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

Exhaustion!

Kongpob had insisted that he would do the first night, and Arthit, still recovering his emotions from their near-miss earlier, quickly agreed. But he did say that he would bring over breakfast in the morning so that he could take over and Kongpob gave him a rueful smile even as he nodded.

"Are you certain, Phi?" He asked again as they stood at his door, Arthit holding baby Dao in his arms.

"Yes, of course. I'll be here by.." he waved his free arm though the air as he tried to think about what he knew of his junior's schedule.

"Nine?" Kongpob asked, "My class starts at ten."

"Oh! Well that's fine, yes I can do nine!" Arthit said, letting out a breath as he celebrated that he could still sleep in.

Kongpob laughed, holding out his arms so he could take Dao away. "Well, Papa," he drawled with a smile, "We'll see you in the morning then?"

"Yes. Okay." There was a pause as they looked at each other, but neither made a move. So Arthit slipped away, careful to close the door quietly behind him.

After a good night's sleep, Arthit awoke feeling refreshed and ready for his Papa duties. He swung by his favourite stall for breakfast and sipped at his pink milk as he made his way over to Kongpob's room.

Rapping on the door, he smiled brightly. Today was going to be a great day!

Today was not going to be a great day.

Kongpob answered the door eventually, hair sticking up in all directions, bags under his eyes and a wailing baby in his arms.

"P'Arthit!" He exclaimed, reaching out to tug him into his room, "You gotta help me! The formula was all wrong. I tried everything but she just wouldn't stop crying. And it was so loud. And Beam was banging on the wall and then she just cried even more. And I tried everything Phi! Everything! Nappy's and cuddles and rocking and a bottle. And nothing worked! Nothing worked at all! I don't know what to do... please Phi!"

Arthit froze as Kongpob unravelled in front of him. He had never seen his junior at a loss before. Usually he was so calm and collected while Arthit was the stuttering mess. He had to do something.

Firstly, he dumped their breakfast on Kongpob's small table and their drinks too. Then he took the bag of rice baby away from his partner and pushed Kongpob towards the bathroom.

"Go shower, I'll sort Dao out. Okay? Then we'll eat and we'll think of a solution."

Kongpob nodded gratefully, scooping up a towel, and with one final look of despair, heading into his en-suite.

Left alone, Arthit automatically rocked Dao in his arms, trying to quieten her down. But as Kongpob had said, nothing was working. So he grabbed his phone and rifled through their information pack before dialling their teacher.

She answered on the first ring, "Student ID?"

"Third year, 0206, Arthit Rojnapat." He replied.

"Ah Arthit, how can I help?" She sounded weary, like maybe he wasn't the first one to call her today.

"It's Dao, she just won't stop crying and I could really use some advice, please? Kongpob is exhausted."

By the time Kongpob returned from the bathroom, Arthit was plating up their breakfast, Dao snuggled into his arm silently.

"How did you do that?" He asked, staring at Arthit in awe.

"Called Professor Keng. She said Dao probably had colic and told me how I could help her. Apparently it's very common in newborns but she will grow out of it." He nodded towards the table and Kong followed him over. They sat and began to eat.

"Thank you Phi, thank you so much! Thank god she's going to stop soon! Maybe I should have called the Professor in the night, but I kept thinking that I could do it alone and I could get her to stop crying and it would be okay. But clearly..." he indicated his messy bed and the mess of paperwork he had sprawled over his desk, "Clearly I needed help."

Arthit nodded at him, continuing to eat his breakfast as the wheels turned in his head. Maybe you should have called me? He thought. But aloud he said,

"Let's check in with the others? I think we have the youngest child so maybe they had a better night's sleep than you?"

When they made it to the university, bag of baby supplies and baby Dao in tow, they found that he was wrong. At the tables were various pairs, half of each one looking exhausted.

"Did she cry all night?" Knot asked as he indicated their bag of rice.

"Every second." Kong agreed, dropping onto the bench and lowering his head into his hands. "Yours?"

Beside Knot, Fang was in a similar state. "Yes, poor Fang didn't get a wink of sleep. But Professor Keng said that Jida was just unsettled since it was her first night with us and we shouldn't expect the same again tonight."

"You're so lucky, Kongpob said wearily, "We've got colic!"

"Colic?" Knot repeated looking at Arthit who offered him a grimace.

"It means that baby Dao is going to be screaming blue murder every night unless one of us massages her or rocks her or feeds her."

"Nightmare," Knot frowned. "Who's going to look after her then? You both still have uni right?"

Kongpob lifted his head from the table, mouth turned down, "I have a lecture in about..." he looked at his watch but seemed unable to calculate the time.

"Ten minutes," Arthit supplied, taking a seat beside him as Oak and Praepaillin appeared.

"Morning," Oak grunted, also dropping his body onto the bench.

"Bad night?" Arthit enquired and Prae nodded in agreement.

"Yes, but Professor Keng said.."

"It was a one night thing?" Arthit guessed, frowning as he realised that maybe he and Kong were the only ones facing multiple sleepless nights.

"Yes. Lucky for me, Oak decided to take the first shift so he can join some kind of gaming ring tomorrow night."

"Circle...gaming circle Prae," he moaned, head still pressed into the woodwork.

"Sure, whatever! So, what are you doing with...your baby today?"

"Chan, his name is Chan," Prae smiled, "Well, I've been excused from class, so I'll take him for a nap I guess, so Oak can recover."

"Sounds good.." Oak agreed as he slumped further across the table; opposite him, Kongpob had started to breathe deeply and Arthit was pretty sure he was falling asleep.

"Kongpob?" He whispered, moving closer to his partner trying to rouse him. When calling his name didn't work, he began to lightly prod his upper arm with his finger. And when that didn't work, prodded him in the cheek, repeating his name.

"Whaaa..." Kong groaned, not sounding any more awake than he had been.

Arthit was just thinking about wrapping an arm underneath the younger boy to haul him up, when Dao began to shriek loudly and Kongpob shot up of his own accord.

"What? Wha'is'it?" He slurred, hands reaching out for the baby.

"It's okay Kongpob, I've got her," Arthit said, rocking Dao in his arms, secretly pleased at how Kongpob had reacted. He would be a good father one day.

Then he mentally shook himself as he began to imagine the pair of them, not with a rice baby, but a real baby! It was making him feel warm and fuzzy. It only got worse when he looked over at Kongpob.

Kongpob gave him a sleepy grin and then pulled himself up from the table. "Come on Oak," he said tugging at his friend who was similarly slow, "We're going to be late."

Then he dropped a kiss to Dao's square shaped head, let his hand rest on Arthit's arm for a few seconds and finally dragged his friend away.

Arthit watched them go, surprised, his arm feeling warm where Kongpob had touched him. Absentmindedly, he stroked his fingers over the skin and then continued to rock Dao in his arms.

Beside him, Knot watched Arthit, a small smile on his lips. Interesting...