"Hey that's cheating! You landed on mine; you have to give me money!"
"Sorry little Seolhyun, but your sister just rolled, which means that someone should've been paying attention," Jisoo smugly said, grinning triumphantly at her niece, while holding her hand out for Ryujin to high five her.
Everyone laughed as Seolhyun crossed her arms over her chest, her eyebrows drawn down low over her angry blue eyes as she scowled. "Good god, look at that frown!" Chaerin laughed, "She definitely picked that up from you, Jennie."
"Well I'm not surprised mom frowned all the time if she had to spend a lot of time with Aunt Jisoo," Seolhyun snarkily replied as she pouted, and Jisoo let out a loud laugh as she reached over and messed up her hair.
Jennie bit back a smile as she watched Seolhyun roll her eyes and give her aunt an exasperated look. Family game nights were always fun and eventful, and if they'd argued a lot when Jennie was younger and had first started dating Lisa, it was nothing compared to how much everyone bickered once they'd all had kids. It was like there were seven kids there, instead of three, leaving Chaerin to play referee, and keep them all in check while they played monopoly.
"Don't worry, Hyun, Aunt Jisoo won't be so smug when I wipe the board with her," Jennie arrogantly proclaimed, arching an eyebrow as she smirked at Jisoo.
"Oh please, you've never been able to beat me at monopoly," Jisoo snorted, "you're only good at poker, and that's only because of your wild boarding school days."
"Oh fuc-"
Lisa cut Jennie off, with a sharp look as she clapped her hands together, "okay! Time to roll, Doyeon. Here's the dice, honey."
Seolhyun let out a snort of laughter and raised her eyebrows as she looked at her parents, "you guys do know we're not kids now, right. You can say fuck."
"Seolhyun Manoban-Kim," Lisa spluttered, "it doesn't matter how old you are, there's no need to swear, and it's not an attractive quality."
Jennie choked on a laugh, shrugging when Lisa turned her attention to her, giving her a sharp look. "Sorry, it's just, well, you married me, and I swear all the time. It's clearly not an unattractive quality."
"I didn't marry you for your colourful language, and it's not setting a good example for the kids," Lisa pointedly said, before she looked at Seolhyun, "dollar in the swear jar, you know the rules."
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Seolhyun rolled her eyes, "whatever."
Rosé pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling as she rolled for her turn, moving the little boot around the board. "Hm, Jennie, can I buy your railway for four hundred?"
At the question, Jisoo's head whipped around to Jennie, her eyes narrowing in a warning - she'd refused to sell it to Jisoo, just to piss her off, because she knew it got her wound up. Pretending to consider it, Jennie pursed her lips with a thoughtful look on her face, "hm, you know what, yes, you can."
"Dude, what the fuck," Jisoo exclaimed, and Lisa let out a loud groan, burying her face in her hands.
"You're all incorrigible," she grumbled, while the three teens laughed, and the adults tried to be somewhat more mature. It didn't stop Jisoo from slyly flipping Jennie off behind Lisa's back though, or the curse mouthed back behind cupped hands. Chaerin just tutted and shook her head, used to the antics of the girls by now, and reached for the dice and letting them spill across the board as the game carried on.
-----
Chaerin had gone to bed, and the three girls were upstairs doing god knows what, leaving the four women sitting in the sitting room, drinking wine and whiskey before the fire. Lisa was curled up above Jennie, who was happily stretched out on the floor, and content to stay there all night, with her wife lazily playing with her hair. Rosé was sitting on the sofa across for them, while Jisoo had commandeered an armchair, and had her feet propped up on the coffee table.
"She's flying in for your New Year's party though, right?" Rosé asked.
"Oh yeah, I'll drag her and her husband here myself if I have to," Jennie said, "she wasn't my assistant for that long for her to be able to get rid of me now. Besides, Somin loves me - she would never abandon me to you lot."
Lisa let out a quick laugh, "hm, well she can't love you that much if she's never made a move on you."
Grimacing, Jennie pursed her lips as she craned her neck around to look up at Lisa, who was smiling innocently, "very funny."
"What are we missing?" Jisoo asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Jennie's assistant made a pass at her," Lisa explained, raising her eyebrows slightly as she smirked around the rim of her wine glass. Groaning, Jennie threw her head back against the sofa, closing her eyes as she waited for the onslaught of teasing.
Jisoo burst into laughter, while Rosé spluttered in surprise, "what!?"
"The young girl that's always preening around you? What's her name? Kuhyun?" Jisoo snickered.
"Suhyun," Jennie grumbled, lowering her head and giving Jisoo a dark look, "and she didn't preen around me." Rosé and Jisoo both let out snorts of laughter, and Jennie flushed red with embarrassment, "you're both assholes."
Lisa quietly laughed from her spot on the sofa, and Jennie slid down lower, crossing her arms over her chest like a sulky child. That just made Jisoo's smile grow even wider, her dimples making an appearance alongside her glee. "So, what'd she say? What'd you do?"
Spluttering, Jennie bolted upright, "what do you mean what did I do? I fired her! Obviously. And she said I was... tense."
Lisa's hands gently rested on Jennie's shoulders, giving them a quick squeeze "mm, she wasn't wrong; you are a little tense."
"Maybe you should've taken her up on her offer," Jisoo quipped, "and you know what, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to even try. Looks like someone have a thing for married mothers and those fucking grandma blouses you borrow off your mom."
"Fuck you," Jennie grumbled, flipping Jisoo off as she reached for her glass of wine.
"Well I like the way you dress," Lisa said, leaning down to kiss Jennie on the top of her head, "and at least you don't look like you're a part of the biker duo over there."
Rosé shrugged, taking a sip of her wine and smiling, "just because no one's hitting on you, Lisa. There's no need to be jealous."
"Who's hitting on you?" Jisoo asked, her head whipping around, "it better be another me. Is it another me?"
"I don't need other people hitting on me, thank you," Lisa said, bristling slightly at her sister's teasing, "I'm quite happy with Jennie doing that for me."
Reaching her hand up, Jennie took Lisa's hand in her own and pulled it down to her level, placing a quick kiss on the back of it. Rosé scoffed while Jisoo rolled her eyes, "yeah you two are sickeningly cute, we know."
"We've earnt it," Lisa reminded them.
"Mm, we're well aware," Rosé mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Even after so long, it was still a sensitive topic that was rarely touched on, and brought up a whole range of different feelings and memories that they would all rather forget, but weren't able to. It usually was only discussed when something triggered the onslaught of memories again, like Lisa's run in with Taehyun, and the four of them would all uncomfortably tiptoe around the memories of Lisa being presumed dead for two weeks, while Lisa got caught up in the memories of dragging herself through the desert.
Jennie craned her neck again, looking up at Lisa and seeing the distant look in her eyes as she brooded over some thought about the past. With a gentle tug of her hand, Jennie brought her back down to earth, and as Lisa's eyes locked onto hers, she gave her a quick smile. With the unspoken conversation about the army and near death experiences putting a damper on the mood, the four of them finished their drinks, and then Rosé and Jisoo fetched their coats, while Lisa went upstairs to fetch their daughter for them. Jennie wished them goodnight, smiling as she watched Doyeon excitedly jingle the car keys, happy to be driving her mom's home, and shut the door as the headlights swept down the driveway and the car disappeared from sight.
Switching the lights off as she went, Jennie slowly walked upstairs, going up to the third floor to make sure the girls were in bed. Tucking Ryujin into bed, even though her youngest insisted that she was too old for that now, Jennie whispered goodnight as she gently shut the door and walked down to Seolhyun's room. She knocked twice, waiting for the distinct grunt that let her know she could come in, before opening the door and poking her head inside. Seolhyun was sitting cross legged on her bed, a pair of earphones on and her face lit by her computer screen.
"Hey, time for bed now, okay?" Jennie quietly said, sighing when her daughter didn't so much as acknowledge that she'd spoken. Opening the door wider, Jennie walked in and went over to the bed, sitting down and taking out one of the earbuds. "Are you listening to me?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to say goodnight?"
"Goodnight."
Jennie sighed again, slowly pushing the laptop screen down a little so that her daughter was forced to look up at her, not look very pleased at the fact. "What's up?"
Giving her mom a slightly perplexed look, Seolhyun shrugged, "nothing."
"Come on Hyun, I know you better than that," Jennie gently prompted, reaching out to brush her daughter's hair out of her face.
"Mom, do you- do you ever wonder about... where you came from?" Seolhyun asked in a small voice.
Jennie quietly exhaled, caught off guard by the question. "Oh," she murmured, "I, uh, no, not really. I can't remember any other family. Why, do you?"
"One of the girls at school... she said my real mom didn't want me," Seolhyun quietly said.
"I'm your real mom," Jennie said, a lump forming in her throat as she reached out to cup her daughter's chin in her hand, gently tilting her head up so that she could look her in the eyes.
"I know, but-"
"It doesn't matter what the girls at school say," Jennie fiercely told her, her voice quiet in the dark, "your mama and I love you so much, okay? Come on, come and lay down a second; forget about your computer." Seolhyun set her laptop down on the nightstand, and Jennie nudged her over to make room for herself on the bed. Lying down, Jennie drew her daughter close to her side, and for once, Seolhyun didn't protest. She let Jennie cuddle her, even though she was bigger than her mom, and Jennie soothingly rubbed her arm.
"The day you were born, your mama and I were so excited. We'd had you picked from the very beginning, long before you were born, and we were so excited - a little scared too, because we were frightened we might not get to have you - but we called everyone to let them know you were coming. They were all waiting there at the hospital to meet you - you already had a whole family who loved you. The moment I held you in my arms... that was one of the best moments of my life, and I'll never forget that feeling. You were tiny, believe it or not, and I was so scared that I wasn't holding you properly. We already had your name picked out; Seolhyun, because your mama liked it. We had everything planned for you - we'd spent months reading books about babies, and buying tiny little clothes, and decorating the nursery. We did all of those things because we wanted you, and we love you so so much. No one can ever make you feel unwanted, because it's not true. We picked you."
"Mom?"
"Yes, love."
"I'm glad you picked me," Seolhyun murmured, "you and mama... you're the best mom's I could've asked for, even if we argue a lot."
Jennie let out a quiet laugh, gently squeezing her as she pressed a kiss to her forehead, "you should've seen what grandma Chaerin and I were like."
"Oh please, you two never argue. Grandma thinks you're amazing," Seolhyun scoffed.
"Your grandma and I... it took us a long time to learn to love each other. Things weren't so great between us when I was your age," Jennie quietly told her.
"Was that... was that about your brother?" Seolhyun hesitantly asked.
Jennie sighed, thinking back to all the things that had been wrong in her childhood, and feeling a small twinge of sadness. "It was a lot of things, Hyun."
"You still haven't told me what happened," Seolhyun reminded her, "you said we'd talk about it, but we didn't."
"Not tonight, love," Jennie whispered, "it's late. We will talk about it though - maybe tomorrow - there's just been a lot going on."
"I know," Seolhyun sighed, "and I'm trying to be good, I promise. That's why I didn't deck that bit-"
Jennie laughed as her daughter caught herself on the word, and gave her a quick squeeze, "it's okay, what she said was extremely bitchy. If you punch her next time, I won't even be mad, just don't tell your mother I said that."
"Mom!" Seolhyun laughed, "you're the one who's always going on about my behaviour."
Laughing, Jennie shrugged as she stroked Seolhyun's hair and turned her head to kiss her on the forehead. "Well, that's because you should behave yourself, but you're my little girl, and you shouldn't let people bully you. I got into a few fights myself, with snobby girls who made fun of me for being adopted. They soon learnt to shut up."
"Is this one of those wild boarding school stories Aunt Jisoo was talking about?"
"Yes, and you're never going to hear them; I don't want to give you any ideas," Jennie snorted, "now, no more questions. It's time for bed."
Jennie stayed where she was though, holding her daughter in her arms, and rubbing soothing circles on her arm. It was quiet for a few moments, before Seolhyun tilted her head up to look and Jennie, "are you going to leave then?"
"Shh, I just want to hold you a little longer. You're getting too big for me to cuddle now," Jennie quietly laughed.
"I'm almost an adult now, mom," Seolhyun reminded her.
Jennie sighed, holding her just a little bit tighter, "I know, but you'll always be my baby."
-----
She jerked awake to a dark room, alerted by the presence of someone else, and took in the dark shadow of someone standing in the open doorway. Seolhyun was curled up against her side, fast asleep, and Jennie smiled softly as she glanced down at her. They'd both fallen asleep.
"What time is it?" Jennie asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried to carefully extract herself from her daughter's embrace.
"Just a little after midnight," Lisa murmured, "I came to see where you'd gone off to. I thought you might be doing paperwork."
Jennie quietly laughed, slowly climbing out of bed. Lisa padded into the room, while Jennie carefully worked the quilt out from under Seolhyun, so that she could tuck her in. She didn't move at all throughout the whole thing - not even when Lisa lifted her feet so that Jennie could get the edge of the blanket out from under her - and Jennie smiled as she gently pulled the covers up under her chin. "Thank god she sleeps like you," Jennie said to Lisa, who quietly laughed.
Brushing back the dark curls, she placed a gentle kiss on Seolhyun's forehead, and Lisa bent down to do the same, before they both stood back and stared down at her for a moment. Jennie felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder, and she turned towards Lisa, instinctively reaching out to gently touch her waist. They both silently slipped out of the bedroom, and Lisa stopped to poke her head into Ryujin's, before they made their way down to the second floor and into their own room. Quickly stripping off her clothes, Jennie tumbled into bed without changing into pyjamas, and worked her way over to Lisa's still warm side of the bed, letting out a grateful moan when warm arms wrapped around her.
"Is she okay?" Lisa quietly asked.
Jennie softly sighed, "yeah, she was just... she had some questions about- about being adopted. Something some girl said in school."
She felt Lisa stiffen slightly in her arms, "what'd you say?"
Pushing herself up slightly, Jennie reached out and cupped Lisa's face in her hand, giving her a soft, lingering kiss. "I told her that we're her parents, and we love her and we picked her. I told her the truth."
Lisa let out a gentle sigh, relaxing against the pillows, "good. I worry about her sometimes; she doesn't talk to us as much as I wish she would."
"Me too," Jennie admitted, laying back down and nestling her head in the gap between Lisa's neck and shoulder, "she said we're the best mom's though."
"You know what," Lisa murmured, kissing the side of Jennie's head, "I think she might be right. I think you're the best too."
Scoffing, Jennie tilted her head as she looked up at Lisa, "the best?"
"Mhm," Lisa murmured, "you've always been there for me, from the moment we first met."
Jennie didn't mention how she wasn't there when Lisa was crawling through a desert, bleeding out, or how it wasn't true in reverse - Lisa hadn't been there for her during the worst two weeks of her life, with a good excuse - but she held her wife a little bit tighter, pressing a kiss to Lisa's shoulder. "All it took was one kiss for me to fall in love with you."
"I remember that kiss."
"You said you'd never forget it," Jennie smiled.
"I don't think that I ever will."