SOTUS: The University Days (and Other Universes)

First Word War

It's a cloudy day at the park, and Kongpob smiles contently at where he is—where they are—right now. He's sitting comfortably on the bench with Dae, their son, curled up on his lap. The two are watching a pair of dogs playing—for almost an hour now, actually.

Arthit is right beside them, but he's busy typing an unwanted but carefully worded email on his phone. He's typing the email with his brows knitted together because it's the last thing he wants to do today, on his off day, when he promised Kongpob and Dae a family day. Being Ocean Electric's production manager, he realized a few weeks after being promoted, has its downsides.

Dae is rambling on in a language all his own, and Kongpob smiles at himself for seemingly understanding most of what their son is saying. As one of the dogs tumbles on the grass as it gets hit by the other dog, Dae claps his hands and screams one of his garbled words as if it's a real word.

"Arthit, have you heard that? He said 'dog'!"

"No," Arthit replies after a chuckle, still fixated on his email. "Actually, he said "dowa-gogugaga."

Kongpob huffs. "C'mon, don't you want to hear our son's first word?"

"Of course, I do, and I will hear it once he utters an actual word," Arthit faces Kongpob this time, and his eyes aren't that serious, probably being fond of his husband trying hard to convince him that their son's meaningless sounds are actual words. Kongpob playfully rolls his eyes before moving his attention back to their son.

"Do you want to say something to Papa?" Kongpob coos to his son, touching his little nose with his own nose. Dae just laughs at him.

"Baby Dae would rather say something to Daddy, right?" Arthit moves his face away from his phone and scoots closer to his husband and son. Dae's eyes light up upon seeing him. He's so happy that he grabs a handful of Arthit's hair.

"Aw! Aw!" Arthit fakes being hurt, and Kongpob laughs along with Dae.

"Be nice to Daddy, Dae. Now, don't you want to say something to Papa?"

"Huh," Arthit taunts him. "His first word will be 'daddy.'"

"Dae, say 'Papa.'"

"No, look at Daddy, look here. That's right. Say 'Daddy.'"

Poor Dae confusingly looks back and forth between his fathers as bubbles form in his mouth for trying to sound incoherent words.

"Say 'Papa.' You can do it."

"No, Dae. Say 'Daddy' instead. Look here, and say 'dah-dee'."

Their little first-word war gets halted, however, when a friend passing by double glances at them and yells with his usual loud voice, "Arthiiiiit!"

"Too-tah!" Dae cheers happily.

Kongpob gapes first, and he's followed by Arthit. Their son is now reaching for Tutah, and Kongpob defeatedly lets go of his son.

Tutah grabs him and sets him up on his lap as he takes the space next to Arthit. "Yes, Baby Dae-Dae, Uncle Tutah is here," he coos.

Looking back at his friends, he's surprised to see them gaping at him.

"What? What's wrong with you two?"