Rise Up

51: The Truth

There on the archway, stood Jagger with his brothers, Marius, Malik and Pierro. They decided to go back inside the house and check on their parents and they heard them talking.

"Jagger!" Kit gasped.

Jagger was about to respond, thinking he was noticed since he was the one in front of their group.

"Jagger is your son with Phana, isn't it Beam?" Kit added.

Jagger looked at Phoenix with wide eyes. The older looked back at his brother with a plea in his eyes. The rest of the boys were too stumped to react.

"Is it true Papa? Is Dr. Kongthanin my real father and not Dad?" Jagger said from where they stood.

Phoenix kept a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Jag. Don't overreact. Let our parents explain" he begged his younger brother.

Beam looked at the boys and then back to Forth, with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry Jaggie. I'm really really sorry. Please forgive Papa" he sobbed out before running out of the room.

"Beam!" Forth called out to his husband as he attempted to stop him by holding his hand, but Beam pulled back with force.

Phana could only stare at Jagger while Wayo patted his back hesitatingly. Kit and Ming held on to each other. Pierro could only gape like a fish trying to breathe after being taken out of the water. Phoenix gestured for Marius to go after Beam and check on him before leading Jagger to sit with their dad. This prompted Malik to lead Pierro as well to join them.

"How long have you known love?" Phana asked Wayo softly.

Wayo looked at their son and beckoned him to sit beside him, to which Pierro obliged. He took a deep breath before responding. "Before we got married"

Kit and Ming looked up at Wayo, shock evident in their faces. They didn't expect him to be carrying this burden all this time. "Why didn't you say something Yo?" Kit asked him as he looked at him.

"How did you find out?" Ming asked even before Wayo could respond to Kit.

Wayo looked at them with a smile not reaching his eyes. "What would you want me to say? That I wouldn't accept Pha's proposal because he has a kid with his best friend? That I wouldn't want my child to know his dad fathered another child with somebody else?" He said with tears rolling down his face.

"I knew about that night, Pha confessed to me before proposing and I was so lost. I was so insecure that I even went away for a few days" Wayo continued.

"You were gone for two weeks. Don't tell me you were at P'Forth's and P'Beam's?" Ming asked.

"I needed answers Ming. I needed to face my fears. I needed to confirm that there will be no threat if I choose to accept Pha's proposal" Wayo looked up for the first time and hugged Pierro towards him. His son tucked his head by his papa's stomach and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"Imagine my shock when I saw him for the first time. He was the spitting image of the P'Pha I saw back when we were young. P'Beam was fierce when I asked him about it. I thought both he and P'Forth were going to kick me out back then, but no"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Phana asked him as he cupped his cheek with one of his hands while the other stroked Pierro's head, still on Wayo's lap.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to, but it wasn't my secret to tell. I wasn't in the position to do so. I've seen how happy their life was in London, how peaceful and content P'Beam was when I saw him. P'Forth was so in love with his husband and sons. I was able to experience firsthand how P'Forth and the boys mean the world to P'Beam. I wouldn't want to ruin that, but I wanted something like that" Wayo explained.