Pete lacked confidence and self-esteem. One day, a young man knocked him over to save his life, and by doing so, changed his life completely.
Ae wasn't interested in love, only one night stands. He couldn't get the handsome young man off his brain...
Pete stood dressed in his graduation robes, holding a bouquet of flowers his mother had given him. Next to him, held tightly was Ae, also dressed in graduation robes, holding flowers. They both smiled brightly as their families took multitude of pictures.
Little Yim, now four, ran up and and smiled sweetly, "Uncle, I can I be in your picture too?"
Ae bent down, swung her up and teased, "Not mine, little one? Uncle Ae will be sad."
"No! No." She giggled as Ae tickled her, "I want Uncle Pete!" She stretched out her arms and Pete deftly plucked the little girl and snuggled. Nat sighed and Oh glanced down, "Well? Have you decided to say anything yet?" She shook her head. No, today was for the boys. Her pregnancy could be announced another day. Instead, she picked up the camera and took lots more pictures. Yim was growing way too fast.
Pete's mom had loved Ae's family since the first family meet up. Ae had worried over nothing. Pete had tried for days, to calm him, that she wasn't a snob. Ae still worried that since they were nothing but simple shop owners, they weren't good enough for her precious son.
Petch saw it differently. Ae was the one who helped her son become a man. Ae was there to help Pete through every difficulty when she couldn't. If Ae hadn't learned these skills at home, then where did he learn. His family was definitely better than the one she created for Pete.
As for Ae's family, they had known he was gay, even before bringing Pete home. That day, they had hoped he would just say, "This is my boyfriend." Just as his brother had said, they all noticed the small things like hand holding and feeding Pete. His ma had sighed with relief. Pete was a nice boy, handsome, kind and polite.
They were horrified when Ae fell apart when Pete was kidnapped by his father. Those four months, they saw their strong son fall apart in a way they never expected. It went beyond heartbreak. They also saw Ae grow in new ways. He expanded his engineering degree to include business courses to better match Pete's international courses.
Ae wanted to be the life partner Pete needed. Pete had decided to drop certain courses after his two kidnapping ordeals and focus on law and international law. Although he had his BA now, he would be returning to University and getting a graduate degree. Both families were so proud of him for choosing this career path.
Pete carefully put Yim down and and grabbed Ae's hand. They walked over to their families, Petch with Aunty Jiew, Ma and Pa Intouch, Oh and Nat, now holding Yim's hand firmly. Smiling, Pete said, "Let's go celebrate!"
Petch giggled, her soft infectious one. Aunty Jiew's eyes twinkled and she glanced at the boys, "I've been meaning to ask, how do you boys feel about babies?"
Pete snorted, "I love babies, Aunty, but it's not like I can bear one. We've actually talked about adopting one, Much, much later..." Pete looked at Ae and grinned, "Ae will make a great father. Don't you think it runs in his side of the family?"
Petch and Jiew now laughed outright. "Most definitely, Pete! We should ask Nat if she wants more babies."
Oh and Nat were looking a bit uncomfortable now, with six pairs of eyes on them. Nat sputtered, "Well, eventually I guess."
Petch wasn't dropping it, "Yim's at the right age to be a big sister, don't you agree, Oh?"
"Ohhh, ummm, I guess." His face flamed. Ae burst out laughing. Now he knew they were hiding something. He poked his Ma's side and she nodded.
Together, they yelled, "Is Nat pregnant?" Now both of them were blushing as people around them were turning to look at the giggling and laughing group of people. Little Yim had taken up saying the new word, "Pregnant" and repeating it over and over...
Pete stood laughing, just watching and laughing. Three years ago, he never would have imagined a day where his life was filled with love and laughter. Back then, it was only about self hatred and hiding.
It took Ae to save him and show him this amazing world.
From the minute he stepped off the plane and into Ae's arms, he realized that life was about firsts, not about lasts. So he made it a point to remember and make his first opportunities.
The first time he was brave enough to ask Ae to live with him.
The first time they slept together in the condo.
The first time Ae took him camping and they made love under the stars.
When Ae placed the ring on his finger. Pete rubbed the simple gold band and smiled and lifted his head, watching Nat as she still tried to plead ignorance and Oh just stood silent.
He was surrounded by family and love, and had been since that first family dinner at Ae's. He wasn't a shy, foolish boy anymore.
"Come on," He yelled, "We've got reservations! Leave the pregnant lady alone."
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A/N: I have very mixed feelings about this story. It's odd. Usually when I write fanfics, its because I like the characters but I see better potential. With this couple, the way their relationship developed, it was sooo smooth, except for two bumps: Ae's confusion/development of his sexuality and Pete's shyness/refusal to see himself as someone desirable. The introduction of Trump was dropped so abruptly that it didn't make sense logically, because truly desperate people do desperate things. I know, I have a recovering Meth addict in my family. I use the word (recovering) loosely. And I liked the ghost ship of Pete/Tin. Tin couldn't have developed a new relationship properly until Tin deals with being turned down. He couldn't handle new emotions at the same time. Remember, he's got a mindset that HE IS THE BEST, so it would play on him, "why not me?". That is part of Tin's total dominate personality. He's an alpha, like Ae. He had to fight any way he could, and having lost, he had no choice but run away, lick his wounds and come back, pretend that Pete never existed. That's more the way I see Tin's style. Anyways, who knows what's in the future. Yeesh, I've babbled again!
I may write about Tin later, but I've read so much fanfic about Tin/Can that it may be hard to see something "fresh" on it. Whatever! TharnType? Nope... If I wrote about them, I think I'd choose the actors, Mew and Gulf. If you need to understand what I mean, go watch some of the workshop clips. I'll think more... What I do know is this is MY last LBC fanfic. LBC2 hasn't really "caught" me yet (and that's after the bed scene, sigh)
Please note: I have written Book Two: The Bad Son. I hope you will enjoy it.
