earning it back // chaelisa

chapter 16: all the things to give thanks for

a.n. hey guys wassup its been a bit lol but i converted the long awaited chapter i apologize for being incognito but i kinda was j out of converting lol but i am back and im ngl i j converted i didn't really read it so if there are errors pls lemme know and ill fix em but i j wanted to get the chapter out as fast as possible. i also have no idea if this is the last chapter the author did not specify so :/

Monday morning greets them with the same lazy tendrils as Sunday.

It's something Chaeyoung had never truly appreciated before, waking up without an alarm clock. Her Monday to Friday used to look very different — going to bed when the sun was almost coming up, waking up whenever her body felt like it — and she would sleep in if given the chance, despite her treacherous body refusing it more often than not. Still, she's in no hurry to get up, only buries herself deeper under the blankets.

They smell like Lisa, her shampoo clinging to the fabric, the expensive body lotion she puts on every evening mixing with it. They smell like her too, like them — like late nights and wandering touches, like quiet kissing and muffled moans. They smell like the life they're building together.

In her half awake state, it takes a moment for Chaeyoung to notice how wrapped around each other they are. At some point during the night, their cuddling turned into spooning — their ankles tangled together, thighs fitting beautifully together, Lisa's back against her chest, her hand caught in between hers. With a deep sigh, she breathes Lisa in, presses a kiss on the back of her neck, and earns a muffled " good morning. "

With a smile and a whispered answer, Chaeyoung ventures further with her kisses. One on her shoulder, another on the column of her neck. Her nose runs a path up until she can kiss the underside of Lisa's ear, her tongue darting out—

"It's Thanksgiving!" A tiny voice, croaking with sleep, fills the room as the door sways open. "Wake up, wake up. It's Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving, baby," Lisa says, her head coming out of the comforter cocoon to greet her son. She makes wide circles with her feet, a telltale sign that she's about to get up. It's something Chaeyoung has noticed over the mornings waking up beside her, long enough for the self consciousness of having another body beside her in the morning to give way to habit.

Chaeyoung rolls around to lie on her back, missing Lisa's warmth immediately. She lets her arm fall out of the cover, reaching out for Jake to take — he's almost vibrating, his pajamas riding up his calf, one sock missing. "Happy Thanksgiving, bud. Want some snuggles?"

"No, I want to go make turkeys," he shouts, too loud for such an early hour, and skips towards her on his tiptoes. He grabs her thumb and pinky finger, determined to drag her from bed, "Come on, we have to make turkeys. Everyone is coming soon." Each word is punctuated with a jump. "It's cold, I'm getting a blankie."

He lets go of her hand, ready to run towards his room. But he barely makes it to the door before Lisa calls after him. "Jake, change out of your pajamas. Put a sweatshirt on, please?"

An enthusiastic " 'kay! " comes from down the hallway — nothing like the excitement of a holiday with all his extended family coming over to turn Jake into the most independent little guy.

Lisa sits up and stretches, her arms going up and then reaching down to her toes. It's another habit of hers, and Chaeyoung wants to curl up around her, kiss her back, make this moment last a little longer — and she will, another day, when the stakes aren't so high and there isn't a four-year-old knocking something over a few doors down. After rolling her head one way and another to ease knots from her neck, Lisa turns around to look at her.

"Happy Thanksgiving, my love," Lisa leans in for a kiss, covered in sleep and unsaid words, but Chaeyoung hears them all the same — happy first Thanksgiving together, the first of many holidays together. They've gotten better at saying things out loud, at talking to each other when the going gets rough. Some are just too delicate to do so.