Why Can't We..?

Chapter 17

one month later

Over the last few weeks that Jin and I had been officially together, things seemed to be going really well. I was less nervous about being in a relationship with someone a lot younger than me, it wasn't anything like how I expected it to be. 
I didn't have to take care of him, he didn't use me as an ATM, he helped out around the house, he took me and Ellie out on dates and occasionally we got to go out just the two of us. After Ellie went to bed he always ended up sleeping in my room with me, it felt nice falling asleep in each other's arms, and waking up to kisses and giggles. Our sex life was blossoming as we figured out what each other liked and disliked, he had a really good understanding of my body and my needs and dear lord, I couldn't thank him enough for that. I genuinely had no idea that I missed intimate physical contact as much as I did. 

We had managed to keep our relationship hidden from Ellie for an entire month. 
And then, I was woken up on a saturday morning by Ellie jumping on us in my bed.

"Mommy! Wake up!" She yelled as she jumped on top of me, my eyes opened and I smiled at her, her wild child hair a crazy mess, her pajamas disheveled, and her top two teeth poking through the gum as they grew in. I can never get over just how perfect my daughter is. 
"I'm up" Jin mumbled into the pillow 
"Good morning princess" I smiled 
"Why is uncle Jinnie in your bed mommy?"

Oh. Shit. 

Jin sat up and leaned against the headboard as he rubbed his face with his palm and looked over at the two of us with a soft smile. I picked Ellie up and sat her between the two of us as I sat up and leaned against the headboard. 

"I need to talk to you lovie, Uncle Jinnie is my boyfriend now" 
"Awww so he wanted mommy cuddles?"
I giggled 
"Yes, he wanted to cuddle with mommy" 
"Do you guys kiss? Like in the movies?"
"yes" I laughed as Jin started laughing 
"Um" she got really serious for a minute as her expression changed, she tried to figure out what she wanted to say "I have a another question"
"Go ahead sweetheart" I assured her as I draped my arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close 
"Does that mean, uncle Jinnie is my dad?" 

Over the last two years as Ellie started to grow up and go to school, she would occasionally mention the fact that she didn't have a dad. 
She would ask me why, she would ask me where he is, who he is, and I always told her she didn't have one. 
I told her that when mommy got pregnant the universe decided to give her to me and only me because I had enough love in my heart for her to take the place of two parents. That she didn't need a dad and the universe knew that. 

"No honey, uncle Jin being my boyfriend, doesn't make him your dad" I tried to smile but I was getting really emotional in my head 
"Oh" she pouted "but, mommy's and daddy's are always boyfriends and girlfriends before they have babies, so are you guys having another baby? I want a baby, and I want a dad" She pouted as her eyes watered, Jin sat there silently staring at the bed sheets while I tried to hold myself together. 

"No honey, we're not having another baby, and I know you want a dad, but you don't need a dad. You have such a big family filled with lots of love. A lot of kids don't have daddy's. There's all kinds of families, two mommies, two daddy's, one mom and no dad, one dad and no mom, some people even have four parents, a mom and step dad, or a dad and a step mom. Every family is different" 
"I know" she pouted "so if uncle Jinnie is your boyfriend, he's just still my uncle?"
"Yes" I nodded 
"Does that mean he'll get all of your kisses?"
"No baby, I still have plenty of hugs and kisses for you" I smiled as I kissed the top of her head 
"Okay" she half smiled "what about uncle Jinnie?" 
"What about uncle Jinnie?"
"Can he still give me hugs and kisses? And play with me? I finally have a prince to play dress up with and I don't want to lose that, Toby doesn't want to be the only boy at the tea party again" she bobbed her head as she tried to make her point which only resulted in Jin and I laughing at her 
"Yes El, I will still give you hugs and kisses and be the prince at the tea party" Jin chimed in with a smile 
"Okay" she smiled wide "in that case you can be her boyfriend" 
"Thank you Ellie, I really like being mommy's boyfriend" he smiled as he hugged her, she hugged him back and smiled. 

Eventually she left the room and decided to go play while Jin and I sat in my bed in silence. 
"You handled that really well Yumi" he said softly as he intertwined our fingers and stared down at our hands "I'm sorry I froze. I didn't want to say the wrong thing, and I also didn't want to overstep any boundaries between you two. It seemed more like a parent, child, conversation than a group conversation" 
"Thank you for that Jin" I smiled "I really appreciate how thoughtful you are with her" 
"Of course, I want both of you to be as comfortable as possible" he smiled as he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in close, I lifted my head and gave him a soft kiss on the lips making him smile.