Accidental love

20.

Ming comes out of his thoughts hissing and notices his baby has finished his feeding. He places him on the bed and tidies himself much to Thorn's dislike. 'Mae took my bewb away. No fair. Huff' Thorn thinks. Ming chuckles seeing the cute pout on his baby's face.

Ming carries him back and blew raspberries earning giggles from the little one. He feels grateful that he was able to save his baby who is now giggling in his embrace. After a few minutes, Ming places Thorn in the cradle who gets busy with very important work that is to play with his toys. He sits near his baby and admires him.

Ming remembers how he got scared to death hearing a loud banging on his door on the 3rd night in that temple room. He heard the priest calling his name from outside in a restless voice. Ming opened the door and saw the priest entering it and closing the door with a speed of light.

Ming's body was frozen at the spot and the tears were threatening to fall when the priest informed him about a few men coming to the temple yesterday asking about him while holding Ming's picture in hand. He told Ming how they were showing Ming's photo around to other people to inquire about him.

Ming felt an electric shock in his body when he heard the priest saying that an aged man visit the temple that evening and asked about Ming again. Ming was sure that his grandpa reached there and no time he would find him. The priest told Ming that there was only one way to survive that is to run away from this place. He helped Ming pack some clothes and food. He escaped with Ming at midnight, so no one would see them. Instead of the city, they took the forest road that led to the seashore.

They both reached there by early morning sneaking around and being on high alert. The priest took him to one of the boats and gave him an address. He told Ming that the boat worker could be trusted who would help him to get to the other side of the sea that led to a small old village.

He asked Ming to leave with the boat worker and reach the address. Ming was confused and scared when the priest asked him to stay at that address and go nowhere else as his grandpa won't ever imagine him being in such a small old village. The priest reassured him that it would be safe for both him and the baby.

Ming had no choice left, so he did what he was asked. After ensuring that Ming is at a safe distance, the priest sneaked back to the temple without being seen while Ming reached the village. Thanks to god, it was still very early in the morning, so no one saw him reaching his address. With much courage, he knocked on the door of the given address and was welcomed by a grandma who was confused seeing a young boy at her door this early in the morning.

Ming informed her about the temple priest who asked him to come to her house. Grandma let him in and help him calm down. Seeing Ming being scared and protectively covering his belly, grandma gave him a smile while reassuring him that he was safe there. She asked him about the whole situation, so Ming narrated everything to her.

Grandma gave him a warm smile while feeding him some food. But Ming was more confused, 1st the priest didn't find it weird, or wasn't even shocked that he can have a child and now grandma is the same. Seeing Ming's confused look, grandma chuckled and said that her daughter had a son with the same condition as well much to Ming's shock. She told him how her daughter's husband left her daughter after he found out about his son having the ability to give birth.

Ming felt bad for them. He was very well aware of that feeling of not being accepted. Grandma informed him that she was an old worker at the temple where Ming stayed. She worked there for years but returned to her village when her daughter was thrown away by his husband with their child. Then, Ming understood that the priest would have known about it that's why he sent him to their house as they could understand his situation very well.

Grandma gave him a place to stay and hid him we'll for the rest of his pregnancy. Anna and Ming were nearly of same age so they bonded well and he used to help her with housework. She didn't let him go out and get caught by villager's curious eyes and also took care of all his needs. 2-year-old Win felt the same warmth with Ming like with Anna, so he also got comfortable around him. Anna worked in their small shop the whole day selling jams, sweets, and pickles while grandma used to spend most of her time in the village temple. Ming even learned cooking and helped grandma in making pickles, jams, etc that it could be sold at the shop later.

Ming remembers how he almost faced death while giving birth to Thorn. Without his P'Forth and proper care or doctors he had the most dreadful labor in that small house. Thanks to Anna and grandma who could save him and Thorn during that time. He remember how Win was running around happily when Thorn was born. 

Ming sheds tears remembering how weak he got since then. He wasn't even able feed his little cub fully due to his poor health and the fear of his grandpa finding him didn't let him go back to the city or hospital for proper care. He feels grateful to Anna who fed his newborn when he wasn't enough especially for the 1st 6 months. 

Grandma used to give Ming many homemade medicines and herbs to increase lactation and improve his condition, but nothing worked much. He felt bad every time he had to look upto Anna when he wasn't able to satisfy his baby's hunger. It took him a while to improve a bit, but not fully. He felt a little relieved when Thorn started eating pulps and a few other foods. 

Even, Anna got a small job in some city on the opposite end much to everyone's delight. It took Ming almost a week to convince Win to go with Anna as the latter was reluctant to leave baby Thorn. With a promise that they would meet soon, Win left with his mom while Ming started helping grandma in the shop. He started going out of the house to buy things or help grandma but made sure to avoid any attention. The villagers were also curious about the new person in the village, but they didn't dare to question him seeing his stoic face and cold eyes.

Ming had to look intimidating to keep his baby safe and to not let anyone know how scared he was from inside. Even though he was far away from everyone, but was still scared of the thought that grandpa would find him. He even requested that the priest not visit him ever when the latter came to the village to check up on Ming after Thorn's birth. The priest was aware of his fears, so he promised that he won't come until he is sure that there is no danger around.