The New Year's holiday—a time when the year seems to fly by in the blink of an eye, ushering in the new one.
Except for students and those who work even during New Year's, most people are taking a brief respite to prepare for the start of work. However, the full-time housewives who take care of those resting don't have that luxury. As usual, I wake up earlier than anyone else in the house to prepare breakfast, do the cleaning and laundry, and then prepare lunch and dinner… Since my husband works hard at his job, I take on everything else single-handedly, working year-round without a break. I like housework, and I don't dislike taking care of my high-maintenance children, but there is no doubt that it is a tough job.
──To all the wives in the world, including myself, thank you for your hard work. Let's do our best today as well.
As usual, I put my arms through my apron sleeves and headed to the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast before the children woke up, when I heard light footsteps coming from the stairs on the second floor.
It seems my daughter, Umi, has woken up. If you live together every day, you eventually learn to tell whose footsteps they are right away.
And also, when something is different from usual.
"──Good morning, Mom."
"Oh, Umi, good morning. You're up early. It's winter break, so you could have slept in a little longer, you know."
"That's true, but I just kinda woke up… I want to drink something hot."
"Yes, yes. I'll get it ready for you, so just wait a moment."
Normally, she would still be in her pajamas, but my daughter has already changed her clothes, with just a little bit of grooming left.
A parka she has been particularly fond of wearing lately, and jeans that look like they could be found anywhere, like at a major clothing store. If it were loungewear, this would be fine, but it seems my daughter intends to go out in this.
Only when she goes to the house of a certain friend… no, the boy who just recently became her boyfriend the other day.
"…Yep, looks good. Nothing weird anywhere, right…? Mn, it's okay. The usual cute me."
Seeing my daughter observing herself through the kitchen entrance, I unintentionally burst into laughter. At a glance, she's dressed as if she's just going to buy something at a nearby convenience store, yet despite that, she's putting so much spirit into it—what a surprise.
"Are you going to Maki-kun's place again today? In the morning?"
"…T-that's right, but so what? We made a proper promise, and I got permission from Masaki-obasan too."
"Fufu, don't pout like that. It's not like I'm complaining or anything, you know? I was like that too when I was about your age."
How nostalgic. It's a story from decades ago, but when I went to play at my current husband's house, I had to go out of my way to call his house phone, so it was even more… No, setting aside my old stories, right now we're talking about my daughter.
"By the way, Umi, I understand you're happy to be lovers with Maki-kun, but what do you do going over there so early in the morning? Just so you know, even if you are lovers, getting too carried away is──"
"! Th-there's nothing like that! …N-nothing's different from usual. We just sit in the kotatsu, play games, read manga, talk… and, well, stuff like that."
…I feel like there was a considerable amount of evasiveness in the "and, well, stuff like that" part, but oh well, fine.
"Isn't that what you've been doing since before? Doesn't it get boring doing the same things all the time?"
"Eh? Why? It's a great day off, isn't it?"
"…Oh my."
Seeing my daughter tilt her head with a blank look on her face, I was a little surprised.
I feel like she used to be a little more active in the past… well, if my daughter looks happy, then that's fine.