THE AUTISTIC

Dealing with the Heartless -I

'The heartless demons are back. '
That's the first thought, which echoed inside Apo's brain, the moment his eyes fell upon his real parents standing at his school's front gate.
Things were finally flowing smoothly, just the way he wished;
he was truly happy free from all sorts of worries, finally;
But just as his heart was being filled with contentment, his heartless parents from past had to return.

"Apo... ", his mother called him out softly as she proceeded towards him slowly, with caution.
She reached out to hold Apo's arm but was soon rejected by a grumble.
Mile was yet confused, making guesses of who they were but he was certain that they were making Apo uncomfortable hence he walked to him, to protect him.

"Why are you here? What do you want?", the autistic boy communicated to his so called mother in sign language.
"Apo..., I... know I might have lost the right to call you my son, but could me and your dad take you out on a dinner tonight? W-We just want to spend some time with you."
The young teen shook his head angrily, indicating a complete disapproval.

"I know I couldn't be the mother you wished. Me and your dad left you because we thought it was the best we could come up with.", tears rolling down her eyes, " To be honest you are the lucky one compared to your brothers. We don't have money Po we are very poor. Me and your dad just thought God would certainly guide you to something you deserved, a better life and while we took the decision we failed to realize our own emotions. I was wrong, I thought I could handle your absence but unfortunately not. Don't you wish the same? Why can't you just come back to us? ", his mother raged while she pulled his collar.

It was when Mile took the call to intervene, " Ma'am please can you stop creating a spectacle in front of our school. If you would like to discuss about this matter, we could do it at our house. My father is going to be here to pick us up soon. ", he explained patiently.

Before the two heartless adults could answer, a car came to halt , " Mile, Apo I am here. ",Chan called out.
" Pa! ", the autistic boy squeaked in a relieved tone and ran to his car ignoring his surroundings.
He squeaked his boyfriend's name while sitting inside the car; completely ignoring the presence of his real parents.

For him this was his family, where he truly belonged.

"Sir, ma'am, I think you can come with us to our house in our car, please come. ", Mile invited Apo's parents in a polite manner. He thought a talk or instead an explanation from their side was important for everyone's closure; atleast a closure for his Apo; and take a decision for his own good.
Whatever he decided, whether them or the Wattanagitipats, Mile was completely determined to persuade his boyfriend to choose to stay with the Romsaithongs.
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Beautiful sun was rising above the horizon;

Chirping of birds kept echoing inside one's ear;

The tranquil river continued to flow at it's own course;
In the midst of this dreamy setting an adult man stood with a camera and tripod enthusiastically awaiting to capture the majestic view; which happened to be Apo.

The autistic boy had lived a rollercoaster of life, had seen his downs and ups, had cherished as well as dismayed certain moments of his life and believed strongly that he had always been receiving the things he deserved.
He felt a warm fulfilling and happy feeling blossom just by realising the fact, he had got to live through most of the situations with Mile by his side.

Even at present he waited for his love, his husband to enter the frame for him to capture the scenic view which seemed lacking with Mile absent in it.

"Mai! ", he called out.

" Coming Po, I was setting up the ingredients for making barbeques.", Mile answered as he walked towards the river. He felt exhausted and unexpectedly excruciating pain in his hip region, each step he took was hard and painful for him; but he took a call to overshadow and prevent it from being sensed by Apo who looked as cheerful as their teenage days. It had been 45 years since they got together yet their relationship was as young as a freshly blossomed flower.

"Here I am.", Mile announced as he stood beside the river and without sparing another second, his mate clicked his picture.
And just when the sound camera clicking ceased;
            Mile collapsed to the ground, which was certainly what Apo did not expect and something he thought for the first time in his entire life that he didn't deserve.

Present
" I-I am sorry, I think I skipped quite a lot in the story,  w-we were at Apo's real parents re-entering his life, weren't we?", Anna stuttered.
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"We know we were wrong, it was no less than killing someone; w-we thought it was for his as well as our own good. He was a special child, everyone pointed out on how different he w-was from everyone. P-People always judged him, bullied him, hurt him; his own brothers to this day, see him as a disgrace to our family and consider him to be the reason for all our miseries and poverty.
We a-are very poor and our low income was never enough to support ourselves and our children. Do you t-think I wanted to leave my son at a church?-never. I always loved my baby. ", Apo's mother's voice cracked.
" And just like that we idiots were convinced that all our miseries may come to an end if we just get rid of him. P-People convinced us that all our miseries would come to an end by just getting rid of him. But later did we realize on how wrong we were and how we had lost a sun shining brightly out of our household. Please come back to us son, we need you. ", Mr Wattanagitipat pleaded.

Unconvinced by their reasons Nathanee raged,
           " If you both really loved him for who he was, he would have never been abandoned. Now if he goes with you both, how can I be assured that he won't be left alone ever again? I am sorry I won't be sending him unless he himself wants to leave, and also why now?
   Why do you want him back all of a sudden?
    What stimulated the urge in you two to have him back?
Whatever the reasoning I receive I can never be satisfied to return our Apo to you. He is a part of our family now; and families won't give up on its members unlike you two.
Just look at him, his innocence, how could anyone want to leave him despite whatever the endless reasons are.", while she shielded Apo from leaving their house, the young boy kept playing with the end of his boyfriend's T-shirt, completely ignorant of what was happening in his surroundings.

"I think we should talk about this matter further at dinner. I request you two stay till then. ", Chan smiled in a guilty way.
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Apo's parents agreed to stay for dinner and at present his mother was exploring the marvel of the Romsaithong mansion, while her husband sat in the living room in silence.
While she kept walking around she was shook to the core by the sight which caught her eye.

The sight of Mile and Apo kissing each other passionately at the balcony.
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Huge apologies for such a late update, honestly I had a creative block to write and was sort of confused as well.
But here I am back.
And meet you guys soon :)