Autumn is a second spring

6. Son

 Prem munched on the pepperoni pizza that he had ordered as supper while scrolling through his phone.

He looked at the time. It was twelve-thirty at midnight, which meant that it was morning seven thirty in Bangkok. He dialled Koi's number without hesitation.

Koi was the nanny they had hired to take care of their son, Bew.

Boun adopted Bew, his nephew after his eldest brother died. The child was less than a year old back then. Through the years, Prem has helped Boun raise the kid, treating him as his own.

"Swadee Kha, Khun Prem." The cheerful nanny greeted me as the video call got connected.

"Swadee phi." Prem smiled. "Is he up yet?"

"Kha! He is having his breakfast now." the nanny enthusiastically walked to the dining table, where the little guy was eating his food and placed the phone on a holder so that the kid's face was visible to Prem.

"Baby?" Prem called out seeing no response from the child.

Bew looked at the screen and then at his food. A prominent pout could be seen on his face.

"Is my Baby mad at me?" Prem asked suppressing his urge to coo at posting cutie.

Even though Bew was not Boun's biological son, both of them resembled each other a lot as they had inherited their looks from Tessa, Boun's mother. It wouldn't be wrong to say that Bew was a smaller and cuter version of Boun.

Bew sulkily looked at the screen and spoke "I am not talking to Dami. Dami is bad! Dada is also bad! Both of you are bad!"

'Dami' was the nickname Bew came up with when he just started talking. It was a mixture of Daddy and Mommy. 

He called Prem 'Dami', as the latter was his mother figure. He hadn't met his own biological mother ever since he was adopted by Boun. He called Boun 'Dada'.

 Prem was shocked to hear Bew's words. Even before he could ask anything, the kid slipped off the chair and ran back to his room.

Koi picked up the phone while running after Bew. 

Prem could see that Bew was crying at the other end. His heart ached when he saw thick, round tear drops rolling down his child's cheeks. "P' Koi, what is going on there? Why is he crying?"

Koi felt distressed. She looked at Prem awkwardly as the child started throwing a tantrum and she had to pacify the child first. "Khun Prem, can I call you back in a while?"

Prem sighed and agreed. It was not like he didn't know the predicament the woman was in.

Once the call was hung up. He put his phone aside. He started packing his things while waiting for the call.

It didn't take long before Koi called back.

"What happened to Bew, Phi? Why was he in a bad mood?" Prem asked as soon as he picked up the call.

Koi hesitantly started speaking, "It is like this Khun Prem... Bew... He got into a fight with his classmates."

"What?" Prem asked in shock "Did he get injured? Is he alright? Did you take him to the hospital for a check-up?"

Koi was speechless hearing the row of questions. Bew had been the one who started the fight and he was also the one who ended it. The other party contained three boys. All three of them were badly injured while Bew just had some scratches.

"He is alright khrab. Just some abrasions, nothing more." She said assuringly. "The school nurse took a look at him and dressed his wound."

"Oh, thank god!" Prem patted his chest. As a troublemaker himself, he often used to get involved in fistfights. So, he didn't mind if his child was a bit unruly. 

"Your martial arts training was very helpful." She added sarcastically. 

He didn't mind the sarcasm. He was the one who trained Bew in mixed martial arts. Bew had shown interest in it when he saw his Dami practising it.

"But why did he hit them?" He asked with a frown.

Prem had always taught his son that they as martial artists should not raise their hands on commoners without a reason and that they had to respect the art. 

"Those children teased him saying that his Mae abandoned him because he is a jinx" Koi answered in a soft tone.  

Prem slammed the table next to him in anger "You call that teasing!? That's outrageous!"

Koi flinched in fear. This was the first time she saw Prem losing his cool. Usually, Prem had always been good-natured in front of her.

"What are those teachers even doing in that school?" He was getting madder with each passing second. 

The term 'Mae' has always been a sensitive topic. Both he and Boun had avoided any kind of discussion on the topic.

Boun wanted Bew to have a positive view of his mother. He felt that Merlin, Bew's mother, had been through way too many difficulties because of his eldest brother before he passed away when Bew was a baby. He always felt guilty towards her for some reason.

Prem too had the same view in the beginning. But as time passed, he realised that Merlin didn't care for her son at all. She didn't even bother to give them a call and ask about Bew's whereabouts or at least wish the child on his birthday. She had completely abandoned the little one.

Hence, he no longer sympathised with her and wasn't very keen on painting her as a modern version of Mother Teresa in Bew's eyes like Boun wanted to. 

He kept all his opinions to himself and never voiced them to Boun, as he knew that it might risk his relationship with the older. Even though they had been living together for the past three years and raising a kid and dog together, Boun had never shown any signs of acknowledging their relationship.

He was practically walking on eggshells when it came to his relationship with Boun. He felt that if he took the wrong step everything that he had built in the past four years would go down the drain and he might end up losing Boun for sure.

It was true that he had only started raising the kid for Boun's sake. But with time the baby had captured his heart and soul. He treated Bew better than any foster parent ever could.

 He was sure of one thing. That was that he would never let Merlin take Bew away if she showed up one day acting like a loving mother.

But, he knew that he couldn't stop her from doing so if Boun wanted to side with her. Even if he took the risk and said his opinions out loud, it wouldn't matter as neither was he biologically related to him or had any legal rights to make the decisions on the child's behalf. Only Merlin and Boun had those rights- Merlin as Bew's biological mother and Boun as the child's foster parent.

This left Prem in a dilemma.