A Truce

Not that they treated him badly. In fact, despite his new elder brother’s complaints, his new parents treated him extremely well and had gone out of their way to make sure he was happy and comfortable in his new home. They’d done everything to make sure he knew they adopted him because they wanted him. He had his own room, filled with toys and clothes, Father always helped him with his homework, Mother would sit up and sing lullabies when he had nightmares. They’d even found Doctor Ashrah, the nice lady who Tomas talked to about the deaths of his Sister and Mother.

But he still didn’t understand, mostly on the grounds that his new Mother had been very clearly pregnant when they first met. If they were expecting another child already, then what was Tomas for? They could clearly still have their own children, so why did they need Tomas too? It was confusing, even if he was thankful for their strange decision.

But that was why he was now sitting in a hospital waiting room, Bi-Han explicitly ignoring him. Mother had gone into labour some time ago and Father had gone straight to her. Madame Bo, the kindly elderly lady who ran a nearby cafe, had brought Tomas and Bi-Han to the hospital from school. Tomas wasn’t exactly an expert on babies and childbirth, but they’d been here for an hour, their parents even longer, surely the baby had to be out of her by now, right?

As if to answer his question, the door opposite them opened, and their Father stuck his head out of the door. He looked tired, but excited, so that was probably a good sign. He smiled at them both.

“Come on, there’s someone who’d like to meet you both,” Father gently told them, moving aside to allow them through the door.

Bi-Han immediately jumped off the chair and stepped forward. Tomas scrambled to keep up. As they entered, Father shut the door behind them. Across the room, Mother was sitting up in the bed, holding a bundle of cloth to her chest. As she looked at them, she smiled brightly. Although, if Tomas thought Father looked tired, she looked positively exhausted. Her usually immaculate hair was a complete mess, and her eyelids looked heavy.

“Hello boys,” she greeted softly, as they both approached her. “Meet Kuai Liang, he’s your little brother.”

She moved the bundle slightly, and indeed, wrapped up inside the cloth was a baby. His eyes were shut and it seemed he was fast asleep, not making a sound. Kuai Liang, huh? That was a nice name.

“Would you like to hold him?” Father asked them, and Tomas froze. He’d never held a baby before, what if he dropped him? Father clearly saw the fear on Tomas’ face as he gently chuckled and continued with “I’ll help you support him.”

He turned to Mother as she held out Kuai Liang for him to take. He turned to Bi-Han first. Gently instructing Bi-Han on how to hold his arms. Once he was in the acceptable position, Father placed the baby in his arms. His hands didn’t leave completely, holding Bi-Han steady and telling him how to hold the head.

Bi-Han stared down at his new baby brother. Tomas wasn’t sure how he’d react. He did not like Tomas' presence, he likely couldn’t stand yet another brother fighting for their parents attention.

Then, to Tomas' eternal surprise, Bi-Han actually began to smile.

“Hi, Kuai Liang,” he softly said, his eyes never leaving the baby in his arms. “I’m Bi-Han. Your big brother.”

Tomas hated that he felt a pang of jealousy at Bi-Han referring to himself as that. He shouldn’t be envious of a literal baby, Kuai had barely taken a breath and didn’t even know what a brother was. And yet… Tomas wished Bi-Han could have said the same thing to him when he arrived at the Song’s house.

“Tomas, do you want a turn?” Father asked, taking Kuai Liang back from Bi-Han. Tomas nodded, still a little unsure and scared he could accidentally hurt him. “It’s okay. I’ll help you, okay? Hold the head with one hand, and the lower half with the other.”

Tomas did as he was told as the baby was passed to him. Father kept hold of his arms, making sure to give him a little bit of extra support.

Now he was up close, he could see Kuai Liang better. He felt his heart pounding in his chest. He was cute, in the ugly sort of way that only a baby could be. As the baby squirmed slightly in his arms, all Tomas could think was how this was his brother. His little brother.

When his sister, Tamara, was still alive, they both agreed they wanted a younger sibling. Being twins they were exactly the same age, so even though Tomas was slightly older he didn’t have the age gap to be a typical elder sibling you’d see on TV. So, they had agreed that if their Mother ever became pregnant again, they would be the best big brother and sister the world had ever seen.

But his Mother and Tamara were gone now, and he was with this new family who loved him despite him not being of their blood.

Kuai Liang wasn’t his blood, but he was his brother, and he owed it to Tamara to be the absolute best big brother he could to Kuai Liang.

I won’t let you down, sister.

“Hey Kuai Liang,” he finally spoke aloud, letting himself smile. It was amazing, how in just a few seconds he knew he’d adore his new brother for the rest of his life. “I’m Tomas, I’m your other big brother.”

To his surprise, there was no cutting or sarcastic remark from Bi-Han about that.

He let Father take Kuai Liang again, feeling sad at the loss but realising that Mother was really the one who deserved the most time with him. She’d done the majority of the work after all. When she took hold of him again, he made a small fussy sound, but settled quickly. Mother lent down and gently kissed Kuai Liang’s tiny forehead.

“Why don’t you boys go get yourself some snacks from a vending machine?” Father suddenly suggested, reaching into his pocket to get his wallet out. He took out a few dollars, and pressed them into Bi-Han’s palm.

Bi-Han silently looked at Tomas, gaze so neutral that Tomas could not tell at all what he was feeling at that moment. Still, when he turned to leave the room, Tomas followed obediently. As he stepped through the door, he took a look over his shoulder, just in time to see Mother and Father kiss each other on the lips. They looked so happy, despite the air of exhaustion.

He followed Bi-Han through the halls, both boys keeping silent. Tomas kept stealing occasional glances at his brother. He still couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and it was making Tomas’ gut twist. They rounded a corner, finding a vending machine behind it. Before they reached it, Bi-Han turned on the spot and stared Tomas down. He felt himself shrink. Why did it feel like this was how he was going to die?

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Bi-Han snarled, pointing at Tomas threateningly. “I don’t like you, and you don’t like me.” Tomas actually whimpered at that. He had no idea why Bi-Han thought he didn’t like him, he’d tried his best. “But… I think we can both agree that we both like Kuai Liang.”

Well… That’s true. Where is he going with this?

“So. I am offering you a truce.” A truce? Tomas knew what one was, he’d learnt that in school quite recently, but it was usually in the context of war, and as far as he was aware, he and Bi-Han were not in a war. “From this point on, everything we do is for Kuai Liang.”

“Agreed,” Tomas said simply with a huge grin. He didn’t even need to think about it. He already knew he was going to look after Kuai Liang, and if that came with the benefit of Bi-Han maybe being nicer to him, then that really was just a bonus.

“Good. We should shake on it.” Bi-Han suddenly spat into his hand and held it out to Tomas, much to his disgust. “Now you spit into yours and then we shake. It’s how adults make deals.”

“Do they really spit into their hands?” Tomas questioned. He’d seen plenty of adults shaking hands, especially while he was in the orphanage. He couldn’t recall ever seeing anyone spitting.

Still, Bi-Han seemed insistent on that detail, so reluctantly, he spat into his hand. He hated how it felt, and hated even more how when his hand met Bi-Han’s there was a weird squishing between their palms. Bi-Han shook their hands vigorously, which only seemed to spread the saliva. Eventually he let go and Tomas pulled his hand back, grimacing at it.

“Right, now that’s done.” Bi-Han was wiping off the spit on his shirt, and seeing no other option, Tomas reluctantly did the same with his own. “What d’you want from the vending machine?”

“You’re actually letting me get something?” Tomas questioned, he’d genuinely expected Bi-Han to just get snacks for himself.

“Well, yeah,” Bi-Han drawled, like it should have been obvious. “You can’t look after our brother on an empty stomach, moron.”

“Oh.” He didn’t know what to say to that, but he did step up to the vending machine and check out its wares. “Hm. Can I get that chocolate bar? Uh, B3?”

“B3 it is.”

Tomas watched Bi-Han put the money into the machine. His elder brother really was a weird boy, but maybe he wasn’t as bad as he first thought.

United with a goal, maybe they really could put their differences aside for Kuai Liang.

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