"Don't you think this is the perfect vacation?"

"Mhm..."

"You and me, this boat while we're in the middle of the sea just the two of us having the time of our lives..."

"That is true."

"And we get to go home to our cabin and have some fresh fish."

"Don't forget the fish that you're going to clean and cook."

"Ha!Don't think too highly of yourself, I still have time to beat your ass."

"Lisa, I love you with all my mind, heart and soul but can you give sometime to enjoy the heat of the sun? You know how I've been dying to get a tan..."

"Right!"The brunette chuckles nervously. "Sorry baby."

"It's okay." Rosie smiles back and intertwined their hands.

Lisa tries to enjoy the silence too and but then she hears a very familiar sound. "Rosie! Wake up!"

"Honey-"

"Wake-up our poles are moving!"

"Oh!"

The two immediately jump out of their seats and went to their poles and start to pull up their 'catch'. Being the stronger woman between the two, Rosie reels in her catch with her perfect stance and strong arms. She swayed her pole from left to right and skillfully maneuvered the fish near their boat while Lisa was still reeling it.

"Yes yes yes!" Rosie happily skips and hops on their little boat as she finally catches her fish. "I caught one~ I caught one~..."

"Honey stop moving our boat, I'm trying to catch a fish here!"

"Oops sorry!" She lightly giggles and watches as her wife continues to struggle. "Let me give you a hand."

Rosie drops her catch inside the cooler and helps her wife. "Alright let's pull together okay?"

"Okay."With her hand on top of her wife, Rosie securely wraps her wife around by the waist and slowly moved back to pull the fish towards their boat. "Are we going to catch this fish?"

"Yes,don't worry Lisa, we will."

"I'm...having a hard time believing that..." Lisa was slowly losing strength.

"Baby come on, just a little bit more."

"This better be a huge catch or else..."

And with one final haul, they successfully reeled in the fish inside their boat and they lay down on the floor. They breathe out of relief, with Lisa opening her eyes first, feeling a little overly excited to see her huge fish. She was thrilled to see the look of defeat in her wife's face and show off her fish which was bigger than Rosie's.

But Lisa's happiness was immediately crushed when she saw a baby Salmon flapping it's fins, as it tries to survive its life on land.

"Oh no! It's a baby Salmon!" Rosie exclaimed when she saw the baby fish so she hurried up and lets it go to the water. "Bye baby Salmon! Be safe and grow up well!"

"That fish will never grow up well it's going to grow up as a con artist!"

"What do you mean?"

"It tricked me!" She explains. "It acted like it was a big fish!"

"Maybe it was just stuck on a rock?"

"He's still a con artist to me." Lisa says grumpily.

"Awe,don't get too grumpy now." Rosie sits in front of her and fixes her wife's bangs. "But do you know what this means?"

"What?"

She smiles and whispers in her wife's ear. "I won."

Lisa observes Rosie who skipped her way throughout the entire boat,humming a delighted tune as she continues to express her happiness.She scoffs just to display her complete disapproval in the results.She stands up and continues to watch her wife gloat her victory.

"Awe come on, don't be like that!"

"How can I not be like this when I should've been the winner?"She grumpily argues. "If that baby Salmon hadn't fooled me, I would've set my eyes on other fish."

"Really...so just because that baby Salmon gave you a hard time, you were just going to give up and look for other fishes is that it?"

"Yeah,that's exactly what I am talking about!" She instantly agrees.

"So you won't exert any effort if you knew things were going to be hard? You're just going to let things be, just like that?"

"Why would I even waste effort on something that's going to give me a hard time?" Lisa chuckles and even shook her head. "Wait, we're still talk about fishes here aren't we?" She looks at Rosie who had a blank facial expression. "Right, darling?"

"Oh,so that's why when things were rough between us you were so eager to break up with me... that's why..."

Lisa immediately widens her eyes. "Honey, of course, I wasn't talking about that kind of fish argument."

"Really?Because it looked like you were... there were a lot of similarities don't you think?"

"How are there a lot of similarities? You're not even a fish!" Rosie gasps and Lisa realized how her sentence could go in different ways. "Rosie, please don't take it-"

"If I am not a fish then why did you marry me then?!" She says and stomps away going towards the other end and igniting the engine of their speed boat.

"Rosie..."Lisa sighs and looked up at the sky. "Fuck you menstruation!"

She slowly approached the latter, who was behind the steering wheel and navigated their way out of the sea. "You sit back down there Manoban or else I'm going to send you flying off to the sea."

The brunette doesn't listen and pulls her wife close to her. "Rosie,you know I don't mean it like that." Lisa knew that her wife will try to be stubborn in this situation. "I'm sorry honey... I was wrong okay? It's all my fault, I should be just happy for you considering this is our first time fishing." She pouts. "I'll make it up to you okay? I'm going to cook later in our cabin. I'll make your favorite."

"You can't cook."

"I...can clean the fish then?"

"Your knife skills suck."

"Rude."

"You're saying something there?"

"Nothing!Nothing at all." Lisa sighs. "Rosie, can you tell me what can I do to make it up to you? I need to know."

"We've been married for years Lisa, you should know."

"I do know, but you don't like getting tickled when you're on your period and I'm already knocking on hell's gate so..."

"No,you don't have to do that." The blonde woman answers after moments of silence.

"But I want to though."

Rosie turns around and faces her. "Sorry, menstruation."

Lisa smiles lovingly at her. "I know."

"You still lost though."

"At our little game? Yeah. But in life?" She leans in and kisses Rosie's forehead. "Never."

She lightly elbows the latter. "Smooth."

As Rosie drives their ship back to the shore, Lisa kept her hold around her wife's waist. She really couldn't imagine that she and Rosie managed to make their dream wish come true. It seems like it was just yesterday that they drove to their first city and now after a year of traveling, they finally reached their final city which is Watsons Bay.

For her, it all seemed like a blur. They made so many memories together,had a lot of laughter and crazy moments. And of course- there were some bickering involved too, just a few petty fights and non-sense debates about the most random things in the world. It may seem odd to other people but to Lisa, it really would be her dream road trip without those endless bickering.

"Honey, you okay?" Rosie says as she parks their rented boat by the dock.

"Yeah, sorry..." Lisa chuckles. "How long did I zoned out?"

"Not for long." She turns around and looks at the brunette. "Is something bothering you?" Lisa nods her head. "What is it? Tell me."

"The amount that I have to pay for the rental of this boat."

Rosie laughs at her. "Come along, I'll console your bothered feelings by cooking for you back at our cabin okay?"

"Yes!"

__________________________________

"Here you go, your favorite honey-glazed Salmon."

"Yes!Thank you, Rosie." Lisa grins and immediately takes a slice of her fish. "Oh my God..."

Rosie smiles warmly especially seeing Lisa get excited over her cooking."Lisa, slow down there's no one stealing your fish."

"Ha!They better not try to steal my fish or else..." Lisa glared and lifts her knife.

The latter couldn't keep a straight face and ends up laughing. "We're still talking about the Salmon correct?"

"It better be the Salmon." Rosie trails her chuckling as it disappears into thin air. "Why?"

"Nothing, I just..." Rosie smiles while grabbing a bite of her food. "I remembered the first time I cooked for you."

"Oh! I remember that time." Lisa smiles and joins Rosie as they both go down the memory lane.

"Do you remember your annoying ass that time?"

"I remember your whipped ass, that's what I remembered."

"I was not whipped. You were whining constantly after your practice and I just happen to go to the grocery. You were the one who insisted on coming with me and I thought you were being a thoughtful friend at that time, not someone who had some hidden agenda."

"You make it sound like I assaulted you or something. For your information Miss Park, I usually whine when I am hungry and you should know that since we were friends for quite some time when that happened." Lisa explained. "All I did was whine and complain about how the coach places us in a very strict diet during on-season and you were the one who offered your services to me."

"Now you make it sound like I am a prostitute." Rosie rolls her eyes. " I was offered my cooking services because I wanted you to shut up."

"Well you could've just brought me to a restaurant nearby, no need to come over and cook for me."

"If you weren't whining about missing home-cooked meals I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble."

"Then you could've brought me to a place where home-cooked meals were served."

"You're still insisting the fact that it was I who had interest in you aren't you?"

"Why?Is it working?" Lisa grins and Rosie just laughs in amusement.

"You're something else."

"That's why you married me right?" She playfully winks. "Cheers?" The latter smiles at her and meets her wine glass halfway. "This year was pretty amazing isn't it?"

She nods in agreement. "To be honest, I thought you forgot about our dream wedding goal."

"Really?Why would you say that?"

"We were trying to get by and then we had Ella alongside other problems that seemed to be endless. We were really on a rough patch last year so I..."

"I'm sorry."

Rosie shakes off the change of atmosphere between the two of them and tries to change it to something lighter. "It was both of our faults, you don't have to take the blame for something we both did."

Lisa sets her glass aside and holds onto her other half's hand. "I know Rosie, but I just want to make it up to you in the best ways possible."

"Don't worry; you and I still have years to come for the both of us." She smiles. "And you're doing a good job of making it up to me."

"How do you think Ella is holding up?"

"I think she's doing pretty well, remember the last time we talked?She said she was enjoying her training with her soccer team."

"Wait, they should be back right now right?" Rosie nods her head. "Let's give her a call."

"Okay."Rosie pulls out her phone and taps on Ella's icon. Lisa scoots over beside her wife, while they wait for their daughter to answer the phone call.

"Hi ma! Hi mom!"

Upon hearing their daughter's voice, Ella's mothers smiled at their only child. "Hi, Ella!" They say in unison. "Jinx!" They repeat- "Jinx again!"

"Mental synchronization..!"

"Guys,I'm still here you know."

"Sorry."Lisa chuckles nervously. "Hello there Mee Noi."

Ella smiles at her mæ over the screen. "Hi mæ."

"Where are you?"

"I just finished my study time. I'm going back to the dorm right now."

"You just came back from training, honey you should be getting some sleep."

"It's alright, mom, I can manage. Besides, it wasn't very hardcore training."

"Oho,looks like all those summer camps didn't go to waste huh?" Lisa smirks victoriously. "I told you it was a good plan to enroll her in the soccer program."

"That was because Ella picked a soccer ball during her first birthday."

"Where are you right now? The view looks brilliant."

"We're at Watsons Bay."

"Wow,you're already at the last stop of your Australian road trip."Ella smiles at them. "Are you both excited to head home?"Both of them nod their heads in response. "I miss you two very much. Let's meet as soon as you guys come home,right after this week, I have a long break coming up. You three need to make up to me okay?"She playfully glares at her mothers and smiles at them.

"Clingy mee noi..." Lisa teases.

"I just miss you guys- that's all."

"Ella,hurry up we're going to be late for the movie!"

"Alright,alright!"Ella smiles at the person who called her before turning back her attention back to the screen. "Mæ,Mommy I'm going to head out tonight. I'll talk to you soon as you guys get back alright?"

Their daughter didn't even let them give back a reply and ends the call."Well... that was some call."

Lisa furrows her eyebrows. "Honey, did you notice something different about our daughter?"

"Different?"Rosie connects her eyebrows too. "What kind of different?"

"I can't pinpoint it out just yet." She taps her chin, trying to figure out what that 'different' thing was about their child."But I know there's something oddly new about her."

"Whatever that change is, I'm sure that Ella would open up to us. We taught her to talk comfortably to us from the very beginning."

"Hmmm... but teenagers these days are acting odd, maybe we should check it out ourselves."

"We have to wait for Ella to be comfortable in opening it up to us and not force her into telling things." Rosie disagrees. "We still have a week to stay in this place, don't overthink about it too much."

"Okay."

"Lisa,I mean it.No lurking around our daughter's life, she deserves this teenage privacy she's having." She points a finger and tapped Lisa's nose.

"I'm just-" She wasn't able to finish what she has to say because Rosie just shoved a huge Salmon inside her mouth.

"Not one more word Mrs. Park." She scolds. "Not one more..."

Lisa ends up groaning and crossing her arms. "Alright, I'm gonna shut up."

For now.

Right after the beautiful week in Watsons Bay, the couple decides to hit the road and take the ten-hour drive from their current location to their home in Melbourne where she and Rosie spent another three days in compiling all of their travels from one city to another. The long-time married couple also caught up with their friends and colleagues and had more days to themselves, just to end their beautiful road trip together while getting flattered and embarrassed with all the compliments they hear, especially when they get to hear that they have become prettier and other couples have been thinking about doing some road trips and travel too.

When their schedule was free once more after catching up with some paperwork, office work and other errands they hand to finish, they flew and went to their Alma Mater. Their main goal was to surprise their only princess but Lisa, on the other hand, decided to walk through the familiar and important places in their college years and clarified things about their relationship.

"In my defense, you fell for me back then."

"An din my defense, you're being arrogant."

"This was after you handed me the list."

"Lisa it was just a week after I handed you the list and we barely got to do anything because you were busy showing off other women your soccer skills."

"Move your head a little to the right." Rosie complies and Lisa takes a shot from her camera. "Perfect."

The blonde woman looks around the well-maintained greenhouse. "You know, I still cannot believe that even after all these years, they still didn't manage to fix the broken window." She says and both of them looked at the broken window at the farthest portion of the place. "Thousands of dollars spent by parents and they can't even fix a broken window."

"I guess some things never change at all." Lisa smiles and intertwined her hand with her. "But seriously, my heart fluttered when you managed to sneak us in and had our little picnic here."

"Really?"Rosie asks as she was surprised and curious about the sudden confession. "I just thought that you were getting homesick because you miss your mother's garden and I don't know if it was the replica or if your mother's garden is as big as this which-in my opinion, it is waaay bigger..."

"And that's why I was touched." Lisa smiles at her. "You didn't know if I was going to appreciate it or will it make me even more homesick. You didn't know what my reaction would be and yet you still went for it."

"I went for it because I just couldn't stand seeing you sad." She says. "It was such an unpleasant sight to see you know."

"Yet you say that it was still a small happy crush back then?"

The latter nods her head. "Seeing you happy makes me happy."

"What about now?" She asks. "Am I still your happy crush?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"Lisa scoffs at her. "Do you want me to tickle you?"

Roseanne widens her eyes. "Lisa, don't- HEY!"

"Answer me first!"

"Lisa...stop!" She warns as she giggles at the same time. "Stop playing around stupid!"

"Answer me and then I'll stop."

"Wait!"Rosie lets out a squeal. "LISA STOP!"

"Say-"

When they heard the familiar broken window opening, Lisa stopped tickling her wife and dragged her away to hide by the huge fountain. They were quiet, patient to try and listen to who intruded their memory lane walking. Soon enough, they could hear some light footsteps and giggles which made the couple's eyebrows rise in amusement.

"Are you sure we're even allowed to be here?"

"Don't worry, someone told me they used to do this all the time."

"If we're caught you're going to have to do the explaining to the in-charge."

"Wow,would you look at that- Daffodil Kim is afraid of getting caught this time?"

"Only when I am with a reckless Ella Park that is..."

Both Lisa and Rosie snapped in attention at the mention of their daughter's name. They slowly lifted their heads, just to have a proper conclusion to their assumption. The first girl they saw was a beautiful one, her hair all neatly tied up in a ponytail and her brown shade of tone complimented her clear white skin. She was wearing a beautiful navy blue knitted sweater, faded jeans and an old pair of sneakers. The girl was laughing her heart out as she covers her mouth to not further embarrass herself to the person she was conversing with.

It would've been a very cute scenario.

If only it wasn't their daughter this Ponytail girl was talking with.

Lisa widens her eyes when she completely realizes her daughter. It was because her daughter was probably the only person she had seen with an outrageous light shade of pastel pink colored on her roots. Or maybe the fact that she only knew one person who can rock that hobo-type of clothing, and that was Ella Park.

The name that slipped off from the ponytail girl's mouth.

The name that she and Rosie had thought about for a long time.

The name of her daughter.

"What are you doing?"Rosie lowly scolds her wife. "You think about barging in their conversation?"

"Well what do you expect for me to do? Sit here with some popcorn?" She says sarcastically and stands up.

Rosie pulls her back on the ground. "Are you crazy? Your daughter would flip out when she sees us."

"If I don't flip out on her first..." She argues. "Your daughter is having a date!"

"And it's going to be ruined if you don't shush your mouth." Rosie throws her icy glare. "Look, we don't do something and wait for the right moment to leave. You cannot argue with this deal you understand me Manoban?"

Lisa couldn't do anything else but huff out in annoyance. "Fine...But- this argument will continue when we leave this awkward situation."

Roseanne decides to ignore her and tries to look for the perfect time to leave and not pay attention to the current date that's going on. "So tell me, how did you find this place?"

"I got it from my parents." Ella happily shares. "My mom told me a story a few months ago."

"Care to tell what the story is all about?"

"Well,Mommy told me that she first brought mæ over here when she felt homesick. See my grandmother has this big and beautiful garden in Bangkok and I guess mommy just wanted to help mæ ease her homesickness."

"Awe,that's sweet."

"I know right?" Ella grins. "Ever since, this greenhouse was their little world inside their university life... This place holds such beautiful memories for mommy. This is where mæ first smiled at her,first thanked her, where mæ shared her life story, their first fight, their first kiss..."

"Hmm,their first kiss huh." Daffodil smirks. "So did you bring me here because you want to have your first kiss to happen here too?"

Ella ends up pushing her playfully. "Stupid."

"Aha,I know what you want to happen here."

"What?"

"You're first tickle attack."

"Daffodil-HEY!"

Lisa widens her eyes. "Oh no she's not gonna-"

"Honey,let's go."

"But honey-"

Rosie glares at her and gives her a look. "They're distracted. We need to go."

__________________________________

"You're tolerating your daughter's dating acts."

"Lisa she's not dating."

"Oh come on Rosie, she's dating that girl and right now,because of you- she's probably getting cooties from her!"

"Cooties? How old do you think Ella is? Five?"

"She's my mee noi."

"And she's my bub too. Whether we like it or not, our daughter is growing up. She's going through the dating phase, and as parents,we need to allow her."

"Of course I am going to allow her to date but at least we should know who she is dating don't you think?"

"I know that but I would like for her to come to us at her will, not because we found out about it accidentally."

"No."

"Honey."

Lisa crosses her arms. "We need to do at least a background check on the girl. I need to know she's not some bad influence on her."

Roseanne ends up sighing knowing that no matter how hard she tries to persuade Lisa right now, it'll all go to dust because of Lisa's determination. "Let's just have some dinner okay? I'm hungry."

"Okay,maybe then we can discuss how to do a background check."

"Lisa,stop it. Don't make Ella mad at you for hovering at her life.Your parents weren't like that with you so you should stop doing it to your daughter."

She watches as Rosie walked ahead of her while she crosses her arms. "Mom was pretty intrusive in our relationship I just didn't want to tell you."

"LISA COME ON!"

"ALRIGHT!"

It must've been luck or maybe fate was just siding with Lisa's whining ass but after the wonderful and eventful dinner that she and Lisa shared last night, she gets a call from her recording company asking for her to come back to Melbourne the very next day because her boss was interested in the demos that Rosie send over the year of traveling with her wife. She was thrilled upon hearing the news, she just wasn't sure if it was wise to leave Lisa all alone by herself  though.

"See?I told you that there's something different with our daughter and we need to check it out." Lisa says proudly as they stand on the departure area of the airport.

"You're just lucky Manoban, don't push it."

"Do you want to change at home or I'll have the driver send you off to the company?"

"I'm just going to drive straight to the company."

"Okay,I'll call Patrick after you head inside."

"You don't have to."

"No,you're still tired from the constant traveling so I am not going to let you drive alone." Lisa says and then pinches Rosie's cheeks."I'm so happy they're finally recognizing your efforts." Lisa smiles at her. "Are you excited?"

"There's that, but mostly I'm feeling a little nervous."

"You think that this is just a dream?"

"A little? I mean, I've been inside that company for so long and to have them finally pay attention to me all this time just feels-"

"Surreal?"Rosie nods her head. "Awe, honey I am so proud of you."

"Thank you, I wouldn't have done it without you."

"Without me?" Lisa asks unsure. "I'm not sure I made a huge contribution to the achievement you have right now?"

"You did." Rosie intertwines their hands. "You're the main inspiration of my songs Lisa, you are inside of every line, every stanza and every word." She smiles. "You have always inspired me in my music, you gave me a studio, everything that I need music-wise you hand them to me without any second thoughts... I was just so blind at that time."

"Well,seeing you have fun in what you do and have these achievements are a nice reward for me Rosie. I know how much you love music and I've always been a fan of your works and it hasn't changed even after all this time."

"Thank you." Rosie tightens her hold on her. "Okay, I don't know how long this meeting will be but I'll probably be busy from now on,depends on what agreements are going to be settled afterward."

Lisa salutes to Rosie like her superior. "Don't worry General, the bath will be prepared. I'll ask Trisha to prepare it for you."

"Thank you for taking good care of me." Rosie changes her demeanor into a mother figure. "No monkey business Lisa, especially hovering over our daughter's college life."

"I know I know... stop reprimanding me."

"Alright,I'm gonna go now." Rosie leans in and kisses her on the cheek."I'll face time you later."

Lisa doesn't let go of her wife without experiencing embarrassment and screams. "ROSEANNE PARK YOU GOT THIS!!!"

Rosie widens her eyes. "Lisa what the hell!?"

"WHOO HOO!I LOVE YOU, BABY!"

"Go away!"She lowly hisses while Lisa grins at her blushing cheeks.

She waves at her one last time before telling the driver off. "Where to now Mrs. Park?"

"Let's go to my daughter's university."

__________________________________

"I have it!" Lisa barges inside Jennie's office. "I finally have it!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I knew it... I knew it!"

Jennie looks at her. "What do you know about?"

"My daughter is seeing someone." Lisa says, making Jennie groans out of annoyance. "Jennie, I swear this time is bull's eye."

Her friend couldn't help but let out a sigh of what Lisa was concluding this time around. "How is it bull's eye this time? Your first theory, Ella was surrounding herself with rebellious college students. The next, she wasn't in school any longer and now- you'retelling me she's seeing someone?"

"But Jennie, look at the bright side- theorizing that she is seeing someone is the most realistic theory I have ever created." Lisa looks at her with her familiar look. "Come on Jen, I know- you know."

"Fine,you're making sense there." Jennie nods in agreement. "The most realistic theory you can ever come up with."

"I know right? But I still need more proof."

"You know what I think about this Lisa?"

"Finally!Some cooperation from you..." Lisa smiles and sits on the couch facing Jennie's desk. "Tell me, what do you think I should do?"

Jennie smiles stand up and take a seat right across Lisa. "I think that... you should ask your daughter instead doofus."

"I can't do that."

"Why can't you? She's your daughter and as her mother, you have every right to clarify your assumptions."

"But she's my daughter Jennie. If she finds out I was hovering over her life- she's going to get pissed at me."

"Then why do you keep on doing it? You know Ella... Rosie might have been carrying her for nine months but you guys practically grew up together."

Lisa furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey, what does that even-" She gasps."Are you telling me that I am a child?!"

She disregards her friend's offended feelings and went on. "Look, I know you're protective of your daughter and I would want to be that friend that supports you and motivates you in your choices in life but this? This isn't a choice that I am fond of. If you want to end all these guessing games then just ask your teddy bear."

"But Jen..."

"Can you hold on just a minute? I'll just make a quick call to one of our clients."

"Sure,go ahead."

Jennie pulls out her phone and gives Lisa a drink. "Here, drink your tea."

"Thank you." Lisa drinks the beverage.

"Hi there, how are you doing? Good?" Jennie nods her head. "Well, I just called because there's something you have to know..." She trails off. "Your mother's been stalking you champ."

Upon hearing the familiar nickname, Lisa spits out her tea. "What the hell?!"

"Ma?"Ella's voice echoed at the speaker. "What are you doing there? What is auntie Jennie talking about?"

"She's here because she assumes you're dating someone."

"What?"Ella's voice was coated with betrayal and disbelief. "Ma,is that true?"

"Uh...mee noi I can explain?"

"Ma!You're unbelievable!"

"Wait let me explain Ella-"

"I'm gonna call mommy and I'm headed home! You're going to be dead meat!"

Lisa immediately steals the phone from Jennie and ends it. "Jennie, what was that for?!"

"You weren't planning on doing anything so I did it for you."

"But you didn't have to tell her right away!"

"And wait for you to mess things up?"

"It wasn't going to be a messed-up plan if you didn't call her! She's going to fucking rip my head off!" Lisa exclaims. "And that's just Ella, can you imagine the shit that I am about to go through if my wife finds out?"

"Lisa,your marriage almost got ruined because of your endless assumptions and allegations. Don't let it ruin your relationship with your daughter too."

In the end, Lisa felt like all of her energy was drained as she slumps back to her seat. "I'm going to die."

Jennie stands up and taps her friend on the shoulder. "I'll give you tons of flowers on your death bed."

Lisa didn't have the heart to go home after that short confrontation that happened between her and Ella. It eventually came to a point that Jennie had to push her out of her office because she had to leave and meet up with Jisoo. Lisa was eager to know about but her friend immediately pushes her out of her office and locked the doors, leaving her without any choice but to go back to her home.

She turns off the engine of her car and even just inside the vehicle; she could feel the chills traveling down her spine, especially when she sees Ella's SUV parked inside the garage. The businesswoman couldn't help but swallow the lump on her throat, feeling she was walking straight towards her deathbed as soon as she gets inside their household.

The house was dead silent when she entered and that just made her feel even more terrified. Lisa quietly places her suitcase on the coffee table as she observes her surroundings and checked the rooms that were near the welcoming area just to see if either of them was inside of the rooms. Right after Lisa checked Rosie's room, she heard some sounds coming from the kitchen. She thought about how kind of scary it was to find her wife and her daughter inside the room where there were a lot of sharp objects and harmful substances that can be found.

Just get this over with Lisa. You can do this.

When she reached the kitchen area, Lisa could feel her knees buckle in fear as soon as she sees her wife and daughter inside the space and preparing for their dinner. If this was a different situation, Lisa's heart would've melted at the sight but right now, the only thing that was melting was her entire entity as she watches the two of them chop off the different ingredients of their meal.

"You're home." Rosie says in her dull tone. "How was work?"

"Still work." Lisa tries to act calm and composed. "What are you guys making?"

"Tom Yum Kum."

Lisa nods her head. "Yum..." She trails off. "I'll go ahead and prepare the table."

"No ma, stay." Ella interrupts her from leaving. "I want to show off my cooking skills... I've been practicing well you see."

"W-well..."Lisa takes a seat back on the high chair. "I guess."

As soon as Lisa gives her the go-signal, Ella doesn't hesitate to slam her knife onto the onion, creating a loud echoing sound inside the kitchen that made Lisa jump in her seat. True enough Ella's cooking skills improve over in a short amount of time that it had impressed her pretty well, however, she just wasn't sure she wants to be whatever her daughter is holding right now since she strikes with force.

Her wife was no different from her. The way she cut off the fish's head and skillfully shred its skin off from the fish was truly world-class. Lisa would like to take a picture and maybe shoot a small video just to let the whole world know how she was so blessed to have these two women in her life if only she wasn't shaking in fear as of the moment.

"Ma,come and taste this." Lisa stands up from her seat and stood beside her daughter. "Are you ready?"

"Sure."Ella removes the cover and right immediately different strong spices and aroma filled her nose that made her cough a little. "Wow,that's some powerful Tom Yum Kum."

"I was missing a lot of Thai food when I was in uni. No matter wherever Thai restaurant I go to, it doesn't seem to satisfy my craving for mommy's home-cooked meals so I guess I was a little excited."

"Mee noi, don't you think this will burn my throat?"

"Oh come on ma... you're a Thai native. I'm pretty sure that you will handle this. And besides, you have been training with mommy over the years in your gourmet search." She grabs a spoonful of the so up with the fish and other seafood ingredients. "Say ahh..."

Lisa opens her mouth and lets in the serving dive into her system. As soon as her tongue came in contact with the broth and her lips savor the remnants of the soup, she immediately chokes and swallowed everything on the go, making her severely cough that she thought that she was drowning because of the spiciness. She gives her chest a few light punch, while she catches her breath and wipes away the tears from her eyes while her mother and daughter just gave her blank looks.

"How is it ma? Is the spiciness on point?"

"F-f-fairly enough..." Lisa says while continuing to cough out the effect of the different spices.

"Annoying isn't it?" Ella asks. "That's how I felt when you were stalking at me like I'm some kind of distrusted daughter!"

She slams her hand-shaped mittens on the counter before going straight to her bedroom, not forgetting to close the door with an attitude. When Lisa finally survives the near-death experience, she stands up and looks at her wife's disappointed face. On such occasions like this,Lisa wishes that Rosie would just open her mouth and scold her to death because then she'll know how angry she was and how much of an asshole she just acted. But these were also the times where Rosie was just too disappointed to speak so she turns off the stove and head off to their bedroom too.

__________________________________

"Ella,it's me your mæ." Lisa says on the other end of the door. "Can you let mæ in?"

Lisa knocks again. "Mee noi, can you please open the door?"

"How am I supposed to apologize and how are we supposed to fix this when we're feet apart?"She speaks in her mother tongue, knowing that this is her final card since Ella can also understand Thai. "Are you not going to talk to me?"

She then hears the door creating a small buzz sound, indicating Ella finally unlocks her door. Lisa heaves out a small inaudible sigh of relief as she repeatedly says inside her head that she must not mess things up this time around. After finally shifting the focus, Lisa opens the door and heads over to Ella's bed where she sees her daughter's back covered in her sheets.

"Thank you." Lisa starts as she sits on the edge of the bed. "And I'm sorry mee noi."

"I'm sorry because I went behind your back rather than confronting you about it. I'm sorry if I was being over too protective of you..."She trails off and carefully selects her next words. "It's just that- I am a bit clueless about these things you know? I don't know what to say, or how to act... Do I even have to give advice already or should I talk to you about practicing safe sex, I mean Ella- sex?Really?" Shaking her head, Lisa just decides to say what was inside of her heart, hoping that Ella could understand where she's coming from. "Now looking back at my actions, I wished I should've just asked you about it, knowing that you would tell me anything right away... I'm sorry for breaking your trust mee noi."

Seconds later, Lisa heard some shuffling sounds and then feels a pair of hands holding onto her waist. "So why didn't you try and ask me ahead?"

Lisa finds herself sighing out loud. "Because I was scared."

"Of what?"

"Of hearing the answer from you." She says. "I was afraid that I would hear something that I couldn't accept."

"And what was it that you couldn't accept ma?"

"The fact that you're growing up..." She finally says. "You have always been my little bear, the one who would always ask for some cuddle time before sleep and getting up. You're that Ella who skips along the hallway when it's time to go home and always the darling of the crowd." Lisa hangs her head low.

"Ma,just because I am growing up doesn't mean I can't be your little girl anymore." Ella says. "I admit, I was a bit hurt when I found out that you were spying on me but not because of you being overly protective, it was more of me feeling like I wasn't worth your trust."

"I know." Lisa nods her head in agreement.

"You need to trust me more ma."

"I know."

"And more importantly, you need to trust your parenting skills. You and mommy have practically raised me in the most realistic and yet most affectionate way possible. I am who I am right now because of you and mommy's teamwork."

"I'm sorry, mee noi." Lisa turns to Ella and fixes her hair. "I guess I just love you too much."

"You don't have to apologize for loving me too much ma, I'm your daughter and I am thankful for the amount of love you shower to me."

Lisa welcomes her daughter in her arms and kisses her on the forehead."Thank you for forgiving me."

"Her name's Daffodil." Ella says. "But I guess you know that."

"She seems pretty nice."

"I have a game this Saturday."

"Okay,I'll free up my schedule and I'll tell your mommy too."

"I would like you to meet Daffodil on Saturday ma."

"Oh."Pulling away, she looks at her. "Are you sure?"

Ella nods her head. "I think it's time for you guys to meet her too.If I want to officially make things serious between the two of us."

"Serious?What does that mean?"

"I...don't know where I stand with her ma." Her daughter says in a soft tone. "We're more than friends I can tell you that but I'm not so sure if we're in that official girlfriend stage."

"She never said anything?" Ella shakes her head. "And you never said anything?" Another shake as an answer to her question. "So why do you want us to meet her?"

"Because I want her to see that I am serious with her. I want to make her feel that I am ready to commit, all I am waiting for is for her to leap of faith too."

Lisa furrows her eyebrows and her mother instinct starts to kick in. She wanted to say something at the moment, she wanted to warn her daughter and hand her all the warning signs she could ever give but deep down, she knows that it would be too soon and she just had a clean slate with her one and only little bear. So she bites down her tongue and then the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying anything further and just enjoys this reconciliation that they have.

"Alright,we'll meet her by Saturday in our apartment in Sydney which was your apartment, but you still insisted on staying inside the dorms."

"Ma,I told you- you should save that money from buying that apartment into traveling." Ella smiles. "But if Daffodil and I manage to make it into the girlfriend stage, then I might just take that apartment."

Lisa widens her eyes. "W-w-what did you just say? You- you're going to stay in that apartment if- if Daffodil is your girlfriend?" She blinks once and then twice. "Oh dear, oh this is bad."

Her daughter giggles at her worried antics so she leans in and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Ma, you're cute. No wonder mommy's so in love with you."

Justin cue, someone knocks on the door. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Both Ella and Lisa giggle at the invitation. "No! Go away!"

The door busts open and came in Rosie with crossed arms. "If you think I'mma say okay,bye think again." The two went on with laughing at her lame joke."Would you two like some chocolate milk before going to sleep?"Right then and there, two pairs of eyes blink at excitement and Rosie grabs in her tray filled with two glasses of milk and some cookies and placed it on the table.

"Yes!"

"Ah,ah, ah... if you're going to eat then not on the bed please, I don't want any bed bugs crawling at your skins later."

Like two obedient daughters, both Ella and Lisa sat on the edge of the bed and finished their midnight snacks. "Thank you, mommy."

"You're welcome bub." Rosie smiles at her. "Are you guys planning to have a sleepover without me?" Rosie looks at her wife and daughter. "The betrayal!"

"Mommy come and join us I'm sure we can scoot one more spot."

Rosie scoots in and kisses Ella on the forehead. "Hey! Why does she gets to have a forehead kiss and I don't?"

"Honey you're so far away."

"But...you give me kisses when it's time to sleep too." Lisa pouts,making Rosie groan and Ella giggle.

"Alright come here you rascal." Rosie leans in and gives her wife a quick kiss.

"Ma?Mommy?" Ella calls out. "Can I have one request?"

"What is it bub?"

"Well...it's been a long time since we get to sleep like this and since mæ insisted that I'm still her mee noi, would you guys sing me the good night lullaby?"

"I guess you deserve the good night lullaby." Lisa smiles and then looks at Rosie. "L, is for the way you look, at me."

"O,is for the only one I see."

"V,is very, very extraordinary."

"And E is even more than anyone that you'd adore..."

Lisa watches as Rosie warmly watches over her sleeping daughter. "Ella told me she would be inviting the girl she's dating on Saturday."

"Does this girl have a name?"

"Her name's Daffodil."

"Are you prepared?"

"I guess..." Lisa trails off. "I'm more nervous that my over-protectiveness would win over my judgment towards the girl."

"Would you like for me to do most of the talking?"

"Can you?"

Rosie smiles and holds her hand. "As long as you cook for lunch then I'll be okay."

"Alright,lunch is on me." She smiles.

"Babe,Saturday is still three days away. We can still prepare alright?"

Rosie kisses her again by the cheek before joining Ella onto dreamland.Lisa sighs and looks at the ceiling, wondering if she could really prepare of the days to come ahead of them.

__________________________________

"Whoohoo! Go Tigers!"

It was the day that Lisa fears and anticipated the most. The couple flew to Sydney last Friday and went on a grocery shopping. Rosie watches in amusement as Lisa had this long list of things to shop that it looked like she was going to prepare a feast. As if that wasn't already enough, Lisa pulled out an all-nighter just to make sure that everything down to the small details was in check for today's lunch.

"Honey,can you please stop shaking?" Rosie intertwines her hand with Lisa."Don't worry too much about your daughter."

"You can't blame me, the recent game I saw, she injured her ankle."

"That was over a few months ago Lisa, over the years, she has been very consistent on her strengthening and training. She doesn't even have any kind of injury ever since."

"I know but you can't blame me, can you?"

"Trust your daughter's athleticism. You'd be surprised how strong she has been."

Lisa was about to respond when a group of girls sat a few rows in front of them. She looked at them with furrowed eyebrows as she tries to recall where did she meet these people, but the referee throws in the whistle and the game officially starts. Lisa shifts her focus onto cheering her number one favorite athlete in the world.

But she remembers it right away when she saw the girl cheering her heart out as soon as Ella shoots a goal.

"Honey."

"Ooh!Oh! Dang!" Rosie's face displayed disappointment as soon as Ella's team was unable to shoot for the goal.

"Rosie..."Lisa whispered.

"What'sup love?" She says as her attention was still on the field. "Catch it! Catch it!"

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"You see that girl?" She points out with the use of her mouth to the group of girls cheering. "That girl with the beret." She says."She's— ow!" Lisa looks at her wife. "What the hell did I do?"

"Lisa Manoban you are not here to check out young women, you're here for your daughter. I know college girls are pretty but I didn't expect for you to be this-"

"Honey,I wasn't checking out other college girls, I am simply telling you that girl-" Lisa says and turns her wife's head back to the girl."That girl is Daffodil."

"Oh,so you weren't checking out other girls?"

Lisa holds her by the cheeks. "You think I would waste my time looking at other girls when I have been married to the only girl that mattered to me for twenty-two years now?"

"You weren't checking out other college girls?"

"I would only check out on one college girl, and that girl is Roseanne Park." She smiles.

Rosie blushes and punches Lisa's stomach lightly as she tries to hide her fluttering heart. Lost in their world, the two weren't able to notice that it was already halftime and like the old tradition in their university, the kiss cam traveled from one couple to another until the camera spots them being the adorable and lovable couple that they are at the moment.

Lisa recovers her attention to her surroundings first and furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed that everyone was looking at them. Rosie follows suit seconds later and if she looked like a shy anime girl earlier, now she looked like a blushing tomato. Everyone cheered for them, that even the entire soccer team screamed at them to just do it.

Since it wasn't much of a big deal, the two of them lean at the same time, meeting each other's lips at the right moment and kissed in front of the crowd much to the people's delight. As soon as they broke the kiss, Rosie nuzzles her head at Lisa's neck, making the crowd howl for them more. Lisa looks at Ella who was looking at them with a huge smile on her face as her teammates tease her for having the best parents ever and shoots her a playful wink with Ella returning the wink before heading out to the field again.

Little did Lisa know, the girl in the beret was looking at her interaction with the star athlete the entire time.

Ella'steam won against the neighboring university, taking them at a big lead and a wonderful start for the collegiate season. The two women watched as Ella was thrown lightly into mid-air, enjoying the support and adoration of the entire team as she scores in the penalty kick that leads them into victory. Rosie drags Lisa away from the audience and suggested to wait for them at the parking which Ella thanked her for.

Minutes later, Ella shows up with the beret girl standing beside her. "Hi ma, hi mommy." She greets them with a smile.

"Great game out there, bub." Rosie smiles and gives the other girl a slight glance. "And who is this lovely lady?"

"Hello,I'm Daffodil nice to meet you." The girl gives them a formal bow.

"Oh,you're Korean too?" The latter nods her head. "Well pleasure to meet you." She spoke in her Korean tongue. "This is Lisa, my wife, and Ella's overprotective mother."

Lisa rolls her eyes at the introduction but greets Daffodil politely."Nice to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Park."

"Shall we head home now? I'm sure Daffodil would like to try some Thai food."

"I'm a fan of Thai food."

"Then you must've visited Spencer's Diner."

Daffodil widens her eyes. "YES! I love their dishes there!" She exclaims and then immediately gets shy. "I'm sorry, it's just that I like the place because it fits me."

"Then,would you be the judge on who's the better cook of the legendary Pad Thai?"

__________________________________

"So?Who's better cooking is it?"

"Wow..."Daffodil wipes her mouth with a napkin. "I..." She bites her lip."Spencer's was very intense and you'd feel everything all at once but this dish, is wow- I can't even put it into words. It balances out everything you know? Still flavorful, but it doesn't hit you all at once like you want to—"

"Take a bite of everything little by little and feel your tongue getting excited with all these new flavors bursting in your mouth." Rosie completes the sentence for her.

"Yes!"She immediately agrees. "You feel like there's something more and so you try to taste what's the missing link and when you think you got everything correct, a new flavor appears on your mouth."

Rosie smiles. "So this dish then?"

"Oh one hundred percent. I can eat this every day." She smiles.

"Don't let Uncle Spencer hear you say that though, he might regret teaching mæ some local dishes."

"Mæ?"Daffodil asks with furrowed eyebrows.

"It'smother in Thai." Lisa answers for her. "Back in college, Rosie and I were regular at Spencer's and back then all I wanted to do was to thank her for the series of dates that she had been asking me for."

"Excuse you, you were falling for my charms."

"I wasn't falling for your charms, get your facts straight." Lisa rolls her eyes. "So I asked Spencer to teach me how to make Pad Thai and Tom Yum Kum and added my taste."

"Spencer was butt-hurt when I told him I preferred Lisa's cooking."

"He couldn't even accept defeat and acted like Rosie was just trying to win my heart."

"Where's the lie though?" Ella teased her parents.

"So Daffodil, can you tell us a bit more about yourself?" Rosie starts the conversation. "Were you born and raised here in Sydney?"

"I originally came from Toronto."

"You transferred here because of your parents' works?"

Daffodil shakes her head. "I recently moved here to see my new mom."

"New mom?"

"Well, my parents have abandoned me ever since I was a baby so I grew up in an orphanage. I was adopted by my first family and we went to Paris to continue living but my first dad got into an accident and then they could no longer support me so I moved to another family, who lived in Korea. I got to stay there for a few years until I realized they weren't up to accepting a gay kid so with the help of a few people who were supportive of teenagers like me so they help me find a foster parent."

"Luckily, one came to the site and expressed their interest in fostering me for a while so we met in Seoul and bonded for a few weeks just to get to know one another. She liked me and I like her attitude so she signed some papers and fostered me for a few months until she decided that she was gonna adopt me." Daffodil smiles. "It was her eighteenth birthday gift to me."

Ella looked at her parents who were quite stunned and shocked at the revelation of Daffodil's life story. Knowing how difficult it must've been for her 'friend' to share her story, she sneaks in her hand underneath the dining table and holds onto her hand. Daffodil spares Ella a look of gratitude and expressed it with a gentle squeeze on their intertwined hands.

"I'm sorry Daffodil... I didn't know." Rosie says softly.

"It's okay Mrs.Park, the storytelling becomes easier over the years." She smiles reassuringly.

"So what does your mom do right now?"

"She's a psychiatrist."

Lisa nods in understanding. "So, can you tell us about your hobbies?"

Over the course of their meal, Lisa and Rosie did get to know the girl better and much to their surprise, they find getting warmed up to the girl, a thing that Lisa usually does when she meets people for the very first time.She ends up laughing to every joke Daffodil had said and agreed to the girl's opinions as the subject of their dining table went from Steak preferences on how to manage your financials very good.

Rosie was even flattered the fact that Daffodil liked the songs that she made over the years and first assumed that she was just doing it to get some brownie points but when the girl successfully named each song and even knew about the back story of the songs she composed, she was swooned away.

"Mrs. Park can I give you a hand?"

"I'm fine, you can spend time with Lisa and Ella."

"They're still deciding what board game we should play plus I think that they would have a lot of discussions to be made."

"You're right,those two are indecisive so much that I always end up to be the middleman."

Daffodil chuckles."Yeah, Ella is sometimes like that during trivia nights or just hanging out with our friends."

"So when was the first time you meet?"

"We met inside the elevator." Daffodil answered. "It was after the first day of school, right after orientation night. I caught up with her when the elevator doors closed and we kind of talker inside, well I thought she was cute so I strike up a conversation. Then when we got out, she asked me if I could accompany her for a night stroll."

"Fun fact, Lisa and I first met inside the elevator too."

"Really?" She asked with a surprised tone. "She just told me that you guys met at the university too."

"Well she saw me first, I was just busy trying to get my audition peace together. And then I saw her the for the first time in Art Fair, and then we finally saw one another on a bonfire event."

"Ohhh, I know that story. I thought it was pretty cute of you to hand your wife a list."

"Lisa was pretty famous in our college back then, I had to make a good impression."Rosie shares. "I still remember that feeling I had in me that night. Maybe it was because I really gave myself some time to flirt around or maybe I just didn't find the right girl yet but when I saw Lisa, I felt like I just had to make a go for it." She says. "Can I ask you a question Daffodil? If that's alright."

"Sure thing Mrs.Park, ask away."

"I was wondering if how did you feel when you first saw Ella inside that elevator."

"When I first saw Ella, I thought she was a cute freshman and I thought that it wouldn't cause any harm if I make a new friend on our first day inside the university so why not give it a try."

"And what do you like the most about my daughter?"

"She's very caring and she always looks out for me. She always checks up on me if I had eaten or how was my day going, she cooks for me and makes me laugh and knows how to brighten up my day."

Rosie smiles. "She's like a ray of sunshine isn't it?"

"Yeah." Daffodil chuckles. "That's how she is."

"But how do you see my daughter now?" Rosie asks as she continues to clean up the table. "Do you see her as someone who can love you? Or do you see her as someone that can complete you?"

"Uhm... I'm not sure how to choose." She says. "They're pretty similar don't you think?"

"When you're looking for someone to complete you, you just need someone to fill that void inside of you that you can't seem to do it for yourself.It may be a cause of exes that don't know your worth, friends or people that broke your trust and sometimes it's being tired of always being left alone and neglected. It makes you wonder if you're going to be ever enough for someone out there or if you're even enough right now so you look for someone that can do that for you.You look for someone who sees you and adores you for who you are because you can't do that so you seek validation. And when you do get the validation you have and accepted yourself completely, the person whom you used loses its purpose in your life and so sometimes you end up breaking up or worse, leaving them behind."

"When you look for someone to love you, you let them into your life because you adore them not because of the things that they could do for you, but because of the things that they make you do. You allow them to change you, to challenge you, to grow with you... When you're looking for someone to love you, it's not about finding someone that can accept you no matter how broken or how incomplete you are but it's about finding someone who teaches you that it's only you that can fill the void inside of you. Someone that can make you understand that acceptance is the first step in healing and allows you to love yourself."

"You don't need to love someone to complete yourself, but you need to complete yourself so you can love someone." Rosie places the plates inside the dryer and arranged the settings. "I believe that no one deserves a half-assed love Daffodil. When you love, you go all outwith all your heart. It's kind of scary I know, but if you're not willing to love with your whole heart, then why bother loving at all?" As soon as she was done, Roseanne looks at Daffodil who was quite stunned with what she just heard. "So let me ask you again,do you see my daughter as someone who can complete you? Or do you see her as someone who can love you?"

__________________________________

"Okay, we're going for Charades alright? You and Daffodil on one side, and of course, it's me and Rosie."

"You're on."Ella lets her tongue out to tease her mother. "Though wouldn't it be a great disadvantage knowing that you and mommy are soul mates?"

"So? What does that have to do with the Charades game?"

"Ma, you and mommy's connection is on another level. You guys even do the weird telepathy communication!" Ella complains. "We need to switch teams. I refuse to enter a match that involves a lot of teaching."

"Mee noi, it's not our fault that we can connect in that way. And don't you think that this would be a good venue to test if you and Daffodil can connect on such level too?" Lisa tries to turn the table to her advantage. "Imagine finding out tonight that you guys are soul mates! I think that would be pretty rad."

"Ma, stop using my generation's slang languages. You sound like you're trying too hard to look younger."

Lisa immediately let out a gasp. "What did you just say to your mæ?"

"Kidd-ow!" Ella rubs the sore spot on her head. "Ma that hurts you know!"

"Stop acting all sassy with me then." Lisa spats. "Your hair looks good on you."

Ella smiles at the compliment. "Don't you think it's too bright?"

Her mother answers with a shrug. "Nah, pink hair looks good on you.

The second time I met your mother back at summer camp thing, she had this pink shade of hair too."

"Really?" Lisa answers with a nod. "Wow, guess I take after mommy then."

"Or maybe you're just too whipped for Daffodil." She says as she remembers the story of how Daffodil convinced Ella to change her hair color just for fun.

"Thank you, ma."

"For smacking you on the head?" Lisa smiles. "That's a first."

Ella rolls her eyes."Not that, but thank you for making Daffodil feel welcome inside our house."

"She's your friend Ella, of course, we would like her to feel welcome."

"Ma, you know pretty well that I just don't want her to be my friend only." Her daughter says. "As I said, I like her and I hope with this meeting she can realize that I am pretty serious about her. Like what you did when you invited mommy to Thailand to join your family's annual get together."

"Mee noi can mæ ask you a question?" Ella nods her head. "When was the time you realized that you actually like Daffodil?"

Ella ponders for awhile. "When we had a little stroll by the part during autumn... we were walking around and she was a little thirsty so I grabbed the both of us some drinks and when I heard her sing, it was like I was captivated..." She trails off. "Ever since then I started to seethe little things she does in a different light and the way that my heart flutter whenever I see her smile is just- wow..." She smiles and then looks at Lisa. "You understand what I am trying to say right ma? I mean, you felt the same way too when you heard mommy sing when you passed by the music room."

Lisa looks at her and kind of figured out what was going on. "Wow, it looks like we have a lot of similarities in realizing things." She smiles. "You are my daughter no doubt."

Hearing that made Ella beams with joy. "You know what ma, every time I feel discouraged about getting things official with Daff, I just remember the time where you gave mommy a hard time despite realizing your feelings already because you are just scared and you felt like you needed some time to get ready before committing."

"You use a lot of me and your mommy's love story for reference on yours." Lisa comments. "I'm quite flattered."

"Your love story with mommy is such a wonderful one ma, if I could have a love story like yours, I would like yours."

 "Is that what you're trying to achieve with Daffodil?"

"Well, I am hoping." Ella nervously scratches the back of her neck and looks at her mom.

Lisa purses her lips and tries to find a better way to break her opinion about her daughter's relationship. She places the cards down and held Ella's hand. "Mee noi, I like Daffodil. She's a great kid and what she had to go through wasn't easy and I admire her bravery the most."

"Why do I feel like you're going to oppose?"

"I am not opposing with your relationship, I just want to give you advice. Whether you take it or not, I fully understand but please as your mæ, can you try hearing me out?"

"O...kay."

"While I think that you two would look good together as a couple, I think that you are not ready to be in a relationship with her."

Ella looks at her with confused eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's just that-I feel like, instead of falling in love with Daffodil, you're falling in love with the idea of having a story like your mommy and mine." She says. "Instead of loving the person who is standing in front of you, you love the idea of who they are inside your head."

"No, that's not true. I like Daffodil ma."

"I understand that, I just wonder if you like her this much because she hasn't shown you any negative side of her yet."

"Daffodil doesn't have a negative side okay ma? Stop with badmouthing her to me."

"Mee noi, whether you like it or not- we all have a negative side... take your mommy and me as an example. Your mommy's very pushy and I am super tidy as a person that I tend to restrict her creativity and she always tests my limits as an individual." Lisa explains. "And while I am flattered that our love story has become your standard, you shouldn't do that."

"Why not? You guys scream the word 'soul mates', you guys are so in love with one another up until this very moment and even when you guys nearly broke up, you managed to find your way back into each other's arms. I believe that there is no other better love story than you two."

"Then, if Daffodil doesn't help you achieve that kind of love story, would you be willing to leave her behind?" She asks her daughter who seemed to be taken aback by the question, and so Lisa uses this opportunity to further explain her side of the story. "Would you be so willing to let the person go, just for you to have your ideal love story?"

"Well..."

"Having a role model is nice Ella and I don't take it away from you. But to have this mindset that you must take the same path as your mommy and I did; is not the way you should be doing." She continues to comfort her daughter by caressing Ella's hand with her thumb. "We all have different paths to take at the end of the day mee noi. For every one of us has different roads we must take in the future."

"Parents who usually, stop their child from getting into relationships to protect them from getting hurt, but I am doing this because I don't want you to end up hurting people you were never meant to be in the first place. Daffodil is a wonderful woman Ella, and if you want her to be ready to be with you, you have to prepare yourself to be with her too. Not just on the good days, but you have to stay with her through the bad days and even more so when the worst days come,because those will be the days that she's going to need you most."

"Are you saying that I shouldn't push through making things official between me and Daff?"

"I'm saying that before you make things official between you and Daffodil, ask yourself who are you ready to be committed with. The girl who is standing in front of you? Or the girl inside your head?"

Ella sighs out loud."Hey you two, are you already scheming up a plan to conquer the game?" Roseanne shows up followed by Daffodil. "Good thing we already talked about our plan earlier too."

"What scheme are you talking about? We were just having a light talk." Lisa says."Daffodil how did the interrogation go? Did my wife make you want to pee in your pants?"

"Ma! Stop saying embarrassing things!"

"I'm just kidding." Lisa smiles at her and throws Daffodil a playful wink."So, shall we play the game now?"

"Be prepared to lose bird brain."

"As long as you're ready to eat your words chipmunk."

"What? Chipmunk!?"

"Yeah what about..."

While Rosie and Lisa have this petty argument in the background, Ella holds Daffodil's hand. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

Ella looks at her with worry. "Did my mother made you want to shit your pants?"

This time, Daffodil smiles at her. "No, of course not. Your mother is very nice and I like her."

"What happened while washing the dishes?"

Daffodil's mind kept replaying the question Rosie threw at her earlier. "We just had a very insightful talk."

Ella furrows her eyebrows. "Insightful? Hmmm, I would like to hear it."

"Too bad, I am going to be selfish this time."

"No fair." Ella pouts, making Daffodil scrunch her nose and pinches Ella's cheek out of adoration. "But are you sure you're okay?"

Instead of answering immediately, Daffodil squeezes her hand and then smiles at her. "Don't worry, I am okay."

After the series of Charades and other board games like Snakes and Ladders along with a few games of Monopoly, Ella's mothers decide to call it a night where the two spend the night inside Ella's bedroom with a promise that they're going to keep their door 45-degrees open and have a lampshade on. Their only daughter couldn't help but roll her eyes at annoyance, while Daffodil finds it adorable and promised to do as they were asked before retreating to bed. As soon as they made sure that the two youngsters were sound asleep, Rosie accompanies Lisa on the balcony enjoying the remaining contents of their wine from dinner earlier.

"Daffodil's a wonderful individual don't you think?" Rosie breaks the silence between them. "At a glance, you wouldn't be able to know that she had that kind of story."

"I admire her for being strong." Lisa compliments. "Not everyone can withstand what she had gone through..."

"I had a little talk with her earlier though and before you judge me- it's not the a similar scenario in every dramatic 'Meeting the parents' scene in drama and soap operas but I just asked if she was seeing Ella as someone who can complete her, or someone that she could love."

"I said to Ella the same thing... She wanted to have a relationship like ours and so I gave her advice about disappointments and what can happen." Lisa takes a sip of her wine and looks at the beautiful full moon, feeling like it was just two or three blocks. "I mean I wasn't wrong, right? Did I make a mistake by making sure if she was really in love with Daffodil or is she just in love with the idea of falling in love?"

Rosie steps closer to her wife and tapped her on the shoulder. "I think it was a nice move for you to do that. I think Ella may see you as someone that can be her playmate and for you to be in that motherly mode may take her by surprise but I think that she also needs to see you as a mother as well."

Lisa sighs out loud."I just don't want the two of them to be investing in something they're not sure about Rosie. When I asked you to be my girlfriend, I was one hundred percent sure that I am in love with you and I was ready to commit myself to you without any fears of doubts with myself."

"I think we have given them advises that will surely help them as they go on their own separate road. I trust the way we have raised Ella and I believe that Daffodil's experiences will also help her in choosing the right decision."

"But what if the one they choose won't make them happy?"

"I know you said and we have taught to Ella a million times that we should go for the things that make us happy but it doesn't have to apply to every deciding situation we have to face." Rosie tries to find the right words to comfort Lisa completely. "Sometimes, we have to see the bigger picture, the other people involved and most importantly we have to consider the way we feel too. It's a given fact that Daffodil makes Ella happy but how long will she make her happy? Until she messes up our daughter's ideal relationship? How long will our daughter make Daffodil happy too? Until she fills the missing piece of her? It's not always about who makes us happy but who do we see ourselves with through good and bad times."

"You're right."Lisa nods in agreement. "But honey, what do we do know?"

"We do what we always have been doing to our daughter throughout her entire life."Rosie gives her a comforting smile. "We will be there for her."

__________________________________

"And that's what happened," Lisa says to Jennie who was casually sipping her freshly brewed tea while inside of her office. "What do you think? Did we fuck up as Ella's parents?"

"I don't think so, what you guys did was pretty good actually. You were pretty neutral about the relationship and you gave the teenagers the right to decide which most parents rarely give nowadays."

"Right?" Lisa takes a seat beside Jennie as her mind is still roaming around from the dinner that happened two weeks ago.

"But don't you think that you guys, I don't know-overreacted?"

"Overreacted?Why?"

"I mean, your Does daughter just want to date you know? If she finds someone that she can vibe out with and enjoy the fluttering feelings..." Jennie carefully chooses her words, knowing how Lisa gets affected easily whenever it comes to her daughter. "I just feel like you guys made her feel like Daffodil should be her end game or something."

"She does want Daffodil to be her end game... she looked up to my relationship with Rosie so much that she wants to find a love like that too."

"You could've just easily told her to take it easy and not take everything that happens in her love life very serious."

"But that's what we want to happen for her Jennie," Lisa says and Jennie gives looks back at her. "I want her to be sure and serious in every relationship that she takes. If I tell her not to do that, then chances are, she will probably take every partner in her life lightly. If we support her relationship despite the uncertainties that they both feel then I am just pushing her to experience an incoming heartbreak."

"A heartbreak that I am pretty sure she would never want to happen to her because out of all the heartbreaks out there that can occur to a person, a heartbreak caused by someone who you thought was the one for you will be the most painful one an individual gets to experience." She explains to her friend, hoping that the latter would be able to understand where she's coming from. "As a parent, it is only right that I get to protect my child from any possible heartbreak;even if it means crushing her hopes and telling her that she should take every relationship she's about to enter very seriously."

"You know, if all things go well with Ella's future girlfriend, she's pretty damn lucky to have you as her in-laws." Jennie smiles at her friend."Not only are you looking after your daughter's heart. But you're looking after her well-being too."

"That girl has been through so much, it's the least that we can do for her. She has been a great support system for our daughter, and all I want for her is to find someone sure of her. So that she can still put faith in love and demolish the lingering thought inside her mind that every person that enters her life was made to leave her behind."Lisa thinks out loud.

"You haven't given out the name of Ella's mysterious girlfriend."

"Girlfriend."Lisa corrects and Jennie just rolls her eyes. "But her name's-"

Suddenly the door bursts open and revealed- "Ella? What are you doing here in Melbourne?"

Lisa's heart immediately broke when she saw the tears streaming down her daughter's cheeks. "Come here."

"Ma..." She softly calls out to her chest.

Jennie decides to leave and give them some private moments. "I'll call Rosie."

Roseanne arrives fifteen minutes later with chest rapidly moving as she decides to make a run for it as soon as she receives a call from Jennie that Ella arrived in her office with tears. Once she arrived inside the building and in Jennie's office, she saw her daughter still crying in Lisa's arms. She and Lisa share a look and, as Ella would like to call their 'soul mate connection' they shed tears in unison. Rosie joins in their hug and gives out comfort to their child while waiting for Ella to open up.

"Mee noi, can you tell us what's going on?"

Ella detaches herself away from Lisa and looks at her parents. "It's no rush bub, whenever you feel like talking to mæ and me." Rosie motivates her.

"I think that it's time for you guys to know as well."

"Okay, we're here, Ella, we're listening."

Their daughter wipes away the tears from her eyes. "Something changed between my relationship with Daffodil right after the dinner we had."

"Is it a good kind of change or?"

"I want to see it as a good kind of change, but I think my breaking heart is the one who doesn't want to see it." She smiles sadly, and for some unknown reason, her parents already knew what's up. "We tried fixing what we had and ignored the signs but in the end, we both talked and decided to end what was going on between us. Though I'm not sure there was something between us, to begin with."

Lisa and Rosie looked at one another as they try to look for ways to comfort their daughter. "Ella, I'm sorry." Lisa starts. "If it wasn't for the talk we had-"

"Ma, please don't blame yourself and you shouldn't do the same thing, mommy." She says. "It was the kind of change that we wished that we could still turn around, yet we both know that it was the change that we both needed to accept and the change that we both wanted deep down in our hearts." She lets out a breath once more and looks at her parents."You guys were right, we cannot commit to one another until we sort things out all by ourselves first. I need to know if I like her because she's the girl I want to be with for as long as I can and she needs to know if she likes me enough to love me or was it just enough to fill in the hole inside of her heart..."

"But are you guys...okay? I mean, do you still talk?"

Ella nods her head."We try not to make it awkward whenever we're out with our friends. They try to do the same thing too though, but Yuna messes up every single time." She sadly chuckles.

"So you guys still hang out?"

"Not as frequent as before, just when our friends want all of us to hang-out."

Rosie nods in understanding. "Bub, if there's anything that we can do to help you out, don't hesitate okay? We're here for you."

"I could need some chicken soup," Ella asks with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "And some warm hugs and long cuddles."

"Don't worry, we can arrange that for you."

"Can I also stay with you guys for a while? We have this short break before we fly out to Japan for some training."

Lisa smiles at her daughter and hugs her tightly. "Of course mee noi... We miss hanging out with you too."

"And in celebration of your coming home, why don't we tag team again and beat your mæ onto some Nerf game hmm?"

"Hold on, I thought you threw out the guns?"

"I threw them out of the room but not out of our house. It's in the garage, alongside with your other non-sense and impulsive purchases."

Her wife widens her eyes. "Those were not non-sense purchases! Impulsive- can be but never non-sense."

"You've been justifying yourself all for all these years and still, I won't believe in what goes on with your blabbering mouth."

"If I win the match would you hear me out, properly?"

"If you win." Rosie smirks. "But we won't let that happen, would we bub?"

"Of course."Ella was quick to wipe her tears away and displays her game face. "Noway we'd let you win."

"Fine." Lisa stands up and fixes her suit. "First to go home can pick out the guns!" And as soon as she said that, she zooms out of the office.

"Wait!"

"Mæ that's cheating!"

Over the days, both Lisa and Rosie made sure that Ella was occupied with other thoughts and created all new memories together as a family and did all those things they used to do like going for a catch, hang out and do a little overnight by the beach and even movie weekend nights. They try their best to make sure that their daughter is not forced into moving on rather they made sure that she fully let go and accept the things that happened with Daffodil. Ella managed to stay with them for an entire week and so far, Lisa and Rosie were certain that they'redoing a great job in making sure that their daughter is okay.

"What do you think we should do next?" Lisa asks as she walks with Rosie home from the fresh market. "Maybe we can do a little travel?"

"Ella doesn't want that, she only has three days left from this vacation so why don't we do something that can be done inside the house?"

"We're already done with the movie marathon though and we played a lot of Nerf games too and other video games."

"Hmmm, I wonder who the loser is in all those games."

"Shut up." She says as she playfully pushes Rosie off, making the latter laugh before linking their arms together. "But seriously though, what do you think we should do?"

"Well, we can gather in the backyard and then do a lot of singing. I heard that there's going to be a lot of stars showing up tonight. Maybe a little star-gazing would do the trick."

"You and your weather updates." Lisa shakes her head. "I think in your past life you used to be a weather forecaster."

"Just because of I like being updated with the weather doesn't mean it was my profession in my past life," Rosie says with an eye roll.

"I remember that time when we just spent hours outside making smores and having a little bonfire because Ella couldn't go to her camping because of she was sick."

"She wasn't able to attend because you were being over-protective."

"I wasn't being over-protective, I was just looking out for her and the other girls can get the cold she had in camp. You were just being too loose with her."

"Summer camps area great venue to make friends."

"And she made a lot one in the following year."

"Hmm, makes sense."

"I wish that it was that easy in comforting Ella," Lisa says. "Back then, all it took was a backyard camping to make everything okay, but now, even if she pretends that she's happy, I know deep down it still hurts...the more painful thing is, no matter what we do right now, it still wouldn't change the fact that our daughter is still hurting."

"What do you think we should do now?"

Lisa ends up sighing out loud. "I don't know honey... but I'm pretty sure smores and backyard camping won't do the trick any longer."

"Don't worry."Rosie hugs her wife sideways and comforts her. "We'll think of something on the way home."

After finding comfort in her wife's voice, they try to come up with different activities for their family to enjoy. Out of all those ideas, they decide that having a massage night would be a good idea so Rosie calls in the spa that she and Lisa are both regular and reserved different kinds of treatment for the three of them to enjoy. When they arrived home, the couple was confused about why the house was so dark and silent.

"Maybe Ella decided to take a little nap."

"Hmm, that could be."

"Why don't you check up on her and then ask what does she want for dinner."

"Okay." Lisa goes upstairs only to find their daughter's room empty. "Ella?"

"Lisa!"

She hurries her way towards the kitchen as soon as she heard her wife's screams. "Why?What's wrong honey?"

"It's Ella."She shows to her the letter she had been holding. "This letter came from her."

"What?" Lisa takes a stand besides Rosie and together they start to read the letter.

Dear Mommy and Ma,

I remember the day you wrote me a letter giving me seven advice as I begin my college journey. You even scold mommy for sucking at hiding things and how you had trouble in expressing yourself in words for I know it's not your love language. But for mommy, you managed to do things out of your comfort zone and even though you act like you don't want to do things she makes you do, deep down you do those things to make her smile or laugh. Deep down, you don't do those things for yourself, but you do it for mommy and that's because of you love her.

One morning I was packing my things and saw the letter again and decide to give it are-read. Little by little, as I went through your words I found myself crying not because I was feeling nostalgic, but it was because of the fact that I had been so engrossed with having another replica of your love story that I forgot your advice from the very beginning.

Life isn't about unicorns and rainbows. You need the bad days to appreciate the good ones. Why tag along when you can stand out? Allow me to change, create your path, don't be too hard on yourself, it's okay to break the rules sometimes, and most importantly, allow myself to love without any fears...

These were the advice you gave to me, advises that I thought I was following, but I ended up walking down the wrong path and almost got myself into a heartbreak that I wasn't ready to handle and nearly lost a friend whom I have formed a very deep connection with.

And that's what I was trying so hard to look for... to have someone who can challenge me, change me for the better and make me do things just to make them happy. I want that kind of selfless love that you have for mommy and I was so in love with the idea of it, that when I saw Daffodil, I thought she was the one that can make me do those things...

But now I have decided to follow your pieces of advice and take them into heart. The first advice that I am going to follow is creating my path, and that is why I've decided to stand up again and start to live in reality.Your arms have been my source of comfort and strength, but they have also been my source of hiding place as I try to step away and avoid the reality. I was scared of seeing her but and have her only as a friend, to hold her hand and not her heart, to feel like I am ready for a commitment and end up realizing how unprepared I was.

I was unsure of what I was going to do next, I was even scared to face things all alone, but now, after reading the letter you and mommy placed your heart and soul with, I know that it's time for me to be strong for myself too. I know I can do it this time because I have your support, and I trust the way you have raised me, and the fact that I am your daughter makes me feel that I can push through any kind of trials. You guys are literally what a child would want for as parents and I will be forever grateful to be called your child.

When words fail,I hope this little gift would justify just how thankful I am to have you in my life, I decide to break piggy number thirteen to piggy number eighteen and booked the two of you first-class tickets and managed to score you guys a pretty sweet deal of a week in your dream place in Amsterdam. I know how much mommy wants to take a stroll in that place with her rented bike, and I know mæ will be happy taking pictures of your strolling mommy. Don't try and refund this, or I'll be sulking for the entire duration of the training and I might get scolded so you enjoy it! Okay?

And while you take a break, I will work hard on my own. So that when you return,and when we get to meet again, I'll be a new and stronger version of Ella Park. You might worry about me, but please don't. I am not going through this all alone; I have your words with me and your unending love, so I am never alone. Physically, yes but in my heart and mind, you guys will be with me. So don't worry too much! I'm going to be okay. And if I believe that, you should too.

I love you mommy and I love you mæ.

I'll see the two of you pretty soon.

With Love and warm hugs,

Ella.

__________________________________

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us all welcome the newly-weds, Lisa and Roseanne Park!"

The crowd clapped their hands as both Lisa and Roseanne entered the reception hall wearing their beautiful white dresses. Lisa wore a simple long-sleeve, backless, white dress with a long v-neck cute that highlighted her broad shoulders and long arms. Roseanne, on the other

hand, wore a strapless lacey dress that has a high slit. The two women carried their tropical summer flower bouquets while as they walked down the aisle and greeted every guest who attended their renewal of vows as the couple celebrates their twenty-fifth anniversary.

Three years since their romantic getaway in Amsterdam.

Three years since they let their daughter handle her heartbreak.

And

Three years since they first saw their daughter crying because of a girl.

Rosie and Lisa still kept in touch with their daughter who was surprisingly doing well.They first met her two months after their romantic get-away and they were happy to see their daughter slowly accepting things step by step. They were also relieved that Ella was being completely honest to them and told them that it still hurts but that they never should worry because she's getting there little by little.

After that they decided to trust in their daughter's words and just do what they always have been doing for Ella all this time- and that was to be there for her.

They were there for her when Ella first won the season championship and being the youngest captain to have a championship and they were there for here as she competed in various countries carrying the flag of Australian her chest in the under-27 league. They were there for her when she graduated as the top of their class, and they were there for her when she got in a multi-million architectural firm and now one of the top project leaders and the youngest out there in the league.

But they weren't just there for Ella during the good times, there were also there for her during thunderstorms too. They were there when she had her first major injury in her collegiate year, when she experienced her first lost, and when she was running out of time cramming projects and there were there for Ella when Daffodil had been accepted into a French University and offered a scholarship to finish her studies there. It was a very heartbreaking scene and Lisa almost made arrangements for her to chase after Daffodil but Ella was persistent that she should stay here and continue the life that she has here right now.

"If I chase her right now, I will never know if I love her."

"But mee noi, I can't just stand here and watch you be sad."

"Ma, I'm just sad- but that doesn't mean I can't live without Daffodil being near me." She says. "As you said, I need to make sure of myself first, fix my issues and only then I can find out if I am really ready."

"I can't stand seeing you get hurt."

"I'm actually happy that I am hurting."

Lisa looks at her like she had grown two heads. "And why's that?"

"Because when it hurts, that's when you know it's real." Ella smiles at her."I'm getting there mæ, one step at a time."

"And now, let us all welcome to give her maid of honor speech, Roseanne and Lisa's only darling daughter, Ella Park."

Ella stood in front of the small crowd in her beautiful pink-colored maxi dress. She smiles at the people who were there with them and she grinned as she saw her mothers looking at her warmly, silently encouraging her to just relax, knowing that just like her mæ, Ella wasn't really much that fond of standing in front of people and speaking her heart out.With one last exhale, she looks at them again and this time bringing in her confidence with her.

"First and foremost I would like to thank everyone who freed their schedule and joined us tonight on this lovely evening, most especially to my mama and papa who flew all the way from Thailand just to witness this milestone with us." She smiles at Lisa's parents with her grandmother already tearing up out of joy. "As I organized this event and when aunt Alice told me that as the new maid of honor, I was obligated to do a maid of honor speech. At first I was really scared and very nervous because I don't know what I would be saying in front of her because first, I really hated speaking in front of big crowds and two, I am not really good words like mommy..." She trails off. "But like what they always say, when you truly love someone, you are willing to go out of your comfort zone without being forced just to see the smile on their faces."

"I was trying my best to look for the right speech to give you today something that you can ponder upon and be inspired with as you leave and hit the sack after a long night of drinking and dancing on the tables while shaking your bodies to happy beats but I think that we can all agree that just by looking at my parents, you can already get inspired because all of us knew their love story right?" All at once,everyone agreed to Ella's statement. "So, rather than telling you how did they managed to last all these years and what is their secret formula, I would like to share something a little work of mine back in my teenage years." She pulls out a three-paged paper and show edit to the crowd. "Don't worry, these papers does not consist of the speech that I am about to make tonight."

Ella laughs along with the crowd. "Mommy, do you remember about that homework I was stressing about? The one that our literature made us write something about love?" Rosie nods her head. "Well, I never got the chance to tell you what I did write about and if that's okay, I would like to share it with the people who have witnessed your love story. Is that okay?"

"Take it away bub."

"The title of the paper is- this is how I lost you."

"When you lose something, the first initial reaction of a person is to be sad. Other times, they get frustrated and other times they just be non-chalant about it." She starts. "Unlike any other people, my parents were lucky or maybe unlucky enough to experience the three of them. And as they experience these stages, I get to witness a different side of them as they change from one reaction to another."

"The first, I saw mommy's tears fall as she looked at her old photographs with my mother. I was thirteen that time, and it was the very first time that I had seen my mother cry. It was very heartbreaking and that time, I wished I had done something to comfort her but I didn't know howto... I didn't know how to tell her that it was okay to be sad over things like those, to be sad that things are changing, and to cry because you feel like you were happier in the photograph than you are in real life. She would probably shake it off and convince me like it was nothing to worry and send me to bed with a lullaby."

"The second time was when I first witnessed their fight. I was sixteen that time and I remember sneaking inside of the house because I came home late from attending a party that they knew nothing about. I'm sorry, I told you this nine years later but- better late than never right?" The crowd laughs at Ella's joke and let her continue. "It was mæ's voice that made me a little jump and I wondered what they were fighting about and I thought it was probably something petty, but when I decide to take a peek and saw mæ's eyes covered in rage, I knew that the fight was something different."

"When I knew that I couldn't take to watch for the following events to unfold, I rushed at my bedroom and got so frustrated that I messed my place up while crying. I was angry at them for fighting like that rather than talking it out like adults. I was mad at mæ for being too insensitive and I was mad at mommy for being too emotional. But at that night, I was more of mad at myself, because I was going to lose something that I wasn't prepared to let go of."

"And the last time, was when I saw them deciding to separate after making me think that they were on their way to fixing things between them. I remembered being angry about it so much that I wasn't willing to hear what they were going through separately and together and I was focusing more on my pain rather than theirs so I decide to shut them out of my life. It was a selfish move, I know that now but I was trying to be nonchalant about it because I know, there's nothing more I could do about it. I maybe their daughter, but I wouldn't allow myself to be the only reason for them to stay in a marriage that was clearly falling apart."

"When I submitted the paper to my teaches she immediately asked for a one-on-one counseling and asked me if I was okay, I try to control my emotions and told them I was good and I was just trying to hold on until I graduate from senior year and just bury myself in university work. I was then asked by her if all I see are the negative side of losing someone and trust me- I was ready to fight here right there, and there."

"But I decided to be modest and asked back if there was a good thing of losing someone and she answered- there is a positive side of losing someone. And that kind of loss is not permanent. It's the kind of loss that either prepares you or reminds you." She says. "I was kind of lost there and then she tells me, if you're given the right partner and has everything you could ask for, but you're not ready yet would you still commit? She quickly follows up with a question- if you still take things for granted how are you going to appreciate its value when you have it with you all the time?"

"Sometimes, you have to lose a thing or a person because you're not prepared for it just yet, and you lose people in your life just so you can know their worth. She explains to me..." Ella trails off. "You need to lose things or people in order you can value and love them better."

"If they never return to you, then it just wasn't meant to be but if they do, it means that this is your chance to love them better, to show their worth a bit more- for all the times that you weren't able to."

"My parents had to lose one another in order to love each other better and to see them now value each other's existence even more as days and years pass by- makes me wish they could live one hundred more years. Not for me,but for the rest of the people that they get to meet in this lifetime that not everything you lose, is gone permanently. Some people find their way back to you, no matter how long or how hard it is. And when that happens, that's when you love them better. That's when you'd love them even more and more." Ella smiles at her parents who were crying as of the moment because of the overwhelming emotions that they are feeling right now. "Happy wedding anniversary and happy renewal of vows mæ and mommy... I love you both, to the moon and all the way back."

__________________________________

"Happy renewal of vows to my favorite lesbian couple!"

"Jisoo!" Rosie gasps out loud as soon as Jisoo shows up fashionably late at their wedding. "Where were you?"

"Well I had to fetch someone from the airport and traffic was being a bitch. Why did you two even decide to hold this all the way south?"

"Excuse you, Ella decided to have the venue here since she knows it's where we had tons of beautiful dates together when we just got married and while I was pregnant with her."

"Speaking of my beautiful niece where is she? Was she already finished with her maid of honor speech?"

"She is, she is just meet different guests but she'll be back here soon."

Jisoo smiles. "Her speech was very heart-warming right?"

"You knew about her speech?"

"She showed it to Jennie and I a few days ago and thought it was the sweetest speech ever."

"I don't know which is sweeter, my daughter's speech or your growing relationship with Jennie all throughout these years." Lisa chuckles. "When are you going to seal the deal Jisoo? You guys have been on and off these years."

"Tell that to her indecisive ass."

"My indecisive what now?" Jennie cuts her off. "You're late."

"I don't have a flying car like the Weasleys' Jen."

"Ugh, stop with the Harry Potter reference." Jennie rolls her eyes. "Anyway,where is she?"

"She was just parking the car. She should be here any minute soon."

"Who?"

"Oh right! I forgot to tell you guys something." Jisoo exhales out loud.

"Relax, you can tell them this." Jennie reassures her with a soft grip on her hand.

"Okay, I can."

"Guys you'remaking us nervous. Are you pregnant?"

"No, no, I'm not pregnant. Dear God no, that will be Jennie's job three years from now." Jisoo chuckles. "But I have been a mother for quite sometime now." The Park couple looked at her with confusion on their faces.

"Seven years ago,I was thinking that it would be nice to be a mother and the way I see you with Ella and other couples too have motivated me to try and become one. But as soon as I arrived at the adoption center, I realized that I wasn't ready to have a baby with me, given my time schedule and the amount of commitment needed by my job. Then I thought, why not adopt a teenager already? I know the chances of getting one were pretty rough and I wasn't sure if I can trust them completely but I decided to go with my gut feeling and just went for an adoption."

"Oh my God Jisoo! You could've told us!" Rosie pulls her in for a hug. "I am so happy for you! So what kind of teen did you adopt? A boy?"

"I adopted a girl who is in the same age as Ella too." Jisoo smiles with pride."Since I know that Ella is looking for some company after years of being single, it wouldn't hurt if she could meet my daughter tonight right?"

"I think it's a good idea. Ella has been so focused on her career lately that she rarely hangs-out with friends or colleagues for that matter."

"Where is your daughter? I am dying to meet her!"

"She should be up here any second."

"Aunt Jisoo! Aunt Jennie!" Ella cuts off their conversation and gives her two best god mothers a warm hug. "What took you so long aunt Jisoo? Your girlfriend was about to explode with impatience earlier."

"Don't worry Ella, I'll make it up to her tonight." Jisoo playfully winks.

"Mee noi, why don't you hang out with us for a while, auntie Jisoo has a surprise for you." Lisa smiles.

"Surprise?"

Jisoo nods her head."Fresh from Paris."

"Fresh from-"

"Mom, I told you to wait for me by the elevator-"

"Ella?"

"Daffodil?"

"Wait you two know each other already?" Jisoo says, making things even more awkward between them. "How did-"

"E-excuse me for a moment." Ella didn't even wait for the adults to reply and went on with her way.

"Mom, I'll be right back okay?" Jisoo's daughter turns around and chases after the girl.

Jisoo and Jennie furrow their eyebrows as they watch Daffodil chase after their godchild. "Hmm, I didn't know they were already friends."

"Hey Jisoo?"Rosie calls out to her friend. "Remember that time when I cried to you over the phone because the day that I feared the most actually came true?"

"Yeah! I remember that day, you bawled your eyes to me because Ella experienced her first heartbreak." Jisoo nods her head in understanding. "What about it?"

"The girl who broke my daughter's heart was named Daffodil."

"Oh! What a pretty coincidence! My daughter's name is also-" Jisoo widens her eyes."Oh."

Meanwhile, Ella was trying her best to politely excuse herself out of the party but the guests were making it hard for her to do so because every once in awhile they'd stop and give their compliments towards her successful organizing. Once she was out of the rooftop venue, Ella makes a run towards the elevator and immediately presses the ground floor. As soon as she saw Daffodil who just got out from the place, they shared an eye contact, widening Ella's eyes and starts to tap the 'G'button a bit too desperate. She was silently praying that Daffodil wouldn't be able to catch up with her, but it looks like fate has decided to be playful and just as the door was about to be fully closed, Daffodil's hand came in contact with it and the door stops closing, allowing her to enter the lift.

Now as the two of them were inside the elevator, Daffodil was still in the midst of catching her breath. While Ella was just standing there, hoping that the latter won't decide to open their mouth and strike up a conversation. One, that Ella really preferred not to have.

"I was wrong."Daffodil breaks the silence between them, much to Ella's dismay."You are mean."

"What?"

"Remember? We met inside the elevator too..." She trails off. "Only then I had the courage to screamed 'wait' and you still had the heart to press the hold for me."

"So now what, just because I was trying my best to avoid you, like what I have been successfully doing all these years turned me into some mean bitchy character you've assumed me to be from the day that we met?" She lets out a scoff. "And what about you huh? I bet you had tons of laughter inside your bedroom with aunt Jisoo."

"What are you trying to-"

"Tell me, did she send you to me so she could work her brand new theory with me just like how she did to my parents?"

"Ella, mom doesn't know a thing about it."

"I doubt highly of that."

"I swear it's true!" She exclaims. "My relationship with mom was still in the works when I moved to the university. That's why I hadn't introduced her to any of you guys because I felt like it was going to take a huge part of me to do that. I was just lucky enough to have her understand what I was going through and to not pressure me about it."

"So when you told me your mother named you Daffodil..." She looks at the girl who was already nodding her head.

"She thought that it would be nice to have a new name along with a new life. Mom explained to me that she wasn't trying to change me, she felt like I deserve to have a beautiful life and why not start with my name?"Daffodil explains. "But I still think that she named me like that because it was she somehow felt I was her new beginning of pain in the ass..." She chuckles, although Ella decides not to join her."Ella-"

"Daff, please...don't do this."

"Don't do what?"

"Just... just don't okay? You and I both know what I am about pertaining about."

"Now you're just being unfair."

When they were nearing the ground floor, Daffodil suddenly slams her fist on the emergency break. "How am I being unfair?"

"Daffodil what the hell?"

"We're not leaving this elevator not until you explain to me how am I being unfair."

"I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Uh, yeah you do miss smart-ass." She spats. "How am I being unfair to you?"

"Step aside."She tries to scoots her way to the other side but Daffodil was determined to show that she wants an explanation. "Ugh! You're so annoying sometimes!"

"Because you won't let me explain!"

"Is there left between us for you to explain?" Ella asks back. "You left me all alone."

"I had to leave you alone."

"No, you didn't have to. You could've just stayed there and be awkward with me but you chose the easy way out."

"Easy way out? Did you think all leaving for Paris was the easy way out?" Now it was Daffodil's turn to scoff. "You think I left you behind because I wanted to?"

"Why? Didn't you want to do that?"

"Of course not Ella! I had to leave not because I wanted to,but because I needed to!I needed to leave so I could sort my shit out, I had to leave so that I could work on my own and I had to do things on my own so that I could do more for you!" She spats out. "I had to separate myself from you so I can realize one thing."

Ella swallows the lump on her throat. "... and what is that one thing?"

"That I am completely, hopelessly and inevitably in love with you Ella Park."She says. "I had to be sad, to know that you play a big role in bringing happiness in my life. I had to be on my own to figure out that I like who I am whenever you're around. I had to allow my heart to ache for you just to realize how much I want to be with you...it was tough, and I'm pretty sure that what you had to go through was a different kind of pain, but at the end of the day, I would like to believe that you and I realized the same thing..." She trails off. "That even after all these time, you and I really do belong together."

For a second, Ella wanted to believe Daffodil right there and go what with her heart says. The moment that she laid her eyes on the girl who was wearing a very beautiful lavender colored lady suit, all she ever wanted was to rush towards her and hug her tightly and probably try her best to hold onto the latter for as long as time would allow her. But as she was about to go there, there was a lingering thought inside her that asks, why would she do something like that? Why would she run towards the arms of the person who left her behind? Who was she in Daffodil's life right now? Who was Daffodil in her life right now?

And then one thought followed by another and then another thinking comes in until Ella'sold fears and new-arising doubts met halfway making her scared of what she was feeling towards the woman standing in front of her. She was scared that she was getting, she was afraid how her heart was longing for the latter and more importantly, Ella was deeply scared of the possibility that she was still feeling the same way.

"Ella, please say something." The desperation on Daffodil's voice.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say what you've always wanted to say." She takes the first step and intertwines their hands together. "I want you to say to me how do you feel for me all this time."

"Daff, I'm scared."

"I'm scared too."She confesses. "But I am done running from what's meant to happen.I am done pretending, thinking that I don't deserve you in the first place because no matter how scared I am, no matter how deeply we've hurt each other, deep down I know I deserve you. I deserve your morning kisses, your delicious cooking, hearing you sing while I read a book and spend the rest of my existence with you."

"I... What if we end up hurting each other?"

"We will hurt each other Ella, no relationship is perfect. What we can do is let what we feel for one another overcome the pain, the fears and the doubts for I believe that as long as we know that this is what we both want, as long as we continue and willing to choose each other we can make it... we're going to be okay Ella." The daughter of the newly-wed finds herself crying, yet still not letting go of the other woman's hand. "I know it's scary and you have tons of fears and worries but we'll never know what awaits us if we don't cross the bridge together."

"Can... can we not cross the bridge now?" She says in a soft voice. "Instead of crossing this bridge now, can we walk together slow and steady this time around? Last time when we rushed things we ended up unintentionally hurting one another... I don't want to go through that again."

Instead of being discouraged, Daffodil gives her a genuine smile. "We have the rest of our lives together, we can walk the bridge for as slow and as steady as you want."

Ella chuckles and squeezes onto her hand. "Feeling a little confident aren't we?"

"You could've just shut me out but instead you're giving me a chance. What's there not to feel confident about?" Ella finds herself just shaking her head with disbelief as Daffodil presses the emergency break and the elevator was back on track. "I heard the beach here is a wonderful place to take a stroll. Mind coming along with me?"

Ella was about to share her parents' love story about walking by the beach but then remembered what her parents told her so she smiles and looks at the girl who came back. "Rather than taking a midnight stroll, I know this nearby ice cream parlor. It's been my favorite shop and I would like to visit that place again with my favorite person."

Daffodil finds herself blushing after hearing that from the latter. "B-b- I thought we were going slow and steady?"

"I know, but what can I do? My parents taught me to appreciate the people in my life when I can." She smiles. "Why? You'd really think you're the only one who got some smooth moves?"

The girl in the ponytail shakes her head. "Okay, the ice cream parlor it is."

"Okay."

Hand in hand, they exit the elevator and head towards the main lobby where Ella has her car waiting by the parking space. "Wait a second-" Daffodil says and then removes her coat to cover Ella. "It's chilly outside."

"But what about you? How are you gonna get yourself warmed up?"

"By this." She shows off their intertwined hands and smiles proudly.

"Smooth Kim...pretty smooth." She chuckles along with Daffodil.

"Jisu."

"Huh?"

"Choi Jisu."Daffodil looks at her. "That's my real name. I just thought you should know."

Ella's heart melted as to how much Daffodil was willing to open up to her. "I had my hand be read by a palm-reader in Japan once, and told me that in my past life, I was named Shin Ryujin. She was a rock star and a bad-ass who lived a life by inspiring others through her music."

"Hmmm. Jisu and Ryujin..." Daffodil taps her chin. "Interesting..."

"I just remembered something." Ella says, making them stopped in their tracks."Remember when we first met? We also met inside the elevator."

"Oh yeah... cute girl inside the elevator."She smirks, making Ella's cheeks feel heated. "But remember, when you invited me for a stroll, it was chilly that night too. And you lend your jacket to me and now, the roles are reversed." Daffodil smiles. "I guess some things change do they?"

"I guess they do."Ella once again remember what was written on her parents' letter for her. "But I hope this time, they change for the better."

"And we'll make sure of that okay?" Daffodil reassures her, making her heart melt and trust grow a little bit more. "Shall we?"

"Of course..."Suddenly she lets go of Daffodil's hand. "Last person to get to my car treats whatever the other one wants!" And then makes a run for the parking spot.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

"No it's not!"

And as Daffodil chase after Ella onto the huge parking space, Rosie and Lisa watched them from afar with satisfied and contented looks and smiles on their faces. Lisa looks at her wife, who was getting teary eyes while continuously watching the scene and so to send her some comfort, she wraps her wife around her arms securely. Rosie took this as a sign to lean onto her wife for support.

"I'm glad that they managed to sort their differences out."

"I'm sure there wasn't much of a difference between the two of them. Only some uncertainties but thanks to the things that they learned along the way of healing themselves made them realized a lot of things that I'm pretty sure they're going to use when it's time to make things official between them and this time around, they both are willing to commit, because the two of them are individually prepared to give all the love they have for one another."

"I don't know why but I am so relieved that Ella managed to forgive Daffodil that easy."

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I just thought that she would let that fear get to her."

"Ella has your heart Rosie... A hear that is willing to forgive easily and a heart that is willing to give all they have for the people they value."Lisa kisses her head. "And for that I am grateful to you... Your heart has always been your core as an individual and to see that live inside our daughter is just satisfying and fulfilling at the same time because I know, she's going to be a blessing to every person she meets. Daffodil is a concrete example of that."

"Thank you honey."

"For what?"

"For everything...for being with me all these years, for helping me raise Ella, for sacrificing so much for this family, for not giving up on me, for continuously choosing me, and for making me feel like everyday is our honeymoon." Rosie scoots herself closer and further into Lisa's arms.

"Is this a deleted paragraph from your wedding vow?" She teases, earning her a pinch to her ribs. "Kidding... but you're welcome. I'm grateful for your existence in my life too. I would like to express it in words but I am not like that."

"And that's okay,having you hold me like this is enough." Lisa hums in response and watched as Ella's car drove away from the place. "Honey?"

"Hmm?"

"What do we do now for Ella? Should we change our parenting style now she's getting more mature?"

Lisa looks as her daughter's car slowly disappear from their view. "I don't think we should change Rosie, now that she's getting more mature and about to enter her first relationship, what we should be doing as her parents will still be the same thing."

"And that is?"

"We will be therefor her." Lisa smiles. "Like we always have been."

"Guess some things never changed at all." Rosie says with a contented smile. 

"Wanna know what's one more thing that's constant?"

"What?"

"That twenty-five years into this marriage and I still see you as the same."

"And how do you see me?"

"My wife, the love of my life, my Rosie, my chipmunk, my soul mate and..."

"And what?" Rosie looks up as she waits for Lisa to answer.

Lisa shows off her proud grin as she bends down to kiss her wife. "My home and adventure, all at once."

Fin.