Lay Me Down to Sleep

Chapter 30

As Tankhun goes into one of the sitting rooms, he rolls his eyes at the sight of Kim and Chay lying like corpses in a large box.

"Thank you for coming," Aree says somberly as she hands him an unneeded tissue, dressed in a black dress and a black veil. Where did she even GET that? He is desperate to ask, but decides to play along instead. 

"Of course," Tankhun says, dabbing his eyes unnecessarily before reaching down to take Aree's hand, "And I should be the one who is thanking you. You…You took charge and planned all of this, even though Kinn and I should have stepped up and played a bigger role. Kim is our baby brother-"

"I'm NOT a baby!" says a voice from the box.

"That's what made it so much harder," Tankhun continues before looking down at Aree gratefully, "But you? You took charge. Very girlboss of you." 

Aree bows her head, "I girlboss on a regular basis. This was nothing. You should go comfort your mother. She is struggling. But take a program first." 

Tankhun takes a folded program from the pile, holding back a laugh as he looks at the image of Kim's and Chay's "dead" bodies lying side by side as Porsche and Aree theatrically mourn them. 

"Dao thinks the picture is too much," Aree whispers, glancing over at where his mother is sitting with Arm, "She's mad we are playing this to begin with, but she was outvoted. You should sit with her.”

"Thanks for the heads up," Tankhun whispers back before going over to where Arm is sitting. He gives his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek, then leans forward to look at his petulant toddler mother. She is currently kicking the back of the chair in front of her with a scowl on her face. 

"She doesn't like that Kim is pretending to be dead because she remembered how panicked she felt when he briefly died," Arm informs him, "It's hard for her to remember this is only a game. I validated her feelings because this is more realistic and somber than the pretend scenarios they normally act out." 

"I don't like it!" Ma says, shaking her head stubbornly causing a curl to escape her barrette. Arm reaches over and fixes it and Tankhun perks up. 

"Arm!" He says, feeling surprised and pleased, "Did you curl and style my mother's hair?" 

Arm nods, "I did hers while Namphueng did Aree's." 

"I didn't know you were such a talented hairstylist!" Tankhun says.

Arm smiles a little, "I do have younger sisters. Malai taught me and Hansa so we could alternate on who helped with getting Nalin and Preeda ready." 

That pulls Ma out of her silent tantrum as she climbs onto Arm's lap, "You should invite them here! They can live here too! So there are more girls!" 

Before Arm can answer, Aree overhears Ma and rushes over to them, "I want more girls here too!" 

As Arm looks at both of them, Tankhun gives him a soft look.

"I think having them close would be a great idea," Tankhun says, "It's your decision, but they should stay with us if…if we are becoming serious-"