A gentle breeze playfully tickled the bare feet of a man and woman sitting on a red checkered picnic blanket with white lines. The lake water reflected the sunlight, but neither of them took their eyes off their children.
Their twin daughters were busy taking pictures with the flower garden and the little wild grass in the right corner. Their son burst into laughter whenever he managed to throw a small pebble into the lake. And the man felt the warm touch of his wife's head against his shoulder.
His lips quickly landed a kiss on his wife's forehead just as their son came running back, making the woman turn toward him in sudden confusion. Babe, she couldn't hit him.
"Mom!"
Her little boy came barreling into her embrace, his wide-open grin revealing a row of chocolate-covered teeth.
"I want more chocolate, Mom!" He squinted as he grinned.
"Y-you want more chocolate?" Look at him—he was still stammering.
"More? Really?" Her husband reached for their son and sat him on his lap. His brow furrowed as he stared intently at the boy.
"Oh, look at you. Even your cheeks are eating the chocolate. Try counting how many wrappers you've opened."
Their son handed over a small piece of chocolate's leftover foil.
"Where's the rest, sweetheart?" His mother joined in.
With his lips stretched into a grin, he gathered the foil wrappers near his hat. His mother marked them so they wouldn't get mixed up with his older siblings'.
"Here, Dad!" He sat with his legs stretched out slightly apart. Several foil wrappers had collected between them.
"All right, now count how many there are." The couple pressed their lips together, holding back their fond amusement as they watched their son lower his head, his tiny pillow-like fingers separating the pile of chocolate wrappers.
"One ... two ... three ...." His mother added the wrapper their son had handed her earlier.
"Four. That's four. That's enough." His father concluded, raising both eyebrows.
As if he couldn't believe it, their son counted his little wrappers again. Then he fell silent. His chocolate-covered teeth closed tightly. His gaze lifted slightly toward his mother. The little boy's chubby cheeks looked ready to spill over.
"I seem to remember you nodding this morning when I said you could only have four chocolates, didn't I?" The woman even closed her eyes before answering. She had to be firm. Too much sugar would make her child hyperactive. His knees would end up bruised purple again later.
And of course, storm clouds seemed to instantly gather over their little boy's face.
"Dad ...!"
Their twin daughters came over, bringing another problem after their son. Unlike the last time their parents had seen them, the younger sister now had a gloomy expression.
"I took a really good picture of Sis, and when it was my turn, the picture came out terrible, Dad! I asked her to take another one, but she wouldn't," the younger girl complained, her hair fluttering in the breeze.
"It's a good picture, you know!"
"It's terrible, Sis!"
"Bu—"
"You said you were working late, so why are you here right now?"
A booming voice suddenly cut off the older sister's reply. The family immediately turned toward a woman standing in front of a man who had been sitting with another woman beside him. The park bench was very close to the garden where the twins had been taking pictures.
Of course, they weren't the only ones watching. Nearly every visitor at the lake was staring at the three of them.
The atmosphere grew tense, and the gentle breeze seemed to stop blowing. The man stood up, rubbing his face. He answered the woman in front of him while touching her shoulder, only for her to immediately brush his hand away.
"I came here because the kids wanted to get out of the house. You, on the other hand, said you were working late at the office. Why are you here?"
Their voices grew louder. The father quickly told his twin daughters to sit down for a moment. He turned toward his wife, who stood frozen, staring straight at the three people. Her chest rose and fell slowly. Her hand clenched the back of their son.
Slowly, he reached out and rubbed his wife's shoulder, which was trembling slightly. She even jerked in surprise, so lost in her thoughts.
"Are you okay?" The moment she came to, her eyes met her husband's.
She nodded a little shakily.
Her husband was about to leave, but one of the visitors had already stepped in to separate them. The three people eventually left, and the tension began to ease.
"All right, come here. I'll take another picture of you, Sis. But after this, we're going home, okay, Dad? It's hot." The father nodded with a tight smile. The twins ran back to the garden.
The man returned to his wife, who was still silent.
Meanwhile, his wife held the center of her chest. Her heartbeat was still erratic.
Their twin daughters had been dropped off at school, their son had met his daycare teacher, and the shopping list they'd made after discovering the empty refrigerator filled the wife's phone screen. She sorted through the items on the supermarket shelves while her husband pushed the cart.
"That chocolate sweet-potato cake you made the other day was amazing," her husband remarked when they reached the baking section. The comment made her cheeks itch, and she raised one eyebrow while holding back a smile.
"Was it good, Babe?"
It was a habit the woman still kept even after ten years of marriage. When the two of them were alone, they never addressed each other as parents.
Her husband nodded firmly. "Make it again, Babe. It'll be a nice snack so the kids don't have to buy weird stuff outside."
Her nose nearly rose into the air. She finally giggled. "Okay, Babe." She picked up two chocolate bars from the brand she'd used the day before.
"Your nuggets and homemade sausages are gone too. Just make some more."
"In that case, Babe, go to the meat section, okay? Get some chicken thighs and filleted breasts."
Her husband nodded. He adjusted the hat he was wearing. "How many grams?"
"Five hundred grams of each," his wife replied, still fixated on the brand of flour on the shelf. Her eyes lit up when she saw the price tag had been marked down. When she turned around with a bag of flour, she let out a startled cry—the man was standing right in front of her.
"Why are you standing so close, Babe?" Her hand slowly pushed against the man's chest.
Her husband just grinned and pointed at the corner of her mouth. "You've got some ice cream left right there."
Her fingers quickly wiped away the ice cream as her husband's face drew closer. She would have frozen if he kissed her here. Even though it was Monday, there weren't many people shopping.
"You really are something, Babe. Go get the fillets, ugh!" She pouted to hold back a laugh and lightly smacked the man's solid shoulder.
The woman finally exhaled, steadying her heartbeat. Somehow, the fifty-year-old man always managed to leave her helpless. At last, she smiled fully, letting out everything she'd been holding back.
She moved to another section to check off the items still missing from their cart.
"You really trust that man, don't you?"
Her hands stopped sorting. A familiar voice caught her ear. Without hesitation, she turned around.
A woman with long reddish hair stood with her arms crossed over her chest. She wore a sharp, sardonic smile.
The woman fell silent as she stared at her. Then she went back to sorting through the items without looking at her again. This made the red-haired woman tighten her arms across her chest.
"What makes you stay with that old man, anyway? Even I, whose age isn't as far from yours as his is, would think twice before marrying him."