EVEN THOUGH SOMEBODY SABOTAGED ME AND DELETED A COMMENT SO I NO LONGER APPEAR AT THE TOPS OF PAGES 1225 AND 1226 I'm still SO NICE that I typed part 8 up on my phone to post today. I'm on the last couple days of my vacay so I might have part IX out sooner
Since it was on my phone it's not very polished and I haven't really read it through, so... yeah
PART VIII
Date turned around. “Man kheu arai, loo? What is it?”
But Prang was nowhere to be seen.
“Prang? PRANG?!” Date called Prang’s name over and over as he ran around the pier, trying to find his elusive daughter. Had she run back to the house?
No. This was Kade’s child he was looking for. Date looked up.
Sure enough, there was Prang. She sat on the top of the trunk, clutching a thick branch tightly.
“Prang, get down from there,” Date ordered.
Prang shook her head, clutching the branch ever tighter.
Date sighed (again). Reaching up, he carefully removed his daughter’s arms from the branch, placing them at her sides. Then he placed his hands under her skinny arms, picked her up with ease, and set her on the ground. She barely came up to his waist.
Prang tried to make a break for it again, but Date held onto her shoulders.
“What’s wrong, Prang? Why were you crying?” Date’s eyes were filled with concern for his youngest.
“I wasn’t crying,” Prang lied, still struggling against her father’s grip.
“Prang! Don’t lie to your father. I saw you crying, and I want to know why.” Date got down to her level. “Prang!”
Prang stopped struggling and gazed into her father’s dark eyes. “Khun Pa jao ka…”
“Yes, Prang?” Date answered, trying to hide the fact that his patience was wavering.
“Why did Pin and Yam say we aren’t going to the market today?”
Date eyebrows furrowed deeper. What did that have to do with anything? “What?” he asked.
“You promised we would go to the market today, and then we didn’t. I was looking forward to it, Khun Pa.”
And suddenly, Date understood. He had forgotten that he’d had Pin and Yam tell the children that there would be no market trip today. Time with Kade often did that to him…
“Prang. You were crying because you thought I broke my promise.”
Prang, hanging her head, nodded.
“i hope you know that that is completely irrational and not the behavior of a good child. And to make it worse, you ran away without telling anyone where you went. You know you’re not supposed to be at the pier alone.”
Raising her head slightly, Prang gazed up at her father through her eyelashes.
“And don’t give me that look,” Date continued, “You know what you did was wrong.”
Prang hung her head again. She turned towards the house.
“Where are you going?”
“Back towards the house, Khun Pa. I’m going to go cry in my room instead.” She began to trudge through the foliage.
“Dio! Wait!”
Prang stopped.
Date averted his gaze from her, instead examining the base of the tree to his right. “If you walk back to the house, you’ll be causing yourself more trouble…
“Why bother going back to the house when you’re just going to have to turn right around and come back to the pier?”
Prang spun around, her smile bigger than her tiny face. She ran toward her father with arms outstretched, wrapping them around his neck and kissing his cheek.
Date’s smile was bigger than Prang’s.
Note: Idk where Kosa Ban lived so I'm assuming it was within walking distance. Deal with it.
I know this got cheesy but I couldn't help myself
Been rewatching too many Date-Kade scenes to not include some super fluffy fluff
Enjoy!
P.S. I feel like
@Rosi's becoming my editor, setting deadlines for me and stuff and I don't know how I feel about that
P.P.S. I actually tried to have it done by 3 pm Singapore time but I also wanted to make this part longer than the last one, so we ended up with a slight conflict of interest there. It's almost 2 am here though
Part 9
Soon enough, the entire family had loaded themselves onto the boat and were on their way to the market. Prang sat on Date’s lap the entire way there, smiling smugly every time Kade shot them a resentful look. She had not been happy to discover, upon her summons to the pier, that Date had found Prang a half hour before and failed to tell her. Apparently, she had torn the house apart searching for Prang, and had even made her way over to Kosa Ban’s house to search there.
Every time Date fell victim to Kade’s disapproving stare, the corners of his mouth lifted and he ever so slightly tightened his grip on Prang. Kade couldn’t stay angry for long and he knew it; she was far too relieved that Prang was safe to pout over the time she wasted searching.
Upon their arrival at the market, the children all tottered off the boat and onto the pier. Date rose after all the children were off, picking Prang up and setting her on the wobbly planks.
“Make sure she doesn’t fall,” he ordered Rhueng. Rhueng nodded, and took his little sister’s hand as they headed for the more stable part of the pier. Date turned back to the boat. Kade was still resolutely in her seat, and resolutely looking away from him.
He held out his hand.
Kade pretended not to see.
He nudged her shoulder.
She looked around, feigning surprise. Date raised his eyebrows, widening his eyes, then very obviously looking at his hand, clearly signalling to Kade that he intended for her to take it.
Kade huffed, and stood up. She batted Date’s hand away, stepping off the boat herself. Only one of her feet had successfully escaped when she lost her balance.
Date threw an arm out and caught her by the waist. Smirking down at her, he asked, “Why does this feel so familiar? Have we used this position before?”
Blushing crimson, Kade shifted her other foot safely onto the pier and stood upright. However, Date didn’t loose his grip on her waist; instead of letting go, he moved his arm with her body.
“Khun P!” Kade could hardly believe that it was she who was protesting this very public display. Khun P was the one who had always insisted they be completely and undeniably chaste outside of their room at home.
Date chuckled, sliding his hand from his wife’s waist. Trailing his fingertips down Kade’s arm, he rested his hand in hers, locking their fingers together. Kade looked down, blushing so much now she was turning a deep purple.
“Let’s go,” said Date, leading Kade by the hand.
The market was crowded that day. It appeared that an entire ship of Chinese merchants had arrived in the harbor recently, and everyone in Ayutthaya was clamoring to take advantage of their presence. Date called all of his children around him and ordered them to stay close. Rhueng and Rit seemed slightly disappointed, but followed their father’s orders anyway. Kaew said nothing, but simply smiled in her sweet, shy way, and Prang seemed thrilled just to be there.
Date and Kade headed the procession, weaving their family through the stalls overflowing with innumerable trinkets and fabrics. Kade paused at a particularly lovely bolt of fabric, carefully stroking its soft fibers. Date pulled out his money bag.
“Mai jao ka, Khun P,” Kade said, “Just looking.”
As the afternoon progressed to evening, the crowds began to thin. Date allowed Rhueng and Rit to venture over to a vendor selling chickens. Kaew and Prang wandered to a necklace display. Soon Date and Kade were alone.
They were still holding hands.
“What would you like to see, Kade?” Date asked, turning his head to look at her.
“Oh, I’m content just walking around and looking.”
The couple proceeded to walk around and look. Eventually, however, they came upon the same fabric stand they’d passed earlier. Kade craned her neck to examine the area.
“Khun P, I think--”
“That we’ve made a full circle? So do I. Come, let’s find the children again before we get lost.”
They soon found Rhueng and Rit, still ogling the caged chickens and discussing how each chicken might fare in a fight. The twins almost certainly weren’t ready to leave, but they came when their parents called.
Next were Kaew and Prang. The group walked over to the jewelry stands.
But Date stopped in his tracks.
There was Kaew. And there was Prang.
Kaew appeared to be in an animated discussion with a certain young man. A young man whose face was very familiar to Date.
Crap.