spin_kick_snap | House in Limbo City, Limbo City, Friday

With her mom's kimchi recipe now in her possession, Kathy figured she should try to make some. Without a proper kimchi fridge, she couldn't make much, but she figured she could probably get away with one or two jars in the back of the fridge. With her mom's recipe in hand, her children behind her and the gijesa of her whole family on Monday (though her parents got short shrift compared to Sarah), family was kind of on her mind a lot.

Her usual strawberry Yakult had been swapped for banana milk and she had a bowl of injulmi rice balls to snack on when her hands weren't covered with red pepper flakes or salt. She sang as she worked, TARA and BTS and Super Junior blaring from her phone, dancing around the kitchen chopping vegetables, salting water, simmering the glutinous rice powder.

For the first time since she moved in, the house - or, at least, the kitchen - really smelled like home.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Yeah," Dante admitted. "You looked like... a mom. A little like my mom, even. You were good at it, too."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"It's like I told Anders," Kathy said, "I just don't ever want a kid to question if they're loved and wanted. They come from weird places and impossible scenarios and I can't control what's waiting for them when they go back. But while they're here, I just always want them to know what they're special and important and...well, loved."

Important enough to mention twice, she guessed.

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Any kid would be lucky to have you," Dante said, mouth curving. "And there's no way I wouldn't be there for you if you decided to have one. So I guess you're in this together with at least one of us."

Beat.

"I mean, in a couple of years."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"Definitely not for a few years," Kathy said hastily. "I'm not in a place where I can be there for a kid the way I'd wanna be yet, so..."

She shrugged. They had awhile.

"I don't know if I'd be willing to do it if Anders wasn't," she said. "All or nothing, I think. It doesn't seem fair, making him deal with a kid if he doesn't want one, even if it's two-to-one in favor of having them, you know?"

She smiled, a bit wanly. "It's why I was kinda figuring I wouldn't end up having any. Because I wasn't sure the three of us would agree."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"I get that," Dante said, mouth curving. "We'll talk to him at some point, I guess. I just... wanted you to know I have your back. That I'm not gonna be the no-vote."

From:

spin_kick_snap

Kathy bounced a little, happy and excited. "I...I really love that," she said. "Not just cause I want kids. But because I wanna make a family with you."

With both of them, really.

But while Kathy would want kids regardless of who she was with, or even if she wasn't with anyone at all, there was just something magical about the idea of raising a family with her guys, specifically.

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Would be nice, wouldn't it?" Dante's smile was small and a little wistful.

From:

spin_kick_snap

"You'd be such a good dad," Kathy said softly. "Fun and silly, but someone they know they can always go to for help. Sometimes I worry about being like my mom or my dad...but you won't let that happen."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"You'd never be like that anyway," Dante said wryly. "... I kinda liked being around the kids, now I was paying attention. 's nice. I can just... be there."

Be a rock. Not have to worry about his own feelings for once.

From:

spin_kick_snap

Kathy tilted her head a little, returning back to the sink to Pat the cabbage dry. "Is this the first year of that for you?" she asked. "You seemed really there for Janie."

Seeing him with her was one of the things that had made Kathy realize that Dante could be a really good dad, if he wanted to be.

From:

rebelseekspizza

"Janie needed me, even if she didn't say it out loud," Dante said. He looked thoughtful.

From:

spin_kick_snap

"It was just you and her," Kathy said nodding, interested in whatever Dante was thinking about.

He talked about being dumb, but he was really clever and insightful.

From:

rebelseekspizza

"The other kids we had before now, they didn't really seem to need much," Dante said slowly. "We were just kinda there? A fun place for them to show up and be like 'ha, tiny dad', you know? So they didn't feel real."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"And then Evie was worried about her friend," Kathy said quietly. "And needed us."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"She talked a big game, but girl needed a hug," Dante said, his mouth curling up a little. "I dunno. I could see me takin' care of her..."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"Reminds me of this guy I know," Kathy said, giving him a grin over her shoulder. "And she sassed you, but the way she looked at you sometimes..." Kathy shook her head. "She loved you. Plain and simple."

From:

rebelseekspizza

Dante shrugged an easy shoulder. "Probably," he said. "I dunno. I could see me being her dad, you know?"

From:

spin_kick_snap

Kathy nodded. "I could, too. And I like picturing it." She looked up at him and smiled. "Tiger, too. You were good to him. Good for him. All that stuff."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"He was a sweet kid, just needed love," Dante said, mouth curving. "Tiger was easy."

For him, anyway.

From:

spin_kick_snap

"And you weren't afraid to give it to him," Kathy said. "You're just...so much more open than you used to be."

From:

rebelseekspizza

"I got a lot of help," Dante said wryly. "A few knocks over the head..."

From:

spin_kick_snap

"Honestly? I think it was all there all along," Kathy said. "You've got this, like, river of compassion inside you. The shit you dealt with as a kid kinda dammed it up some - " but even then, not all the way " - and as soon as that got cleared away, here you are."