Beam clings to Forth. His face kept looking down and blushing red. Forth chuckled and squeezed his hand. He whispered in Beam's ear. "You see? Everyone's in love with you."
"I'm embarrassed," Beam whispered.
"Geez, Forth, he looks like a doll, with those pink cheeks," said Fema with sparkling eyes looking at Beam.
Baby Bunny clapped and pointed at Beam with his fat hand. "Uncle Angel is my boyfriend, Mama, you can't tease him."
Everyone laughed at Baby Bunny's words. Beam smiled lovingly at the little boy.
Leah stroked Beam's arm gently. "Forgive my children and grandchildren, Beam. They are sometimes too barbaric for the tastes of people outside the family."
"But, since you're Forth's fiancé, you're family too," Wine continued with a wink. "You have to learn to get used to it."
Forth pouted. "Don't wink at my fiancé, Phi. I don't like it."
"Hey, don't say that to my husband," said Niko-Wine's husband, glaring at Forth.
Beam was stunned to see the two brothers who were glaring at each other, then burst out laughing.
Everyone at the dinner table was mesmerized, then burst into laughter. Beam's laughter sounded like a bell and was contagious.
Grant tapped Forth's head lightly with the tip of the spoon. "There's no need to be jealous of your own brother, you idiot! In Wine's eyes, the most charming one is Niko."
"Oh, Phi, don't hit him like that, it hurts," Beam said, stroking Forth's head.
Laughter erupted again throughout the dining room.
Leah clapped happily. "Oh, Beammie, you've been like Jamorhnoom in just an hour."
Forth hugged Beam while laughing happily. Gary and Torn, who had only been following the sweet scenes around the dinner table, now laughed, nodding in agreement. Torn gave a thumbs up to the blushing Beam.
"Beam, tell me about yourself," Gary said after everyone had finished eating and was now enjoying dessert.
Fema had said goodbye first to put Baby Bunny to sleep. In the dining room there were only Leah and Gary—Forth's parents, Wine and Niko, Torn and Grant.
Beam looked at Forth and nodded slowly as Forth squeezed his hands under the table. "I'm an orphan, sir," Beam answered quietly. "Both of my parents died in a traffic accident when I was five years old. They were poor and therefore had no relatives to care for me. They put me in an orphanage and since then I kept going back and forth in adoption trials until I was 12."
"Adoption trial?" asked Torn. "What's that?"
"If any parents are interested in adopting a child, they are given the opportunity for two weeks of the child's stay, to test compatibility. They always return me in the first week," Beam said with a smile. "They said I was an elusive child."
"Ooh, how bad they are," said Leah angrily. Unexpectedly, she pulled Beam into her arms and stroked Beam's head. "I will adopt you without any trial and conditions, Baby."
"Mom, he's mine. I adopted him first as my fiancé and soon became my husband," Forth said as he pulled Beam.
Grant hit Forth in the back. "Forth!"
"Phi, please, don't keep hitting him," Beam said, pulling Forth toward him.
Forth stuck his tongue out at Grant who looked shocked at Beam's rebuke. Wine and Niko burst out laughing, followed by big smiles by Gary and Torn.
"How about now?" Gary continued. Forth introduced Beam as a doctor earlier. Gary wants to know how Beam became a doctor.
"When I was 14 years old, a woman adopted me. However, she only made me a housemaid. I had to work before leaving and after school. After a year, the woman got married and her husband scared me. One day, when the woman at work, the man tried to rape me. The woman knew what her husband was doing and instead tortured and locked me in the basement of his house. They both did obscene things to me and one day, I managed to escape from the house."
Everyone was silent stiffly following Beam's speech. Leah's eyes watered and she gripped Beam's hand tightly.
"A vegetable delivery man named Dean saved me. He took me away from that house. I lived with him for ten months, but he got sick and eventually died in my care. Ten months with him made me so happy more than the years of my life. He was so sick. It was bad before I met him and it made me want to become a doctor. My name is Beam Baramee Vongviphan. Baramee is the name of my parents, while Vongviphan is the name of Dean who saved me. He is like my own father. He had no relatives, so when he died I inherited his house and property."
"You lived alone in that house? What did you do to make a living? You were still in high school, weren't you?" Nico asked.
Beam nodded and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "After I was rescued by my adoptive father-Dean Vongviphan, I changed schools. I was an excellent student and always received a scholarship. To live my daily life, I worked part-time giving lessons and being a waitress in a bookstore. Father Dean had a large garden in behind his house, so I also continued his gardening business and sold the produce. Five months before graduating from high school, the land where
father Dean's house stood was hit by a project to build a large mall. The contractor charged a high price for the house. I sold it because it was impossible to stay there for a while another house in the area was bought. I bought an apartment with the money from the sale of the house and kept the rest for college. However, the evil husband and wife tracked me down and when they found me they took all my money. bring anything. I hate them so much that I recklessly snuck into their house and took their possessions that I could take while they were on vacation. I've lived in that house and I know where they keep their valuables. One year later, I heard that his wife died in an accident. I never saw them again, until two years before I graduated from college. The bad man found me again and kept chasing me. He is a madman and insists that he loves and wants to marry me. I decided to move to Singapore after he tried to kidnap me. In Singapore I live with an old friend of father Dean. She was alone and after three month she decided to adopted me. She was a good mother and friend, too."
"Oh my God, Beam, you've been going through a really tough and dangerous thing," Leah muttered pitifully. He turned to Ford. "Forth, Baby Bear, you must protect and take good care of Beam. No one else can hurt him."
"Yes, Mom. That's my plan," Forth replied firmly.
Grant tapped the table with his fingernail and smiled at Forth and Beam. "Beam also solves a lot of problems, Forth. I hope after this I don't have to step in again to take care of those crazy women who claim to have you pregnant, who can ruin Jamorhnoom's image or the boys who are crazy about wanting to be your boyfriend, the guitar king Forth Jaturapoom."
"Yah, Beam is the best Jamorhnoom to be. He can protect Forth from all of his crazy fans."
"Don't worry, Phi, he is my responsibility now," Beam said calmly, patting Forth's shoulder.
Everyone clapped happily. Forth blushed till his ears.
*****
