Previous Chapter
That night after making love, I remained awake for a while, just staring at Prem while he slept. We had come so far. So many ups and downs. But though this was the saddest point in my life, it was also the happiest. I was not alone in my grief, and with Prem by my side I knew the darkness would fade and eventually the sun would shine again.
I hope Prem realized, he was my flashlight too.
Boun Point of View
We all know that life isn't perfect. You'll be hit with challenges, twists, and turns, laughter and tears. But there's something about having the right person by your side that truly brings a happiness, a silver lining even through the toughest times.
I found that person in Prem early on at a young age.
Neither one of us was perfect, and throughout the years we had our ups and downs. But who expects marriage to be flawless?
There's a reason why, when one exchanges vows, that the terms like 'for better OR worse', 'richer OR poorer, and 'through sickness AND health' exist. Because marriage isn't always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes its gray skies and thunderstorms. But in those times, we always had our umbrella of love and devotion shielding us during the downpour.
Luckily, we had plenty more positive times than difficult ones.
Though Prem and his biological father never really mended fences, he and Lay had become incredibly close throughout the years. They had a bond kindred to one that seemed as though they had known one another their entire life.
Professionally speaking life was great as well. Prem's family just recently opened their fifth café and it seemed they were really giving a much larger known café franchise a run for their money. I was so damn proud of him.
As far as my tattoo career went, the documentary was a huge success. One led to another and soon the offers and endorsements were so plentiful that it almost became overwhelming.
I was currently filming the third season of my hit reality docuseries of Ink My Scars. In life trials and tribulations occur like illness, horrific accidents, and other dramatic events, that may lead to some physical scars. Tattoos have become an awesome way to seize your power again. It's one's chance to really redesign what that scar can look like on your terms.
Each episode featured two or three everyday people and their life stories of endurance and perseverance, along with the battle scars that remained after surviving their harrowing ordeal.
Some would choose to conceal the scar tissue completely.
While others decided to skillfully cooperate with them, turning what was once something that might seem unsightly to others uniquely beautiful.
Even better, my entire crew was featured on the series also, because they deserved the shine as much as I did. My shop's triumph wasn't mine alone. Had it not been for Pae, Joong, Gun, Gena, Emmy, Pavel, Max, and Tul I wouldn't be as successful as I am today.
And now that Maria (Pae's daughter) was seventeen and Joong's apprentice, she was featured on the docuseries as well.
~ Maria ~
(Pae's Daughter)
No matter how busy and chaotic our lives were, Prem and our friends would always come together on one especially important day.
Little Pae's birthday.
Exactly two years after the death of my mentor, our son was born via surrogate. The fact that he came a whole three weeks early and was completely healthy, we took it as a sign.
Naming him after Pae only seemed right.
In a lot of ways, he reminded me of him. Little Pae had a kindness that drew everyone in. His vast and highly creative imagination made us laugh, but the kid couldn't be easily fooled or manipulated either. These were the same great qualities that my mentor had.
His death anniversary wasn't so somber for us anymore, after Little Pae was born.
Today our son was turning five.
Prem Point of View
The dictionary defines happiness as 'a state of well-being and contentment'.
My definition is slightly different.
Happiness is Boun and Little Pae.
...and to think I might have never had this life, this love, this family, had I given into my own fears and walked away from Boun all those years ago still brought tears to my eyes.
Soon our friends and family followed suit. Some went the adoption route and others hired surrogates.
After Lay and Perth got married a few years ago, they were already excited about starting a family. They chose adopting and their hearts instantly melted for Sopa, Suda, and Sirichai.
Sirichai, Sopa, & Suda
Though our entire group of friends/family were shocked to hear about my brother and his husband adopting three kids at once, the youngest being only six months old at the time, I understood once we discussed things.
"We were separated for so long Prem, there's no way, I would separate siblings from one another. Perth and I will adopt and love all three."
There was nothing else that needed to be said after that. I understood my brother completely.
💗 Have You Ever? 💗
Little Pae stayed the night with his cousins. Sirichai was just a year older than Pae, and they are practically inseparable these days.
Note: Boun and Prem live in Austin, they are in Houston for Little Pae's birthday, hence the hotel suite.
After stepping out of the shower, I swiped my hand across the steam still fogging the mirror above the sink. Viewing my reflection, I couldn't help but smile, not at myself, but at the sexy husband of mine approaching me.
"Don't get dressed yet." He murmured, before wrapping his arms around my waist and kissed my neck.
I slowly turned around and faced him.
"We just did it before I got in the shower and Pae's party starts in forty minutes." I chuckled before giving him a quick peck on the lips and walked away.
"Oh, come on Salapao, how long has it been since we had sex more than once in a day?" Boun groaned following behind me, "The place is five minutes from the hotel, Lay will meet us out front with Pae."
Damn, this sounded quite tempting.
But...
"No way! We'll be late." I laughed as I grabbed my pants and started to get dressed.
"I know exactly what to do to make us cum hard in less than fifteen minutes."
I dropped my pants and looked up.
Boun was getting undressed, and my body was already responding to him.
Why did he have to be so damn hot?
"Five minutes." I told him as he walked towards me.
"Ten." He said with a sly grin.
A shiver ran down my spine as his lips captured mine.
He pushed me onto the bed and climbed on top.
I could never deny him, with one smooth thrust, he was inside filling me completely as he palmed my cock and my body effortlessly stretched to accommodate his well wanted intrusion. I whimpered with sweet satisfaction.
Soon our heavy moans filled the hotel suite. Between his hard thrusts and stroking my hardness, I could feel my muscles tensing and knew my climax was fast approaching. It was just too good; I didn't want it to end so soon.
"Wait, hia!" I demanded, knowing that my peak was forming too fast.
"I can't...it's too good!" He growled back, and with one more powerful thrust he send me over the edge and came along with me.
💗 Have You Ever? 💗
Boun Point of View
"Bàba (Boun) and Pôr (Prem)!" Little Pae dashed towards us and took a joyful leap into Boun's arms.
"You two are late." Lay playfully glared at us.
"It's his fault." Prem called me out.
I stood there proudly knowing I was able to convince him to go 'another round' in the shower.
"Sorry, something came up last minute." I replied with a sly grin.
"I bet." Perth chuckled with a knowing stare.
Once we got inside, we were greeted by our friends and family.
The Space Center
"I know Little Pae wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, but most parents would simply throw an outer space themed birthday party for their child, but nope! Not you and Prem!" Fluke laughed as he switched Hom, his three-year-old daughter from one hip to the other.
~ Hom ~
"Instead, the both of you rent out the Space Center for twenty of his closest friends." Ohm added chuckling.
Space Center Houston is a leading science and space exploration learning center.
"Hey, you only turn five once!" Prem chided with a shrug. "...and everyone is having a blast!"
"And you guys haven't seen nothing yet." I boasted.
"What else did you two plan? A trip to the moon?" Ohm asked sarcastically.
"No, he's too young, but he'll love what we have up our sleeve." Prem smiled happily.
"Malai, wait!" Gena and Emmy simultaneously exclaimed at their daughter as she zipped past us, with her parents hot on her heels.
~ Malai ~
The six-year-old's goal was to catch up with her partners in crime, Max and Tul's sons Chaisai and Chaiya.
~ Chaisai & Chaiya ~
"I hope you brought your credit card Max, Gena and I paid for the last disaster these three caused!" Emmy yelled.
"Never leave home without it." He assured shaking his head at his sons antics.
"Those boys are terrors!" Kao admonished.
"Children aren't terrors, just some are freer spirited." Earth explained as he held their daughter Kanok's hand.
~ Kanok ~
Soon we heard something crashing to the floor followed by Chaisai and Chaiya laughing hysterically.
The sound alone startled Fern, Pavel and Dome's young son.
~ Fern ~
"Free spirited my ass." Dome mumbled before picking up their son to comfort him.
"Breaking things are a big no-no!" Phaibun and Phailin, Off and Gun's twin girls said at once.
~ Phaibun & Phailin ~
"That's right my little angels." Gun agreed kissing them both.
"Fuddy-Duddies!" Narong, Nine and Joong's son, then put his hands over his ears and stuck out his tongue at both girls before joining in.
~ Narong ~
"Narong come back here!" Joong ran after his son.
"That is not how good boys behave!" Nine chimed in walking briskly after his husband and son.
Phaibun and Phailin's started sobbing, they were as well-behaved as they were sensitive.
"Please, don't cry." Sirichai (Lay and Perth's son) patted both girls on their backs, he didn't like it when his friends got upset, it made him feel bad.
Pae reached into his pocket, pulled out two pieces of candy, and handed them to the girls.
Their tears quickly vanished and adorable grins appeared on their precious faces.
"Thanks, Pae!" Both girls replied.
"You're welcome."
"Now let's go have some fun!" Sirichai shouted happily.
We watched the four of them link up like a chain, by joining their hands together before leaving us behind.
Prem snapped a few photos and recorded a brief video, because it was far too heartwarming of a future memory to pass up without visual proof to look back on years from now.
The kids had such an amazing time.
Right towards the end, we could tell something was amiss with Little Pae.
"What's wrong buddy?" I kneeled to be eye level with our son.
"Nothing." He said shaking his head. "I really like my party, thank you very much." He hugged me tight, but I didn't miss the hint of disappointment in his voice.
"It's okay, you can tell us." Prem encouraged squatting down as well.
"Well...it's just, I really like my birthday it's the best, but Bàba and Pôr promised they'd get me a cake with the moon and space shuttle on it."
"Did someone mention cake?"
Pae's eyes went wide, just by hearing the voice of our final surprise, standing behind him.
Our son slowly turned around.
There, holding Little Pae's cake, a gift bag, and dressed in his blue flight jumpsuit was none other than Michael Scott Hopkins.
Note: Michael Scott Hopkins is a United States Space Force colonel and NASA astronaut. He is the first member of his astronaut class to fly in space.
The kids went insane.
Wow a real astronaut!
Have you landed on the moon?
Pae's parents are the coolest!
What's it like in space?
"Dude! How much did you pay for Michael Hopkins to make an appearance?! How did you get a hold of him?" Joong asked flabbergasted.
"Actually, he reached out to Boun after seeing his show." Prem replied smiling proudly at me.
"That's right I offered to do his ink for free and with no media involved if he would make an appearance at Little Pae's birthday."
Our son still hadn't moved from his spot in awe of the man standing in front of him. Seeing that Pae had become a statue, I stepped forward and took the cake from Michael's hands.
He then stooped in front of Little Pae.
"I heard you want to be an astronaut someday. Is that true?" Little Pae suddenly came back to reality and enthusiastically nodded his head. "Well, that's good to hear," He opened the gift bag and pulled out a blue flight suit like his in Little Pae's size.
"Oh wow!" All the kids gushed surrounding him.
"And when you turn nine, I'll see you at Space Camp! You'll be my personal guest." He assured him.
"Thank you, Mr. Hopkins!" Our son exclaimed hugging the man who was the first astronaut to command a four-person crew aboard a capsule.
The mini sized humans enjoyed a tour hosted by the astronaut himself around the Space Shuttle replica.
Little Pae's cousins and friends also didn't leave empty handed. Each child was given a cool solar system model as a parting gift.
Afterwards our entire family, Maria, Ananda, Joong (his family) along with the rest of my tattoo crew went to visit my mentor's favorite place in Houston.
Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park.
We all took turns saying a few words of how this amazing man impacted all our lives and then we released balloons in his honor.
On the way back home, Little Pae fell asleep murmuring he had the best fathers in the world. Boun and I exchanged accomplished smiles.
"Have I told you I love you today?" Prem asked as he lovingly ran his fingers through my hair as I drove.
"You just did." I smiled. "No one will ever love me like you do."
A huge grin appeared on Prem's face.
"Once we get this little guy to bed, lets have a fourth round."
Oh, hell yes!
"Game on."
"Fourth round of what?" Little Pae asked yawning from the backseat.
When did he wake up?
"Ice cream!" Prem recovered quickly.
"Phaibun and Phailin said too much ice cream is bad for you." Our son reprimanded.
"Of course, they did." I laughed shaking my head, "But adults can have as much ice cream as they want."
"No fair, you two are so lucky!" He pouted folding his arms across his chest.
"You have no idea how lucky I'm gonna get..." Prem playfully punched my arm. "Tomorrow we'll take you to Baskin-Robbins, how's that sound?" I changed the subject.
Note: Baskin-Robbins is the home of delicious ice cream cones, shakes, treats, cakes, and more!
"Yes!" He cheered.
At one point the same question used to plague my mind day and night.
Have You Ever?
I was no longer desperate for Prem's love or questioning his true feelings. I was certain of how he felt. When he finally decided to give us a chance, he never gave up after that.
This was the life. I had the man I loved, and the kid I always wanted.
Thank you so much everyone, for going on this journey with me and kookie_di_Angelo words cannot express the happiness I feel.
I can't believe my stories are still trending after being gone for a while.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
More updates and new stories are coming soon.
If you're a fan of The Untamed series or Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Demonic Path Ancestral Master), please check out inevitably_broken their story is called You've Changed. Its so good!