Secrets Kept

Friends are confusing

"Wait!" Bright interrupted Kongpob, turning to Arthit. "You thought we would be mad about this? About you having... being... ummm.. pregnant?" Bright stumbled over his words for a moment, obviously not sure how to put it. "That is a little weird to say, but for me, if you are happy, that's what matters. So, are you happy about the baby?" His words surprised several of them, but mostly Arthit. Bright want known for being like this, but it was a welcome surprise.

"Well, I had to remind him several times that we knew at least P'Tutah would be okay with this." Kongpob finished what he had been saying after Arthit nodded at Bright's question. Bright leaned back again in his chair with a smile. "We really didn't know if the rest of you would be as accepting in this situation." Kongpob looked from Bright to Knott to Prem and then finally Tutah.

"Of course, I'm fine. I'm so happy for you both!! Little Fiat is going to have a sibling! And I hope this time, you let me help with the baby after they are born." Tutah seemed to be bouncing in his chair in excitement.

"That's actually one reason we wanted to talk to you today. As I said before, I am 11 weeks along and still in the danger zone, but I couldn't deal with the stress of not knowing how all of you would react to this, so we decided to clue you in." Arthit said, then reached for his fork, suddenly hungry.

After he took a bite of his own food, two of the others seemed to realize that they also had food in front of them. As Arthit, Tutah, and Kongpob chewed, Prem and Knott continued talking.

"You say that you have been stressing out about when to tell us that you and Kongpob are going to be parents again. But when have we ever given you any reason to think that we wouldn't be completely with you on this? I mean, when you introduced Fiat to us and then told us about N'Kongpob, we didn't make a fuss about it." Prem asked, clearly upset about this.

"Yeah, we only wanted to know more about your family. And never once got upset or anything. So why would you doubt our support?" Knott finished before he also took a bite of his food.

By this time, Arthit was trying to hold in tears. He really didn't know why he was crying, but he was going to blame it on his hormones. Lowering his head, he tried to hide his tears by taking another bite of food. Unfortunately, Kongpob was so attuned to him and his emotions that he was immediately on alert. Reaching over, the younger man placed his hand on his leg again.

It took a moment before Arthit could answer, but eventually, he lifted his head.

"I guess, I just thought that in concept it was easy to get used to, but to see it happening was... too much. I don't know how I would react to one of you telling me something like this, so I was unsure. I'm sorry." Arthit said, his tears now gone.

"I forgive you for doubting us. But you have to tell us everything. Especially when we are on campus and if you aren't feeling well." Tutah said, smiling widely. Arthit nodded then glanced at Kongpob, who nodded.

"I haven't told you everything yet. So, as you know, next year Kong will be in his 2nd year and we will be interning who knows where. So when the new baby arrives, we will need to make sure someone can take care of all the kids when each of us are busy. Our parents may not be happy about this news, so we wanted to ask if any of you would be willing to help out when you have the time."

"Oh! Count me in. Of course!" Tutah said with no hesitation. This caused Kongpob to smile wider and look at Arthit. Shaking his head, Arthit smiled at Tutah, then looked toward Prem.

"I mean, I don't know much about babies or children, but I will do what I can. And what i don't know you will have to teach me." The big man agreed.

"Same for me", said Bright.

"I have a little brother, so I know some about kids and babies but he is almost 17 now, so it's been a while." Knott said, reminding them that he was the only one with a sibling in their group.

"Thank you. We appreciate any help." Kongpob said, then looked at Arthit knowingly. With a secret smile, Arthit continued.

"Actually, there is one more thing you need to know." He paused, wanting to delay this next surprise.

"What else could there be?", Bright asked, clearly not wanting to wait to find out. He pushed his empty plate away and lay his chin on his hand with his elbow on the table in a gesture that conveyed attention.

"Ha. Just one more thing. Babies." Arthit said, simply. He waited as they all looked confused. Then one by one, they all seemed to understand, except one.

"WHAT?!?" Tutah, Prem, and Knott said together loudly. Bright was the only one to continue to look confused.

"What does that mean?" He asked but was ignored.

"Wait! 2? Or more than that?" Knott was the one to ask. Instead of answering, Arthit and Kongpob each only held up 2 fingers.

"Twins???" This exclamation from Tutah seemed to help Bright understand what was going on.

"OH!! You are expecting 2 babies? Wow!!" Turning to Kongpob, Bright opened his mouth to say something else.

"Don't even think about it! I know what you are going to say, but don't." Arthit interrupted, his checks and ears going red. Kongpob smirked, clearly knowing what Bright was going to say as well.

"Yeah, I know. I'm good." The younger man gloated with a quark of one brow. This made Arthit hide his face in his hands and the others to begin laughing. They were calming down at one point, but Arthit chose that moment to recovered enough from his embarrassment to reach over and hit Kongpob on the arm for his comment. It was several more minutes of laughter before they were able to calm down again.

"You know, I am glad that you are telling us now instead of right after you found out. Mainly because I don't think you would have as good humor about Ai'Bright's comments as you did. Although I do have to ask N'Kongpob; any mood swings yet?" Prem asked, getting hit in the arm for his question by Arthit.

Kongpob smiled before answering. "Actually, a mood swing is what made us wonder in the first place. I had said something and it made him snap at me and hide in the bathroom. After a few minutes of trying to get him to open the door, he finally did only to wonder why he was so emotional lately. That got me thinking and I asked one question. He got this panicked look. That's when we thought he should go get him checked out at the doctor's." Kongpob turned his smile toward his partner. Arthit couldn't help returning it, remembering that moment of realization.

"I know it's still early, but have you come up with a name... I mean, names for the babies? Any thoughts?" Tutah asked, pushing his empty plate away from him.

Arthit barked out a laugh. "None that we can agree on so far. And last time we talked about it, we were onlying thinking about one name. We should talk about twin names now." The last sentence was directed to Kongpob. The younger man nodded.

With the majority of the questions answered, the conversation continued for the rest of their time at the restaurant, mostly the others poking fun at the two impending parents about one thing or another.

When they got up to leave, Tutah couldn't resist asking if he could touch Arthit's belly. With a huge sigh, Arthit agreed.

Walking out of the private room, Arthit already in his jacket, Kongpob reached down to take his boyfriend's hand. They all made it to the door and exited the restaurant.

"We will see you later. And thank you again for understanding and agreeing to help." Kongpob said with a small bow of his head to his seniors.

"Of course. Just keep us updated on how things are going and if we can help with anything." Tutah smiled before having Bright's arm and almost dragging him away. The other two nodded at the couple and trailed off in the same direction, shaking their heads at the other two.

"Let's get back to your dorm and relax for a little bit." Kongpob said.

"Don't forget that we have homework to finish today. The faster we finish it, the faster we can just relax. Oh, and let's go see Fiat tomorrow." Arthit added, as they made their way to the motorbike and then their buildings.

A/N: I have no excuses this time. I was just being lazy. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter.