If Only I Knew

CHAPTER III

Candles- Check!

Yummy and piping hot food- Check!

No lights- Check!

Sam- Check!

"Mom, you do not need to be so stressed out. It's just Dad not Gordon Ramsey from Masterchef!" Sam told me to calm my nerves for the hundredth time.

"I know. It's just Noah but I think he's really pissed off this time. I hope that he forgives me and we all have the most wonderful time in Itlay!"

"What? Are you serious? Are we really going to Itlay? NO! I wanted to go to Korea. You know how much I love K-Pop and BTS. Please Mom." Yes, my son too was a die-hard fan of Korea and all things Korean for God knows what reason.

"No, Samuel you know that Daddy wanted to go to Itlay the last time as well but couldn't because you whined about going to Japan." I chided him.

Just in time we heard some footsteps approaching and hurried to hide behind the sofa in the living room.

As we grow up, we often tend to lose our playful smile and childish behaviour but Samuel has always been a reminder that I need to take a break and chill out.

The door made a creaking sound when Noah opened it but the sound stopped, probably because he was wondering why were all the lights turned off and candles lit-up. We could hear his cautious footsteps coming towards us. Sam turned towards me, giving me a signal that we need to start now.

"One. Two. Three!" He whispered. We both jumped and Noah screamed his lungs out at the same time. Sam screamed too and I screamed as well because I thought Sam was hurt. In other words, it turned into a game of 'Who screams the loudest?'

"What the hell are you both trying to accomplish?" Noah screamed again, the horror quite apparent through his  facial expressions.

"We were trying to surprise you Noah, So yeah, SURPRISE!" I said. Noah made a weird face and started laughing hysterically. Sam and I started laughing too.

"More like trying to scare me to death." He commented.

"Dad please forgive Mom. She worked really hard to set this up and she wants to take us on a vacation to Maldives"

"What?" Noah questioned.

"I know, right? Who goes to Maldives for a vacation? I told her to take us to Korea." His comment brought a smile on both of our faces and Noah replied. "I am not the only one who needs to forgive, Brook. I think I went overboard and said some things that I probably shouldn't have said. I'm sorry too."

I looked at him with nothing but adoration in my eyes. And that's why I know that all those things that Sarah said were useless. We're not broken, we're just bent. We'll face everything that comes our way, the way that we've always done.

"I forgive you too, if you forgive me." It came out of my mouth like a whisper. Noah immediately pulled me towards him and hugged me. "I forgive you." He whispered into my ears.

We were broken from our trance due to the constant coughing of Sam in the background. He looked at us both innocently and we both bent down and hugged him as well.

This is what I live for. I live for my family, my imperfect little family.

After having the most delicious dinner, Noah and Sam decided that we watch 'Cobra Kai'. I don't know why do these boys love supernatural stuff so much but anyways I agreed because I was contended that we were spending time like a normal family again.

Not more than half an hour into the show and Sam had a sudden craving for popcorn, much to my dissatisfaction. I went to the kitchen and waited while the popcorns were being cooked. Standing there I thought of what my life was like 7 years ago. I had no worries about the future and no doubts about what I wanted from my life, more specifically who I wanted to spend it with. The alarm of the microwave brought me back to reality. As I placed the popcorns in the bowl, I got a call from Sarah. She really does call me at the worst moments!