Kongpob, P'Arthit and the Rice Baby (Completed)

Baby Dao

By mutual agreement, Kongpob and Arthit ended up at the junior's dorm room. It was pretty clear it was the best choice because it was bound to be much tidier than Arthit's room and therefore have more space for them to sort through the bag of supplies and the information pack that had come with their baby.

When they entered, Kongpob immediately shucked off his shoes and then pulled a couple of extra pillows out of his cupboard, placing them in a triangle on his bed and placing their rice baby in the centre of them.

At Arthit's questioning look, he explained that it was to make sure a small child didn't roll off the bed if they weren't being held. Arthit just shrugged in reply as he slipped out of his jacket and laid it over the back of Kongpob's desk chair and then took a seat in it.

Kongpob perched on the end of his bed, baby a barrier between them.

"So, where should we start?" Kongpob asked, indicating the information they had about their child. "A name for her perhaps?"

Arthit stared at him, unsure about how exactly he should act. Kongpob was being his usual self, all smiles and soft tones. But Arthit felt tightly strung inside, like he could snap at any moment. He didn't really know what to say.

"Okay..." Kongpob said as Arthit stayed silent, "Well, I've always liked the name Nat," he began.

"No!" Arthit said immediately, "No. Not Nat. I had a cousin called Nat and she was a total terror."

Kongpob grinned at him, baring rows of perfectly white teeth, "Okay, not Nat! Well, do you have a suggestion?"

Arthit thought for a moment and then spoke hesitantly, "What about Dao?"

"Dao...D-ao...Da-o" Kongpob tried out the name a few times and then smiled at him brightly, "Yes, it's pretty perfect, I like it. So, she's baby Dao." He lifted their rice baby into his arms and rocked her gently, crooning, "Baby Dao, your Papa chose your name and it's perfect for our family. Papa is the sun, and Daddy is the moon, and you're our little star!"

Arthit just watched in wonder. Kongpob was radiant as he spoke to the baby in his arms, rocking her like she was real. Something inside him melted.

"Umm, Kongpob," he began, hesitating as he tried to order the words he wanted to say.

"Yes P'Arthit?" Kongpob said, laying the baby back into her nest of pillows.

"Umm... why..." he paused, trying to decide if he should ask. But then he chickened out and indicated the paperwork they had been given, "What should we do first?"

It took them almost an hour (and one nappy change and a frantic phone call from Prem who was insisting he couldn't get the baby to shut up and he was all alone with him - Kongpob talked him through some moves that helped) to go through everything and decide how to share out their project work. Kongpob insisted on being the one with the job ("Because you're a third year and you have enough to do already Phi.") and he also allocated himself more of the research work for the project.

"Okay, so that's everything!" Kongpob said, throwing himself down on his bed and scooping up their baby to start rocking her just as she started to wail.

"How did you know?" Arthit asked, stretching out his limbs where he sat in the desk chair as it was starting to become uncomfortable after so long.

Kongpob didn't answer, and when Arthit turned his neck to look at him, he found him staring at him. Or more specifically, staring at the strip of stomach that was showing where Arthit's shirt had rucked up.

Arthit shoved it down again self consciously, snapping Kongpob out of his stupor.

"Oh, sorry. Sorry." Kongpob spluttered, cheeks burning as he made eye contact with Arthit. "Umm, I think I've worked out the pattern. Pass me that notebook?"

As Arthit reached over to give him the book, Kongpob let his hand rest on his forearm, "You look like you need a change of seat, " he said softly, then he patted the bed beside him. "Come sit here for a bit and stretch out."

Arthit could only nod as he allowed himself to be pulled into the space between Kongpob and the triangle of pillows for baby Dao.

"Shall I take her?" He asked as Kongpob began to scribble in his notebook.

He cuddled their child into his arms and watched as Kongpob drew a diagram that looked a bit like the ones in his engineering textbooks.

"Okay, so, she cries and we.." Kongpob drew a line between some of his scribbled words, "rock her. Then an hour later, she cries and we change her nappy. Then.." he continued to connect words and drawings as he spoke, but Arthit lost track of what he was explaining as he watched Kongpob's handsome face and his strong forearms as he flexed. It was pretty mesmerising.

"So, you get it?" Kongpob asked, twisting to face his Phi.

Arthit could only nod blindly having heard almost nothing so Kongpob had started.

"The only thing is, I wonder if they might randomise it... you know, just in case any of us worked it out. So I think as part of our project we should keep track of every time she cries and the variable we use to stop her?"

"Sounds good, Kongpob," Arthit said, at least understanding that part of the conversation. "Shall I write up what happened today?"

Kongpob gave him a strange look which turned into a full-blown smile at Arthit's confused frown, "Already done," he said, indicating the timeline on his page.

"Oh!" Arthit flushed again, realising that he had completely given himself away, "I was listening, honest, it's just been a..."

"Strange day?" Kongpob asked, reaching out to take their baby and then leaning over Arthit to lay her in the pillow triangle.

His closeness. The way his arm brushed against Arthit's chest, his clean smell with a hint of his aftershave underneath, the warmth radiating from his body. It all lured Arthit in and as Kongpob drew back, Arthit followed, his hand reaching out to rest on Kongpob's bicep, fingertips tracing the curve of his muscles.

"Kongpob?" He said softly, looking at him from beneath his lashes, still hidden a little in case he was about to humiliate himself.

"P'Arthit?" Kongpob replied, voice soft too, expression melting into something gentle and sweet.

But as Kongpob reached out his hand towards Arthit's face, baby Dao started to wail loudly and they both sprang away from each other.

Saved by the baby? Arthit wondered, chest tight.