‘Are you ok?’

Sunny decides to send this, as it isn’t accusatory or angry like the first three texts she typed out. She presses send and waits for a reply. on her lower lip as she stares at her phone.

Two minutes and a plump lower lip later, a quick beep.

‘Yes. Should I not be?’

Sunny rolls her eyes and begins to type back furiously with her good hand.

‘You were supposed to

speak with Bella this morning.

You left without a word to

anyone. Call me.’

Sunny taps her index finger on the side of her phone as she waits. She watches the time pass on her phone’s clock, one minute after the other. When ten minutes pass without a call back, Sunny’s hormones take over.

‘I mean now, Taeyeon.’

It’s exactly what she wanted to avoid. It’s why she deleted the first three texts she’d spent ages typing out. She didn’t feel like it was her place, telling Taeyeon what she should do regarding Bella. But out of all the instincts that seem to be heightened as a result of her pregnancy, the maternal one is at the top of the list.

Sunny had been furious when the children came into her room this morning and told her that Taeyeon was already gone. Not only had she blown off her daughter, but she’d left without saying anything to, or checking on, Sunny.

And Sunny knew. She knew Taeyeon was avoiding her because of what happened the night previous. But she couldn’t care less about that. What she did care about was Bella and the hurt expression on her face; the hint of tears in those black eyes as she left for school.

And now this; ignoring Sunny’s request for a call back. She’s done being concerned about her place in Taeyeon’s life; done being concerned if she has a place in it at all.

Her phone goes.

“Being a bit insistent, aren’t we”

Sunny’s not in the mood for her playful sarcasm. “I’ll be however I want to be, Taeyeon”

“…Alright? Is everything ok?”

“No. No, everything’s not ok. Where are you?”

“I just arrived at my office; I’ve been in court all morning…”

“Why didn’t you say goodbye to us before you left this morning?”

“Is that what this is about?”

“No, but I’d like an answer, please”

“Um…ok. I had some things to do before court”

“Things that are more important than your children?”

“Excuse me?”

“Last night I told you that Bella needed to speak with you”

“Sunny, Bella’s fine. She’s always fine. I know my child”

It only infuriates Sunny more, Taeyeon’s arrogant tone, and she takes the phone from her ear and presses the button with the red phone on it.

…

...

“Hello?”

Taeyeon hears the distinct sound of Jessica’s laughter on the other end of the line.

“What do you want”

“I heard you’re in the doghouse”

“News travels fast, it seems”

“And yet still, there you sit, in your office, when you should be sitting on Sunny’s bed and apologizing”

“Me? She’s the one who hung up”

“Doesn’t matter”

Taeyeon sighs.

“She’s pregnant, Taeyeon”

“…And?”

“And that means she’s always right”

…

...

Taeyeon arrives home after dark. She hears voices coming from the kitchen and walks in to find Jamie and the girls eating dinner, Emma washing some dishes. All three children look at her as if she’s just been grounded for a month, Emma with a raised eyebrow and a snooty expression.

Taeyeon smiles tightly at all of them and sets her briefcase on an empty kitchen chair. “Evening, all”

“Mama’s angry at you” Jamie immediately informs.

“Thank you for the update, James”

Bella stands and takes her dish to the sink. “I’m full” she announces, and stalks away without another word.

“Bella’s angry at you too” Jamie tells her, through a mouthful of spaghetti and meatballs.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full” Taeyeon replies.

Jamie closes his lips and chews, smiling at her, silently letting her know he’s elated that he’s not the object of the double wrath.

Taeyeon playfully scowls back at him, and then looks left toward Sunny’s room. She stares in that direction for a minute, before turning her head and looking toward the stairs, in the direction of Bella’s room.

“Think about what Sunny would want you to do” she hears the voice of reason tell her.

Taeyeon looks at the source of the voice of reason, all freckled-faced and bright eyed, and she turns in the direction Sunny would want her to go.

…

...

“I’m busy”

Taeyeon lays down behind her daughter, who sniffles a bit. Scoots a little closer and wraps an arm around Bella’s waist, spooning her. “Ok, I’ll just lie here until you’re not”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Mom”

“That’s fine; we can be quiet together”

“Maybe I want to be quiet alone”

“…Do you really?”

A long pause and a shaky sigh. “No”

Taeyeon kisses the back of her daughter’s head and snuggles closer. “I love you”

Bella turns over and buries her face into her mother’s chest, crying softly, and Taeyeon instantly feels guilty for allowing her daughter to get to this point. She knows Bella, and she knows that Bella only cries when she’s been hurt deeply, emotionally. Because if Taeyeon has learned anything over the past two years of spending quality time with her children, it’s that somehow this child, who is not biologically connected to her, is exactly like her.

“What happened, darling”

Bella sniffles and rubs her face against Taeyeon’s chest, and Taeyeon knows her blouse has just been used as a tissue.

“I hate everyone”

“Ah. Well, hate is a strong word, and everyone is a lot of people. Could you be a bit more specific?”

Bella pulls back and looks at her mother with a tear-stained face. Taeyeon smiles sweetly and wipes her daughter’s cheeks with her thumb.

“I hate my friends”

Taeyeon nods. “Ok. Why?”

“Because they’re s”

“Language...” Taeyeon says in a warning tone, and props up her head with her arm. “Now, tell me, why are they s?”

Bella can’t help but smile and shake her head, hating and loving all at once that her mother’s got her number…and always will. She turns over onto her back and drapes Taeyeon’s arm across her stomach, holding her mother’s hand.

“They were just…being stupid… saying stupid things to me. About me”

“Like some children your age tend to do”

“Well yeah but…they’re supposed to be my friends. And now that we’re in junior high they’re acting like they don’t even know me”

“Perhaps it’s for the best”

“What, that I see their true colors or something?”

Taeyeon laughs. “Well, yes, I suppose”

Bella stares at the ceiling for a moment, absentmindedly playing with her mother’s fingers as she thinks. “But I like having friends” she finally admits.

“Then perhaps you should make new ones”

Bella shrugs. “It’s not that easy”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You’re a very likeable person”

“You have to say that as my mother”

“No, I really don’t” Taeyeon says, poking Bella’s side.

Bella giggles and turns to face her mother again.

“Mom?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“When Sunny gets better, are she and Jamie going to move back to their house?”

“I would assume so. Why do you ask?”

Bella shrugs. “It’s just; we don’t get to see you as much since she and Jamie have been here”

“I see”

“Yeah. And when you are here, you’re in your office or in Sunny’s room…and Sophia and I were talking about it last night, and we’ve hardly seen you all week”

Taeyeon smiles sadly as the truth stares her in the face. “Darling, don’t blame Sunny”

“Oh, I’m not. I’m blaming you”

Taeyeon rolls her eyes. “Well, as long as we’re clear on that point”

“Yep, totally clear”

…

...

Taeyeon knocks softly on the slightly ajar door. Holds onto the doorknob as she peeks her head into Sunny’s room. Jamie is sitting on her bed doing homework. They both look up at Taeyeon, but only one of them smiles.

Taeyeon clears . “The girls and I are going to walk down to the ice cream shop for a treat”

Jamie immediately jumps up and throws his pencil down on the bed. “I’ll get my shoes!” he says excitedly.

But Taeyeon stops him when he tries to pass under her legs to go out the door. She squats down to his level. “I’m taking the girls with me, James, and since Emma’s gone home, I think it’s best you stay and watch over your mum while we’re gone”

Jamie looks back at his mother, frowning. “She’ll be ok for a little while” he turns back and tells Taeyeon.

Taeyeon looks over his shoulder at Sunny, black eyes pleading for help.

“Sweetheart, come here” Sunny holds out her good arm and waves her son over to the bed. He sighs and mopes across the room. “Taeyeon needs to spend some alone time with Bella and Sophia”

“Why, Mama?”

“Because…sometimes girls need to talk about girl things…without boys around”

Jamie sits on the edge of the bed with his shoulders slumped. Taeyeon is about to give in to him when she looks at Sunny, who is shaking her head.

“We’ll bring you back a treat, James. What would you like?”

Jamie’s eyes brighten as he looks over at Taeyeon. His tongue is pressed between his lips as he thinks. “Two scoops of chocolate” he decides, emphasizing the number, and holding up two fingers in case Taeyeon didn’t understand his words.

“I think one scoop is quite enough before bedtime, young man” Sunny says, dashing his ice cream dreams.

Jamie frowns. “Ok, one scoop”

“One scoop of chocolate it is. And for you?” Taeyeon asks, smiling at Sunny.

“Nothing. Thanks”

And Taeyeon knows a pregnant woman turning down ice cream is not a good sign.

…

...

“Mama?” Jamie looks up from the book he’s been pretending to read for the past twenty minutes.

“Yes, my love?”

“Who do I get to talk about boy stuff with?”

“Hmm?”

“You said girls need to talk about girl stuff with no boys. Who do I talk to about boy stuff with no girls?”

Sunny opens her arm and Jamie scoots in close. She presses a lingering kiss to the top of his head.

“You can talk to Sungmin”

“But he doesn’t live here; he’s far away” Jamie tilts his head up, and brown eyes wait for a better answer.

“He does live far away, sweetheart, but you can call him anytime; he loves to hear from you”

“It’s not the same”

“No, you’re right, it’s not the same”

“I wish I had a dad like Mitchell has his dad”

Sunny kisses his head again. “You can talk to me about anything you like, you know that”

“You’re a girl”

“Yes, I am a girl. But I’m like your mum and your dad, so we can talk about everything”

“Yeah, ok” Jamie shrugs, nonchalantly, his mind already on to his next thought. He looks up at his mother with a furrowed brow. “Are you always going to be a lesbian, Ma?”

“Yes, sweetheart” Sunny laughs. “Always”

....

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