Kongpob, P'Arthit and the Rice Baby (Completed)

Parents?!

The class ended with instructions that they had to care for their babies for the next four weeks. Then they would make a presentation about how they had gotten on and be assessed on how well they had done. The passing grade would be counted towards their current GPA and Arthit heard Bright telling Maprang that they needed to smash it so he could up his level.

Beside Arthit, Kongpob was sitting straight as a poker, eyes only looking at the teacher as she finished her explanation.

"And remember, a baby does not sleep through the night and they need their nappies changing regularly, so there is a surprise for each of you as you get to know your children. Be careful to follow the instructions and remember you can contact me or the medical team (who are aware of this project) at any time for help. Although the kind of help we will provide will depend on the situation as we are still trying to keep this as realistic as possible."

She paused, making eye contact with all twenty of her students. "Finally, please remember to have the utmost respect for everyone who is involved in this experiment. An email has been sent out to the rest of the campus to inform them of the project and we will tolerate no discrimination against any student involved. So please," and here she stopped again and looked straight at Arthit and Kongpob, "inform me immediately if there is any untoward behaviour because of the roles we have asked you to take on."

Everyone nodded at her and she offered them one final piece of advice, "Read the information you have been given carefully and ensure that both you and your partner share the roles and responsibilities that come with having a child to care for. Your professors are aware that you will be alternating classes with your partner but you will still need to work on individual projects around your child's care. Every part of this experiment is being graded! So, we are watching you!"

The class exchanged glances with each other as they wondered about how exactly they were going to be judged, and then picked up their rice babies and headed out to lunch.

Bright headed straight for Arthit as they left and held up his baby asking him to compare their sizes. "How old is yours supposed to be?" He asked, peering at the one Kongpob was holding in his arms, "Ours is 11 months, so I think he should be bigger."

"It's still a girl P'Bright!" Maprang interrupted, laughing. "No matter how many times you say 'he' we were still assigned little Kala."

"I did not agree to that name!" Bright yelled, reaching out to grab the information pack from Maprang, "Are you certain you have it right? I'm sure he's a boy!"

As they bickered, Kongpob turned to Arthit, their 'baby' snuggled in one arm. "How old is our little darling?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Umm... she's only 1 month old, Kongpob," Arthit said as he rifled through their paperwork, moving the bag of 'supplies' they had been given from arm to arm as he looked for a name. "But she doesn't seem to have a name." He admitted.

"Oh," Kongpob said, staring between Arthit and the baby in his arms, "Then I guess that's our first job..."

But as he spoke, a litany of cries filled the corridor and everyone holding a rice baby held them up in surprise.

"Oh my god!" Oak screeched above the noise, "They only bloody cry like real babies!"

Beside him, Praepaillin rocked the rice bag in her arms as it continued to wail, "What do we do?"

"Well, it means they need feeding, or changing, or rocking!" M said as he stared in horror at the booklet of information, "And we have to work out which one!"

The students stared at each other in shock as realisation set in.

This project was going to be super realistic. And they had to pass!

They were parents now!