Lil' Prince

Chapter 8

Kongpob: 17 Arthit: 9

3rd Person's POV
"Arthit, come on in." Mr. Rojnapat was standing by the door, ushering his son to get into the house but the younger refused, simply shaking his head.

"I'm waiting for mommy." His soft whispers made Mr. Rojnapat sigh. Today is Arthit's ninth birthday and as usual, the family held a simple birthday party. But the only issue is Mr. Rojnapat had received a message from his ex-wife saying that she won't be able to come as she needs to tend to her newborn which she'd given birth to half a year ago with her current husband. Mr. Rojnapat had gotten the reply a week ago and since then, he'd almost begged her to come even just for a few minutes. He didn't want his youngest to be heartbroken but she was adamant and refused to even send a letter to Arthit or prepare him a simple gift.

Mr. Rojnapat was confused by her behavior.

'Don't she love Arthit?'

He couldn't seem to find the answer either and now, looking at his son, he felt like he should've told Arthit her decision earlier on. The younger kept standing on his toes, peeking at the gate. He was slightly jumping in anticipation every time he heard a car passing by but was disappointed when it wasn't his mother's car.

"Arthit, mommy..." Mr. Rojnapat couldn't hide the truth anymore, he crouched down and looked into his eyes as he grabbed his shoulders.

But Arthit stopped him as he softly said, "It's true... Mommy doesn't want Arthit anymore."

His eyes started to redden. But he wasn't wailing nor was he sobbing.

"Baby, it's not like that." Mr. Rojnapat said, trying to comfort his child, but he knew that Arthit's mother do intend to leave the child. She'd been visiting him less frequently and even stopped calling or messaging the younger, making excuses saying that she doesn't have time. Mr. Rojnapat couldn't understand why. He'd thought at least she would still love and care for her own child after their divorce. He knew Arthit was a simple child when it comes to love, especially from his mother as he would be smiling all day when his mother gave him a call and talked for a while.

When a drop of tear rolled down Arthit's cheek, he instantly wiped it off and curved his lips into a smile. He lifted his gaze and looked at his father, "Daddy, I want to cut the cake now, can I?"

"Sure, baby. Anything for you." Mr. Rojnapat carried his child in his arms as the both of them entered the house and into the dining room. He placed Arthit on the dining table on his chair and tidied his child's hair as it had been a little messy from the wind blowing outside the house.

"Aunty Aalya" Arthit called when his father had done placing a birthday hat on his head, "Can you help me take out the cake? Please?"

Aalya was shocked that Arthit would suddenly call her and was even pouting. Her relationship with Arthit wasn't the best after she got married to Mr. Rojnapat. It took a long time for Arthit to understand that Aalya didn't steal his father from his mother but he was still unsure how to treat Aalya as his stepmother although she'd always been kind and warm towards the Rojnapat's children. Aalya knew that Arthit was always guilty when he was acting cold in front of her as she'd listened to him crying after an encounter where Arthit came off a little rude to her. She'd heard him crying to his plushie saying that he was feeling really guilty and sorry when he saw a hurt flash in Aalya's eyes and that day, she knew that Arthit was afraid that he would wrong his mother if he treated his stepmother too nicely. He thought it was an act of betrayal to his own mother. He was still too young to understand, too young when all of this happened.

"Aalya?" She woke up from her stupor when Mr. Rojnapat called her and a happy and genuine smile formed as she nodded her head.

"I-I'll go get the cake and some plates too." She said before hurrying into the kitchen and getting the cake, a knife, some plates, and cutleries with the help of a servant. Arthit thanked her and cut the cake before they could even sing him a birthday song. But none of the Rojnapats stopped him when they saw his shaky hands as he tried to cut the cake into equal pieces and serve them on plates. After cutting the cake, the youngest Rojnapat told his family to enjoy the cake and he took one with him as he climbed down the chair and went to the garden.

It was already dark outside and it was chilly. He tried to stifle a sneeze and hugged his elbow with his cake in one hand. He stopped in front of a bench, the bench where his mother would usually sit when the two of them bask in the warm sunshine during the mornings when she was still around.

He caressed the stone bench and felt a crack. He'd never known there was a crack on the bench and it was most likely to have formed after his mother's divorce from his father because he had never sat on the bench after his mother left.

Maybe it was only him that was living in a fantasy, hoping that his mother would return to his father's side, return to him.

But he should've known.

"Kid, what are you doing here? You should be inside, it's going to rain soon." Arthit was still looking at the crack on the bench when he heard Kongpob's voice.

"P'." He gently called out and the plate of cake that was placed by his side was picked up by Kongpob and forcefully shoved into his hands.

"Eat up, kid. Don't you like cakes?"

"I don't think I like cakes anymore, P'." Arthit replied as he placed the plate back on the bench. He tried to appear to be happy as he shook his dangling feet and smiled.

"Drop that, it looks bad on you." But Kongpob could easily see through a nine-year-old's façade as he half chastised the younger and Arthit almost immediately sobs.

"Why doesn't mommy wants me anymore?" Arthit kept asking the same question as he cried in Kongpob's arms. The cake was left to melt on the plate as the younger felt his heart was torn into pieces.

But Kongpob didn't know the answer himself... just because his mother doesn't want him either.

A/N:
A rather quick update here and I know some of you might be mad at Arthit's mom but all I could say is the answer will be revealed in future chapters. I'll also be editing the previous chapters because I find it to be less confusing if I state the age of Kongpob and Arthit before the start of the chapters. Thanks for reading❤️