Jennie
The sound of Jisoo shuffling down the stairs precedes the customary head poking around the door.
"Morning." She whispers.
Both Ella and I tilt our heads to the door at the same time.
"Do you two rehearse that? Every morning the two of you do it and it still creeps me out." Jisoo admonishes.
I chuckle, while pulling a face at Ella for good measure. Jisoo is convinced that Ella is my clone. She thinks that I went through all the trouble of having her cloned but changed the hair slightly so people wouldn't immediately tell.
As if I had the money to do that. No, Ella is the result of searching the sperm bank library for a suitable specimen. Followed by a few months of artificial self-insemination.
Well, actually Deb did that part for me but the less I think of her, the better.
Gathering Ella in my arms, I follow Jisoo into the kitchen. Working together, we get breakfast started. I'm just sitting down with Ella's food when the not-so-subtle footsteps of Jisoo's two boys come stampeding down the stairs.
"Josh followed by Jacob." I say in our usual game of guess the herd order.
"No, the other way around." She says before the boys come barrelling around the corner. Seven-year-old Jacob first followed closely by his ten-year-old brother Josh. "See, a mother knows." She smiles at me before stealing a kiss off each of her sons.
The noise level in the house is lively as everyone enjoys breakfast.
"What time do you have to be, you know where?" Jisoo asks, meaning what time do I have to be at work.
With Ella clinging onto me tighter than a baby chimpanzee, it makes heading to work very difficult. Every time I've left her has resulted in crying. After the first couple of shifts, she recognised that when I wear my uniform, it means that I have to leave, causing the problems to start earlier. It's gotten to the point now that I have to change into my uniform at work.
I hate this part but I find that it must be done. I have to work, meaning I need to leave her. Of course, I would love to have nothing better than to be home with her everyday but I can't afford the luxury of it. Thankfully Jisoo can look after her for me, it's just the leaving her part, that is difficult.
"One thirty." I answer.
"Okay, with Hae-in coming home from work soon, I thought I would take the kids out so he can get some sleep."
Jisoo's husband worked shifts as a security guard. He was a big and tall bloke but great with the kids. Jisoo worked from home, so she had the freedom to take the kids out when she wanted. "We could take them to the park or I have been wanting to go to the local café since it's been renovated. We could do the pass-over there." She suggests. Trying to talk in code so the kids don't pick up on anything. Ella may be two but at the mere mention of me going to work, she has a melt-down.
"Sounds like a plan."
