A/N: This is loosely based off a heartwarming Thai commercial which brought tears to my eyes. Seriously, I would give Thailand 11 out of 10 for always making touching commercials which never fail to make me cry. Here's the link for those who are interested: /2SMpx-1dV24
At first, I made this a FrUK fic and it remained that way throughout the 6 months I wrote this fic (yes, I take 6 months to write such a short fic ;w; ). However, as I did the final few fix-ups, I realised that Françoise was too OOC and that I've always preferred IggyChu/Tea Family anyways. Thus, this fic became a Tea Family fic 3
Also, I'm not active here now, seeing that my last update was nearly 2 years ago, but if you want to find me, I'm currently active on Smule/Sing! under the name IoaleKelina. You find Japanese, English, Chinese and occasionally Indonesian covers there, err... have fun? ;w;
"Alright, that wraps up our discussion this week," announced the tutor. "Today's tutorial is over. You're dismissed."
The moment those words were uttered by the tutor, a Chinese student by the name of Wang Chun Yan immediately stood up with her pre-packed book bag and dashed out of the tutorial room, accidentally bumping into several students in her terrible rush.
"Aiyah! I'm sorry aru! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry aru!" she cried out to those unlucky ones with a thick Chinese accent lacing her apologies.
Before she could take another step however, Chun Yan found herself crashing into another unfortunate student, causing the both of them to tumble onto the floor in a messy heap of limbs and books.
"Bloody hell, watch where you're going!" cried the man below her. From the strong English accent the man's voice carried, she knew that he was an Englishman.
"Sorry aru!" Chun Yan blurted out for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. After her apology was hastily uttered, she quickly picked her books up and continued to rush out of the college building.
"Oh for Christ's sake where the bloody hell is she rushing off to?" asked the man, Arthur Kirkland, to no one in particular. Grumbling, he picked himself up and dusted himself off before collecting his scattered books.
"I heard that she has a child waiting for her at home."
"Well, many claimed that they saw her constantly with a young boy..."
Hearing that, Arthur's ears perked up as he glanced over to several girls gossiping by the lockers. He then averted his gaze to the retreating form of the woman who knocked him down with a puzzled look on his face. After all, the woman looked no older than 21, 22 at most, and he could hardly believe that she was a mother at such a young age.
"Rumour has it that she had her daughter with a sugar daddy," whispered another gossiper.
"Some said that she got raped and ended up getting knocked up."
Curiosity poked at Arthur right and left, making him rather interested in this mysterious girl. However, he knew better than to believe the gossip travelling from one nosy girl to another, so Arthur just waved it off and left for his next lecture.
One day, when Arthur was busy pinning up flyers on bulletin boards around the campus, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw no other than Chun Yan herself standing before him.
"You're that girl from that day!" he cried out.
"I heard that you are giving English tuitions to the freshmen students aru..." began Chun Yan, ignoring his first shocked statement. "So, I'm wondering if you teach children."
At this, Arthur raised one of his bushy brows. Nevertheless, he nodded at the younger woman's random request.
"Ah great aru," sighed Chun Yan. "Do you mind if I bring him to meet you later?"
"I don't mind," replied Arthur. "So shall I meet you at Harrods this afternoon at 3 for tea?"
"That would be wonderful, thank you!" thanked Chun Yan before leaving.
At five minutes to three that afternoon, Arthur was already seated at a table for three with three cups of steaming hot tea already at each seat. Being a gentleman, he had already ordered several plates of cakes and biscuits for the afternoon tea out of his own wallet and was waiting patiently for Chun Yan and her acquaintance to arrive.
A few minutes after three, Chun Yan arrived and with her was a young boy around the age of 4. The moment the boy saw Arthur, he stared blankly at Arthur, making the older woman chuckle.
"Sorry, he's a little shy. This is Jia Long, but I call him Hong for short aru..." began Chun Yan before trailing off, hesitating for a moment. "He's my son aru."
Arthur's eyes grew wide at that. He didn't expect the rumours to be true, but being the gentleman he is, he didn't want to pursue further into other's personal lives.
"Nice to meet you Jia Long, or should I call you Hong?" he greeted as he held his hand out to the boy. "How do you do? You may call me Arthur."
Silently, the boy grasped onto the man's hand and shook it slightly. "I'm fine, thank you," replied Hong monotonously in a similar Chinese accent as Chun Yan.
At that, Arthur smiled at the young boy. Albeit the distracting Chinese accent, the boy was rather well mannered and he could tell that Chun Yan had raised him well. Still smiling a warm smile, Arthur led the two to the table and offered them the biscuits and cakes, which Hong happily devoured.
"Well, his primary language is Chinese, but with us living in England, I'm afraid that it would be tough for him to adapt when he enters primary school aru," explained Chun Yan as she sipped her tea. "I want him to improve his English, but I don't think that I can be much of help, so I'm hoping that you will be able to help him aru."
"I'll be happy to," replied Arthur.
"Great! Thank you aru," thanked Chun Yan. "He has kindergarten every weekday morning, so are the weekends convenient for you aru?"
"Not a problem to me," replied Arthur. "So it's settled then?"
"Thank you so much, Arthur aru..."
Thus, every Saturday after that day, Arthur would spend his afternoon with the Wang's, tutoring Hong and sometimes joining them for tea or even dinner at times. Though Chinese food wasn't exactly Arthur's cup of tea, he couldn't deny the fact that he enjoyed Chun Yan's cooking.
Furthermore, after months of being with Chun Yan, he couldn't deny the fact that he had developed feelings for the Chinese woman.
After he could contain his feelings no more, he brought Chun Yan and Hong out to the park one evening after Hong's tuition. With Hong tottering off to play with the neighbourhood children in the park, Arthur and Chun Yan were left alone, and that was when he presented her a silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant hanging from it, making the Chinese woman freeze on the spot.
Smiling tenderly at her, he undid the clasps of the necklace and placed it around Chun Yan's neck, admiring how delicately it hung from her neck. "It's perfect for you. Please accept it. It's a mighty fine necklace for someone as lovely as you..."
It took a few moments for Arthur to fully register his words, and when he did, his face immediately flushed red.
"Ahh, forget that I said anything!" said a flustered Arthur. "It's not that I like you or anything! It's just... Ahh... I sound like a fool..."
"Don't worry ahen," chuckled Chun Yan, rubbing her blushing cheeks. "It's my first time experiencing something like this as well aru."
"Wait, really?" Arthur gasped. "But... But what about Hong's father?"
"Hmm? Ohh..." hummed Chun Yan knowingly. "About that, Hong isn't my biological son aru. Haha, I've never been pregnant before, nor have I 'done it' before ahen."
"Oh, I-I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean to pry..."
"I didn't think you were prying ahen," replied Chun Yan before sighing deeply. "It's just that everyone thinks so."
"If you don't mind, care to explain?"
"Well, only for you then ahen," said Chun Yan before giving a far-off look. "That was 4 years ago..."
Raindrops fell steadily from the dark sky as a figure ran through the downpour. Her wet school uniform was drenched and clung tightly to her frame, making her regret her decision of leaving the house without an umbrella.
"他妈的, what terrible weather we are having today aru..." Chun Yan sighed exasperatedly, gazing jealously at the passerby's protected by the shade of their umbrellas.
Huffing, she pulled her already soaked jacket tighter around her body and trudged through the rain. The sound of raindrops was the only thing she could hear before she caught the sound of a high-pitched cry in an alley nearby. Curiously, she walked into the alley and searched for the source of the sound.
The crying sound emanated from behind a dumpster and Chun Yan took a peek behind it, only to see a worn-out cardboard box, pelted mercilessly by the rain. Gingerly, she edged closer to the box before braving her fears and opening it, only to gasp in shock at what she saw.
Inside the cardboard box was a crying baby, swaddled poorly and shivering from the cold. The baby's face was scrunched up, whether from crying or the cold, Chun Yan knew not. All she knew that this baby was left here, abandoned out in the rain and leaving it where it was would be cruel.
With misty eyes, Chun Yan leant forward and picked the bundle up, hugging it close to her. When the baby was pressed against the chest, it stopped crying and snuggled against the teenage girl immediately, as if to absorb the little warmth Chun Yan could offer it from the bitter cold. At that moment, the tears Chun Yan fought so hard to keep at bay fell as her heart clenched.
"Who would do such a thing aru?" she cried. "Leaving a baby out in the rain? What has happened to humanity?"
Her question went unanswered. Rubbing her tears harshly with her free hand, Chun Yan stood up and continued her journey home. By now, the baby had stopped crying, reduced to mere pitiful mewing and whimpering while clinging tightly onto the Chun Yan's clothes with its tiny fists.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of you now..." promised Chun Yan. "You won't be alone anymore aru..."
"Chun Yan, I don't understand..."began Arthur before drawing in a deep breath. "Why don't you just tell everyone the truth?"
"Well..." began Chun Yan. "I don't find it necessary ahen..."
"Why not?" asked Arthur in surprise. "Don't you know what they're talking about you behind your back?"
At that, Chun Yan visually tensed up for a moment before she softened and let out a hearty chuckle.
"Well, I'd rather have them talking about me," she replied while gazing at her son. "Rather than them talking about Hong aru."
Just then, Chun Yan's lips curved upwards in a faint smile before it became a genuine smile, a smile Arthur knew all too well. The smile she had only for Hong.
"She's just an ordinary woman, not too pretty and nothing out of the ordinary..." thought Arthur, smiling unconsciously as well. "However, whenever I see that smile she has for Hong, I always think that she's the most beautiful woman."
"You're such a beautiful woman Chun Yan," whispered Arthur under his breath. "For you're capable of loving someone so unconditionally..."
"In conjunction with the upcoming Mother's Day," announced the emcee. "The children have prepared for a special event. May the mothers of Preschool 1 class step up on stage please."
Standing in line with all his other classmates, Hong watched nervously as they walked up onto the stage. Worriedly, he glanced over at Arthur, who merely gave him a shake of the head and a reassuring smile.
"Oh Chun Yan," sighed Arthur, glancing nervously at his watch. "Where are you?"
At that moment, a very out of breath Chun Yan burst into the concert hall, panting heavily and looking around in a disorientated manner. Catching sight of Arthur, she immediately jogged up to him.
"Arthur ahen!" she called.
"Ah Chun Yan, you missed his performance, but you better get up there now, the Preschool 1 lads are having an event for Mother's Day," said Arthur.
"Oh, okay. Thank you ahen," replied Chun Yan as she passed her bag to Arthur before quickly making her way up the steps onto the stage.
As soon as he saw his mother on stage, Hong perked up slightly and a rare smile formed on his face. One by one, the students walked towards their mothers before stopping right in front of them, Hong was no different. Holding a messily arranged bouquet of peonies in his tiny hands, he stood in front of his mother before kneeling down on cue like the rest of his classmates.
As for Chun Yan, she could not describe the feeling she felt at that exact moment. Tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes as she watched her son with a touched smile plastered on her face. Just then, the students reached out their bouquets to their mothers, with Hong following suit. Chun Yan graciously accepted the bouquet of peonies before Hong did something she would never have expected him to do.
"Happy Mother's Day Mama," said Hong as he jumped into his mother's embrace.
At that moment, tears of joy rolled down Chun Yan's cheeks. There was a warm, fluttering feeling in her heart as she wrapped her arms tighter around her son, the most precious person to her in the world...
Her entire life and being...
"妈妈,我爱你..."
Translations:
他妈的- Curse word similar to 'f*ck'
妈妈,我爱你- I love you Mom