Chapter 2

    At the House by the Canal, Madam Warakun looked out at the winding waterway. Glimmers of joy had appeared in her eyes after Sakunthara called to tell her the details of her first prenatal appointment. The children she was carrying were perfectly strong and healthy.

    Her lips broke into a smile, but it faded and disappeared when she thought of what had happened seven months ago—the beginning of all of this.

    7 Months Ago

    Wrinkled hands held a letter; their owner alternated looking down on it with a shaky gaze and looking at the gate in front of the house, waiting for the man whose name was written in the letter to return.

    As the evening advanced to night, she remained sitting in the same spot. Her hands still held onto that letter, as he had not told her if there would be a party or that he would return late.

    The pain in her eyes grew when she thought back to what she had pleaded for from the person named in the letter and how he had made a firm promise. It was unbelievable that everything had been turned on its head to this extent. Most importantly, she had found out by accident.

    A solid black Benz sports car came to a stop in front of the house gate as the alloy gate slowly rolled open in response to the remote control. The car raced inside, but its engine remained completely silent.

    A chandelier gave off a soft glow. Within the house, only the living room had its lights on. Madam Warakun was on the sofa, her neck held stiffly up and her back was elegantly straight even though she had been sitting in the same position for several hours.

    Pongket had returned to his post in Thailand less than a year ago. Due to his career and position, he had to constantly take up posts abroad. Once his three-year post was completed, he would move back and prepare to take up a new post. Each time, there was a gap of a year or more between posts.

    ‘Mr. Pongket Siriprapapen, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand in Frankfurt, Germany’

    The text of the letter clearly stated the position and country where he would be stationed for his next post. This time, however, it was much too fast for a mother to have to be parted from her child once more because the time remaining before he was to take up his post, as spelled out in the letter she was holding, was less than two months. Then there were the three years which he would have to serve in his post abroad once more.

    “What is this letter exactly? Would you please explain it to me?” Madam Warakun stood up quickly and handed the letter to her son the moment she heard his footsteps enter the house.

    “You’re not asleep yet, Mother?” Pongket replied in a gentle, polite tone with his own question. Once his gaze slid to the document in his mother’s hands, he knew immediately what the matter was. He gave a small, defensive smile.

    “I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep if I still don’t get the answer.” Madam Warakun stared at her son without moving. Her eyes still held glimmers of anxiety which were evident even in the dim light.

    Although she was able to accompany her son everywhere as a member of his household and reside with him until the conclusion of his posting, she still had obligations and responsibilities in Thailand that she was unable to leave for a prolonged period of time.

    One major reason for worry was that her son had now fully reached the age of thirty years. If he returned to Thailand after that and started a family, he would be getting to it very late, and there would also be a high risk of not being able to secure an heir to pass on the family name.

    Added to that was his love of freedom and his attachment to his bachelor ways. The longer it took and the older he got, the greater the fracture in the relationship between him and his mother.

    The young man’s lips broke into a small, calm smile as he gently loosened the necktie around his shirt collar. He moved closer and laid his suit jacket on the back of the sofa, then looked up to meet his mother’s gaze.

    “They’re just orders for an official post. I thought you would be used to them by now,” the young man answered in a steady tone that matched the matter-of-fact statement that had passed from his lips.

    “I don’t think I can get used to them.”

    “It’s my career, after all.”

    “But you promised me that you would stay longer this time. Why is this all so sudden? Once the orders came, you didn’t think to tell me about them at all, did you?” Madam Warakun asked in a cold tone.

    “I only knew just a short time before you saw the letter.” His tone was still as steady as when he had first addressed his mother.

    He moved, turning as he stretched to his full height, exhaled slowly.

    “Is there anything else you want to discuss with me, Mother? It’s just that I have a large number of emails I have to reply to.” He told her what he had to do. The emergency order had come in without warning, forcing him to rush to handle everything as swiftly as possible.

    Madam Warakun studied her son’s face accusingly, but she didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary in his eyes. He still maintained his calm demeanor. 

    “What? It’s this late, and you’re still going to work?” Seeing that he still retained his collected façade, she pretended to have an outburst. With him acting this way, it would be hard to figure out her son’s intentions or what he was thinking.

    Over the course of many years, she had witnessed her son running himself into the ground at work to such an extent that he barely had time to see his mother. At times, as of late, his work was merely an excuse he used because Madam Warakun had been highly assertive recently, intentionally matchmaking and setting up blind dates with prospective wives more often than usual. He knew that work was the only way to refuse her.

    The young man let out a breath. He was at a dead end as to how to explain his feelings to his mother in a way that she would understand. No matter what excuse he gave, she always had solutions for it. Finally, he was forced to tell her his reason before she gave him any orders, and his reason was work, as usual.

    “The former Director of Tourism suffered a plane crash on the way to carry out his duties, so I received the orders appointing me to the position sooner than was planned. I’ll have to travel immediately once everything is ready.”

    “We need to have a serious conversation,” Madam Warakun said in a more forceful tone.

    “Right.” Pongket turned back to look at his mother. His eyebrows knitted together because he wasn’t quite certain what his mother was actually saying.

    “Don’t play innocent. We’ve talked about this issue countless times,” Madam Warakun hurriedly reminded him. Once he heard that, he understood everything.

    “If you’re talking about marriage and blind dates to meet prospective wives, Mother, I’ve told you each time that I’m capable of finding a wife on my own. And right now, I’m not ready to have a family with anyone.”

    “And when will you be ready?” Madam Warakun immediately asked. With a son who was getting closer to forty, a mother like herself could hardly just wait endlessly like in the past.

    “We’ve talked about this many times already, Mother.”

    “It’s because we’ve talked about this many times already that I have to keep bringing it up. This is the last time I’m making this request of you, Pong.” Her tone softened and a note of pleading crept into it.

    The young man relented once more. He let out a breath in a tired manner. Sometimes, he didn’t want to be an only child who shouldered all the expectations of both his father and mother. Ever since he’d started school, entered university—even when he’d graduated and started working—even up until now, there was no end to the hopes his mother had attached to him.

    “Who do you want me to meet now, Mother?” He asked wearily. These days, every time his mother mentioned she wanted to talk to him, it was always inevitably about this issue.

    “I want grandchildren!” Madam Warakun burst out.

    The young man gave a deep chuckle. “You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Mother. Since I just won’t marry or settle down with anyone, you’re rushing me by using the excuse of grandchildren. I said what I said, Mother,” the young man stated, stressing the final words of his sentence. The words “I said what I said” were understood between him and his mother to mean he would not agree to marry. He took a deep breath and repeated the sentence clearly to his mother once more.

    “I’m not ready yet and you don’t have to worry about grandchildren. Medical science is highly advanced these days. I guarantee that you will certainly have an heir to carry on the family name, Mother.”

    “How many years do you think I have left to wait to see my grandchild, Pong?” Madam Warakun asked her son.

    “I’m nearly seventy, Pong. I have an only son who lives overseas most of the time. Did you ever think that I was lonely? I don’t want to be alone like this until I die. At the very least, let me see my grandchild’s face. Let me have a short time towards the end of my life to raise my grandchild.”

    The young man hesitated at this. He came to a complete standstill and turned back to look at his mother’s face. It was true, she had grown much older. His mother’s words were demonstration. It was as she said. All of it. He only used his money to take care of his mother. He paid for every convenience for her. At the same time, he had barely found any time to be with her each year.

    “I’m not going to force you to marry anyone, Pong. Just have a child with someone. There won’t be any kind of relationship or commitment between you and her after she gives birth,” Madam Warakun offered.

    The young man shook his head. Although he was sympathetic to his mother’s feelings and had been on board with her at the start, her methods still greatly conflicted with his feelings.

    “People’s lives are not a television drama, Mother. How much misfortune and hurt would the child have to shoulder, if he knew he was born because of such a reason and was orphaned since birth? His father and mother did not love each other. How could that child feel any warmth?” He tried to explain it so that his mother would understand.

    “Since you’re not ready to marry and settle down with anyone, I won’t force you. This is the only solution. This is the only thing I ask of you, Pong. Have a grandchild to pass on my name for me. After this, I won’t bother you or meddle in your life again,” said Madam Warakun in a softer tone.

    “I’m elderly and you’re getting on in years. I don’t know if I can live long enough to see my grandchild. Please do this for me, Pong.”

    The young man let out a big breath. He had been trying to find excuses for many years and he firmly stood by his previous words that he was not ready to marry or spend his life with anyone.

    However, this time, he had been painted into a corner by his mother’s reasoning. Seeing her eyes and hearing her tone, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her.

    “And which woman is ready to accept your offer to become the broodmare for your grandchildren, Mother?” He prompted her, but the tone he used betrayed his dissatisfaction. He didn’t really like this type of method. If it were a worthless woman, one who didn’t work or do anything, merely sat around waiting for a husband and expecting a man to provide for her, he would be even more opposed to the idea.

    “You only have to give me your word, Pong,” said Madam Warakun, without answering her son’s question.

    The young man nodded in lieu of giving her an answer. The reason why he did it was for his mother’s peace of mind, while inside, he wholly opposed it. He was not persuaded in the least. He was forced to accept halfheartedly so that he would be able to get out of the current situation.

    Pongket was a modern man. He liked a woman who worked, a woman who was talented enough to stand as an equal by his side, a woman who could be a credit to him and could be in a mutually supportive relationship. The reason why he had perfunctorily agreed to his mother’s proposal was that he had no intention of taking that woman as his wife. In the worst-case scenario, if he was unable to refuse his mother, at most she would just serve as a broodmare to produce his mother’s grandchildren.

    Her son’s non-verbal acceptance made Madam Warakun able to smile, but she reiterated her points to be certain.

    “All you have to do is give me your word that before you travel, you’ll give me a grandchild to carry on the family name, Pong. I’ll take care of everything myself.”

    The young man only gave a short nod that served as a perfunctory agreement like before. He didn’t even care to ask for any details.

    “Does that conclude your business, Mother?” He said, ending the conversation.

    “If you give me your word, my business is done. Tomorrow, I’ll bring Sakunthara to the house to get to know you,” she said once again. She meant to make him aware of the details, but he didn’t care to remember or even pay attention to them.

    Pongket made a weary face. When he didn’t insist on going against her or disagreeing with her, she liked to continue planning things her own way. It seemed every thought and action of his mother was in absolute conflict with his own thoughts at the moment. However, he didn’t express his thoughts in order to keep the situation from escalating further.

    “Handle it however you want, Mother.”

    Madam Warakun smiled widely upon hearing an answer that satisfied her. In the beginning, she had not thought the issue would be concluded nor ended this easily.

    Pongket was a person who always kept his word. That was a characteristic of his that made her able to trust him. He did not show signs of opposition or feelings of coercion; rather, he had accepted it all reasonably.

    “Thank you, Pong, for understanding me.”

    “Yes…please excuse me, Mother,” he replied softly. He picked up the suit jacket that had been placed on the back of the sofa and laid it over his arm before preparing to make his exit. However, he thought of something.

    “Mother, you’ve ordered the snack basket for me, haven’t you?” He asked after the snack basket he had requested his mother to take care of for him several days ago.

    “I almost forget to tell you, Pong. Friday afternoon I won’t be free to take it into the office. Could you drop in and pick it up from the shop yourself?”

    The young man’s eyebrows furrowed as though he was thinking of something. If it had not happened to be the dessert shop close to his home that this particular VIP preferred, he probably wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of having his mother handle things. All he would have had to do was giving instructions to the secretary stationed at his office and she would have completely taken care of everything.

    On Friday, he did not have any urgent appointments on his schedule. He would be able to go in and pick the basket up himself. He had never once set foot into this dessert shop, even though rumors of the deliciousness of their treats had made their way to many high-ranking officials at the ministry.

    After his mother had advised him to use those treats in gift baskets for the new year many years ago, he had constantly received compliments and queries about this shop’s desserts. They had turned into his go-to gifts by default. He didn’t have to waste time thinking about what he would choose to buy as gifts for higher-ranked officials, too.

    When Madam Warakun saw her son displaying signs of hesitation, she rushed to add, “I’ll call and notify the shop ahead of time. All you have to do is walk in and tell them I’ve already made an order.”

    “All right,” he agreed.

    “All right, then it’s settled. Go have a rest.” The young man nodded once more and immediately made his exit.

    Madam Warakun smiled watching her son leave. She could only hope that Cupid would help to fulfill her wishes, that destiny would intervene. Pongket hated matchmaking and being ordered around. This time, she would let everything happen naturally. At the very least, him going into the Thai dessert shop would likely lead to some good things.

    Sakunthara was a simple woman, yet…she was a charming woman. She was warm, smiling, and affable, which was fitting for a shopkeeper. She was able to easily draw people to her.

    Madam Warakun could only hope…could only ask that the two of them would have a chance to meet each other. She could only ask that Pongket would have a good first impression before she brought Sakunthara over to introduce her as the surrogate mother of her grandchildren.