Chet Watakeekul

My alarm went off and I jerked awake. I reached over to where my phone was and quickly turned off the alarm. I groaned as I stretched. Vincent's eyes were open and blinking at me when I turned to him.

I reached out and caressed his cheek. He placed his hand on top of mine and left it there. The little stubble along his jaw pricked my palm. I sighed when I realized I wouldn't be shaving him any time soon. Not in this house. He sighed at the same time probably thinking the same thing. We smiled at each other.

"I have an extra razor you can use this morning," I said quietly. "We can buy one for you when we go to the store with my dad later."

He nodded.

"We should get up and see if anyone is in the bathroom yet," I said. He nodded again, but neither of us moved. I leaned in and put my forehead to his before rolling out of bed. He followed me as we left my room. My dad came out of the bathroom just as we arrived. His hair was slightly wet from his shower and he was freshly shaved. He smiled and nodded at us and then headed into the kitchen to make breakfast.

We got ready together to save time. We were silent so as not to wake my sister or my mom. When we came out, my mom was there waiting for her turn in the bathroom. She smiled at both of us. We went into my room and changed into clean clothes.

When we came out of my room, Kannika was in the living room waiting for her turn to go into the bathroom. She was still in her pajamas, her long black hair was scrunched up in tangles in certain places and she was yawning really wide and ugly.

She stopped when she saw Vincent. She stared at him wide eyed for a moment before she ran back into her room.

"I thought you said yesterday that you were his little sister," I called out to her. "So treat him like a brother." She peeked her head out her bedroom door. Vincent smiled kindly at her.

"That's true," she said. "I guess if you are living with us now you just have to get used to seeing me when I'm this ugly."

"You're not ugly," Vincent said.

"She is right now," I said. She hit my arm. "Come on. Let's see what's for breakfast." I pulled him into the kitchen with me.

My dad pulled cinnamon rolls out of the oven. They smelled heavenly. I sat at the table. Vincent sat next to me. I liked this. Vincent always next to me in my family house surrounded by my family.

"I just need to put the icing on," my dad said, "and then they'll be ready to eat."

"They smell delicious," Vincent said.

My dad smiled at that. "I hope you like them," he said. "I made them just for you."

Vincent didn't seem to know how to respond to that. I held his hand under the table. "I'm going to go in early to work out like usual," I said to Vincent. "You can either come with me or you can go in whenever you want. Just go to the bus stop across the street where we got off and take the same number bus to get back to the university. You remember where and the number right?"

Vincent nodded. "I think I'll go in early with you, but go to the library instead of working out. I need to use the computers to finish up an assignment now that I don't have my laptop anymore."

My dad finished with the icing and gave us each a cinnamon roll. Then he poured us both a glass of milk to go with it. My mom came in and sat on the other side of Vincent.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked Vincent. She stroked his hair in a motherly fashion. He swallowed and I could tell he was getting emotional again. He managed to keep his emotions under control this time though. It became more and more apparent that with the exception of his grandmother, his family didn't show him even the basic love and affection that every child should receive from their parents. It made me angry when I thought about it and I didn't get angry often.

"Yes," he said.

"Really? It's an old bed. Maybe we should spring for a new one," my mom said. My dad placed a cinnamon roll in front of her and a glass of milk. "Thank you, honey," she said to him with a smile on her face. My dad beamed when my mom thanked him and smiled at him. My parents were silly.

"There is no need for that," Vincent said. "I was comfortable. I slept fine."

"I could use a new bed," I said.

"Vincent said it was a comfortable bed," my mom said which quickly shut down any talks of a new bed.

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"This cinnamon roll is delicious," Vincent said to my dad.

My dad smiled as he sat next to my mom with his own cinnamon roll. "Thank you," he said. "It's one of my favorites. Not very healthy though."

We finished our cinnamon rolls, said our goodbyes and grabbed our backpacks as we left for the bus stop.

"I think I should get a job," Vincent said.

"Why?" I asked. "If you're worried about being a burden on my parents, you're not."

"It's not just that," Vincent said. "I think I should pay for myself as much as I can. And I was thinking maybe you and I could get our own place together. Like Mateo and Alex. Unless you don't want to."

"I want to," I quickly said. "But I'm worried. College is already hard. Adding a job to it will make it harder."

"I know," he said, "but there are people who do it all the time. I think I can handle both college and a job. It will mean we see less of each other though."

I took his hand in mine. "But we're living together now so it'll balance out."

He smiled at that and squeezed my hand.

As we waited at the bus stop, he said, "I hope I'm not being rude, but why does your family still live in that small house? Your parents should be able to afford more."

I shrugged. "It was their first house and they love it. We're not rich, but we do okay. My parents send money to my grandmas in Thailand and help pay for some of my cousins's schooling. They also spend a lot on me with soccer and saved for my college, but I didn't need it since I got a scholarship. They are also saving for Kannika's college. And then they've spent a lot on my brother. And they have some money saved up for emergencies."

We rode the bus to the university together, but he got off at the stop before mine so he could go to the library.

After the last class for the day, I sent a text to my mom and she met us at the financial aid office. We had to wait for about a half hour before someone could see us.

The woman who took us back to her desk was nice and greeted us warmly. When we told her the circumstances, she was sympathetic and she said, "I'm sure we can work something out. Let me see what scholarships are available. In these circumstances it might be best if we can find a scholarship specifically for LGBTQ."

We sat in silence for a few moments as she navigated through her computer.

"Yes," she said. "There are a few scholarships we can apply for. And you said you would cosign on a loan for him?" she asked my mom.

"Yes," my mom said.

"Let's go ahead and get the loan going first and then we can fill out the paperwork to apply for some of these scholarships."

We were there for just over an hour, but Vincent got all the paperwork filled out with the woman's help and my mom cosigning on a loan. The loan would be available almost immediately. The scholarships we would have to wait and hear back if he was accepted.

My mom gave us a ride back home, but then she went back into the office to finish her work. When we got home, my dad was there. Kannika wasn't.

"Get everything worked out?" my dad asked.

"Yes," Vincent said. "Thank you. If it wasn't for your help, I don't know where I would be."

My dad smiled at this. "It's not a big deal. Anyone would do it."

"It's a big deal to me," Vincent said.

My dad draped an arm over Vincent's shoulders, which was a little difficult as my dad was shorter than Vincent. My dad was shorter than me. "I have a few things to show you and then we'll go to the store. We'll have your spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight, sound good?"

"Yes," Vincent said.

My dad pulled Vincent to sit next to him on the couch. I sat on the other side of Vincent.

"We got you this," my dad said as he retrieved a black laptop from the coffee table in front of us. "It's old and used," my dad said. He handed Vincent the laptop. "But it works. It should be enough for your school assignments."

Vincent ran his hand along the top of it. "Thank you," he said.

"We also got you this." My dad pulled a smartphone from his pocket and handed it to Vincent. "It's old and used too. I put all of our contact info it. You're free to change the contact names and add your friends of course."

Vincent navigated to the contacts. I leaned over his shoulder to see what my dad had put in for our contacts. Boyfriend, Dad, Mom and Kanni.

Vincent opened the contact info for Dad. It was my dad's number. Tears sprang to Vincent's eyes and he swallowed hard. My dad put an arm around him when he saw.

"Is he touched or did I say something wrong?" my dad asked me.

"He's touched," I said. I put my head on Vincent's shoulder. Vincent nodded his head.

"Is he touched because we got him the laptop and phone because those are basics he should have in this day in age. Especially when he needs to graduate from college."

"That, but more than that you put yours and mom's contact info in his phone as mom and dad," I said.

"Well, of course we would," my dad said. "What else would we put it in as?"

"Chet's mom and dad," I said. "A bit presumptuous of you to put it in as mom and dad. What if he and I break up?"

My dad dismissed that. "You're not going to break up."

"I don't think we will," I said, "but you never know what the future will hold." I didn't think we would break up, I was mostly just being difficult.

"Yes, I do," my dad said. "He gave up everything to stay with you." My dad patted Vincent's head. "And I've never seen you interested in anyone let alone so obviously in love. I've got a good feeling about you two. You can call me dad," my dad said to Vincent, "and you can call my wife mom."

Vincent nodded. "Thank you," he said.

"Now, let's go to the store," my dad said.

We got the basic groceries at the store, but we also made sure to get the basics for Vincent - toothbrush, deodorant, a razor. When we got back home, Kannika was there working on her homework in her bedroom, but I saw the yaoi manga she quickly stuffed under her blankets when we walked by her room to say hi.

Vincent and I helped my dad put groceries away. The two of them started on the spaghetti and meatballs. I sat at the table and just watched them until my dad kicked me out to go work on homework.

"This is delicious," my mom said to Vincent as we all sat around the table eating the spaghetti and meatballs.

"Thank you," Vincent said. "Thank you for all your help. I promise I'll pay it all back. It just might take me awhile."

My mom patted his hand. "You don't need to pay us back. You've already paid us back just by treating our son well. And you are family now."

"He wants to get a job," I said. "Maybe you could help him with a resume," I said to my mom.

"Of course I will," she said.

Watching Vincent be a part of my family just felt so right.