"Merry Christmas," he says, handing her a glass of wine before settling himself down on the sofa beside her.

She tucks her feet under her legs and snuggles contentedly into his shoulder. "I bought her the exact same pencils," she says as they both watch Seol scribbling away on the floor.

"I told you we should have just agreed on one instead of getting her separate gifts," he says.

She shrugs. "It's not like she can't use them. Besides, I got her a coloring book, too. So my gift's better."

He scoffs. "I got her a drawing book. It's better for her imagination, therefore, my gift is better."

She scowls but doesn't want to argue, so she pouts up at him instead. "I didn't know what to give you," she mumbles, giving him her most doleful look. "Can't you just tell me what you want?"

He looks at her with a mischievous smile. "You know what I want."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Those things take time. I'm afraid I won't be able to make one in time for tomorrow. Maybe next year."

"Oh?" he says, eyebrows raised in question. "No objections this time?"

She looks at Seol again - small, beautiful and perfect in every way. "She's so big now," she sighs and smiles up at him. "Another one won't hurt. Or at least, it won't hurt you," she grumbles sourly, taking a swig from her glass.

He deposits both their glasses on the coffee table and leans over her until she's lying supine on the sofa beneath him. She blushes, feeling a little lightheaded from the wine and more than a little flushed.

"You know I don't want to force you," he says. "You've already given me one perfect baby. Two, if you count a thousand years ago. Don't pressure yourself on my account."

"How can I not?" she sighs dramatically, fixing his fringe. "I love you too much."

"Ah, but I love you too," he says. "I don't want to see you suffer unwillingly."

"I won't be doing it unwillingly," she mumbles. "I really don't mind having another baby."

"You're not just saying that?"

She assumes a pained expression. "Pyeha, I thought you knew me better than this. Am I really the type of woman to just give in to other peoples' wishes?"

He smiles. "No."

"That's right," she murmurs, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. She had been expecting a short, pleasant kiss and certainly did not expect the deep, passionate kiss she got instead. Breathless, she breaks away and says, "Seol."

In unison, they turn their heads to see the little one still focused on her new writing implements.

"Shall we tuck her in?" he murmurs.

"She'll miss the fireworks display."

"We can wake her up in time for it."

They exchange looks, considering their options.

Hajin glances around in search of the clock. "It's 8:00," she declares. "It's about her bedtime anyway."

"And she'll have to take a nap if she wants to be up by midnight," he points out matter-of-factly.

"Umma..."

Seol's frightened, tremulous voice makes them both turn to her in alarm.

"What is it?" Hajin asks, propping herself up onto her elbow.

The floor around Seol is covered in milk, which has seeped into her coloring book, drawing book, dress, and the living room rug. Her brand new pencils are littered across the floor, equally wet, and the moment she hears her mother's gasp of horror, she flinches and drops the empty glass in her hands, shattering it into a million pieces on the floor.

Frightened by the loud sound, Seol begins to cry.

"Don't move!" Hajin commands in panic as she and So clamber out of the sofa towards her.

So plucks her off the floor and inspects her for possible damage. "Are you hurt?" he asks, checking her small hands for possible cuts, but Seol's too distressed to reply.

"Is she hurt?" Hajin demands, turning away from the wreckage.

"No, she's fine," he replies with a sigh, letting Seol cry on his shoulder.

"That's why you should be more careful, Seol-ah!" Hajin says with a relieved sigh. "No more glasses next time!" She's about to go on a tirade about what could have happened when she sees Seol's face... she has on the same terrified expression as a few seconds ago - before she dropped and broke her glass.

Before she knows it, Hajin's got tears in her eyes, too, and she feels sick with remorse.

"Why are you-?" So asks in alarm, seeing her expression.

"It was my fault, wasn't it?" Hajin murmurs. "She's scared of me."

"Nonsense," he says, rubbing Seol's back. "She was frightened by the loud sound."

Hajin shakes her head. "She was scared even before that! She was afraid I was going to scold her. And on Christmas, too." She closes the distance between them and coos to her gently, "Baby, I'm sorry... mom's sorry..."

Seol turns her head around to look at her with tear-filled eyes.

"It's okay," Hajin continues, gently wiping away her tears. "It's okay. Mom's not angry..."

So watches them for a moment before lifting Seol off of him and handing her over. The moment Hajin wraps her arms around Seol's small body, she begins to cry. "I've been scolding her all day! All week!" she wails. "Oh, I'm a bad mother, aren't I?"

"You are not," So assures her firmly but gently. "These things happen."

That doesn't make her feel much better, but showering her baby with a thousand kisses does. Seol had stopped crying by now, but she still hiccuped and coughed occasionally.

"I'm not even on my period and I'm already so cranky," Hajin mumbles shamefacedly, arranging Soel's hair away from her face. "Do you want another glass of milk?"

Seol shakes her head.

"Do you want cookies?"

Again, she shakes her head.

"Do you want to sleep?"

This time, she nods.

"Okay," Hajin whispers. "It's been a long day. Let's get you cleaned up first." She looks at So, but he'd already anticipated her need.

"You go ahead, I'll deal with this," he assures her.

She nods gratefully and leaves for the bathroom, where they take their time showering. Normally, their evening shower would last ten minutes at most but this time, Hajin decides to play with her to try and get her to laugh. She succeeds in doing so by using the soapy water to blow a stream of bubbles into the air.

"Again! Again!" Seol cries happily for the hundredth time, trying to grab as many bubbles as she can.

"Kiss first," Hajin demands, puckering her lips playfully at her.

Seol chuckles deviously and grabs a handful of bubbles to splatter all over her mother's face.

"Yah!" Hajin laughs, spitting soap out of her mouth. "What was that for?"

Seol's shriek of laughter is infectious. "Funny! Funny mommy!"

"You naughty little girl," Hajin growls playfully, pulling Seol in for another soapy kiss. "We should finish up. Your daddy's waiting."

"Five minutes?"

"Two."

"Four."

"Three."

"Deal!" Seol says carefully, savoring the word in her mouth.

Hajin smiles and gets up to prepare the towel and her clothes. She gives Seol the promised three minutes before telling her to come out and dry herself. Seol dutifully does as she's told, yawning as she gets dressed. Once done, Hajin carries her to her bedroom to find So asleep on the bed.

The moment Seol sees him, she demands to be let down and immediately clambers onto the bed, plopping herself happily onto his chest.

"Oof!" he grunts, grabbing hold of her arms. He realizes he had fallen asleep waiting for them and grumbles, "You two took long enough."

"We got a little carried away," Hajin apologizes sheepishly.

"Clearly," he mumbles. "I heard you screaming all the way from here."

"I'm covered in soap, so I'll go wash up a bit," she says. "Can you put her to sleep?"

He stifles a yawn and looks down at the mess of hair on his chest. If it weren't for the humming and her fingers scratching the blanket, he would've thought she was already asleep. "Alright, princess," he says, lifting her off him and ordering her to get under her bed sheets.

With a smile, Hajin leaves the room and goes to wash up. As she's rummaging through the bathroom cabinets for her nightly routines, her eyes land on a pack of unopened tampons. She frowns, trying to remember when she bought them... not to mention the last time she'd actually used one.

When she can't remember the answer to either, she stops breathing, feeling faint. Unconsciously, her hand flies to her abdomen.

No... she can't be. They'd been careful...

"I'm not even on my period and I'm already so cranky..."

She lifts up her shirt and glances at her reflection in the mirror, turning sideways to try and see if she had gained weight at all, but she sees no traces of a bump. She exhales slowly, thinking... when she considers all the precautions they'd taken, she thinks there's no way she can be pregnant... and yet, the fact remains that she hadn't bled in weeks, and her periods had always come at regular intervals in the past. Not to mention she's been feeling unnaturally irritable lately and has started to develop a taste for ketchup, mustard and dumplings, something which So and Seol simply cannot wrap their minds around.

She runs a thumb over her tummy and smiles. Another precious piece of So growing inside her.

When she returns to Seol's room some time later, it's to find them both already sound asleep - So on his back the way he's used to, and Seol curled up against his side. She smiles fondly as she watches them, feeling grateful for the chance to be with them in this lifetime; to actually be able to witness all the milestones in her daughter's life - to hear again that first ever cry, her first ever laugh, her first word... to see her first smile, her first step, her first breath of life... to be able to comfort her when she falls, to teach her the things she knows.

She joins them, laying carefully down on Seol's other side and kissing her head before reaching over her to take his hand.

It's been well over 5 years since they met again... 5 years since they both regained their memories... 5 years of healing and acceptance and love. There had been so many what-ifs in their past... too many regrets over events that were beyond any of their control. She doesn't know what kind of future lies ahead, but she's willing to face all those uncertainties; she knows she can do anything, be anything for as long as he's with her.

Her best friend. Her love. Her heart.

"I guess I do have a gift for you after all," she whispers, closing her eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays everyone! Have a good one ^-^
Now that this is over, I'll be updating the original fic more. Thanks so much for the positive responses to both stories! They warm my heart tee hee |▽/)ゝ