Him and I

Of trials and tribulations - 2

"Khun Pu! Khun Yayi!" Rain and Sky rushed to embrace their grandparents the moment they entered with Arm and Macau, and a couple of the male staff bringing in the luggage. The four of them hugged for a while, and all four of them had tears in their eyes when they broke apart. The Theerpanayakul family members who were not at work that day came forward to greet them. First Phayu and Pai greeted them, and were given hugs as well. "Swasdi Khap Khun Ananda, Khun Anong," Thankhun greeted them as the head of the family. "No need of all that formality now. You are family, now that our boys are together! Call us Phaw and Mae, no? What do you think Phaw?" Khun Anong asked her husband. "Absolutely! No doubts about it! Family needs no formality. Also, look at our babies! They both look so much happier!" Khun Ananda said, laughing heartily. Everyone nodded happily.

After they were all seated, and refreshments were served, Khun Ananda started the conversation. "Rain, Sky, now tell us what you wanted to," he said. "We want to tell you in front of the Khun Dad and Khun Pa, and Khun lung Leo and Fiat," Rain said, misery clear in his face, but determined to get things out in the open. "Phaw, please invite them for dinner, around 8. The rest of the family will be here by then. I am pretty sure of that," Thankhun said. "Okay, I will call Tharn right away," Khun Ananda said. "After that, you must go rest, okay? Both of you," Sky said, worried about his grandparents. Not only were they old, but they would be soon hearing things that might prove to be hard on them.

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"Where is Rain?" Phayu asked, as soon as he walked in. Rain and Sky had taken the day off, since their grandparents were here. Rain and Sky's gang had also come. They knew that their two friends were going to face their family today, so they wanted to be there with them. "He is in the gardens Phi or the greenhouse, or somewhere, with Papa Pete," Sky said. "He likes gardening?" Pai asked. "He loves it Phi, so much so that the solarium in our house is completely his work. When I last saw them, Rain was trying to convince Papa Pete to start one here too," Sky laughed. "Dad will kill Pa," Phayu said. "I doubt that Phi. When both Rain and Papa Pete turned puppy dog eyes on him, he melted like butter and gave them the go-ahead," Sky said, covering his mouth, trying to control his giggles .

"So is Dad with them too?" Phayu asked, dumbfounded. Sky nodded. Phayu immediately turned around on his heels and walked out. He saw his Pa and Rain with their hands buried in the soil, planting something new, laughing at his Dad, who was desperately trying to trim the branches of a plant in a pot. Contentment washed over Phayu in waves. It was a scene he had envisioned all his life, his small little world. He loved his family unconditionally, but his Dad and his Pa were his world. He knew that whoever he brought home, his parents and his family members would love that person and accept whoever it was, because he did, but to see how much all of them actually loved Rain for just being himself, was the most beautiful and incredible feeling, and it brought untold peace to Phayu. This little slice of happiness was something he would keep as a treasured and cherished memory in his heart forever.

"What are you guys upto? And why does Dad look like he would prefer facing a firing squad as compared to that pruner?" Phayu laughed as he entered the greenhouse. "Phayu! Lu! Save me!" Vegas pleaded. "What is happening?" Phayu looked at his Pa and his boyfriend, who couldn't stop laughing at his Dad. "We asked Dad to trim the extras on the bonsai plant. But he has no clue what to do. He nearly cut off the flowering stem," Rain was giggling so much that he would have fallen backwards had not Phayu quickly stood behind him. "Rain! Careful lu!" Pete said, also keeping his hand on Rain's back. "It's funny Pa!" Rain said, resting his back on Phayu's legs. "You guys can make fun of me all you want. I have Phayu on my side. He also doesn't know anything about gardening," Vegas complained. "It's okay Dad. No need to worry now. We will not need to help Pa anymore. Rain will take care of things for us!" Phayu patted his Dad on the back.