From Something To Everything (Bounprem)

137. Meeting in laws

"Swadee Khrab, Swadee Khrab." Tarkorn waiied at the guests as he invited them into his family home.

Lee Miran, his Korean wife stood beside him, mirroring his actions. Having lived with him for over twenty years, she was getting a hang of the Thai etiquette and customs.

"Swadee Khrab, Dad, Mom." Boss, their soon-to-be son-in-law greeted them.

The couple smiled widely at him accepting the greetings. They were really satisfied with the son-in-law their son found for them.

A group of about fifty people had come from Boss's side to their house. Luckily their family house was big enough to accommodate all of them including the thirty-plus family members from their side.

Tarkorn and his family had been living in Seattle all this while and didn't actually have much to do with Thailand. But since their soon-to-be-in-laws were insistent on having the two kids get married in Thailand, the family of three flew back to their homeland.

He was thankful to his nephew, Prem and his friends for managing to arrange everything on such short notice.

Both the families settled down. They introduced themselves to each other and the atmosphere was quite lively.

Prem was the only one who was actually shocked by his position. He saw three people whom he was really familiar with. He didn't know if they knew him. But he knew them from the information file Fluke had given him.

He wasn't ready to meet those three people. At least not yet. And certainly not like this.

Those three people were Jen, Tuk and Tessa, Boun's maternal grandparents and mother.

Prem didn't know if didn't know if it was because he was staring too hard at them, Tuk turned her head and looked at him. He quickly averted his gaze and looked at the floor.

Tuk chuckled seeing the action.

"What happened, Maa?" Tessa asked hearing her mother chuckle.

"See that boy standing at the corner of the room?" Tuk motioned in Prem's direction. Tessa turned to look at Prem. "That's Boun's boyfriend."

"Boun has a boyfriend now?" Tessa was shocked. She never expected Boun to actually settle down with a single person this quick.

"Yes. And I tell you, Tessa, your son is head over heels for that kid." Tuk smiled at Tessa.

Tessa carefully observed Prem who was looking everywhere but in her direction.

"Stop making the kid nervous." Jen scolded the two women. "He is already surprised to see three of us here."

"He wouldn't have been this awkward if your Laan Chaai had actually listened to me and introduced him to us sooner." Tuk retorted. "I am sure that the kid didn't know that Boss was actually Boun's cousin."

"I am actually surprised that he recognised us," Tessa said smiling sadly at her parents.

Tuk patted her daughter. She knew what her daughter was thinking. Given the duo's relationship, it was actually difficult to have Boun mention her to his boyfriend unless they were that close.

The function went ahead and the discussion on the ceremony was done among the elders. The youngsters had excused themselves and left the scene except for the two grooms who had no way of escaping.

The priest gave them the auspicious dates for the engagement. They settled on holding the engagement on the nearest date which was almost a month away in Chonburi.

Chonburi was Prem's maternal grandfather's hometown and their ancestral origin lay there.

After the decisions were made, the group proceeded to have lunch. The Thai-style feast immensely impressed the guests.

Jen didn't forget to praise everything. Tarkorn was pleased as he modestly accepted the praises and lowkey bragged about his nephew Prem's efficiency in organising everything.

Jassy wanted to dig a hole and hide in it seeing her brother brag about her son who in her eyes hadn't actually done anything to receive such high praises. But she didn't expose him.

Tessa had finished eating and was looking for an opportunity to talk to Prem. She wanted to know the kid better as she didn't want what happened in the past to happen to her son again.

She spotted Prem talking on the phone. She was so concentrated on not losing sight of him that she didn't notice that her blouse got caught in something.

Rip

The blouse tore open. The sound made Prem turn around. Seeing Tessa in such a state, he immediately removed his blazer and placed it on her.

Tessa mumbled a thank you to Prem. She was too embarrassed to look at him. She had made a fool out of herself in front of her son's boyfriend in their first meeting itself.

"What happened here?" Jassy who had entered the scene asked her son in a low voice.

Prem replied to his mother in whispers.

Jassy nodded in understanding. "Khun Tessa Kha."

Tessa turned to see Jassy standing next to Prem. She identified the woman as Prem's mother from what Tarkorn had introduced her as. "Kha?"

"Why don't you follow me to my home to get a change of dress?" Jassy suggested. "It is nearby."

Tessa hesitated. She didn't want to bother Jassy and Prem. She glanced at Prem not knowing how to respond. She knew that it would be rude if she declined the offer.

Prem handed the car keys to his mother.

Tessa followed Jassy to their home. It was a ten-minute drive from the previous destination.

"Please, come in." Jassy warmly welcomed Tessa into the house.

In the short ten-minute ride, the duo had talked a lot (Mainly it was Jassy doing the talking and Tessa just listened.) and Tessa figured out that Jassy was a cheerful person. She hoped that Prem was similar to his mother.

"I will go get something for you to change into. Make yourself at home." Jassy headed to her bedroom.

Tessa observed the house. It was just a typical two-storeyed house owned by an upper-middle-class family which was certainly big for a family of three. The interior of the house was colourful extruding a warm and cozy vibe that was missing in the place she called home.

Her footsteps halted in front of a wall that was decorated with photo frames. A frame caught her eyes really quick.

It was the photo of Boun and Prem standing together with Prem's parents on Prem's graduation day. In the picture, Boun was standing next to Prem with one hand hugging the latter's waist with Jassy and her husband standing on the other side.

Tessa's gaze averted to the photo frame next to it. It was also a photo from the graduation day with Prem hugging a huge bouquet, standing next to Boun. Both of them were smiling widely at the camera.

One look at the bouquet and Tessa instantly knew that it was her son's handiwork. She felt extremely sad. She knew she had missed out a lot on her son's life.