"Do we really have to do it now?"

"Ugh, Kim, how many times should I tell you that it was her who invited you here?" asked Pie, obviously irritated now. Can't blame her. They've been in front of Pie's house for ten minutes now but Kim doesn't want to go out of the car yet.

"But... but Jane said —"

"My mom knows about us, okay? She might not be really into this type of relationship but we've already talked about it. She approved it. That's why she wants to meet you."

Kim let out a loud exhale, her eyes uncomfortably glancing at the house. She still can't believe that she'll be meeting Pie’s mom sooner than she had expected.

"Are you really planning to be in a relationship with me and keep hiding from my mom?" asked Pie.

"It's not like that, Pie," said Kim, reaching for Pie's hand. "I'm just nervous. I don't want to disappoint her. I don't want to disappoint you."

Pie cupped Kim's cheek with her palm. "You won't, okay? Just don't try to act like someone else you're not. You're charming, use that. Charm your way up to get my mom."

A relieved smiled curved on Kim's lips as she exhaled a sigh. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Can we stay here for five more minutes?"

"Unfortunately, we can't, Kim," said Pie, fixing her bag. "Unless you want to get in trouble by giving my mom an idea that the reason we arrived late is because we woo-hoo, then I guess we could stay here even for thirty minutes more."

"What! We didn't do that!"

Pie laughed. "But the longer we stay here the more she’ll get an idea about it. So, let's go out now, okay?"

Kim knew there's no way out now. She finally nodded.

---

The house is brighter inside now compared to the last time Kim visited. All the curtains were opened, giving the place a lively aura. Kim smelled something cooking in the kitchen and got nervous when Pie dragged her there.

"Mom!"

Kim saw a slim figure who turned around to greet her daughter with a smile.

"Hey, dear, I missed you," Pie's mom said, kissing her cheek.

Seeing the older lady made Kim realize where Pie had gotten all her charms. And to be honest, they look more like sisters than mom and daughter.

Pie wrapped her arms around her mom's waist. "I missed you too. I'm sorry for the unplanned sleepover last night."

"Is there anything else I can do? I guess I'd have to get used to you sleeping over somebody's place more often now, huh," Pie's mom said, glancing over Kim.

Pie went over to Kim to drag her closer. "Mom, this is Kim. And, Kim, meet my mom."

Pie's mom raised an eyebrow while staring at Kim.

Kim gulped at that. Now she's certain where Pie got her snobbishness. The lady in front of her is the queen of terror. She doesn't know what to say so she held her hand out for a handshake.

"Uh... h-hi... ma’am…"

Unknown to the two youngsters, Pie's mom is holding a knife in her right hand, which she put down on the counter beside Kim to shake hands.

"So, we finally meet, Kimhan."

Kim swallowed down a lump in and forced a smile. "It's... it's nice to meet you, ma’am..."

"Aunt, just call me aunt. You can freely call me that as long as you take good care of my Pie, okay?" said the older lady, grabbing the knife again.

Kim pressed her lips together and nodded. "I... I surely will..."

Out of the blue, Pie chuckled. "Mom, will you drop that? You're scaring her..."

And in just a snap the older lady's face shifted from a killer to a sweet angel now. She put down the knife and said, "I'm just kidding, okay? It's really my pleasure to finally meet you, Kimhan. Now give me a hug."

Kim hesitated first but the sweet smile on Pie's mom's face is as irresistible as her daughter's. She hugged the lady. "Pleasure is mine, ma'am."

Pie's mom pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I just tell you to call me aunt?"

"Ahh, yeah... sorry... aunt..." Kim stuttered as she absently scratched her head.

"I have to admit you smell nice, huh?" the older lady said, still with her terror eyebrows raised.

Kim just feigned a smile, unsure of how to respond.

"Make sure my daughter's home every day before 10 pm, okay? And please let her have dinner with me at least twice or thrice a week."

"Mom —"

The older woman turned to her daughter. "You're still my only baby, Pie. Of course, I still want to see you here often. I think Kim here agrees on that too, right?"

Kim nodded right away, completely understanding the point. "Don't worry. I'll make sure of that."

"Anyway, you guys can have dinner here as often as you like. I actually prefer that."

Kim glanced at Pie and saw her smiling back at her. "That would be great, ma — I mean... aunt..."

Pie went closer to loop an arm through Kim's. "And Kim is a great cook, mom. We can have her cook for us even every night, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, it'll be my pleasure to serve you both," said Kim.

"Oh, thank goodness..." Pie's mom brought her hands to her temples. "At least we could save ourselves from the troubles of thinking of what to eat."

Kim and Pie chuckled.

The older lady turned to Pie again. “By the way, you can sleep at her place during weekends only, got it?"

"Mom... I'm not a teenager anymore..."

The older lady chuckled at her daughter's expression. "You maybe not but you still act like one." She turned to Kim and said, "But you can sleep here as often as you like..."

Pie couldn't control her happiness. She threw herself to hug her mom. "Eeeee! I love you!"

"I'm not yet done. She'll sleep on the couch."

"Mom!"

"I'm kidding, okay?" Pie's mom chuckled. "Gosh, I can't believe I have competition with my baby now."

"It's not a competition, okay?" said Pie, hooking her chin on her mom's shoulder. "Why are you talking like I'm gonna leave you soon...?"

"Well, aren't you?"

"No. I won't do that. You're the only family I have. And I'm not leaving you. In fact, I'm just adding another member to the family, right?"

The older lady smiled at Pie. "Why don't you give us time to talk while you prepare the table for lunch?"

Pie immediately looked at Kim to make sure she's okay with it.

"Um, yeah, it's fine with me..." said Kim.

"Are you sure?" asked Pie.

Kim smiled at her. "Don't worry. It's not like you're mom's gonna bite me..."

"Well I can, Kim, I can," the older lady said.

Kim chuckled at it, feeling a little awkward.

"And I've killed people too before."

"Mom!"

"Kidding..." the older lady said, turning to her daughter. “I'll be gentle. I promise. Now you prepare while Kim and I will talk in my office."

---

The lively aura mood suddenly changed into something uncomfortable. Pie's mom had completely turned into a different person now. Kim is starting to really get anxious about this talk.

"Take a seat," said Pie’s mom, pointing at the swivel chair. Kim sat down and watched the older lady leaned her against the table. "I'm gonna be quick with this. Are you sure you're not just playing with my daughter's feelings?"

“No, ma'am. I can't do that to her. I care for her as much as she cares for me," said Kim quickly, feeling totally nervous now.

"So, you're saying that you really love her?"

Kim nodded. "I can prove that if you want."

"And how can you prove it?"

"I... I'll take good care of her..."

"Until when?"

Kim's mouth opened but she couldn’t make out an answer.

"See? That's what I'm talking about." The older lady shook her head. "This type of relationship doesn't really last."

"B-but, ma'am, believe it or not, I'm serious about her..."

"I know. I can see it in you, and I can see it in her too. That's the only reason I've allowed her to date you. I've never seen Pie so into someone like this."

"I... I'd like to thank you for giving us a chance to be together..."

"No, don't thank me yet. Let me make it clear first that I still want my daughter to be married to a man someday."

Kim looked down, flexing her jaw. She knows she won't be able to win if the argument is about this.

"To be honest I'm seeing this now as a phase in Pie’s life, in your lives,” said the older lady. “We can never disregard the possibility that both of you might fall for somebody else in the future, right? Now tell me honestly, until when are you planning to date my daughter?"

“I respect your opinion on the matter, ma’am,” said Kim, still trying her best to be calm even though it feels like she's being interrogated in court. "However, you also ought to know that Pie and I are aware that what we're having now isn't momentary."

"I really hope it’s not,” said Pie’s mom. "My only concern here is my daughter. I can't bear seeing her again crying like last time, which was because of you."

"I am sorry for that, but that was unintentional, ma'am —"

"I know, I know... but I'm in me is still worried that you might do it to her again."

"Believe me, that is the last thing I have in mind now," said Kim, looking at the woman eagerly.

The older lady studied Kim's face first before she leaned both hands against the table. "Just to let you know, I'm being nice now because this is the first time I've seen my daughter so vibrant and so bubbly. It's like she's found a new life, and ironically, even if it's because of you, I love seeing her that way. But I have to be honest here and let you know that I still don't like her having this relationship with you."

"I completely understand that," said Kim, looking down again.

"But as much as I don't want her to be with you I know that I would just hurt her again if I would take her away from you," said Pie’s mom, sighing. "I'm doing this for Pie because what matters to me is her happiness. And I'm giving you just one chance to prove to me that what you're having now is not just some ty relationship like the others."

That made Kim look up.

"I'd like to make a deal with you, Kimhan," the older lady said, shifting her position on the desk, "if you could prove to me that this type of relationship really lasts then I'd be willing to open my mind in accepting this, in accepting you..."

Kim leaned forward. "How do you want me to prove it to you, ma'am?"

"Simple. Take care of my daughter, make her happy. If she decides to stick with you for good then in return I'll be happy to accept you as part of the family — given that she won't fall for another guy, okay?" said the older lady, raising a finger. "Because if she does then it only means that there is really no room for relationships like this."

Kim isn't sure how to respond. She can’t deny that there is a possibility that they might fall for somebody else in the future, but that is something she hasn't thought of yet because they've only just begun. Even so, the idea of Pie wanting to marry a guy someday somehow scared her.

The older lady decided to continue, "But if Pie chooses to stay with you even after meeting other guys, and you won't break her heart again, then I guess I'd have to believe that you might be really meant for each other."

"I-I won't, I promise I won't hurt her," said Kim, unconsciously bringing a hand to her chest.

"Don't promise me anything now, just prove it. If you, by any chance, make her cry like last Monday, I swear I wouldn't want to see your shadow around my house ever again."

"Loud and clear, ma'am."

"So, do we have a deal?" asked Pie's mom, offering her hand.

Kim sat up to shake the hand. "Thank you, ma'am. Thank you."

"And please stop calling me that." Pie's mom rolled her eyes. "How many times should I tell you to call me aunt?"

Kim let out a low chuckle as she rubs her neck out of habit. "I'm sorry. I'm just feeling awkward a while ago..."

"Well you should be," came the response as the older woman raised an eyebrow at Kim. Suddenly it shifted to a sweet smile. "Okay, I'm just kidding."

Kim looked at the woman with a sort of relieved smirk while nodding.

The lady stared at Kim for a while before saying, "Now I'm starting to understand why Pie got attracted to you."

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Let's go out now before Pie gets worried that I might have killed you."

"Oh. Okay."

---

Pie's mom is a great converser. Kim enjoyed the lunch even though she was partly interrogated (again). Their lunch was filled with questions about her family and some questions about how she and Pie met.

After their lunch, the lady allowed the two to have their alone time. Pie excitedly dragged Kim into her room like a teenager who brought her first friend in the house.

"What did you guys talk about?" asked Pie, closing the door behind her.

"Well, it's mostly about us."

Pie led Kim to sit on the bed. "What did she say?"

"Mmmm. To sum it up, she said that she still doesn't accept me as your lover but she's willing to open her mind if we could prove to her that we could last long – given that you won't fall for another guy anytime soon," said Kim.

"What? She said that?"

"Yeah. She specifically wants me to take care of you while you're still in love with me,” said Kim. “She even said that you're the only reason she's nice to me. She can't bear seeing you cry like that again."

Pie looked away and sighed. "Tsk. Mom..."

"Hey, she's just worried about you."

"I know, and I know that she's really struggling to accept this."

"Well, at least she gave us a chance, right?"

Pie closed her eyes and leaned her head against Kim.

"But honestly I'm a bit worried..." Kim sighed.

"About?"

"What if you really fall for a guy someday? I bet your mom would be happy to see you walk down the aisle with the right man waiting for you."

"Hey, what are you saying?" said Pie, pulling herself back.

"I'm not just closing my mind to the possibility that what your mom said might happen..."

"And you're talking like I'm the only one who can do that?"

"I already told you, I have no plans of replacing the picture in my apartment. I'm certain of that, Pie."

Pie cupped Kim's cheeks to turn her face to hers. "And I've no plans to give you reasons to replace that either, okay?"

"I really hope you won't." Kim smiled faintly. "This is the first time I've felt so attached to someone. This is even stronger than what I had with Nam, and to be honest it's starting to scare me now."

"Shhh... I'm scared too, you know," said Pie, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against Kim's, "but like what they say, it takes two scared people to do one brave thing..."

"And that is?"

"To fall in love."

That had surely made Kim smile. "Since when did you become a romanticist?"

"Eeee..." Pie grimaced.

The soft smile remained on Kim's face as she looks at Pie with admiration. She touched Pie's cheek and slowly hairs off her face. "Why are you so beautiful?"

"And why are you such a sweet-talker, hmm?" asked Pie, smiling coyly.

"Why don't you just believe me?"

"And why don't you just shut up and kiss me?"

"Hmm..." Kim traced her thumb against Pie's lips. "I think that's a good idea."