Jennie and Lisa were enjoying the hot summer afternoon, they were in the yard, both resting and getting some sun on the lounge chairs by the pool. Jennie was reading a mystery novel that Jisoo recommended to her last week when they met for dinner, while Lisa was doing her best not to fall asleep while she kept an eye on Jun-Woo, the boy was running around the garden and shouting nonsense when he saw something that caught his attention. Every time Lisa thought that the boy was getting tired and was going to come over to take a nap, he would renew his energy and force her to chase him over and over again.
Jennie and Lisa didn't usually use the big pool in the backyard, the few times they did were when they invited a large group of friends and prepared a barbecue but since Jun-Woo was old enough to appreciate being submerged in water it has become a routine to spend hot summer afternoons in the pool.
Lisa, in particular, was taking the swimming lessons she was giving her son very seriously, Jennie thought it was still too early but she didn't complain, Jun-Woo looked very cute with his duck floaties and it was funny to see how frustrated Lisa got every time he threw one of his toys in her face as if he wasn't interested in his mother's efforts at all.
"Jun-Woo leave the poor cat alone" Lisa warned him when she saw the boy dangerously approach Lego who was sleeping next to the door that connected the patio to the kitchen.
Jun-Woo pouted but slowly walked away from the cat and instead went to look for Love, the dog might have an imposing appearance but he turned back into a happy puppy every time he was with Jun-Woo.
Jennie left her book on the floor and turned around to see her son, "Did you give him more sugar than usual?"
"No, but I swear I need him to be old enough to sign him up for some sport, he has to use up some of that energy or he's going to drive me crazy"
Jennie laughed, got up from her chair and approached Lisa so that they both shared a single lounge chair "Well that's all you" she said while hugging her
"Excuse me?"
"That kid is your clone, Lisa, now you know everything your poor mother had to endure."
"Hey! I wasn't that bad"
"I don't know, Chitthip still has memories of the war from that time you flooded the house."
"I was 5 years old, I didn't know what I was doing."
"And your son is 3 and seems to think it's fun to hide things from the house to return them just when we're about to collapse."
Lisa shudders at the memory, they don't know how or why but Jun-Woo found it fun to grab random items from around the house and hide them in his toy drawer, at first it wasn't obvious, he hid some spoons and some makeup, later Lisa couldn't find her computer and Jennie turned the house upside down looking for her car keys.
Jennie is thankful that that phase is over because Jun-Woo was really testing her patience every time she went to look for something and it wasn't in its place.
The boy's latest feat was trying to hide Luca in his closet, Jennie had never seen Lisa so angry, at least not with her son. Jennie was in her study when her wife's screams echoed through the house, upon hearing her she ran to Jun-Woo's room and found her son crying like never before while Lisa held Luca against her chest protectively.
Jun-Woo hugged her as soon as she entered the room and Jennie didn't blame him, Lisa almost never raised her voice and she definitely got a little scary when she was upset and Jun-Woo wasn't used to being yelled at, however Jannie understood Lisa, they had talked to him a lot of times in the best way and this time he went a little too far, Luca could have hurt. From that day on Jun-Woo never hid the things in the house again.
"Don't remind me, Jun-Wonnie really leaves me speechless sometimes."
"He's a little boy Lili, it's normal for him to get into mischief."
"You didn't say that when he painted the carpet last month."
"He's a good boy, a little naughty but cute."
"He's growing up too fast" Lisa says.
"It seems like just yesterday that I was changing his diapers" Jennie remembered fondly.
"Well not much has changed, 3 years later and he still pees on your clothes."
"Don't remind me, that boy can't stay still for more than two seconds."
Lisa and Jennie hugged each other and enjoyed the warmth of the sun for a few more minutes before their son approached them carrying Lego in his small arms.
Jennie rolled her eyes when she saw him struggling to hug the animal "Jun-Woo, didn't mom say to leave Lego?" Jennie walked over and took the cat from his arms, Lego rolled around a few times before lying down on Lisa's legs.
"Mummy, he wanted me to hold him."
"It is like that?"
Jun-woo nodded with a big smile on his face "He's my friend."
Jennie picked Jun-woo up in her arms, walked over to her lounge chair and laid down. The boy settled on her chest and let out a small yawn.
"Are you tired, buddy?" Lisa walked over to them and let her hand gently caress Jun-woo's wet bangs.
The boy could barely keep his eyes open, instead of answering Lisa's question, he asked "can we swim again?"
"It's getting late, maybe another day. Is that okay?"
"I want dinosaur nuggets"
Jennie laughed when she heard this, kids were so random, most of the time she couldn't follow her son's train of thought but she nodded anyway and promised to make him some nuggets if he promised to eat his vegetables.
Despite everything, he wasn't a picky eater, he didn't like soups or pumpkin puree but other than that he would eat anything you put on his plate. Ironically Jennie spends more time hiding the pieces of beetroot in Lisa's food than in her son's.
Jun-woo's face was quite sweaty, his hair was sticking to his forehead and Jennie tried to comb his long strands of hair with her fingers and then gather them together and tie them with the bow she always wore on her wrist.
Summer brought with it stifling heat, and it soon became apparent that Jun-woo's long hair is more of a nuisance than a grace. The little boy rubs his eyes constantly, trying to move his sweat-soaked bangs away
"We have to take him to the hairdresser."
"What? Why?" Lisa ask her
"We never cut his hair, I think it's time."
"Hey! we trim his bangs from time to time"
"I know, but it's already below his shoulders."
" I like his hair the way it is, it looks really cute when you make a bun or braid his hair."
"I like it too but he was the one who mentioned that he was bothered by the way it fell on his face when we were in the car last week."
"Yes?"
"Mmmhh but if you ask me I think he just wants to look like his uncle Hae-in, something about wanting to look as handsome as him."
Lisa couldn't help but laugh "Did he really say that?"
"Yes, when he went to spend the weekend with Jisoo, she and Haein took him to the park, Haein went to get his hair cut afterwards and Jisoo said that Jun-woo talked the whole trip about how he also wanted a haircut like his uncle."
"Let's wait a bit, if in two weeks he still wants to get his hair cut we'll take him to the hairdresser. I don't want him to repeat the Halloween costume thing and want to do something just on a whim."
"All kids want things on a whim Lili."
"Maybe. Anyway if we're going to do it I need at least a few days to get my head around it. He looks too cute with those curls."
"I know, after all he looks like you."
"What haircut does Hae-in have?" Lisa asked her in a belated realization.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him. Why do you ask?"
"For a second I imagined that we would have a cute bald baby again."
"Yahh Lalisa, I told you to stop calling him that."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Lisa stood up, stretched her sore muscles and helped Jennie up from the lounge chair. "Come on, let's go inside, I'll give this big boy a bath and then I'll make dinner."
"When you say make dinner you mean order Chinese at that restaurant you like so much."
Lisa's smile grew as she walked over and gave Jennie a small kiss on the lips. "Unless you want to eat sausages and pasta again."
"Make sure you order those cookies Jun-wonnie likes."
Lisa has gotten much better at cooking since her son was born, but the variety of dishes she could make is still quite limited. Jennie doesn't mind, she likes to cook for her wife and son, Lisa usually does the dishes and most nights she takes care of bathing Jun-woo and getting him ready for bed, so neither of them gets too upset, they've achieved a pretty good balance with household chores.
— — —
Lisa is transferring the Chinese food from the boxes to the plates, she prefers to eat it straight from the container but she knows that Jennie likes to make an effort to appear civilized when they're having dinner with Jun-Woo.
They have had to change many aspects of their lives in order to adapt to motherhood. When Jun-woo was born, one of Lisa and Jennie's biggest concerns was ending up resentful of those things they would have to put aside to fully dedicate themselves to their son but it wasn't as difficult as they thought it would be. It's clear that motherhood takes up a large part of their day, even more so with Jun-woo being so small, but both she and Jennie have learned to manage their time, not only to continue working and enjoying their hobbies but to have some quality time as a couple.
Although the latter was a little more complicated, after Jun-woo's first year they had been so focused on regaining some of their autonomy that they forgot how much they needed each other. There were certainly some fights, frustration and tears, but they have overcome it. Lisa doesn't stop to think about it too much, she believes that it is normal to have that kind of crisis in a couple, even more so when you have been with a person for so long.
Whoever said that love is everything was not wrong, but they certainly omitted how important it's to work so that love works and doesn't wear out over time.
Once she finished serving dinner she went to the dining room, Jennie and Jun-Woo were already sitting at the table. The boy was in the high chair that Rosé gave him for his birthday, his eyes never leaving the cartoons as he waited patiently for Lisa to join them.
"Isn't his screen time up yet?" she asks Jennie as she puts the plates on the table.
"He was a little fussy."
Lisa sighed. "Nini, we've already talked about it." To the surprise of many, Jennie was not the strict mother they imagined, she still had a little trouble scolding Jun-woo without feeling guilty.
"It's not like that" Jennie makes sure that her son isn't listening to them, she approaches her wife and murmurs "He had a little nighttime incident, you know how embarrassed he gets every time."
When she looks at her son, Lisa notices that the pajama shorts she put on him when she finished bathing him have been replaced by warm, fleecy pants. It's not the first time this has happened, from time to time the boy has nighttime incidents, it must have happened after the nap he took when Lisa finished drying his hair.
She and Jennie are still working on it, the pediatrician told them that it was quite common in children his age who haven't learned to control their bladder, but they've already made a lot of progress, they reached a record of two weeks without incidents.
"Shit, I forgot to turn off the air conditioning" Lisa tells her, remembering that she left him sleeping in their room so as not to wake him up. The cold has been one of the main triggers.
"Don't worry, honey, he's fine. He was just a little upset so I let him distract himself for a while."
“I guess it’s okay then"
“God, this smells amazing. If it was possible I would eat it every day.”
“Nothing stops you from doing it love.”
“I don’t want to have to start the gym just because I ordered this.”
“You’re so exaggerated” Lisa says.
“Maybe” Jennie laughs and gives Lisa a small kiss on the lips. “Jun-Wonnie, let’s eat, leave that” she says after Lisa finishes bringing the things.
“Can’t I watch another one?” Her sweet voice makes Jennie melt.
“No love, leave it.”
Jun-Woo pouts but hands the tablet to Jennie anyway, who turns it off and leaves it on one of the empty chairs.
“Do you want to try it yourself or do you prefer me or your mummy to help you?” Lisa asks him as she leaves the training chopsticks in front of him.
“Me!” he practically screams as he grabs the chopsticks and tries to grab some noodles with them.
Both Lisa and Jennie know that in less than ten minutes he will make a mess but they prefer to let him try to do things by himself, if he needs it he knows when to ask for help.
“Is it good?” Jennie asks him.
Jun-woo can only nod and take another big bite of his nuggets.
“Are you sure he is not Chaeyoung’s son?”
"Does he look like everyone else but me?" Jennie laughs "The next kid better be a carbon copy of me, Lalisa."
"Hey! He's just as needy as you. The weekend you went to Japan with your friends he wouldn't let me get two steps away from him before he demanded cuddle time."
"Aww my poor baby."
"Not only is he clingy like you, I swear the other day I made a dumb joke hoping he'd laugh and he just rolled his eyes."
"Yah Lalisa, he's so little, there's no way he did it on purpose."
"Trust me, he did. Wait a few more years and we'll have another grumpy kitty in the house."
"You're unbearable."
Lisa laughs "Who would you fight with if it wasn't me, Baby? Your life would be so boring."
Jennie rolls her eyes and focuses on Jun-woo when he asks her for help finishing eating, she doesn't need to look at the Thai girl to know there's a stupid smile on her face. She's right, Jennie wouldn't survive a day without Lisa by her side, the thought alone makes her cheeks blush a little.
"Mommy, I want some too" he says pointing at the fried rice on Lisa's plate.
"Aren't you full already?"
"Maybe" he says shyly.
Lisa shrugs and brings him a spoon so he can try it. "Is it good?"
"Yep."
"Do you want more?"
"Nope, thanks, mommy."
"Look at that smile" Lisa points out. "He's definitely your son, there's no way I can resist that cute little face" she says, carefully pinching Jun-woon's chubby cheeks.
— — —
Jun-Woo went to sleep as soon as he took the last bite of his nuggets, the poor sleepy boy could barely keep his eyes open when Lisa finished feeding him. Many first-time parents complain about how difficult it is to get their children to sleep but they never had that problem, Jun-woo could sleep anytime and anywhere which is highly beneficial considering how much they travel.
Lisa who was combing her hair can't help but laugh when she sees her wife through the reflection of the mirror. Jennie is lying on the bed, her face is covered by one of those skin care led masks while she applies some cream on her legs.
"What?" she asks when she notices that Lisa has stopped her movements and just watches her in silence.
"Nothing."
"What are you doing standing there like a lost puppy then?"
"You look sexy."
It's impossible to tell because of the mask but Lisa is sure Jennie rolled her eyes.
"Is this what works for you now?"
"Well it's not my fault you always look so good, you have me a little enchanted."
"You're not allowed to be charming this late at night" Jennie says.
"I'm not being charming Nini." Lisa leaves a small kiss on her shoulder before lying down next to her.
"I know your ways Manoban, that's how you start."
"I don't know, the last thing I remember is that I wasn't the one who snuck into the shower last night and put on that whole show" Lisa sighs dreamily "I think my legs are still shaking, Baby"
"Don't be naughty."
Lisa raises her eyebrows in disbelief and carefully pokes the skin of Jennie's stomach, causing the brunette to squirm with laughter "That innocent girl act doesn't work on me Jen, you're the naughty one and we know it."
"Well I have to keep you on your toes, don't I?"
Jennie carefully removes her mask, turns off the light and snuggles into Lisa's chest, her lips instinctively seeking out the flushed skin of her chest leaving a trail of kisses down to her collarbone. Lisa shivers a little when Jennie's cold hands sneak under her shirt to trace inexact patterns on her stomach. Jennie's love language was definitely physical touch.
"Our anniversary is coming up" Jennie murmurs into her neck.
"Did you want to stay home like last year or go out somewhere fancy?"
"I was thinking we could go somewhere nice."
"For the weekend?"
"More like a full week on some island."
"Well, we should definitely start planning it, maybe look for a hotel that has a nursery so we can have a night or two for ourselves."
"Maybe we can leave him with my mother. He's not that little anymore."
"Mmmm, I think it's okay. We should talk to Mama Kim about it but I don't see there being a problem. Jun-woo loves her too much."
"So it's a yes?"
Lisa nods and murmurs something that Jennie doesn't quite understand but it's enough for the brunette to shake in her arms and get up a little to kiss her lips repeatedly.
"Thank you, Honey." she says with that cloying voice she reserves for when the two of them are alone in the privacy of their room "You make me so happy."
"My baby is so cute when she's excited."
"Your baby loves you so much, you know that?"
"Me too, I can't wait for that mini vacation with you Nini. I can't wait to have fancy dinners and watch a show that isn't meant for little kids. We can wear nice dresses, go to a bar."
Lisa continues listing all the fun things they could do without having to worry about Jun-woo getting bored but it seems like her wife had a slightly different idea.
"I can't wait to have lots of loud sex."
Lisa's eyes widen, she almost chokes on her own saliva, suddenly words slipping out of her mouth. It's true that Lisa is the one who makes most of the sexual or out of place jokes in their relationship, the little big difference, is that most of the time she's just being silly and wants to tease Jennie so she can see her adorable angry or embarrassed kitten face. While the latter, on the other hand, is usually quite assertive and when she says something like that, she really means it.
Jennie laughs as she feels Lisa's body freeze beneath her, it's been years and Lisa is still a nervous mess. The brunette places a wet kiss on her neck before turning around and adjusting her pillow so she can sleep.
"Good night Lili" Jennie says
"What? Wait, Jen" Lisa tries to get closer and hug her but Jennie is faster and slips between the sheets.
"Save those wandering hands for when we're on vacation."
"Jennie!"
The brunette bites her lip to keep from smiling "What? Weren't you sleepy just a moment ago?"
"You can't say things like that and expect me to just-"
"I'm just looking out for you Honey."
"You are annoying" Lisa tells her and makes sure to pretend to be a little mad. Still she doesn't complain when Jennie stop fooling around and approaches her again.
"Sleep well Honey."
Jennie interlaces their fingers and in the darkness of the room Lisa is sure that if she had the choice she would choose her again and again in this and all her other lives.