Author Notes: This is CMR Rosa bringing a new story. This story was developed by me and my co-writer, Wumblebum Arts. This is a fanfiction of animated YouTube video My Dad Went To Thailand And Brought Me A New Stepmom. She Has A Secret from the Youtube channel ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
In the original video story, 19-year-old college student Emma's father comes back home from a vacation with a new wife named Mali. Emma tried handily this maturely; it was not that she was again her father marrying; it was that he married a woman he just met in Thailand that she did not even know. And the fact that she made all these changes to their house and her father simply didn't want to hear any of my complaints. Well, actually, he gave me a hint, saying that I was going to get married and leave the house someday anyway, so it would be better just to let Mali feel like the woman of the house. Emma grows suspicious of her new stepmother. Going online, she heard of stories of Thai women marrying foreigners while their real husbands and children were home, taking their money and property, returning home, and repeating the same thing. Emma thought Mali was working on one of those fraudulent schemes because Emma caught Mali talking on Skype and reacted like she was hiding something. Emma even thought that Mali was having an affair. It turns out that Mali was not having an affair; since Emma's father's birthday was coming up, she wanted to earn money to buy him a present, so she secretly was performing massage sessions. And the person Mali was talking to was her son, whom her father already knew about; he was living in Thailand with Mali's father, but she planned to bring him to the U.S., and her dad planned to adopt him. They decide to wait until Emma gets used to Mali before telling her about Mali's son. Emma explains why she was suspicious of Mali, and Mali and her father don't get mad at her, and they forgive each other.
This story is a sequel with Emma having a talk with her stepmother Mali and father Peter, clearing the air with them, and her relationship with her new stepbrother that she had just learned about.
The atmosphere in the family living room was tense; things had been very tense lately, as a matter of fact. Emma's eyes darted from her father, Peter, and her stepmother, Mali. She was standing looking as elegant as ever in a modest light blue dress and warm socks, with her hair in a neat little bun, having just finished cleaning up in the kitchen.
It felt like it was only yesterday her father had run off to Thailand for a few months and gotten married seemingly on a whim without so much as a mention in any of their numerous Skype calls.
Emma fidgeted with her hands, tapping her fingers on the knees of her jeans a few times.
"Look, dad…" Emma started, picking her words carefully so as not to give him the wrong idea. "I'm really not worried about whether or not you're dating - it's not like I'm a little kid anymore."
He listened intently to his daughter, nodding his head. "Okay."
"It's just that, well, it all happened so fast!" She opened her hands in a gesture of surprise. "I mean, most people come back from a vacation in Thailand with some snacks and souvenirs. Meanwhile, you showed up with a woman I'd never met before!"
Mali didn't say anything, but she fiddled with the loose parts of her long, dark hair. It seemed she was uncomfortable to learn that the poor girl hadn't even heard from her dad before the wedding - it had seemed obvious to her that he would have called his daughter before (or at least after) making such a big decision.
"Getting married is fine, Dad - but you could have said something instead of bringing home a total stranger," Emma explained, her brow furrowing in frustration. "Then you told me that whole story about how you were at a duty-free store on the way home and bought her a bunch of stuff… That kind of story isn't a good look, Dad."
Mali glanced at her husband in surprise. "You told her that but didn't tell her the rest?"
He shrugged, clearly embarrassed in hindsight.
"Emma, I can see how you'd misunderstand it without the full story." She addressed the flustered young girl, who was upset but still doing her best to keep herself calm. "Sure, he bought me things - I didn't actually want him to, though. He just insisted on doing it as a gift. When we first met, we were talking and having a good time before we started shopping together - shopping together is almost always his idea as well. We had a lot of things in common, and we bonded quite quickly."
"Really?" Emma said, surprise.
"That's right." She explained reassuringly. "I can see why you'd think something was up, but I genuinely had to ask him to calm down with all the gifts he was buying me when he had dates!"
At that, Peter gave a hearty little laugh. "Well, maybe I was a bit enthusiastic. I was just trying to be nice."
Mali giggled right back, a dainty hand coming to cover her mouth. "I know, but you were so intense! It was crazy."
"I really wish you'd told me about this before, Dad." Emma blurted out, her shoulders bunching upward. She almost wanted to pull her mustard yellow sweater over her face and hide. Her dad could be such a disaster sometimes.
Glancing at his wife awkwardly, her father looked at her with a lot of sympathy in his eyes - he hadn't realized just how much stress he'd been causing her. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I actually didn't think to tell you. It was definitely dumb - hindsight is always 20-20 - but I think I was caught up in all kinds of emotions."
Emma cleared her throat, moving on. She shifted around on the armchair.
"And another thing - remember how the whole house was redecorated, and I didn't know it? I ended up hitting my foot and bumping into the furniture." She brought up, wincing at the memory of the pain - she'd broken a toenail from that injury.
Mali sighed and frowned at her husband a bit, who was scratching at his gray beard. "I was also surprised to find you hadn't informed her, Peter.
I'm sorry that happened, Emma." Mali said.
Her dad sighed in defeat. His blue eyes sank to fix on his hands, which were in his lap clasped over each other. "You're right. If I were in her shoes, I'd be upset too. That was a mistake. I should have mentioned it - it's your home, too."
"I always liked being able to cook different foods - look, I like Thai food a lot, but having it every night is a bit much for me. You guys never cook anything else, and I haven't had the option to cook the family dinner myself in a while. I miss it." The young girl fidgeted with her thumbs - dinner time had been an important time she shared with her father, and now it felt wrong. Her feet turned inward, her white sneakers brushing against the carpet. "When I complained, Dad, you told me I wasn't the woman of the house anymore. You said I was gonna be getting married and moving out soon anyway. I considered moving because of it."
"You said that to her?" Mali gasped. It seemed she hadn't known about this conversation.
Peter protested, running his hand over his beige chinos nervously. "I didn't mean it to be unkind or anything."
Mali shook her head, being stern with her husband but not trying to be mean. "The implications aren't very nice. You probably made Emma feel replaced or something."
Emma quietly nodded. "I see dinner as an important family bonding time."
"Me too, Emma." Peter felt a little lost. "I swear, I didn't mean to make you feel like I was waiting for you to leave or anything like that. I wanted you to understand that Mali is now a part of the family, but I definitely didn't get that across. I'm so sorry I made you feel that way."
"It made me feel really bad, Dad." Emma quietly mumbled. "Still, that wasn't the only thing I was nervous about - there was more to it."
Peter looked at her like he wanted to go out to the backyard and bury himself. He was already embarrassed enough at how much stress he had caused her daughter - he looked sweaty even in his comfy short-sleeved t-shirt.
"I remember walking in on Mali using Skype, but she pretended that she was just cleaning the laptop! I couldn't help but feel weird about that." She explained. "I did some Google searches about Thailand and the marriage culture there… And I found out about this trend of Thai women marrying foreigners for their money and assets, just to make money for their families back home. It made me very nervous because you guys got married so suddenly."
A cold energy washed over Mali. Her eyes darkened a little, and she swallowed a lump in her throat. "I don't know what to say… I'm sorry you were exposed to web pages like that because while gold diggers do exist, they're not anything to base your ideas of the Thai culture on."
Emma gasped, tucking some of her red hair behind her ear. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mali. I didn't mean to generalize you like that… I just didn't know any better."
"No, I understand. Sometimes, things you read online can be very exaggerated." Mali sorrowfully crossed her arms. "There are a lot of people out there who harbor bad sentiments about Asian people. It's not your fault that you found yourself getting misinformed. Please, don't feel so bad - continue telling your story. We're listening, and I'm not going to judge you."
Emma was surprised, smiling at how incredibly kind the woman was to her after all the harsh assumptions she had made. "Th-thanks, Mali."
Her father was pleased to see how well they were communicating, a warm smile washing over his face.
"So, I was saving up some money for that trip I was going to take… But I was so worried I ended up spending it on a surveillance camera and some software to record Skype calls with." She admitted. "Looking back, it was very intrusive of me, and it was a massive waste of my money and time. Still, I found out you'd been talking to a seven-year-old boy. I saw people entering and leaving the house - I immediately assumed the worst… You know the rest."
Emma rushed through the last parts of her story, feeling terrible for invading their privacy over something that wasn't even true. Her pale face had turned red with shame - she couldn't believe how badly she had treated Mali.
"Oh, don't be so embarrassed, honey!" Peter moved close to his daughter to hug her. "It's alright, it wasn't all your fault."
Mali came over to where Emma was sitting and dropped to one knee on the carpet. Emma turned to look at her and was relieved to see she wasn't angry either. She wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her sweater.
"It's alright, Emma. You were confused and made some mistakes." Mali comforted her stepdaughter. "You had every right to be concerned since we weren't communicating with you enough about all these big changes in your life. I probably would have been paranoid in your situation as well - you wanted to protect your family."
Peter rubbed his daughter's back gently. "I'm sorry, Emma. I should have tried harder to help you adjust to Mali and to get to know her. You're young, and I'm your father; I failed you and had a responsibility to try harder. If anything, I feel like the worst, most neglectful dad right now. I hope you can forgive me."
"Of course, I forgive you, Dad." She sobbed.
Mali held Emma's hand gently and squeezed. "I'm very sorry that you felt so displaced, Emma. The last thing I wanted was for you to feel bad about me being here or to feel like I was taking your place. I just wanted to try and join our families together - I was hoping to introduce you to my son eventually."
"I'd love to meet your son, Mali!" She smiled, letting Mali give her a hug as well - this was a lot more pleasant and genuine than their first hug when they first met. "We can start over and get to know each other properly now, right?"
"Of course." Mali cooed to Emma, holding her close. "From now on, we're going to communicate as best we can."
Author Notes: I really hope you enjoy this chapter. At the end of the original video, Emma made up with her father and stepmother and said that she feels that this story will become something to laugh at in family gatherings. I wanted to show the talk that Emma would have with her father and stepmother and for all sides to take responsibility for this misunderstanding and forgive each other. You see, Peter and Mali are mostly to blame for this miscommunication, and I wanted to acknowledge that, but I also wanted to show that they are good people who made a mistake, feel bad, and want to fix it. Also, I wanted to expand and fix the story info from the video. Take, for example, in the video, part of the reason Emma was suspicious of her stepmother Mali is that her father Peter told her that the two met at the store when Peter bought Mali all the things she wanted, which sounds suspicious; in this story, Mali revelation that she did not want Peter to buy her things, he just insisted on giving her gifts. When they first met, they were talking and having a good time before they started shopping together - shopping together is almost always Peter's idea as well. The two of them had a lot of things in common, and they bonded quite quickly." Mail even asks Peter to calm down about the gifts on their dates. This new info shows that Mail did not get together with Peter for gifts and money and did fall in love with him.
I really hope you enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think.