The rain was coming down in a steady stream, catching two figures in the middle of the shower. A woman holding a baby blue umbrella was following in the footsteps of a young girl, her little pink boots splashing enthusiastically in every puddle they came across. She was also wearing a matching pink raincoat and a pink hat that had two eyes resembling a frog's poking out from the top.
"C'mon, Lily, we're almost home," the woman prompted, walking ahead as their home became visible through the fog. Her name was Anne Boonchuoy, and she was walking her daughter Lily home from her third day of preschool. Her impossibly curly hair was pulled back in a large bun, and she was wearing a deep red longcoat made for the weather. Reaching the front door, she pulled Lily along by her small hand, ushering her through the door first before she closed the umbrella and maneuvered her way inside. When she turned around, she saw Lily standing in the hall, dripping onto the wooden floor, and in front of Lily was the smiling face of Anne's wife.
"Hey, babygirl! How was school?"' Sasha inquired, crouching down so she could help the girl out of her raincoat.
"Do you want to tell mommy what you did?" Anne said to her, her voice oddly stern.
"I brought a frog for show-and-tell!"
"And then?"
"And then I let him go!"
"In the classroom?" Sasha asked suspiciously.
"In the classroom," Anne confirmed with a sigh. Lily had been helped out of her rubber boots, and she now skipped happily into the kitchen, looking for her afternoon snack. The blonde observed the pink froggy-print boots for a moment before leaving them by the front door.
"Her thing with frogs comes from you, you know," Sasha told Anne, a smirk on her lips. Her wife rolled her eyes in response, hanging Lily's coat on a hook just beside her boots.
"Ms. Knudsen wants at least one of us to stay tomorrow to talk about today's incident."
"Not it," Sasha said quickly, tapping her nose with a finger. The teasing smile hadn't left her lips, and Anne had the sudden urge to kiss it right off her smug face.
"Mooom!"
Anne and Sasha broke eye contact long enough to see a boy with jet-black hair and intelligent green eyes marching towards them. He was clutching a Joycon in either hand.
"Mom! MarMar keeps telling me to 'get good scrub!'"
Anne snorted, covering her mouth with her hand in a half-hearted attempt to hide her amusement. Sasha's head snapped back, glaring at her.
"I am not!" A voice echoed from their living room. A moment later, Marcy's head appeared from around the doorframe. "At least, I don't mean to. Sometimes the gamer mouth just slips out!" Sasha did not look amused, her hands falling to her hips.
"Marcy, don't call Benji a scrub."
Anne had officially given up on trying to suppress her laughter. Marcy was pouting, trying to earn sympathy from at least one of her wives. Sasha was completely stoic, evidently not finding the humor in this situation. Finally, the gamer wife relented.
"Fine. You're lucky your mom spoils you, Benj."
"I do not spoil him!" Sasha protested. "You're not spoiled, are you, my beautiful little prince?" She cooed, pinching his cheeks. He groaned and pushed her hands away. Marcy snickered and ruffled Benji's hair. Lily returned from the kitchen, a chocolate chip cookie clenched in one fist.
"Hi, Lily Billy!" Marcy chirped, scooping her up and twirling her around. The little girl giggled with delight, her arms wrapping around her mother's neck. "Do you want to come play Mario Party with us?"
"Marbles, she doesn't know how to play Mario Party," Anne said bemusedly.
"Yeah, but she doesn't know that!" Lily didn't seem to be paying attention, munching happily on her cookie. Marcy leaned closer to Anne, her nose bumping against the Thai girl's ear.
"I just let her hold the controller while the AI plays itself," She whispered, and Anne chuckled.
"Right." She reached out her arms, and Marcy relinquished Lily to her other mother. "Well, I'll play with you guys as long as you promise not to call me a scrub." The smaller girl blushed as Anne pecked her affectionately on the cheek.
"I'm going to take a break. I need to feed Grizzle his dinner," Benji chimed in. As he left for his room, Lily began to squirm in Anne's arms. She set the girl down and watched as she waddled after her brother. Sasha returned from the kitchen, munching on a cookie of her own and casually putting an arm around Anne's shoulder.
"I made these from scratch, by the way." She offered the treat to Anne, who took a bite, humming her approval. As far as cooking was concerned, Anne was the most skilled out of the three, but Sasha was a very talented baker. She kissed the blonde enthusiastically, giving her the credit she clearly wanted (and rightfully deserved).
"Amazing as always, Sash." The woman in question put on a passive face, attempting to hide her delight despite the red creeping up her neck.
"Psh, yeah. Obvi."
"Aww, I want kisses too!" Marcy exclaimed, wriggling her way in between her two wives. They happily obliged, peppering the shorter girl's face with smooches. When Anne heard approaching footsteps, she pulled away and put her arms around them both, her head lolling onto Sasha's shoulder.
Benji was carrying a sizable plastic tub out in front of him, and Lily was trailing close behind. In her little hands was cupped a small styrofoam bowl sealed with a lid. Marcy slipped out from Anne's hold to help her son with the tub. His hands free, Benji reached into his pocket and retrieved a pair of tweezers.
"Lily, do you wanna help feed Grizzle?" He asked, picking something out of the container with the tweezers. It was a large, wriggling grub.
"Yes!" Lily eagerly wrapped her smaller hand around Benji's as they both reached into the tub. Before their eyes, the grub disappeared quickly, snatched away by a fat, brown toad.
Benji's pet downed a few more bugs before he and Lily stroked the toad's head affectionately with a finger. Sasha felt an elbow nudging into her side as she looked on.
"His thing with toads comes from you, you know," Anne said to her, grinning widely.
"Shut it, Anne."
After returning the toad to its tank in Benji's room, the family settled down together in front of the television. Anne was curled up on the couch, browsing her phone for dinner plans. Sasha was sitting beside her, with Lily snuggled in her lap. She was watching the screen intently as the blonde held a Joycon out in front of her, playing the game for her. Unbeknownst to the toddler, Sasha was getting crushed.
"Ugh, not fair, Marcy!" She was yelling as her wife cackled evilly. She had just stomped on Sasha's head, leaving her to be mowed down by an incoming Bullet Bill. Her and Benji were seated on bean bag chairs surrounding the couch, and they were concentrating hard on their mad dash to the finish.
Admitting defeat, Sasha gave Lily the controller, then turned to her other wife.
"What are you making tonight?"
"I was thinking of chicken fried rice. I should have enough leftover ingredients to make it. Wanna help?"
"Sure." Sasha shifted, allowing Lily to crawl off her lap before she stood up, offering her hand to Anne. Fingers interlocked, the pair made their way into the kitchen.
They were used to this routine, of Anne and Sasha preparing dinner while Marcy entertained the kids. Sometimes they switched it up, usually when they wanted to give Anne a break or if Sasha was caught up at work with an important meeting. There were certain dishes that Marcy could make, and well, namely recipes she got from her extended family. However, her clumsiness and distractibility made her a bit unpredictable in the kitchen, so she was never left unsupervised.
Sasha was leaning against the counter, chewing on her bottom lip as she watched Anne rummage around for the ingredients. Anne would've teased her wife about not actually helping if she didn't recognize that look. Sasha was ruminating, trying to decide whether she truly wanted to say what was on her mind. It wasn't something she did often, but it was something she was working on, and Anne liked to allow her the time to think.
"Anne, do you think-" The woman in question emerged from the fridge, placing a few fresh vegetables on the counter.
"Hold that thought." She put one hand on the counter from across Sasha's body and leaned in, planting a firm kiss on her lips. The blonde sighed as she melted into her touch, and Anne could feel the curl of a smile against her mouth. When she pulled away, their foreheads connected lightly, and Anne's hands reached up to massage Sasha's shoulders.
"Sorry, you seemed tense. I just wanted to reassure you a little. What were you saying?" Sasha seemed to momentarily forget that, oh yeah, she planned on saying something just now. Anne returned to her vegetables, humming to herself, and Sasha tucked a few strands of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Do you think we would all still be together like this if we hadn't gone to Amphibia?" Anne's hand paused on the green onion she had been dicing.
"I don't know. Maybe. Does it matter?" The sound of her knife on the cutting board continued, unbothered.
"Probably not." Sasha made her way across the kitchen to help with the preparation, opting for mincing the garlic. "But I feel like we all changed a lot because of our time there. For better or for worse."
"No offense, Sash, but you're kind of stating the obvious here. Yeah, there were some good things and some not so good things. But despite everything, we stuck together. That's what's important." Anne swept her fresh-cut vegetables neatly into a waiting bowl. "You're not still feeling guilty about it, are you? After all this time?"
"No, of course not!" Sasha sighed, digging her fingers into an onion as she tentatively peeled off the skin. "Is what I would say, if I was the same person I was back then. Now I don't want to keep my feelings a secret from you guys. And I don't think I could ever fully forgive myself for what I did."
"Do you want to go back to couple's therapy?" Anne asked her seriously.
"What? No! I mean, not unless you want to. But no, I don't think we need to… do that again."
"Okay. So what do you need from us?"
"Nothing. I'll be fine, really." In the past, Anne would have raised a brow at that. Now, she had a good feeling Sasha was telling the truth. "I've just been thinking about Amphibia lately. Especially now with Benji and Lily asking so many questions about it. And with us keeping the stones hidden in our own backyard. Sometimes I wonder if we ever really forgot. And I wonder if… if we ever had the chance to go back, to see our old friends and show our kids something that no one else would ever experience, if we would."
Anne was silent for a long time after this. Sasha hadn't really expected a response, and she was actually relieved to focus on something mundane like making dinner rather than her own thoughts. It wasn't until they were both hovering over the wok, listening to the oil crackle from the heat, that one of them finally spoke up.
"I've thought about it too," Anne whispered. She stirred some garlic and onion into the pan with a wooden spatula, and Sasha could feel herself starting to drool over the aroma alone.
"But it's too dangerous. Amphibia is totally gorgeous, and I miss the Plantars with all my heart, but there's too much risk involved. Even with Andrias behind bars and the toads being reinstated as lawful protectors."
"Yeah. I agree." The wok was a job for one, so Sasha lingered behind Anne, her hands resting on her hips. Her chin was resting comfortably on her wife's shoulder.
"Mommy! Mama! I won!" Lily came bounding into the kitchen, clutching a Joycon to her chest. Benji and Marcy followed close behind, looking crestfallen.
"I knew I shouldn't have let her play Very Hard DK," Marcy grumbled.
"I'm so proud of you, sweetie!" Sasha praised. She peeled herself away from Anne to scoop up her daughter, dancing her around the kitchen.
"I'm starving," Benji spoke up, sitting himself down at the kitchen table.
"Dinner's nearly done," Anne called from over her shoulder. Sasha set Lily down in her own chair, and Marcy followed close behind, nearly tripping over the table leg as she moved to pull out a chair.
"Whoops!" She cried as Sasha managed to catch her, her arms tightening securely around her smaller wife's waist. Wide green eyes looked up at her with a mix of gratitude and love. A sound escaped Sasha that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, and she kissed Marcy tenderly.
Sasha watched as her wives and kids settled in for a family meal. Anne carried the steaming wok to the table and poured its contents onto a large serving platter. The smells and smiles and laughter that were shared around the table made her heart swell with adoration. In moments like these, Sasha realized that she was truly happy with the way everything had turned out. Amphibia was a life-changing experience, but it couldn't compare to how she felt now, in this room with the people she loved. It didn't matter whether they ended up in another world or on earth. Wherever her family was, she was home.