I can still hear him telling me on the phone that the baby isn't his and making me out to be some kind of whore before ghosting us completely.

Taehyung nods to Isabelle, silently questioning if I'm comfortable with him talking to her since I'm obviously at a loss for words at the moment. Nodding my head as I grab the elastic to tie off the first pigtail, he walks up and crouches down on the floor in front of her.

Taking her small hands in his, he looks her in the eyes as he rubs his thumb lovingly over her knuckles, "Your dad not being around is not your fault, okay? He just wasn't ready to be a father."

"Were you ready for mommy to have a baby?" She sniffles and I know she's starting to tear up herself.

Looking up at me for a second to make sure I'm okay, he redirects his attention back down to the curious child in front of him. "I was scared. I wasn't sure if I'd be good enough for you or your mommy."

"But you're my favorite." She argues sweetly.

"And you're my favorite." Taehyung states with a soft smile.

"And mine." I kiss the top of her head.

"I have mommy and you. I'm happy." She nods her head as if she was solidifying what she was saying.

"We're happy, too." I hug her tightly as she remains seated in my lap.

This whole conversation wasn't planned, nor do I think it ever could have been but for her only being three years old, I think we handled it quite well and I'm more than thankful for Taehyung helping me out and reminding her that even though her birth father may not being around, he's always here for her... for us.

With my cheeks still wet from tears, she runs into the living room all excited to start watching the movie and letting her thoughts fade away as quickly as they came. Taehyung wraps me tightly into his arms and peppers my face with kisses while his hands sweetly rub my back until I bury my face into the warm crook of his neck, allowing my heart to mend.

"It's not your fault either, Ria. Never was." He whispers as he pulls back and cups my face into his large hands so that I can meet his eyes, "And you're never alone in any of this. I will be here for you and Izzy just like I always have been."

"What if we ever break up? I can't imagine hurting her like that. This is why I was hesitant on ever telling you that I fell in love with you." My bottom lip trembles as I keep my eyes locked on his.

Smirking, he leans down and kisses my forehead, "Do you think you could get rid of me that easily? You've been trying for sixteen years and I'm still here."

Chuckling, I sniffle and smack his chest playfully, "I have not been trying to get rid of you. Don't be weird."

"I'm not being weird. You quit being weird." He smiles as his thumb wipes away the last fallen tear.

"Mommy! Tae Tae! Come on!" Izzy yells from the living room when we take too long to join her.

Searing one last kiss on my lips while we have a small window of privacy, he lets his right hand ease its way to the back of my neck while he holds my face steady with his left hand. Our lips slightly part as I relax fully into his touch and let my mind clear of all doubts, worries, and fears and just be in the moment. He didn't kiss me with expectancy or lust. Only with the reminder that he is here and will always be here. A reminder that the love between us has never faded and only blossomed over the years.

A reminder that together, we make a family.