They had intended to stay home.

The day Eunjung thought she’d spend with her wife turned out to be her meeting the in-laws again, though it was actually far from over.

Jiyeon had taken the liberty to drive them miles away from the city, approximately two hours away, just to meet up with Eunjung’s younger brother halfway from where he lived.

It must have been because Eunjung and Sean grew up to love the great outdoors for Sean to actually choose to live so far away from everyone, in the serenity of a forest and a lake. Jiyeon had found that thought quite bothersome for her. She never liked the woods.

Thank goodness they only needed to meet up with Sean some place where civilization and a great pizza and pasta house actually existed. Sean had talked Eunjung into checking the place out, even if that meant for them to drive two hours. Also, the younger man had talked them into agreeing, saying how he wanted to know about this marriage ‘thing’ going on between the originally-best-friends duo. Most of all, it had been quite some time since they’ve seen each other.

With their elated moods, it was a challenge for Eunjung not to say no to the exciting invitation of catching up with her only sibling who is now officially Jiyeon’s brother-in-law.

“Eunjung! Over here!”

Eunjung and Jiyeon both turn to the man who called them waving from the booth. They both chuckled at the sight of the familiar face smiling charmingly at them. He looked like he had popped out from an Armani fashion show with his built, height, and sharp looks despite his boyish features. Though it was kind of deceiving how this man was actually just a writer who spent his time at home with his child; a four-year old boy who had gotten his dashing good looks.

“Sean! I missed you so much!” Eunjung squeals in excitement to see her little brother up close. She takes time squeezing his cheeks in between her palms and stares into his blue eyes before taking him in her embrace.

“Ugh, sis, you’re kind of embarrassing,” Sean muttered under his breath, though Jiyeon who heard it had to laugh out loud at the horrified look on Sean’s face.

But before they could actually forget, they heard a little boy’s voice ringing around the known pizza chain, drawing a few curious glances, “Mommy! Mama,” he screamed. People around them had gone into a loud murmur of praises for the boy’s good looks again as the little boy had bounced on his seat as he caught his mama’s eyes.

Jiyeon, who was left out from the sibling reunion, turns towards the little boy on his high chair with his arms up for her to take him with an excited squeal as she then takes  the child who had boldly and loudly called her mama.

‘Mama,’ that’s what he started calling her. The little child had only been two when he started to call Jiyeon as that, and it was at the same time that he had started calling Eunjung his Mommy, even when none of the adults had taught him such. It was when they took Mavin to the park while Sean went to work; there he met a lot of kids who had their mothers calling or chasing after them.

It was heartbreaking to figure that he might have really thought of the pair as the missing half of his parents since then.

When Mavin was given to them as a baby, all their hearts had gone to him and his suddenly single father who had no idea how to care for him. It was difficult that point in time, how they were clueless and the only people who could all help them were their parents who didn’t live in the city like they did.

They had been left to their own, even when Jiyeon and Eunjung had only started their business, Sean only having had graduated from college with a baby to care for.

It was easy to think that at age three, he would have forgotten them when Sean and Mavin moved away. But the boy had many instances of looking for his supposed-mothers in the first year. The last time they saw him was months ago when Sean had driven three hours back to their parents’ home where Eunjung and Jiyeon went to see them both. It had been a long time since.

“Mavin! You’ve grown up! I miss you, did you miss me?” Jiyeon coos, making the little boy flash his dimpled smile.

Eunjung, hearing Jiyeon’s exclamation, finally releases her brother to turn to her nephew and engulfs both the child and Jiyeon in her arms. “Mavinnie! Oh my gosh! I missed you! You miss mommy didn’t you?”

The two can never help themselves but faun over their supposed-son especially when Mavin flashes them his ever-charming dimpled smile. . “I miss you a whole lot,” he said with his arms wide to prove just how much for his aunts to faun over him even more.

“Really, sis, can you show me you love me more than my son?” Sean jokingly complains as he takes his seat, his eyes never leaving Mavin’s grinning face. It was refreshing to see the child so happy to see the mother figures in his life.

Mavin had been especially grumpy when the day started. For the young father to see his son relax and happy made him feel relief and grateful for having these two women to always brighten up his day. This is what he missed most about his sister, and maybe Jiyeon but he would never admit that to her.

Jiyeon chuckles, “Eunjung and I both love Mavin. Not you.” And this is exactly why. Jiyeon always loves to get on his nerves sometimes.

“I wouldn’t want to be loved by you, Jiyeon. I prefer Hyomin any day,” Sean scoffs.

“Right, still keeping up with your unrequited love, Sean?” Jiyeon asks, laughing at Sean’s fate.

Eunjung takes Mavin in her arms from her wife, embracing the kid as she takes a seat with Jiyeon beside her and rolls her eyes at her wife and brother’s banters. “So, how are you two? It’s been seven months since we’ve seen you. You should really consider living near us, Sean, so we can help you with Mavin. We know how hard it is raising him alone.”

“Did you order yet,” Jiyeon asks, receiving a negative from Sean who turned back to his sister while Jiyeon calls out for the waiter to do the honors of ordering while the siblings talked. “Alright, I’ll order for everyone then,” Jiyeon grumbles, turning to Mavin with a grin. “What do you want, baby?”

Sean smiles sheepishly, ignoring both Jiyeon and his son talking as he runs a hand through his hair saying, “You know I like it there better at my lake house. I can write better there. Besides, I can drive Mavin to school at the nearest town and just wait for him to finish. It’s fine.”

Jiyeon nods hearing that. Even though she had talked to Mavin, she had kept an ear on the conversation. “Yeah, we’ll always help. He obviously can’t stop calling us his mothers, let us do that job sometimes.”

Sean laughs at her statement. Sean had impregnated his ex-girlfriend when he was in college; he hadn’t known until the baby was sent to him. He lived with his parents for some time, and then lived with Eunjung in the city which made Eunjung and Jiyeon the motherly figures for the child on most occasions. It wasn’t until he had a stable job working from home did he move out from his sister’s and live in the old lake house their father owned.

It had been a hard fact to take for both Eunjung and Jiyeon who had grown attached to the child, but they accepted the decision. Though until now not even time or distance had their love for the child wither away.

“I’ll take you up on that offer, for sure,” Sean says with a grin. “I’ve got a meeting with my editor soon, I’ll call you guys to baby sit.”

Eunjung eagerly nods as Jiyeon says, “Yeah, sure. Just give us a call.”

“Anyway, what’s this with you two getting married?” Sean asks in amusement eyeing his sister and his now-sister-in-law playfully.

Jiyeon and Eunjung simply laugh it off, feeling lighter now than the beginning of the day. They know Sean was as easy-going as Eunjung. He was easy to talk to and quite mature, well at least mature in terms for Eunjung since he’s always childish for Jiyeon.

“I still can’t believe, out of everyone you could have picked, you chose Jiyeon,” He jokingly says with a mocking look towards his new sister-in-law. “I would really congratulate you sis, but you deserve someone better.”

Jiyeon didn’t even bother pretending to be well-mannered on the dinner table as she grabs the complimentary breadsticks and threw one directly on Sean who had easily dodged it with a laugh.

“So, should I say thanks now?” Eunjung asks, chuckling as Mavin reaches out on the table and grabs a breadstick and throws it towards his father and returning to Eunjung as soon as he did his task. “Tsk, your son doesn’t even take your side, baby brother.”

“Mavin! Why?!” Sean dramatically asks, making Mavin laugh in Eunjung’s embrace. Jiyeon laughs at him too of course, she loved it most when Mavin preferred them over Sean.

“Look at him, Mavin, he’s making fun of me,” Jiyeon fakes a cry, making Mavin turn to his father with a glare he had learned especially well from his mama.

“Don’t make fun of mama,” Mavin exclaims. “You’re being a meanie, daddy!”

Eunjung and Jiyeon both double over in laughter as Sean pouts at his son. The father and son looked absolutely adorable that Jiyeon couldn’t even help pinch Mavin’s cheeks making the boy pout at his mama and stop his bread stick-throwing actions.

“But seriously, sis, I kind of expected it,” Sean seriously says as he grabs the thrown bread stick on the table and takes a bite.

Eunjung and Jiyeon raises a brow at his answer. “Expected what?”