The Cool Girl| Kim Taehyung

Quiet

The holidays brought a breath of fresh air to Long Palm Bay for Des.

While the aftermath of her meeting with Taehyung was nothing short of devastating, Desiree somehow made it through.

The long drive did clear her head but now she felt numb. 

Christmas Eve came and went and fast forward to Christmas Day, the weight on her spirits was somewhat lifted by the unexpected appearance of two freckled faces staring back at her from around the family's kitchen table.

The two women bickered amongst themselves as Desiree emptied a colossal frying pan of scrambled eggs into a serving dish in the middle of the table.

"Will you two knock it off? It's Christmas Day!" Desiree frowned at her older twin sisters.

"Try telling that to her..." the younger pouts. 

Sometimes one minute did make all the difference.

Esme glared back and her younger twin, stabbing a mouthful of pale yellow fluff onto her fork and jamming it into her mouth with a vengeance.

"You honestly need to get a life!" Dalia rolled her eyes, diving into the holiday breakfast spread prepared by their baby sister. 

Desiree hovered between them, placing more items of food on the surface until it was covered with dishes ranging from  sweet to savoury.

The two pause their juvenile squabble when they notice the sheer amount of food prepared.

"Guess we're about to feed to whole town!" Dalia commented, her eyes bulging in disbelief and delight all at once.

Esme placed a quietening hand over Dalia's with a warning look.

"You know she loves to cook when she has a lot on her mind..." she whispered through gritted teeth.

"You do know that I can hear you, right?" Desiree paused to cock an eyebrow at her siblings before returning to work on the glazed ham in the oven. 

She gave it another sticky lashing of fragrant sauce before turning back to them.

"I'm super stoked that you're both here. I thought it would be just me and Dad like last year but this is.... nice!"

Desiree smiled and it was genuine. 

"Well except you guys fighting like two- year olds..."

Both Dalia and Esme were ten years her senior and had their own families and lives in far away parts of the country. It was hard hard to get everyone together for the holidays like this. 

The last time they all had Christmas together was four years ago and their parents were still married!

What a welcomed distraction it was to have a full house buzzing with life and ample mouths to feed?

"Aww!" Dalia preens, "We wouldn't have missed it for the world!"

Esme wordlessly mimicked her twin's words behind her back as a drowsy toddler waddled into the kitchen and straight into his mother's arms. Esme slung the infant effortlessly onto her shoulder and he snuggled against her still half- asleep.