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The group of all the kids and their two teachers waited and witnessed, with wide eyes and fascinated expressions of course, the chaos that was Sriariyarungruangtrairattanayon household.
How can three people make this much noise was beyond everyone. Although, they were sure the main culprit was Junior, who was closely followed by Jummo. Mark, on the other hand, freaked out silently like he did right now with his messed up hair, shirt buttoned incorrectly, and carrying multiple things in his arms.
"They are too loud today." Joss pointed out the obvious like the kids didn't just flinch at a loud screech that came through the open door.
"Tell us something new, Teacher." Avocean's clear voice somehow slipped in between all that chaos. Newwiee couldn't help but smirk at that. This kid was too mature for his age. He didn't expect anything less from Jimmy's child.
"They are having fun." Mafox squealed in an excited voice, ready to jump out of his cart but was stopped by Newwiee in time. Addition of one more troublemaker would not end well for anyone.
A small figure in blue dashed out of the doors, carrying his bag and bottle. His parents right on his heels. The state of the family of three made everyone sigh in unison. Every day was a new drama in this household and every time people were surprised by it.
Jummo was stuffed into his cart at record speed. Mark kissed Mo's soft hair and then apologized to everyone, genuinely sorry for the delay. Before the kiddy caravan could leave, Mark straightened the askew glasses on Avocean's face, waving them a goodbye and hurried inside where he could see P'Ju throwing things on the back seat. He winced, he could say bye to any and all things fragile in that pile.
"I don't know why the alarm didn't go off." P'Ju's voice was still hoarse because he had screamed earlier. "I remember you setting it up last night." Mark looked everywhere but at his partner.
How do you explain that instead of setting up an alarm for 5:30 in the clock app, you had mistakenly typed the digits in the calculator and gone to sleep? It was too embarrassing to confess. Let it be, let it be.
"Technical glitch." The excuse was extended with a straight face. P'Ju never suspected him. Mark held his frazzled husband by the shoulders and offered some compensation. "I will drive. Phi can take a power nap before we reach."
"Are you sure?" Mark just sighed. His phi was absolutely adorable when he was like this, confused and sleepy. The man had literally jumped out of bed and was gathering things before his eyes even opened properly. By the time Mo woke them up, they were running a little too late for anyone's liking. Today's breakfast was granola bars and milk because coffee would take time. It was surprising how the guilt could overwhelm his irritation at the lack of coffee early in the morning.
He looked at his passenger prince for today and couldn't help but smile goofily. P'Ju was already halfway asleep, head leaned against the window. Mark shook his head fondly and slowly backed out of the driveway. It would take him exactly 30 minutes to get to their workplace. It was a blessing that their workplaces were really close.
After half an hour, Mark was parked in front of Junior's workplace and was coaxing him out of sleep. It wasn't that difficult because his husband has always been a light sleeper, but he liked to take his time in the brief moments when Junior was out of it. He reached out and stroked the soft hair a couple of times.
"I'll see you at home, hm?" His tone was just as soft, full of adoration, eyes curving into crescents. "You have a schedule today, off you go." He clicked the seatbelt open and carefully let it go, leaning forward and placing a peck on Junior's forehead. He straightened the collar that didn't need straightening at all, patting it smooth when it was already as smooth as it can be.
He wasn't the kind of person that showed physical affection but that was for others. For his partner and his child, he'd become just as silly, join into their headache inducing shenanigans, become clingy because he can and he wanted to.
"I love you too, my love." Junior's words still made his stomach flip, and his heart beat faster. The hand that was playing with the collar was grasped gently before brief, almost feather like light kisses were peppered on his fingertips, making his toes curl in the most embarrassing way. Even after years of being together, the impact this man had on him needed to be researched. Didn't people say, that couples become less affectionate after marriage? Maybe he was just a smitten loser, a besotted sucker for one Junior Panachai. Always for him. Only for him.
Junior's lashes fluttered against his cheekbones, butterfly kisses staking their claim before they went their own ways. Mark didn't mind at all, even smiled in secret delight as he gazed at the back of the man who was walking away, actively swooning in the driver's seat.
Fifteen minutes later, soft and approachable Mark was gone. In his place stood Mr. Jiruntanin, the devil of the Industrial Engineering department. The one every student feared not because he was scary...that was a given, but because he had the tendency of dropping surprise quizzes whenever the students least expected it. The terror was real, and new fears were being unlocked one surprise test at a time.
One of those least expected instances was today. Sheets of question papers were passed out from front to the back, bringing with it a wave of total bewilderment and much exasperation. The silence in the lecture hall was a blessing to Mark's ears.
The rest of the day was uneventful.
Mark was sitting in his cubicle, creating a lesson plan for the next day. He wanted to get this done quickly so he could leave. He had had enough of social interactions for the day. As if his wish was being granted by the universe, his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mark." Newwiee's smooth voice trickled in along with different decimals of bawling sounds. And he recognised one of those clearly making him stand up abruptly. "Are you off work? Can you leave a bit early today?”
"What happened? Is Mo hurt?" Mark was gathering his bag and jacket in a second, and was sprinting towards his car in the next. "I'll be there in thirty." He unlocked the car and threw everything in the passenger seat, not caring about how everything slid down to the car floor. "No...twenty. I can make it in twenty minutes."
"Mark!" Newwiee's soothing tone did nothing to curb Mark's anxiety and he failed to insert the key in the ignition. "Hey, Mark!"
That shout quieted down everything─the crying kids and the panicking Mark.
"Mo is fine. It was a minor fight between kids. Are you listening to me?"
"Yes." His pulse settled down somewhat.
"Good." Newwiee was back to his normal octave. That helped a lot. "Drive carefully. Everything is under control. Okay?"
"Okay." One word responses were easy.
"I repeat, Mo is fine. Everyone is fine."
"Okay, okay." Mark's hands curled around the steering wheel. Deep breaths, in and out, in and out. Focus.
Before driving out, he dropped a text in the department group about family emergency. Then, he called Junior, only for him to reach voicemail where he tried his best to explain the situation he knew almost nothing about. The drive back wasn't finishing fast enough for him.
~
When Junior reached the chaotic scene, his beloved husband, the apple of his eye, the one who stayed calm and collected throughout pretty much everything was standing toe-to-toe with Sky and screaming his son's name.
"Jummo! Jummo. His name is Jummo!"
It took him a moment to take note of everything that was happening.
His husband was jabbing Sky's chest with his index finger, clearly trying his best to get his point across that their son was named Jummo, which was a fact everyone was aware of.
Jummo, their little devil of a munchkin was standing behind Mark, clutching his Da's trousers, peeking up at the arguing adults. The same stance was mirrored on the other side, Sky in the front with Nani and the twins hiding behind him.
Junior hurried over to break the pair apart, and threw a glare at the two teachers that were supposed to control the situation but were taking immense joy in the pandemonium. If it wasn't ethically questionable, Newwiee and Joss would be sitting with a bucket of popcorn.
"Mark, love, let's back up a little." He held his husband by the shoulders and pulled him back, signalling Nani with his eyes to do the same. Thankfully, the younger man complied. "Let's all calm down a bit. I need to check on my family. How about we talk in about ten minutes?"
Everyone unanimously agreed. The twins and their parents moved to one corner while Junior and his two favourite boys walked to another. The teachers did nothing as they saw the circus dispersing.
Junior easily turned Mark around and picked up his son. He grabbed Mark's hand and ran his thumb in small circles to assure the man. His priority was to make sure the other two were okay.
"Darling, are you alright?" His question was clearly directed at the pouting Mark.
"Mm."
Mark's "mm" could mean many different things so Junior searched for more signs in Mark's eyes and that pout, finally concluding that the man was really fine. Then he focused on the dumpling that was curled up on his shoulder quietly. Too quiet for his liking.
"Mo, let Daddy see you." He patted the baby's back, coaxing the child's back to look at him. "Do you hurt anywhere, sweetie?"
Mo shook his head.
After a thorough inspection, he noticed Mo had a dirt mark on his right cheek and was missing a shoe. The dirt mark was wiped off with a cleansing wipe, and the shoe...he would search for it in a bit or he would just buy a pair of new ones later.
After both the families settled in front of the two teachers with their kids, the agreed to ten minutes had passed.
The story was simple. Mo was on cleaning duty along with the twins which he refused to do because their son was a spoiled brat. Neona got angry and offered to meet in the playground for “negotiations”. The three met near the swings and fought. Simple.
Simple enough to understand that this was a biased fight!
Junior gave a dirty glare to the couple sitting beside him and crossed him arms in defiance. "Two against one? That is unfair."
"Jumo fights dirty." Sky's response was prompt and Junior had to hold Mark back from pouncing on the man again.
"Kid, his name is Jummo and my child did nothing but defend himself." Junior’s indignant tone filled the room.
~
"Is that really the point here?" Newwiee asked incredulously but no one listened to him. He shook his head and watched the two sets of parents arguing fiercely. Even Nani, the ever soft spoken guy, entered into the debate with his two cents which really weren’t helping anyone.
Newwiee was done. His patience was stretched thin but before he could scream at someone, he saw Joss roll a magazine and deliver justice in the form of smacks over all of their heads.
A chorus of exclamations echoed around. Newwiee almost laughed, but managed to hold back at the last moment.
"Now that I have your attention. How do we solve a fight between the kids?" It was like he was dealing with kids. These guys were worse than the children.
~
"Mo, we don't hit our friends. That's not good. Say sorry." Mark held the boy's hand and explained in the simplest terms possible. It was true that their son was naughty and rowdy and he never meant anyone harm. But it was just as important to call out bad behaviour whenever it was necessary.
"Sowwy." Mo's small voice made his heart ache but it was necessary. "Mo is sowry for pulling Na's hair and..and...and stepping on Chamai's shoes."
Mark wanted to plant his palm on his face. It was so much worse than he imagined. But at least his kid was honest.
He stared at Sky with eyes narrowed into slits, signalling the man to get his children in line. He saw as Sky crouched down and said something to the twins in a soft tone.
Mo received two stammering apologies in childish voices straight away. By the end, Junior was satisfied, Mark was sulking, and Mo was exhausted.
"Phi, I will take them home. Everyone's has an eventful day." Junior was talking to Newwiee but his eyes followed his boys. Mark was helping Mo with a slipper they borrowed from the school storage room. The shoe was found buried in the sand and now housed a small plant. By the time, Junior found it, Jaidee was already watering it. He didn’t have the heart to take the shoe away from the kid.
"Look after Mark, will you?" Newwiee's words made his eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. "You were not picking up, so I had to call him. He freaked out."
Ah. Now that made sense. His husband had a tendency to act a little overprotective when it came to their child.
The family of three headed to the parking lot and Junior was on the side of the driver's seat before Mark could protest.
"I will drive now since you did in the morning." He asked for the keys which were thrown at him across the car roof. "Let's go home."
"Home!" Mo squealed in his squeaky voice.
Junior held Mark's hand and placed it on his knee. It made both of them feel better.
"My brave chubby, did you win?" He was dying to ask this since he saw the roughed up state of the twins. He looked up in the mirror, watching the chubby nod his head furiously.
"Mo won, Daddy."
"That's my boy!"
Mark shook his head as the childish chatter filled the car.
~
“You are good at this.” Junior tucked their son in before they walked towards their own bedroom. “This parenting stuff.”
Junior pulled Mark in his lap and scooted at the centre of the bed to settle down, Mark’s back to his chest and their legs stretched in front of them.
“Do you know why I am good? Why I don’t have to stress over things like whether Mo has done his homework or does Mo eat well or did Mo take his supplements or so many other things?”
Junior tucked his chin on top of Mark’s head and spoke softly. He needed to remind his darling that without Mark this household would fall apart in minutes.
“Because you are the responsible parent. I wouldn’t survive a day with the number of things you take care of. Don’t you understand that you hold everything together?”
Mark kicked his feet petulantly and nipped Junior’s arm lightly.
“You make me a better person. Mo looks for you most of the time. He talks to you about everything. You anchor us. I thought we decided that we are a team in this. You better not be having second thoughts now.”
Junior’s words received him two consecutive smacks on his arm and another bite.
“No second thoughts,” Mark smiled as he settled against his partner for the night. “Never.”