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Kookie climbed up on the twins’ bed.  He could hear their cars crash and burn in their video game as they both looked up at him.

“Appa and Ms. Jung are gonna get married,” Kookie announced.

“What do you mean?” Jimin asked.

“Appa has a ring.  Hobi said when a guy gives a girl a ring that means they’re gonna get married.”

“Really?” Tae asked.

“Mhm.” Kookie grinned.

“When are they getting married?” Jimin asked.

“Dunno.  Hobi didn’t say.”

——————–

“I heard you bought Chaeha a ring,” Hobi commented when Jin walked into the kitchen later that evening.

“Oh?  Who did you hear that from?”

“A little person.”

“Was Kookie getting into my desk again?”

“Probably.” Hobi paused. “When are you proposing?”

Jin sighed. “I haven’t decided.  I’m not sure how to go about it.”

“If you do it soon you could get married in the summer.”

“Oh?  Are you that excited to have a stepmom?”

Hobi laughed. “I haven’t seen you this happy since Eomma left.  And we all like her.  Especially Kookie.  He acts like she’s really his mom already.”

“When did you get so mature?” Jin smiled, tears in his eyes.

The kitchen was silent for a few moments before Jin noticed something. “Where’s Joon?”

Hobi scratched his head. “He said he was meeting Macy at the library to study this afternoon.”

“Who’s Macy?”

“Ask him, not me.”

——————–

Chaeha came over for dinner the next evening.  Kookie was practically climbing her leg the moment she entered the house.

“Did you miss me, Kookie?”

“Yeah.”

Chaeha laughed. “You just saw me three hours ago.”

“I still missed you, Eomma.”

Chaeha let out an audible gasp before laughing softly.  She glanced up at Jin, who had just entered the room.  He also had a surprised look on his face, but neither of them questioned Kookie.

“Do you know what’s for dinner tonight?” Chaeha asked as she picked him up.

“Joon said we’re making grilled chicken.”

“Did he?  It sounds good!”

Kookie grinned. “Let’s go to the kitchen!”

——————–

After dinner, Jin elected that he and Chaeha go on a walk.  Kookie, of course, wanted to come with, but Joon was quick to grab him.

“Kookie, how about we make some brownies while Appa and Ms. Jung are gone?”

“But I wanna go with them.” Kookie frowned.

“I know, but sometimes adults need time alone, ok?”

Kookie nodded, still pouting.

“Let’s go back to the kitchen now.” Joon picked Kookie up and carried him out to the kitchen, where the other three boys had already heard ‘brownies’ and were gathering the ingredients.

——————–

“Kookie looked so disappointed that we were leaving him behind,” Chaeha laughed as she and Jin walked.

“He’ll be ok,” Jin assured her.

“Are we going to the lake?”

“Yup.  It’s the best place to see the sunset from.”

“Ah, we should’ve brought the boys, then.”

Jin laughed. “Do you not want some alone time with me?”

“Of course, I do, silly.  I just meant they would probably like to see it.”

“We can bring them another time.”

They continued walking in silence, their linked hands swinging between them.  Once they got to the lake, they quickly found a bench to sit on to watch the sunset.  A gentle breeze floated through the air, causing both of them to shiver slightly.

“The trees are so pretty,” Chaeha commented, pointing at one of the blooming trees nearby.

Jin nodded. “It’s been almost a year since we first came here.”

“Has it?  Already?  I could’ve sworn that was just yesterday.”

“Time flies,” Jin smiled.

“Time always flies when I’m with you.  You know, my life was pretty boring until the day you walked into my classroom.”

“Oh, really?  Nothing of interest at all before that?”

“Nope.  Being a preschool teacher is a twenty-four seven job.  Not much room to do anything interesting.”

“That’s all right.  You have me now.”

Chaeha laughed. “You and three tiny boys competing for my attention.”

A comfortable silence came after that comment, the wind ruffling their hair as they watched the sky turn from blue to purple.  Jin let out a long breath.

“Chaeha?”

She turned her gaze away from the painted sky to look up at him.

“Will you marry me?”

Her eyes widened. “What?” she asked, not sure she’d heard him right.

“This isn’t how I planned to ask…and I left the ring at home, but I really want to marry you.” He paused, not sure what else to say.

Chaeha grinned suddenly. “Yes, Jin, I’ll marry you.”

“Really?” he asked, a shy smile on his face.

“Of course.  I was wondering how long it would take you to ask.”

He laughed and bent down to brush his lips across hers.

“Let’s get married tomorrow,” Chaeha joked softly.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself.  Let’s wait till summer.  We’ll have more time to plan then.”

——————–

The two of them practically skipped home, looking more like two teenagers than the adults that they were.  The second they entered the front door, Kookie was sprinting out of the kitchen to greet them.

“You’re home!” he grinned. “We made brownies!”

“Oh, did you?” Jin asked. “How about you go back to the kitchen.  We’ll be there in a minute.”

Once Kookie was back in the kitchen, Jin whispered, “I’ll go get the ring.”

A minute later he was sliding it onto her finger.

“Oh, Jin, it’s beautiful.”

It was a simple ring.  A small, diamond heart sitting on a silver band.

“How’d you know my ring size?” She asked.

“My children are detectives, didn’t you know?”

And then she remembered.  About a month ago, Tae had run up to her with a string in his hand and exclaimed, “Ms. Jung!  Look!  I found this green string!  It’ll look pretty on your finger.”

Then he’d insisted it had to go on her left ring finger.  She hadn’t questioned it.  Kids were strange sometimes.  He’d taken the string back before she’d left.  He’d wiggled it off her finger at some point that evening, but she wasn’t sure when.

“You’re sneaky.  You put Tae up to the task, didn’t you?”

“That I did,” Jin smiled.

——————–

The brownies were finally cool ten minutes later.  Everyone was sitting in the living room eating them when something occurred to Jin.

“Hey, Joon, who’s Macy?”