What She Deserves // Lisrene

2

Irene blinked her eyes open to two very different sets of snoring.

One was from Hank, which was to be expected. She was always up earlier than he was because she couldn't exactly sleep with a train horn blowing in her ear. The second set was a welcomed sound, a new version of steady purrs from the cat on the pillow next to her head. Sometime during the night, Leo had made himself a home curled up on the side of Irene's pillow, nearly right on top of her face.

Smiling with unabridged happiness, she couldn't help herself from making a contented cooing noise and scratching his stomach lightly. Leo opened his eyes, yawning to bare his wide fangs and stretching out before snuggling even closer to her warmth. When Irene shifted to accommodate his relocated position, she felt truly content for the first time in a long time.

Maybe Jisoo was right, Leo was the only man she needed in her life.

Two hours later, Hank finally decided to wake up and start his day. He rolled over and kissed Irene's shoulder before padding over in his boxers to use the bathroom. When he came back she was sitting up in bed with Leo on her lap, praising his good behavior and fawning over him with tangible excitement.

"Jesus, it's not a child, Irene. He's a cat." He leaned down to press a chaste kiss on her cheek.

Irene briefly glanced over at his unshaven, early morning visage. There was a different aura about him, but she couldn't quite describe what was off about it. It was like something in her brain switched overnight and she was seeing him in a different light now that the sun rose and a new day started.

Before she could bite out a snarky reply, he asked, "Are you gonna be making breakfast any time soon or will you be busy with him?"

Irene clenched a tight fist and resisted the urge to swing it across the side of his face. Sighing out, she replied, "No, I'm getting breakfast with Jisoo and then getting supplies for Leo. I told you this."

"No, you didn't."

"I—did. Last night?" She blinked slowly, trying to process how Hank could be so idiotic sometimes.

"I'd remember that. What am I supposed to do, make it myself? You always make it, baby. Come on, you don't have time?"

Normally, Irene would take one look at his puppy dog eyes and allow herself to fall into the trap of doing whatever Hank requested from her. But like she thought earlier, today was different. She was different.

Puffing her chest out, she stood her ground. "No," she replied tersely, "You can make it yourself. I have to get ready." Ignoring his feeble protests, she crawled out of bed and into the bathroom where she got ready to meet Jisoo. Twenty minutes later, she walked in on Hank and Leo rigidly sitting three feet apart from each other on the bed like two sworn enemies forced to share the space. Leaning over to kiss Leo's tiny head, she whispered, "Be good for me, baby. I'll see you later."

Straightening up, she went to walk out the door when Hank called out to her retreating figure, "I don't get a goodbye?"

Clutching the doorframe and pausing for a moment, she turned slightly to reply, "Goodbye, Hank. Please don't burn the house down making yourself breakfast." Hank grunted his reply, already turning the tv on that he had insisted they needed in the bedroom. With one final glance at Leo's small form, she walked downstairs and out into the morning light.

Jisoo's car sat in the driveway waiting for her, and she slid into the passenger's seat with a quick hello.

Unusually bright and chipper this early in the morning, Jisoo asked, "Hank didn't walk you to the door like a father watching his daughter go off to prom with a boy he doesn't like?"