Jungwons POV:
"Raven? Shall we go already? It's getting cold already," I asked while taking off my scarf.
"Yes, it's already cold. But then why are you getting undressed?" she asked, confused. I walked over to her and squatted down, then put my scarf around her and smiled slightly at her.
"I saw you shivering." She looked at me surprised but also happy.
"Thank you."' she whispered.
We got up and headed for her grandparents' house. When we were out of the woods again and on the street, I glanced at her briefly. She was exhaling and happy to see her breath every time because of the cold. I had to smile slightly at the sight. Suddenly she turned her head to me, at which I quickly turned mine away and looked ahead so she wouldn't realize I was watching her.
When we got home, her aunt and cousins were already there, which is why Raven and I went upstairs to change. I put on black pants and a white shirt to go with them. Raven put on her black turtleneck sweater and a dark red skirt. She looks so indescribably beautiful. Our children would look beautiful... Jungwon, you won't have children! This isn't something solid, get it already!
"Are you coming?" Raven stood in the doorway and smiled at me. Her smile is so sugary sweet...
"Yep.", I said quickly and went downstairs behind her. There we greeted her aunt and cousins.
The little boys, Alejandro and Luis immediately came running up to Raven and jumped into her arms. She couldn't catch them all at once, so she fell on the floor laughing at them.
She introduced me to them, whereupon they immediately hugged me as well. The oldest, Emilia, also came to Raven and hugged her very tightly and for a long time. They really missed each other, then Emilia also hugged me and wished me a Merry Christmas.
We sat down at the table, Raven on my left and little Alejandro on my right. Next to Alejandro sat his big brother Luis. Next to Raven sat Emilia and Beatriz. They were all talking to each other in Spanish, so I couldn't understand a word.
Raven put her hand on my thigh and came closer to me. "My grandma made roast duck. It comes with roasted potatoes and several salads. For example, here is cucumber salad, there is grated beet. Back there is sauerkraut and any pickles." she explained everything on the table to me.
"Thank you.", I smiled at her to which she smiled back.
"How old are the little ones?"
"Alejandro is 4 and Luis is 9. Emilia is 15.", she answered and I nodded.
After dinner, the little ones unwrapped their gifts. Alejandro got a small deck of cards and Luis got a new game for his Nintendo Switch. Emilia got a book from her favorite author.
By now, it was 11 p.m. The little boys went for a bath while Raven, their grandma and I cleaned up the table. Their grandpa walked over with a wet and then dry rag.
"Now we're going to play cards," Raven whispered in my ear.
"What game?", I asked a little desperately, since all I could play was poker.
"I don't know what it's called, but we always play it."
"Is it poker?", I asked with a little hope. She shook her head, though.
"I can't play anything else, though." , I said in exasperation.
"All good. Then we'll play as a team.", she said with a smile and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Do I at least get a comfort kiss on my lips?"
She stood on her tiptoes, since she was still much shorter than me, I had to bend down a little. Immediately she pressed her lips to mine and I kissed her gently, then she broke away from me and smiled at me. God, she's so cute.
We sat down at the table where her parents, grandparents, both aunts, and both cousins were already sitting.
"Jungwon will play along with me," Raven said, to which everyone agreed. Her grandpa dealt each four cards and placed seven in the middle of the table. They were already turned over so everyone could see them.
"We have four cards and on the table lay seven. Somewhere in the pile of cards are six jokers. Twice the eleven, the fifteen and the twenty. If we have a joker, we have to get the total score from the cards in the middle and from those in our hand. No one must know that we have one. If we don't have a joker, we still have to score points somehow by adding up the cards on the table and taking them with the card that is in our hand. For example, if there is a card on the table with the number 5 and the one with the number 2 and we have a card with the number 7, we get to take it. Every time it's our turn, we have to put a card away. No matter if we find something matching or not," Raven explained to me. I didn't really understand anything, but I will understand that in the game.
We played until 2 a.m., then everyone decided to go to sleep.
"Ally? Would you like to take the boys to a playground tomorrow? Because Beatriz is going out with her friends and Emilia is going to town to buy her boyfriend something," her aunt asked Raven.
"Yeah, sure. Jungwon and I will take them somewhere," she said happily.
"Thank you so much. You guys are my salvation.", her aunt thanked her happily, then we went upstairs and put our sleeping clothes back on.
"We lost," I said a little disappointed.
"They say whoever is unlucky in gambling is lucky in love. So it's not bad.", she replied and got under the covers. Was that a reference to us or did she mean it in general? Never mind...
"Tell me, why does your aunt want the boys gone tomorrow?" I lay down next to her and put an arm around her stomach to pull her closer to me. She turned to me and was very close to my face. I gave her a little kiss on the nose, to which she giggled slightly.
"My aunt needs some time off from them. They can be real monsters," she replied.
"Okay," I mumbled. She turned away from me again and silence fell. I tried to fall asleep, but somehow couldn't.
"Are you sleeping?", I asked her quietly.
"No," she answered. She turned back to me. I sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. She laid her head on my lap and I stroked her hair.
"Can you kiss me?" she asked suddenly.
"Yeah sure. Come here.", I said whereupon she immediately sat down on my lap and put her hands around my neck. We looked into each other's eyes and then she kissed me.
A short, gentle kiss and yet it was the most beautiful kiss of my life.