The Art of What-If: A Drabble Collection

Kong, Arthit, and... (KA)

She's always loved to wake up in the morning. But never early, because she always wants to sleep. In her everyday life, one of the things she loves the most is waking up in the morning even if it's a chore doing so early.

She has to prepare her things and clean up her room before she finally leaves for school. She usually finds time to tidy up the night before, and she was always told to make her bed after waking up.

Wake up, brush your teeth, take a bath, eat breakfast, recheck the backpack, and take the school bus.

A routine she has grown accustomed to, even at the little age of seven.

She loved the color pink and had almost everything in that color. The color of her room, her bag, her hairclips, her pencil case, her bedsheets, and even her notebooks. And she loved princesses.

She was always told that she could be a princess if she wanted to. And she wanted to, very much! And so, she had little trinkets of crowns scattered around her room. She also had a few puffy dresses she loved to wear on Sundays and Saturdays,

Before she could do all that, though, she had to finish all the weekdays or "school nights" as she was told. And today, she aimed at getting a gold star again to make the people she loves proud.

Her now blurry dreams abruptly halted as she felt a disturbance in the air. Slowly, she started to wake up, stretching her limbs and grumbling. It was too early! She just wants to go back to sleep.

"Sweetheart! Prim, wake up! It's time to go to school. Come on."

She felt gentle nudges on her shoulder as she continued to grumble, "But daddy! I'm still so sleepy."

"Prim, you told us you want to earn a gold star today, right? Well, you can't do that if you're late to school. Come on, get up. Papa's making us pancakes today," with that last sentence, Prim suddenly bolts up and smiles widely at her daddy.

"Okay!" She bolts to the bathroom and goes about her routine, pumped up for the day. Her Papa always makes the best pancakes. Usually, pancakes were a little rare for breakfast as they tend to eat the leftovers from the previous day, but she will never deny pancakes from her Papa!

Soon enough, she was done with her routine and dressing up, she wandered into the kitchen to see both of her fathers bustle around the kitchen. Her Papa already placing the pancakes onto a large plate, wearing a "Kiss the Cook" apron that she always found funny.

Her daddy set up the table, placing a freshly prepared cup of coffee on her Papa's tableside.

"Arthit, is Prim done yet? I know she's a little stubborn, especially on Fridays," her Papa asks, still busy finishing the pancakes while her daddy turns to him and leans beside him, "Yeah, she's awake, darling. She's really excited for your pancakes."

"Well, I'm excited for her today—"

"Papa! Daddy! Good morning!" Prim saunters into the dining room and throws a hug to both parents. Both of them crouched down to press a kiss on her cheek.

She loves them so much! And she also loves how her parents love each other. That's what she was taught. It was her favorite word, "Love".

Now, as she sat at their dining table, happily munching on chocolate chip pancakes, she zoned out as her fathers engaged in normal "parent conversations" as they would call it. Usually, she understood nothing about them because it always included their work.

She sways her feet back and forth and smiles as she drinks her milk. She listened absentmindedly while her Daddy asked Papa about today's work.

"Kong, are you sure you'll be here tonight for dinner? It's a big day today for the new branch opening in Ayutthaya. We can reschedule our dinner plans for tomorrow."

"Love, it's okay. I've already prepared everything and the team has it covered. Plus, it's a soft opening, so it's not as bad as the official launch. Besides, I didn't want to miss a good Friday dinner with my family, right Prim?"

Prim barely understood some of their conversations but nodded gleefully at him.

After they were done with breakfast, Prim rushed into her room and checked her bag, ensuring that her pencils were intact and she brought her favorite notebook. When it was almost time for the bus to come, she was waiting closely by the gate and her Daddy handed her lunch box.

As the familiar sound of the engine came near, her fathers bent down again to kiss her cheek and pat her head, wishing her a good day at school.

When she gazes out of the bus window and sees her parents waving at her, with their arms linked, she couldn't help but smile widely and wave back. The regular bustle of her schoolmates pulled her attention and prompted her to engage in the new game their friend invented for the week.

And just like that, it was another ordinary day for the Rojnapat-Suthiluck household. Just Kong, Arthit, and their seven-year-old daughter, Prim.

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BONUS:

While waving their hands towards the retreating large vehicle, Arthit turned to his husband and placed a sweet kiss on the other man's mouth. Kongpob was startled for a bit but pulled Arthit into another one and Arthit had to stop them from going further.

"Whoops! You're running late, Mr. CEO. And let's not traumatize our neighbors, shall we?" Arthit placed a hand on the other's chest while Kongpob grinned at him, "I have time. Especially for you."

"Well, I kinda don't. At least not today, darling. I have a meeting at 10. Let's go back inside."

"You're just like our daughter. Always so punctual and proper," he mused. Kongpob pressed a kiss on the other's cheek and tidied up the dishes.

They continued their own morning routine and while they were finishing dressing up, Arthit reached out and did Kongpob's tie, gently tying it up like always.

"You know, I think Prim's starting to be influenced by you too. I saw one of her art activities from school last night while I was checking her room and she drew a stick figure of her wearing a tall white hat, and what looks to be bread or a croissant on a tray.

"It reminded me of you. When we first met. Remember that?"

Kongpob laughed, leaning it and bumping his nose with his partner, "How could I forget? I was a total mess. But it was the third best day of my life."

"Third?"

"Yeah. The first one was when we got married. The second one was the day we first brought Prim home."

Arthit smiled, his heart swelling with so much adoration. Once he was done with the tie, he patted his husband's shoulders and grabbed his own bag, shouldering it.

As they went to their car, Kongpob suddenly spoke, "Oh! We're still on for that double date with Prae and her wife on Saturday."

Arthit beamed.

"Of course!"

fin.