Jisoo hummed as she spread silky red petals around the entryway. She made a path all the way to the dining room where a table sat laden down with Thai food, wine, and grape juice. The thirty-seven-year-old woman lit the candles around the table with a soft smile. Lisa should be getting home in about ten minutes, coming home to a lovely Valentine's Day dinner. She wasn't supposed to go into work at all but her assistant called in an SOS so she had to. Manobal had grown so large since she launched the fashion line years ago that there was rarely a day that passed without the brunette going into work.
Jisoo, on the other hand, was a housewife for the most part. She missed working a lot but knew the benefits of staying home greatly outweighed the benefits of work. Every once in a while she would take up a modeling gig, much like she did when she met Lisa. When they first met, fifteen years prior, Lisa was a struggling designer looking for a way to launch her business properly. Jisoo had been a famous model that fell in love with the line and the creator.
Jisoo smoothed out her dress and adjusted her hair just in time to hear the door's lock turn. Lisa walked in the front door looking amazing as always, dressed in a navy pinstriped suit and a crisp button-up dress shirt. Her ashy brown hair was impeccable as it was when Jisoo kissed her head goodbye that morning as was her makeup. Lisa kicked off her black high heels, scattering the petals all around the living room, and sighed in relief at the feeling of being flat on the floor again. "Hi, Chichu," Lisa said tiredly. She tossed her custom briefcase on the sofa and wrapped her arms around her wife of eleven years, too tired to notice the decorations that had appeared after she left the house that morning.
"Hey, baby. How was work?" Lisa whined into Jisoo's shoulder as she rag-dolled on the shorter woman.
"Busyyyy," she drawled. "I'm so glad to be home. How were the-"
"Mama!" Three children came racing from the dark hallway to tackle their mother.
"My Pichues," Lisa yelled. She dropped to her knees to embrace their two sons and daughter while Jisoo ran her fingers through her hair. "I missed you all so much!"
"We missed you too Mama," Jiyong, the eldest, said. His brother, Jensung, pushed him lightly.
"I was gonna say that!" Little Chaeyoung, the baby of the family, hopped in her mother's lap and buried her face in Lisa's chest.
"Mama," she said simply. Lisa beamed at her three children and stood up with Chaeyoung in her arms. "We made dinner," the six-year-old continued.
"Oh really? Well, let me go change into something more comfortable and we'll eat." Lisa kissed Chaeyoung's head and set her down gently. "Everyone go wash up for dinner." Jisoo lightly pushed the two boys toward the bathroom while their sister waddled after them.
"I have everything set up, don't worry about a thing," Jisoo whispered in her wife's year. The brunette pecked her forehead and walked to the master bedroom for a quick wardrobe change. Ten minutes later, the five sat down at the table and dug in after saying grace. Although Lisa was Buddhist and Jisoo never gave much thought to the afterlife, Aunt Chae told baby Chaeyoung all about saying grace before she ate and praying every night before bed.
"What did you three do at school today," Lisa asked.
"I got in trouble," Jiyong said nonchalantly.
"Why," Lisa asked in a panic. She looked to Jisoo and found the older woman trying to hold in a laugh. "What did you do?"
"I gave out Valentine's cards that said, 'I tolerate you' and my teacher didn't appreciate it." Jisoo lost the fight and giggled with her head down. Lisa rubbed her now makeup-free eyes and tried to keep a straight face. Back in the day, Jisoo did that when she was a little older than their son and got in trouble as well. It was one of the Thai woman's favorite stories to hear about when they met with the Kim family.
"I can't get mad at you for that Jiyong. Did anything else happen?" She looked to her other two children to find the eight-year-old Jensung stabbing his broccoli with a chopstick. "Sungie?"
"Taeyin made me drop my chocolate from my admirer."
"I got four stuffed animals," Chaeyoung said distractedly as she tried making animals out of her food.
"I replaced the chocolate so don't think about trying to get your mama to give you more," Jisoo warned. Lisa stared at her wife with a small smile while cocking her head ever so slightly to the right. Her hand found its way to the older woman's and held it gently. Jisoo laced their fingers like it was a natural as breathing.
"What did you do, Chichu?" Jisoo's dark eyes met Lisa's and for the ten millionth time, the younger's breath caught. Her wife's eyes never ceased to make everything else disappear.
"Oh, you know. Helped Chae and Jen out at the studio and talked to Jiyong. He wanted to show me the results of the last photoshoot before he sent them to be finalized. He sends his love." Lisa smiled when Jisoo mentioned her old manager. Kwon Jiyong was the designer that inspired her to create her own fashion line. Before that, she was a simple dance teacher working in a small studio in a run-down part of Seoul.
"I miss him. He needs to come around more." The eldest Manoban child nodded fervently. He loved his namesake and uncle, Kwon Jiyong. If the ten-year-old had a choice, he would live next door to the kind man so he could see him every day no matter what.
"Remember how it was when he was coming around weekly? I never thought we would detox Chae off of all that chocolate!"
"But they look so happy-" Lisa started.
"When they're eating candy," Jisoo finished. "I swear if it weren't for me, the four of you would weigh a ton. I'd have a family of Jabas." Lisa squeezed Jisoo's hand as they continued eating their meal while their children talked.
A few hours later, the couple tucked Jiyong into bed with his lucky stuffed shark, Fin. Chaeyoung and Jensung were already in bed and starting their journey to Dreamland. "Good night baby," Jisoo sang as she brushed Jiyong's hair off his forehead.
"Happy Valentine's Day," Lisa murmured. They kissed his head and turned off the light. By the time the two got out of the shower, all three kids were in deep sleep, giving the couple a moment to themselves.
"I missed you and the kids a lot today," Lisa said. She rolled onto her side to lay her head on Jisoo's chest. "I hate leaving you four so much." Jisoo stroked her hair and stared up at the ceiling.
"I know honey. But the important part is you always come home to us." The brunette hummed in agreement as she snuggled her wife. "Don't worry about us."
"I can't help it. Even after fifteen years, I still get worried you'll leave me for someone else." Jisoo rolled her beautiful eyes and popped Lisa on the butt.
"That's ridiculous. If I stayed with you after the 'Casper the Ninja Ghost' incident, I'll stay with you forever. And you've stayed with me and all my weirdness. I love you and that will never change."
Lisa tilted her head up to look at Jisoo and grinned. "I love you too, Jisoo. Forever."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Lili."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Chichu."
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Happy Valentine's Day! I won't lie, I meant for this to be a lot longer and for it to go up earlier, but I got distracted and didn't realize how late I was. I'm going to write a couple more chapters to make up for this pretty bare bone update in the next few days. I also have an announcement to make later, so keep an eye out for that.
Happy Valentine's Day! Love you!💘
