46. Epilogue #3
I still find it odd, given the way I was raised, but the fewer interactions she and Oliver have, the better they both are. Theo barely asks about her anymore, and even though I’m sure he will once he’s a little older, we’re all doing our best to just move past it for now.
I am too lost in how Oliver transforms into the eight-year-old version of himself around Eomani (mother-in-law) that I don’t notice a tall frame charging towards me until his arms are locked around my waist and he’s hurling me around so fast that I need to clutch onto his neck to keep my sense of balance.
I quickly switch from the fear of spinning to confused laughter as I know who it is by his familiar warm yet spicy scent.
“How’s my favourite Goldilocks doing?” Min-Joon asks, planting a kiss on my cheek, whilst holding me off the ground, in his arms.
“Put my wife down, now,” Oliver growls, with a glare so aggressive, he wishes his best friend would burst into flames. As usual, Min-Joon ignores him and keeps his eyes on me, waiting for my answer.
“I’m good, but you better put me down before Surly Bastard tries to rip you to shreds.” I laugh as Min-Joon shrugs, putting me back on the ground.
“Shimmer down, sunshine. Don’t be jealous that I missed Luna more than you.” Min-Joon teases with a grin as he turns to Oliver, who’s still trying to obliterate him with a single glare.
“Kiss my woman again, and I’ll rip your balls off,” Oliver grumbles, with one fist clenched and the other hand poking Min-Joon’s chest.
I will never understand these two and their odd friendship, whether it’s Min-Joon’s need to push Oliver to the edge or Oliver’s empty threats, because deep down he doesn’t do anything without his best friend’s input.
Or this right here, where it seems like they’re fighting, but this is how these two greet one another.
“Yah!” Eomani (mother-in-law) snaps, as she pushes on her tiptoes to yank at their ears, my favourite part always when Eomani (mother-in-law) comes to visit.
“Stop it, right now!” she warns in Korean, ignoring their begging for her to let up her grip, but she doesn’t and pulls them together as they whine, making the few people around us turn to look.
“Why you can’t hug like normal brothers?” she asks in English as they both turn to tell her not all brothers hug, but her glare is enough for them to back down as they pull each other into a bro hug, long enough for each other to get a slap on the back, then they break apart.
“Fine, I’ll play nice, but stop touching my wife,” Oliver orders, nodding at Eomani (mother-in-law) as he grabs her suitcase.
“I hear you loud and clear, Surly Bear.” Min-Joon salutes, wheeling his case into Oliver’s legs, almost making him trip as Min-Joon throws his arm around my shoulder and tugs me towards the exit.
I look over my shoulder to see Oliver scowling so hard he nearly breaks the handle on Min-Joon’s suitcase.
I can’t fight back the laughter as I hear eomani (mother-in-law) telling him to calm down and tell her where her grandchildren are.
Then I turn back to listen to my brother-in-law catch me up on his current dating drama, as he and I are pretty close and he’s due to move back home to London soon, with his research project beginning to wrap up.
Oliver scowls all the way home as I am seated at the back with two people, hating that he has to share me, wishing I was sitting in the front with him, so his hand can rest on my thigh like it always does when he’s driving.
But I know the frown on his face is only a front. He is happy his Mum and Min-Joon are here because he’s been talking about their arrival all week, and he knows I have just the thing to put a smile back on his face.
So long as he doesn’t set out to kill Min-Joon by the end of our holiday.
We get stuck in a little traffic closer to Mario’s place when eomani (mother-in-law) tells me about the time she caught Oliver and Min-Joon with cigarettes during one of her visits when they were in university.
A story I was beyond excited about hearing, and wanted to know everything without a single detail left out.
I happily listen to her tell the story as Min-Joon and Oliver try to plead their case, and the car is filled with so many opinions when I notice that Oliver’s family is no different from mine.
They may not laugh and talk about the same things mine do, but they do argue and bond in their own unique way. It reminds me to prepare for the kind of household we’re about to have for the next few weeks, but it also makes me even more excited to extend our unique family.
To bring new life into the world and find out who they will take after, how they will learn to adapt with people like Gran or what it’s like having Oliver as a dad.
Despite my nerves about becoming a new mother, I can’t wait to see what the future holds. With a husband who loves me more than life, two beautiful children who are eagerly awaiting another sibling and a family that seems to be growing bigger and bigger by the second.
What more could I possibly need?