Today, Ryujin says it's just gonna be the three of us. Karina and Travis borrowed a car from the Shin's so they're going somewhere.
We're getting ready to leave. "Are we going somewhere far?" I ask.
"No. It's only about a 35 minute drive. 40 tops" Ryujin says.
She picks up Eva and we leave the house. She opens the door for me and I get in. She closes it then put Eva in her car seat and get her all buckled up. I'm really excited that it's just the three of us because it's like our first family outing. I know I'm getting ahead of myself since we're just girlfriends but I love this feeling of being with her.
Ryujin gets in the truck and starts it. She looks at me, "You ready?" She smiles and I nod. She starts driving as I look around. There's really not a lot here. There's just houses, trees, barns and farm animals. No tall buildings, literally a country life but they also live near a lake so a lake country life?
It's actually crazy how you could drive on the same road and it's full of farm fields and animals but if you drive ten more minutes on that same road, you'll see lake houses.
After about half an hour, we enter a small town and it looks like there's some sort of festival happening. I look at her and she's focus on driving since there's a lot of people walking around.
She finds a parking spot and shuts off the engine. "Where are we?" I ask.
"It's called an apple-umpkin festival. Every year this town has it and they sell apple treats and pumpkin treats and all sorts of other things related to apples and pumpkins. Since Apple cider and pumpkins correlates with the autumn season" Ryujin explains.
"I thought maybe it would be nice to take you and Eva out to just enjoy the day. Buy and eat food, they have different things for kids too like face painting and simple rides and games" she continues.
"Why didn't we take Gabe then?" I ask.
"I wanted to focus on you and Eva. Rosé and Lisa are gonna take him tomorrow."
We get out of the truck and she takes out a wagon from the back. She lays down a blanket and small pillow on it. I take Eva from her car seat. As I shut the door, Ryujin walks up to us while pulling the wagon.
"Eva can sit here so we don't have to carry her the whole time. It should be comfortable. It's big enough that if you decide to buy anything, we can just put it in the wagon with Eva" she stands there looking so proud of her wagon.I smile at her, "That's a nice wagon" I say.
"Thank you. I built it myself" She says showing me her whisker smile.
"You're good with your hands huh?" I raise a brow.
"You know it she winks at me.
I shake my head chuckling as I put Eva on the wagon, I cover her with another blanket to make sure she stays warm.
We start walking around and this festival is actually pretty big. There's a lot of people with their families, laughing, eating and just enjoying each other's company.
I hold Ryujin's free hand because her other hand is busy pulling the wagon. I occasionally look behind us to make sure Eva is doing okay.
We stop at a food stand that sell apple crisp and warm apple cider. We give Eva some apple crisp and water while the apple cider cools down a bit.
"This is wonderful" I say to Ryujin while we keep walking.
She takes a sip from her cider. "I'm glad you like it. It's nothing fancy and it's pretty chill, not very exciting so I was worried you would he bored she says.
"I love it. I think Eva does too. She keeps pointing at the cool things she's seeing and eating her snacks. You've done more with her than lana ever has in the two years he was with her" I say.
"Ryujin?" I hear someone say from the side.
Ryujin looks to see who it is and she smiles. The person walks towards us and she looks like she's about in her late twenties? Farly thirties?
"Ms. Peak?" Ryujin says smiling.
"It's nice to see you again. What have you been up to since you graduated?" The woman named Peak says.
"I've been working pretty much. How about you, Ms. Peak?" Ryujin smiles. I don't like that she's smiling so big in front of this woman. Who is this woman?
"Please stop calling me Ms. Peak, just Cassie since you're not my student anymore" she places a strand of her hair behind her ear and for some I wanted to rip off her ear using her hair.
Ryujin laughs at that statement. What's so funny about it?
"This is my girlfriend, Yeji and her daughter, Eva" Ryujin finally introduces me. "And this is Cassie or Ms. Peak, she was my geometry teacher" Ryujin introduces her.
I give her a fake smile and shake her hand. I can tell she did the same with me.
"Ryujin here was my top student. She made my first year of teaching not become such a mess" Cassie laughs while looking at Ryujin with endearing eyes. Does Ryujin not realize this old woman is flirting with her?
"It wasn't so bad except when she wore a shirt that had a calculator but it spelled boobies with the numbers" Ryujin shares the story with me and I pretend to laugh. I mean it is funny but I'm not about to enjoy it because it's about that woman.
I would be more jealous right now but Ryujin hasn't let go of my hand so I'm okay for now.
"Dating someone with a child, I didn't expect that from you" Cassie chuckles.
I don't think Ryujin liked that because her expression went from cheerful to annoyed in a millisecond.
"What do you mean by that?" Ryujin seriously ask.
Cassie must have notice the change in her tone because she starts stuttering. "I mean you're so young. You have your whole life ahead of you. Go to parties, meer other women and just have fun before you settle down with someone with a kid."
"Youth is not always about partying and experimenting. If thats what people want to do then good for them but this is what I want to do with my life. I'm ready to settle down, I've been ready. I don't appreciate you saying that in front of my girlfriend and her child. It was nice seeing you, Ms. Peak. Enjoy the rest of the festival Ryujin says before pulling us away from the stunned woman.
I appreciate what Ryujin said but a part of me started thinking maybe one day Ryujin will regret settling down so early. Maybe one day she will wake up, feeling like she's stuck to us.
"Hey, I know that face. Don't mind what she said. I want to be with you and Iva okay? I love you" She reassures me.
"I love you too" I smile at her.
We continue enjoying the rest of the festival until we start to feel hungry. There's a nearby restaurant so we went back to the truck and put the wagon along with the other stuff we got away then we walk to restaurant.
We eat our dinner happily and have pleasant conversations with each other. Eva would tell her stories and we try our best to understand what she's saying. When it comes to taking care of Eva in public, Ryujin does most of the work such as changing diapers, making sure she's hydrated and such.
I'm so used to doing everything alone that I feel so useless sometimes with Ryujin always helping. I don't blame Ryujin though. I'm thankful for her. I didn't realize how much I struggled doing everything by myself when Dana and I would go out with Eva.
I remember when I could finally go home from the hospital. Dana didn't help carry the baby carrier and the diaper bag. I've just given birth and I wasn't supposed to be carrying heavy things but I had no choice.
"What's wrong?" Ryujin ask while we get ready to leave.
"I just feel lucky to have you" I say.
"Why?"
"Because you take care of us so well. I don't remember actually enjoying an outing before. I was always so focused on making sure Eva is okay and that I have all her stuff with her bag while Dana just enjoys everything" I say.
"He doesn't deserve you two. I will do my best to always take care of you" She stands up and picks up Eva. I stand up and we leave the restaurant to go back to her truck.
On the drive home, Eva fell asleep. Probably tired from all the people being around her. Ryujin changes her diaper and wipes her down since we didn't want to wake her up for a bath.
Ryujin and I wash up then watch a bit of TV before going to bed. Today is probably one of my best days aside from that Peak lady but I'm choosing to forget her.