JIMIN’S POV

“Haru, shush. Don’t wake up your mother.”

“But, Daddy, I want to. It’s Chris’mas. Mama has to wake up! She has to give you your cat friends. And I want to wake her up. She has to celebrate wif us.”

“Shh. If you’re gonna snuggle with me, you have to be quiet and not wake up Mama.”

“Daaaaaddy. I wanna open presents.”

“Oh my god.” My wife moaned, throwing an arm over her eyes. “What time is it?”

I cleared my throat. “It’s, um, it’s four in the morning.”

Haru clambered onto my wife’s stomach and squished her cheeks together with her small palms. “Mama! It’s Christmas!”

I watched my wife with a slight smile as she sat up and sleepily squeezed Haru against her chest. “It’s Christmas, Haru? It’s Christmas! Should we go see what presents Santa brought you?”

“Mama, you tol’ me Santa isn’t real.” Haru said with the cutest little puzzled frown.

She leaned in to whisper conspiratorially in our daughter’s ear, throwing a sly glance to me. “Shh, Haru. Daddy believes in Santa, so it’s okay to pretend just for him, right?”

Haru giggled. “Daddy’s so silly. Like a baby. Only babies believe in Santa Claus.”

The two of them looked at me and snickered. I shook my head at them.

“Listen, Santa only brings presents to people who believe in him. I guess all the presents downstairs underneath the tree are for me.”

“No!” Haru suddenly jumped onto me and knocked her forehead against mine. “Santa has to bring me presents. You promised.”

My wife patted her back. “Don’t beat up your dad. Santa brought you presents, and so did Mama and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa. You have all the presents you’ll ever need downstairs.”

Haru sat up, immediately cheerful again. “Yay! Let’s go open them!”

“Your baby brother is still sleeping.” I reminded her. “It wouldn’t be nice to start the fun without him.”

She rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t care. He’s a baby.”

“Hey, it’s his first Christmas and he’s not gonna miss it.” My wife said gently. “You loved your first Christmas. Daddy and I couldn’t stop taking videos of you playing with wrapping paper. We just thought you were the cutest thing.”

“I am the cutest thing.” She said matter-of-factly, hands on her hips.

Her mother and I exchanged a look over Haru’s head, both of our eyebrows raised.

“She’s your daughter.” I mouthed to my wife.

“Boy, those genes are all yours.” She shook her head at me, grinning. “My two little show-offs!” She cried, tousling our hair. Haru threw herself down onto my wife and grabbed my shirt, pulling us all into a hug.

HER POV

Jimin eventually sent Haru downstairs to watch The Muppets’ Christmas Carol while we waited for her grandparents to wake up. I didn’t really trust her not to open the presents, but I wanted to snuggle with my husband for a little while longer.

“Hi.” Jimin smiled at me. I died a little inside at how cute he looked.

“I like your snowman pajamas.” I whispered, scooting closer to him on the bed. “But, I think they’d look even better off of your body.”

I moved to his shirt, but he grabbed my hands and kissed my fingers. “I have a present for you.”

“Is it your body? Cause that’s all I want this morning.”

Jimin laughed through his nose. “Girl. Calm yourself.”

His pajama shirt felt so soft against my cheek as I burrowed into his chest. Smelled like him, too. And pine needles. The whole house smelled of pine needles, ever since Jimin and his father had dragged in a Christmas tree a few days before.

“I love you.” I whispered. Jimin hummed and put his arms around me, sighing deeply.

“Listen, I got you this gift. Will you tell me what you think of it?”

I patted his chest. “Well, boy, you’ve got to give it to me first.”

Jimin broke away and stood up from the bed, looking awfully adorable in his snowmen pajamas. He crouched down in front of his suitcase, rustling through his suitcase.

“You look so cute right now. I’m having a glimpse of what you must have looked like as a boy.”

“I was pretty cute, I guess.” Jimin shrugged shyly as he turned back towards me, a small wrapped package in his hand. He tossed it to me; I missed and it landed on my lap.

Jimin slid under the covers and watched me with baited breath as I picked up the present and felt the weight of it in my hand. I knew immediately that it was an album, maybe his album? I felt proud of Jimin for his solo album, but it was tinged with bitterness. Anyway…it wasn’t my ideal Christmas present.

“It’s not what you think, baby.” He twirled one of my curls around his fingers. “Just open it.”

Gingerly, I tore open a corner of the wrapping. Jimin leaned over my shoulder, biting his lip. I knew that whatever it was, Jimin wanted me to love it, so I was damn sure gonna make it look like I loved it, even if I didn’t.

Once I’d gotten all of the wrapping off, I picked up the CD case and turned it over in my hands. There was a picture of us on the front cover; it was from when we were young. I was wearing an oversize denim jacket and cutoff jean shorts, with a red button-down flannel muscle shirt. I seemed to recall the shirt being Jimin’s; he’d had a phase when he’d ripped off the sleeves of several shirts in an effort to show off his arm muscles.

I was standing in the trunk of his dad’s old truck, holding Yukon (when he was just a little pup) in my arms. Jimin sat on the edge of the trunk, legs dangling over the side. He wore my old J. Cole tank top and a pair of faded blue jeans cuffed at the edges over his white Adidas. Scrawled across the top of the album cover in white script was the title, “Watermelon Seeds.”

“Watermelon seeds.” I said softly, smiling at him. He beamed back at me.

“From the first time I -”

“You told me you loved me.” I finished. “I spat watermelon seeds all over myself. Damn, I’d almost forgotten about that.”

Jimin hummed and scooched closer to me. I laid my head on his chest, nestling into him as he put his arms around me.

“Do you like the picture?” He asked shyly into my hair.

“I love it, baby. We look so young! I can’t believe how young we look.”

“This was only, like, seven years ago. Stop acting like we’re eighty-five reminiscing about how we first met.” Jimin snickered at me. I scowled playfully back at him.

“Hey, look at that shaggy undercut. How could you date a boy with such disheveled hair?” Jimin pointed to his hair.

I tilted my head and kissed the underside of his jaw. “Babe, I’m obsessed with your hair. It’s gorgeous. You’re gorgeous. Plus, I had also just fallen in love with you, so I’m pretty sure that I counted all of your imperfections as beautiful, wonderful qualities that made you so uniquely you.”

Jimin raised his eyebrows. “But not now?”

I looked at him. “C’mon, Jimin. Do you seriously still look at me and think, ‘damn, this freckly, crazy haired, hella messy girl is mine? I’m so lucky?’ Pretty sure that phase of our relationship died when we moved in together.”

He giggled, tucking me under his chin. “Do you remember when we used to fight about doing the dishes and taking out the trash?”

“Uh, yes. I’ll never forget that time you shouted at me that I was an inconsiderate, selfish person for not doing the dishes. That’s burned into my brain. My beautiful, wonderful, sweet boyfriend yelled at me and basically told me I was the scum of the earth because I didn’t do the dishes.”

“I never said you were the scum of the earth. I said you were inconsiderate and selfish. And you were.” Jimin maintained. “Getting an apartment with a dishwasher was the best decision we ever made.”

“Anyway! Jerk.” I patted his arm, which was positioned underneath my chest. “It’s not like you still roll over in the morning and muse about how beautiful I am. I’m lucky if I get a look of acknowledgment in the morning, much less a kiss.”

“Mm, sometimes I do.” He said softly.

“Really?” I turned around in his embrace so we were eye-to-eye.

Jimin kissed the tip of my nose. “Yeah. I feel lucky that you still wanna be with me. Baby, I know I ed up this past year, but you’re still the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

I cast my gaze down to his chest, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

“Jimin?”

“Yes, my love.”

“I…” I swallowed, but my voice still cracked when I spoke again. “Why do you…even…lo-love me? I don’t know if…if I could still love me if I were in your position.”

Jimin sat up and pulled me with him. A small huff of air escaped his mouth as he plopped me into his lap, a frown fixed on his face. Warm hands cupped my face, making me feel safe and comforted.

“Stop.” He said sternly, pulling down his eyebrows to show that he meant business. “Just stop.”

“I can’t stop! I hate that I did this to you. I hate that you’re sad, that we went through all this. We just had the tiest year ever, Jimin. How can you tell me to stop? How can I stop when you still look at me like…like I’m breaking your heart?” Tears slipped down my cheeks and Jimin brushed them away with his thumb.

“Sweetheart, it’s going to take time. This is not something we can fix in a few weeks, alright? It’s going to take a little bit of work, every single day. But I’m in this, I’m all in.” Jimin touched his forehead to mine.

I sniffed and attempted to smile. Jimin laughed through his nose.

Our gaze met and I found nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

We stayed in that position for what seemed like forever. Simply staring into each other’s eyes.

Jimin had such beautiful eyes. And he was looking at me like that.

I’d missed the feeling of mutual love between us.

“You didn’t look at the back of your Christmas present.” Jimin said eventually. He knocked his forehead gently against mine and kissed the tip of my nose.

“I don’t wanna move.” I murmured back to him. “I just wanna stay like this forever.”

He smiled shyly at me, tongue running out to run alongside his lower lip. I impulsively leaned in and kissed him, slipping my tongue against his. He responded immediately and enthusiastically, gently pushing me back onto the mattress and laying down on top of me.

“I love you, I love you.” I whispered hoarsely in between kisses. “I love you so much, Jimin.”

He hummed in the back of his throat and shifted to kiss down my neck. I started to his adorable snowman pajamas, but he suddenly stopped and sat up, legs straddling my waist.

“Hey. Is it wrong to have on Christmas? You know, right, cause you’re, like, religious.”

I blinked at him. “Uh…what?”

“You know,” Jimin continued, running a hand through his shaggy black-blonde hair, “it’s Jesus’ birthday. Is it wrong? Is it weird?”

I shook my head at him in disbelief. “Jimin, what? Stop talking about this and let’s have .”

“No, baby, wait! Is it bad? Is God gonna be mad at us when we die?” He bit his lip and waited for my answer with anxious eyes.

“Oh my god.” I muttered under my breath. “First off, do you actually think of me as a religious person?”

Jimin shrugged. “I mean…you’re always telling me I’m sacrilegious. And you, like, talk to your parents about God. You’ve said many times that you believe in God, and I’ve caught you praying in secret sometimes.”

I flushed. “I don’t pray in secret. I don’t pray.”

Jimin seemed to realize that we’d stepped into some dangerous territory and quickly started to backtrack. “Hey, baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Listen, there’s nothing wrong with praying. I think it’s pretty cool, actually. And just forget my whole question. I was just curious. Thought of it all of a sudden, and then just…asked you. Cause sometimes you know about these things.”

“I don’t think it’s wrong to have on Christmas. I don’t think God cares. We’re not even doing anything . Oh my god.” I shook my head again as I felt a blush creep up my neck. “Jimin! What the hell, you ruined a perfectly good moment.”

He smiled at me, such a cheeky, adorable smile that I immediately forgave him. “Now you can look at my present!”

“You look like you’re five right now, anyway. I couldn’t possibly have with you.” I agreed with a laugh. Jimin pouted, then tossed me the CD.

“Read the back. Read it, read it.” He insisted.

On the back was a somewhat more recent picture of me, softly blurred so that the text was the main focal point. I didn’t recognize the picture, but I recognized my hairstyle. I must have been about twenty-three or twenty-four, because I sported a short, bobbed haircut. No curls in sight.

Interesting. I always thought Jimin secretly hated that haircut, since he was weirdly obsessed with my long, curly hair, but I supposed I’d been wrong.

“I’ll never forget that day.” Jimin said softly as he scooched next to me and peered down at the album. “I can’t believe it’s been so long.”

. ! This picture had a significance to our relationship, but I couldn’t remember it! Jimin didn’t seem to mind my silence, but my mind raced to remember what had possibly happened the day he took the picture.

He took my hand and laced our fingers together, smiling sweetly at me. “Can you believe how far we’ve come since that day?”

“No.” I replied. “I can’t believe it.”

God, what was I even doing in the picture? Staring at something, but what? My hand? Or my stomach?

Oh. Ohh.

“I’m looking at a pregnancy test, right?”

Jimin nodded. He looked very soft and sentimental. I resisted the urge to throw myself at him and tackle him in a bear hug.

“Yeah. Found out you were going to be my wife and I was going to be a father all in the same day. What a whirlwind.”

“We bought so many pregnancy tests at the supermarket.” I chuckled, remembering.

“So many! That cashier judged us so hard.”

“Well, you wouldn’t stop jumping up and down in excitement or trying to kiss me.” I poked his side and he giggled.

“Yeah. I was happy.” Jimin wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

“Me too.” I turned my head and kissed his mouth.

Jimin pulled me into his lap and cupped my face in his hand. Noses nudged against each other as he leaned in and slipped his tongue into my mouth. I slid my hand up his thigh and caressed his toned stomach.

“Baby, I love you.” Jimin breathed into my ear as he pushed me back down onto the bed.

“Aren’t you worried that God is gonna be mad at us?” I laughed quietly. “Don’t you want me to look at your album?”

He ignored me and tugged my shirt over my head. Tapped my hipbones to get me to lift myself up, then got me out of my pants.

“I’ve still got it, huh, babe? Can get you out of these clothes in ten seconds flat.” Jimin smirked at me.

“Hurry up, we don’t have a lot of time. It’s Christmas morning, after all.”

Jimin kissed down my neck, to my stomach. Kissed my hips, tracing my stretch marks with his fingers.

“I love you.” He whispered. “I love you so much.”

“I love you more.” I murmured, ing his pajama shirt. “Can you take your pants off?”

He shimmied out of them with a smile. “There’s more to your present, you know. I made covers of all your favorite love songs. Jay Park sings with me on one of them.”

“Oh my god. Oh my god, Jimin.” I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of me. “That’s amazing.”

“You’re amazing. Now, shh. No talking unless you’re screaming my name.” He kissed my cheek. “But no screaming because we’ve gotta be quiet.”

I rolled my eyes and giggled. “You’re so stupid.”

“You love me.”

“I love you.”

Before Haru absolutely exploded with impatience, Jimin and I had a few minutes after our rendezvous to get dressed and talk. While I nursed Sun Jae, he rummaged around in his closet and found an old CD player. A Chris Brown CD played as soon as he plugged it in and we both burst into laughter.

“I was so obsessed with this album when I was in middle school. Used to practice dance routines to it.” He popped it out and gently placed his own album in.

“Alright, so the first track is one that we both love. #Beautiful. Mariah Carey and Miguel.”

“Oh my god! I can’t wait. Is it the version that you sing with Jungkook and Hoseok?”

“Nah. I did it with another singer.”

“Who? Who!”

Jimin flushed. “Hwasa.”

I squinted at him. “Babe…when did you record this?”

He shrugged. “Just sometime.”

“Where you meeting up with Hwasa behind my back?!” I pointed accusingly at him. Sun Jae briefly broke off to look up at me, startled. I murmured some soothing words to him as Jimin choked.

“Baby, it was just this! Listen, it was a surprise because I know you’re a fan of hers. It was in California. I did the Jay Park song then, too. I wasn’t meeting up with her behind your back!”

I winked at him. “I know. I’m just teasing you.”

“Look at the cover and see the other songs.” Jimin handed it to me. “I put all your favorites on there. I think. Maybe you have new favorites I don’t know about.”

“Aquaman!” I crowed. “Ooh, and it’s got Jay Park on it. Damn, Jimin. This is quite a present.”

He smiled, clearly pleased with himself.

“Let’s see, what else is on here? A lot of Mat Kearney.”

“I know you love him.” He peered over my shoulder to look at the case.

“Billion, Heartbeat, Air I Breathe. Mm, all my favorites. Can’t wait to hear you sing them.”

Jimin nuzzled his face into my neck, distracting me by kissing my freckles.

“Slow Motion by Trey Songz! Boy!! You know me so well.”

He laughed and kissed the back of my neck. Sun Jae unlatched for a moment to smile at Jimin.

“The Beginning...by John Legend. Oh, you used to sing this to me when I was pregnant with Haru.”

“Soon as I saw you, baby, I had plans,” Jimin sang, “plans to do it ‘til we had a baby, even if the world is crazy. Pick a name, boy or girl, then we’ll change, change the world.”

“Do you think we’re a cute celebrity couple like John Legend and Chrissy Teigen?” I asked him.

“You’re not a celebrity.” He murmured, kissing down my spine. It tickled and I giggled, jostling Sun Jae. “But yeah, we’re cute like them.”

“J. Cole’s Foldin Clothes! Ft. J-Hope on this, oh my god, yes.”

“He does all the rap parts. Cause I can’t rap to save my life.”

“Very true.” I agreed. “Oh, Jimin. You put so many of our faves on here. So many songs you used to sing to me. Coffee ing and Simple Things by Miguel? Babe, this is so sweet.”

“Did you see Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur? And Religious by Ne-Yo?”

I nodded, melting inside. “Yeah, baby. I saw them.”

“What’s your favorite song on here?” Jimin asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. Sun Jae’s eyes fluttered closed and we both watched as he fell asleep, one hand resting on my .

“I love when he falls asleep when he eats.” I whispered. Jimin hummed in agreement.

The next track started to play on the stereo. All I Wanna Do by Jay Park. When the song first came out, Jimin and I used to listen to this on shared earphones as we traipsed through the streets of Seoul, holding hands and singing along.

“My favorite song on this album? Um…I love them all.”

“C’mon, you have to have a favorite.” Jimin nosed his way along my jaw. “What’s your favorite, baby?”

“Mmm…probably Just Kids by Mat Kearney.”

He paused. “I didn’t expect that one. I added it on a whim, cause I liked it. Kinda reminded me of us.”

“Yeah, same.” I said softly, turning towards him. Our noses touched. Jimin kissed me once before leaning back so we could see each other. “It’s weird to think about us dating, isn’t it? Feels so long ago, but I’ve been thinking about it so much this past year. Thinking about how I’d like to go back to that time, back when we loved each other like that. I know I love you more now, but I was happier about it then. We were both so happy then. I know we fought, but I don’t know. I’m happy we’re here and I’m glad that we’ve been doing well. But sometimes I miss when we were just kids. Just hanging out, doing dumb . I miss that.”

“Right, I felt that way too. Listening to it, it reminded me of when we were young. We’re not old now, but everything is so different. And the chorus, ‘I can feel it in the way we try, I can feel it in the way we fight. We’re standing side by side. Like we were just kids.’ I don’t know. It just feels like we’re heading back to that feeling, but we’ve got all this history between us now.”

“It does kind of feel like that, doesn’t it? Like we’re rediscovering our love. Feels like the same old rhythm, but different. Still love you, always loved you, but falling in love with you again.”

“Like when we were just kids.” Jimin whispered, resting his forehead against mine.

I kissed him.

“Hey, what’s your favorite song, Chim?”

“Ah…Billion. Cause out of seven billion in the world, baby, I only wanna be with you.”