Prompt: Jin shows his white hair to his kids in the future
-----------------------------------------
"Jin?" I said, walking into the living room.
"Hm?" Jin looked up at me.
He was lying on the couch, a book in his hands. Our daughter, Nora, sat crossed-legged on Jin's outstretched legs. Our son, Hiro, leaned against the couch next to Jin. Both of the kids were reading, as well.
"Look what I found," I said, holding up a dusty photo album. "The pictures from Constance Academy and the summer after we graduated."
Jin shut his book and put it on the coffee table. "I forgot about those."
"I was cleaning out the drawers of that cabinet in the basement," I said, moving towards the couch.
Jin sat up, pulling Nora into his lap as he did so. She looked at the photo album curiously as I sat next to her on the couch, leaning my cane against the side of it.
"Pictures of you and dad?" she asked.
"Yea," I said, setting it on the coffee table. "Really old pictures of us, from when we were in high school. And the summer before we started college."
"I wanna see!" Hiro said, tossing his book on the ground and scrambling up onto the couch between us.
I flipped the photo album open and nearly laughed at the first picture in it. It was Jin and Karson, Amelia across from them talking. Jin had that impassive expression on his face and Karson looked amused by whatever Amelia was saying.
Nora leaned forward, furrowing her brow and pointing. "Is that dad? Why does his hair look like that?"
Jin ran a hand through his dark hair. "I had white hair for a few years."
"Why?" Nora said, reaching up and tugging on a lock of Jin's black hair. "I like your hair this way!"
"The stress of living with Karson turned it white," Jin said.
Hiro's eyes widened. "Really? Uncle Karson made your hair turn white?"
Jin disguised his laugh as a cough. "Yea, he was a real pain."
I rolled my eyes. "He was a real pain. But dad chose to have white hair. He dyed it that color. Go on Jin, tell your children why your hair was white."
Jin shrugged. "Stress."
"He wanted it to look like snow," I said.
"Shut up," Jin said, kicking at my good leg. "No one asked you."
"Snow?" Nora said.
"Your grandma told Jin he had a soul like snow," I said, shoving Jin's foot away when he tried to kick me again. "He took it very literally."
"Hiro, whack your father with his cane. I can't reach it," Jin said.
"You looked stupid back then," I said, eyeing the pictures fondly.
"You still kissed me first," Jin said.
"I had to close my eyes first," I said, leaning over and kissing him.
The kids let out a chorus of "Ewww", but Jin put his hand on the back of my neck, kissing me back. It had been so many years since the Academy, since my accident, since Jin's alcoholism. We'd spent careful years healing ourselves the best we could. We could smile and joke and kiss freely. We had a family together and while we still struggled from time to time, we were raising the kids the best we could.
Jin had stopped dying his hair when his relationship with his parents started to get better. His natural black had reclaimed its spotlight, and it's all the kids had ever seen him with.
"Are you gonna make your hair white again, dad?" Hiro asked.
Jin shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "No, I can't. Your sister likes the color it is now."
"I'd be sad if it was white," Nora agreed, curling against Jin's chest.
He put an arm around her. "It'll stay black. Besides, your father would make fun of me if I dyed it again."
"You're damn right I would," I said. "Same for you, kids. If you ever dye your hair white, I'll make fun of you until it's back to normal."
"I'm going to dye mine pink!" Hiro said.
"Oh, I want to dye mine blue!" Nora said.
"Look what you've started," I said, glaring at Jin.
He shrugged. "They can do that. I don't care. It's not my hair."
"No dying your hair. You're too young." I flipped the page of the photo album and pointed to another picture of Jin with his white hair. "See this? Look how dumb he looks."
"But you love him," Nora said.
"Hey, no one asked you," I said, putting my hand over her mouth.
Jin pulled my hand away from Nora's mouth. "I'm asking."
"You're the worst," I said, but I couldn't the smile on my face.
Jin drew me close again, our kids between us, our past laid out before us, smiles on our faces. "But you love me."
As we kissed again, I ran a hand through his dark hair. He'd come so far, and I was glad to be here for every step of his recovery.
