nevertheless || yuzuru hanyu

twenty-eight - part of the calm, dawn of the storm

With a day full of work, Gabriella and Mr. Lee sat on the couch together at the same time as the scents of the dishes they prepared circled the house. The odor was pleasant. It made the house feel like home.

More than the food preparations, they also began to warm up the area through the heater.  As the sun was starting to set, the atmosphere became colder, and they thought that it will be more comfortable for everyone if they ate where the temperature is balanced.

Now, all that was left was to wait. However, it didn't last too long, because only a few minutes passed until someone came knocking at the front door.

Despite the exhaustion from all the preparation, Gabriella's face lit up at the sound of heavy wood. Immediately, she stood up from the couch and ran towards the door.

From the way the person was knocking, she could immediately tell that it was her mom. She had that distinct way of knocking. It wasn't too soft, and it wasn't too loud. It always followed a very particular beat, as if it was the movement of her hands that she was comfortable with.

With that, Gabriella opened the door with a welcoming beam on her face. The short moment of opening the door for her parents somehow felt so nostalgic.

It brought her so much happiness to be letting her parents in with a vibrant emotion, rather than the gloomy way that she would greet them when they came home three months ago.

"Finally! I thought you guys would be home earlier." Gabriella said as she welcomed them with an embrace.

"We stopped by the convenience store for a few minutes. We got the ice cream and the yogurt drink you like." Her father raised a plastic bag as he replied.

Gabriella's face grew in interest as she gently took the plastic bag from her father's hands. "Let's eat these after we have dinner!" She exclaimed as she happily ushered her parents to the dining room.

The first thing they saw was the table filled with food, they were enticed by the smell and appearance of the dishes, but they still found a reason to pick at their daughter.

"This child. I told you I was going to cook you dinner." Gabriella's mother uttered, pretending as though she wasn't that attracted by the food.

Gabriella laughed because in some way. She expected this reaction. "You can cook for me tomorrow or even the day after that, but since I just came back, I prompted myself to cook." She explained.

Her mom crossed her arms and pretended to look upset, "These better be good." She said as she went towards her room. Behind her, Gabriella's father followed. He gave Gabriella a look of assurance, something that when translated to word form indicates, 'She's just joking around, don't worry.'

Gabriella smiled at him and lifted three of her fingers to tell him that it was fine, especially as her mom does this every time

"Come down immediately after you clean up, okay? We shouldn't let the precious food wait." Gabriella spoke, her voice gradually getting louder as her mom continued walking away.

Just as her parents went upstairs, Gabriella got a call on her phone. She had initially thought that it was Yuzuru, however, it was a call from the hospital informing her to pick up her medical certificate by tomorrow afternoon and come in for a short consultation. The call was a quick one, she had thought nothing of it at that moment, especially as this was just normal to her, and there were more important things on her mind.