~ Fall, Current Year ~

Soft kisses on my left arm greeted me the moment I woke up. I sighed and sunk myself deeper on the bed, knowing that those soft, delicate, and calculated kisses belong to Yong. I felt the bed shifted next then followed by a weight on my lap. I slowly lifted my still heavy eyelids and saw Yong straddling me while she ed my pajama top. She smiled when she saw that I was already awake while I lazily smiled back at her. She leaned forward as she slowly made her way to my top button.

When she freed the last button, she kissed my dimple before she sat straight again. I held her thighs and lazily rubbed my hands on them below her pajama shorts. She held my waist and bent down once again then started kissing the stars on my abdomen. I instantly closed my eyes, in a huge breath, and held it the moment I felt her soft lips on my abdomen. When she reached my stab wound, she repeatedly kissed it before she placed a lingering kiss on it.

I released the breath I was holding after she finished kissing all my stars. I wrapped my arms around her waist when she planted her elbows on either side of me and leaned forward.

“Good morning, Mrs. Jung” Yong whispered before she placed a soft kiss on my lips.

“Good…” I whispered back as she continued to softly kiss me. “Morning… Mrs. Jung” I mumbled as I lifted a hand up and buried my fingers in her hair. I trapped her bottom lip in between mine and stopped her from moving. I kissed her as I tightened my arm around her waist then flipped us on the bed.

I break the kiss only to straddle her. I leaned forward once again and kissed her as I started to her pajama top. My kisses travelled down to her neck while I felt her arms around my shoulders, her nails digging on my back. I covered with my kisses the skin that got exposed every time I undid a button on her pajama top. When I reached in between her s, her nails dug deeper on my back and slowly travelled up to my hair, tangling her fingers with my tresses, as we moaned softly at the same time. I continued to travel downwards while Yong started to push my face closer to her as she started breathing heavily.

Once I undid the last button, I climbed up and smiled at how hung open while her eyes were shut tight. I went to kiss her pulse and slowly opened her pajama top as I travelled my kisses from her pulse to her shoulder.

Yong cleared before she whispered in between heavy breaths, “Whee…”

“Hmm…” I hummed right on her skin as I travelled back to her neck. I stopped at the crook of her neck and softly on it, releasing another soft moan from Yong. Her breaths started to become audible now while her chest moved erratically.

“Whee… Nabi… …” she struggled to whisper as she groaned when I softly bit her pulse and ran my tongue on the skin that I just bit, easing it from my bite, while her nails were back to digging on my back, intensifying my desire to have her right now. If I wasn’t still wearing my pajama top, she might’ve scratched me already.

“What about Nabi?” I whispered before I went to the other side of her neck.

I pushed the other half of her pajama again, opening it wide, as I travelled from her neck down to her shoulder. I heard Yong clear , moving right on my lips, over the ringing in my ears before she gently pulled my face away from her.

I gulped as we stared at each other while we both breathed heavily. She ran her tongue on her lips, wetting it, while I bit my bottom lip when I saw her tongue darted out of . I could see the desire from her eyes and I know mine reflected the same as well, but she’s restraining herself. I don’t want to force her so I waited if she'd let me continue. I’m aware that our daughter is still sleeping in her own bedroom and we still have time, but I waited despite the pain I feel right below my stomach.

She suddenly closed her eyes while her face contorted as she groaned loudly, depicting what I exactly feel right now. I chuckled before I kissed her forehead. Her arms around me tightened and pulled me closer to her. I buried my face on her neck, wrapped my arms around her, and laid on top of her, but I didn’t kiss her this time. We both know we want to, but something is stopping Yong.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered gently.

“I want to, Whee. Believe me when I said I want to” she muttered in frustration while I kissed her cheek again to comfort her. “But it’s Nabi’s birthday today. We’re supposed to wake her up and surprise her. We won’t have time”

I got so lost in wanting her that I forgot that today is our daughter's birthday.

“Okay…” I whispered to her before I kissed her forehead again.

I pushed myself to sit up and started to button her pajama top. Yong held my waist as I continued to button her shirt. I chuckled when I saw her pout before I leaned down and pecked her pouting lips. I climbed out of the bed and wore my slippers as I buttoned my pajama top.

“Whee…” Yong whined, standing in front of me and stopping my hands from closing my top for her to do it herself. “Are you mad at me?” she mumbled, her eyes focused on her task.

I cupped her cheeks and rubbed my thumbs on them before I whispered, “I’m not. We’ve got plenty of time.” I brought her face up to look at me before I narrowed my eyes and said teasingly, “Unless you don’t want to stay with me anymore. Do you still want to?”

I felt her arm hugging me around my waist as she held my wrist and kissed my palm. “Don’t you want to stay with me?” she countered, returning the question back to me.

I leaned forward and kissed her before I said with utmost certainty, “I want to”

That got me a huge smile from Yong. I smiled back at her as I squeezed her squishy cheeks, reassuring her that I have no problem at all. I just hope that it won’t ever bug her again. She tends to overthink sometimes, making her feel more worried when there’s nothing to be worried at all.

She patted my head as she said, “Very good then.” She pinched my dimpleless cheek before she held my hands that were still on her cheeks and started walking backwards, dragging me with her out of the room. “Now, let’s go wake up the birthday girl” she said excitedly, her deep dimples teasing me so much and making my hands itch to poke them.

I stopped her from walking backwards before she could hit the door behind her. I opened it and motioned for her to walk out first. Yong went to the refrigerator and grabbed the two cupcakes she baked yesterday while Nabi accompanied me in my office. I went to the cupboard and grabbed two candles before I passed them to Yong then I went to grab the match from the overhead cabinets.

I walked to her by the kitchen counter and stood beside her as I watched her insert the second candle on the remaining cupcake. Once she was done, I lit the match to light the candles standing on the cupcakes. I hurriedly placed the match inside the cabinet again before I walked back to Yong. She handed me one of the cupcakes then we headed towards Nabi’s room.

I shielded the flame with my hand as we silently walked towards Nabi’s bedroom. Yong has been giggling beside me and I have to remind her to be quiet so we wouldn’t wake Nabi up. I can’t help but smile at her though. She looked like she’s the one who just turned four by how excited she is.

When we reached the room, I slowly turned the doorknob, careful not to create any sound, before I slowly pushed it open. I let Yong enter the room first before I followed her and closed the door behind me. My shoulder hunched and I held my breath as I slowly pushed the door to close it. When I heard the click of the door, I sighed heavily and loosened the tension on my shoulders, almost blowing out the candle on my cupcake. I held my breath again and covered the flame from my breath before I ever so slowly breathed out.

“Whee, why are you staying there? Walk here faster.” I heard Yong whisper when I took too much time breathing air out of my lungs.

“Sorry” I whispered to her as I walked towards Nabi’s bed.

Nabi’s bedroom was reconstructed thrice. It was originally a guest room here in our penthouse in case Mom or Hyejin visits us here. Before I proposed to Yong, I secretly converted the guest room into Nabi’s room. I hired people to paint the walls into colorful murals, attached baby cameras all over the room, and bought all the things that I thought we needed for having a baby.

When Yong lost her memories, I converted Nabi’s bedroom back into a guest room again that would serve as Yong’s room, and decided that Nabi would stay with my Mom in Jeonju while Yong stayed with me in the penthouse. After she recovered her memories, Yong secretly converted the guest room and turned it into exactly how it looked like before we got into the accident. The walls are filled with the same colorful murals that I personally sketched and the ceiling was painted in a soft night sky with glow-in-the-dark stars pasted on it.

The only difference in this room, now that our baby girl is growing, is the absence of the crib. We replaced it with a small bed when Nabi turned three. It is still a little bit big for Nabi but it exactly fits me and Yong, which is the only reason why we bought it. We could lie down comfortably beside her everytime she asks either one of us to read her stories before she goes to sleep.

Yong sat down on one side of the bed while I mirrored her on the other side. Nabi is hugging her favorite brown stuffed puppy. Her lips are a little bit pouted as soft snores come out of her slightly open mouth. I chuckled at how adorable she is every time she sleeps, especially her squishy cheeks that are just like her Mommy’s. I always have this urge to bite her soft puffy cheeks because of how cute they are.

“Nabi… Baby, wake up” Yong softly called out her name as she brushed Nabi’s hair out of her face while I softly pat her side. “Baby, wake up. Mommy and Mama have a surprise for you” Yong said in a singsong voice.

I smiled when she started stirring on the bed. Then she suddenly swatted Yong’s hand away from her face. I had to bite my bottom lip and placed the cupcake away from my face as I tried to stop myself from laughing loudly. My body shook, as well as the bed, while I continued to silently laugh. Yong smacked my arm to stop me from laughing, but that only made it more difficult for me not to produce any noise.

“I’m sorry” I managed to whisper in between giggles as I wiped the corner of my eyes from laughing too much.

“Nabi, wake up. Mommy and Mama have something for you” Yong repeated again as I slowly calmed myself down.

We watched Nabi stretch her hands up and kick on the bed as she groaned loudly. Slowly, her body relaxed and a pout was on her lips while she lay down on her back. The world seemed to light up when I finally saw her pair of brown eyes. We both smiled wide at her while we held the cupcakes in front of us. Her eyes jumped from Yong’s cupcake to mine, still a little bit disoriented from being woken up.

Yong and I then started singing happy birthday to her. When it finally clicked, her face slowly lit up as her eyes went wide and her lips broke into a huge smile, exposing her single dimple to us. She groggily sat up from the bed and I instantly held her arm to help her. She dropped her puppy and started clapping her hand as she sang with us.

“Happy birthday, Nabi!” Yong and I said at the same time as we placed the cupcakes we’re holding in front of Nabi.

“Make a wish before you blow your candles” Yongs said to her as she tucked Nabi’s hair behind her ears.

“Can I make two wishes?” she asked Yong, her voice cracking a little bit as she raised her two fingers at her Mommy.

Over the past few months, Nabi’s speaking has greatly improved. She still asked us a lot of questions on words she doesn’t know and would stutter occasionally, especially if she’s having a hard time putting into words her thoughts, which is pretty normal for a four-year old kid. I am proud of her and of myself for being able to witness how our baby girl has been growing greatly.

“Why, baby? Do you need more than one wish?” I inquired as I moved to sit beside her and placed my arm around her shoulders.

“Because… you brought me two candles. I get one wish in one candle, right?” she asked, looking at me this time.

I chuckled as I bent down to kiss her cheek. “Make your two wishes then” I whispered to her before I gave a toothless bite on her cheek then kissed it.

She whined when I softly bit her cheek and half-heartedly pushed my face away from her. I laughed at her before I placed my lighted cupcake in front of her again. I kissed the top of her head while she clasped her hands below her chin and closed her eyes to make her two wishes.

I glanced at Yong while our daughter was busy making her wish and saw that she’s already looking at me. I raised my eyebrows at her as if to ask her what’s wrong. She just smiled and shook her head at me. I patted the space on the other side of Nabi and silently asked her to move closer. She moved right away and sat beside Nabi while making sure that the lighted cupcake she’s holding was still in front of Nabi. By the time Yong sat down beside our daughter, Nabi had already finished making her wish.

“I’m blowing the candles now” she announced before she in a huge breath and blew the candles on her cupcakes while we cheered for her. “Can I eat them now?” she asked, looking at her Mommy.

I