"Bawoon."

"What?"

"Bawoon!"

"Madden, I don't..."

"BAWOON!!"

By now - if anyone in the vicinity wasn't staring - they were. Everyone's eyes seemed to be trained on the two-year-old who was bouncing up onto the tips of his toes to point animatedly at the yellow smiley face balloon that was out of his reach. Taehyung had come in the store with Jimin to buy a cake, but on the way back from the cake counter, Madden had become distracted and fixated on a balloon in the party section. Taehyung didn't have much money to spend on additional decor, but he noticed that Madden wasn't about to leave the store without it.

Taehyung walked down the aisle to see his son still trying to vainly grab it. Sighing, he shifted the cake in his arms so that he had a hand free to grab the balloon that his son wanted. Madden squealed with glee when it was handed to him; tugging it up and down with his hand so that it seemed to dance all about as they walked to the check-out. Jimin was already there with some boxes of juice in his possession. Taehyung noticed the distinct lack of adult drinks, arching a brow as Jimin shot him a look.

"We have an extra guest to think about," said Jimin, "which is the reason I'm just buying juice."

"I'm at least grabbing a soda," said Taehyung as he opened up a nearby cooler. "Juice tastes..."

"If you say juicy, I swear..." said Jimin as Taehyung chuckled, grabbing a bottle of soda.

"Do you want one?"

"Nah. I'm fine with juice," said Jimin as he moved to the check-out line.

"I'll pay for everything," said Taehyung as followed Jimin, placing the cake down on the belt. He dug his hand into his pocket after and only managed to pull out a few wrinkled bills.

"Where is your wallet?" asked Jimin.

"Back at the apartment, I guess," said Taehyung, "I'm sorry. Can I IOU?"

Jimin sighed as he dug out his own wallet once everything had been scanned so he could pay for it. The woman took his payment for everything, and they were soon walking out to the car in the parking lot. Taehyung helped load Madden into the backseat with his balloon, making sure he was secured in the car seat they had hooked up for days when it was Taehyung's turn to watch his son. After buckling Madden in the car seat, he moved to go sit in the passenger seat up front with Jimin. Before he could though, Madden let out a whine and grabbed at one of Taehyung's cuffs with his hands.

"Stay..." He whined as Taehyung sighed, trying to take Madden's hand off his cuff. However hard he tried though, he couldn't get Madden's fingers to break their grip.

"Just stay back there with your son," said Jimin as he looked at Taehyung's struggle in the rearview mirror. "He obviously wants you."

Taehyung just nodded, slipping into the car to sit next to Madden's car seat. Madden's grip loosened slightly when Taehyung buckled up and shut the door, though his little fingers still stayed touching the fabric. As Taehyung looked over at Madden in the backseat of the car, he could see a grin on his face that made Madden look like a younger version of him; the balloon bouncing up and down as Madden jerked it in the air.

"If you didn't know, he loves you," said Jimin as he drove the car back to the apartment.

"I know," said Taehyung without taking his eyes off Madden. "I love him too."

That fact was true. He would be in his son's life more if he felt more ready for it. It was just complicated.

By the time they made it to the apartment fifteen minutes later, Madden had fallen asleep in his car seat; his head lying on Taehyung's shoulder. The balloon scratched across the ceiling of the car as Jimin opened the car and let in the cool night air. Taehyung shifted gently to unbuckle himself before slipping out of the car. He rounded it to Madden's side, opening it and forgetting that his young son was no longer holding the balloon. No sooner had Taehyung opened the door than the balloon raced out and began to float up into the night air. Taehyung tried to jump up to grasp the string but failed, watching the balloon ascend in a swirly pattern as it disappeared into the midnight blue sky above him.

"Bawoon..." grumbled a sleepy Madden as he woke up just in time to see it disappear from view. Taehyung looked away from the sky to his teary-eyed son whose lower lip was wobbling.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'll get you a new one."

That didn't stop the tears from falling from Madden's eyes as he started to cry. Taehyung tried to make shushing noises, but nothing would settle his upset son down. Hearing the heartbreaking cries as Taehyung unbuckled Madden and removed him from the car, Jimin left everything in the trunk to come over by Taehyung's side.

"Is he okay?"

"Yes. He just lost his balloon," said Taehyung who was gently bouncing Madden up and down on his hip to try to get him to stop crying but to no avail.

"Let me see him," said Jimin with a small frown as he held out his arms.

Not able to take the crying anymore, Taehyung relented and let Jimin take Madden into his arms. Jimin began to bounce Madden up and down too, but he also began humming to him and singing. The sudden joyous noise caused Madden's cries to slow until he was giggling as Jimin kept singing his nonsense tune to him. Taehyung moved to get the car locked up and the purchases out of the trunk as he looked over at the two of them. Jimin was such a better father than he was.

Jimin carried Madden up the cramped stairwell that smelled of cigarettes and lost dreams as Taehyung followed behind them with the purchases balanced in his arms. Madden didn't seem to notice the smell though, too busy smiling and clapping to Jimin's silly tune. Jimin kept Madden on one of his hips as he managed to slip a hand into his pocket for the apartment key. He entered without putting Madden down, using his free hand to slap the light switch. The dull mellow yellow light flooded the cramped and messy interior as Jimin carried Madden to his bedroom out back.

"Want to play with Pokey? I know he's still waiting for you."

"Pokey?!"

The joy in Madden's voice caused Jimin to chuckle as he nodded, putting Madden down gently on his feet before he went to his closet. He dug out a small yellow Pikachu from the closet to Madden's immense delight. Jimin had bought the small Pikachu at a comic festival several years ago. One night when Madden had been to the apartment with Taehyung, he had spotted the Pickachu and wanted to play with it. Jimin had let him and ever since then, the aptly named Pokey (because Madden couldn't say 'Pokémon' for the life of him) was Madden's go to companion during Taehyung visitation days. Madden clutched the stuffed Pikachu to his chest so tightly it looked like the stuffing would come out of it. The sight of joy on Madden's face caused a smile to cross Jimin's own.

Taehyung stayed in the kitchen, putting the cake and drinks down onto the table as he heard Madden's joy filled squeals from Jimin's bedroom. It seemed that the balloon tragedy was forgotten. Taehyung stood there and looked towards Jimin's bedroom as a sigh left his mouth. No matter what he tried, he couldn't ever make his son happy like that.

The three of them spent the rest of the evening eating cake and enjoying each other's company. Madden kept Pokey close to him the entire time; dragging him about all over the floor when he began to get restless and wanted to explore the apartment. As the night drew on, the little two-year-old's stamina started to wear out. The exhaustion started showing itself when Madden rubbed his eyes and began to yawn. The exhaustion displayed itself full force when Madden began to totter and hit the walls as he lost his footing again and again. Jimin saw Madden's struggles and moved to get up from the table and pick him up; Madden immediately settling his head on his shoulder.

Without asking, Jimin carried Madden towards Taehyung's bedroom. When he flicked on the light, he frowned at all the non-child friendly stuff that was strewn about. Thankfully Madden had fallen into a light sleep on his shoulder so he wouldn't be questioning anything. Jimin quickly started to throw magazines in drawers like a madman with his free hand whilst also kicking a box or two under the bed. If Madden was as inquisitive as his father, it would be bad if he started asking questions about some of the things he saw in here. Once some of the stuff was hidden from view, Jimin gently laid Madden on his father's bedspread, watching as he let out hum before snuggling Pokey closer in his arms. As Jimin turned, he grabbed a few bottles of alcohol that had yet to be taken care of, tiptoeing out of Taehyung's room and back into the kitchen where he was.

"The amount of filth you have in your room is shocking" grumbled Jimin as he put the glass bottles in one of the bins under the sink, "And more than one kind of filth at that..."

"Why were you in my room?" asked Taehyung as he looked at Jimin.

"I was putting your son to bed," said Jimin. "Didn't you see him stumbling about because he was tired?"

"Yes, but..."

Jimin sighed, shaking his head as he moved to go clean up the messy table. Taehyung frowned as he followed after Jimin, grabbing him by the arm to pull him to a stop.

"Don't worry with cleaning up. I'm gonna do it because it's your birthday," said Taehyung, "But before I do that, what were you going to say just now and walked away before you did?"

"Tae, I say this as your best friend," said Jimin as he turned to look Taehyung straight in the eyes. "You act like you're still a bachelor when you have a kid in your life that needs you and wants you."

Taehyung stared at his best friend, unsure of what to say. Before he could, Jimin continued.

"I know you have the best intentions when you give me advice when it comes to Luna, but you might want to start using some of that advice on yourself. Taehyung, you really need to grow up now before you ruin your relationship with your son and with Shora anymore than you already have."

Jimin wouldn't let Taehyung have any word in edgewise as he wished him goodnight and moved to go to his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Happy birthday..." mumbled Taehyung as he stared at Jimin's bedroom door for a moment before moving to pick things up; his mind turning over everything Jimin had said.

When he was done picking things up, he moved to go to his room. He slowly opened the door to see that Madden was still asleep on his bed, hugging Pokey tightly to his chest. Tiptoeing gently into the room, Taehyung moved until he was standing right near the side of the bed. A small, pained smile graced his face as he moved to get on his knees so he could study his sleeping son at eye level.

Even though he loved his son more than life itself, he didn't have any clue as to how to raise him. If he could have the night of Madden's conception to do over, he would be more careful. He'd make sure he'd only have children when he felt ready, and he certainly wasn't ready now. The shock of Madden into his life had blindsided him and changed his life completely when he wasn't ready for it to change. Even with Madden being well into his twos, it still shocked Taehyung that he had a son.

He stayed kneeling by the bed for a while before moving to lay under a blanket on the floor. Staring up at the ceiling as he let sleep come to him, he let his thoughts drift away, wishing his guilt would do the same.