Second chance

5. Moving in

New sighed as he carefully watched his son from afar.

“How is he?” Tay appeared beside New

“Not good. I don’t see the point of bringing him along with the court session but the judge said I needed to bring him and now look where that led to.” New caressed himself as he proceeded to watch his son, staring off into space.

“Do you mind if I talk to him?” Tay requested and when New nodded, he gave the older a small smile before walking up to Pluem, who was sitting at one of the tables outside of the café. It was a long shot but seeing Pluem made him remember his childhood.
Tay heaved a deep breath before slowly approaching Pluem. When he’s sure that the boy noticed his presence, he gave a small smile.

“Hey, Kiddo. Mind if I sit with you?”
Pluem slightly moved the chair across him towards Tay’s direction and Tay took this as a sign. He sat down and enjoyed the silence the surroundings offered.

After a few minutes, he slowly brought out three solid, coloured, plastic cups from his pocket and set them on the table, lid down. He dabbed the bottom part to make sure there were no holes. He then took out a red Ping-Pong ball and placed it under one of the cups. He started slow-moving the cups from left to right then stopping. He peeked in one of the cups and sighed as there was no ball.
He mixed the cups again, this time a bit faster than the first one and he sighed as he got the same result as earlier. He put on his determined look before mixing the cups again, much, much faster this time. When he stopped, he stared at the cups long and hard. When he was about to pick a cup, he noticed small finger-pointing on the cup to his left.

Tay looked at Pluem. “Are you sure?”

The little boy nodded. Tay slowly took a glance and then threw his hands in the air as the red ball was indeed there. He peeked at Pluem, who was feeling a bit proud that he had guessed correctly. The truth is Tay wanted to see if he could force a reaction out from the boy. He pretended to guess wrong, hoping that Pluem would willingly take part.

“Hey, Kiddo… are you mad at your Papa?” Tay deliberately started the real questions but continued to shuffle the cups to keep the boy's interest.

Pluem shook his head, pointing to the right. He guesses correct, again.
“Are you happy he’s with you?”
Pluem nodded.

“Are you sad?”

Pluem then nods again, pointing at the middle which, again, had the ball.

Tay let out a long whiff. Talking to kids can be complicated and one wrong move might possibly worsen the situation.

“You know your Papa loves you very much. He doesn’t want to see you hurt. Do you love your papa?”
Pluem nodded frantically.

“But Papa hurt the cause of me. He cried at night.”
‘He spoke.’ Tay sucked in a breath to mask his shock. “Did you tell Papa this? You’ll never hurt your Papa, Pluem. You make him happy but right now he is sad because…” He motioned his two fingers separating. He wasn’t really sure if the boy understood but he made sure to speak slowly and as simply as he could.
“Daddy gone. Is he coming back?”

“Yes, your Daddy left and I don’t know if he’ll come back. Your Papa is… doing what he can because he loves you very much.” Tay nodded in the café and Pluem looked inside; despite New’s worry level reaching up to the heavens, he gave his son a small smile. “Hey Kiddo, what would make you feel better?”

The little boy made his cheeks puff, looked back at New then back to Tay, then back to New. “Hug from Papa. And kiss.”

“Your Papa would feel better with that too. Would you like to do that now?” Tay gently motivates the boy and he watched as Pluem hopped down from the chair and ran inside to give New a hug and a kiss.
New carried Pluem and showered him with kisses all over his face. He looked to where Tay was and mouthed a ‘Thank you.’
He suddenly understood that his questions and doubts were indeed answered over time. And just as Toptap said, he should just let it flow and enjoy where it takes him.


New watched the sunset slowly as he went down from putting Pluem to bed. He deeply sighed. He hates his mind for remembering silly little moments. It may be little things but sometimes those are the ones that hurt the most – silly and little but important, at least for him.

---

New chuckled as he was being carried bridal style inside an empty apartment. He kicked until his husband let him down after a series of pecks. “Wow! This is a nice view!” He leaned against the big window that showed the colourful sunset that teased the sky.

The husband came up behind New and hugged him tightly. “It is. Do you like it?”