Lisa
"Home sweet home." I said and hopped out of the car.
"Have you told your parents that we're dating?" Jennie asked as we walked up the steps to the front door.
"No, I haven't talked to my mom yet." I said and looked at Jin. "Although I guess, I just assumed that Jin would have told her."
Jin threw his chin in the air indignantly. "I did not. I did say you had something to tell her though."
"There it is." I said to Jennie.
"I don't know if that qualifies as telling your mom."
I shrugged. "She'll probably be more excited than we are." This made Jennie smile.
I knocked on the door a few times before letting us in. "Mom? Dad? We're here!" I called into the house from the entry way. We kicked off our shoes and not a moment after standing up straight, my sister's kids came running down the stairs and vaulted into my arms.
"Oof!" I grunted, almost falling over. "Hi kiddos!"
"Hi Aunt Lisa!" The three of them all said together.
"Do you guys remember my friend Jin?" I asked, picking up the two youngest in each arm, though I grunted with the effort (they were getting quite heavy these days).
"Yes." the oldest said. "Hi Uncle Jin."
"Hi Maddie, how are you?" Jin asked, beaming down at my niece.
"Good thank you. How are you?"
"I'm great! I'm very excited to be here finally." Jin beamed at my nieces and I nodded my head, impressed with their etiquette.
"Girls, this is Jennie. She's Jin's sister."
All eyes turned to Jennie.
"Jennie, this is Maddie." I gestured to the oldest. "Courtney..." I lifted my right arm with the middle child. "And Alexis." I lifted my left arm with the youngest.
"Hi girls." Jennie said, smiling and waving.
Alexis' eyes grew wide at Jennie. "Are you a princess?" Alexis asked shamelessly. The oldest giggled but didn't say anything. Jennie for her part, took this information in stride and decided to play along.
"Yes, but I'm undercover while I'm here so I can visit without any pesky castle guards following me around." Alexis' eyes grew wider. "Can you help me keep a secret?" Alexis nodded eagerly, then wiggled out of my arm and clung to Jennie, begging to know all about her kingdom and her castle.
"Is that my children I hear?" I heard my mom shout from the kitchen.
"Yes I'm here!" Jin called.
My mom, dad, sister and her husband all filed out of the kitchen and came to meet us. My mom hugged Jin and Jennie first.
"My sweet, sweet Jin. How are you dear? Are you eating enough?"
I looked at my sister while my mom fussed over Jin. "Does mom just not care about me?"
"You know how she's always wanted a son." Lauren replied.
"Does Ross not count?" I asked, referring to Lauren's husband. Ross shrugged.
"Apparently not." he answered, while laughing.
"It's because Jin's the baby." I said, watching my Mom dote on him. When she finished gushing over Jin, she turned her attention to Jennie and brought her into a tight hug. My mom insisted on telling Jennie how beautiful she was, to which Alexis chimed in, it was because Jennie is a princess, and to Alexis' absolute delight, my mom agreed with her wholeheartedly. My mom expressed how happy she was that Jennie and Jin would be spending Christmas with her and she finally had the whole family together under one roof.
Then my mom said hi to me.
"So where do I fall in the line of favourite children? It goes Jin, Jennie, then me?" I asked.
"You're actually fifth." my sister teased. "It goes Jennie, Jin, me then Ross then you."
"Cool, cool, cool."
"Oh stop it. I love you all equally." my mom said and pulled me into a huge hug. "Especially my youngest daughter."
"I like how you say 'youngest daughter' and not 'youngest' even though I am literally your only youngest child. You're counting Jin in this, aren't you?"
"Well, of course I am! Jin is also my baby now."
Jin grinned at me. My dad came over and hugged me too after greeting Jin and Jennie.
"Are you all hungry? Dinner will be ready in ten minutes." my mom said. I noticed the apron tied around her waist.
"We're starving!" Jin announced.
"Ross and I will grab your bags." my dad said, leading Ross out to the car.
"Honey." my mom said. "Jin is staying in the guest room downstairs..."
"And you can put Jennie's bags in my room." I cut in.
Everyone turned to look at me. My mom face painted with inquisition. I cleared my throat.
"So funny story... Jennie and I are dating."
"Mom said that it was fake." my sister said, while looking at my mom like she'd lied to her.
"That's what she told me!" my mom exclaimed, affronted that anyone would doubt her intel.
"Well, it was fake. For a bit. Then it became real."
"You and Jennie are actually a couple now? It's not just for your Christmas party?" my mom clarified.
"Right. Jennie is my girlfriend now."
My mom looked between the two of us, then squealed in absolute delight and pulled Jennie into a tight hug. "This could not be better news!" My mom linked arms with Jennie and walked her to the kitchen, gushing about our newfound relationship. "You know how many times I told that girl to ask you out on a real date?"
"Oh my God." I mumbled.
My sister looked at me. "I don't know what you expected to happen. Do you remember when I brought Ross home for the first time?"
"Do you think I have time to hide all the baby photos?"
"Definitely not. There are too many."
I trudged to the kitchen and accepted my fate.
