Hello, Love, I'm Home!

xxv: Jealousy 101

Kathryn's POV

Kaiah had just finished her homework, and she was curled up on the couch with a book, flipping through its pages. It was one of the books she and Ash bought earlier about how to be an excellent fur mom. I was in the kitchen, starting to clean up after dinner, when she suddenly piped up with a question that caught me off guard.

"Mommy, what is jealousy?"

I froze for a second. Jealousy? Saan galing yun? I turned around to find my husband standing there, his hand halfway to his cup of tea. The expression on his face was priceless—a mix of surprise, confusion, and mild panic, like he was trying to figure out how to navigate this question without it becoming a very adult conversation.

Hindi ko napigilang matawa sa expression ng mukha nya. "Jealousy?" sabi ko, walking over to Kaiah. "Well, it's when someone feels upset because they think someone else has something they want or something that's important to them. It's like if you saw a friend playing with a toy you really like and you wanted it, but you didn't want to share. Does that make sense?"

Kaiah thought about it for a moment, her little brows furrowing in deep concentration. "Hmmm... so, if I don't want anyone playing with my capybara stuffie because I love it, that's jealousy?"

I smiled at how simply she understood the concept. "Exactly, sweetie. But remember, it's okay to feel that way sometimes—it's a feeling we all get. The important thing is how we handle it. We don't want to hurt anyone because of it."

RJ, who had been silently observing, finally cleared his throat. "Well, I guess that's one way of putting it," he chimed in, trying to recover from the jealousy bomb that had just landed in our living room. "I mean, everyone feels jealous sometimes. Even parents." He shot me a playful look, a hint of teasing in his voice, but I saw a shadow of something deeper behind his eyes.

Kaiah's eyes brightened up as she processed that new bit of information. "Wait, parents can feel jealous?" she asked, wide-eyed, as if she'd just discovered that even grown-ups weren't immune to emotions.

I couldn't help but smile at her innocent curiosity. "Yep, even parents," I said, nudging RJ with my elbow. "Sometimes, when we see someone getting a little too much attention or a special treat, we might feel a tiny bit jealous too. But it doesn't mean we're mad at anyone—it's just a feeling, and we talk it out."

Kaiah giggled at the thought of her parents feeling jealous. "So, you get jealous of Dad?" she asked, her tone teasing, knowing full well that RJ was standing there, ears wide open.

I looked at RJ, whose face was now turning tomatoes that was hard to ignore. His eyes widened as he shot me a look, almost as if to say, You're not really going to go there, are you?

I couldn't resist. "Oh, definitely," I said, giving him an exaggerated wink. "Minsan sweetie, I get jealous of how much time your dad spends working on his projects. I mean, come on, RJ, can't you just spend more time playing with me?"

Kaiah burst out laughing, clearly delighted at the idea of her parents being jealous of each other over work. RJ's face went even redder, and he put his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, it's important work, Love!" he protested, grinning now, the tension in his voice lightening.

"Well, if you ever get jealous, just remember to talk to me, okay?" I said, taking a seat next to Kaiah, who was now snuggled into the couch. "That's what we do when we feel jealous, we talk about it, and that makes everything better."

"Got it, mommy" she said, snuggling deeper into her blanket. "So, jealousy is like when you want something someone else has but don't tell them, right?"

"Exactly," I replied, stroking her hair gently. "And when you talk about it, it stops being a big deal. It just becomes another feeling, and we can deal with it together."

Kaiah nodded and, to my surprise, yawned. "Okay," she mumbled, eyes half-closed. "That makes sense. But... can we talk about jealousy tomorrow, mom? I think I'm really tired now."

I laughed softly and kissed the top of her head. "Of course, sweetheart. Goodnight."

She smiled sleepily, then, just like that, was asleep in seconds. I looked over at RJ, who was still standing in the same spot, shaking his head in amusement.

"You realize you just gave a very detailed explanation of jealousy to a five-year-old," he said, a half-smile playing on his lips. "And it ended with her falling asleep."

I grinned back. "Hey, she asked the question. It's not my fault she was so tired she passed out in the middle of it."

RJ walked over and sat beside me on the couch, his face softer now, the earlier tension completely gone. "You know," he said, his tone suddenly serious, "I've been thinking about what we talked about earlier. About Shawn."

I nodded, waiting for him to continue. I could sense he still had a few things on his mind, and I wanted to be there for him.

"I've been trying to figure out if I was really just being petty or if there was something more to it," he said quietly. "I've been thinking about everything you said. And about what Ashley told me."

"I'm glad you talked to her," I said softly, resting my head on his shoulder. "I was hoping that would help." Ashley told me about their conversation when I had him drive by her restaurant for beef salpicao.

"I think it did," he said, his voice warmer now. "I still felt a little off, but... I think I get it. I was overthinking it. But I also didn't want to ignore how I was feeling, Love. It's just... hard sometimes."

"I know," I replied, my fingers tracing small circles on his hand. "But we'll always talk about things, RJ. That's how we make it work. No more silence, no more holding things in. You can always come to me."

We sat there for a moment, the weight of the day slowly lifting as we let ourselves unwind. The clock ticked by, but neither of us seemed to care about the time anymore. I could feel that sense of peace again—like everything was falling back into place.

Finally, RJ broke the silence with a playful smirk. "Okay, so... since we're on the topic of jealousy... do we need to make a deal?"

"A deal?" I raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Yeah," he said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "How about, from now on, every time I feel a little jealous or overprotective... I owe you a date night? I think we need to balance it out somehow."

I grinned, liking the sound of that. "I can live with that," I said. "But you know what? I think every time you feel jealous, you owe me two date nights. Just to make sure you get it out of your system."

"Deal," he said immediately, without hesitation, and then added with a wink, "But only if I get to choose the restaurant."

"Deal," I laughed, feeling a lightness between us that hadn't been there before. "As long as it's not another one of those sushi places where I have to eat things I can't pronounce."

"Hey," he said, leaning in for a quick kiss. "Jealousy or not, we're in this together. Even if that means I have to deal with your sushi cravings."

And just like that, the conversation about jealousy, the tension from earlier, and even the stress of the day seemed to fade away. Because, in the end, we both knew one thing for sure: no matter what feelings came up, we were always going to talk it out and find a way through—together.

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A/N

Sino ba kasi si Shawn?