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Pete’s father’s total prohibition on contact with Ae and the rest of Pete's life back in Thailand extended to his mother as well. After all, hadn’t she been a bad influence on him, "letting" him both be gay and spend time with unsuitable people from the lower classes?
Pete didn't think anything could be as agonizing as leaving Ae, as telling his beloved not to wait for him. (Pete honestly didn’t know if his father would ever allow him to come home, and he couldn’t ask Ae to halt his life for years in hope.) But, if there was anything that could rival the agony of losing his love, it was not being allowed to talk to his mom.
Pete adored his mother, and he was the center of her life after his parents’ divorce. Leaving her to move into the dorms had been hard, even though he had wanted very much to make that step. and have the privacy (however shyly) to move his physical relationship with Ae to the next level. He had still talked with her almost every day, video chatting with her while they each puttered around their kitchens in the evening or sending her a cute "good morning" sticker during his morning routine.
Now, he was thousands of miles from her in Germany and they were allowed no contact at all. No emails, no calls, no video chats, no messaging. What was he going to do without her steady guiding love when his courage faltered? What was she going to do without him?
He was distraught at the idea that this year, when her birthday came, there would be no roses on her table, no reminder that she would always be the most important person to someone, to her son who loved her.
Somehow, Pete had convinced his father to let him FaceTime his mother on her birthday (after he’d had to remind his father that it was her birthday). He was determined to be brave for her. He wanted to make her special day happy, not remind her of how his father had torn their lives apart, torn them apart. He didn't want her to think about how uncertain their futures were, subject to the whims of a man who didn’t care one bit about their feelings or happiness.
Despite his vow, his eyes were swimming with tears seconds after her beautiful, beloved face came onto his screen.
They overflowed when he saw the vase behind her on her kitchen island. It was filled with roses, freshly cut from her garden, and, wrapped around the flowers, a familiar bracelet dangled with its metal puzzle piece shining brightly under the kitchen lights, swaying gently. As if it had just been placed there moments before.
*****
“I will take care of the people you love, my love, and we will be waiting for you, happy and healthy, when you return….”