Jennie thinks she probably broke a couple traffic laws driving to Chaeyoung’s house. She parked quickly in front of her house and ran all the way to the front door. She almost breaks down but thankfully the sheriff opens it quickly.

 

Jennie felt relief at the knowledge that both girls were okay, however the main problem remained to be fixed and that was that Evie was in tears and refusing to go to the recital which was meant to happen in a couple of hours.

 

“Why not, sweetie?” Jennie asked sitting next to the girl. “You were so excited before.” She tells her, gently wiping away her tears.

 

The tiny brunette frowns and looks down at her feet.

 

“I had a bad dream,” She croacked out.

 

Chaeyuong frowned and sat next to her daughter. “Why didn’t you tell me, sweetheart?”

 

“It was embarrassing!”

 

Jennie exchanges looks with Chaeyoung for a second, she then takes one of Evie’s hands in hers and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

 

“What happened in your dream?”

 

Evie sniffled. “I forgot all the words and everyone laughed.”

 

Chaeyoung caresses her daughter's hair lovingly while Jennie smiled at her softly.

 

“You’ve been practicing so much, Evie. That isn’t going to happen.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

Jennie nods and gives her a warm smile. “I’m sure. And if you do mess up, just mouth something until you remember. No one will notice.”

 

“Really?”

 

“It always worked for me!”

 

Evie throws her arms around her and gives her a tight hug. “Thanks, Jennie.”

 

“You’re going to be great.”

 

Chaeyuong breathes a sigh of relief and squeezes her shoulder.

 

“Thank you.” She mouths at her.

 

Jennie smiles at her and shrugs.

 

Chaeyoung smiles back and then looks down at her watch. “Seems we’re ahead of schedule.”

 

“I suppose we should find some way to kill time so Evie doesn’t stress out again.”

 

Chaeyoung nods, her shirt hugging her toned arms as she folds her arms across her chest, the brunette can’t help but be distracted, and it takes her a moment to realize she’s speaking.

 

“Any ideas?”

 

“Oh! Let’s, um…” Jennie thinks about it looking around the house. And well she did promise to get another Mister Ginger for Eunae. This was her chance. “Eunae broke her salt dough cookie ornament today.”

 

“Mister ginger?” Chaeyoung gasped.

 

“Yes.” Jennie said with a pout. “Maybe Evie and I can make her a replacement.”

 

“That sounds nice!” Evie exclaims, tears and worry long gone.

 

Jennie smiles and leads Evie to the kitchen and starts measuring the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Chaeyoung watches as the two of them work, leaning against the doorway with a smile on her face. It was a scene she wished could see everyday and she wasn’t alone. The brunette liked being in a busy house again. She had missed this.

 

She rolls out the dough for Evie to carefully stamp with her cookie cutter.

 

“What should I make, Auntie Jen?”

 

“Oh how about a reindeer? You can use a gumdrop for the nose.”

 

“Ooooh!”

 

The blonde watches with a fond smile on her face as Jennie decorates the remaining cookies.

 

Jennie has some extra dough left so she decides to make Chaeyoung a cookie of her own, once she has the shape of her gingerbread man stamped out, she starts sculpting some extra details. She gives it a little sheriff start, and adds some details on its coat so it looks more like her.

 

Evie watches as Jennie carefully shapes the salt dough.

 

“Is that supposed to be mommy?” Evie asked, watching her.

 

Jennie smiled and nodded. “I’m glad you can tell, I’m trying to make it look like a sheriff.”

 

“It looks great!”

 

“Want to help me with the star?”

 

Jennie nods and eagerly gets to work sculpting the little badge. The brunette can’t help but think that this felt like mother-daughter bonding time. She can’t help but smile at the thought of countless afternoons spent baking and painting with her.

 

She used to watch cartoons with Gabriel, other times she’d watch him play with his toy cars as she cooked dinner, there were times where she’d sit down with a magazine or a book while her boys played video games… she missed those times and while being here with Chaeyoung and Evie… it was both a sad reminder of what she lost and what she still hoped to get back one day.

 

As the three of them drink hot coco and watch nightfall, she can’t help but feel a pang of regret that she’ll be leaving soon. Though if you ask her, she was starting to change her mind; however she needed to be sure before she could make any promises. Maybe she’ll know by the end of the holidays.

 

The cookies are pulled from the over, and Evie fetches her paints as they cool. Soon the two of them are sitting at the kitchen table, decorating new gingerbread men as Chaeyoung pages through a book.

 

“How does it look, Jennie?” Evie holds up the gingerbread man to show her.

 

“That looks great!” Jennie tells her. “I’m sure Eunae will love it!”

 

Chaeyoung closes her book and climbs to her feet with a sigh as Jennie heads into the living room.

 

“Just in time we should get going.”

 

Realization dawns on her like a cold slap to the face. “Oh crap! With all the craziness, I forgot to grab my dress on the way over.” Jennie explained. “I was hoping to dress up for Evie’s special day.”

 

Chaeyoung gives her a thoughtful look. “You might still be able to.”

 

“What do you mean?” Jennie frowned.

 

“Well it was going to be one of your christmas presents…” Chaeyoung explained, shyly. “But desperate times call for desperate measures.” She said with a quick smile. “Come on.”

 

“Yay! Presents!” Evie yelled with excitement.

Chaeyoung leads her upstairs. Soon, three gorgeous dresses are arranged on the bed before her.

 

“Jisoo helped me pick them out. We figured we’d let you pick your favorite and we can keep the other two.” She said with a cheeky smile.

 

“Mommy says we call it strategic shopping!”

 

Both women laugh at Evie words and Jennie tells her she is doing an excellent job prepping her for future shopping trips.

 

“Which one do you like best, auntie Jennie?”

 

“What do you think?” Jennie asks Chaeyoung and she swears she can see a slight blush on Chaeyoung’s cheeks.

 

Chaeyoung bit her lips and pointed to the one in the middle. “I’m partial to the red one.”

 

“Well then, I suppose I’ll have to choose the red one.”

 

Chaeyoung and Evie step outside to get changed as she slipped into the dress. When they meet them back in the hall, Chaeyoung’s jaw practically hits the floor.

 

“Does it look okay?” Jennie asks. “It’s not too much?”

 

“You look...stunning.”

 

------------------------

 

The three of them pile into Chaeyoung’s truck. Jennie sits on the passenger seat as Evie smoothes her dress in the back.

 

“Ready, sweetheart? Jennie?”

 

“Ready!” Evie said from the back.

 

“Ready.” Jennie said afterwards.

 

Jennie sits back and relaxes as the sheriff drives them to the school. The radio plays quietly as they enjoy the comfortable silence. She can hear the blonde humming to the music and she feels her glance at her as Jennie is beginning to get lost in her thoughts.

 

“What are you thinking about?” The blonde asked.

 

“You.”

 

The blonde raises her eyebrows and smiles.

 

“Me?”

 

“Yeah.” Jennie confirms. “You’ve really made me feel at home, and I appreciate it.”

 

“I’m glad I could make you feel welcomed. This visit has been long overdue.”

 

Soon enough they are pulling into the school parking lot.

 

“Do you see the Gwons?”

 

Both girls look around for familiar faces. “No, but I see Jisoo’s car. They’re probably already saving us seats.”

 

As they approach the school, Evie grabs her mother's hand and points at a small cluster of students.

 

“There’s my friend! Can I go?”

 

“Of course. Careful though.”

 

Evie rushes off to join her class, Jennie catches a whiff of rose perfume on the air and hears the click of heels on pavement.

 

“Oh no.” Jennie muttered.

 

“Jennie! Sheriff!” Lee Hyori greets them. “How delightful to see you!”

 

“Hyori, what a pleasant surprise!”

 

“Sure it is.” The realtor replied with a very fake smile. She eyes the two of them with a wicked grin on her face. “I didn’t expect to see you two together.”

 

“I don’t know why.” Jennie replied. “I’ve been staying with the Gwons, and we all want to support Evie.”

 

“Sure.” Hyori nods. “She’s adorable, isn’t she? And the three of you look so sweet together.”

 

“Thanks…” Jennie replied, awkwardly.

 

“Have you thought about staying in Shadow Creek?” Hyori asked. “I know we’d all love to have you back, you could join my brokerage?”

 

Jennie can almost sense the effort it’s taking Chaeyoung not to grimace, it was taken some effort on the brunette’s part as well.

 

“Uh...I’ll think about it?” She answered. “I mean it would be a pretty big change, but I’ll consider my options.”

 

“You do that. Let me know when you decide, and we can talk business.” Hyori waves at them both as she strides off.

 

Chaeyoung flashes her a playful grin.

 

“I’ve been going about this all wrong.” She said. “All this time I’ve been talking about building a life together when I could have offered you a job with Hyori.” She joked.

 

“Don’t you start.”

 

The two of them share a laugh as they head inside.

 

----------------------

 

As expected, the pageant goes beautifully, adn Evie’s performance is flawless.

 

Still, as Jennie watches her on the stage, she can’t help but feel a pang of grief over the son she lost. Gabriel should be up there with her.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Chaeyoung reaching out for her hand. She stops though, as if she changes her mind and lets her hand fall to her lap. Jennie bites her lip and looks briefly at the woman beside her and then without hesitating she reaches out and lays her hand on the blonde’s. The sheriff gazes at her as she intertwines her fingers with the brunette’s.

 

The blonde leans in to speak to her in a murmur so they aren’t overheard. “I can’t begin to understand how hard this must be for you.”

 

“It’s not quite as tough as I thought it would be, but it still hurts.” Jennie whispers back.

 

“Do you need to step out?”

 

Jennie shakes her head determined to see it through for Evie’s sake. Chaeyoung nods, but her hand never leaves hers as the two of them watch the pageant.

 

The brunette can’t help but think Chaeyoung’s such a comforting presence, just like she was back then.

 

------------------

When it’s over, they join the Gwons outside.

 

“You did such a wonderful, sweetheart!” Eunae tells Evie.

 

“Thanks!”

 

Chaeyoung puts a hand on Jennie’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

 

“I…” Jennie sighs. “It was a little hard, but I’ll be okay.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

Jennie nods and manages a small smile. “I was a little worried I’d start crying or something, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

 

“I’m glad. I know it means a lot to her that you came.”

 

“Hey, Chae...Do you think we could talk in private?” Jennie asked. As she stared at the thoughtful woman in front of her she figured this was as good a time as any to ask.

 

“Of course.”

 

Chaeyoung waves down Jisoo. “Do you mind taking Evie in your car? Jennie and I have a quick errand and we don’t want to keep her waiting.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll meet you back at the house.”

 

Jennie winced. “I didn’t mean it had to be now.”

 

“It sounds like something’s weighing on your mind.” Chaeyoung said. “I’d rather give you the chance now.”

 

The two of them stand together in a tense moment of silence as the Gwons drive off.

 

“Chaeyoung…” Jennie begins.

 

“Go ahead. You can tell me anything.”

 

Jennie exhales. “Well, I’ve been thinking about how much I want to stay here…” She paused, a delighted smile spread across Chaeyoung’s face in response, and before she can say anything else Chaeyoung’s kissing her. The brunette doesn’t hesitate as she surrounders to the kiss eagerly.

 

Chaeyoung’s fingers tangle in her hair as Jennie deepens the kiss, wishing she could make the moment last forever. She presses against the blonde, revealing in the warm reassurance of her body.

 

She’s sure this woman could have been her everything, if only she had chosen her back then instead of settling.

 

At long last, the kiss trails off. Chaeyoung brushes her lips against the corner of , and then her cheek in one last peck.

 

“That’s great news!” Chaeyoung exclaims.

 

“No, it’s...that isn’t what I needed to talk to you about.”

 

Chaeyoung frowns, seeming confused, but gestures for her to continue.

 

“Did you know Byeol was cheating on me?”