Best For Me

Chapter 8

The expression on Elly's face went from thoughtful to frightened in a myriad of moves and Lia's heart jumped.

"Will I still get to live with you?" the little girl signed fearfully. "I don't want to leave you!" Elly's bottom lip trembled and Lia could see tears forming in her eyes. She got up and rounded the table hurriedly, pulling the little girl into her arms.

Pulling back, she signed frantically, "You never have to leave me. You'll be staying with Mommy, no matter what, okay?" Lia gently drew one thumb across a spilled tear on her daughter's cheek. Elly sniffled.

"Promise?" the little fingers signed back.

"Cross my heart." And Lia did, drawing a slender finger in an x across her chest.

"Okay." That seemed to end the tears and bring Elly back to some semblance of happy. "Can I go watch cartoons now?"

She'd finished her vegetables so Lia let her go. Washing up the dishes she thought to herself that things could have gone a lot worse. Her daughter was so much more mature than she expected sometimes.

Who knew that the kid already knew what divorce was? And Soobin thought she was backwards because she couldn't hear. Lia gave a derisive snort into the kitchen air, though there was no one to hear it.

To Lia's relief, Elly really did seem okay. She was her normal charming self when bathed and put to bed. She enjoyed the tickle game just as much as she always did and, if she clung to Lia just a little longer during her goodnight hug and kiss, the blonde didn't really mind. She also thought it probably didn't signify much.

Sighing as she gently half-closed the door behind her, leaving the hall light on for comfort, she made her way into the living room and collapsed on the couch. Her watch told her that she had half-an-hour before Yeji was due to arrive. She closed her eyes and groaned. Just enough time to make herself look presentable.

Lia was even more grateful for Yeji's company the following day, given how crappy it really turned out to be. Yeji had hung out with her, watching videos and making stupid jokes until the early morning. It had been perfect.

Every moment she spent with Yeji reminded her how crappy some of the other moments in her life could be, moments like this one, the one where she was standing in her parents' hallway staring at her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

"What are you doing here?"

"Your mother invited me," Soobin explained, reaching out his arms to Elly and engulfing her in a hug. He kissed the little girl on the cheek and put her down so she could run off to find her grandfather. "We need to talk."

"Here?" Lia wasn't amused in the slightest. "Soobin, this is my parents' house."

"I assumed that made it neutral territory."

"You assumed wrong." Lia crossed her arms. "It makes it somewhere I go to see my family and escape."

"I am your family." Soobin put his hands in his pockets and regarded Lia evenly. "Lia, this is crazy. I've given you time to cool off. Can we please now talk about things?"

Lia was furious that her mother had pulled this on her. She should have expected it. She also knew she was being deliberately obstinate. It was her father passing in the distance, flashing her an "I'm sorry about this" smile, that made her calm down.

"Okay, Soobin, we'll talk. But not here. In the back yard, okay? This is none of my parents' business."

She moved past him and led him out to the back yard. Ignoring the chairs on the deck, she found her way to the bench at the back of the yard, sitting on it and swinging her legs back and forth, scuffing her soles on the concrete below. She let Soobin sit next to her, elbows on knees and hands clasped together, not looking at her.