One Thanksgiving Later

“Giran, you are the bestest mother-in-law in the whole world. You know that, right?” Dara hugged the sweet woman around the middle, making her laugh and sputter in modest disbelief.

It was true, though. Giran had taken it in stride when Dara told her she and Jiyong would be spending Thanksgiving at Nana’s rental house, and Giran had been just as gracious when plans changed and all of Dara’s relatives needed to be invited over to Giran’s instead.

Giran went back to slicing up the cinnamon apple cake she’d made. “Jiyong, your wife is buttering up to me in a blatant attempt at favoritism.”

“Is it working?” Jiyong asked, walking over and folding his arms, pretending to look stern.

“Of course it’s working.” Giran winked. “Now, you two carry out the dessert plates and forks for me, will ya?” She left the kitchen with the cinnamon apple cake, leaving the wonderful spicy baking scent behind.

Jiyong glanced around, and Dara recognized that opportunistic look in his eyes. They were alone. They hadn’t been alone all day, and while they got plenty of quality newlywed time together on every other day, they hadn’t gotten it today. What was the point of a holiday if it wasn’t spent celebrating something as wonderful as love?

One hand came around each side of the counter, locking her in place as he dipped his head and kissed her softly. Well, that wouldn’t do. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with a little more heat, moving to his jawline before working her way back to his mouth.

“Dara,” he growled. “You’re going to get us in trouble.”

“Yep,” she breathed out between kisses. “Eventually. But not yet.”

They made out for another blissful two minutes until someone cleared their throat in the kitchen doorway. “Seriously, you two? Just hand over the dessert plates. I’ll take them in.”

“Thanks, Seunghyun.” Dara peered around Jiyong. “We’ll be right there.”

“Sure you will.” He took the dessert plates and forks from them and rolled his eyes.

Dara gave Jiyong one last lingering kiss before she dragged him back to the dining room. The embarrassment of having everyone study their bright eyes and flushed faces was totally worth it, even if it was super weird to get an exasperated dad look from Teddy.

Sometimes she imagined what it would have been like having him around during her teenage years. He and Jiyong got along great, but she had a feeling Teddy would have been the protective type, lecturing her dates on when to have her home and how he expected them to treat her.

“This cake is amazing,” Teddy said, turning to smile at her. “Giran said you two worked on the recipe together.”

“Thanks, Da-Teddy.” Dara laughed nervously.

Teddy did too. “Maybe we should just stick wi