Love after Five

Chapter 2

    There was something oddly nice about the first day of a new school year that Max really found invigorating. He always arrived at the school first, unlocking the door to reveal the quiet dark halls, his footsteps the only noise as he made his way to the administrator's office, sitting down behind his desk and sitting back, taking a moment to meditate on the coming school term.
     He straightened the name plate on his desk, reading Mr. Nattapol- head administrator, and turned on his computer.
     His family had found it odd that he wanted to be an elementary school teacher, finding it an odd choice for a man whose hobbies were weight lifting and clubbing, but he just really enjoyed kids. He found them to be fascinating creatures, so full of curiosity, energy and spirit. They always had something interesting to ask him and he never stopped being impressed at the way their brains worked.
     His school had a preschool for ages four and five, and primary grades for ages six to twelve. It was a coed school, and he'd been head administrator for three years, since he was twenty seven.
     He was now thirty, and the questions from his mother and his two aunts (the triplets as they were called, accurately as they were identical triplets) were starting to become more insistent. When are you getting married? Are any of the teachers at your school single and pretty? Are there any single mothers that you might want to marry?
    That last one had only recently started. He thought perhaps every year that he didn't bring a woman home they were lowering their expectations. Soon they'd be setting him up with the local divorcées he was sure.
     They just couldn't figure out how a handsome accomplished man still didn't have a girlfriend, or any women to speak of that he was interested in. However the truth was far simpler than they were imagining- while he liked women as friends perfectly fine, his romantic inclinations led to the masculine side of the spectrum.
      Why he'd let it get to thirty without telling his family he was gay he wasn't quite sure of. They weren't overtly homophobic, and he'd even heard his mother and father talking about how it was such a shame how sexual minorities were treated in their country, and his mother's younger brother was openly gay as well. However, he had this strange fear that by telling them he'd change some sort of fundamental base of his relationship with his family. He was their only son, the youngest after four sisters, and he knew there were expectations of him having children, carrying on the family name and all that.
He had a small kernel of fear deep in his heart that his parents would resent him for not doing his filial duty by grace of his sexual orientation.
He shrugged brushing it away and smiling as someone else entered the office.
It was Nong'Heart, one of the preschool teachers. She was short and round with a kind face and a bobbed haircut.
"Good morning Khun'Max." She said giving him a small wave.
"Are you excited for the new school year?" He asked, stretching his legs under the desk.
"Oh yes, I'm very excited." She said. "I could barely sleep a wink last night. I always get so anxious meeting all the new children and their parents." She said
"Speaking of, I should go check on the sign in rosters, make sure they're all up so people know which rooms to send their kids to." He said, getting up and giving a wave as he walked back toward the entrance of the school where the previous night he'd posted several bulletin boards with the registered students names and classrooms on them. He always worried that there would be some mistake and a kid would be lost, so he tended to over check.
As he opened the door he was greeted by the sight of a tall, very fit man standing and searching the list, his eyes squinched up as a slightly chubby pale girl with large ears and pouffy hair tied up in a haphazard bun of curls hugged his leg, her fingers gripping the legs of his pants with white knuckled focus.
The sign-in wasn't due to start for another hour so it was unusual to see a parent here so early.
"Do you need some help?" He asked kindly.

Tul had experienced probably the worst two months of his life. The memory of him sitting Bright down outside of an ice cream shop and having to tell her that her parents were gone as she looked at him with wide eyes, not quite understanding what he meant as ice cream dripped down her hands onto her shoes.
"So when is mommy coming back?" She asked.
"Mommy can't come back, you're going to live with me now, all the time." He tried to explain.
"But what about daddy! I can live with daddy." She said, her bottom lip trembling.
"Sweetie, daddy is gone too. They both... there was an accident. Do you remember when we were watching finding Nemo?" He asked, and she nodded. "And at the beginning the mean fish ate his mom and she couldn't be with him anymore?" He'd explained, and she'd nodded again, her eyes welling up. "Well, mommy and daddy can't be with you anymore, so you're going to live with Uncle Tul from now on."
"But I want to live with Mommy and Daddy!" She'd yelled, suddenly bursting into tears and throwing her ice cream on the ground. He'd gathered her into his arms as she sobbed, her tears soaking his neck as he struggled not to cry himself.
He'd planned the funeral himself. Their parents were dead, P'Mark had been estranged from his family and Tul had no idea how to reach them. Their friends came to the ceremony, giving solemn nods and respectful bows as they sadly shook their heads in the direction of Bright, crouched in the dirt outside the temple dragging a toy horse back and forth in front of her.
He'd gotten sympathetic words, and pats on the back, even compliments for taking his niece in, as though he would just abandon her to an orphanage.
     Then everyone went back to their lives and he had to figure out what to do with his. He'd sold his sisters house, buying a smaller apartment closer to his work for him and Bright to live in, and then had to figure out how to balance work and his new role as a defacto father.
     He worked as a bookkeeper for a radio station, and luckily one of the producers, P'Dahna, had a son Bright's age, so she'd been very kind and suggested he enroll her at the same preschool her son was starting the next month, and even shared her nanny with him until preschool began.
   It had become painfully obvious quite early on that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Generally Bright had just stayed over for a night or two, so anything past basic teeth and face washing he'd been at a bit of a loss for. He had no idea how to brush her hair, or about any girl stuff and kid stuff that she liked. He didn't know what toys she liked, what books she liked, the food she refused to eat, all of the little intricacies that came along with being a fully formed human being that he'd, as of yet, only spent bits and pieces of time with.
     But he was doing his best, which was why they'd arrived almost hilariously early to the school, and he'd been hunting the preschool list to find her name.
      "Uncle Tul?" She'd asked quietly as he searched.
     "Yes sweetie?"
     "Are they going to be nice to me here? I don't want you to leave me." She said.
     "Of course they are honey. You're going to make lots of friends here."
     "And you'll come back won't you?" She asked, her bottom lip trembling. She'd become very anxious, never wanting him out of her sight and sometimes panicking if he left her alone too long, as though she'd never see him again.
     "Of course I will. It's you and me till the end of the world right kiddo?" He said, reaching down and ruffling her hair, his fingers almost getting tangled in the mess. In his defence he'd tried to brush her hair before giving up. He'd then tried to tie it up only to discover neither he or his niece knew how to properly use elastics so he'd done the best he could.
     I should take her to a salon and get some actual proper advice. He noted to himself returning to look at the list again.
     "Do you need some help?" A man's voice called out and he turned to see a handsome man with dark hair, a slightly pointed nose, generous lips and slightly severely shaped yet kind eyes walking toward them, wearing a crisp white shirt and pressed black pants. "You're quite early for signing in." He continued with a smile.
    "Oh, I know, I was a bit worried so I wanted to come early to show Bright that there's nothing to be scared of." Tul explained.
   "Your name is Bright?" The man said, crouching down and holding out his hand to her. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Mr. Nattapol, I'm in charge of the whole school, and I promise we're all really nice here." He said with a smile. Bright dug her face into Tul's waist, her fingers squeezing his pants even tighter.
    "I'm so sorry, she's really shy." Tul explained. "Sweetie, remember we talked about being polite? If someone at school introduces themselves what are you supposed to do?" He said, gently prying her hands off his clothes.
    Looking slightly wary, Bright pressed her hands together and did a quick bow.
    "'Lo." She said, barely over a whisper. "My name is Bright and I'm five years old."
    
    Max found this pair rather endearing. The little girl was clearly of mixed ethnicity, her messy poof of hair giving her a strange resemblance to a dandelion.
    "Well that's a very pretty name! You look a lot like your father, you have the same ears." He said kindly, only to catch the man wince. The girl's eyes welled up with tears.
     "HE'S NOT MY DADDY!" She yelled, throwing herself at the man, crying.
     "I am so sorry." The man said apologetically, coveting the girls ears with his hands. "I'm her uncle, her parents recently died, we've been having a bit of a time."
    "Oh my goodness I am so sorry!" Max replies, his face flushing red. "Here, come inside. Bright, would you like some juice and a snack?" He asked, brushing his hand through his hair with nervous energy. She gave an angry nod, her face red and splotchy, her tears turning to hiccoughs. "And maybe some coffee?" He asked the girls uncle. "I'm Max Nattapol by the way." He said, holding out his hand. The man grasped it, shaking it firmly.
    "I'm Pakorn Thanasrivanitchai, but you can call me Tul."