"Phi, handsome movie star uncle is here again!" Lys calls loudly.
Rain stands up too fast, forgetting that there is a shelf above him and hits himself in the head. For a moment he swears he sees stars.
He grabs the cookie boxes he came to the storeroom to get and goes back out front.
Not a chance the alpha hadn't heard his sister's shout, they had probably heard her next door in the hardware store.
"Eirlys!" Rain says glaring at his sister. "I'm sorry, P'Phayu."
P'Phayu looks like he is trying to stop himself from laughing. "It's fine. How are you today, Lys?"
Rain's sister almost bounces with excitement. "Awesome," she says, "P'Sky is babysitting me tonight, we are going to camp out in his store, and we are going to watch the One Piece live action series."
P'Phayu asks, "P'Sky?"
"P'Sky is P'Rain's friend, and he owns the best store in the world, he knows all the best anime, manga, and comics. I especially love One Piece but some of the Western Comics are great too. I love Iron Man and Thor and Loki and Dr. Strange and Hulk. P'Rain says we are nerds, but P'Sky says he's just jealous that we are so cool." Lys rushes on.
Rain laughs at the bemused expression on P'Phayu's face. The alpha looks like he might have understood about half of those words. "Enough, Lys. Sky will be here to pick you up in a few minutes, go get your backpack and sleeping bag." Lys hops down off her stool and goes to get her things with an excited squeal.
"I'm sorry, Phi," Rain says again, "She is a little hyper sometimes."
"It's okay," P'Phayu says, "It's cute. So do you have a date tonight?"
Rain laughs at this, "I wish." Then he blushes, realizing how that sounds, "What I mean is I have an order for a birthday party and an engagement party tomorrow and I will be up most of the night making cookies and cakes. Normally I would ask Ple to come to help but her and Som's parents are in town. At least I have Sky to take care of Lys for me. I don't know what I would do otherwise."
"Can I do something to help?" P'Phayu asks.
"Can you bake?" Rain says, he means it as a joke.
"I know a thing or two," The alpha answers seriously. "I promise I won't get in the way."
"I couldn't ask you to do that." Rain says.
"You aren't asking, I am volunteering." P'Phayu says.
Rain really could use the help; he could not afford to turn down two such big orders but both coming at the same time meant he probably wouldn't be able to sleep until he closed the bakery tomorrow night. No even then he would still have Lys to take care of. He knew from experience that he would be dead on his feet by the time he crawled into bed. While he loved his job, sometimes he resented how much time it took, he barely had any time to give to Lys as it was. Plus, he had the added problem of trying to be both a parent and an older brother to her. Rain sighs, it can't be helped.
"Okay then, let me impose on you please." Rain says.
Rain closed up the bakery early after Sky picked up Lys. Sky being the absolute bestest friend in the world brought dinner. Rain could have kissed him for that. There was even plenty to share with P'Phayu so he could at least feed the alpha for his help.
"I love you, Sky." Rain says, throwing his arms around his friend.
"Ew, get off me." Sky says, pushing Rain away. "Let's go, Lys. I have caramel popcorn."
"Yes!" Lys says happily.
"Eat something healthy first," Rain calls after them. He knows it's a lost cause, Sky is as bad as Lys when it comes to sweets.
Phayu watches with amusement as Rain interacts with his sister and friend. The omega is so adorable. He had come here this afternoon with the intent of talking to Rain about his role in Tasty Treats but had been distracted by his moment of intense jealousy when he thought that Rain might be going on a date tonight. Then finding the omega was anxious over his orders, he decided now wouldn't be the best time. Luckily Phayu has learned a lot about baking since opening Tasty Treats with Pai and he is happy to help Rain out.
They eat dinner sitting at Rain's worktable, while Rain excitedly tells Phayu about what they will be making tonight. Several types of cookies and the two cakes. Listening to Rain chattering on about them, Phayu thinks he definitely sees the resemblance between Rain and Lys. Both are cute when talking about what they love. Phayu thinks he could listen to Rain like this forever.
After they eat, Phayu washes their dishes while Rain cleans the workstation and starts laying out all the ingredients he needs. "Do you know how to make a basic cookie batter base?" Rain asks. "I mean I have the recipe here as well of course." He holds up the card.
"I'm familiar." Phayu says.
"Good if you can make the cookies, I will start on the cakes. We are making four different types of cookies for the birthday party and three different types for the wedding party, five dozen of each type." Rain says. Phayu raises his eyebrows at this. Rain had said they were large orders but that is a lot of cookies.
"The engaged couple both have an extensive number of friends and family, and the mother of the twins having the birthday wants to make gift boxes for the children to take home." Rain explains. All the cookies they are making have the same basic batter, after the basic batter is made, they will divide it and add in the individual ingredients for the different cookies.
"Do you know how to use the industrial mixer?" Rain asks.
"I have used them before." Phayu says.
Rain looks surprised at this. "That's nice, I'm lucky to have this one. It came with the bakery, left behind because it was broken. Sig, who owns the hardware store next door, was nice enough to help me fix it. There is no way I could have afforded to buy a new one. This kind can be over 360,000 baht. It had been a life saver for big orders. The ovens, too, I had to buy those second hand." Rain admits.
Phayu is starting to get a picture that things haven't been easy for Rain since his parents died. The fact that he has managed a successful business and is raising his sister leaves Phayu in awe.
They get to work, Phayu easily makes the dough for the cookies and divides it into seven bowls before adding the ingredients that Rain has laid out for each different type of cookie. He mixes these with a hand mixer changing the heads between types to keep from mixing up the different doughs. When each one is ready, he covers them with plastic wrap and places the bowls of dough in the refrigerator to rest for an hour. He uses the time to clean up the dishes and wash down the work area.
Rain lays out the double layer baking pans and cooling racks and Phayu uses a cookie scooper so that each cookie is almost the same size. Once those are in the oven. Phayu starts putting the boxes together and lining them with birthday paper for that party and silver and white paper for the engagement party.
Meanwhile Rain is making the two cakes. One is a half and half birthday cake. Apparently one of the girls is really into sports and her side is decorated with soccer balls and goals, the other girl is into cheerleading and her side is decorated with cheer paraphernalia. The cake is very cute with twin figurines on the top, one in a sports uniform and one in a cheer uniform holding hands.
"I'll put this one in the fridge to cool while I work on the engagement party one." Rain says.
The engagement party "cake" is actually a central cake decorated with the couple's names and engagement date. Surrounded by smaller decorated cupcakes. Once they are all done these join the other cake in the fridge. By that time Phayu already had the cookies cooling on the racks.
"I'll let the cakes set overnight, they will be easier and safer to box cold." Rain says. "So, it's just cleaning up while the cookies cool then boxing those and we will be done."
He turns and looks at Phayu and starts to giggle.
Phayu raises an eyebrow at him wondering what's so funny.
"You are covered in flour." Rain says between giggles.
Phayu uses the bottom of a shiny pan as a mirror and sees that Rain is right. At some point he must have had flour on his hands and rubbed it on his face.
Rain wets a cloth and reaches up to wash off the flour. Phayu looks down into his still sparkling eyes as Rain gently washes his face. Suddenly it's too much being this close to the omega, who smells like vanilla, cinnamon, and his own underlying scent of jasmine. As if stunned by the sudden electricity between them, Rain freezes and looks up at Phayu unsure.
Phayu moves slowly, giving Rain time to turn away if he doesn't want this, but it's actually the omega who closes the last couple inches and leans up into the kiss.
The kiss is sweet and gentle. A small part of Phayu would like to push it further but it's obvious that Rain is innocent by the way he kisses. Phayu just wants to savor this sweetness for now, not rush things.
He pulls back and gently rubs his thumb over Rain's bottom lip. "We should finish cleaning up, it's late." He says.
Rain nods, looking a little dazed.
It's almost midnight by the time they finish up. Rain walks P'Phayu out so he can lock the door behind him. He has brought his own sleeping bag, and plans on catching a few hours sleep in the storeroom before he wakes up at five am to open the bakery at six.
"Thank you for your help, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at all tonight if you hadn't been here." Rain says with a yawn.
P'Phayu frowns at this. "Do you often have to stay up?"
"Sometimes with big orders." Rain says.
"Have you thought of doing something else?" P'Phayu asks him.
"Often," Rain says with a laugh, "But what can I do, I love baking. It's my comfort zone." He leans up on his tiptoes and kisses P'Phayu on the cheek. "There are your wages." Rain blushes and quickly returns to the shop locking the door behind him. He leaves P'Phayu looking a little stunned behind him.
Rain turns off all the lights behind him and uses the small bathroom to wash up before settling down in the back in his sleeping bag. He falls to sleep thinking about kissing the alpha. It's no surprise that P'Phayu visits his dreams that night.
Rain helps the mother of the birthday twins load the cookies and cake in her car. She had been very happy with the final products even squealing a little when she had seen the cake.
"Rain, you are a genius," She tells him, "It's perfect. The girls will love it."
Rain sighs in relief. It's Sunday and the bride's mother has already picked up the cakes for their party. There will be an afternoon rush then Rain can close the bakery a couple hours early. Tomorrow is his day off and he is planning on having a nice sleep in while Lys is at school then taking her out for dinner and a movie at the drive in the next town over. Ple is letting him borrow her car.
Sky drops Lys off around lunch time.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" Sky asks him, looking him over critically.
"Actually I did, I managed to finish early. P'Phayu helped me out." Rain says.
"P'Phayu? Lys was talking about uncle Phayu. Is he the alpha staying with Ple and Som?" Sky asks. Not much goes unnoticed in such a small town.
"Yes, he is staying in town for a little while. He is very nice." Rain says with a slightly dreamy expression.
Sky raises his eyebrows at this, "You like him."
"No, I mean maybe, I mean we kissed but I..." Rain decides to give up, "Yes I think I do like him."
"It's fine Rain, you are allowed to like someone." Sky says. "You can't devote all your time to the bakery and Lys. I can't wait to meet this alpha who has stolen my friend's heart."
Rain looks on the internet to see what movies are playing. There is a new superhero movie he thinks Lys will love. The hero of the story is an omega, it's a nice switch up to have a movie where the hero isn't an alpha. Nothing wrong with alpha heroes but in Rain's opinion it's important for young omegas like Lys to see that they can be the hero as well. Plus the movie looked so fun from the preview, even Rain who isn't into action movies as much as Lys and Sky wants to see this one.
When Lys gets home, they walk over to the bed and breakfast to pick up Ple's car.
"What movie are you going to see?" Ple asks the little girl. This of course leads to a ten-minute speech by Lys about the awesomeness of the omega superhero in the movie and superhero movies in general.
Rain spots P'Phayu coming down the stairs and gives him a shy smile. He comes over to them.
"Uncle Phayu, we are going to see a movie and dinner." Lys says excitedly.
"Is that so," P'Phayu says.
"P'Rain, you should ask Uncle Phayu to come with us." Lys says.
Rain blushes, "P'Phayu is probably busy, Lys."
Lys pouts slightly at this and says, "You'll come with us uncle, right?"
"I would like that," P'Phayu says, smiling at them both. "If it's okay with your brother, of course."
"Yes, please come with us P'Phayu." Rain says. "I owe you after all for helping me out."
"But you paid me for that already. I thoroughly enjoyed my wages." P'Phayu says.
Neither of them notices Lys' look between the two of them with wide eyes, and the way Ple watches the interaction from behind the desk.
They go to a small restaurant for dinner, which P'Phayu insists on paying for the three of them, then to the movies. Rain pays for their ticket and goes to the stand to get them popcorn and drinks while P'Phayu stays in the car with Lys. When Rain gets back Lys is telling a story about one of the One Piece episodes she and Sky had watched. P'Phayu is listening patiently as if it's the most fascinating conversation in the world.
The three of them watch the movie while Lys sits between them chattering happily about the characters. They share a bucket of popcorn between the three of them.
Lys falls asleep in the back seat on the drive home. At their house P'Phayu carries the little girl to her bed, before volunteering to take the car back to Ple's. Rain walks him out and P'Phayu gives him a goodnight kiss. "Thank you for tonight," he tells Rain, "It was a lot of fun."
"I'm glad you came with us." Rain admits shyly. "Will you be by the bakery tomorrow?"
"Late afternoon," P'Phayu says. "I have some business to take care of in the morning."
"See you then." Rain says, giving the alpha a sweet smile.
The next morning, Ple comes in to pick up rolls for her and Som's lunch. "You seem close to P'Phayu." She says, giving him a grin. "I'm happy for you, he seems nice."
"I think so too," Rain says.
"Is his company going to buy your bakery?" Ple asks.
The question makes no sense to Rain; he isn't sure he heard her correctly. "What?"
"Oh, I just thought since he owns that Tasty Treats bakery that is coming to town, he might be going to buy your bakery. I figured that's why he came here so often." Ple says. She looks at her watch, "I better run, Som will kill me if I'm not there to help him wash the bedding this afternoon. We have a large group coming in this weekend."
Rain barely heard what she had said after the first part. P'Phayu was the owner of Tasty Treats? Rain has heart the phrase someone's blood ran cold but now he knows what they mean, he literally feels as if his veins are filled with ice water.