“Up we go!” Momo smiled as she stopped her daughter up in a huge hug. 

“Up!” Nico cheered as Momo lifted her up. 

“Where to now princess?” Momo asked. 

“Food!” Nico smiled. 

“Food?” Momo asked with a smile. “Food it is!” Nico giggled as Momo started running in the direction of their house. It wasn’t a far run, the park was only about a block away, but it was hot and Momo was sweaty by the time they got to their house. She let Nico get down and open their front gate, Nico humming the theme song to her favorite show, causing Momo to join in. Once they got to their door Momo dug her keys out of her pocket and opened the door, Nico fiddling with her shoes before throwing them off to the side. 

“Mommy! We’re home!” Nico called before running inside to the living room. Momo smiled and looked up at the framed photo of Sana on the cabinet by their entryway. 

“Hi Sana, we’re home.” Momo held the picture in her hand. She used to not be able to do this without crying, but it had been six months. Momo could do this. 

“Mama! Magi girl!” Nico brought Momo out of her thoughts and Momo set the picture down to turn the tv on for Nico and starting dinner. Instant ramen wasn’t healthy, but they had eaten all their store bought healthy meals and Momo hadn’t had time to go to the store again yet. Nico liked ramen, and Momo was making them eggs to put into it to give it some kind of nutritional value. Nico was singing along loudly to the theme song, Momo giggling under her breath as she quickly prepared the ramen. After putting the eggs on top, Momo put the food on the table before going to the living room to scoop up her daughter. She paused the tv and carried Nico into the kitchen to put her down in her seat.

“Ramen!” Nico’s eyes twinkled. “Mommy loves ramen.” 

“Mommy does love ramen baby.” Momo swallowed painfully. “I miss mommy.” Nico sighed, before picking up her fork and starting to messily eat ramen. 

“I miss mommy too.” Momo sighed under her breath. They didn’t say anything after that, but Momo giggled at her daughter’s silliness when Nico looked up at her, face covered in ramen broth. 

“Mama are you gonna watch Magi girl with me?” Nico asked after they finished. 

“Of course baby, but Mama has to put the dishes up first.” Momo told Nico, only for Nico to jump off her seat and pick up her own dish, balancing it in her arms and carrying it to the sink. She got on her tip-toes to try and get it into the sink, Momo nodding and picking Nico up so she could put her dishes up. 

“Thank you helping baby.” Momo smiled at her daughter. 

“I can help more!” Nico smiled. 

“Oh yeah?” Momo asked, Nico nodding. “Well thank you sweetheart.” 

“Magi girl?” Nico asked hopefully. 

“Go ahead, Mama will be there in a second.” Momo put her four year old down and Nico ran to the living room. Momo cleaned the bowls and then went to her bedroom, grabbing a notebook and a pen before going back to where her daughter was. Nico had a stuffed panda with her on the couch, watching the tv with wide eyes. Momo came up behind her and settled Nico in her lap, kissing her forehead before opening her notebook. 

xx

Dear Sana, 

It’s been almost six months now. We had instant ramen for dinner tonight. I know you would be mad for me feeding Nico unhealthy things, but it’s hard to make real food without you. We went to the park today, Nico and I played on the playground, she went down the slide backwards and jumped off the swing, and I bought Nico ice cream. Tomorrow we have work and school, and I’ll be thinking of you while trying not to die from boredom. Nico said she missed you today. I miss you too. It hasn’t gotten any easier yet, but we will come visit you soon.

I love you, 
Momo 

xx

“Auntie Nayeonie! Nico giggled as she ran towards her kindergarten teacher. 

“Hey kiddo!” Nayeon smiled and hugged Nico with one arm. “But we’ve talked about this, at school you call me Teacher.”

“Hey Nayeon.” Momo gave Nayeon a small smile. It used to be wider, but Nayeon understood why Momo’s smile wasn’t as bright as it used to be. 

“Hi Momo. How was your weekend?”

“It was good, we went to the park, what did you do?”

“I had a date on Saturday with Jeongyeon, we got a babysitter, it was nice we went to the beach.” Nayeon smiled. “Nico-ya why don’t you go inside while I talk to your Mama?” Nico nodded and ran inside her classroom. “How are you doing?” Nayeon asked. 

“We’re, getting by.” Momo was not a good liar. “We’re probably going to visit Sana this weekend.”

“Do you need me to come with you? I can give you some private time with her.” Nayeon offered. 

“If your not too busy that would be very helpful.” Momo nodded. 

“Of course,” Nayeon nodded. “Don’t overwork yourself okay?” 

“Yeah, I won’t.” Momo smiled at Nayeon’s care towards her. 

“Good, now get to work.” Nayeon smiled and ruffled Momo’s hair like she was a child. 

“Yes ma’am.” 

xx

“Momo, boss woman asked me to ask you, did you finish this quarters fiscal report?” Chaeyoung popped her head in Momo’s office. 

“Not yet,” Momo nodded. “I’m almost finished though, if you wait about fifteen minutes you can go back with happy news and not get in trouble.” Chaeyoung nodded and took a seat at the chair across from Momo’s desk, busying herself toying with the trinkets on Momo’s desk. 

“Is this your wife?” Chaeyoung asked picking up a photo of Sana from their wedding day, Momo simply nodded at the young intern. “She’s pretty.” 

“Thank you, I think so too.” Momo informed without looking up from her computer. Momo’s fingers stopped briefly, but she didn’t let herself get distracted. 

“Oh you have a daughter too?”

“Yup, she looks like my wife doesn’t she?” Momo giggled. 

“She does, she’s cute, how old is she?”

“She just turned four.” Momo smiled. “I’ll go print this real quick and we’ll be done here.” Chaeyoung nodded, playing with the rubber band ball Momo had on her desk like a child. Chaeyoung was a good kid, Momo liked her. She was still a college kid, and Momo had seen her with her girlfriend. They were so young and in love, Momo was almost envious of them.

xx

Dear Sana, 

I feel bad I can’t make better food for Nico. I’m not a good cook, especially compared to you. But I suppose you wanted to become a chef in high school, so I have a disadvantage when it comes to experience. We’re coming to see you tomorrow. Nayeon is coming too, to watch Nico so we can have a bit of time alone together. I look forward to seeing you. I miss you more and more every single day. Even though I think it’s impossible to miss someone as much as I miss you. We had a long day, Nico tripped on her shoe today and I had to bust out the princess bandaids you always carried. She was really upset, and it was hard for me to calm her down. You were always better at it. She fell asleep on the couch again today after watching a magi girl marathon. She likes sleeping in our bed now, she specifically likes sleeping in your spot. She says it still smells like you, and I swear I’ve been washing the sheets. We miss you. 

I love you, 
Momo 

xx

“Mama I want to look pretty for Mommy.” Nico insisted. 

“You do?” Momo asked with a smile. 

“Yes.” Nico nodded. “I want my princess dress.” Momo nodded and tried to find Nico’s yellow imitation Belle dress only to realize it was in the pile of laundry to be washed. 

“I’m sorry kiddo, it needs to be cleaned. But you can wear your pretty pink dress.” Nico pouted, but didn’t protest when Momo helped her put the pink dress on. Momo pulled Nico’s hair into twin pigtails, braiding them before focusing on herself. She wanted to look pretty for Sana too. Momo got out Sana’s favorite of her blouses and wore Sana’s favorite of her jeans. Sana’s makeup sat still organized on Sana’s half of their vanity. Her perfume bottle still half full, her mascara likely expired. Sometimes, when Momo felt terrible, she would smell Sana’s perfume. Nico liked the smell of it to. For the two of them it represented Sana, her comfort, her personality. But Momo wouldn’t dare touch Sana’s perfume bottle. She preserved all of Sana’s things, all of them still sitting in their places Sana had left them.

Momo quickly got herself ready before going downstairs to find Nico watching TV. 

“Come on baby, let’s go see mommy.” Nico nodded and grabbed her stuffed bunny and joined Momo, holding her hand as Momo led them to the car. She was quiet as Momo buckled her into her car seat, and played with her bunny while Momo drove. This route was becoming eerily familiar. Momo wasn’t sure how she felt about it. The first time they took this route was the day Nico was born, having used a doctor in a different location. Momo’s remembers Sana being in a lot of pain, pretending she was fine while nearly breaking Momo’s hand. By the time the arrived, Sana was just about ready to kill Momo. She had been having contractions through the whole day and even partially the night before, but the moment they arrived Sana had reached a point of indescribable pain. Momo had been gentle with her trough the whole ordeal, exhausted from the late hour in the night but not letting it get to her. 

They had gone home the next day. The next time they took the route was to go get their newborn and bring her home. It was an emotional day, but it was a day where they were once again how much they loved each other. The next time they took this route was the night Mom