Chapter Text
8:12 am
Win reads on his wrist watch while holding his 18 month old child on his arms, waiting for his babysitter to arrive.
'I am so doomed.' He thought to himself as he's about to be late on his first day of work as a museum curator of one of the largest museums in the world (which also happens to be his dream place to work in after graduating his doctorate degree in art history).
He checked his phone once again to see if the babysitter has contacted him yet, but still nada.
'I knew I shouldn't have hired a babysitter from that site.' He thought to himself once again, while his baby started to fidget out of his arms wanting to get down to the carpet floor. So Win let him and let his baby play with his toys for a bit.
"Oh Beau, what are we going to do?" He asked his 18 month old baby who's already found his favorite book and started to point out identifiable objects in it.
He's genuinely stressed.
He doesn't know what to do. He would love to bring his child to work but he's not sure if he's allowed to do so knowing that the place is he's working in is filled with some of the most expensive and rarest art pieces in the history, and he can't afford to pay for a painting that his child might accidentally rip on.
Having a PhD in art history at the age of 31 is already quite impressive. But having a child before graduating PhD while also being an assistant curator at another museum was a real hell of a struggle that he almost placed it on his CV because of how proud he is of himself. And as petty as it sounds, he wants to show it off to Beau's mother.
Beau wasn't actually supposed to happen. But when alcohol and two sexually frustrated adults are in the same room, things can happen. And just like that, 9 months after their one night stand, Beau was born.
Win honestly fell in love with Beau the first time he saw him. He's a beam of sunshine and is filled with brightness. However, his mother chose to flee 3 months after he was born. She left with no explanation, except for a note that says 'I can't do this anymore.' And he never heard anything from her. She just left.
He felt so lost after that because he was already doing his dissertation, he's also working and now he has to also make sure that his baby is alright and well fed. Luckily enough, he managed and now they are here– still waiting for his babysitter to arrive.
" Yayion!" Beau pointed out in his children's book a picture of a lion and Win can't help but smile.
"Yes baby, that's a lion." Win kissed the top of the head of his child while he continued to name other more animals on the page with gibberish sounds with some of it sounding more audible than it used to be from last week.
8:15 am
‘Oh God.’
After seeing that he’s only 20 minutes before he loses his job he decided to gather the things that Beau will need for the day and placed it neatly on his baby bag, together with diapers, 4 bottles of milk formula, snacks, wipes, baby powder, towels, pacifiers and clothes to change in, and then prayed that he’s about to do the right choice with knocking on his neighbor’s door.
“Beau, if something happens to you, you can always haunt me in my sleep, yeah?” Win told Beau, who's just happily pinching Win’s nose as he carries him in his arms.
Win knocked once again, luckily he was greeted by his hot neighbor, on his dress shirt.
“Hello, Neighbor.” Win awkwardly greeted him with a smile.
“H-Hey…” his neighbor greeted back with a soft smile and they just stared at each other for a little while not really knowing what to do nor to say, until Win realized that he has to go or he won’t be able to feed his baby anymore.
“Uhm, so I know this is the first time that we’re going to speak to each other but I really, really need some help.” Win pleaded with his tone and his eyes hoping that the other can be kind enough to help him.
“Uh, what is it about?” his neighbor asked.
“You see, this is my first day of work and I really can’t afford to be late, and the babysitter that I’ve hired hasn’t come yet and I can’t bring my child to work- well I’m really not sure if I can or I cannot and I probably should ask my boss about it later in case this happens again. Anyways, what I’m saying is, can you take care of him for me? I promise I’ll pay you!” Win finally blurted out, as the other just stared at him.
“Oh…”
“I’ll bring you pizza later?” Win is already laying out all his cards right now. He just want Beau to be safe.
“I mean I-I could take care of him… But I’m also going to work.” his neighbor finally said.
‘Right. Fuck, of course he’s an adult he has to go to his work too. I sh-’ Win’s train of thoughts were stopped when his neighbor talked once again and said,
“But I can bring him to work? If that’s fine with you?”
‘Heaven sent! Heaven. Sent.’ He almost cried after hearing his neighbor say that, but he wanted to make sure that it won’t get his neighbor fired or else he’ll feel really bad about it for eternity.
“Are you sure? Will your boss not fire you for it? Where do you even work? Is the place child friendly?” he asked and his neighbor just chuckled with all his questions.
“Yeah, I’m sure. It’s fine I promise. Our offices are child friendly. We often have some employees' children around sometimes…. I-uhm...I work in BVC Tech.” his neighbor answered him, making him beam with excitement.
“BVC Tech, wow! I’ve always passed-by by that huge company on my way to my university before. Their products always amazes me, really... Anyways, here’s his baby bag. Everything that he’ll need is in here. Beau pretty much talks his mind already so he’ll probably tell you if he needs something though it can sound gibberish, you can understand it. Hold on- can I borrow your phone? I’ll place my number… Thank you. Contact me if anything happens or if you have questions. Have I mentioned my name? No? Oh I’m Win. He can basically eat anything, just not large hard ones, you have to break them up or it’s much better to have those soft small snacks. He loves strawberries. Wait- oh my God, I only have 15 more minutes. Just call me if you have anything to ask. Oh and you can basically just give him a pen and a paper and he’s set for the day. He likes his jungle book a lot. He’s 18 month old so he can basically walk on his own but he needs help when walking on stairs. Yeah… that’s basically it.” Win gave his neighbor the baby bag before kissing his son on his lips.
“Be good to uncle....”
“Bright.” his neighbor answered, which Win immediately took notes on.
“Be good to uncle Bright okay? Dad will be back later and will let you have strawberry pudding for dessert for dinner? How’s that?”
“Pwooding?”
“Yes, baby. Pudding.”
“Yay!” Beau squealed and hugged his father even more before Win handed him to Bright.
“Thank you so much for this. You’re God sent. I’ll be back to take him by 7pm.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. I head out of work by 5:30 so you can just knock on my door later and we’ll be back here already.” His neighbor assured him with a warm smile as Beau already clung his arms on Bright’s neck in which Win deeply sighed and felt like a great weight on his shoulder was lifted (but somehow it actually worries him how his child easily adjusts to strangers).
“I have to get going. Take care of Beau for me!” and Win kissed Beau once again before running towards the elevator door and finally going to work.
“So I guess you’re going with me buddy.” Bright told the child in his arms, who’s already fascinated by his plain black tie.
His employees are seriously going to freak out.
He opened his phone and contacted his driver and asked him if he has a child car seat available at his home, remembering that his driver is a grandfather of 3. Luckily his driver said yes, but was a bit confused as to why his boss was asking for one to be attached to the back seat of his car, but Bright immediately explained to him what happened prior to the short notice.
“That’s very nice of you sir Chivaaree.” his driver told him as they talked through the phone.
“I just didn’t have the guts to say no to his dad. He’s already pleading with his eyes and his tone.” Bright explained making the older man on the phone chuckle.
“Alright sir. I’ll set up the car first and I’ll let you know when we’re set to go.”
“Thank you Mr. Lim”
“Hey buddy, we’re going to my office today. Will that be okay to you?” Bright asked the child on his arms, who’s been playing on his tie for the past 5 minutes now.
“Offwice?” The child looked at him with the most adorable eyes he’s ever laid on with two of his front teeth already showing up.
“Yes, Beau. We’re going to my office.” and Bright can’t help but adore the child even more as his little finger poke on his cheeks and his lips.
“Wips...Wed!” Beau beamed pointing on Bright’s lips, making the man smile.
“Uhuh, they are reddish aren’t they?” and Bright placed him on his couch first before getting his coat from his room and he saw the child opening his baby bag.
“What do you want, little guy?” he asked Beau.
“Snacks…” and Bright chuckled, opening the bag to look for some snacks that his father packed for him and found the things already sectioned, so he didn’t have a hard time looking for the snacks.
“The green one or the red one?” Bright asked the child and Beau almost immediately grabbed the green one and so he helped him open it to let Beau enjoy it while waiting for his driver to contact him.
Bright just watches Beau eat happily with some of its bits falling off to his couch and Beau’s shirt, so he looked for a bib on the bag and found one and securely placed it on Beau.
“Well I guess taking care of my little cousins before really helped, don’t you think bud?” He said caressing Beau’s head who’s just happily indulging himself with his snack on hand.
After 10 minutes, his driver messaged him that they are good to go. So he grabbed his suitcase, put on the baby bag over his shoulder.
"Hey Beau, do you want to walk or be carried?" He asked the child while motioning to him for the child to understand him better.
"Walk!" Beau answered enthusiastically. Luckily, all he has today are paper works and just a single board meeting for their new launch of product, so he can watch over Beau most of the time.
And so he held out his hand for the child to hold on to and went down to the parking lot where Mr. Lim was waiting for them.
"Hey there little man. What's your name?" Mr. Lim asked the child who just smiled on the old man and said,
"Boo!"
"Oh, that's a beautiful name you got there young man. Here, get in. I prepared a seat just for you." The old man carried Beau into the backseat of the car, next to where Bright usually sits.
“Does he mean Boo like boo, loser? Or?” Mr. Lim asked.
“I think it’s French. Yeah... It sounds French when his father told me his name a while ago.” Bright answered him, not entirely sure about it.
"Nice seat, you got there buddy. Mine's a generic one and you got a special seat just for you." Bright told Beau who just giggled at him, making him smile again.
"I think you should babysit more often sir." Mr. Lim told Bright, while he checked on the seatbelts attached to Beau's child seat.
"You think so?"
"Mhm… Your smile looks brighter than usual." And Bright just chuckled as Mr. Lim started the car and went to his company.
After 10 minutes on their way to the company, Beau was already asleep. Cheeks pressing to the side of his seat, peacefully taking a nap. He took a picture of it on his phone and sent it to his father and said,
'We're on our way to my workplace. I'll update you from time to time. And by the way, what does he usually have for lunch?'
After a few minutes, Win finally answered. Bright assumed that he’s probably really busy with whatever work he is having.
‘Hey! Thank you Bright for this, seriously I owe you one. I’ve already asked my boss if I can bring Beau here but she said that no matter how much she wants to, it’s just really risky to have a child here on our station. Probably because of some pieces in here that may become a child hazard or may be too pricey or even priceless to have a child around it. So I’m probably going to grind myself tonight to look for one immediately so we won’t bother you anymore.
He can eat some rice. Any viand will do, but let him have soup so he can eat it easily.
Have a great day at work! Tell me if he bothers you at work, I’ll just ask my boss if she can let me have a half day today.
Tell him I miss him already!’
And he smiled at the text message and told himself to tell Beau about it later.
“I might volunteer to take care of you for a bit, little bud.” Bright smiled even more looking at the adorable child.
Once they arrived at his building, immediately he heard the gasps of his employees and some even shrieked seeing him holding a sleeping child on his arms while Mr. Lim helped him carry his stuff to his office.
“Sir your me- What the fuck!” Dew, his secretary almost passed out to the sight of his boss with a child.
“Quiet! And no cursing.” Bright scolded him.
“Sorry, but who’s child is that?” Dew eyed the child as if waiting for his boss to explain the situation. It’s going to be a rough day for him again. He just knows that he has to contact every single news outlet to not release a single article about Bright having a child.
“It’s not mine. I’m babysitting. Nothing to worry about. By the way, can you ask Nani to bring some of our toy models that we used for our kids console last year, here. Like some plush toys, preferably animals. Bring them to my office. And for lunch tell Tu to grab us some child friendly meals and some soup. If they have fruits at the canteen that would be nice too. Ask them to chop it into tiny pieces. What were you saying a while ago by the way?” Bright instructed him.
“I said that your meeting is moved tomorrow so you’re basically on paperwork today. And you think the media is going to eat up ‘babysitting’? Look! My phone is already blaring up!” Dew exclaimed as Bright made Dew carry Beau, as he looked for his spare blanket that he uses when he takes some nap in his office, so he can place it on the couch and let Beau lay in it together with his neck pillow.
“Dew, first of all I’m gay.”
“Yeah, gay men can also have children you know?” Dew argued.
“I know. But I’m basically single with no dating scandal ever. So how would they think that I have a child just because I brought one to my company? You’re going to hurt his neck if you continue holding him like that.” Bright took Beau once again and laid him carefully to the couch, securing the sides with a throw pillow.
“Shit, I’m sorry… fuck I just cursed...Oh my God.” Dew stumbled to his words so he just decided to slap his lips and gather himself once again before scolding his boss.
“That’s exactly the point! There are just some people waiting for you to have a major scandal. I can handle dating rumors, hook-up rumors, family issue rumors- but a child rumor? People will think it’s real considering we just release a kid console and children efficient products.”
“You make it sound like having a child is bad.”
“It’s not that! Oh my Gosh. Do you know how hard I have to persuade the Chairwoman to not mess up the schedules that I make for you everyday with blind dates? I had to go to your house and ask her personally because her son doesn’t want to go to any of those dates she arranged and all she wanted was for you to settle down already.” Dew went off and realized how persistent his mother was with him settling down and having his own family.
She’s going to love the news and definitely make a huge fuss about it.
“Oh shit.”
“No cursing in front of the child!”
“I didn’t think about that…”
“Exactly. So expect her probably tomorrow.” Dew exited his office while he sighed deeply looking at Beau who didn’t even bulge even with the two adults arguing just next to him.
‘You sleep so well. I wish I also had that ability.’ Bright thought to himself as he sighed once again and went into his desk to finally start working.
‘I guess I’ll just deal with my mother tomorrow and explain the whole situation. God, she’s gonna be so disappointed when she finds out that you’re not my child.’ Bright just then shook his head and went on reading the stack of papers in front of him while Beau continued to sleep peacefully without any care to anyone around him.
Win on the other hand is already drowning on his first day of work. New pieces from the United States are going to be shipped into their museum and he was tasked to curate them for an exhibit that they’re going to have next month.
Of course he’s excited, some of the pieces in there are pieces that he only sees on magazines and the internet. It’s just that his head is filled with worrying because of his son.
He knows he shouldn’t just entrust anyone with his child, let alone a stranger- well not really a stranger because they've met a couple of times in the elevator up to their floor but still, to let them babysit his child and even bring him to his workplace.
So when he received a text from his neighbor, together with a picture of Beau on a child seat and taking a nap, he found relief but there’s still worry-ness in him.
“Hey, sir Win? Ma’am Jennie, requests you to her office.” The intern informed him.
“Thanks Love. Oh and by the way, do you know where I can get a babysitter?” he asked as they walked towards the office of his boss.
“A babysitter? Oh right! You have a child. Well I do know one that takes care of my cousins from time to time. I’ll let you know if they are available or if they know someone who can take care of your son.” Love told him.
“Thanks.” he said smiling to her
“No problem. What’s his name by the way? I didn’t catch up with that a while ago at lunch.”
“His name is Beau Louis, but I just call him Beau ”
“Boo?”
“Beau, French.”
“Ah, we love some French enthusiasts in our place. Film studied French so she taught me sometimes. Anyways, we’re here. I’ll see you later!” Love went the other way as they are already in front of their boss’ office.
“Ah Win, come in! We got some good stuff today.” Jennie then showed him a large list of pieces that they just got from Italy.
“Wow.” he exclaimed and his boss shrieked just as excited as him,
“I know!”
After browsing at the list and looking at them individually on their a separate building where their items are first examined, and then stretched for a bit and checked his phone only to see four messages from his neighbor together with pictures of his child.
'Hey! Beau and I just had lunch and I gave him some strawberry smoothie. I hope these are fine. He likes them by the way. Also he said that he misses you too.'
'Beau and I went for a walk around the company. We saw some rubber ducks in our stock room so we decided to let them float here.'
'I changed his clothes after our walk because he got a bit sweaty and I'm afraid that it might get him sick. Here's him playing with some dinosaurs cut-outs.'
And lastly,
'We're now on our way back home when he told me that he wants to eat so we stopped by a local café near the condominium building and got him some croissants. I don't think he likes them despite his name being French. So we exchanged and let him eat my sandwich. Here's a photo of him with the croissants though.'
He smiled at all the messages and decided to send one back with a selfie of him.
' Hey! I'm still at work but I'm almost finished. Sorry I just saw your messages. I had to examine some pieces from our warehouse.
Yeah, he's really not fond of croissants but he loves other French pastries. Thank you so much for taking care of him very well. I'll have to pay you soon and I might buy you some sandwich to replace the sandwich that he ate.
Anyways I'll see you guys soon!
Ps. Show him this pic if he misses me. I hope he does because I really miss him already and this is only my first day of work.'
Bright instantly smiled at the message that he got while Beau watched some cartoon on his tv.
"Beau, look! Your dad sent you a photo." Bright sat next to him and showed him a picture of his dad, and immediately he beamed with giggles and pointed at it and said,
"Dada! Dada!"
"Yeah, that's your Dada. And he'll be here soon, okay? Do you miss him already?" Bright asked the child who's already holding his phone while he keeps on poking the picture of his father with his tiny soft fingers, already not interested with the cartoons on the tv but now focused on his father on the screen.
'Yeah, he definitely missed him already.' Bright thought to himself as he pat Beau's head softly and Beau continued to play on his phone while Bright sat next to him watching the cartoon that Beau didn't pay attention to.
After some time, the two found themselves on the carpet floor playing with some animal toys that they took home from the company.
"Do you think I should get married and also have some kids?" Bright randomly asked the child holding up a bunny on hand. He doesn't know if it's fine to talk about it with a child but he just did thinking that Beau won't understand a thing that he'll say.
"Mawwied?" Beau looked at him with his curious eyes.
"Uhuh… My family wants me to have a family of my own already. But I'm not yet ready to have one you know? Plus I'm still young. I'm only 31." Bright reasoned out to the child who's immersed in what he is saying even though he probably didn't understood what Bright was saying, as he held up 3 and 1 from both of his hands showing Beau what 31 is.
"Young?" Beau repeated from Bright's sentence.
"Yes, buddy. Uncle Bright is still young. Just like you."
"Wuncle Bwight."
"Yes, Uncle Bright." Bright nodded his head and Beau just blinked at him and nodded his head as well, as if he understood every single word that Bright had told him.
After so, they both heard a knock on his door and knew that it's Win. So he opened the door and greeted him with a smile.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"Dada!"
"Hey bud! Did you enjoy your day with Uncle Bright?" Win leveled himself to his child as he gave him kisses all over his face.
"Wuncle Bwight!" Beau exclaimed and the two burst out with fits of giggles together with the 18 month old toddler.
"Yeah, it seems like you really enjoyed your time with Uncle Bright. By the way, have you eaten yet?" Win asked.
"Yeah, I fed Beau some egg drop soup." Bright answered.
"How about you? Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet, but I'm fine. I'll just have some delivery later."
"You sure? I brought some take outs already." And Bright smiled as he let Win enter his place and let him place his bag on the couch next to Beau's baby bag.
"Your place is huge." Win stated as he looked around the place. It's also designed minimally with some framed photographs on the wall.
"Oh, nice photos you got here. Did you take them?" Win asked as he looked at the framed photos hanging on the wall.
"Yeah. How'd you know?" Bright asked the other and Win smiled at him and answered,
"I'm a curator." And Bright nodded his head.
"Oh… that's cool. Anyways, you can place the food here." Bright pointed out on his dining table and Win immediately followed him there, and so did Beau.
"I hope these are fine with you."
"I'm not a picky eater so I'll basically eat anything you give me. Don't worry." Win smiled at his statement and placed the takeout nicely on the table so they could eat already.
"I really want to thank you for this huge favor of mine. I'll forever treasure this. And I'll pay you later."
"Ah, no need. I genuinely enjoyed my time with the little man. He's a ray of sunshine. Everyone at work adored him." Bright told him, remembering how everyone cooed when Beau roamed around the quarters with him to check-up on their operations and the employees as well.
Some talked about him thinking that he probably got someone pregnant, some thinks it might be his brother from another mother (again) but he didn't really bother explaining to them. He doesn't have time for chitchats at work.
"Aww… is that true Beau? Did everyone in Uncle Bright's work adore you?" Win asked his child teasingly, making Beau giggle and Bright to smile even bigger.
"Wuncle Bwight."
"Yes buddy?"
"Mawwy Dada!" And the two adult just stared at the child who just kept on repeating his statement again and again. As if he's a imposing the two to get married.
"Baby, oh my God. Where did you learn that word?" Win asked, still shocked on how his child just told them to get married.
"I think it's my fault I'm sorry. I was talking to him earlier about how my mom wants me to settle down already. And I guess he picked up the word from my statement. Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Bright explained and Win just sighed.
"It's fine. Beau really picks up words fast and likes to repeat them. I'm so sorry if that bothers you." Win apologized to the other.
"No it's fine. I'm the one at fault here. I shouldn't be talking about that kind of stuff with a child." Bright apologized once again.
"Oh well let's finish eating. I have to put Beau in bed at 8:30." And the two just exchanged smiles with each other and finished their meals while also exchanging some stories about Beau who's already singing along to the song on the tv.
"Thank you again for taking care of Beau. I promise to find a babysitter as soon as possible. I don't want to be a bother anymore." Win said as Bright walked them through the door, with Beau clinging to his father, already sleepy.
"It really is fine. I enjoyed his company and please don't hesitate to let me babysit him again. I kind of enjoy his presence in the office. Makes it more alive." Bright smiled at Win and so does the other.
"Alright. Have a good night Bright."
"You too. Sweet dreams little man." Bright patted Beau's head and they finally entered their unit leaving Bright with a smile on his face.
He definitely liked the kid.
After returning back to reality that he's actually a single adult living in his large unit, he decided to take a shower before checking his emails and going to bed.
Before going to bed, his phone signaled him that he got a message and immediately a smile creeped on his face as he read the message and picture attached to it.
‘Beau's finally asleep. Thank you for today Bright.
Ps. He asked me to tell you to have sweet dreams.'
He typed in a reply together with a photo of himself before he tucked himself in his own bed and thought before drifting to sleep,
'I might definitely consider having a family now.'