Heaven's Nectar

Marissa sighed as she walked out of the coffee shop two coffees and a juice box in hand, she shoved her money back into her pocket. After finally coming back to Korea after having Ashtyn she felt more at home then she had in years. Two years since she had been back, it gave her mom time to be with her first grand baby, and it gave her time to garner more job experience then she'd had before. Working for more pay now then she had been previously.

Minseok ran a hand through his hair, and rubbed his face tiredly. He had had a long day and he was finally getting some down time. He walked over to the coffee shop down the street from the dorm, he just wanted a cup before heading back to watch movies and take a nap. He narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to make sure he was seeing right. "Marissa?" He mouthed in disbelief. "Is that you?"

She stopped and looked at him with wide eyes, "Min..minseok?" she said softly her voice making her feel a thousand times smaller. She had hoped she could avoid seeing him for the time being but it seemed she had failed.

"What uh brings you out here?" she asked looking behind her hearing Ashtyn telling wild stories to her friend in korean.

He smiled a little, walking over to her with a grin. "I've missed you. I wondered where you went. It's been years, like 3- right? How have you been?" He asked, looking behind her as a little girl came and wrapped herself around her leg. "Who is this?" He asked with a small smile.

He looked up at the girl who had brought her over and smiled politely before smiling back at the girl.

He looked closer and froze, noticing her eyes.

His eyes.

He looked up in confusion, not knowing what to say.

---

I smiled at him and nodded, looking back at Ashtyn. She was telling me more about her dream, where unicorns ruled the world or something. I went over to Marissa, letting go of Ashtyn's hand so she could return to her mother, until I noticed she was talking to someone.

"Here is your juice," she said to her smiling a little as she put the straw in it for her then handed the soft drink to Jazmin before licking over her lips and looked at Minseok. "Ahm, this is Ashtyn," she said softly as she looked at her daughter, "This.. is going to sound bad but I was hoping to avoid this for a while," she whispered then looked at Jazmin. Her hands were shaking, and now she knew that it'd be out to the public - her daughter wouldn't be able to live in peace anymore.

I sighed a little, looking at Marissa. "Are you sure you want Ashtyn hearing this now? Do you want me to take her so you can talk?" I asked softly.

---

Xiumin looked at her in confusion. The little girl looked strikingly like him, but a lot like Marissa. They used to mess around, but he was confused.

She looked at her and licked over her lips before nodding a little,"Yeah, please," she said to her lightly as she rubbed her neck lightly. This was going to be harder than she had expected, how was she going to even begin.

"So, uhm if you haven't guessed already ... she is yours," she murmured to him lightly.

I pulled Ashtyn away, asking her to tell me more of her dreams. She didn't need to hear any of this yet.

---

He stared at her, stunned. "What? What do you mean? I go out for coffee and return with a daughter. Why didn't you tell me? I've missed 3 years of my daughter's life, Marissa. I wish I could have been a part of it." He ran a hand through his hair. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You know why, Minseok," she said to him softly as she looked at him, "You're at the peak of your career and this kind of scandal wouldn't do well for your career," she told him seriously, "I was trying to protect you," Marissa spoke honestly as she felt her eyes water, she hadn't meant to make him upset she was just trying to do what she thought was best.

He nodded a little, running a hand through his hair. "But that's my child, Marissa. My child. I've missed part of my childs life. I know you were trying to help, but look at it from my point of view here. You just vanished. Without a trace. I missed you." He said softly.

"I missed you too," she murmured softly as she rubbed her neck a little. She looked at him, "I know, okay.. I get what you're saying," she said to him, "I.. wish things had been different, I was scared. I already didn't know what I was doing, the only thought I had was.. I wanted to go home, and I knew what would happen with your job and your entire career.. they might have kicked you out of exo they still might this is what was g oing on in my head," she told him.

"I know, and I appreciate that. But I missed three years, on something that in the long run is more important than all of that. It's too late now, but I want to make up with it now. You could come back to my dorm with me, it should be mostly empty, and we can all hang out?" He asked softly.

She nodded a little, "Of course, I'll text Jazmin and we'll bring her to the dorm. Do you want her weekends or ... "She trailed off lightly not knowing exactly what he wanted. She highly doubted he wanted her, she was positive he only wanted anything to do Ashtyn. She couldn't blame him for that.

"I work four days a week, from seven in the morning til three in the afternoon but won't be home til a little after four," she told him as she texted Jazmin to bring her back.

I came back, carrying Ashtyn who was attempting to braid my hair. "Hi," I murmured, walking over to stand by them.

---

He nodded. "I want her any day I can have her. Any free day I want to be a part of her life. I know we can't exactly tell her I'm her dad yet, so we can come up with something else. But I want to be there as often as I can."

She nodded,"Of course," she said lightly as she licked over her lips, "Ashtyn, this is Minseok this is ummas friend," she said to her lightly to the three years old. She was exceptionally bright for a girl her age, she learned how to speak early and walk early, she knew both korean some chinese and english. Since Marissa knew chinese she figured why not put that in there as well, she was basically on a first grade level with everything except for math since she refused to even acknowledge the existence of numbers.

Minseok smiled at her and waved. "Hello, Ashtyn. It's really nice to meet you. I hope we can become really close friends soon." He said with a smile, feeling a pain in his heart from having to introduce himself to his own daughter.

---

I smiled a little sadly, putting her down again to speak for herself. She liked to explore, and sometimes if you didn't hold her, she was off exploring new worlds before you even realized it.

Marissa held back her tears and looked away from the situation, and wiped her eyes discreetly before nearly choking on air when she spoke.

"Hi," she smiled at him, "How come we've never met before?" she asked holding her hand out to him. Marissa knew she should have expected this, her daughter was blunt and didn't hold back. It didn't make her heart hurt any less from the words that left her mouth.

Minseok sighed a little, not knowing what to say. "Well, I'm very busy. I work a lot as you'll soon find out, singing and dancing for people. But I want to be really close friends with you, and your mommy too. If that's okay with you?" He asked hopefully.

She nodded a little and motioned for him to come closer, "I think my mommy is really sad," she said to him, "Can you make her happy?" she asked him in a whisper.

Marissa looked at her, she didn't know what she was saying, she was a pro at whispering secrets to people and telling them things they probably didn't need to know.