Till There Was You [FINISHED]

EPILOGUE

Present day, 2023

"Eomommy, can I ask you something?" My twelve-year-old son calls from the doorway of our kitchen.

I pause on preparing the sandwiches and gesture for him to come closer. "What is it baby?" 

"But promise me, you won't get mad."

I playfully pout and look up pretending to think it over. "Hmmm, depends on the circumstance."

"Eomommy..." he protests and hugs my waist in an attempt to persuade me with his sweetness. He gets that habit from his father. 

"Okay, okay, fire away baby." I raise my two hands in surrender.

"Can I bring Hana over to our house and have samgyup here next Saturday?" 

"Yoon Seo-jin." I put my hands on my waist as I look down on him with narrow eyes. So far, I haven't heard him talk about anyone from school except Hana. My little boy's got a crush now. Oh my, he's growing up too fast.

"Eomommy, you promised." He reminds me. I drop my hands and sigh. 

"Aside from that, we are doing our Science project here." He adds sheepishly. "Please please Eomommy..."

"On one condition."

He pouts and crinkles his nose. That seems to be the only thing he got from me. Looking at him, he's all Ha Joon. Ugh, where is that man? I need some rescuing here.

"Okay, Eomommy. I'm all ears, anything for you." He moves his eyebrows up and down and smiles teasingly. I have to say, my son has a charming personality.

"Help me feed your sisters." I tell him as I finally finish plating our food and setting up my little girls' cereals. Ha Joon and I are not working today so we decided to spend time with our children.

"Easy, tsk tsk." He grins at me and helps me carry the plates and bowls. We go out in the backyard and we are welcomed by boisterous laughter and a messy sight. Ha Joon is lying on the grass with my two girls on his sides. Ji-woo is drawing with some coloring pen on his father's cheeks while Ji-yoo is emptying a bottle of baby powder on his hair and forehead.

"Ha Joon! What are you doing?!"

"What? I'm playing barbie with my kids." He responds nonchalantly while going along with the girls. I laugh. "Girls, come on, have your breakfast first." The twins do their thing and both look at me at exactly the same time with puppy eyes. They don't budge from their position, obviously not yet done with their father's make-up. 

"Ji-woo, Ji-yoo, listen to Eomommy. Come on, let's have breakfast first so you won't get worms in your tummies. After that, you can continue playing with Appa." One thing I am grateful for is that my eldest might still be young but when it comes to his little sisters, he has a command of a big brother. I find that very mature. His attitude is a balance between caring and firm. I see Ha Joon look at his son proudly and glance at me trying to convey that we are indeed doing a good job in raising him.

The girls' eyes widen and as fast as lighting, they get on their feet and sit on their chairs. "Ewww, don't like worms..." Ji-yoo speaks out with disgust. Ji-woo just settles quietly without a word, she's more reserved than her sister.

As they grow up, my little girls are showing more differences in personality despite being identical. Yes, I was one of the rare cases to have conceived another set of twins six years after experiencing the vanishing twin syndrome. We thanked all the entities up in heaven when we learned that both our babies were strong and had high chances of surviving. Here we are now, experiencing household chaos every now and then. With three children running around the house, who wouldn't get crazy? But I love them all to bits no matter how loud and naughty they get sometimes.

Ha Joon gets up from his position without erasing the colorful smudges on his cheeks. My girls definitely got their Daddy wrapped around their little fingers. He approaches, gives me a kiss on the cheek and secretly massages my behind. I roll my eyes at him while dusting some of the powder off his hair. He just returns it with a saucy grin and a wink.

While we lounge outside enjoying our breakfast, I stare at my kids lovingly and sigh. I never imagined that my life would turn out like this. Never in my dreams have I envisioned having kids and a husband but seeing them all now, I couldn't even begin to imagine life without them going forwards. After giving birth to Seo-jin, Ha Joon and I got married quietly. I was finally convinced that tying the knot with the one I truly love does not take my independence away. I just need to find the right balance and support to be able to live freely while sharing my life with people that really matter to me. I still record my music and have even ventured into theater and small screen projects. There are times that it drains the hell out of me but at the end of the day, I get motivated by the sight of my family. I feel a warm hand enclosing mine from under the table. From the corner of my eyes, I see my husband smiling at me so I turn to him and lay my head on his shoulder. 

"Thank you for having my kids, yeobo" He whispers and kisses the top of my head. I acknowledge his words by tightening my hold on his hand. 

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VOCAB:

Eomommy - just invented this, a playful combination of Eomma and Mommy. 🤗