All Too New (1/2)

Jennie crossed her arms. Her back leaned on the kitchen counter that was full of groceries yet to be put in the fridge. She remembered shopping for them before she came home, and when she read Lisa's texts, her full attention was on her daughter.

"Nancy? That's the only name you can give me?" Her brows furrowed.

Lisa looked like she was trying. "It was the only thing on her nametag."

The wife look displeased and unsatisfied. "Nametag, Lisa, really? Those are for the kids to read, not adults like you." She shifted her gaze to think. "I need her name, full name. Perhaps her address. What does she look like?"

"You're scaring me babe, you sound like you wanna murder her."

"To hell, I'd murder her in court!" Jennie growled. Her arms were still crossed. She wore a black turtle neck and long sleeve that highlighted the small frame of her body. Despite the petiteness though, Lisa knew better than to mistake her wife as easily swayed by other people.

"W-Wait, you're taking it to court?" The blonde stammered.

Jennie looked at her. "Yeah, I mean.. You did say you wanted to call your lawyer."

Lisa blinked. "That was only to scare her, Jen. I just wanted her to give Ruby a chance..."

"So do I." She smiled. "In court."

The couple was getting annoyed with each other's conflicting views on the situation. Jennie felt hurt that her daughter was made victim of the pointless act of bullying and the fact that the teacher, an adult who was involved, was brainwashed to be biased on the other's side aggravated her.

Lisa felt the same. In all ways, she also felt hurt and angry which was why she couldn't control herself in front of Nancy. But she didn't want to take the whole thing into court, make a case out of it. That costs time, effort, and money.

Lisa always wanted money on the family's side. She figured that yeah, the current school was unfair and unfit for her daughter to stay. But that's it. You could solve it by enrolling Ruby into another school, a better one.

That way, they'd only pay cash for one thing. The new school.

"My god, that's what you're only thinking about!?" Jennie raised her voice, shocked at how obssessed her wife was with money. "This is my daughter, our daughter. She's not getting any younger, Lisa. She's going to grow up confused with why she got bullied in the first place if we don't show her what happens, what should happen to people like that... that boy."

"Taehyun."

"Poor creature."

Lisa held Jennie's hands softly. Their fingers intertwined immediately, a simple form of warmth they do rarely but still manages to soothe them. "It's not just the money, Jen, okay? I swear..."

The brunette looked at their hands.

"I love you, I love Ruby. I love you both so much so I just can't let you fight this..." She rubbed her thumb on their fingers that carried their wedding rings. "It's not about the money, hon... I don't think Ruby's prepared for it either..."

The women got up from the counter because Lisa was already leaning into her wife's body. They peaked their heads over the kitchen wall that was right next to the stairs and across the dining room.

There, alone on the table. Ruby sat quietly with her legs dangling from her seat. She had the typical clumsy manners of a toddler when it came to eating. Dropping her food on the plate, trying to use the fork to pick it up only to hit the porcelain so she opted using her hands to shove the food right in her mouth.

Jennie's heart melted at the sight of her daughter standing up on her seat so she could reach for the extra mashed potatoes on the table.

Lisa saw this and squeezed her wife's hand tighter. Ruby was both of their treasure, their gem of love. She took Jennie's hand up to her lips and kissed them gently where her diamond wedding ring grazed her cheek.

"Okay?" Lisa leaned in and kissed Jennie on the temple while the other girl was still watching over the child. When there was no reaction, she kissed Jennie again on the forehead. And again. Again and again until her wife giggled and pushed her off.

"Jagi, Lisa..." She pouted. "Stop..."

There was a sharp sound of metal ringing. "Mommy!"

Jennie's senses were immediately triggered when she heard Ruby's voice. She quickly pushed herself off the counter and rushed to the table where her daughter was still standing on her chair. "Baby?"

Ruby quivered in fear and curved her body. She whined at something on the floor.

Jennie scurried to her daughter's side and hugged her. "Baby, are you okay? What's wrong?" She cupped her cheek.

Ruby extended her arm and pointed her finger at something black on the floor. The duo turned their heads and dreaded at the sight of fairly big for its species, eight legged creature. The spider was fast to crawl all over the spoon Ruby dropped earlier.

Jennie shrieked when it made a move for the chair. "Eeeeek! Lisa-yah!" She screamed.

"What!?" The blonde came rushing in from washing her face in the kitchen.

"Kill it, kill it, kill it!" Jennie repeated while lifting Ruby off the chair and carrying her away from the thing as far as possible like it was a matter of life and death.

"AAAAAH!" Lisa was also scared of spiders and bugs. Turned out everyone in the family was scared of creepy crawlers. The blonde had no choice but to step up to the act since her wife and child were also scared of it. "Jennie, where are your slippers!?"

Jennie had retreated to the living room, standing on the couch with a big Ruby clinging to her body like a koala. "I don't have slippers, hit it with the broom!"

Lisa opted for throwing the fake fruits from the centerpiece. "WHAT!" She threw an apple made of styrofoam. "You're a very Asian mom, hon, and you're telling me you don't have slippers!?"

"DON'T YOU DARE USE MY CHANEL SLIPPERS!" Jennie shouted back, balancing a crying Ruby on her body.

Lisa continued to hit it with whatever items she could grab onto except for the plates. "AHHH!!" The spider continued to follow her after being thrown the wooden basket centerpiece on the table. That was the last thing Lisa could throw.

The blonde looked around for anything else. Without thinking, she grabbed Ruby's small kiddie sized cup and spilled the contents on the table for her to use.

The spider was fast approaching but with expert timing, Lisa slammed the cup on top of it and made a trap. "I got it!" She heaved.

Jennie held Ruby's head to her chest. "Get it out!"

Lisa panicked to grab a random piece of paper lying near one of Jennie's bags on the chair. She folded the material thrice, slim enough for her to slip it under the cup and trap the spider inside.

Ruby peaked out from Jennie's chest. "Mommy?"

"Lisa, put it outside." The brunette ignored her.

Once the blonde had a good grip on the cup and paper beneath it, she carefully carried those objects in place while rushing out of the house.

The door closed and Jennie heaved a sigh of relief. She stopped pressing Ruby's head on her chest and set the child down on the couch. Both were scared and had their blood rushing quickly a few seconds ago. Now, the mother and child looked at each other after the scene was declared safe.

Jennie let out a laugh and stroked her daughter's hair. "Your mom will take care of that..."

Ruby giggled when she saw how panicked Jennie was. "You look funny, Mommy.." Her forehead touched with Jennie's because the brunette was leaning down to regain her strength.

"Yah, Ruby... Don't ever let those things touch you, okay?" Jennie giggled. "They're nasty and they can bite you."

"I wish you and Lisa can be in my school to protect me like that." Ruby looked dead straight into her mother's eyes.

Jennie felt her world pause in a worrying way. "W-Wh... Why, what do you mean?"

The girl looked down. "From Taehyun..."

The brunette sighed and plopped herself on the available seat next to her. She put an arm around the smaller girl and pulled her closer sideways. "Darling, do you know what bullies are?"

Ruby shook her head. "I... No... I hear you and Lisa say it sometimes. And I also asked Yeonjun what he thinks 'coz he's so smart... but he says he doesn't know." She finished sounding disappointed.

Jennie stroked her hair. "Bullies are people who do bad things to you. Over and over again because they feel good when they make you feel bad."

The girl blinked. "Is that what Taehyun is, Mommy?"

"Yup." Jennie didn't want to sugarcoat it. "And they rarely stop."

Lisa came running back into the house and closing the door shut. Just for safety although it was completely unecessary, she locked the door and barricaded it with a small chair.

Her chest heaved from panic at the fact that a spider was sitting on her palm and only a thin piece of bond paper was separating it from touching her skin.

She shivered at the thought and made her way to the dining room where the styrofoam fruits from the centerpiece were scattered. Sighing, she started picking them up before grabbing tissue to wipe the mess on the table.

"You understand?" A voice stopped her.

Lisa walked to the wide pathway that connected the dining and living area. There, she peaked her head around the shelves to see her wife and daughter sitting together comfortably on the couch.

Her heart melted when she saw Ruby resting her head peacefully on Jennie's arm while she listened to her mother's words.

"Yes, Mommy..." Ruby's voice will forever be the most wholesome thing she heard.

"You know... there's another school a bit farther from yours." Jennie spoke. "I heard it's bigger and prettier. Do you want to go there?"

The smaller girl looked up, worry written on her face. Ruby has always been a curious child and almost everything that seemed new to her caught her interest. But now... the mention of a new school did not... excite her the way other things did.

She was curious of what her mother was talking about but why did she not feel a pull toward this new school? It even served as an opportunity for her to get far away from Taehyun. But maybe that was it.

She felt like she'd be running away. Why did running away feel so... sad?

The toddler couldn't express how she felt to her mom. There were so many thoughts circling in her head, talking to her all at once like they were each trying to control her. Ruby felt caged. She did not like it.

Impressively, she was able to think of something else to say to her mom. The goal was to stay in her current school no matter what. That's what her insides were telling her. "B-But what about Yeonjun? He's my friend, Mommy..."

Jennie tucked some hair behind her ear and cooed. "Yeonjun can go if his parents choose to. But if not, we won't have a choice, darling. We can always find another school if you don't like that one."

No, Ruby thought. Her mom was sending her away. She did not want to be away. She had a strange sentimental grip on the school like it was her home and she belonged there.

It all felt so... what was the word Yeonjun used? Sophisticated. Ruby was confused with her own thoughts that she had no idea what to say. Or how to say it in such a way that Jennie would understand.

"Okay, Mama..." so she took the offer without saying anything about how she felt.

~

"Alright, watch your step." Lisa held the door of the entrance wide enough with her foot while she carried the rest of the stuff.

Her wife Jennie was holding her daughter's hand while they took baby steps down the stairs. She figured she'd help Ruby by putting some of the toddler's dolls in her handbag so her backpack wouldn't be heavy.

Once out, Lisa removed her foot from the panel and balanced her handbag and the numerous ballerina outfits her daughter kept in the changing room.

The small family was walking out of the building for the last time since they wouldn't need to come back here anymore. Come next week, Ruby would be in a new school, leaving Taehyun and all the bad memories behind.

Lisa was proud of the change in her daughter's life. She observed carefully for any changes in behavior in case the girl was going through something.

Jennie unlocked the car with a press of the button. "Lisa, can you put those in the back?"

The blonde went straight for it. "Yup, I got it."

The brunette went around the vehicle and pulled the door open. Their car was too big for Ruby to get in by herself so she had to carry her body and set her on the seat nice and safely. Jennie smiled when her daughter sat down obediently and was about to close the door.

"Wait," The girl stopped. "A-Are you sure we didn't leave anything..?" She asked innocently.

Jennie rolled her eyes. "I don't think so, darling. You have three dolls right? Two Barbies and one Ken." She pulled them out of her bag for the toddler to see.