Page 5 of Until the Day You're Mine

Oh, it will fucking hurt. But it is what they do after Bran’s naps, and there is no damn way, Rian will deprive his child of his visits to the park because of Harris’s antics.

Fuck him.

Rian dresses Bran in his tiny baby sports outfit and he is so freaking cute. His dark curls have gotten too long, but Rian can’t bring himself to cut them. He brushes them neatly, using the right oils to moisturize his gorgeous locks, and gives him another kiss on the nose. Bran preens like he knows he looks like a million bucks.

“You’re gorgeous! All the old ladies are gonna try and pinch your cheeks again. Daddy better run fast, or they gonna get you,” Rian teases him as he picks Bran up.

“Run, run, run.” Brandon giggles and claps.

CHAPTERONE

Tayida – Ty – Beloved One

Growing up in Jacksonville is a blur of memories.

Son of an immigrant mother and an American businessman, his childhood is filled with stereotypical struggles. Helping his Thai mother Sorai deal with the ever-present language barrier. Constantly being reminded of all the ways, he’s somehow different from other kids in his school. The frequent cultural appropriation, from strangers, relatives on his father’s side, and classmates. A father who is saying awfully racist shit at the dinner table, only to back them up with, “That’s not racist cuz I’m married to your mom, and I love her, okay? I can joke about stuff like that.”

Love.

Tayida would never describe the way George treats Sally, Soria’s American name, as loving, although he does remember some brief glimpses of happiness. Rare family outings that are drenched in laughter. Dinners that don’t end in tears and drunken arguments. The rare,“I love you, son”.

By the time thewhirlwind romancebetween Sally and George hit the proverbial shit fan, there was nothing left between them but animosity and hate. The East Asian Economic Crisis had successfully wiped out the last of his business capital, and when things came to a staggering halt, neither George nor Sally had been prepared to deal with the inevitable fallout and financial hardship.

George began drinking in earnest, while Sally always seemed to have one foot out the door - looking for work, looking for company, looking for a way out of this life that was no longer the dream she had been chasing when she had accepted George’s hasty marriage proposal back in Thailand where they first met.

George progressively increased the violent and verbal abuse he often unleashed on his family, as the alcohol really brought out that mean streak in him. There was no filter, no holding back the poison spilling from his lips.

Ty would often come home from school to find him on the floor covered in his own filth. He’d drag George to the bathroom where he would try his best to clean him up, out of some bizarre sense of duty. George swore at him, slurring his words, spitting on him, and trying to hit him. On the rare occasion when George was successful at hurting Tayida, the impact of his fists on Ty’s slender frame wasn’t what caused him the most pain.

It was the bitter realization that Tayida was all alone. In those instances, Sally never interfered, nor helped.

You’re a fucking bastard, you know that?

You don’t even look like me.

You’re not my son.

Get your filthy hands off me.

You’re only hanging around for my money.

Why don’t you fuck off, like your mother?

And then there were the days, he’d just cry and sob.

Don’t leave me.

You’re the only thing I’ve done right in my life.

Sally cared for Tayida’s bruises after every incident but never failed to lecture him on how it was his own fault for getting in the way.

The moment Tayida turned sixteen, it seemed Sally finally felt absolved of her commitment to him. She hastily packed her bags and cleaned out whatever measly savings she had been able to hide from her husband. She gave Ty an ultimatum – he either follow her back home or stay behind with George.

What kind of alternative was that, anyway? He had never been to Thailand. Everything he had ever known was in Jacksonville. And how is he supposed to deal with George all on his own?

Tayida had walked out of the family home in anger, only to return half an hour later to find the house empty – his mother had already left for the airport. Her offer hadn’t really been an offer at all, but a move to get him to leave so she could depart without having to placate or console him.

No tearful goodbye.

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