BABY MAMA | pjm

VIII

ACT II | SCENE VIII

❝CARTOONS & SHORTBREADS❞

JIMIN'S INDEX FINGER pushed down on the small button next to the door causing a musical tone to announce his presence at the door. he waited a few seconds before he heard approaching footfalls on the other side followed by the pitter patter of tiny feet.

a small smile formed on his face as an image of rosalie running across the room behind her mother played in his mind. there was shuffling on the other side before the door finally opened to reveal a disheveled jangmi.

he glanced down to find his daughter peeking at him from behind her mother's legs, a huge smile revealing a recently chipped tooth on her face. "beau!" his face brightened as his eyes disappeared in a smile exposing his own crooked tooth. "hey, princess."

"hi," jangmi said, pulling his attention back to her. "hi," he answered, straightening. "you said we needed to talk?" she asked, left brow lifting slightly. "um, yeah." he nodded. "come in." she invited and shifted out of the way.

he stepped in and his nostrils were instantly filled with the pleasant smell of pastries that bakeries usually had. he sniffed a bit as he heard the door shut behind him. "we're making shortbreads." jangmi explained as she watched jimin lift rosalie into his arms.

"ah, i see." his eyes regarded her for a moment, taking in her white powder covered face and hair, which he now figured to be flour, and food colouring stained hands most likely from frosting. he chuckled a bit at the sight. she frowned at his apparent amusement.

"hey, i got you something princess." he cooed to the girl in his arms. "what?" her eyes became instantly eager and curious. he lifted his hand to show her a small box which she took from him. lifting the lid, she pulled out a red hair bow. "a bow from beau." he chuckled out.

rosalie screamed happily at the sight of it. "thank you." she chirped out before her mother could prompt her to say the words and tried to place it on her hair. smiling, jimin helped her with it.

once it was safely atop her head, she wiggled out of his grasp and ran in the direction of the bedrooms, most likely to check out her new hair accessory. the two watched her go with smiles on their faces.

"so what do you want to talk about?" jangmi asked once they were seated. rosalie had been successfully distracted by the antics of a cartoon cat and mouse on the screen of her mother's laptop. she giggled every now and then with amusement.

jimin took in a lungful of air before replying, "i told my family about rosalie." jangmi looked surprised to hear that he'd actually let them know about his fatherhood. "how did they take it?"

"my mother fainted." he answered. "you're joking." disbelief passed across her features at his statement. "i'm not. she heard how old rosalie was and just passed out. i thought my father was going to kill me."

he scrubbed at his face with the palm of his hands, letting his frustration seep through. "he's been mad at me ever since. and my mother won't speak to me. the only person who still treats me the same is bora."

"i'm sorry about that." she told him with genuineness. "thanks." he smiled wanly. "jangmi, they want to meet you two." he added before wincing. even though she had been expecting that sooner or later, jangmi's hands closed around her apron on her lap.

"when?" she asked softly, long lashes hiding the dread in her eyes. "they want you to come for dinner next friday." he answered, trying to read the look on her face. "we have to tell rosalie you're her father but i don't know how."

"daddy?"

jangmi and jimin jerked around at the small voice. rosalie sat on her little cushion on the floor, staring up at both of them with big doe eyes, sleek, long lashes caressing her slightly chubby cheeks every time she blinked in waiting. the cartoon had stopped playing, which would explain why she had heard them.

rosalie's gaze wandered between the two adults, still trying to understand what was going on. had her mummy just called beau her daddy? she didn't know she had a father like the other kids. she'd always thought that she only had her mother. she waited for either of the wide eyed duo to answer her question.

"is beau my daddy?" she turned to her mother anticipatively. jangmi's lips pursed as she gulped lightly. "um..." she beckoned for rosalie to come to her with her hands. rosalie shuffled off the soft cushion and went to her.

jangmi sat her on her lap. "rosie?" she said softly and the girl blinked at her. "yes, beau is your daddy." the expression on her face made it seem like it physically hurt her to say the words. she forced on a smile for her daughter.

"he is?" the girl looked at the raven haired man who nodded, a smile splitting his beautiful face. rosalie turned to her mother again. she looked so confused.

jangmi could understand. for all her life, rosalie had only known her mother. now here they were telling her the man she'd referred to as beau for almost three weeks was her father. "yes."

"i have a daddy?" her voice was soft. both parents felt their hearts break a little at the question. "yes, sweetie, you do." her mother's pursed lips curved in a small smile.

"papa?" rosalie looked to jimin. "yes?" his voice cracked at the end as he smiled at her. letting go of jangmi, the child slid off her thighs and pattered toward an open armed jimin. "papa." she repeated as she got to him.

just as she was wrapped in his warm embrace, the oven dinged, signalling that the batch of shortbreads was ready. jangmi looked towards the kitchen and back at the father-daughter pair before getting on her feet silently.

at least, rosalie would be too distracted by her bonding moment to insist that they put frosting on this second batch as well. she would let them enjoy their cute moment.

☀☀☀

this is lame but i didn't know how else to break it to rosalie lol
and i just realised there's a running food theme in this act.