I searched too, to see what you would use for the Qipaos dress, and once I saw what it was, I recognize it as an outfit or two from World Adventures.
Does Aizen's tattoo say something specific, or is it just a tribal design? I think I see the word "love" on his forearm but can't read the upper arm.
My sister and her daughter have to live with (our) parents too, since the divorce. Its pretty common now a days.
And I can hear my niece's voice whining when I read about Amaya.
Geez, WTH is Aizen's problem now? Where are you going with him, I wonder?
Looks like I guessed right on the lineage. And we have one reason for his grumpiness.
Woo!! Kai and Malai, sitting in a tree... K I 🐸🐸🐸🐸 I N G. LOL (what? kissing is censored?)
How many chapters is this story going to be?
I can't wait for the next, and to see how you dress up Malai.
I'm a 48 year old married man, with a beautiful wife, a cat, and a simverted personality.My Sims 3 Pictures
Ooooo interesting, I assume Aizen doesn't want Amaya to think of Malai as her new mum Excited to see the next chapter! I wonder if she will end up going back to new york after all, since it seems she's already re-evaluating her life so far
Really good update!, Amaya is a cutie, it's so sweet how much she enjoy spending
time with Malai ( their names are a bit difficult to remember haha).
Aizen does not have to be that rude, but I have watched a lot of K dramas which has these characteristic people in them, and they usually soften
as time goes.
Oh man! I sure enjoyed reading all of your comments y'all! (Mainly because I know what happens... )
I love that y'all are enjoying the story so much and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy it even if/when I throw in some unexpected twists. I always have a reason for everything that happens in my stories But anyhoo!
Qipaos look great (I just did a Google search )! It was a brave gift to a girl you've never met before though - I hope the size is correct . Great idea to wear it for the Christmas dinner .
^I would've Google searched it too if I was reading the story. I almost wrote in to have Malai say, "I guess my mom told Mami my dress size" but for some reason (I forget) I decided not to. Now I'm wondering if I should've left it in. But yeah, Nin most likely gave Mami Malai's dress size.
Sounds like you and Malai think very similarly sometimes.
Ooooh, I like that picture of Aizen in his towel even though he's being so grumpy .
^I'm glad. I do too... Woooooo!
Confession: After I took that picture I exclaimed, "Hot DA'MN!" It couldn't be helped. I'm glad hubby and daughter weren't around when I did.
Hmm, things are not going too well for Malai and Aizen now, are they. No one likes a new acquaintance criticizing their parenting . Ouch!
^So true...
Thanks! I got the cookies on the tray from TSR. It's one of Simcredible's creations if I recall.
I'm glad you liked Kai and Malai's romantic moment and hot kiss. I loved taking the pictures for that. 💖
I'm glad Aizen took Malai's apology so well... But it's sad he doesn't want Malai to spend more time with Amaya. I think it's understandable that he doesn't want his daughter to get disappointed again by losing someone who's become important to her, but it's sad nevertheless. His daughter needs nice and kind adults around her even if they are not all there to stay. And well, Malai just might be there to stay, you never know .
^It is sad...and I agree with you. (In italics). It seems Aizen still has some healing to do. But will Malai see a better side of him before she goes back home? (Sorry to tease. )
Thanks. I like that ending picture too. I can't thank Bee enough for all her super-ultra-extreme-awesome-amazing poses!!!
@KevinL5275 I like that you searched up what a Qipao looks like as well. Some out there are absolutely gorgeous!! (And I think you will very much enjoy seeing Malai in it. )
Does Aizen's tattoo say something specific, or is it just a tribal design? I think I see the word "love" on his forearm but can't read the upper arm.
^No. It's not any words. I don't know much about tattoos, but I think it is some kind of cool design or like you said maybe something tribal. Now that you mention seeing the word "Love" on there though, I can't UNSEE it!
Yeah, divorce is way too common anymore these days... I think it's due to our society becoming more and more selfish, but anyway... I wish all the best for your sister and niece. 💜
And I can hear my niece's voice whining when I read about Amaya.
^Lol!
Geez, WTH is Aizen's problem now? Where are you going with him, I wonder?
^Guess you shall see... 💜
And yes, you did guess correctly about Amaya's background. Here's a cookie for you.
(what? kissing is censored?)
I guess S*S together means some crude slang. Who knows anymore... This world is crazy!
There are 9 Chapters.
@Ninja-Dan22 Oh hey, you're over here this time. Welcome!
I assume Aizen doesn't want Amaya to think of Malai as her new mum
^So it would seem. So the question is...what's his issue with Malai if she's so sweet? Especially to his daughter. You would think he'd admire that, or even, be turned on by it. Silly guy.
I look forward to revealing more to y'all.
I wonder if she will end up going back to new york after all, since it seems she's already re-evaluating her life so far
Aizen does not have to be that rude, but I have watched a lot of K dramas which has these characteristic people in them, and they usually soften as time goes.
^
We'll see if that is the case with Aizen.
Thanks girl. I can't wait to share more!
This was a fun chapter to write. (With lots of pictures. ) Especially the ending scene with Malai and her parents.
Enjoy everyone! Chapter 5
Christmas dinner at my parent’s home started right at 4pm. Mami set and decorated the two tables exquisitely. Dad tidied up the kitchen during all the cooking, washing the dishes mom finished using. Mom was doing the traditional Christmas Day feast: honey glazed ham with mashed potatoes and pork gravy, sautéed fresh green beans, and buttered rolls on the side. And of course we had pies…lots of pies. It smelled divine! Made my stomach growl in longing the moment I got home to take a nap. I did ask the two mothers if they needed my help with anything first to which they kindly assured me that everything was good. I was honestly relieved. I didn’t feel like doing much at the moment anyway.
I’ll admit I had a little trouble drifting into a nap after that horrible exchange between me and Aizen; what he said still very fresh in my mind. Eventually I crashed after deciding to hum my favorite Christmas song, Carol of the Bells, to take my mind off it.
I was awoken by the sound of my mom’s voice, telling me that dinner would be ready in a half hour. I sat up slowly, thankful my headache was gone, but the ache in my soul was not. Ugh! Let it go already! I commanded myself. I was NOT going to allow Aizen’s ornery behavior to ruin the remainder of Christmas day, or the lovely dinner we invited his family to. I took my thoughts back to Kai, sweet, sexy Kai - especially back to our amazing first kiss on the porch - and that’s where my thoughts would stay.
I leapt from the bed and got dressed in the beautiful qipao the Yamamotos gifted me. Then I stepped into the bathroom to touch up my makeup and fix my hair.
“Malai, dinner!” The call soon came.
I quietly emerged from the darkness of the hallway and once everyone could see me, I heard a few light gasps.
Kai even stood from his chair in awe, his eyes and smile beaming, as he unhesitatingly declared, “You look beautiful!”
I smiled brightly at him with blushed cheeks.
“Merry Christmas Mr. and Mrs. Yamamoto,” I addressed, hands clasped together below my waist. “Thank you for this truly lovely gift. I will cherish it forever.”
“Oh…,” Mami voiced for a moment, holding her hand to her mouth with glistening eyes. Her reaction spoke louder than the words she couldn’t utter.
Hoshi then stood up, giving me the most respectful bow. “We are humbled by your gesture, dear Malai. You are welcome.”
Mami nodded.
I bowed to him in return, as well as to her.
“She looks more than beautiful Uncle Kai,” Amaya piped in, “she looks gorgeous! Don’t you think so too, daddy?” Ugh, did she have to ask him that? I thought.
Aizen actually didn’t have any problem looking at me now. “Yeah,” came his soft reply, then he shifted his gaze downward at his hands, fiddling with them a bit. Did I detect a hint of sincerity in his voice?
I stepped over to the empty seat waiting for me (my dad pulled it out for me like a gentleman), which was conveniently right across from Kai. That was a nice surprise.
“Malai,” Ryu addressed before I sat down, gesturing towards the woman standing next to him, “I’d like to introduce you to Tara Ambrose, my girlfriend.”
“Oh my gosh, hey!” I greeted, reaching over the table to shake her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.” She was a pretty, freckled faced red-head with short hair that fell just above her shoulders and had the most striking green eyes I’d ever seen.
“You too,” Tara said in return, sitting herself down. “Ryu told me so many nice things about you on the drive over.”
Ryu winked at me from the side as he sat himself down too.
“Oh,” I smiled. Whenever people say that it always makes me feel uncomfortable, and I never really know what to say in response. “Well…I…hope to make a good impression.”
“I’m sure you will,” Tara assured with a smile.
I finally sat down so we could eat.
I don’t remember a whole lot from Christmas dinner - compared to Christmas Eve dinner - but the main thing I remembered was all the happy voices surrounding me, beautifully ringing in my ears, and once again feeling like we were all one, big happy family.
Kai and I couldn’t keep our eyes off each other, flashing flirty smirks often.
We actually played “footsie” underneath the table, kicked our shoes off and everything. I know, it’s totally silly and child-like, but we were enjoying it. I just love the excitement of a brand new relationship.
Ryu and Tara were adorable together, one always having an arm around the other, except when they were eating of course.
I learned that Tara was pursuing a degree in Biology, with plans to become a Marine Biologist. “I’ve always loved everything about the ocean since my parents first took me to one as a toddler,” she told me. “I hope to one day discover a new organism in its deep, dark, and mysterious depths. That would be a dream come true!”
I thought that was awesome and wished her well in her endeavors.
Sometimes I could feel Aizen’s eyes on me and every time I glanced back at him, he would immediately look away, like a puppy that got caught doing something wrong. I really didn’t understand him…Because I was under the impression that he disliked me. So in that regard I didn’t really care for him checking me out. Unless…he was feeling sorry? I sure hoped so.
Amaya actually asked my dad if she could switch seats with him so that she could sit by me. It was cute. I felt honored that she enjoyed being around me so much, as opposed to her father. I wondered just how bad it bothered Aizen that she wanted to sit by me rather than him. But honestly, I didn’t really care. Amaya was my new little friend - who extended the hand of friendship to me first - and I wasn’t just going to cut her out of my life and crush her little heart for the sake of her dad’s issues. Whatever they were.
When dessert was served, Amaya and I took turns taking a bite out of a piece from every single one of the pies to try. You should’ve seen how messy her face got! Ultimately she declared her favorite pie out of them all to be the chocolate pie and…while that was a close second in my book, blueberry pie will always hold the number one place in my pie loving heart.
After dinner we all helped with the clean-up and then conversed for a long while in the living room. Amidst all the many different conversations, there was a lot of flirting going on between me and Kai - we had a hard time suppressing it. I mean, we did kiss after all. I was beginning to feel like this interest in each other could really lead to something great. Everyone clearly took notice of our affections, the two mothers especially looking happy about it. Same with my dad and Hoshi. Smirks were flying all around between the four. It kind of made me wonder…
At around 9:30 pm a lot of goodbyes were exchanged, and some hugs, as our lovely, big Christmas get together came to a close. I honestly had to hold back some tears, especially when saying goodbye to Ryu. I wasn’t sure when - or if - I would ever see him again. The future is always so unpredictable. But I had hope in my heart that I would.
He and Tara were heading back to college the next morning, mostly because Tara had to get back to work. She was such a kind girl with a very open and humorous personality like Ryu. They were a great match. It wouldn’t surprise me if they got married someday.
A very tired Amaya gave me a tight hug on her and Aizen’s way out, Aizen standing just a couple of feet behind her as she did so.
“Goodnight Malai,” she wished with a yawn.
“Goodnight to you too sweet girl. Sleep tight,” I wished as well before we broke our embrace.
“You’re not leaving tomorrow too are you?” she asked with a frown.
My heart melted. I shot a quick glance up at Aizen and then back at her. “I’m…actually not sure when I’ll be leaving yet,” I answered, just then remembering that I agreed to go on a date with Kai tomorrow night when the original plan was to go back home. I suppressed a sigh. I gotta call Landon again before bed and inform him about the change in plans… I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about my boss being a je’rk about that sort of thing.
“So you’re not leaving tomorrow?” Amaya asked with hope in her eyes.
“No, not tomorrow.” I smiled.
“Yay! So it’s goodnight for now, not goodbye.”
I chuckled. “Yes. Goodnight.” We gave each other another quick hug and then I stood and met eyes with Aizen again. We held each other’s gaze for a fleeting moment.
“Bye,” I whispered to him as I stepped aside and allowed them to leave. I don’t know why “Bye” came out instead of “Goodnight,” but it just did.
Aizen nodded his head to me, expressionless, as he passed by. I couldn’t tell if that was because he was glad or…not. Either way, I wasn’t dwelling on it. I grabbed a shall to throw around myself as I stepped out onto the porch behind him. Kai was out there - along with his parents - saying goodnight to my parents.
The two of us waited for both of our parents to disappear into their houses before we kissed each other goodnight again. It was a much hotter kiss than our last one.
Little did we know that Aizen caught the tail end of our long, affectionate goodbye through the living room window of the Yamamoto home.
And apparently there was little exchange that happened between him and Kai once Kai finally returned to the house.
❄❄❄
“Oh,” Kai stopped in surprise at the sight of his brother once he stepped inside. “You startled me.” And closed the front door.
“Enjoying yourself out there?” Aizen asked with folded arms.
Kai pursed his lips for a moment. It didn’t take a genius to know what his brother was referring to. He slipped his hands into his pockets and replied, “You were watching us?”
“Not watching, just happened to take notice.”
Kai acknowledged the response with a slight nod of his head. “I hadn’t planned on kissing her right away it just…happened. There’s a real attraction there.”
Aizen gave just about the same casual acknowledgement to Kai’s reply. “You sure you want to be rushing into a relationship like this? When you’ve only known her for what, two days?”
Kai paused, holding his breath and his brother’s gaze, choosing his words carefully. “Aizen…I’ve always appreciated you looking out for me, but with all due respect,” he paused, treading lightly while still being frank, “are you really the one that should be counseling me on this sort of thing?”
Aizen’s face hardened at the comment.
“I know what I’m doing.”
The eldest brother lowered his head, greatly wanting to spit something back at his younger brother, but…couldn’t. He knew Kai had always been a better man than himself. And much more wise in his decisions. After expressing a disgruntled sigh he raised his head and asked, “What about when she goes back to New York, huh? What then?”
Kai shrugged. “I dunno. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But I don’t want to worry about that right now. I just want to enjoy the remaining time that I have with her.”
Arms still folded, Aizen shifted his gaze and shook his head in dismissal.
But it annoyed Kai, to the point that he wasn't finished. “She’s wonderful Aizen,” he fervently expressed, stepping right up to his brother's face, “and you need to quit treating her like cr’ap. She’s been nothing but kind to you, and Amaya, and I’m sick of seeing you give her the cold shoulder anyway. You’re a better man than this, I know you are, and it’s high time you got over yourself. And the past. Goodnight,” he ended while ascending the stairs. It was harsh, but if anyone needed some tough love right now it was Aizen.
Especially from the brother he was closest to.
❄❄❄
“Kai kissed me!” I squealed to Landon on the phone, while telling him all about Christmas day in my bedroom.
He about gasped in surprise. “Wow! Uh…that was fast.”
“I know…and it’s so unlike me, or him, to kiss a person this soon after first meeting, but,” I dreamily paused, “the moment he touched my cheek, it was so…electrifying!” For lack of a better word. “And he’s so, so hot!”
“Uh huh.”
“Our hearts were burning with desire and we just couldn’t hold it back. The kiss felt SO good!” Then I started to gleefully pace. “Oh Landon…I haven’t felt this way about a guy in years!”
Not since him actually…
“That’s…great Mai. I’m happy for you.” It wasn’t said in the most enthusiastic tone, I noticed, but nonetheless I continued.
“And we’re going on our first date tomorrow night!”
“Tomorrow night?” he curiously asked. “I thought you’d be flying back here tomorrow. So you make it back on time for work.”
Normally in years past that had always been the case, but this Christmas had been different. Gloriously so. “Yeah, uh, about that…,” I paused, biting at my nail a little.
“I was thinking…I might stick around here for a few more days,” I informed. “Possibly until New Years.”
Landon didn't say anything, just continued to listen.
“I have to see where all this is going with Kai,” I said in a tone of great desire. “And we need more time together to truly find out. And…see if it’s a relationship worth doing long distance.” I had no doubt it would be.
“I understand,” Landon finally spoke. “Where does he live again?”
“Montreal.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“Yeah…” It was a little hard to accept myself. “So, is it alright if I finally take some paid time off?”
“Well,” he sighed, “you’ve completed all the design templates for January's magazine so…I don’t see why not. I’ll mark you down as coming back to work after New Years.”
“Thank you Landon,” I deeply expressed. “You really are the bestest friend ever. And boss.”
“So are you…,” he softly said.
I chuckled.
"Well," he sighed, “I think I'm gonna turn in early tonight. It was a long day.”
“Oh. Ok,” I kindly accepted, just as I was about to ask him how his Christmas went, but I got the feeling he wasn't in the mood to talk about it. Most likely it was just stressful work related stuff anyway. He'd fill me in later. “Well I hope you get a good night's rest and…I’ll talk to you later, alright?”
“Alright. Goodnight Mai.”
“Goodnight. Love you."
"...Love you too."
Just as I began plugging in my phone to turn in for the night myself, my mother and father - mainly my mother - burst into my bedroom.
“You kissed Kai!?” my mother squealed with delight, her Thai accent really coming out.
My mouth dropped at the question. They were listening in on my conversation with Landon!? Regardless, I couldn’t help grinning and answering, “Yes.”
“Ooooh how wonderful!” She clapped.
“Guess the plan worked,” dad mumbled through a smile from behind her.
But I heard it. My jaw lowered and my eyes widened, giving both a piercing gaze. “What plan?”
My mom elbowed my dad; slightly.
“Hey!” he groaned.
“What plan!?” I repeated louder. They had me freaking out.
“It’s ok,” my mother consoled with her hands, “it’s not what you think. It’s not bad.”
“Then enlighten me!”
Mom stepped closer, hands clasped before her chest and twiddling her fingers, clearly trying to figure out how to explain it in the best, most understandable way possible. “As I’ve gotten to know and love Mami over the past few weeks," she began, "we discovered that we both have the same, longing desire for our children.”
“That we get married,” I ascertained while bobbing my head with a slight eye-roll.
“Well…yes.”
“Mom!” I spat out in annoyance.
“I know, I know,” she waved off, continuing. “So we thought that if our two families spent Christmas together you could meet her sons, and they could meet you, and hopefully some sparks would fly between you and one of them and…,” she smiled with her hands spread apart, “you two would fall in love…”
As cute and cliché as that sounded, I still shook my head at her. It was a brilliant plan - one they played and executed very well actually - and I wasn’t entirely complaining about it, but all I could do at the moment was fold my arms tightly and express a loud sigh. I should’ve known…the moment I realized they weren’t asking me about my love life, like they always did. I sighed again.
“We’re sorry honey,” my mother lovingly expressed while taking my hand. “We weren’t meaning to trick or deceive you.”
“It was arranged only with the best of intentions,” my dad added.
“I know,” I said with sincerity. “But please tell me Kai, Aizen, and Ryu don’t know about the plan either!”
“NO!” my parents replied at the same time, shaking their heads. “Not at all,” my mother ended with. “The plan would not have worked properly that way.” She winked.
I still wasn’t amused. “Ok, well it’s going to stay that way until further notice!” I commanded, slapping a hand to my rapidly beating heart.
They nodded.
“Because I really like Kai…and he likes me.” I smiled. “And I wanna explore the idea of ‘us’ more. Which is why,” I breathed in, “I’ve decided to stay here until New Years, since Kai is as well.”
My mother squealed with excitement again, throwing her arms around me in a hug. Dad then enveloped the two of us in his arms. “We’re so glad you’ve decided to stay,” he said over the tops of our heads.
“Yes, always,” mother concurred while breaking our embrace, still wearing the same bright smile. “I really hope all goes well with you and Kai.”
“I know you do mom…”
She nodded with a chuckle.
“Well, goodnight honey,” my dad wished while gently escorting mom out with him. “Sleep well.”
“You guys too.”
“Malai?” My mother turned, apparently having one more thing to say.
“Kai is a wonderful man and a lovely choice, but…I must admit I was kinda hoping you’d find favor with Aizen. He pretty too.”
I really rolled my eyes at that.
“Then that way you’d live here in town with us and our grandbabies would be close and–”
“MOM!”
“Ok, sorry, sorry. You’re right.” She waved in dismissal. “I stop talking now and let you sleep. Goodnight.”
Dad and I shook our heads at each other in regards to mom’s antics and then he whispered, “Love you honey,” before closing the door behind him.
“Love you too daddy,” I said in return before it was fully shut.
AIZEN!? I cried out in my mind as I slipped into bed. Seriously mom? Are you freaking kidding me!? Now, if he was even half as sweet as his daughter, maybe, but yeah, no. I dismissed any more thoughts related to that quickly as I sharply pulled the covers up to my neck.
What a day, I blissfully thought as I closed my eyes and let my head sink into my pillow. And I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.
My future awaits.
❄❄❄
*Chapter 6 will be released on Dec 17th. (My eldest sister's birthday. 🎉 )*
Oh wow, you weren't kidding when you said Malai looked gorgeous in her dress. I like how you posed the shots from behind first, so the reader didn't get to see it.
And I'm going to say "hubba hubba" for Tara too.
Too funny about them playing footsie under the table. It's little details like this that make your stories so awesome.
More doom and gloom from Aizen? I gotta know his story, please hurry up with that part, ok?
I'm a 48 year old married man, with a beautiful wife, a cat, and a simverted personality.My Sims 3 Pictures
I feel like Malai running into things so quickly with Kai might not end well, but maybe I'm just saying that cos I like Aizen more lol Even if he is very grumpy!
That is a beautiful dress indeed , and Malai's hairdo looks great too.
I wonder if Aizen feels a tiny bit bad about having been rude to Malai before... He looks like that looking down on the table.
Tara is adorable.
Aww, I love the picture of the romantic kiss .
Aizen is acting strange. It's none of his business what his brother is doing with his love life.
Kai is right defending Malai to Aizen. Aizen is not acting reasonable at all.
I guess Landon's Christmas has been a lonely one . Poor guy.
The picture of Malai on the phone, touching her lip with her finger, when she's telling Landon that she's not coming back yet, is so cute .
Malai's mom prefers Aizen? Interesting. I don't think she should have told it to her daughter though, since Malai already picked Kai... Is she hoping she'll change her mind?
Looking forward to seeing how their date goes .
This was a great update!
the dress Malai got for Christmas is gorgeous, it fit her so well.
Oh, arranged I understand she got upset, but her parents just want her to be happy.
Lovely kiss photo!
Amaya is such a cute little girl
Ryu and Tara look adorable together.
Oh my goodness! I thought I replied to y'all already. (I was coming on here to get ready to release Chapter 6 and I'm glad I double checked to see if I made comments first. )
Oh wow, you weren't kidding when you said Malai looked gorgeous in her dress. I like how you posed the shots from behind first, so the reader didn't get to see it.
And I'm going to say "hubba hubba" for Tara too.
Too funny about them playing footsie under the table. It's little details like this that make your stories so awesome.
^Aww, thank you for every one of these compliments, especially the last one. 💜
Hee hee, guess Ryu is a lucky guy eh? I really should've expected you'd think Tara is hot, I have no clue how that escaped my mind. 🥴 I'll get her to you eventually. Might be after Christmas until I do. Thanks for being patient with me. 💜
Yep, Aizen's still being a stinker, but I'll get to his story eventually. I think you're really going to enjoy Chapter 6 in that regard.
I feel like Malai running into things so quickly with Kai might not end well, but maybe I'm just saying that cos I like Aizen more lol Even if he is very grumpy!
^Lol! Guess we'll see.
I love that you like Aizen so much.
@meerkattime Thanks. I found Malai's dress on an old simmers site (via the wayback machine) that had all sorts of Asian clothing, accessories, and items. I snagged them while I could! If you'd like the dress, let me know.
I wonder if Aizen feels a tiny bit bad about having been rude to Malai before... He looks like that looking down on the table.
^He may just have been.
I enjoyed taking the perfect picture of Malai and Kai kissing there. Such a beautiful, wintery backdrop.
Yeah, Aizen is definitely a "mystery wrapped up inside an enigma." Sure his brother's love life is not his business, but I know my brother's sure liked to inquire much about the other's love life.
Kai is right defending Malai to Aizen. Aizen is not acting reasonable at all.
^I enjoyed writing that part.
I guess Landon's Christmas has been a lonely one . Poor guy.
^It sure seems like it...
Malai's mom prefers Aizen? Interesting. I don't think she should have told it to her daughter though, since Malai already picked Kai... Is she hoping she'll change her mind?
^Probably! She wants close grandbabies! That's probably the real reason. Or not... 🤷♀️
Thanks for the sweet comments as always.
@Silverofdreams30 Thanks for the compliment on Malai's dress. I'm so glad I found one that's so pretty. (Cause I almost had to use an EA one. )
Oh, arranged I understand she got upset, but her parents just want her to be happy.
^Yeah, they really do. And combining their family together with the Yamamotos is a lovely plus.
Thank you.
🎄 ***Chapter 6 coming later this afternoon!***
Thanks for reading (again) everyone. I love reading your reactions!
The next morning, I accompanied my mom to Bangor on her post Christmas day shopping; to make returns if need be, hit up sales, buy things with gifted gift cards or money, that kind of thing. Normally my sister always went with her, it was their tradition, but since she wasn’t here this particular year I decided to go in her place. And I was happy to. Sure it was an hour’s drive to and from Bangor and traffic was a bit nuts, but I found it to be a very nice bonding time with my mom. Of course we talked a lot about the Yamamotos. I’d never seen my mom so excited about a friendship like the one she developed with Mami, and I was so happy for her. Kai and I texted on and off throughout all the shopping.
When we got home around 2:30pm, I had to hurry and get myself ready for my date with Kai at 5. I know what you’re thinking, that’s more than enough time to get ready for a date, but you know how it is with a FIRST date! And I know I didn’t have to make too much of a good impression since we already kissed, but I still wanted to look my best.
I had just finished getting ready (around 4:40) when I got a text from Kai: Hey. Sorry, I’m going to be a little late picking you up. Emergency call again… That’s ok, I texted him back. It’s a hard time of year for a lot of people. Yes it is. Thanks for understanding. 🤗 I’ll pick you up as soon as I’m done with the call. Or, you can meet me here if you want?Either way is fine with me.
I knew I was going to get super antsy waiting at home for him to arrive so I texted back that I would meet him there. I’m sure Amaya will keep me company I added.
I texted Landon earlier about getting ready for the date and my excitement about an hour prior and…he hadn’t texted me back. Guess he’s busy, I thought with a shrug. Not that I particularly needed his well wishes for the date, but it would’ve been nice to hear. And it’s hard not to worry about people when you’re so used to hearing back from them within 5 to 10 minutes of your text. First world problems, right?
Hoshi answered the door and bowed his head to me like he often did before welcoming me inside. As he retreated to the living room and informed whoever was in there that I had arrived, Amaya came running out into the foyer to greet me. “Malai! You’re here! Yay!”
“Yep.” I smiled.
“So you’re going on a date with Uncle Kai?” she coyly asked after our hug, hands clasped behind her back and digging her toe into the wood floor.
“Yep,” I answered again, only this time with a blushed smile.
“You gonna kiss?”
“Amaya…,” Aizen gently intervened, emerging from the living room as well. “What did we talk about when it comes to manners?”
“Sorry, I–”
“She’s ok,” I assured them both. “Amaya is my little buddy so it’s ok for buddies to ask each other those kinds of questions.” I winked.
Amaya’s face beamed, while Aizen’s looked unamused. I really wasn’t meaning to undermine or disrespect his parental authority.
“So are you gonna?” Amaya excitedly asked.
“...We’ll see,” is what I chose to say, especially with Aizen present.
“Ok! Oh yeah, I made something today and I wanna show it to you. Be right back!” And she raced up the stairs.
I chuckled as she disappeared then met eyes with Aizen again. His expression was blank; as usual.
“Well hello to you too Aizen,” I teased to ease the tension a little. Maybe a little playfulness would help loosen him up a bit.
“Hey,” he simply said, leaning his shoulder against the banister.
“You’re giving me that look again...”
“What look?” he asked, perplexed.
“Like…,” I bobbed my head, “I did something wrong or…something is wrong with me in general.” I was actually surprised I said it.
His eyes darted down to the floor, taken off guard of course, and then brushed the bangs away from his eyes. “No, uh…there’s nothing wrong with you, really, I just,” he paused, standing up straight and drawing in a breath, struggling to meet my gaze now. Clearly struggling to speak as well which I found…odd. “I just tend to…space out sometimes.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, getting the feeling he wanted to say more, but was holding it back for some reason. “Ok,” I simply acknowledged.
He scratched at the back of his head with indecision as Amaya came rushing down the stairs waving a paper. “Here’s what I wanted to show you,” she addressed to me. We sat down in the nearest chair to look at it together.
“I drew a picture of all of us at Christmas dinner together. Here’s you, me, daddy, Uncle Kai, and…”
I gasped in awe, truly amazed by her artwork at such a young age. I recognized everyone’s faces instantly without her having to point them out. “This is amazing Amaya,” I expressed, putting my arm around her. “You’re a natural artist! I was never able to draw this well when I was your age.”
She giggled in shyness as I gave her a little squeeze.
“I think someday you could become a graphic designer for a magazine, like me.”
“Really!? I’d love that!”
I looked up and noticed Aizen smiling at us, but it faded slightly once he recognized that I was the one staring at him now. It was hard not to stare when the man actually smiled. It made him look so much better.
“I want you to have it,” Amaya said, handing the paper to me.
I held my hand to my heart. “Oh Amaya, I couldn’t–”
“Please? I made it just for you.”
Gosh she sure knew how to hit me in the soft spot. I smiled and took it gladly. “Well thank you. I’ll hang it up in my office back home. That’s the perfect place for it.”
“Hee hee!”
“Hey,” Kai greeted, coming down the stairs. I stood from the couch at his presence, my heart fluttering. I quickly folded Amaya’s picture and tucked it into my purse. “Sorry again about the wait,” he expressed while approaching me and lightly kissing my cheek. “You look beautiful as always,” he complimented.
Aizen looked uncomfortable behind us at the gesture. I wasn't sure why…
“Come Amaya,” he beckoned to his daughter towards the living room.
“Ok. Bye Malai and Uncle Kai! Have a nice date!” Amaya sweetly wished.
“Thanks kiddo,” Kai said in return with a smile. “See ya Aizen,” he nodded in departure, opening the door for me. I nodded to Aizen as well.
“See ya…,” I barely heard Aizen utter as we stepped out the door.
❄❄❄
Kai took me to the fanciest restaurant in town: Delicieux Bistro. I was surprised it was still open with how expensive it’s always been, especially after the global pandemic and how it affected the economy. They sure decked it out for the Holidays. It was beautiful.
Kai and I talked about anything and everything over dinner. We laughed about things that were humorous and things we revealed about each other that we didn’t expect.
I swear there is nothing horrible or unappealing about Kai. He’s kind, thoughtful, smart, sincere, handsome, a perfect gentleman, the whole package.
I kept expecting to find at least one thing I’d dislike about him and…there just wasn’t. Why can’t Aizen be more like his brother, I found myself asking a couple of times. Guess I couldn’t help thinking it, because I could sure point out many things I disliked about Aizen as opposed to anything good about him, which I couldn’t identify very well. No thanks to his behavior.
When it came time for dessert we both found out that we prefer ordering plain cheesecake over any other dessert on the menu, no matter how delicious the other options might sound. Cheesecake is da bomb! (Yes, I totally said it like that.)
It was the best time I had on a date in a long time!
As much as we would’ve loved to take a long walk on the beach, preferably barefoot, after dinner, it was winter so…indoors it was. And neither of us minded that. We cuddled on the couch in front of a Christmas movie. (At my house - less people around.)
The movie was quickly forgotten though as our intimate desires got the better of us, exchanging many many kisses and caressing each other’s bodies a little bit, but not taking it too far. My parents were sleeping in the next room after all.
Kai was very respectful of me. Another thing that added to his wonderfulness.
At bedtime I checked my phone for any missed calls or texts. Landon finally texted me back saying:
Sorry I didn’t respond right away Mai, something came up. In fact, I’ll be leaving New York for a little bit. It’s nothing serious so don’t worry. I’ll fill you in later. Love you.
“Oh good!” I whispered in relief. I was just glad to hear he was ok. And of course that whatever was making him leave the city wasn’t serious. Still…I was pretty darn curious about it. I was very much looking forward to his “filling in” call later. Whenever that would be.
❄❄❄
The next day - despite the high being around 15 degrees (F) - my parents and I and the Yamamotos decided to play a lax version of touch football out at the beach beside my parent’s house. It was a sunny day and we all desired a little fresh air after being indoors for so many days in a row, even if it was freezing outside. Naturally we all bundled up and my dad brought the portable fire pit to keep warm by and to roast marshmallows to make s’mores with! Yum! Amaya was especially excited about that.
I was never the best at touch football, in fact I was getting “clobbered” often by Kai and his dad. I blamed the uneven sand beneath my feet.
At one point, I had the ball and was about to make one glorious touchdown...
...when quite unexpectedly Aizen came out of nowhere and snagged the ball from my grasp, but I barely gripped it in time to keep him from taking it completely. A drastic tug of war ensued between us.
“Let go of the ball!” he demanded.
“No, YOU let go!” I glared.
“Cheater!”
“I’M the cheater!? You’re supposed to touch me in order to get the ball, not grab it!”
“That’s not how we’ve always played.”
“Well that’s how MY family has always played!”
“Give it!”
“No!”
We groaned and grunted for a good two minutes while trying to rip the ball from the other’s death grip. I don’t know why, but all my inner frustrations towards the man came flooding out in my tone and behavior and I could clearly tell his were doing the same. It wasn’t intentional, just unavoidable. The others watched us with wide eyes from the sidelines, unsure of what to do or if they should even try to intervene. I was about ready to just give up the ball and be the bigger person, but in that split second of weakness, Aizen ripped it from my grasp which made me lose my footing and fall flat on my butt. “Ow!” I hissed. Sand is not as soft as it looks.
Kai and Amaya raced to my side, Kai kneeling before me, both asking if I was alright. As I nodded, Kai looked up at his brother and said, “Geez Aizen, lighten up.”
Amaya then whipped towards her dad and sharply asked, “Why are you always so mean to Malai daddy!?”
“No Amaya,” I hushed, placing my hand on her arm. “It’s ok. Really.” I wish she hadn’t said it… but I couldn’t blame her for saying it either.
In that moment, Aizen’s arms lowered, as well as his expression, guilt and sorrow projecting in his eyes. I could feel it too.
Trying to hold back the pri'ckle of intense emotions due to the verbal sucker punch his daughter just gave him, Aizen dropped the ball onto the sand and walked away. It made me feel awful…mostly because I felt guilty too.
As Kai helped me up onto my feet, I watched as Aizen headed towards the water, stopping right at the edge of the beach, and gazed out towards the horizon. He shook his head with that same guilt and sorrow I saw earlier and my heart sank. It was the first time I realized that…he didn’t hate me.
And the truth is...I didn’t hate him.
“I guess now would be a good time to make s’mores,” Hoshi suggested. And that’s exactly what we did.
While roasting my marshmallow I watched as Mami went over and joined her eldest son at the edge of the beach, calmly chatting with him while affectionately rubbing at his back. I could see some opposition in Aizen’s eyes as he spoke to her in return, but it had to be due to all the inner pain he was always carrying. And Mami seemed to know just how to handle it. I wish I knew what she had said to him.
Soon Mami came back to join us at the firepit and for the life of me, I could not stop looking over at Aizen. Maybe because I was afraid he’d unhesitatingly walk right into the freezing water and disappear, the very moment I looked away. I just couldn’t…
I quickly made up a s’more, rose to my feet, and told Kai I would be right back.
Carefully, I approached Aizen, the sound of the sand below my feet giving away my presence. He took one side glance at me, then looked right back out at the water again.
I inched closer, holding out the s’more - half wrapped in a napkin - to him. “I thought you might like one of these,” I said. It might've been a little peace offering.
Aizen gave me a side glance again, a hint of a smile forming, as he took it from me. “Thanks,” he said.
Pressing my lips together, but still smiling, I nodded, and turned on my heel to join the others out of respect for his wanting to be alone.
“Wait…”
I immediately turned.
“I’m…I’m sorry,” he expressed with a look of sincerity I’d never seen on his face before. “Not just for stealing the ball, but…for everything. It was never anything about you…it’s all me.”
And what about you exactly? I wanted so desperately to ask, but with an appreciative smile I said, “Thank you. I really appreciate that.” I stepped closer.
He nodded. “Despite how it may seem, I’m not a complete je’rk.”
“Complete?” I playfully asked.
There was his rare smile! “As in I don’t intend to be a je’rk, I just…don’t realize, or even recognize, I’m being one sometimes. It's complicated.”
I lightly shrugged. He's had a rough past. I get it. “It’s ok. It happens to all of us.”
He seemed to appreciate that response and dug at the sand with the tip of his shoe, debating within himself it seemed. I waited patiently for him to speak again.
“I just get really cautious when a new woman comes into Amaya’s life,” he timidly admitted. “Normally they aren’t very nice to her, or are fake towards her, when she expects so much from them…” He lowered his head sorrowfully. “But I know you’re not that way with her.” Then he looked back up at me. “You’re sincere with her. And for that…I thank you. Deeply.”
Wow.
This was more than I was expecting from him and it made my heart swell with joy. “You’re welcome,” I said through a beaming expression.
“She’s a sweet girl Aizen; and a really good kid! I’m sorry the other women in your life couldn’t see that…You’ve raised her well in this hard world.”
He huffed slightly in objection. “I have my parents to thank for most of that.” He lowered his head again. “It’s just been really hard since…” Since your wife died. “Aizen, you don’t have to explain,” I kindly interrupted. “I understand.”
He raised his head with a somewhat questionable expression on his face, like how I would even know the situation, but he shrugged it off.
“What matters is now,” I continued, inching a little closer. “And what you’re doing to make a good life for you and Amaya. It seems like you’re doing pretty well in that department.”
He smiled at me with gratitude. I could get used to seeing more smiles on his face.
“So,” I changed the subject, gazing out at the ocean with him, “You gonna build the perfect house for you and Amaya someday?”
“Maybe,” he sighed. “When she’s older and can be home by herself. My job can be pretty demanding at times so…she still needs someone to be at home with her until then.”
I nodded. How hard it must’ve been hitting his pride all these years to have to rely on his aging parents to raise his daughter for him. And it’s not like he wasn’t trying to find another companion apparently; those were totally the women he was alluding to earlier. It broke my heart.
“Hey,” Kai addressed from behind us. We turned. “Everything ok?” He was mainly asking me.
Shooting a quick glance at Aizen, I smiled and replied. “Yep. Everything is fine. We're just enjoying the view.”
Aizen nodded to Kai in agreement.
“Great!” Kai happily exclaimed, taking the two of us into a hug. “Gosh I’m so glad you two worked things out.” We all were.
From that time forward, things were good between me and Aizen.
❄❄❄
That afternoon, about an hour before dinner, the doorbell rang.
Naturally I hurried to answer it, thinking it to be Kai. When I swung the door open and saw who it was though, my jaw dropped in a stunned surprise.
“Landon!? W-What are you doing here? I thought you were out of town?”
“I am,” he answered solemnly. “Here. I had to see you…”
My heart started pounding. There was something very different about his demeanor and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I prayed nothing was terribly wrong.
“Can we talk?” he asked. “Over at our special place?”
A smile worked its way across my lips. I’d almost forgotten about that place. “Sure.”
❄❄❄
When Landon and I dated back in the day, we got tired of constantly getting interrupted by our friends and parents during our alone time so we set out to find our own place to talk, cuddle, and make-out where no one would ever find us. It was a flat little area in the cove, situated inside the marsh grasses, that somehow never got wet. It provided just enough cover - well, if you were on the ground together. Oh the memories…
Later Landon made a bench in shop class to put there, after we broke up actually. I figured he was taking his male companions out there for the same solitude, which kind of bothered me at the time, but I’m over it now.
“It’s still here,” Landon marveled, as we approached the said bench. “Doesn’t look a day old.” We both brushed the snow off of it before sitting ourselves down.
There was only a moment of the strange and mysterious silence until I couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Landon, what’s wrong? What’s so important that you had to fly all the way out here to see me?”
He rested his arm on the back of the bench behind me and swallowed.
“Are the Magazine Execs pis’sed at me for taking so much time off? Because if they are–”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” he hushed. “I just…I just really needed to see you.” Ok? “Landon…you always see me. You couldn’t wait a few more days? Save the cost of a roundtrip ticket? I mean we could’ve FaceTimed–”
“No,” he whispered. “No we couldn’t…Not with this.”
My heart pounded again, especially with the way he was looking at me. He hadn’t given me that look since the last time we were here together and I suddenly felt short of breath. “What is it?” I nervously asked.
Landon shifted his weight and rested his hands on his lap before answering. “I don’t mean to alarm you Mai, like I said it’s nothing too serious, it’s just…I’m feeling really conflicted and lost right now,” his voice choked, “and I need to talk to my best friend about it. In person.”
I finally found my breath and nodded, placing my hand on his lap as well. “Tell me.”
He lowered his head, clearly trying to hold back much emotion. “Remember that date I told you about, before you flew out?”
“Yeah. The one with…Justin? Right?”
“Yeah. We had a decent first date so we decided to spend Christmas day together. Well,” he swallowed again, "that day didn't end very well at all. Turns out he was only hitting me up because of how rich I am…” Then he sighed. "I kind of got that vibe on our first date I just...didn't want to believe it. But it was way more apparent on the second date so..."
My face fell. All the while thinking, Gosh, not again. “Oh Landon,” I sympathized while caressing his leg, “I’m really sorry…” I shook my head. “I don’t understand what it is with these guys…”
“Me neither…”
“Because you are such a great catch! And I don’t say that lightly or because you’re my best friend. You're a wonderful guy, Landon.”
“I guess…”
His disbelieving response made me feel all the more sad. “You are,” I assured, “it’s their loss. Besides, you don’t want to invest too much time into a relationship where the other person doesn’t truly appreciate you anyway. The right one is always still out there.”
He nodded, his head still lowered. “I know. And you’re right. It just," he somewhat hesitated, "seems like every relationship I’ve had since you Mai has gone terribly wrong. Never sticking.” Then he looked me in the eye. “And I can’t help wondering...if there’s a reason for that…”
Now I gulped, because the feeling in the air changed right back to where it was originally and my heart started pounding again. I had this deep, pit in my stomach feeling that maybe--
“When you told me you kissed Kai and decided that you wanted to stick around here to see where it might go,” he began with a tremble in his voice and in his hands, “it - it produced all these feelings within me that I haven’t felt in years. Feelings that I thought were long lost. And it terrifies me.” His tearful gaze was so piercing that it tugged at my every emotion, and my tears. “It terrifies me because I suddenly started to question everything about myself,” he continued, his voice choking, "and my sexual preferences. I began to wonder if I’d just been kidding myself pursuing men all these years, when none of those relationships have worked out and maybe that’s because…” His eyes bored into me again, with such deep affection, “there’s still feelings there for you Mai. And I think...I think I’m still in love with you.”
My heart screeched to halt.
“You’re the one person in my life who’s always been there for me. Never let me down. Always accepted me for exactly who I am and loves me, for who I am. Well, aside from my mom. No one else, Mai. It feels like it was such a mistake letting you go.”
Still in shock, I closed my eyes, making the tears escape. Hating this moment, but…at the same time...
“Landon,” I whispered, opening my wet eyes. “I really wish I could’ve heard this from you years ago. So why do you have to say it to me now?” I sniffed. “Of all times?”
“Mai,” he stopped to take my hand, “I - I just couldn’t let you go into the arms of the man who could very well be your future without telling you how I feel.”
I understood, but couldn't help saying, “Well it’s too late!”
“No…,” he softly corrected, lifting my chin and leaning in, coaxing me with his breath.
“Yes it is…,” I whispered, just before his lips touched mine. I tried not to kiss him back, I really did. But…
You know how in the movies when something super wonderful happens and then it gets terribly interrupted by something else that rings in that ever familiar record scratch sound? Well, I swear I heard that sound in the middle of mine and Landon's kiss and…I think he heard it too…
Because that kiss didn’t feel good - or right - at all. And suddenly things felt horribly, horribly awkward between us, like some massive realization set in. I can’t even adequately describe it. It was just, sad to say, bad.
Landon lowered his head while a slight grimace took hold of my mouth. “Wow,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Well that wasn’t as earth shattering as I was expecting it to be…” The color had practically drained from his face.
“Yeeeeah,” I kinda hated to admit for his sake, but…
“Guess we really are just friends aren't we? Who love each other like friends...,” he ended with a head shake. “Gosh I feel like such an idiot!” he belted through a depressed sigh, burying his face into the palms of his hands.
“No,” I consoled, putting my arm around him and pressing my cheek against the top of his head. “You’re not Landon. You’re just heartbroken…and that causes all of us to feel lost and confused. Not knowing what to believe anymore. It’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of. I’m just sorry I can't make it all better for you.”
“It’s ok Mai…”
I still felt bad though.
“I think," he spoke after a couple of minutes of silence while composing himself, "I need to do some soul searching for a while. Put dating on hold and take some time to just focus on myself."
“Yeah,” I agreed, caressing his back. “I think that’s a great idea. Definitely take some time for yourself and figure things out. I know you will. You'll get through this. And no matter what, I’ll still always be here for you Landon,” I sniffed, getting emotional again. “And I’ll always support you in everything you do.”
“I’ve never felt anything less from you,” he said with a sniff also.
I smiled.
“Thank you Mai. I needed this. And I really do love you...friend,” he chuckled a little.
I did as well. “I love you too buddy. Best friends forever.”
I walked with Landon to his childhood home and it was nice to see his mother again. She asked if I'd join them for dinner and I accepted. I called my mom to let her know where I was at, and then I texted Kai informing him that I was hanging out with a friend (cause he asked me in a text where I had “mysteriously disappeared" to. It was cute.) The three of us had a wonderful time catching up over dinner and then I bid them both goodbye around 8pm. Landon was flying back to New York in the morning. The job required it.
Was I going to tell Kai about Landon kissing me? No. It wasn’t necessary; literally nothing. I was just helping out a dear friend through an emotional crisis and for Landon’s privacy, I wasn’t going to bring it up. Unless the situation called for it. And if that situation ever came, I knew Kai would be understanding about it. Because he’s a therapist, and he’s wonderful.
Malai looks so great that I'm quite sure she wouldn't have needed even 5 minutes to be ready for a date . But I like the mirror.
Hmm, I'm worried about Landon too. He didn't sound happy the previous day .
Gorgeous Aizen . And he's being almost friendly this time. I see even Malai sees his charm now .
But there is Kai. The bistro looks great! I hope their food is nice too and there is more than one spoonful per plate like in those expensive restaurants sometimes . The pictures of them sitting at the corner table are so pretty! I love the wintry view from the place.
I wish those "kind, thoughtful, smart, sincere, handsome, perfect gentlemen" were more common than they are .
I do wonder why Malai keeps comparing Kai so much with Aizen though... She's having a perfect date, and she's thinking about the date's brother .
Malai's winter outfit is very cute.
Haha, well, it's better make sure you play by the same rules before you start playing. Oh dear, that game didn't end well...
Ok, this looks much better. Aizen apologized! I didn't know "sorry" was a part of his vocabulary .
Well, he cares and worries about his daughter. Understandable. As a daughter of a single dad I think I know quite well these ladies in a father's life who basically wish the man in their life didn't have kids at all and are therefore not genuinely nice to those kids either...
I'm glad they had a good talk about it , and that they are fine with each other now.
Landon?! What on earth is he doing there?? Does he regret them breaking up? And right now when Malai just met Kai?
Poor Landon, for having a broken heart again. I feel sad for him.
I think I was right... What are you going to tell her, Landon??
***reading on***
Yeah .
Well, well... Another beautiful kiss in the wintry outdoors... But I guess Mai was right, and it's too late .
Well, that was awkward and I feel even worse for Landon now .
Fortunately the evening still went fine and Landon and Malai are still friends .
Oooo honestly Kai having no flaws at all is a bit of a red flag, like he's hiding something Landon's sexuality crisis is so real, it's hard to distinguish platonic and romantic feelings sometimes. And of course I'm curious to see where things go with Aizen If he doesn't end up with Malai, maybe he can have Landon LOL
finally, read this amazing chapter!
You are great at writing drama, though it was not a whole lot I enjoyed it
you take the reader with you in the story.
Good of Aizen to say sorry for how he has been treating her.
Gorgeous Aizen . And he's being almost friendly this time. I see even Malai sees his charm now .
But there is Kai. The bistro looks great! I hope their food is nice too and there is more than one spoonful per plate like in those expensive restaurants sometimes . The pictures of them sitting at the corner table are so pretty! I love the wintry view from the place.
Yep. Hee hee. Thank you. It was a lot of fun decorating the Bistro.
I wish those "kind, thoughtful, smart, sincere, handsome, perfect gentlemen" were more common than they are .
^Right? I feel like I got that last one. (He still has those qualities and makes me happy even after 16 years together. ) But yeah, that's exactly the kind of guy Kai is. He's not hiding anything.
Ok, this looks much better. Aizen apologized! I didn't know "sorry" was a part of his vocabulary .
^Lol, yep. Seems there's some good in him after all.
Well, he cares and worries about his daughter. Understandable. As a daughter of a single dad I think I know quite well these ladies in a father's life who basically wish the man in their life didn't have kids at all and are therefore not genuinely nice to those kids either...
^Awww...yeah. It's really sad. I can sense that your dad loved you just as much.
People don't realize how much of a blessing children really are. I won't deny that it can be stressful raising them (oh boy let me tell you ), and they can be annoying at times , and there's many days where you feel like you're failing them as a parent, and maybe they'd be better off without you, but...they are truly a blessing and make you a better person in more ways than you realize. Anyway, sorry about that.
Sounds like you knew exactly what was going to go down when Landon showed up. But don't worry, he'll be ok.
Oooo honestly Kai having no flaws at all is a bit of a red flag, like he's hiding something
^Nope. He's not hiding anything. That's just how he genuinely is. How my husband was - and is - the first time we met.
Yes, sexuality crisis is very real...and I wanted to illustrate that it's normal to have those kinds of feelings and not to be afraid of them or express them. (Though I know many times it's easier said than done...)
And of course I'm curious to see where things go with Aizen If he doesn't end up with Malai, maybe he can have Landon LOL
^LOL!! Well I will say this: That's not going to happen. But thanks for the laugh.
Hrrmmmm.... The Aizen plot thickens. Glad to see he opened up a bit more. I don't want to see him with Landon though. He doesn't seem that type.
^No worries, you won't. And yes I think Aizen's personality would very much conflict with Landons.
Yes, Kai seems too good to be true. Would emorrill do that to us?
^Perhaps. But in this case...in this story...No. Kai is just really that great of a guy. Sincerely.
Good for Amaya for standing up to her dad.
^Hee hee, that kinda felt good for me to add in. 🙃 Made it hit the feels all the more...
Thanks for the compliment on the sparkly top. I'm not the best when it comes to fashion and at that moment in time the purple/maroon pants were speaking to me - and Malai!
The next couple of days, Kai and I spent as much time as we could together. We did some shopping together, hit up the annual Winter Festival, played some video games - Mario Kart in particular - at his house, and went out to dinner both nights. Of course any chance we got to kiss in private, we did. My parents were so pleased with our relationship that they didn’t bother us at all which…kinda surprised me. My sister even called me to ask how things were going with my new “boyfriend,” since mom was clearly telling her ALL about it when I wasn’t around. Kai and I hadn’t officially announced ourselves as boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but it was sure heading in that direction. I wanted it to head in that direction. We did, however, live in two different cities, darn near 500 miles apart from each other so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the conversation on how we were going to make that work, but I knew we would. Things were going really well between us.
Kai only had one emergency call interrupt our time together which wasn’t bad. It’s just something I was going to have to get used to if we decided to make a life together.
Also during that time, I spent some time with Amaya (which often included Aizen. Construction work was slow around the holidays.) We drew pictures together and I gave her some free graphic design tips. Mami then asked Amaya to help with some of the housecleaning - particularly pointing out her bedroom - so we decided to come up with a fun way to get it cleaned up. Any interactions I had with Aizen were generally pleasant, a very nice change from every moment I had with him before. If I didn’t know any better I would think he was feeling…happier. If I had any part to play in that, I was glad.
During the hour that Kai had to take the emergency call I previously mentioned, I emerged from the bathroom and into the kitchen to find Amaya begging her dad to do some video game karaoke with her. I hid a little behind the archway into the living room and listened.
It was clearly obvious to me, by the look on Aizen’s face, that he really didn’t want to do it - or sing for that matter. But I was very proud of him for finally acceding to her begging.
As they looked through the song choices, most sounded completely foreign to Aizen, until he gasped at one of them and exclaimed, “Oh wow. They have the Foo Fighters music on here!?”
“Who’re they?” Amaya asked with a scrunched nose.
Aizen’s mouth flat-lined. “Amaya, you never cease to make me feel old…”
I chuckled.
“I don’t want to sing that one…,” Amaya groaned at her dad’s song choice.
“Amaya please,” Aizen asked, picking up the other microphone, “just allow me this.”
“Umm…ok,” the girl curiously consented and stepped back to watch.
Aizen positioned himself with the microphone, just before the music started to play.
“Everlong.” An iconic Foo Fighters song. I hadn’t heard it in years. Aizen had his eyes closed as he soaked in the familiar intro, gripping the microphone with both hands, just below his lips, like a professional singer.
As soon as the beat picked up, he bobbed his head back and forth to it, eyes still closed and bangs flopping all around. I won’t lie…it was kinda hot. And when he started to sing, with a little huskiness in it, I might’ve rubbed at my collarbone a little bit. He was good! Fully immersing himself into the music, allowing it to take him back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was taking me back too.
Just before the chorus, I motioned for Amaya to bring me the other microphone - while Aizen was distracted. Once the chorus came around, I ran into the room and started singing it right along with him. He turned in surprise at me, stopping his singing of course because his mouth had fallen, clearly impressed that I knew the song and pleasurably listened. I loved it. His jaw soon rose back up and his lips formed into a smile as he joined in the rest of the chorus with me.
It was so much fun! I started dancing to the music and he danced a little too; both of us unable to stop grinning at each other the entire time. I could see Amaya’s bright expression from the corner of the room. The whole experience was truly…invigorating. A step back in time for sure.
When the song ended, Amaya rapidly clapped and cheered as Aizen and I caught our breaths.
“Thank you,” he whispered to me.
"For what?" I asked him with a questionable look.
“...I needed that. More than I realized.”
I smiled. “You’re welcome. That was really fun!”
“You all having fun out here?” Kai asked, emerging from the den where he took the call. “It sounded great!”
I dunno why Aizen and I fumbled with the microphones in our hands when he walked in, like we got caught doing something bad.
“I know that song…what is it again?” Kai asked.
“'Everlong,'” Aizen answered. “By the Foo Fighters.”
“Oh, right!” Then his brow furrowed in thought. “Wait, who are the Foo Fighters again?”
I answered before Aizen did. “Dave Grohl, the drummer from Nirvana, formed his own band…”
Aizen bounced his eyebrows at me, impressed again.
“That’s right, that’s right,” Kai exclaimed, kicking himself for not remembering, apparently. “Gosh I haven’t heard their music in forever. Excuse me for a sec, I need to get a drink.”
Upon Kai’s exit, Aizen leaned towards my ear and asked, “Guess you’re familiar with Nirvana too?”
I had to play with him in my response. “Not really, they were a little before my time. Although…,” I leaned in slightly towards his ear as well, “...your singing back there sure looked and smelled a lot like teen spirit to me…,” I ended with a smirk, throwing up a hand gesture and spinning on my heel to join Kai in the kitchen.
I didn’t catch Aizen’s reaction to that, but I imagine it was one that involved his hands on his hips, head shaking, and giving off another impressed smile. Hee hee!
Thank you big brother for your impressive collection of music that I always had the pleasure of listening to growing up.
❄❄❄
The next morning, Kai called to inform me that he had to attend an all day work related Zoom conference, much to his chagrin. It was so sweet how bad he felt about not being able to see me until evening. I assured him that it was fine, even though I was equally disappointed. Our time together during this Christmas break was running out.
“I’m sure my parents and I can find something to do to pass the time,” I told him with a smile.
“You’re so great,” he said in return. It made my heart swell and my cheeks blush. “Have fun with them, and I’ll call you as soon as the conference is done.”
“Thanks. And you have fun too.”
“Always,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
It made me chuckle.
After the call my parents practically ambushed me in the hallway asking all these questions about my relationship with Kai and where it was going and what our plans were for after the break. (Talk about the third degree!) I guess they couldn’t contain themselves any longer.
It was all a bit…overwhelming to say the least. Especially since Kai and I hadn’t really talked about it yet.
In the middle of my stumbling replies the doorbell rang and my immediate thought was, Oh thank GOSH!
“I’ll get it!” I very happily offered and raced on over to the door. I had to catch my breath for a second before opening it.
“Oh. Hey Amaya,” I greeted. Aizen stood off to the side behind her, flashing me a smile.
“Hey Malai!” The girl bounced. “Are you busy today?”
Uhh… I shot a glance at my parents and they just shrugged. “Not really. What’s up?”
“Daddy and I are gonna go to the Winter Festival since it’s going away soon and…I was wondering if you wanted to come too?”
Aizen and I met eyes again. “Sorry about this,” he apologized for them both. “I told her not to bother you because you’d already gone with Kai, but…she was insistent.”
I grinned, understanding fully. That’s Amaya. I looked back down at her with my hands on my knees and asked, “Well did you ask your daddy’s permission first because I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your daddy-daughter date.”
Aizen smiled.
“We went earlier together, before Christmas, and now I wanna go again,” she paused, while taking my hand, “with you.” Her eyes sparkled.
Aww! My heart melted. I couldn’t help holding my hand to it. Aizen’s smile at me was even brighter than before. It seemed he was ok with me tagging along. I clasped my other hand over Amaya’s and said, “Well in that case, I’d love to go with you.”
“Yay!”
“I just gotta get bundled up first.”
"Ok!"
❄❄❄
It was a little warmer outside on this day, 21 degrees (F). I know a lot of you wouldn’t consider that warm, but here in Maine when you’re usually getting single digits or below zero temps in the winter, 21 is warm.
I always loved the annual Winter Festival in Maplewood Falls. It didn’t have all the activities you would expect from a big city Festival, but it had the best ones, with that special added touch of small town hospitality. It’s a tradition to go every winter in our family, even though I’d skipped out on going the past few Christmases. I just wasn’t feeling it and wanted to get back to New York. But this year, as I said before, was different. Magical. Lovely.
I could certainly say the same about our time at the Festival, the moment the three of us stepped foot on the grounds. Amaya held my hand tightly and kept pulling me every which way towards each activity with glee. (It’s like she’d forgotten all about her dad.) Oh how sometimes I wish I could be as happy and carefree as a child again.
The first thing she wanted to do was face painting - well, after we made some epic snow angels on the most perfect spot of untouched snow.
Face painting was always the first thing I wanted to do as a child at the festival too. Aizen kindly declined. That didn’t surprise me. Most guys don’t care to get their face painted.
Amaya got some stars painted on her face...
...while I went with a snowflake design.
After that the three of us went ice skating.
Amaya was a little pro at it! She showed off a few spins for me and while they were a little rough, she still had the makings of a professional ice skater within her and looked adorable doing it.
Aizen kept whipping past me as we skated around and around the rink, like it was a race or something, giving off this smug grin every single time. If it had been possible to form a snowball on the rink I would’ve done so promptly so I could nail him in the face to smack off that smug grin the next time he passed me! I chuckled at the thought.
At one point, we both held Amaya’s hands and swung her forwards and backwards in between us, giggles of pure joy coming out of her through puffs of visible breath. It took some serious skill to not slip and fall while doing that, for if one of us did, the other two would come crashing down as well.
After that we got some hot cocoa from the concession stand to warm up and sipped on it as we watched a few folks do some snowboarding. I remember watching the townsfolk build that giant half pipe. I was younger than Amaya at the time. Snowboarding seems like such a thing of the past now, but I love that they’ve kept it as a traditional Winter Festival activity in Maplewood Falls.
“Daddy are you gonna snowboard again?” Amaya asked. “You gotta show Malai!”
“Of course,” he replied, meeting my gaze with that smug grin of his again. I’m not sure why he kept doing that. Was he trying to impress me or something or was he...flirting with me?
“Wait til you see him, Malai. He’s awesome!”
“Oh I’m looking forward to it,” I said through a smirky grin at Aizen. If he happened to biff it out there, I was going to laugh so hard, but of course I wouldn’t if he broke a bone or anything. Heaven forbid.
Aizen was amazing at snowboarding. Better than Landon actually, who was one of the town pros, but I could never tell Landon that.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him...and the fluid way he performed every move...
Mainly because I wanted to be at the ready in case he made a nasty crash landing, okay. The last thing I’d ever want is for something bad to happen to Amaya’s daddy. She needs her daddy. Every girl does. Especially when their mommy is gone…
Of course Aizen walked off the half pipe unscathed, reigning supreme. He held out the board to me and breathlessly said, “Alright. Your turn.”
“No thank you,” I politely declined with a raised palm. “One crash landing that almost broke my ankle has kept me away from snowboarding for life.”
“Oh,” he said with a grimace.
“Yeah…but I do enjoy watching others do it. You were pretty good out there, I must admit." I smirked. "I’m glad I didn’t have to call an ambulance on you…”
Was he blushing? Nah, I think his cheeks were just rosy from the cold and exertion.
“Let’s have a snowball fight!” Amaya suggested. They had an area made up specifically for it, with painted concrete half walls to hide behind and everything.
“I dunno sweetie, the teams would be uneven,” I said to her, kinda hoping that it would get her to reconsider. I was cold.
“That’s ok! It will be us girls against daddy!” She grinned.
I looked back at Aizen and he shrugged. “I’m game.”
I just shook my head and sighed. “Alright. I guess we can ‘fight’ for a little bit.”
“Yay!” Amaya squealed, running over to the area.
Before joining her, Aizen stepped right up to my face, standing tall, and declared with confidence, “I’m gonna take you two down.”
My mouth opened into a playful grin. “Careful, that other person is your daughter…”
“She’s used to it.”
I held back a chuckle, holding my game face. “Well how do you know I’m not the best snowballer in New York City?”
“You’re not.”
“Oh!” I huffed, still smiling. “Well I’ll show you, Mr. Know-it-all.”
“No you won’t,” he threw back with a smirk and went over to join Amaya.
I just shook my head as he did so thinking, Stinker!
Gosh he was being so playful today. A complete 180 from the gruff and grumpy guy I met on Christmas Eve. But I sure as heck wasn’t complaining. Not at all. I was rather liking it. I knew a better person resided within him somewhere and it was back. I hoped it was here to stay. I expressed a happy and relieved breath as I ran over to join him and Amaya.
Aizen’s snowballs sure packed a punch. He was much gentler in his tosses at Amaya, which was good. Although Amaya was going to town on him with her little snowballs. In fact, we both were!
I think he was taken off guard by how well we were pummeling him...
...because after a while he cried out, “Alright that’s it!” He stepped right over to me, swooped me up like I weighed nothing - I squealed in surprise when he did - and carried me over his shoulders. “I’m taking you out!”
“Amaya! Save me!” I playfully cried.
“You let her go daddy!” Amaya demanded, throwing even more snowballs at him with her motor-arm.
“Never!” he played back, rushing me back over to his attack area. “She’s mine now.”
“No fair! I can’t beat both of you!”
“Exactly!” He grinned, still carrying me, and swinging me around like his grand prize. (I had become a little dumbfounded by that point to say the least.)
It made Amaya all the more irritated.
Eventually, Aizen put me down. I think my kicking around so much, along with trying to dodge Amaya’s snowballs while carrying me, got to be too hard on him. I felt out of breath myself, mostly from laughing so hard.
I still couldn’t believe he picked me up like that…
Soon Amaya tackled her dad to the snowy ground and started shoveling snow onto his face. I loved all the happy and playful noises I heard coming out of them both. Like they were having the time of their life. It’d probably been a while since they both felt this happy.
The three of us decided it was time to grab a bite to eat so back to the concession area we went. Along the way, Amaya informed us that she needed to use the bathroom. So while we waited for her, Aizen and I looked up at the giant decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the Festival area, admiring its beauty.
“They’ve been lighting this same tree every year at the start of the Festival for as long as I can remember,” I told Aizen in a soft voice, snowflakes beginning to fall all around us. “There’s something so special about it. Like every other giant lighted tree I’ve encountered in my life has paled in comparison to it, even though they were so much bigger and more elegant, with hundreds more lights and decorations on them.” I shook my head with a sigh. “But they were never this tree…”
After a few seconds of silence, Aizen turned his gaze to me and simply said, “Some pieces of our hometown always stay with us. Reminding us of where we came from.”
I turned my head to meet his gaze and we exchanged warm smiles before looking back up at the tree.
Lost in the nostalgia, I shifted the foot I was putting my body weight on and I don’t know how exactly it happened, but there must’ve been some hidden sheet of ice underneath the snow because I ended up slipping and falling, instinctively grabbing the first thing I could to help break my fall. Aizen.
“Hey! What the!?” he cried as I squealed, “Ahh!”
There was a loud crunching sound in the snow as our bodies hit the ground. “Ow,” the two of us groaned, me flat on my back and Aizen on his stomach.
“What was that all about?” he asked, lifting his head and spitting out some snow from his mouth.
“I dunno! I was falling so I had to grab something!”
“Couldn’t you have grabbed something else!?”
“No! You were the closest thing nearby,” I laughed, relieved to hear he was laughing too.
I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping I hadn’t almost broken a bone (again) and at that same time, Aizen propped himself up onto his elbow getting ready to stand up. But instead he hovered over me a bit. My heart skipped a beat when I opened my eyes and found him so close, his hair draping over his eyes as he gazed down upon me.
The look on his face. It was similar to some of the looks Kai had been giving me recently. I could feel my cheeks heating up. And the funny thing was…I didn’t feel at all disturbed by his closeness. It felt kinda...nice.
“This is the funnest time out I’ve had in a long time,” he deeply expressed to me. “Thanks for joining us.”
I smiled and nodded in a, “you’re welcome,” fashion.
His expression then softened. “I’m happy for my brother. He’s a really lucky guy…snagging a catch like you.”
Surprised to hear such words, I thought, Wow, is this actually Aizen talking? My heart skipped a beat.
He slid forward a little more, to where I could feel his warm breath beating down upon my neck, still gazing deeply into my eyes. “Although right now,” he said barely above a whisper, “I’m kinda wishing…ever since that moment we first met…I hadn’t been so cautious about you. So…cold and so...closed off...”
My heart lurched while still holding his gaze, then it started pounding, forming perspiration on my brow. “What are you saying?” I asked him through a nervous breath.
Struggling to answer, he almost shook his head. But instead, he stroked my chin for a moment with his thumb, leaned in further and–
“Are you guys kissing!?” Amaya cried out with a gaping smile.
Both of our heads swung in her direction.
“No,” Aizen simply answered.
“Nothing happened,” I replied like a bumbling idiot.
We immediately stumbled up onto our feet and dusted the snow off ourselves while saying,
“I slipped and…”
“She pulled me down…”
“And he was just making sure I was ok…”
“I wanted to make sure she was ok…”
The smirk on Amaya’s face told me she wasn’t exactly buying our flubbed responses, but accepted them anyway.
“But yeah she’s fine,” Aizen concluded with, scratching at the back of his head, trying not to look at me too directly.
“Yes, thank you Aizen,” I acknowledged, heaving a sigh, then turned to Amaya while resting my hands on my knees. “So hey sweetie, I actually have to go…” My heart was still pounding and my emotions were reeling. I had to get the heck out of this place.
The poor little girl’s face fell, and I didn’t see that Aizen’s had as well.
“Why?” she sadly asked.
I hated to tell a white lie but, “There’s something important that I forgot I needed to do…”
“Oh, like check on Uncle Kai?”
Why did that question have to hurt so much? “Yeah." I swallowed. "That too…” Tears began to weigh on my eyelids.
“Ok…,” she accepted somberly, lowering her head.
“I’m really sorry,” I consoled with a choke in my voice. My hands were shaking and this giant weight on my chest was making it hard to breathe. Even my vision was blurring. “I’ll - I’ll see you two later,” I said in departure, not even looking at Aizen, and sprinted for home; forgetting that he drove all three of us over there.
What just happened? What is happening? This CAN’T be happening! I sobbed as I ran. The icy cold air freezing my escaped tears to my cheeks.
No. NO! I cried as I thought about poor, sweet Kai. I shouldn’t be having these feelings…No…
❄❄❄
???
A/N: I wanted to end this chapter with a song. It's not exactly a Christmas song, but more a wintery one. And so beautiful and fitting to the last scene. Listen and enjoy.
Also if you are unfamiliar with the Foo Fighters "Everlong" song, which I imagine most of you wouldn't be , here it is:
(If you're like me, you'll be singing along. )
*I'm not exactly sure which day I'll be releasing the next chapter, either the 22nd or the 23rd, depending on how much I'm able to get done first for Christmas in real life. 😜 Thank you as always for your patience.
“No you won’t,” he threw back with a smirk and went over to join Amaya.
I had to re-read this a couple times because I thought you meant Aizen went to join Amaya's side. Then it finally dawned on me that you meant he went to join Amaya at the snowball area. I'm dense sometimes.
And here comes the curve ball, I knew Kai was too quick and good to be true. Now we have the drama from Aizen, and Emily's great writing style makes the story more interesting.
Who is Malai going to pick now? She has quite a choice on her hands.
Also, are we going to see more of Tara?
LOL at her parent's giving her the third degree. And who DOESN'T know the Foo Fighters, come on??
Awesome poses and facial expressions as well. You make the game wonderful.
I'm a 48 year old married man, with a beautiful wife, a cat, and a simverted personality.My Sims 3 Pictures
I enjoyed this update, the karaoke shots are awesome, and I love it when my sims
use the karaoke machine.
the snow festival, they seemed to have a lot of fun, Aizen is good at snowboarding.
Hehe, at Amaya teasing them, it for sure almost looked like they were about to kiss!
I see Malai and Aizen are starting to get along very well. Lovely karaoke pictures. Aizen looks hot as always .
I guess Kai is not very much into music... I thought everyone remembers Foo Fighters and Nirvana!
Curious parents ! Good for Malai she got an excuse to escape all the questions .
That snowflake paint actually looks cute on Malai.
Lovely picture of all three ice skating together and holding hands... If I didn't know better, I could swear they are a family . I wonder if this story is going where I think it is...
And now I want hot cocoa .
Great snowboarding shots!
I must say Aizen's behavior has changed indeed... He's actually fun company.
I think this is going exactly where I thought, hehe. Malai's got two of the brothers around her finger now .
What a moment for Amaya to catch them, haha! I love how awkward they both look in that picture where they are explaining the situation to Amaya .
Drama! Looking forward to reading the next chapter
I had to re-read this a couple times because I thought you meant Aizen went to join Amaya's side. Then it finally dawned on me that you meant he went to join Amaya at the snowball area. I'm dense sometimes.
^Lol! Well I'm glad you figured it out.
And here comes the curve ball, I knew Kai was too quick and good to be true. Now we have the drama from Aizen, and Emily's great writing style makes the story more interesting.
^Thank you. 💜
Yes, Malai definitely has a choice to make doesn't she...
Cause threesomes don't happen in my stories!
Sorry to disappoint, but...we aren't seeing more of Tara.
And who DOESN'T know the Foo Fighters, come on??
^Older folks and those who don't listen to Rock. It's all good though. I didn't know much about them until I married my husband. He's a super fan!
But yeah, I could totally imagine Aizen being a Foo Fighters fan. And thinking about him rocking out to their songs with his hair flapping around... woo....
I really like their "Learn to Fly" song (especially the music video ) And one of their other, less popular songs that I like is "Dear Rosemary." I dunno why, I just love the tune.
(If you're curious and need a refresher ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtB-WY2fbhg
Awesome poses and facial expressions as well. You make the game wonderful.
^Aww, thank you again. 💜
@Ninja-Dan22 Your comment made me chuckle. I knew you would like Chapter 7.
@Silverofdreams30 Thank you. Malai kept making all sorts of weird faces during the Karaoke so that's why I didn't capture her face much. Or I would have. Aizen was killing it! And the adorable thing was, they sounded amazing together! I should've recorded it.
Hehe, at Amaya teasing them, it for sure almost looked like they were about to kiss!
I see Malai and Aizen are starting to get along very well. Lovely karaoke pictures. Aizen looks hot as always .
^So it would seem... And yes, oh my...they are so many times I'll be watching Aizen, or capture photos of him, and I'm like, "He's so dang fine, Mmmm!"
Like this one:
I guess Kai is not very much into music... I thought everyone remembers Foo Fighters and Nirvana!
^Guess he just got caught up in real life and maybe more modern music. I'm glad you remember them, along with some of the others reading, and got the references.
I thought the snowflake face paint looked adorable on Malai as well. For some reason that option isn't available to child sims. It kinda bummed me out.
Lovely picture of all three ice skating together and holding hands... If I didn't know better, I could swear they are a family .
^I love this so much. (Maybe I was thinking the same. )
Thank you.
I must say Aizen's behavior has changed indeed... He's actually fun company.
^Yep, he's a jokester.
What a moment for Amaya to catch them, haha! I love how awkward they both look in that picture where they are explaining the situation to Amaya .
^Hee hee, thanks. That took me a few takes to properly capture.
I'm excited to roll out the next chapter.
I just finished taking the photos in game for the ending of the story. (I know, talk about last minute. ) So the plan is to release Chapter 8 tomorrow (the 23rd) and then release the final chapter (9) on Christmas Eve. Cause I don't want to make y'all wait too long in between these two chapters. So stay tuned!
I'm getting so so excited to share the conclusion! I can't wait to read what y'all think of it!
Comments
Does Aizen's tattoo say something specific, or is it just a tribal design? I think I see the word "love" on his forearm but can't read the upper arm.
My sister and her daughter have to live with (our) parents too, since the divorce.
And I can hear my niece's voice whining when I read about Amaya.
Geez, WTH is Aizen's problem now? Where are you going with him, I wonder?
Looks like I guessed right on the lineage.
Woo!! Kai and Malai, sitting in a tree... K I 🐸🐸🐸🐸 I N G. LOL
How many chapters is this story going to be?
I can't wait for the next, and to see how you dress up Malai.
Really good update!, Amaya is a cutie, it's so sweet how much she enjoy spending
time with Malai ( their names are a bit difficult to remember haha).
Aizen does not have to be that rude, but I have watched a lot of K dramas which has these characteristic people in them, and they usually soften
as time goes.
Kai is a sweetheart, they are cute together.
Great job!
I love that y'all are enjoying the story so much and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy it even if/when I throw in some unexpected twists.
@meerkattime ^I would've Google searched it too if I was reading the story.
Sounds like you and Malai think very similarly sometimes.
Thanks! I got the cookies on the tray from TSR. It's one of Simcredible's creations if I recall.
I'm glad you liked Kai and Malai's romantic moment and hot kiss.
Thanks. I like that ending picture too.
@KevinL5275 I like that you searched up what a Qipao looks like as well.
Yeah, divorce is way too common anymore these days...
And yes, you did guess correctly about Amaya's background.
There are 9 Chapters.
@Ninja-Dan22 Oh hey, you're over here this time.
I look forward to revealing more to y'all.
@Silverofdreams30 ^Oh I understand.
We'll see if that is the case with Aizen.
Thanks girl.
Enjoy everyone!
Chapter 5
Christmas dinner at my parent’s home started right at 4pm. Mami set and decorated the two tables exquisitely. Dad tidied up the kitchen during all the cooking, washing the dishes mom finished using. Mom was doing the traditional Christmas Day feast: honey glazed ham with mashed potatoes and pork gravy, sautéed fresh green beans, and buttered rolls on the side. And of course we had pies…lots of pies. It smelled divine! Made my stomach growl in longing the moment I got home to take a nap. I did ask the two mothers if they needed my help with anything first to which they kindly assured me that everything was good. I was honestly relieved. I didn’t feel like doing much at the moment anyway.
I’ll admit I had a little trouble drifting into a nap after that horrible exchange between me and Aizen; what he said still very fresh in my mind. Eventually I crashed after deciding to hum my favorite Christmas song, Carol of the Bells, to take my mind off it.
I was awoken by the sound of my mom’s voice, telling me that dinner would be ready in a half hour. I sat up slowly, thankful my headache was gone, but the ache in my soul was not. Ugh! Let it go already! I commanded myself. I was NOT going to allow Aizen’s ornery behavior to ruin the remainder of Christmas day, or the lovely dinner we invited his family to. I took my thoughts back to Kai, sweet, sexy Kai - especially back to our amazing first kiss on the porch - and that’s where my thoughts would stay.
I leapt from the bed and got dressed in the beautiful qipao the Yamamotos gifted me. Then I stepped into the bathroom to touch up my makeup and fix my hair.
“Malai, dinner!” The call soon came.
I quietly emerged from the darkness of the hallway and once everyone could see me, I heard a few light gasps.
Kai even stood from his chair in awe, his eyes and smile beaming, as he unhesitatingly declared, “You look beautiful!”
I smiled brightly at him with blushed cheeks.
“Merry Christmas Mr. and Mrs. Yamamoto,” I addressed, hands clasped together below my waist. “Thank you for this truly lovely gift. I will cherish it forever.”
“Oh…,” Mami voiced for a moment, holding her hand to her mouth with glistening eyes. Her reaction spoke louder than the words she couldn’t utter.
Hoshi then stood up, giving me the most respectful bow. “We are humbled by your gesture, dear Malai. You are welcome.”
Mami nodded.
I bowed to him in return, as well as to her.
“She looks more than beautiful Uncle Kai,” Amaya piped in, “she looks gorgeous! Don’t you think so too, daddy?”
Ugh, did she have to ask him that? I thought.
Aizen actually didn’t have any problem looking at me now. “Yeah,” came his soft reply, then he shifted his gaze downward at his hands, fiddling with them a bit. Did I detect a hint of sincerity in his voice?
I stepped over to the empty seat waiting for me (my dad pulled it out for me like a gentleman), which was conveniently right across from Kai. That was a nice surprise.
“Malai,” Ryu addressed before I sat down, gesturing towards the woman standing next to him, “I’d like to introduce you to Tara Ambrose, my girlfriend.”
“Oh my gosh, hey!” I greeted, reaching over the table to shake her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.” She was a pretty, freckled faced red-head with short hair that fell just above her shoulders and had the most striking green eyes I’d ever seen.
“You too,” Tara said in return, sitting herself down. “Ryu told me so many nice things about you on the drive over.”
Ryu winked at me from the side as he sat himself down too.
“Oh,” I smiled. Whenever people say that it always makes me feel uncomfortable, and I never really know what to say in response. “Well…I…hope to make a good impression.”
“I’m sure you will,” Tara assured with a smile.
I finally sat down so we could eat.
I don’t remember a whole lot from Christmas dinner - compared to Christmas Eve dinner - but the main thing I remembered was all the happy voices surrounding me, beautifully ringing in my ears, and once again feeling like we were all one, big happy family.
Kai and I couldn’t keep our eyes off each other, flashing flirty smirks often.
We actually played “footsie” underneath the table, kicked our shoes off and everything. I know, it’s totally silly and child-like, but we were enjoying it. I just love the excitement of a brand new relationship.
Ryu and Tara were adorable together, one always having an arm around the other, except when they were eating of course.
I learned that Tara was pursuing a degree in Biology, with plans to become a Marine Biologist. “I’ve always loved everything about the ocean since my parents first took me to one as a toddler,” she told me. “I hope to one day discover a new organism in its deep, dark, and mysterious depths. That would be a dream come true!”
I thought that was awesome and wished her well in her endeavors.
Sometimes I could feel Aizen’s eyes on me and every time I glanced back at him, he would immediately look away, like a puppy that got caught doing something wrong. I really didn’t understand him…Because I was under the impression that he disliked me. So in that regard I didn’t really care for him checking me out. Unless…he was feeling sorry? I sure hoped so.
Amaya actually asked my dad if she could switch seats with him so that she could sit by me. It was cute. I felt honored that she enjoyed being around me so much, as opposed to her father. I wondered just how bad it bothered Aizen that she wanted to sit by me rather than him. But honestly, I didn’t really care. Amaya was my new little friend - who extended the hand of friendship to me first - and I wasn’t just going to cut her out of my life and crush her little heart for the sake of her dad’s issues. Whatever they were.
When dessert was served, Amaya and I took turns taking a bite out of a piece from every single one of the pies to try. You should’ve seen how messy her face got! Ultimately she declared her favorite pie out of them all to be the chocolate pie and…while that was a close second in my book, blueberry pie will always hold the number one place in my pie loving heart.
After dinner we all helped with the clean-up and then conversed for a long while in the living room. Amidst all the many different conversations, there was a lot of flirting going on between me and Kai - we had a hard time suppressing it. I mean, we did kiss after all. I was beginning to feel like this interest in each other could really lead to something great. Everyone clearly took notice of our affections, the two mothers especially looking happy about it. Same with my dad and Hoshi. Smirks were flying all around between the four. It kind of made me wonder…
At around 9:30 pm a lot of goodbyes were exchanged, and some hugs, as our lovely, big Christmas get together came to a close. I honestly had to hold back some tears, especially when saying goodbye to Ryu. I wasn’t sure when - or if - I would ever see him again. The future is always so unpredictable. But I had hope in my heart that I would.
He and Tara were heading back to college the next morning, mostly because Tara had to get back to work. She was such a kind girl with a very open and humorous personality like Ryu. They were a great match. It wouldn’t surprise me if they got married someday.
A very tired Amaya gave me a tight hug on her and Aizen’s way out, Aizen standing just a couple of feet behind her as she did so.
“Goodnight Malai,” she wished with a yawn.
“Goodnight to you too sweet girl. Sleep tight,” I wished as well before we broke our embrace.
“You’re not leaving tomorrow too are you?” she asked with a frown.
My heart melted. I shot a quick glance up at Aizen and then back at her. “I’m…actually not sure when I’ll be leaving yet,” I answered, just then remembering that I agreed to go on a date with Kai tomorrow night when the original plan was to go back home. I suppressed a sigh. I gotta call Landon again before bed and inform him about the change in plans… I’m glad I didn’t have to worry about my boss being a je’rk about that sort of thing.
“So you’re not leaving tomorrow?” Amaya asked with hope in her eyes.
“No, not tomorrow.” I smiled.
“Yay! So it’s goodnight for now, not goodbye.”
I chuckled. “Yes. Goodnight.” We gave each other another quick hug and then I stood and met eyes with Aizen again. We held each other’s gaze for a fleeting moment.
“Bye,” I whispered to him as I stepped aside and allowed them to leave. I don’t know why “Bye” came out instead of “Goodnight,” but it just did.
Aizen nodded his head to me, expressionless, as he passed by. I couldn’t tell if that was because he was glad or…not. Either way, I wasn’t dwelling on it. I grabbed a shall to throw around myself as I stepped out onto the porch behind him. Kai was out there - along with his parents - saying goodnight to my parents.
The two of us waited for both of our parents to disappear into their houses before we kissed each other goodnight again. It was a much hotter kiss than our last one.
Little did we know that Aizen caught the tail end of our long, affectionate goodbye through the living room window of the Yamamoto home.
And apparently there was little exchange that happened between him and Kai once Kai finally returned to the house.
“Oh,” Kai stopped in surprise at the sight of his brother once he stepped inside. “You startled me.” And closed the front door.
“Enjoying yourself out there?” Aizen asked with folded arms.
Kai pursed his lips for a moment. It didn’t take a genius to know what his brother was referring to. He slipped his hands into his pockets and replied, “You were watching us?”
“Not watching, just happened to take notice.”
Kai acknowledged the response with a slight nod of his head. “I hadn’t planned on kissing her right away it just…happened. There’s a real attraction there.”
Aizen gave just about the same casual acknowledgement to Kai’s reply. “You sure you want to be rushing into a relationship like this? When you’ve only known her for what, two days?”
Kai paused, holding his breath and his brother’s gaze, choosing his words carefully. “Aizen…I’ve always appreciated you looking out for me, but with all due respect,” he paused, treading lightly while still being frank, “are you really the one that should be counseling me on this sort of thing?”
Aizen’s face hardened at the comment.
“I know what I’m doing.”
The eldest brother lowered his head, greatly wanting to spit something back at his younger brother, but…couldn’t. He knew Kai had always been a better man than himself. And much more wise in his decisions. After expressing a disgruntled sigh he raised his head and asked, “What about when she goes back to New York, huh? What then?”
Kai shrugged. “I dunno. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But I don’t want to worry about that right now. I just want to enjoy the remaining time that I have with her.”
Arms still folded, Aizen shifted his gaze and shook his head in dismissal.
But it annoyed Kai, to the point that he wasn't finished. “She’s wonderful Aizen,” he fervently expressed, stepping right up to his brother's face, “and you need to quit treating her like cr’ap. She’s been nothing but kind to you, and Amaya, and I’m sick of seeing you give her the cold shoulder anyway. You’re a better man than this, I know you are, and it’s high time you got over yourself. And the past. Goodnight,” he ended while ascending the stairs. It was harsh, but if anyone needed some tough love right now it was Aizen.
Especially from the brother he was closest to.
“Kai kissed me!” I squealed to Landon on the phone, while telling him all about Christmas day in my bedroom.
He about gasped in surprise. “Wow! Uh…that was fast.”
“I know…and it’s so unlike me, or him, to kiss a person this soon after first meeting, but,” I dreamily paused, “the moment he touched my cheek, it was so…electrifying!” For lack of a better word. “And he’s so, so hot!”
“Uh huh.”
“Our hearts were burning with desire and we just couldn’t hold it back. The kiss felt SO good!” Then I started to gleefully pace. “Oh Landon…I haven’t felt this way about a guy in years!”
Not since him actually…
“That’s…great Mai. I’m happy for you.” It wasn’t said in the most enthusiastic tone, I noticed, but nonetheless I continued.
“And we’re going on our first date tomorrow night!”
“Tomorrow night?” he curiously asked. “I thought you’d be flying back here tomorrow. So you make it back on time for work.”
Normally in years past that had always been the case, but this Christmas had been different. Gloriously so. “Yeah, uh, about that…,” I paused, biting at my nail a little.
“I was thinking…I might stick around here for a few more days,” I informed. “Possibly until New Years.”
Landon didn't say anything, just continued to listen.
“I have to see where all this is going with Kai,” I said in a tone of great desire. “And we need more time together to truly find out. And…see if it’s a relationship worth doing long distance.” I had no doubt it would be.
“I understand,” Landon finally spoke. “Where does he live again?”
“Montreal.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“Yeah…” It was a little hard to accept myself. “So, is it alright if I finally take some paid time off?”
“Well,” he sighed, “you’ve completed all the design templates for January's magazine so…I don’t see why not. I’ll mark you down as coming back to work after New Years.”
“Thank you Landon,” I deeply expressed. “You really are the bestest friend ever. And boss.”
“So are you…,” he softly said.
I chuckled.
"Well," he sighed, “I think I'm gonna turn in early tonight. It was a long day.”
“Oh. Ok,” I kindly accepted, just as I was about to ask him how his Christmas went, but I got the feeling he wasn't in the mood to talk about it. Most likely it was just stressful work related stuff anyway. He'd fill me in later. “Well I hope you get a good night's rest and…I’ll talk to you later, alright?”
“Alright. Goodnight Mai.”
“Goodnight. Love you."
"...Love you too."
Just as I began plugging in my phone to turn in for the night myself, my mother and father - mainly my mother - burst into my bedroom.
“You kissed Kai!?” my mother squealed with delight, her Thai accent really coming out.
My mouth dropped at the question. They were listening in on my conversation with Landon!? Regardless, I couldn’t help grinning and answering, “Yes.”
“Ooooh how wonderful!” She clapped.
“Guess the plan worked,” dad mumbled through a smile from behind her.
But I heard it. My jaw lowered and my eyes widened, giving both a piercing gaze. “What plan?”
My mom elbowed my dad; slightly.
“Hey!” he groaned.
“What plan!?” I repeated louder. They had me freaking out.
“It’s ok,” my mother consoled with her hands, “it’s not what you think. It’s not bad.”
“Then enlighten me!”
Mom stepped closer, hands clasped before her chest and twiddling her fingers, clearly trying to figure out how to explain it in the best, most understandable way possible. “As I’ve gotten to know and love Mami over the past few weeks," she began, "we discovered that we both have the same, longing desire for our children.”
“That we get married,” I ascertained while bobbing my head with a slight eye-roll.
“Well…yes.”
“Mom!” I spat out in annoyance.
“I know, I know,” she waved off, continuing. “So we thought that if our two families spent Christmas together you could meet her sons, and they could meet you, and hopefully some sparks would fly between you and one of them and…,” she smiled with her hands spread apart, “you two would fall in love…”
As cute and cliché as that sounded, I still shook my head at her. It was a brilliant plan - one they played and executed very well actually - and I wasn’t entirely complaining about it, but all I could do at the moment was fold my arms tightly and express a loud sigh. I should’ve known…the moment I realized they weren’t asking me about my love life, like they always did. I sighed again.
“We’re sorry honey,” my mother lovingly expressed while taking my hand. “We weren’t meaning to trick or deceive you.”
“It was arranged only with the best of intentions,” my dad added.
“I know,” I said with sincerity. “But please tell me Kai, Aizen, and Ryu don’t know about the plan either!”
“NO!” my parents replied at the same time, shaking their heads. “Not at all,” my mother ended with. “The plan would not have worked properly that way.” She winked.
I still wasn’t amused. “Ok, well it’s going to stay that way until further notice!” I commanded, slapping a hand to my rapidly beating heart.
They nodded.
“Because I really like Kai…and he likes me.” I smiled. “And I wanna explore the idea of ‘us’ more. Which is why,” I breathed in, “I’ve decided to stay here until New Years, since Kai is as well.”
My mother squealed with excitement again, throwing her arms around me in a hug. Dad then enveloped the two of us in his arms. “We’re so glad you’ve decided to stay,” he said over the tops of our heads.
“Yes, always,” mother concurred while breaking our embrace, still wearing the same bright smile. “I really hope all goes well with you and Kai.”
“I know you do mom…”
She nodded with a chuckle.
“Well, goodnight honey,” my dad wished while gently escorting mom out with him. “Sleep well.”
“You guys too.”
“Malai?” My mother turned, apparently having one more thing to say.
“Kai is a wonderful man and a lovely choice, but…I must admit I was kinda hoping you’d find favor with Aizen. He pretty too.”
I really rolled my eyes at that.
“Then that way you’d live here in town with us and our grandbabies would be close and–”
“MOM!”
“Ok, sorry, sorry. You’re right.” She waved in dismissal. “I stop talking now and let you sleep. Goodnight.”
Dad and I shook our heads at each other in regards to mom’s antics and then he whispered, “Love you honey,” before closing the door behind him.
“Love you too daddy,” I said in return before it was fully shut.
AIZEN!? I cried out in my mind as I slipped into bed. Seriously mom? Are you freaking kidding me!? Now, if he was even half as sweet as his daughter, maybe, but yeah, no. I dismissed any more thoughts related to that quickly as I sharply pulled the covers up to my neck.
What a day, I blissfully thought as I closed my eyes and let my head sink into my pillow. And I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.
My future awaits.
*Chapter 6 will be released on Dec 17th. (My eldest sister's birthday. 🎉 )*
And I'm going to say "hubba hubba" for Tara too.
Too funny about them playing footsie under the table.
More doom and gloom from Aizen? I gotta know his story, please hurry up with that part, ok?
That is a beautiful dress indeed
I wonder if Aizen feels a tiny bit bad about having been rude to Malai before... He looks like that looking down on the table.
Tara is adorable.
Aww, I love the picture of the romantic kiss
Aizen is acting strange. It's none of his business what his brother is doing with his love life.
Kai is right defending Malai to Aizen. Aizen is not acting reasonable at all.
I guess Landon's Christmas has been a lonely one
The picture of Malai on the phone, touching her lip with her finger, when she's telling Landon that she's not coming back yet, is so cute
Malai's mom prefers Aizen? Interesting. I don't think she should have told it to her daughter though, since Malai already picked Kai... Is she hoping she'll change her mind?
Looking forward to seeing how their date goes
This was a great update!
the dress Malai got for Christmas is gorgeous, it fit her so well.
Oh, arranged I understand she got upset, but her parents just want her to be happy.
Lovely kiss photo!
Amaya is such a cute little girl
Ryu and Tara look adorable together.
Great job
@KevinL5275 ^Aww, thank you for every one of these compliments, especially the last one. 💜
Hee hee, guess Ryu is a lucky guy eh?
Yep, Aizen's still being a stinker, but I'll get to his story eventually. I think you're really going to enjoy Chapter 6 in that regard.
@Ninja-Dan22 ^Lol!
I love that you like Aizen so much.
@meerkattime Thanks.
I enjoyed taking the perfect picture of Malai and Kai kissing there.
Yeah, Aizen is definitely a "mystery wrapped up inside an enigma."
Thanks for the sweet comments as always.
@Silverofdreams30 Thanks for the compliment on Malai's dress.
Thank you.
🎄 ***Chapter 6 coming later this afternoon!***
Thanks for reading (again) everyone.
But it's all good! 👍🏻
Y'all ready for a twist?
I'll go back to getting the Chapter put together now.
The next morning, I accompanied my mom to Bangor on her post Christmas day shopping; to make returns if need be, hit up sales, buy things with gifted gift cards or money, that kind of thing. Normally my sister always went with her, it was their tradition, but since she wasn’t here this particular year I decided to go in her place. And I was happy to. Sure it was an hour’s drive to and from Bangor and traffic was a bit nuts, but I found it to be a very nice bonding time with my mom. Of course we talked a lot about the Yamamotos. I’d never seen my mom so excited about a friendship like the one she developed with Mami, and I was so happy for her. Kai and I texted on and off throughout all the shopping.
When we got home around 2:30pm, I had to hurry and get myself ready for my date with Kai at 5. I know what you’re thinking, that’s more than enough time to get ready for a date, but you know how it is with a FIRST date! And I know I didn’t have to make too much of a good impression since we already kissed, but I still wanted to look my best.
I had just finished getting ready (around 4:40) when I got a text from Kai:
Hey. Sorry, I’m going to be a little late picking you up. Emergency call again…
That’s ok, I texted him back. It’s a hard time of year for a lot of people.
Yes it is. Thanks for understanding. 🤗 I’ll pick you up as soon as I’m done with the call. Or, you can meet me here if you want?
I knew I was going to get super antsy waiting at home for him to arrive so I texted back that I would meet him there. I’m sure Amaya will keep me company
I texted Landon earlier about getting ready for the date and my excitement about an hour prior and…he hadn’t texted me back. Guess he’s busy, I thought with a shrug. Not that I particularly needed his well wishes for the date, but it would’ve been nice to hear. And it’s hard not to worry about people when you’re so used to hearing back from them within 5 to 10 minutes of your text. First world problems, right?
Hoshi answered the door and bowed his head to me like he often did before welcoming me inside. As he retreated to the living room and informed whoever was in there that I had arrived, Amaya came running out into the foyer to greet me. “Malai! You’re here! Yay!”
“Yep.” I smiled.
“So you’re going on a date with Uncle Kai?” she coyly asked after our hug, hands clasped behind her back and digging her toe into the wood floor.
“Yep,” I answered again, only this time with a blushed smile.
“You gonna kiss?”
“Amaya…,” Aizen gently intervened, emerging from the living room as well. “What did we talk about when it comes to manners?”
“Sorry, I–”
“She’s ok,” I assured them both. “Amaya is my little buddy so it’s ok for buddies to ask each other those kinds of questions.” I winked.
Amaya’s face beamed, while Aizen’s looked unamused. I really wasn’t meaning to undermine or disrespect his parental authority.
“So are you gonna?” Amaya excitedly asked.
“...We’ll see,” is what I chose to say, especially with Aizen present.
“Ok! Oh yeah, I made something today and I wanna show it to you. Be right back!” And she raced up the stairs.
I chuckled as she disappeared then met eyes with Aizen again. His expression was blank; as usual.
“Well hello to you too Aizen,” I teased to ease the tension a little. Maybe a little playfulness would help loosen him up a bit.
“Hey,” he simply said, leaning his shoulder against the banister.
“You’re giving me that look again...”
“What look?” he asked, perplexed.
“Like…,” I bobbed my head, “I did something wrong or…something is wrong with me in general.” I was actually surprised I said it.
His eyes darted down to the floor, taken off guard of course, and then brushed the bangs away from his eyes. “No, uh…there’s nothing wrong with you, really, I just,” he paused, standing up straight and drawing in a breath, struggling to meet my gaze now. Clearly struggling to speak as well which I found…odd. “I just tend to…space out sometimes.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, getting the feeling he wanted to say more, but was holding it back for some reason. “Ok,” I simply acknowledged.
He scratched at the back of his head with indecision as Amaya came rushing down the stairs waving a paper. “Here’s what I wanted to show you,” she addressed to me. We sat down in the nearest chair to look at it together.
“I drew a picture of all of us at Christmas dinner together. Here’s you, me, daddy, Uncle Kai, and…”
I gasped in awe, truly amazed by her artwork at such a young age. I recognized everyone’s faces instantly without her having to point them out. “This is amazing Amaya,” I expressed, putting my arm around her. “You’re a natural artist! I was never able to draw this well when I was your age.”
She giggled in shyness as I gave her a little squeeze.
“I think someday you could become a graphic designer for a magazine, like me.”
“Really!? I’d love that!”
I looked up and noticed Aizen smiling at us, but it faded slightly once he recognized that I was the one staring at him now. It was hard not to stare when the man actually smiled. It made him look so much better.
“I want you to have it,” Amaya said, handing the paper to me.
I held my hand to my heart. “Oh Amaya, I couldn’t–”
“Please? I made it just for you.”
Gosh she sure knew how to hit me in the soft spot. I smiled and took it gladly. “Well thank you. I’ll hang it up in my office back home. That’s the perfect place for it.”
“Hee hee!”
“Hey,” Kai greeted, coming down the stairs. I stood from the couch at his presence, my heart fluttering. I quickly folded Amaya’s picture and tucked it into my purse. “Sorry again about the wait,” he expressed while approaching me and lightly kissing my cheek. “You look beautiful as always,” he complimented.
Aizen looked uncomfortable behind us at the gesture. I wasn't sure why…
“Come Amaya,” he beckoned to his daughter towards the living room.
“Ok. Bye Malai and Uncle Kai! Have a nice date!” Amaya sweetly wished.
“Thanks kiddo,” Kai said in return with a smile. “See ya Aizen,” he nodded in departure, opening the door for me. I nodded to Aizen as well.
“See ya…,” I barely heard Aizen utter as we stepped out the door.
Kai took me to the fanciest restaurant in town: Delicieux Bistro. I was surprised it was still open with how expensive it’s always been, especially after the global pandemic and how it affected the economy. They sure decked it out for the Holidays. It was beautiful.
Kai and I talked about anything and everything over dinner. We laughed about things that were humorous and things we revealed about each other that we didn’t expect.
I swear there is nothing horrible or unappealing about Kai. He’s kind, thoughtful, smart, sincere, handsome, a perfect gentleman, the whole package.
I kept expecting to find at least one thing I’d dislike about him and…there just wasn’t. Why can’t Aizen be more like his brother, I found myself asking a couple of times. Guess I couldn’t help thinking it, because I could sure point out many things I disliked about Aizen as opposed to anything good about him, which I couldn’t identify very well. No thanks to his behavior.
When it came time for dessert we both found out that we prefer ordering plain cheesecake over any other dessert on the menu, no matter how delicious the other options might sound. Cheesecake is da bomb! (Yes, I totally said it like that.)
It was the best time I had on a date in a long time!
As much as we would’ve loved to take a long walk on the beach, preferably barefoot, after dinner, it was winter so…indoors it was. And neither of us minded that. We cuddled on the couch in front of a Christmas movie. (At my house - less people around.)
The movie was quickly forgotten though as our intimate desires got the better of us, exchanging many many kisses and caressing each other’s bodies a little bit, but not taking it too far. My parents were sleeping in the next room after all.
Kai was very respectful of me. Another thing that added to his wonderfulness.
At bedtime I checked my phone for any missed calls or texts. Landon finally texted me back saying:
Sorry I didn’t respond right away Mai, something came up. In fact, I’ll be leaving New York for a little bit. It’s nothing serious so don’t worry. I’ll fill you in later. Love you.
“Oh good!” I whispered in relief. I was just glad to hear he was ok. And of course that whatever was making him leave the city wasn’t serious. Still…I was pretty darn curious about it. I was very much looking forward to his “filling in” call later. Whenever that would be.
The next day - despite the high being around 15 degrees (F) - my parents and I and the Yamamotos decided to play a lax version of touch football out at the beach beside my parent’s house. It was a sunny day and we all desired a little fresh air after being indoors for so many days in a row, even if it was freezing outside. Naturally we all bundled up and my dad brought the portable fire pit to keep warm by and to roast marshmallows to make s’mores with! Yum! Amaya was especially excited about that.
I was never the best at touch football, in fact I was getting “clobbered” often by Kai and his dad. I blamed the uneven sand beneath my feet.
At one point, I had the ball and was about to make one glorious touchdown...
...when quite unexpectedly Aizen came out of nowhere and snagged the ball from my grasp, but I barely gripped it in time to keep him from taking it completely. A drastic tug of war ensued between us.
“Let go of the ball!” he demanded.
“No, YOU let go!” I glared.
“Cheater!”
“I’M the cheater!? You’re supposed to touch me in order to get the ball, not grab it!”
“That’s not how we’ve always played.”
“Well that’s how MY family has always played!”
“Give it!”
“No!”
We groaned and grunted for a good two minutes while trying to rip the ball from the other’s death grip. I don’t know why, but all my inner frustrations towards the man came flooding out in my tone and behavior and I could clearly tell his were doing the same. It wasn’t intentional, just unavoidable. The others watched us with wide eyes from the sidelines, unsure of what to do or if they should even try to intervene. I was about ready to just give up the ball and be the bigger person, but in that split second of weakness, Aizen ripped it from my grasp which made me lose my footing and fall flat on my butt. “Ow!” I hissed. Sand is not as soft as it looks.
Kai and Amaya raced to my side, Kai kneeling before me, both asking if I was alright. As I nodded, Kai looked up at his brother and said, “Geez Aizen, lighten up.”
Amaya then whipped towards her dad and sharply asked, “Why are you always so mean to Malai daddy!?”
“No Amaya,” I hushed, placing my hand on her arm. “It’s ok. Really.” I wish she hadn’t said it… but I couldn’t blame her for saying it either.
In that moment, Aizen’s arms lowered, as well as his expression, guilt and sorrow projecting in his eyes. I could feel it too.
Trying to hold back the pri'ckle of intense emotions due to the verbal sucker punch his daughter just gave him, Aizen dropped the ball onto the sand and walked away. It made me feel awful…mostly because I felt guilty too.
As Kai helped me up onto my feet, I watched as Aizen headed towards the water, stopping right at the edge of the beach, and gazed out towards the horizon. He shook his head with that same guilt and sorrow I saw earlier and my heart sank. It was the first time I realized that…he didn’t hate me.
And the truth is...I didn’t hate him.
“I guess now would be a good time to make s’mores,” Hoshi suggested. And that’s exactly what we did.
While roasting my marshmallow I watched as Mami went over and joined her eldest son at the edge of the beach, calmly chatting with him while affectionately rubbing at his back. I could see some opposition in Aizen’s eyes as he spoke to her in return, but it had to be due to all the inner pain he was always carrying. And Mami seemed to know just how to handle it. I wish I knew what she had said to him.
Soon Mami came back to join us at the firepit and for the life of me, I could not stop looking over at Aizen. Maybe because I was afraid he’d unhesitatingly walk right into the freezing water and disappear, the very moment I looked away. I just couldn’t…
I quickly made up a s’more, rose to my feet, and told Kai I would be right back.
Carefully, I approached Aizen, the sound of the sand below my feet giving away my presence. He took one side glance at me, then looked right back out at the water again.
I inched closer, holding out the s’more - half wrapped in a napkin - to him. “I thought you might like one of these,” I said. It might've been a little peace offering.
Aizen gave me a side glance again, a hint of a smile forming, as he took it from me. “Thanks,” he said.
Pressing my lips together, but still smiling, I nodded, and turned on my heel to join the others out of respect for his wanting to be alone.
“Wait…”
I immediately turned.
“I’m…I’m sorry,” he expressed with a look of sincerity I’d never seen on his face before. “Not just for stealing the ball, but…for everything. It was never anything about you…it’s all me.”
And what about you exactly? I wanted so desperately to ask, but with an appreciative smile I said, “Thank you. I really appreciate that.” I stepped closer.
He nodded. “Despite how it may seem, I’m not a complete je’rk.”
“Complete?” I playfully asked.
There was his rare smile! “As in I don’t intend to be a je’rk, I just…don’t realize, or even recognize, I’m being one sometimes. It's complicated.”
I lightly shrugged. He's had a rough past. I get it. “It’s ok. It happens to all of us.”
He seemed to appreciate that response and dug at the sand with the tip of his shoe, debating within himself it seemed. I waited patiently for him to speak again.
“I just get really cautious when a new woman comes into Amaya’s life,” he timidly admitted. “Normally they aren’t very nice to her, or are fake towards her, when she expects so much from them…” He lowered his head sorrowfully. “But I know you’re not that way with her.” Then he looked back up at me. “You’re sincere with her. And for that…I thank you. Deeply.”
Wow.
This was more than I was expecting from him and it made my heart swell with joy. “You’re welcome,” I said through a beaming expression.
“She’s a sweet girl Aizen; and a really good kid! I’m sorry the other women in your life couldn’t see that…You’ve raised her well in this hard world.”
He huffed slightly in objection. “I have my parents to thank for most of that.” He lowered his head again. “It’s just been really hard since…”
Since your wife died. “Aizen, you don’t have to explain,” I kindly interrupted. “I understand.”
He raised his head with a somewhat questionable expression on his face, like how I would even know the situation, but he shrugged it off.
“What matters is now,” I continued, inching a little closer. “And what you’re doing to make a good life for you and Amaya. It seems like you’re doing pretty well in that department.”
He smiled at me with gratitude. I could get used to seeing more smiles on his face.
“So,” I changed the subject, gazing out at the ocean with him, “You gonna build the perfect house for you and Amaya someday?”
“Maybe,” he sighed. “When she’s older and can be home by herself. My job can be pretty demanding at times so…she still needs someone to be at home with her until then.”
I nodded. How hard it must’ve been hitting his pride all these years to have to rely on his aging parents to raise his daughter for him. And it’s not like he wasn’t trying to find another companion apparently; those were totally the women he was alluding to earlier. It broke my heart.
“Hey,” Kai addressed from behind us. We turned. “Everything ok?” He was mainly asking me.
Shooting a quick glance at Aizen, I smiled and replied. “Yep. Everything is fine. We're just enjoying the view.”
Aizen nodded to Kai in agreement.
“Great!” Kai happily exclaimed, taking the two of us into a hug. “Gosh I’m so glad you two worked things out.” We all were.
From that time forward, things were good between me and Aizen.
That afternoon, about an hour before dinner, the doorbell rang.
Naturally I hurried to answer it, thinking it to be Kai. When I swung the door open and saw who it was though, my jaw dropped in a stunned surprise.
“Landon!? W-What are you doing here? I thought you were out of town?”
“I am,” he answered solemnly. “Here. I had to see you…”
My heart started pounding. There was something very different about his demeanor and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I prayed nothing was terribly wrong.
“Can we talk?” he asked. “Over at our special place?”
A smile worked its way across my lips. I’d almost forgotten about that place. “Sure.”
When Landon and I dated back in the day, we got tired of constantly getting interrupted by our friends and parents during our alone time so we set out to find our own place to talk, cuddle, and make-out where no one would ever find us. It was a flat little area in the cove, situated inside the marsh grasses, that somehow never got wet. It provided just enough cover - well, if you were on the ground together. Oh the memories…
Later Landon made a bench in shop class to put there, after we broke up actually. I figured he was taking his male companions out there for the same solitude, which kind of bothered me at the time, but I’m over it now.
“It’s still here,” Landon marveled, as we approached the said bench. “Doesn’t look a day old.” We both brushed the snow off of it before sitting ourselves down.
There was only a moment of the strange and mysterious silence until I couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Landon, what’s wrong? What’s so important that you had to fly all the way out here to see me?”
He rested his arm on the back of the bench behind me and swallowed.
“Are the Magazine Execs pis’sed at me for taking so much time off? Because if they are–”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” he hushed. “I just…I just really needed to see you.”
Ok? “Landon…you always see me. You couldn’t wait a few more days? Save the cost of a roundtrip ticket? I mean we could’ve FaceTimed–”
“No,” he whispered. “No we couldn’t…Not with this.”
My heart pounded again, especially with the way he was looking at me. He hadn’t given me that look since the last time we were here together and I suddenly felt short of breath. “What is it?” I nervously asked.
Landon shifted his weight and rested his hands on his lap before answering. “I don’t mean to alarm you Mai, like I said it’s nothing too serious, it’s just…I’m feeling really conflicted and lost right now,” his voice choked, “and I need to talk to my best friend about it. In person.”
I finally found my breath and nodded, placing my hand on his lap as well. “Tell me.”
He lowered his head, clearly trying to hold back much emotion. “Remember that date I told you about, before you flew out?”
“Yeah. The one with…Justin? Right?”
“Yeah. We had a decent first date so we decided to spend Christmas day together. Well,” he swallowed again, "that day didn't end very well at all. Turns out he was only hitting me up because of how rich I am…” Then he sighed. "I kind of got that vibe on our first date I just...didn't want to believe it. But it was way more apparent on the second date so..."
My face fell. All the while thinking, Gosh, not again. “Oh Landon,” I sympathized while caressing his leg, “I’m really sorry…” I shook my head. “I don’t understand what it is with these guys…”
“Me neither…”
“Because you are such a great catch! And I don’t say that lightly or because you’re my best friend. You're a wonderful guy, Landon.”
“I guess…”
His disbelieving response made me feel all the more sad. “You are,” I assured, “it’s their loss. Besides, you don’t want to invest too much time into a relationship where the other person doesn’t truly appreciate you anyway. The right one is always still out there.”
He nodded, his head still lowered. “I know. And you’re right. It just," he somewhat hesitated, "seems like every relationship I’ve had since you Mai has gone terribly wrong. Never sticking.” Then he looked me in the eye. “And I can’t help wondering...if there’s a reason for that…”
Now I gulped, because the feeling in the air changed right back to where it was originally and my heart started pounding again. I had this deep, pit in my stomach feeling that maybe--
“When you told me you kissed Kai and decided that you wanted to stick around here to see where it might go,” he began with a tremble in his voice and in his hands, “it - it produced all these feelings within me that I haven’t felt in years. Feelings that I thought were long lost. And it terrifies me.” His tearful gaze was so piercing that it tugged at my every emotion, and my tears. “It terrifies me because I suddenly started to question everything about myself,” he continued, his voice choking, "and my sexual preferences. I began to wonder if I’d just been kidding myself pursuing men all these years, when none of those relationships have worked out and maybe that’s because…” His eyes bored into me again, with such deep affection, “there’s still feelings there for you Mai. And I think...I think I’m still in love with you.”
My heart screeched to halt.
“You’re the one person in my life who’s always been there for me. Never let me down. Always accepted me for exactly who I am and loves me, for who I am. Well, aside from my mom. No one else, Mai. It feels like it was such a mistake letting you go.”
Still in shock, I closed my eyes, making the tears escape. Hating this moment, but…at the same time...
“Landon,” I whispered, opening my wet eyes. “I really wish I could’ve heard this from you years ago. So why do you have to say it to me now?” I sniffed. “Of all times?”
“Mai,” he stopped to take my hand, “I - I just couldn’t let you go into the arms of the man who could very well be your future without telling you how I feel.”
I understood, but couldn't help saying, “Well it’s too late!”
“No…,” he softly corrected, lifting my chin and leaning in, coaxing me with his breath.
“Yes it is…,” I whispered, just before his lips touched mine. I tried not to kiss him back, I really did. But…
You know how in the movies when something super wonderful happens and then it gets terribly interrupted by something else that rings in that ever familiar record scratch sound? Well, I swear I heard that sound in the middle of mine and Landon's kiss and…I think he heard it too…
Because that kiss didn’t feel good - or right - at all. And suddenly things felt horribly, horribly awkward between us, like some massive realization set in. I can’t even adequately describe it. It was just, sad to say, bad.
Landon lowered his head while a slight grimace took hold of my mouth. “Wow,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Well that wasn’t as earth shattering as I was expecting it to be…” The color had practically drained from his face.
“Yeeeeah,” I kinda hated to admit for his sake, but…
“Guess we really are just friends aren't we? Who love each other like friends...,” he ended with a head shake. “Gosh I feel like such an idiot!” he belted through a depressed sigh, burying his face into the palms of his hands.
“No,” I consoled, putting my arm around him and pressing my cheek against the top of his head. “You’re not Landon. You’re just heartbroken…and that causes all of us to feel lost and confused. Not knowing what to believe anymore. It’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of. I’m just sorry I can't make it all better for you.”
“It’s ok Mai…”
I still felt bad though.
“I think," he spoke after a couple of minutes of silence while composing himself, "I need to do some soul searching for a while. Put dating on hold and take some time to just focus on myself."
“Yeah,” I agreed, caressing his back. “I think that’s a great idea. Definitely take some time for yourself and figure things out. I know you will. You'll get through this. And no matter what, I’ll still always be here for you Landon,” I sniffed, getting emotional again. “And I’ll always support you in everything you do.”
“I’ve never felt anything less from you,” he said with a sniff also.
I smiled.
“Thank you Mai. I needed this. And I really do love you...friend,” he chuckled a little.
I did as well. “I love you too buddy. Best friends forever.”
I walked with Landon to his childhood home and it was nice to see his mother again. She asked if I'd join them for dinner and I accepted. I called my mom to let her know where I was at, and then I texted Kai informing him that I was hanging out with a friend (cause he asked me in a text where I had “mysteriously disappeared" to. It was cute.) The three of us had a wonderful time catching up over dinner and then I bid them both goodbye around 8pm. Landon was flying back to New York in the morning. The job required it.
Was I going to tell Kai about Landon kissing me? No. It wasn’t necessary; literally nothing. I was just helping out a dear friend through an emotional crisis and for Landon’s privacy, I wasn’t going to bring it up. Unless the situation called for it. And if that situation ever came, I knew Kai would be understanding about it. Because he’s a therapist, and he’s wonderful.
Hope y'all enjoyed.
Malai looks so great that I'm quite sure she wouldn't have needed even 5 minutes to be ready for a date
Hmm, I'm worried about Landon too. He didn't sound happy the previous day
Gorgeous Aizen
But there is Kai. The bistro looks great! I hope their food is nice too and there is more than one spoonful per plate like in those expensive restaurants sometimes
I wish those "kind, thoughtful, smart, sincere, handsome, perfect gentlemen" were more common than they are
I do wonder why Malai keeps comparing Kai so much with Aizen though... She's having a perfect date, and she's thinking about the date's brother
Malai's winter outfit is very cute.
Haha, well, it's better make sure you play by the same rules before you start playing. Oh dear, that game didn't end well...
Ok, this looks much better. Aizen apologized! I didn't know "sorry" was a part of his vocabulary
Well, he cares and worries about his daughter. Understandable. As a daughter of a single dad I think I know quite well these ladies in a father's life who basically wish the man in their life didn't have kids at all and are therefore not genuinely nice to those kids either...
I'm glad they had a good talk about it
Landon?! What on earth is he doing there?? Does he regret them breaking up? And right now when Malai just met Kai?
Poor Landon, for having a broken heart again. I feel sad for him.
I think I was right... What are you going to tell her, Landon??
***reading on***
Yeah
Well, well... Another beautiful kiss in the wintry outdoors... But I guess Mai was right, and it's too late
Well, that was awkward and I feel even worse for Landon now
Fortunately the evening still went fine and Landon and Malai are still friends
Yes, Kai seems too good to be true. Would @emorrill do that to us?
Poor Landon. I know someone who is similar to him.
Good for Amaya for standing up to her dad.
No offense, but I would not have chosen those purple pants for a date.
finally, read this amazing chapter!
You are great at writing drama, though it was not a whole lot I enjoyed it
you take the reader with you in the story.
Good of Aizen to say sorry for how he has been treating her.
Aww poor Landon, he seems like a nice guy.
Amaya is such a cute little girl!
Great job
My buddy bekkasan made me realize that I didn't announce when the next chapter would be posted at the end of the last one.
But first, some replies to your recent comments.
@meerkattime Yep.
People don't realize how much of a blessing children really are. I won't deny that it can be stressful raising them (oh boy let me tell you
Sounds like you knew exactly what was going to go down when Landon showed up.
@Ninja-Dan22 ^Nope. He's not hiding anything. That's just how he genuinely is.
Yes, sexuality crisis is very real...and I wanted to illustrate that it's normal to have those kinds of feelings and not to be afraid of them or express them. (Though I know many times it's easier said than done...) ^LOL!!
@KevinL5275 ^No worries, you won't.
Thanks for the compliment on the sparkly top.
@Silverofdreams30 ^Thank you.
Y'all ready for Chapter 7!?
The next couple of days, Kai and I spent as much time as we could together. We did some shopping together, hit up the annual Winter Festival, played some video games - Mario Kart in particular - at his house, and went out to dinner both nights. Of course any chance we got to kiss in private, we did. My parents were so pleased with our relationship that they didn’t bother us at all which…kinda surprised me. My sister even called me to ask how things were going with my new “boyfriend,” since mom was clearly telling her ALL about it when I wasn’t around. Kai and I hadn’t officially announced ourselves as boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but it was sure heading in that direction. I wanted it to head in that direction. We did, however, live in two different cities, darn near 500 miles apart from each other so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the conversation on how we were going to make that work, but I knew we would. Things were going really well between us.
Kai only had one emergency call interrupt our time together which wasn’t bad. It’s just something I was going to have to get used to if we decided to make a life together.
Also during that time, I spent some time with Amaya (which often included Aizen. Construction work was slow around the holidays.) We drew pictures together and I gave her some free graphic design tips. Mami then asked Amaya to help with some of the housecleaning - particularly pointing out her bedroom - so we decided to come up with a fun way to get it cleaned up. Any interactions I had with Aizen were generally pleasant, a very nice change from every moment I had with him before. If I didn’t know any better I would think he was feeling…happier. If I had any part to play in that, I was glad.
During the hour that Kai had to take the emergency call I previously mentioned, I emerged from the bathroom and into the kitchen to find Amaya begging her dad to do some video game karaoke with her. I hid a little behind the archway into the living room and listened.
It was clearly obvious to me, by the look on Aizen’s face, that he really didn’t want to do it - or sing for that matter. But I was very proud of him for finally acceding to her begging.
As they looked through the song choices, most sounded completely foreign to Aizen, until he gasped at one of them and exclaimed, “Oh wow. They have the Foo Fighters music on here!?”
“Who’re they?” Amaya asked with a scrunched nose.
Aizen’s mouth flat-lined. “Amaya, you never cease to make me feel old…”
I chuckled.
“I don’t want to sing that one…,” Amaya groaned at her dad’s song choice.
“Amaya please,” Aizen asked, picking up the other microphone, “just allow me this.”
“Umm…ok,” the girl curiously consented and stepped back to watch.
Aizen positioned himself with the microphone, just before the music started to play.
“Everlong.” An iconic Foo Fighters song. I hadn’t heard it in years. Aizen had his eyes closed as he soaked in the familiar intro, gripping the microphone with both hands, just below his lips, like a professional singer.
As soon as the beat picked up, he bobbed his head back and forth to it, eyes still closed and bangs flopping all around. I won’t lie…it was kinda hot. And when he started to sing, with a little huskiness in it, I might’ve rubbed at my collarbone a little bit. He was good! Fully immersing himself into the music, allowing it to take him back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was taking me back too.
Just before the chorus, I motioned for Amaya to bring me the other microphone - while Aizen was distracted. Once the chorus came around, I ran into the room and started singing it right along with him. He turned in surprise at me, stopping his singing of course because his mouth had fallen, clearly impressed that I knew the song and pleasurably listened. I loved it. His jaw soon rose back up and his lips formed into a smile as he joined in the rest of the chorus with me.
It was so much fun! I started dancing to the music and he danced a little too; both of us unable to stop grinning at each other the entire time. I could see Amaya’s bright expression from the corner of the room. The whole experience was truly…invigorating. A step back in time for sure.
When the song ended, Amaya rapidly clapped and cheered as Aizen and I caught our breaths.
“Thank you,” he whispered to me.
"For what?" I asked him with a questionable look.
“...I needed that. More than I realized.”
I smiled. “You’re welcome. That was really fun!”
“You all having fun out here?” Kai asked, emerging from the den where he took the call. “It sounded great!”
I dunno why Aizen and I fumbled with the microphones in our hands when he walked in, like we got caught doing something bad.
“I know that song…what is it again?” Kai asked.
“'Everlong,'” Aizen answered. “By the Foo Fighters.”
“Oh, right!” Then his brow furrowed in thought. “Wait, who are the Foo Fighters again?”
I answered before Aizen did. “Dave Grohl, the drummer from Nirvana, formed his own band…”
Aizen bounced his eyebrows at me, impressed again.
“That’s right, that’s right,” Kai exclaimed, kicking himself for not remembering, apparently. “Gosh I haven’t heard their music in forever. Excuse me for a sec, I need to get a drink.”
Upon Kai’s exit, Aizen leaned towards my ear and asked, “Guess you’re familiar with Nirvana too?”
I had to play with him in my response. “Not really, they were a little before my time. Although…,” I leaned in slightly towards his ear as well, “...your singing back there sure looked and smelled a lot like teen spirit to me…,” I ended with a smirk, throwing up a hand gesture and spinning on my heel to join Kai in the kitchen.
I didn’t catch Aizen’s reaction to that, but I imagine it was one that involved his hands on his hips, head shaking, and giving off another impressed smile. Hee hee!
Thank you big brother for your impressive collection of music that I always had the pleasure of listening to growing up.
The next morning, Kai called to inform me that he had to attend an all day work related Zoom conference, much to his chagrin. It was so sweet how bad he felt about not being able to see me until evening. I assured him that it was fine, even though I was equally disappointed. Our time together during this Christmas break was running out.
“I’m sure my parents and I can find something to do to pass the time,” I told him with a smile.
“You’re so great,” he said in return. It made my heart swell and my cheeks blush. “Have fun with them, and I’ll call you as soon as the conference is done.”
“Thanks. And you have fun too.”
“Always,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
It made me chuckle.
After the call my parents practically ambushed me in the hallway asking all these questions about my relationship with Kai and where it was going and what our plans were for after the break. (Talk about the third degree!) I guess they couldn’t contain themselves any longer.
It was all a bit…overwhelming to say the least. Especially since Kai and I hadn’t really talked about it yet.
In the middle of my stumbling replies the doorbell rang and my immediate thought was, Oh thank GOSH!
“I’ll get it!” I very happily offered and raced on over to the door. I had to catch my breath for a second before opening it.
“Oh. Hey Amaya,” I greeted. Aizen stood off to the side behind her, flashing me a smile.
“Hey Malai!” The girl bounced. “Are you busy today?”
Uhh… I shot a glance at my parents and they just shrugged. “Not really. What’s up?”
“Daddy and I are gonna go to the Winter Festival since it’s going away soon and…I was wondering if you wanted to come too?”
Aizen and I met eyes again. “Sorry about this,” he apologized for them both. “I told her not to bother you because you’d already gone with Kai, but…she was insistent.”
I grinned, understanding fully. That’s Amaya. I looked back down at her with my hands on my knees and asked, “Well did you ask your daddy’s permission first because I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your daddy-daughter date.”
Aizen smiled.
“We went earlier together, before Christmas, and now I wanna go again,” she paused, while taking my hand, “with you.” Her eyes sparkled.
Aww! My heart melted. I couldn’t help holding my hand to it. Aizen’s smile at me was even brighter than before. It seemed he was ok with me tagging along. I clasped my other hand over Amaya’s and said, “Well in that case, I’d love to go with you.”
“Yay!”
“I just gotta get bundled up first.”
"Ok!"
It was a little warmer outside on this day, 21 degrees (F). I know a lot of you wouldn’t consider that warm, but here in Maine when you’re usually getting single digits or below zero temps in the winter, 21 is warm.
I always loved the annual Winter Festival in Maplewood Falls. It didn’t have all the activities you would expect from a big city Festival, but it had the best ones, with that special added touch of small town hospitality. It’s a tradition to go every winter in our family, even though I’d skipped out on going the past few Christmases. I just wasn’t feeling it and wanted to get back to New York. But this year, as I said before, was different. Magical. Lovely.
I could certainly say the same about our time at the Festival, the moment the three of us stepped foot on the grounds. Amaya held my hand tightly and kept pulling me every which way towards each activity with glee. (It’s like she’d forgotten all about her dad.) Oh how sometimes I wish I could be as happy and carefree as a child again.
The first thing she wanted to do was face painting - well, after we made some epic snow angels on the most perfect spot of untouched snow.
Face painting was always the first thing I wanted to do as a child at the festival too. Aizen kindly declined. That didn’t surprise me. Most guys don’t care to get their face painted.
Amaya got some stars painted on her face...
...while I went with a snowflake design.
After that the three of us went ice skating.
Amaya was a little pro at it! She showed off a few spins for me and while they were a little rough, she still had the makings of a professional ice skater within her and looked adorable doing it.
Aizen kept whipping past me as we skated around and around the rink, like it was a race or something, giving off this smug grin every single time. If it had been possible to form a snowball on the rink I would’ve done so promptly so I could nail him in the face to smack off that smug grin the next time he passed me! I chuckled at the thought.
At one point, we both held Amaya’s hands and swung her forwards and backwards in between us, giggles of pure joy coming out of her through puffs of visible breath. It took some serious skill to not slip and fall while doing that, for if one of us did, the other two would come crashing down as well.
After that we got some hot cocoa from the concession stand to warm up and sipped on it as we watched a few folks do some snowboarding. I remember watching the townsfolk build that giant half pipe. I was younger than Amaya at the time. Snowboarding seems like such a thing of the past now, but I love that they’ve kept it as a traditional Winter Festival activity in Maplewood Falls.
“Daddy are you gonna snowboard again?” Amaya asked. “You gotta show Malai!”
“Of course,” he replied, meeting my gaze with that smug grin of his again. I’m not sure why he kept doing that. Was he trying to impress me or something or was he...flirting with me?
“Wait til you see him, Malai. He’s awesome!”
“Oh I’m looking forward to it,” I said through a smirky grin at Aizen. If he happened to biff it out there, I was going to laugh so hard, but of course I wouldn’t if he broke a bone or anything. Heaven forbid.
Aizen was amazing at snowboarding. Better than Landon actually, who was one of the town pros, but I could never tell Landon that.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him...and the fluid way he performed every move...
Mainly because I wanted to be at the ready in case he made a nasty crash landing, okay. The last thing I’d ever want is for something bad to happen to Amaya’s daddy. She needs her daddy. Every girl does. Especially when their mommy is gone…
Of course Aizen walked off the half pipe unscathed, reigning supreme. He held out the board to me and breathlessly said, “Alright. Your turn.”
“No thank you,” I politely declined with a raised palm. “One crash landing that almost broke my ankle has kept me away from snowboarding for life.”
“Oh,” he said with a grimace.
“Yeah…but I do enjoy watching others do it. You were pretty good out there, I must admit." I smirked. "I’m glad I didn’t have to call an ambulance on you…”
Was he blushing? Nah, I think his cheeks were just rosy from the cold and exertion.
“Let’s have a snowball fight!” Amaya suggested. They had an area made up specifically for it, with painted concrete half walls to hide behind and everything.
“I dunno sweetie, the teams would be uneven,” I said to her, kinda hoping that it would get her to reconsider. I was cold.
“That’s ok! It will be us girls against daddy!” She grinned.
I looked back at Aizen and he shrugged. “I’m game.”
I just shook my head and sighed. “Alright. I guess we can ‘fight’ for a little bit.”
“Yay!” Amaya squealed, running over to the area.
Before joining her, Aizen stepped right up to my face, standing tall, and declared with confidence, “I’m gonna take you two down.”
My mouth opened into a playful grin. “Careful, that other person is your daughter…”
“She’s used to it.”
I held back a chuckle, holding my game face. “Well how do you know I’m not the best snowballer in New York City?”
“You’re not.”
“Oh!” I huffed, still smiling. “Well I’ll show you, Mr. Know-it-all.”
“No you won’t,” he threw back with a smirk and went over to join Amaya.
I just shook my head as he did so thinking, Stinker!
Gosh he was being so playful today. A complete 180 from the gruff and grumpy guy I met on Christmas Eve. But I sure as heck wasn’t complaining. Not at all. I was rather liking it. I knew a better person resided within him somewhere and it was back. I hoped it was here to stay. I expressed a happy and relieved breath as I ran over to join him and Amaya.
Aizen’s snowballs sure packed a punch. He was much gentler in his tosses at Amaya, which was good. Although Amaya was going to town on him with her little snowballs. In fact, we both were!
I think he was taken off guard by how well we were pummeling him...
...because after a while he cried out, “Alright that’s it!” He stepped right over to me, swooped me up like I weighed nothing - I squealed in surprise when he did - and carried me over his shoulders. “I’m taking you out!”
“Amaya! Save me!” I playfully cried.
“You let her go daddy!” Amaya demanded, throwing even more snowballs at him with her motor-arm.
“Never!” he played back, rushing me back over to his attack area. “She’s mine now.”
“No fair! I can’t beat both of you!”
“Exactly!” He grinned, still carrying me, and swinging me around like his grand prize. (I had become a little dumbfounded by that point to say the least.)
It made Amaya all the more irritated.
Eventually, Aizen put me down. I think my kicking around so much, along with trying to dodge Amaya’s snowballs while carrying me, got to be too hard on him. I felt out of breath myself, mostly from laughing so hard.
I still couldn’t believe he picked me up like that…
Soon Amaya tackled her dad to the snowy ground and started shoveling snow onto his face. I loved all the happy and playful noises I heard coming out of them both. Like they were having the time of their life. It’d probably been a while since they both felt this happy.
The three of us decided it was time to grab a bite to eat so back to the concession area we went. Along the way, Amaya informed us that she needed to use the bathroom. So while we waited for her, Aizen and I looked up at the giant decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the Festival area, admiring its beauty.
“They’ve been lighting this same tree every year at the start of the Festival for as long as I can remember,” I told Aizen in a soft voice, snowflakes beginning to fall all around us. “There’s something so special about it. Like every other giant lighted tree I’ve encountered in my life has paled in comparison to it, even though they were so much bigger and more elegant, with hundreds more lights and decorations on them.” I shook my head with a sigh. “But they were never this tree…”
After a few seconds of silence, Aizen turned his gaze to me and simply said, “Some pieces of our hometown always stay with us. Reminding us of where we came from.”
I turned my head to meet his gaze and we exchanged warm smiles before looking back up at the tree.
Lost in the nostalgia, I shifted the foot I was putting my body weight on and I don’t know how exactly it happened, but there must’ve been some hidden sheet of ice underneath the snow because I ended up slipping and falling, instinctively grabbing the first thing I could to help break my fall. Aizen.
“Hey! What the!?” he cried as I squealed, “Ahh!”
There was a loud crunching sound in the snow as our bodies hit the ground. “Ow,” the two of us groaned, me flat on my back and Aizen on his stomach.
“What was that all about?” he asked, lifting his head and spitting out some snow from his mouth.
“I dunno! I was falling so I had to grab something!”
“Couldn’t you have grabbed something else!?”
“No! You were the closest thing nearby,” I laughed, relieved to hear he was laughing too.
I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping I hadn’t almost broken a bone (again) and at that same time, Aizen propped himself up onto his elbow getting ready to stand up. But instead he hovered over me a bit. My heart skipped a beat when I opened my eyes and found him so close, his hair draping over his eyes as he gazed down upon me.
The look on his face. It was similar to some of the looks Kai had been giving me recently. I could feel my cheeks heating up. And the funny thing was…I didn’t feel at all disturbed by his closeness. It felt kinda...nice.
“This is the funnest time out I’ve had in a long time,” he deeply expressed to me. “Thanks for joining us.”
I smiled and nodded in a, “you’re welcome,” fashion.
His expression then softened. “I’m happy for my brother. He’s a really lucky guy…snagging a catch like you.”
Surprised to hear such words, I thought, Wow, is this actually Aizen talking? My heart skipped a beat.
He slid forward a little more, to where I could feel his warm breath beating down upon my neck, still gazing deeply into my eyes. “Although right now,” he said barely above a whisper, “I’m kinda wishing…ever since that moment we first met…I hadn’t been so cautious about you. So…cold and so...closed off...”
My heart lurched while still holding his gaze, then it started pounding, forming perspiration on my brow. “What are you saying?” I asked him through a nervous breath.
Struggling to answer, he almost shook his head. But instead, he stroked my chin for a moment with his thumb, leaned in further and–
“Are you guys kissing!?” Amaya cried out with a gaping smile.
Both of our heads swung in her direction.
“No,” Aizen simply answered.
“Nothing happened,” I replied like a bumbling idiot.
We immediately stumbled up onto our feet and dusted the snow off ourselves while saying,
“I slipped and…”
“She pulled me down…”
“And he was just making sure I was ok…”
“I wanted to make sure she was ok…”
The smirk on Amaya’s face told me she wasn’t exactly buying our flubbed responses, but accepted them anyway.
“But yeah she’s fine,” Aizen concluded with, scratching at the back of his head, trying not to look at me too directly.
“Yes, thank you Aizen,” I acknowledged, heaving a sigh, then turned to Amaya while resting my hands on my knees. “So hey sweetie, I actually have to go…” My heart was still pounding and my emotions were reeling. I had to get the heck out of this place.
The poor little girl’s face fell, and I didn’t see that Aizen’s had as well.
“Why?” she sadly asked.
I hated to tell a white lie but, “There’s something important that I forgot I needed to do…”
“Oh, like check on Uncle Kai?”
Why did that question have to hurt so much? “Yeah." I swallowed. "That too…” Tears began to weigh on my eyelids.
“Ok…,” she accepted somberly, lowering her head.
“I’m really sorry,” I consoled with a choke in my voice. My hands were shaking and this giant weight on my chest was making it hard to breathe. Even my vision was blurring. “I’ll - I’ll see you two later,” I said in departure, not even looking at Aizen, and sprinted for home; forgetting that he drove all three of us over there.
What just happened? What is happening? This CAN’T be happening! I sobbed as I ran. The icy cold air freezing my escaped tears to my cheeks.
No. NO! I cried as I thought about poor, sweet Kai. I shouldn’t be having these feelings…No…
???
A/N: I wanted to end this chapter with a song. It's not exactly a Christmas song, but more a wintery one. And so beautiful and fitting to the last scene.
Also if you are unfamiliar with the Foo Fighters "Everlong" song, which I imagine most of you wouldn't be
(If you're like me, you'll be singing along.
*I'm not exactly sure which day I'll be releasing the next chapter, either the 22nd or the 23rd, depending on how much I'm able to get done first for Christmas in real life. 😜 Thank you as always for your patience.
I had to re-read this a couple times because I thought you meant Aizen went to join Amaya's side. Then it finally dawned on me that you meant he went to join Amaya at the snowball area. I'm dense sometimes.
And here comes the curve ball, I knew Kai was too quick and good to be true. Now we have the drama from Aizen, and Emily's great writing style makes the story more interesting.
Who is Malai going to pick now? She has quite a choice on her hands.
Also, are we going to see more of Tara?
LOL at her parent's giving her the third degree. And who DOESN'T know the Foo Fighters, come on??
Awesome poses and facial expressions as well. You make the game wonderful.
I enjoyed this update, the karaoke shots are awesome, and I love it when my sims
use the karaoke machine.
the snow festival, they seemed to have a lot of fun, Aizen is good at snowboarding.
Hehe, at Amaya teasing them, it for sure almost looked like they were about to kiss!
Great job!
I see Malai and Aizen are starting to get along very well. Lovely karaoke pictures. Aizen looks hot as always
I guess Kai is not very much into music... I thought everyone remembers Foo Fighters and Nirvana!
Curious parents
That snowflake paint actually looks cute on Malai.
Lovely picture of all three ice skating together and holding hands... If I didn't know better, I could swear they are a family
And now I want hot cocoa
Great snowboarding shots!
I must say Aizen's behavior has changed indeed... He's actually fun company.
I think this is going exactly where I thought, hehe. Malai's got two of the brothers around her finger now
What a moment for Amaya to catch them, haha! I love how awkward they both look in that picture where they are explaining the situation to Amaya
Drama! Looking forward to reading the next chapter
Yes, Malai definitely has a choice to make doesn't she...
But yeah, I could totally imagine Aizen being a Foo Fighters fan.
I really like their "Learn to Fly" song (especially the music video
(If you're curious and need a refresher
@Ninja-Dan22 Your comment made me chuckle.
@Silverofdreams30 Thank you.
@meerkattime ^So it would seem...
Like this one:
I thought the snowflake face paint looked adorable on Malai as well. For some reason that option isn't available to child sims.
Thank you.
I'm excited to roll out the next chapter.
I just finished taking the photos in game for the ending of the story.
I'm getting so so excited to share the conclusion! I can't wait to read what y'all think of it!
🎄 Merry Christmas! 🎄
and here I thought it was a new story post haha