Serendipity

Good news(?)

When Taehyung got the call from the fertility center, he didn't know how to react. This was so new to him. The emotions he was already accustomed to were very limited, basic. Never in his life he felt giddy, nervous in a good way ('if that makes sense' he thought…) Never he felt excited, except for the times his Dr Who merch would arrive. This was never how it felt though.

Right now he felt like a pit forming in his stomach, but not in a bad way. Like the one you feel when you suddenly come down from a gentle but high slope, or when you are sitting in a ferris wheel. He didn't know what to call this feeling and he sooo wanted to make sense out of it. Maybe because not everyday someone calls and tells you that there is a being growing somewhere which has a part of you in them. Not everyday someone tells you that you are going to have someone who would carry your name as a part of their identity.  Not everyday someone tells you that you are going to be a 'father'. They called him a 'would-be-dad!

He didn't know how to react to it, he was kind of scared(?!) So he did the thing he has been doing for years when he felt overwhelmed. He ran to his brother's room and threw himself in his warm embrace. He heard both of his hyungs wishing him with 'congratulations', indicating they already got the news. But soon the wishes got hushed down and he was showered with gentle caresses and pats on his back and his head. Assuring him, grounding him. And somehow he felt at ease. He felt home. That evening, he slept all cuddled up between his hyungs, who loved him like their own child.

xxxxx

Next day the four hyungs were at a lunch meeting with each other. Well, the 2 lawyer hyungs were supposed to be at an 'official' meeting, in the office, originally. But their significant others couldn't stop pestering them for tagging along. So they ended up having a 'double date', on a perfect work day! They secured a private booth and started brainstorming in hushed voices. Anyway, the meeting was to plan an out of the court settlement for the custody, and it seemed their respective partners were more of the experts in such cases.

"We can ask the surrogate to pretend that she is dating Tae, and marry them both on paper. This way he gets more weight in the custody decision." Jin was the first one to suggest. 

 "Or we can even pretend they didn't use the donated eggs at all. They  fell in love and had a child out of love. This way the queen would have to leave Kook off the hook, as they don't have any claim on it." Jimin suggested.

"We had already thought of it but…" Hoseok tried speaking but Yoongi interjected,

"It's too late for this, guys. The Queen must have already sent for the information. She rules this country after all. You cannot hide such things from her. Plus she has the hold on the signed contract and letter that Taehyung sent to Jo. It's gonna be a losing game if we try playing it the foul way. So we better think about something else, faster."

"Can't Taehyung leave the country with the baby?"

"Don't be desperate Jimin-ah, we still have to wait for 8 months or more, because why would the surrogate leave her life behind till then?"

"Hoba, is there no way we can prove Tae was given sole custody?"

"There is Jinnie, the signed contract! But it's in the queen's custody now. We know her stand."

"I don't think even Kookie would want to give it away, he would lose his rights."

"If only Dr Jo was here…" Seokjin sighed.

Jimin chuckled sadly at that, "If she was here, everything would have been so different. Both of our brothers would have been happy and away from each other's throats."