Chapter 43 #2
"You're making me emotional before breakfast."
"I'm just telling the truth."
They talked while Orm cooked.
About work.
About Paris.
About Bangkok.
About the last three months.
Lingling told her about the projects she had completed.
Orm told her about the designs she had been working on.
They laughed about how busy they both had become.
Then the conversation shifted to Liam.
"He has a new obsession," Orm said.
Lingling raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Soccer."
Lingling smiled.
"Seriously?"
"He talks about it all day."
"Does he play?"
"Everywhere."
Orm sighed dramatically.
"Living room. Mom's balcony. Garden. Bedroom."
Lingling laughed.
"That's my boy."
Orm smiled.
"He's going to be very happy when he sees you."
"I hope so."
"You know he asks about you every night."
Lingling's smile softened.
"Really?"
"Every night."
"What does he ask?"
"When you're coming back."
Lingling lowered her gaze.
"I've missed him so much."
"I know."
They were still talking when they heard tiny footsteps.
Soft.
Sleepy.
Dragging slightly across the floor.
Orm looked toward the hallway.
Then came a tiny voice.
"Mommy?"
Orm smiled.
"Good morning, Baby."
A little boy appeared around the corner.
Liam.
He was wearing a dinosaur onesie.
His hair was messy.
His eyes were half closed.
He rubbed one eye.
"Mommy..."
Then he stopped.
His sleepy gaze landed on Lingling.
For a second, he didn't move.
Lingling didn't either.
Then his eyes widened.
"Wingwing?"
Lingling's heart broke open.
"Hi, Champ."
Liam gasped.
"Wingwing!"
His tiny feet immediately started running.
Lingling stood.
The next second, Liam launched himself into her arms.
Lingling caught him.
He wrapped both arms around her neck.
"You came!"
Lingling laughed, already crying.
"I came."
"Wingwing is here!"
"I'm here."
"You came back!"
"I did."
Liam hugged her harder.
"I missed you!"
"I missed you too."
He pulled back and held Lingling's face between his tiny hands.
"You're reawy here."
Lingling nodded.
"Really."
He kissed her cheek.
Then hugged her again.
Orm stood nearby with tears streaming down her face.
She watched Lingling hold her son.
And something inside her settled.
This.
This was what she had been hoping for.
Not perfection.
Not some grand cinematic moment.
Just this.
Her son laughing in Lingling's arms.
Lingling crying because she missed him.
And herself standing nearby, finally understanding that perhaps home didn't have to be a place.
Maybe home could be people.
People who chose to stay.
People who chose to try again.
People who chose love.
Liam suddenly pulled away.
"Wingwing!"
"Hmm?"
"Did you bring me something?"
Lingling laughed.
"Of course."
His eyes became enormous.
"What?"
"Come here."
She opened the bag.
Liam gasped at the soccer jersey.
"Dinosaur!"
"Yes."
"For me?"
"For you."
He hugged the stuffed animal.
Then hugged Lingling.
Then the dinosaur.
Then Lingling again.
Orm laughed.
"I think you've been replaced."
Lingling shook her head.
"Never."
Liam looked between them.
Then suddenly smiled.
"Mommy."
"Hmm?"
"Wingwing is staying?"
Orm looked at Lingling.
Lingling looked at Orm.
Then she crouched down beside Liam.
"Yes, Champ."
"For how wong?"
Lingling smiled.
"A long, long time."
Liam's face lit up.
"Reawy?"
"Really."
"Can you watch footbaw with me?"
"Of course."
"Can you pway with me?"
"Absolutely."
"Can you wive here with us?"
Orm nearly choked.
"Liam."
"What mommy?"
Lingling laughed.
"We'll talk about that."
Liam grinned.
"Okay!"
Then he grabbed both their hands.
"Come!"
"Where?"
"Breakfast!"
Orm laughed.
"You woke up five minutes ago."
"I'm hungry."
Lingling looked at Orm.
"He definitely got that from you."
Orm gasped.
"Excuse me?"
Liam laughed.
And suddenly, the apartment was filled with noise.
Laughter.
Tiny footsteps.
The clattering of plates.
Orm's complaints about Liam stealing bacon.
Lingling pretending she hadn't seen him steal another piece.
And Liam laughing so loudly that both women couldn't help laughing with him.
That day, they decided not to make plans.
They didn't need anything extravagant.
They simply wanted to be together.
They ate breakfast slowly.
They played soccer in the living room until Orm threatened to confiscate the ball.
They watched cartoons with Liam.
Lingling helped him build an enormous block tower.
Liam knocked it down.
They built it again.
They took pictures.
So many pictures.
Orm captured moments without telling them.
Lingling carrying Liam.
Liam sleeping against Lingling's chest.
Lingling and Liam playing football.
The three of them laughing around the dining table.
A picture of Lingling standing behind Orm while Orm cooked.
Another where Liam had fallen asleep between them on the couch.
And another-
Orm looked at it for a long time.
It was simple.
Lingling was smiling at Liam.
Liam was smiling at Lingling.
And Orm was smiling at both of them.
She stared at the photograph.
Then whispered,
"This feels like a family."
Lingling looked at her.
Orm immediately became shy.
"I didn't mean-"
"I know."
Lingling smiled.
She reached for Orm's hand.
"You don't have to take it back."
Orm looked at her.
Lingling squeezed her fingers.
"Maybe someday."
Orm's eyes softened.
"Someday."
Not a promise.
Not pressure.
Just possibility.
And somehow, that was enough.
-
That evening, after Liam finally fell asleep, the apartment slowly settled into silence.
For the first time that day, there were no little footsteps running across the floor.
No laughter echoing through the living room.
No tiny voice calling for his Wingwing.
No soccer ball being kicked against the wall.
No complaints about dinner.
No arguments over which dinosaur pajamas Liam was going to wear.
Only the quiet hum of the city outside.
Bangkok stretched endlessly beneath the balcony, alive with thousands of lights. Cars moved like glowing threads along the streets far below, while buildings stood tall against the dark sky, their windows illuminated one by one.
It was beautiful.
Peaceful.
Almost unreal.
Orm sat beside Lingling on the balcony, her legs tucked beneath her. The cool night air brushed against her skin as she leaned slowly against Lingling's shoulder.
Lingling didn't say anything.
She simply shifted closer, allowing Orm to rest more comfortably against her.
Their fingers found each other naturally.
One hand.
One touch.
Something so simple.
Something they had once taken for granted.
For a while, neither woman spoke.
They simply listened to the quiet.
To the city.
To each other's breathing.
To the strange comfort of finally being in the same place again.
Orm closed her eyes.
"Three months."
Lingling glanced down.
"Hmm?"
"We waited three months."
Lingling understood immediately.
Three months.
Three months since she had left.
Three months since they had been separated by distance, circumstances, fear, and all the things neither of them had known how to say.
Three months of waiting.
Three months of wondering.
Three months of trying to convince themselves that perhaps they could survive whatever came next.
Lingling pressed a gentle kiss against the top of Orm's head.
"I know."
Orm smiled faintly.
"It felt longer."
"It did."
"Much longer."
Lingling's fingers tightened around hers.
"I hated every second of it."
Orm opened her eyes.
"You did?"
Lingling let out a quiet laugh.
"Of course I did."
She looked toward the city.
"Every morning, I'd wake up and remember you weren't there."
Orm's smile slowly disappeared.
Lingling continued softly.
"I'd reach for my phone without thinking."
A pause.
"Then I'd remember I couldn't just walk into your room anymore."
Orm swallowed.
"I missed you too."
"I know."
"You don't know how much."
Lingling turned toward her.
"Maybe I do."
Their eyes met.
There was no accusation in Lingling's gaze.
No resentment.
Only understanding.
Because they both knew what those three months had cost them.
They had spent years apart.
And yet somehow, those three months had felt like another lifetime.
Orm intertwined their fingers more tightly.
"But we survived it."
Lingling nodded.
"We did."
Orm's lips curved into a small smile.
"And now?"
Lingling looked at her.
"Now we try."
"Try?"
"To figure this out."
Orm's heart tightened.
Lingling continued.
"Slowly."
"One step at a time?"
"Always."
She lifted Orm's hand and gently kissed her knuckles.
"I don't want to rush you."
Orm looked down at their intertwined hands.
"I don't want you to."
"I don't want us to pretend the past didn't happen."
Orm's eyes softened.
"I don't either."
"We hurt each other."
"We did."
"We lost years."
Orm's throat tightened.
"Too many."
Lingling brushed her thumb over Orm's hand.
"But I don't want to spend the rest of our lives mourning what we lost."
Orm looked at her.
"I want us to make something new."
Lingling's voice trembled slightly.
"I want us to have a future."
Orm stared at her for several seconds.
"So do I."
Lingling leaned closer.
"Then let's build one."
Orm smiled.
But tears suddenly filled her eyes.
Lingling immediately noticed.
"Hey."
She gently wiped one tear away.
"Why are you crying?"
Orm shook her head.
"I'm happy."
Lingling smiled.
"That's allowed."
Orm laughed weakly through her tears.
"I forgot what happy felt like."
That sentence broke something inside Lingling.
She pulled Orm closer.
Orm rested her head against her chest.
For a while, they simply held each other.
There were no dramatic promises.
No vows.
No declarations about forever.
They didn't need them.
They had already learned that forever was not something people could promise with words.
Forever had to be chosen.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Every single day.
Lingling kissed Orm's hair.
"One day at a time."