HERSHE - TIAOM

Deal

"Aunt, just call me aunt. You can freely call me that as long as you take good care of my Pie, okay?" said the older lady, grabbing the knife again.

Kim pressed her lips together and nodded. "I... I surely will..."

Out of the blue, Pie chuckled. "Mom, will you drop that? You're scaring her..."

And in just a snap the older lady's face shifted from a killer to a sweet angel now. She put down the knife and said, "I'm just kidding, okay? It's really my pleasure to finally meet you, Kimhan. Now give me a hug."

Kim hesitated first but the sweet smile on Pie's mom's face is as irresistible as her daughter's. She hugged the lady. "Pleasure is mine, ma'am."

Pie's mom pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I just tell you to call me aunt?"

"Ahh, yeah... sorry... aunt..." Kim stuttered as she absently scratched her head.

"I have to admit you smell nice, huh?" the older lady said, still with her terror eyebrows raised.

Kim just feigned a smile, unsure of how to respond.

"Make sure my daughter's home every day before 10 pm, okay? And please let her have dinner with me at least twice or thrice a week."

"Mom —"

The older woman turned to her daughter. "You're still my only baby, Pie. Of course, I still want to see you here often. I think Kim here agrees on that too, right?"

Kim nodded right away, completely understanding the point. "Don't worry. I'll make sure of that."

"Anyway, you guys can have dinner here as often as you like. I actually prefer that."

Kim glanced at Pie and saw her smiling back at her. "That would be great, ma — I mean... aunt..."

Pie went closer to loop an arm through Kim's. "And Kim is a great cook, mom. We can have her cook for us even every night, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, it'll be my pleasure to serve you both," said Kim.

"Oh, thank goodness..." Pie's mom brought her hands to her temples. "At least we could save ourselves from the troubles of thinking of what to eat."

Kim and Pie chuckled.

The older lady turned to Pie again. "By the way, you can sleep at her place during weekends only, got it?"

"Mom... I'm not a teenager anymore..."

The older lady chuckled at her daughter's expression. "You maybe not but you still act like one." She turned to Kim and said, "But you can sleep here as often as you like..."

Pie couldn't control her happiness. She threw herself to hug her mom. "Eeeee! I love you!"

"I'm not yet done. She'll sleep on the couch."

"Mom!"

"I'm kidding, okay?" Pie's mom chuckled. "Gosh, I can't believe I have competition with my baby now."

"It's not a competition, okay?" said Pie, hooking her chin on her mom's shoulder. "Why are you talking like I'm gonna leave you soon...?"

"Well, aren't you?"

"No. I won't do that. You're the only family I have. And I'm not leaving you. In fact, I'm just adding another member to the family, right?"

The older lady smiled at Pie. "Why don't you give us time to talk while you prepare the table for lunch?"

Pie immediately looked at Kim to make sure she's okay with it.

"Um, yeah, it's fine with me..." said Kim.