The best thing about having Jisoo and Rosie over for the weekend was that Jennie did not have to cook. Because Rosie took over her kitchen with a passion that Jennie had not seen on anybody else ever.
So when they all got up more late than early on sunday morning, there was coffee and freshly brewed tea and egg fried rice with fresh cucumbers and a pot of spicy ramen on the table. The kind of breakfast that Jennie and Ella loved.
Ella was happily telling her aunts all about the christmas market from last night during breakfast. She told them to come along next time. So Ella really hadn't caught on to Jennie's dumb behaviour. Thank fuck!
Rosie casually asked Ella how they met Lisa with a little side glance at Jennie. The latter rolled her eyes because of course Jisoo told her wife everything. Ella started smiling like crazy and started telling them about how she kidnapped Lisa from her house in order for her to show them how to light a fire.
She told them about the snowball fight and how Lisa brought over soup when Jennie was sick because of it. She told them that Lisa had shoveled free their driveway when it had snowed so much and that she had a Tesla and four cats that Ella still hasn't met yet.
"You should invite her over to our baking session later." Rosie grinned at Jennie with a wink in her eyes.
"Yes! That's an awesome idea!" Ella squealed. "Can I go over and invite her? I want to meet Leo and Lily and Louis and Luca anyways!"
She had actually memorized Lisa's cat's names.
Jennie rolled her eyes at Rosie and then sighed a little, meeting Ella's hopeful eyes. Jennie could tell that Ella really liked having Lisa around. Well, she did too but in a completely different way.
"Ok, yeah sure. Tell her to come over at three." The older Kim woman caved.
Ella abandoned her plate and rushed into the foyer. "Take the grey beanie with you and give it back to her!" Jennie called after her.
"Yep!"
"Why do you have her beanie Jen?" Rosie cooed.
"Because... " Jennie tried to force the creeping blush back down. "Because she let me borrow it when I got too cold last night."
"Awwww." The married couple cooed at her.
"Oh fuck off you two!" Jennie scolded with a hint of a smile trying to pull up the corners of her mouth and shoved in a big spoon of rice.
"Grumpy Mandu." Jisoo pinched one of her cheeks.
"Grumpy lovesick Mandu." Rosie corrected and they both started giggling. Great.
*
Ella stayed over at Lisa's for a good hour before she came back covered in cat hair.
"Unnie says she has no idea how to bake but she definitely wants to come." Ella called into the house and slammed the door shut.
"Come in here, we're watching 'It's a wonderful life'." Jisoo called out to her niece.
*
Lisa was nothing short of punctual because the doorbell rang at point three o'clock. Like she had been sitting around, waiting for the time to pass and then rush over here, as Jennie liked to imagine. She was super nervous when she opened the door for Lisa because they would be exposed to the eyes of a very attentive married couple.
"Thanks for the invite Jen. You sure I'm not intruding?" The Thai asked with unsure eyes. Was she nervous too? Jennie wondered for a second.
"Nooooo! Are you kidding? We said we'll be friends right? So come in and meet more friends." Jennie smiled at her and pulled Lisa inside by her arm gently.
She let Lisa take off her shoes before she took her hand and pulled her into the kitchen behind herself where the rest of the gang was.
Jisoo looked up from the recipe she was reading while Rosie and Ella got out all the bowls and supplies they needed when Jennie and Lisa entered the kitchen.
Jennie let the Thai's hand go slowly. Lisa waved at everybody a little bit shy. "Hi"
"Unnie!" Ella waved back with the biggest smile.
"Hey Lisa, good to see you again." Jisoo got up from her bar stool and went straight in for a hug. "I'm Jisoo."
Rosie abandonded her task as well for a second to give Lisa a hug too. "Hey, I'm Rosie. We already heard all the stories about you." Lisa's eyes widened at that for a second.
Jennie thanked both of them with her eyes for welcoming Lisa so warmly.
"Auntie Jisoo is your Unnie too, she's older than you." Ella babbled and got a sharp look from Jisoo for it.
"Really?" Lisa's eyes went from Ella to Jisoo. "Alright, Unnie."
Jisoo stretched the corners of her mouth into a half smile. "Well, I guess Unnie is better than Auntie. Ella why don't you call me Unnie instead?"
"Nope." The thirteen year old shook her head. "She's my Unnie, you're my Auntie for life!" Ella replied, pointing first at Lisa, then at Jisoo and stuck her tongue out to her aunt. Jisoo did the same and then charged at her niece in a tickling attack.
"You cheeky little dumpling!"
Ella squealed and laughed, trying to get out of Jisoo's reach, bumping against Lisa on her way out of the kitchen.
"They're a handful." Rosie nodded at them, talking to Lisa.
"I see that." The latter nodded with a smile on her face. She looked around a bit uncertain. "Can I help with anything? I'm not good with cooking or baking but I can take orders." she offered cutely.
"You can just sit down and keep us entertained while Rosie and I make the dough." Jennie came back around with four wine glasses that she put on the counter and filled them up.
"I like this kind of baking." Lisa laughed and gave Jennie a warm look as she slid over one of the glasses to her.
"It's always like this. Me and my hubby here make the dough and then later the kids come in to cut out the cookies and decorate them after baking." Jennie bumped Rosie's hip softly with her own while looking at her. Rosie turned her head, looking back and placed a little kiss to Jennie's temple without taking her hands off the bowl she was putting flour in.
"Hubby?" Lisa asked a little amused. She knew that Rosie was married to Jisoo. And by now Jennie was sure she knew how to take all of their joking behaviour.
"Yeah." Rosie answered for Jennie. "I'm her hubby and she's my wifey. Don't ask me when we came up with that. We must have been drunk or something, right?" She looked at Jennie again who nodded. "Probably" She put the wine glass to her lips.
"Rosie is actually the same age as you Lis." Jennie told Lisa.
"Oh that's cool! Wanna be my sister?" Rosie smiled over at Lisa.
"Sure." Lisa smiled back genuinely.
Jennie and Rosie prepared the dough in practised moves while keeping up their conversation with Lisa. Sometimes Jisoo came in to take a sip from the glass of wine that had been prepared for her beofre running off with Ella again.
"So, what do you do Lisa, apart from shoveling free Jennie's driveway on your free time?" Rosie asked with a mischievous little glint in her eyes at her sly comment.
"Oh, you heard that..." Lisa's ears took on a cute pink colour.
"Ella." Jennie explained with an apologetic look over at Lisa.
"I'm a photographer. I've got my own studio. Mostly fashion but sometimes product photography."
Rosie looked up interestedly. "Really? I have a professional food blog and I always struggle with my photos. Got any tips for me?"
Lisa laughed a bit embarrassed. "I'd have to see your blog first, but editing is always key."
"Yeah, I actually just did a course on photo editing. It's hard to get it just right."
"I know. Took me years to get where I am now, trust me!" Lisa nodded.
"Look at us three. All creative minds here it seems." Rosie mused and Jennie nodded. "It's true. Jisoo is the only analytical thinker here."
"What does Jisoo do?" Lisa asked, searching for Jennie's eyes but Rosie answered.
"She's an architect." The blonde Australian girl smiled. She always had that very soft smile on her face when she talked about her wife. "Those two always tell me to get a real estate agent license so we can found our own company. Jisoo designs the houses and has them built, Jennie is the decorator who stages them and I'll be selling them." Rosie's eyes became wide all of a sudden. "Uuuuuh, Lisa!" she almost shrieked, surprising the other two woman in the room a little. "You fit right in, you could take the pictures for the website. We'll be an empire!"
"Rosie..." Jennie scolded her sister-in-law a little embarrassed. Lisa just laughed, knowing by now not to take everything seriously that came out the little gang's mouths.
Ella came skipping into the room and she steered right towards the Thai woman. "Lisa, will you come play a card game with us? We need one more person. Lisa first looked at Jennie, almost as if asking if it was ok for her to leave. Jennie met her eyes and gave her a little smile.
"Ok, What are we playing?" Lisa got up from the barstool.
"We're playing 'Exploding kittens'."
"Oh, could you take Jisoo's wine glass with you? She'll appreciate it." Rosie winked at Lisa.
Lisa took her and Jisoo's glass with her. "See you later I guess"
"See you later" Jennie and Rosie almost sang in response.
They heard Lisa ask Ella "What the hell are exploding kittens?" on their way out and Ella launching into a long explanation of the game.
When they were out of earshot, Rosie turned to Jennie who was kneeding the dough now. The Australian girl went to wash her hands and start to clean up the mess they made to have room again.
"She's very nice." Rosie said in a suggestive tone, meeting Jennie's eyes playfully. "And very beautiful."
"Yes to both." Jennie sighed a little.
"And very into you." Rosie bumped Jennie's hip with her own.
"Get out!" Jennie whined a little. "She's not." She shook her head decidedly, eyes focusing on the cookie dough.
"She had her eyes on you the whole time." Rosie almost giggled quietly to Jennie.
"She did not." The smaller girl protested a little embarrassed.
"Jen, she obviously likes spending time with you and Ella. And she looks at you like I look at food."
Jennie snorted at that comparison amused. "We agreed to be friends. And that's it. This crush-" she almost whispered. "will pass."
"Jen... the eyes never lie."
Jennie sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes at Rosie. "You done?"
"For now." The other woman winked, insinuating that this wasn't over.
"Catch." Jennie threw the other half of the dough, rolled up into a nice big ball, over to Rosie who caught it and went to the other side of the kitchen island to roll it out like Jennie was doing.
*
Jisoo, Ella and Lisa invaded the kitchen noisily as soon as Jennie and Rosie were almost done rolling everything out. As if they had an instinct about when the time was right. Ella went to hug Jennie's waist, obviously feeling cuddly. It didn't happen so often anymore.
"You good?" Jennie asked her quietly, taking one hand off the rolling pin to filter her fingers through her daughter's hair. "Jep." Ella nodded into her back. "I'm happy" She told Jennie very quietly which made Jennie's heart feel so wonderfully warm. Jisoo was back-hugging her wife on the other side of the kitchen island, kissing her cheek.
Jennie met Lisa's eyes who stood at the head of the island, watching mother and daughter with a warm expression on her face. Jennie realized that Lisa's eyes were always warm. No matter what. For a brief second Jennie imagined a scene where Lisa was getting in on the hug, snuggling up to Jennie and leaving a soft kiss...
"Mom?" Ella got her out of her little fantasy and Jennie became aware that she had been staring into Lisa's eyes blankly the whole time. She averted her gaze instantly, looking down at Ella.
"Hm?"
"Where are the cookie cutters?"
"Oh, they're in that box right next to Rosie." Jennie pointed and tried not to let her embarrassment show. She looked over at her two best friends, hoping that they hadn't seen. But thankfully they seemed very busy making sure the dough was thin enough. Jisoo had her hands on either side of Rosie, taking the rolling pin together and giggling a little. It was cute to look at. It really was. But right now it only made Jennie blush harder because she wanted Lisa to do this to her too.
"Come Unnie, we can cut them out now." Ella pulled Lisa over to Jennie's side and placed a cookie cutter in the shape of a Christmas tree into her hand. Lisa bumped into Jennie's body a little on accident. "Sorry." She said and a familiar warm hand landed on Jennie's back for a good second before it disappeared again.
That simple touch got Jennie's insides on a thrill ride. Never ever had she felt something like that from a barely there touch. She met the Thai's eyes again. "It's alright." They were closely standing next to each other. Ella was on Lisa's other side.
"We have to make as many as possible." Ella schooled them all.
"I'll give my very best." Lisa said with a sly smile, tongue between her teeth as she cut out the first one. Cute, Jennie thought and didn't even realize how she smiled while watching her new friend / crush / neighbour.
They all got to work. Taking cookie cutting very seriously. Jennie got all tingly whenever Lisa went to grab a different cutter. Because she did not lean over Jennie's front, like she could have done, but she leaned around her back and reached for one while her other hand went to Jennie's back briefly.
The first time her touch had disappeared faster than it was really there. But the following ones were lingering. At least a little bit. Jennie silently smiled into her work, falling completely out of the on-going conversation whenever she felt Lisa's hand which did not go unnoticed by the married couple on the other side. But they didn't say anything about it.
Lisa's shoulder bumped Jennie's softly as they were working next to each other and on an instinct Jennie paused her cutting and leaned back a little. She lightly but purposefully leaned her left shoulder into Lisa's right one as if taking a break.
Lisa's head turned hardly noticeable to glance at Jennie. The Korean did not dare to look into her face right now. Jennie lifted her right hand to her forehead, pretending to wipe it. "Wow, this is exhausting, El why do you make us do this every year?" she joked lightly. Lisa's shoulder shifted a little. Jennie felt it. And there it was again. Lisa's attractively big and warm hand lay softly against Jennie's lower back. This time, the brunette felt bold enough to lean into the touch. Just a little. Just to test it.
She liked it. She knew she would. But she still couldn't comprehend the reason behind Lisa's actions. She couldn't possibly like Jennie back. Lisa was just a nice person. A caring person. And they were friends.
"It's tradition Mom."
When Jennie leaned forward again, the hand disappeared but the shoulder stayed close. Jennie needed a sip of her wine after that. It was on the other counter so Jennie turned around to get it but before she did, she gently grabbed the back of Lisa's right arm and squeezed once affectionately. Whatever these touches between them meant, Jennie wanted Lisa to know that the friendly affection was mutual.
"So where did you guys get married?" Lisa's gaze flickered over to Jisoo and Rosie.
"On a beach in Busan." Rosie smiled dreamily.
"Wow." Lisa nodded.
"Yeah, their wedding was so beautiful." Jennie swayed in memories.
"Can I ask who did the proposing? Cause that seems to bring a lot of trouble to lesbian relationships I heard..."
"I did." Jisoo held up her hand like she was expecting applause. "We don't want to feed into any clichés but I've always been the more tomboyish type and I knew from the start that I wanted to be the one to propose if I ever met the right gal." she placed a soft kiss to Rosie's temple who smiled at her wife completely dazzled.
"Have you ever been married Lisa?" Rosie asked carefully but casual enough not to be prodding.
The Thai shook her head. "Nope. Never had the right gal by my side..." She used Jisoo's expression. "Not yet, at least..."
"Not yet." Jisoo repeated. "But you would get married if you... found her?"
Jennie's heart picked up its' pace and she shot a little warning look over at Jisoo who ignored her.
Lisa laughed a little nervously. "Well, that depends on her too, you know, what she wants as well, but... yeah... I think if things are right, then I would want to get married... someday."
Damn you Kim Jisoo, Jennie thought. Lisa's answer had her melting inside. She was so soft for this beautiful Thai woman and she could literally start feeling herself pine for her.
Fuck.
Jennie really did not want to be pining for anybody. That was not the plan. If anything she wanted a possible suitor to be pining for her. But no... here she was, hopelessly falling deeper for her charming neighbour who she couldn't have.
They cut out cookies until there was no more dough left and Lisa helped Jennie put everything in the oven. The other three mysteriously disappeared, babbling something about showing Rosie how to play Exploding Kittens.
They had four whole trays of cookies and Jennie was thankful for her new kitchen and the two ovens.
"That was fun." Lisa smiled softly, plopping down on a barstool, grabbing for her wine glass.
"Decorating them is even more fun, just wait." Jennie explained with big, excited eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Oh, yeah. I've got everything. Sprinkles, colours, chocolate flakes, icing, little sugar ornaments you can put on top..."
"You're a fun Mom." Lisa's eyes sparkled when Jennie looked at her.
"Sometimes I think I'm still not grown-up enough to raise Ella. Cause I can be all over the place more often than not." Jennie laughed out nervously. She did not know what it was about Lisa that always made her so painfully honest with her.
"Are you kidding? You're great! Besides, you had her at sixteen. You had to take on a huge responsibility at such a young age! And I love that you did not loose your goofy, fun side on the way. I've known you for a week now and what I've seen is you being an exceptionally awesome Mom! You are fun and light. You treat Ella as an equal but you're also stern when you have to be. You're always there for her. You're happy when she's happy. Seriously... not everybody could do what you are doing.... all on your own."
Jennie looked at Lisa with her wine glass touching her lips but not drinking, eyes shining. "Holy crap, Lis. You're gonna make me cry..."
"Nooooo!" Lisa laughed, standing up and making her way over to the Korean girl. "Don't cry, I was just trying to tell you that I think you're great." The Thai engulfed Jennie in a soft hug, both hands going around her tiny waist and resting on her hips. Jennie brought the wine glass to safety by wrapping her arms around Lisa's back nervously.
"You think I'm great?" Jennie's voice got muffled by Lisa's shoulder a bit, heart jumping out of her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe properly because Lisa was just too damn close.
"I think you're really great."
"Hey Mom, when do you think the cookies will be ready?" Ella came busting into the kitchen.