“Baby, do you really have to go?”

Jessica looked up and grinned at the sulking kid beside her before resuming her packing. She needed to hurry before her daughter woke up, else she’d be late.

“Yes, Baby, I really do. We already talked about this, remember?” Taeyeon continued to pout as she reluctantly assisted Jessica in placing the last of her stuff inside the younger woman’s luggage.

“But what about Soojung?”

Jessica chuckled, effectively making the older woman frown even more. She zipped up her carry-on and placed it near the foot of the bed before standing in front of her wife. Taeyeon’s arms automatically wound themselves around Jessica’s waist and nuzzled her stomach, the younger woman smiling as she caressed the other’s head affectionately.

“She’s 3 years old, Tae. I’m sure she’ll be fine without me for a few days.” Taeyeon then looked up, and Jessica internally squealed and had to bite her lip as she tried hard not to wife because of how adorably pitiful she looked at that moment.

“But she’s never been away from you for that long!” Jessica just laughed as she kissed the whining woman’s head and hugged her closer.

“You’ll be here to keep her company. It’s not like you’ll just hand her over to your parents while I’m gone.” When Taeyeon didn’t answer, Jessica abruptly pushed her away and stared disbelievingly at her.

“Yah, Kim Taeyeon!!”

Taeyeon snickered as she stood up and tried to pacify her wife by embracing her tightly, peppering kisses up and down her neck and slowly guiding them down on the bed, the two laying content as they cuddled and savored each passing minute with each other since Jessica had to leave in a couple of hours.

“Why don’t we come with you instead? We can make it a family vacation!” Jessica giggled as she gently her wife’s cheek, clearly amused at how clingy Taeyeon was suddenly being. It wasn’t like this was her first business trip ever since they got married. But surprisingly, though, it was the first one since their daughter was born.

“It won’t be much of an outing if I won’t be there to enjoy it with you. I’m going there for business, Honey.” Taeyeon pouted but still tried again.

“At least we’ll be able to see you during breakfast and dinner. That way, it’ll be like you’re just off to work and we won’t miss each other as much.” Jessica finally sensed that something was amiss so she sat up and stared at her wife intently for a minute while Taeyeon just smiled but was clearly trying to avoid her gaze.

“This really isn’t about Krystal missing me, is it?” Taeyeon cleared and weakly tried to defend herself, still unable to look Jessica in the eyes.

“What do you mean? Of course, it is! Soojung won’t last a day without you!” Jessica continued to study Taeyeon for several seconds before sighing.

“It’s only one weekend, Tae. You’re more than capable enough of taking care of our daughter for three days. I’ll be home before you know it.” Taeyeon finally lifted her head, her eyes reflecting how anxious she really felt.

“I know. It’s just that - she’s always been Mommy Sica’s baby girl. You know that she’s never been completely alone with me before! The longest was, like, half a day, but that was because you suddenly had to go to work that weekend. What if I mess up and she gets really upset and hates me forever?” Jessica stared at her wife incredulously.

“What are you talking about, Taengoo?!” Taeyeon just sighed loudly and looked down again. It wasn’t like the thought was invalid or anything. Any parent would worry about being left alone with their kid for days without any other person to help them. Jessica chose to work from home unless she was needed at her company just so she could take care of their daughter full-time. But even she needed help from their families or friends if necessary when Taeyeon was at work.

Jessica honestly couldn’t see where her wife’s sudden lack of confidence about being alone with their daughter was coming from. The both of them were very hands-on when it came to raising Krystal, although the younger mother admits that their daughter would cling to her more, probably because she was the one who was home more often. But that didn’t lessen the enormous amount of affection little Soojung had for her beloved Umma.

Jessica cupped Taeyeon’s face so that the latter would look at her. She stared at the other intently, trying to convey without words that everything would be fine. Jessica smiled tenderly at her wife and leaned in to kiss her quickly on the lips as the older woman finally seemed to calm down under her comforting touch.

“Honey, your daughter adores you very, very much. She loves spending time with you and is always asking for you when you’re away. Soojung is a good kid, and she’s not as dependent as other children her age so looking after her on your own won’t be a problem. You’ve been doing an excellent job of taking care of her, so please, don’t think that you’re going to mess up just because I won’t be here with you.”

Taeyeon gazed at her wife and finally smiled back as she hugged her tight and whispered how much she loved her, glad that Jessica was there to always make her feel loved and reassured. She still had reservations about how the weekend would go, but she’s happy to know that she wasn’t a disappointment in the eyes of her family.

“I’m leaving now, Baby. Give Mommy a hug!”

Krystal leaped into her mother’s arms and hugged her tightly, refusing to let go when her Umma finally tried to take her away from Jessica. Taeyeon successfully pried her daughter away from her Mommy and patted her back gently to calm her down, Soojung already in tears and her short arms reaching out for the younger woman.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to drop you off at the airport instead of taking a cab?” Taeyeon asked, trying to soothe Soojung who was continuously sobbing, knowing that her Mommy was going somewhere without her. She was always like this when her mother goes out of the house without bringing her along.

“You know that’s not a good idea. Krystal associates the airport with someone leaving and not coming back for a long time,” Jessica said, trying hard to resist reaching for her crying child. Taeyeon just sighed and nodded, her wife her cheek reassuringly.

“I’ll be fine, Honey. I left my emergency contacts and the hotel’s contact information on the fridge just in case you can’t get ahold of my phone. I’ll see you real soon, my loves!” Before she could step out the front door, Jessica heard Taeyeon calling for her again. She looked over her shoulder and laughed as she saw her wife’s index finger pointing to her protruded lips.

Jessica left her luggage by the door and walked back the short distance towards her family, Taeyeon quickly seizing her by the neck and pulling her in, melding their lips together, not minding that their daughter was watching. Soojung sniffed and immediately embraced both her mothers’ necks, the grown-ups giggling as their mouths were pushed against each other even more.

The two finally separated and stared at each other lovingly for a few more minutes before Taeyeon disentangled the three of them and let her wife go.

“I love you, Sooyeon-ah. Stay safe, alright?”

“I love you, too, Taengoo. You two have fun, okay?”

Jessica gave both her girls one last peck each then dashed out the door before her daughter started bawling again. It took Taeyeon a while to pacify the agitated child, but nothing a couple of snacks and playing her favorite movies couldn't fix, and soon Soojung was happily dancing around the living room, her Mommy momentarily forgotten. Seeing her daughter’s wide smile and hearing her infectious laughter, Taeyeon hoped she could keep her this way the whole weekend.

A/N:

So, this is a veeerrryyy late Valentine's-turned-late-birthday fic for our beloved King Taeyeon! I decided to just add it here and divide it into 3 parts. this was actually based on a couple of eps from The Return of Superman (i'm a fan of Naeun and Gunhoo) and will be posting 1 part per day, but rest assured this short's basically done, just need to edit some stuff as i finish writing it.

PS. thank you thank you thank you for all those who viewed, read, subscribed, and upvoted all my stories! i will never abandon them, i'm just stuck with some personal stuff so updating regularly (and writing in general) has been very difficult. 

as always, enjoy reading, dear ones! <3