~ Fall, Current Year ~

“Good morning, Mrs. Jung” Yong whispered while hovering above me before she leaned down to kiss my lips.

I s my arms around her shoulders, smiling while basking myself on the feeling of having Yong in my arms in all her morning glory. “Good morning too, Mrs. Jung” I whispered back before pulling her face closer to me for another kiss.

My pajama top’s buttons were all undone while Yong was hovering above me and in between my legs. It has become her morning routine to kiss all the stars on my arms and on my abdomen. Waking up to her soft lips on me has become like my alarm clock now. The best alarm clock that was ever invented.

“Mommy! Mama!”

I instantly broke our kiss, laid my head back on the pillow, and turned my head towards the direction of our bedroom door. Yong was still on top of me and my pajama was still undone when we heard Nabi’s excited voice, too zealous for an early morning, from outside of our bedroom.

“Does she know how to open doors now?” Yong asked, her voice sounded nervous and urgent above me.

I rolled my eyes at her and scoffed, “Of course”

We have the smartest baby girl I’ve ever met, of course Nabi knows how to open doors even before she’s four years old.

“Did you lock the door?” she asked again.

Now it’s my turn to feel nervous. I dropped my hands from around her and slowly slid them down on her arms. “I think so…” I answered, feeling so uncertain. Then, my eyes slowly went wide when the realization hit me. I never locked our bedroom door.

We were both startled when we heard a loud knock on our door. I moved below Yong to climb out of the bed at the same time Yong rolled to the side and dropped her body back on the bed. The moment my feet hit the floor, I immediately stood up and dashed to the bathroom, ignoring the feeling of being dizzy when my body was still a little bit disoriented early in the morning. I closed the bathroom door just as Nabi opened our bedroom door.

Nabi has slept with us a couple of times. She even helped Yong kiss the stars all over my body, but those were done with Yong beside me while Nabi was sitting on my lap. My pajama sleeve was just rolled and the hem of my shirt was pushed up, revealing my abdomen only. It would be a different star-kissing if she’d seen Yong on top of me while our lips were locked against each other. My pajama buttons were even all undone, revealing me on my bra only.

“Mommy!”

I sighed and leaned back on the bathroom door as I heard Nabi’s excited voice calling out to Yong. I closed my eyes, letting the dizziness subside, as I closed my pajama buttons. When I was done, I looked down on my shirt to check if all buttons were all closed before I turned the knob of the bathroom door, opening it.

I walked out of the bathroom and saw that Nabi is now sitting on Yong’s lap. Yong chuckled at me when she saw me walking back to the bedroom while I just sighed heavily and shook my head at her. I think I must’ve been flushed red earlier when I panicked too, but hopefully that is all gone now.

“It’s my first day of school today!” Nabi excitedly announced as I climbed back on the bed and sat beside my wife.

“It’s your first day to school already?” I asked, my eyebrows dipping low in fake disbelief and shocked. I turned towards Yong who had an amused glint in her eyes and asked her, “Is it already?”

Yong rolled her eyes at me with a hint of a smile on her lips. I held the confused and shocked state of my face while I stared back at her. Nabi suddenly cupped my cheeks and pinched them, turning my face to look at her. I pouted at her before I asked, “It’s really your first day of school, baby? Why did no one tell me?” My voice was muffled and my words were slightly distorted by how much Nabi pushed my cheeks together.

“Mama, you’re not paying attention. I told you yesterday” Nabi said exasperatedly, scolding me as if I’m the kid in this room while she’s the adult between the two of us.

I smiled at her and grabbed her small hands that were on my cheeks. I dropped her hands from my cheeks before I reached at her waist, armpits, and neck and started to tickle her. She squirmed on the bed while her loud giggles that Yong and I love so much filled our bedroom. “Of course, I know it,” I said over her loud laughter.

“Mama! Stop it!” she shouted in between her laugh while she desperately pried my hands off of her. 

“Why would I forget my baby’s first day of school?” I asked, feigning hurt that she doesn’t know her Mama so much. I laughed with her and held her shoulders when she started to thrash around, crinkling the sheets on our bed.

“Mommy! Help!” Nabi shouted over our loud laughters, recruiting her Mommy now.

I felt Yong touched my shoulder as she said, “Okay, that’s enough. Let our daughter breathe now”

I obediently followed and mentally sighed when she didn’t join in like the last time I tickled Nabi. I lifted Nabi and sat her in between Yong and me as I leaned on our bed’s headboard. Nabi was still catching her breath when Yong and I both leaned down to kiss either side of her cheeks at the same time.

“Good morning, Nabi” I said to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. At the same time, Yong placed her arm around her waist and said, “Good morning, baby”

“Morning…” she said in between heavy breaths while I softly chuckled at her. “No tickling… next time… please…” she added, which made Yong and I giggle at her.

I leaned down to kiss the top of her head and whispered to her, “Okay, no more tickling”

Nabi whipped her head at me, surprised at what she heard, before she asked, “Promise?”

“I promise,” I said, which made her face look hopeful. “No more. For today. But I didn’t promise anything for tomorrow or the days after” I tricked her as I winked at her.

Nabi groaned and pouted at me before she looked at her Mommy and whined, “Mommy…”

“That’s between you and your Mama” Yong said as she brushed Nabi’s hair while my heart jumped out of joy. I know she likes me tickling our daughter. “I’m out of the equation when it comes to tickles” she added before she cupped Nabi’s cheeks. “Are you ready for your first day at school?” she asked Nabi, changing the subject right away.

I leaned forward and saw a huge smile on Nabi’s face. “I am!” she said while nodding her head excitedly.

“Are you excited?” Yong asked again, looking so excited just like our daughter.

“Yes!” Nabi answered in no time.

Yong leaned down to kiss our daughter’s forehead before she said, “Now, go with Mama to take a bath. I’ll cook us breakfast”

I immediately lifted Nabi in my arms as we both climbed out of the bed. I followed Yong on her way out of the bedroom while I showered kisses on Nabi’s tummy. Even until now that she has grown so much already, kissing her tummy would still make her giggle.

Yong headed straight to the kitchen while I carried Nabi to her bedroom. I carefully put her back on the floor as I said, “You go take a bath while I prepare your clothes, okay?”

“Roger that!” she shouted excited as she ran towards the bathroom.

“Careful! Don’t trip inside the bathroom!” I reminded her. Thankfully, she stopped running and dramatically tipped toed when she got inside the bathroom.

“Roger that!” she shouted again and gave me an animated salute while her back was still to me.

I chuckled and shook my head before she closed her bathroom door. She’s been really spending too much time with Hyejin. Hyejin talks animatedly to Nabi and I know Nabi learned all those dramatics from her godmother. I also have this hunch that Hyejin has been teaching her crazy and unnecessary things as well. I just hoped it wouldn’t ruin my daughter’s innocence.

I sighed as I headed towards Nabi’s closet. I heard splashes from the bathroom and Nabi singing when I got inside her closet, which made me smile right away. It’s still cold outside so she definitely needs warmer clothes on her. I grabbed an underwear, white sweater with silver sparkly designs, black leggings, black tutu skirt, a pair of yellow socks and her brown boots. I carried them and carefully laid down all her clothes on the bed while I placed her boots beside her bed.

I walked to the bathroom door, still hearing her sing and the splashes of water, before I knocked on her door. “Nabi-ah! I placed all your clothes on the bed, okay?”

“Okay…” she responded cheerfully.

“Head straight to the kitchen after you change. Mama will take a shower too” I said and waited for her confirmation before I walked out of her bedroom.

Yong was still cooking breakfast when I got out of Nabi’s room. “I’ll head to shower first” I informed her as I walked towards our bedroom.

“Okay. Coffee?” she asked behind me before I entered our bedroom.

I stopped and never went inside our bedroom yet. I looked at her in the kitchen, leaned on the door frame, and smiled at how beautiful she looked while cooking. Her hair is up in a messy bun while she’s wearing an apron over her pajamas, hands holding her waist and a spatula. She turned around when I never answered and narrowed her eyes at me when she discovered that I was just staring at her.

“Last time I checked, you still have a mouth to speak,” she said while pointing a spatula at her.

I jogged to her and held her waist before I quickly kissed her lips, which she welcomed instantly. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?” I asked her, genuinely curious about it but she treated it like I was being cheesy.

She scoffed and pushed me away from her. “Shut up” she mumbled before she turned around and faced whatever she was cooking. She was trying to hide her blush but it never went unnoticed. My eyes were on her face the whole time, admiring how beautiful my wife is right now.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, squeezing her tight, and placed a kiss on her neck. I never stayed for too long because we both need to take a shower to go to work as well. “I love you” I called to her as I walked back towards our bedroom. “And no coffee for the whole week” I said to her before I opened the door.

“I love you too” I heard Yong say, making me instantly smile before I headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

After we drove Nabi to her school, it’s time for the adults to go to work now. All three of us, Hyejin, me and Yong, walked back to our cars. Hyejin drove by the house this morning because she doesn't want to miss Nabi's first day of school. She was walking ahead of us while Yong and I walked hand-in-hand as we followed her.

I opened the door of the driver’s side of Yong’s car and motioned for her to get in. I didn’t close the door yet and just stood close to Yong who’s already seated on the driver seat. She reached for my purse from the passenger seat and passed it to me. She then cupped my cheeks and leaned forward to kiss me while I held a hand on her waist and kissed her back.

“You’ll be riding with Hyejin?” she whispered as she pulled to hug me.

“I am,” I said, my voice muffled by her neck as I hugged her back.

“I’ll pick you up then we’ll pick Nabi together” she said as I leaned back to loosen the hug.

“Okay” I said, nodding my head at her.

“I’ll see you later then” she whispered before she pulled me for another kiss. “I love you”

I leaned in to kiss her forehead before I said, “I love you too.” I stepped away from her and held the door. “Call me if you need anything. Don’t tire yourself too much. If your head hurts, tell me right away, okay?” I told her as I watched her fasten her seatbelt.

She turned and smiled at me. “I will. Don’t worry, doc. I’m your most obedient patient ever” she bragged even though she's the most stubborn one as she winked at me.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at her, making her chuckle at me. “I’ll see you later, Yong” I said to her before I closed her door.

I moved to the car right beside Yong’s and opened Hyejin’s passenger seat. She overdramatically sighed once I closed her door and fastened my seatbelt.

“Took you long enough” she said exasperatedly before she sighed heavily again.

I was literally saying goodbye to my wife for five minutes, probably even less, but she’s acting like I’ve made her wait for eternity. Nabi really learned being so dramatic from her godmother. And apparently, her godmother taught her way more than being dramatic.

I glared at Hyejin as she pulled from the school parking lot and started driving towards the hospital.

“I’m not letting Nabi have a sleepover at your place again” I said to her, my eyes boring at the side of her face.

“Why? What did I do? I have taken good care of your baby butterfly” Hyejin defended, sounding so innocent as if I forgot what Nabi said with her innocent lips earlier that obviously came from Hyejin.

“Mommy screams a lot?” I said, repeating what my daughter said earlier while my voice raised from disbelief. I glared harder at her when she bit her lips to stop herself from laughing. “Mama talks a lot when they’re in bed?!” I said as I slouched on my seat and shook my head while I faced the road ahead. Meanwhile, my best friend couldn’t hold it anymore and just laughed loudly, unashamed of what she has done.

“I hate you…” I whispered under my breath as I closed my eyes to sigh. “You’re a bad influence to our baby girl”

She just laughed harder when I said that. As much as I really wanted to be mad at her, I couldn’t maintain my serious expression with how she’s laughing beside me. I sighed before I gave in and just smiled at her.

“How did you even come up with that?” I asked her, handing her a tissue from her glove box so she could wipe the tears on the corners of her eyes from laughing too much.

“I didn’t make that up” she said when she was finally able to breathe properly while I furrowed my eyebrows at her. “The night I picked up Nabi last week so you could have your alone time with Yong, I went back to your penthouse because you forgot to pack her favorite stuffed puppy”

“You went back?!” I asked, unintentionally raising my voice while she nodded her head. “Why didn’t you knock?”

“I knocked and rang your doorbell, but I got no response”

“What about Nabi? Was she with you that time?” I asked, my heart starting to beat fast from nervousness and shame. I could even feel my blood rushing up to my face as I gulped from nervousness.

“Luckily…” Hyejin said in a singsong voice. “You have a really smart best friend. I told Nabi to stay in the car while I hurriedly grabbed her puppy because I thought ahead already. If I brought her with me, she might not face her mothers now if she heard what I heard. Same goes to both of you too”

I instantly sighed in relief and groaned at the same time as I leaned back on my seat. I closed my eyes, feeling so embarrassed, as I whispered, “You heard us?”

“Oh, I heard you two clearly” Hyejin said amusingly. She’s clearly having fun at me right now. She got more ammunition to tease me and I don’t like that because when Yong knew this, they would tease me together again and again. And again. “And oh my goodness, Whee…” she whisper-shouted.

I turned to look at her, waiting for her to continue what she said. When the car stopped as we reached a red traffic light, she turned to look at me with her eyes wide open as she shouted, “You two are loud!”

I groaned once again while she just chuckled at me. “I finally understand why you could never do it with Nabi in your house” she said in between laughters while I just groaned loudly and covered my face with my hands, feeling another set of blood rushing to my face. “I went inside Nabi’s closet and closed the door but I could still hear you two clearly…”

“Okay, okay! Stop it! I get it. We’re loud” I said, cutting her as I playfully pushed her. That just made her laugh louder. I had no choice but to just sigh once again.

“Just so you know, I never stayed and I never told Nabi what your business is inside your bedroom” Hyejin said, sounding super defensive right now.

“Then what was that earlier? What were you teaching her, Hyej?” I asked, pouting and glaring at her again.

“I never told her anything about how her mothers passionately make love. I just did that to loosen the tension, and I promise, never told her more than those” Hyejin explained, looking so serious now. “I could see how you were nervous when we left your house. Then Yong looked so nervous as well when we got to Nabi’s school. I need to at least help you, and it did. Yong looked like she wanted to kill me and you didn’t look so pale anymore when you said goodbye to Nabi. You should thank me” Hyejin said, smirking and winking at me, feeling so proud of herself.

“I still hate you” I mumbled, but I meant the oppo