The Christmas Party

A Car Ride Together With You

"No, I haven't talked to my mom yet," I said and looked at Taehyung. "Although I guess I just assumed Taehyung would have told her."

Taehyung 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 Jisoo!" The three of them all said together.

"Do you guys remember my friend Taehyung?" 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 Taehyung."

"Hi Yeji, how are you?" Taehyung asked, beaming down at my niece.

"Good thank you. How are you?"

"I'm great! I'm very excited to be here finally." Taehyung beamed at my nieces and I nodded my head, impressed with their etiquette.

"Girls, this is Jennie. She's Taehyung's sister."

All eyes turned to Jennie.

"Jennie, this is Yeji." I gestured to the oldest. "Lia," I lifted my right arm with the middle child. "And Ryujin." I lifted my left arm with the youngest.

"Hi girls," Jennie said, smiling and waving.

Ryujin' eyes grew wide at Jennie. "Are you a princess?" Ryujin 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." Ryujin' eyes grew wider. "Can you help me keep a secret?" Ryujin 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!" Taehyung called.

My mom, dad, sister and her husband all filed out of the kitchen and came to meet us. My mom hugged Taehyung and Jennie first.

"My sweet, sweet Taehyung. How are you dear? Are you eating enough?"

I looked at my sister while my mom fussed over Taehyung. "Does mom just not care about me?"

"You know how she's always wanted a son," Irene replied.

"Does Bogum not count?" I asked, referring to Irene's husband. Bogum shrugged.

"Apparently not," he answered, laughing.

"It's because Taehyung's the baby," I said, watching my Mom dote on him. When she finished gushing over Taehyung, 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 Ryujin chimed in it was because Jennie was a princess, and to Ryujin' absolute delight my mom agreed with her wholeheartedly. My mom expressed how happy she was that Jennie and Taehyung would be spending Christmas with her and she finally had the whole family together under one roof.