“Wow... All this food looks so delicious,” Rakia said as she gazed hungrily at everything on her mother’s dining table. She even licked her lips a little with the tip of her tongue. She was really hungry now and intended to fill her stomach a lot. Rakia took a seat in one of the chairs opposite to Pedro who sat in the head of the family’s chair, while Dashtan sat in the chair beside her, Adeline sat in the chair opposite her daughter.
“Happy Birthday, Sweetie, I don’t think we’ve celebrated anything in a long time.” Adeline was visibly moved, her eyes starting to well up with tears. Rakia who was spooning food turned her attention to the woman for a moment, she put on a playful pouting face to amuse her mother who finally laughed while wiping the tears that had escaped from her eyes.
“Ooo... Come on, Mom..., don’t cry, I’ll cry too,” pleaded Rakia who if she let her mother get lost in emotion, she would also potentially cry. But fortunately, the food on the table distracted her very well. Dashtan was surprised to see his wife eating more than usual. Meanwhile, Adeline was not too surprised by her daughter’s eating behavior.
“How are you guys? Mama feels... You should want children among you soon.” Adeline’s words made Rakia choke a bit so she quickly drank in between her meals. Dashtan sighed.
“We’re planning on it, Mam, but honestly I don’t mind if we don’t have any children for a while. Rakia is still busy building her career, maybe it’s better for her to focus on that first.” Dashtan tried to come up with a logical and less selfish reason. But still, it still sounded selfish especially since it wasn’t him that he was bringing up here, but Rakia. As if, Rakia was the one delaying, but if they think about it again there is a point. Hearing that, Adeline sighed.
“But, maybe you should prepare early. That’s better.” Pedro spoke up as necessary. Rakia nodded in response to the man’s words.
“Oh, yeah, why don’t you guys bring Dalilah here too?” The question was enough to distract Rakia completely from eating.
“She’s not here, Mam, she’s off to Dubai on business for a few days.” Dashtan answered and Adeline just nodded in agreement, but from the look on her face she wanted to ask more about her son-in-law’s decision to remarry while Rakia was still his wife. However, she decided against it because she thought it was none of her business and she didn’t want to interfere further.
The lunch passed by with conversations that didn’t make the situation between them turn dangerous by discussing sensitive topics. Adeline only brought up Rakia’s childhood and her daughter responded with a snicker and an embarrassed look. Dashtan was comforted by knowing that his wife’s childhood was full of fond memories of being with her parents. Unlike himself who, since he was born, felt lonely even though his stepfather and mother were with him. Perhaps, that’s why no parent is perfect, as the duty is difficult for some.
When the two returned home in the late afternoon, Rakia immediately climbed back into bed. She really wanted to be a koala now. All she does is eat, sleep and stay where she feels comfortable, in bed. Rakia grabbed her tablet and opened the movie app and sorted through the movies that were there for her to watch. Dashtan was in the bathroom, what the man was doing she didn’t know and didn’t want to care. When Dashtan returned from the bathroom, he saw his wife who had changed her clothes doing an unusual activity. He rarely saw Rakia in this mode, lazing around. He walked over to her and sat on the side of the bed close to where she was.
“Are you okay?” asked Dashtan which only made Rakia roll her eyes and chuckle. She was actually tired of the question. She wanted to answer the truth but it wasn’t time yet. Although she couldn’t wait to tell Dashtan the good news.
“Come on... Do you have another question? Why are you asking me that? Do I really look like a sick person?”
Dashtan sighed loudly, he tried to suppress his thoughts that assumed something had happened to his wife and was hiding something.
“Okay, well... I’m just...,” Dashtan paused his sentence for a moment then spoke again, “Are you hiding something?” His gaze looked at the woman probingly. Rakia was surprised in her mind, but she tried to control her facial expression so as not to look affected by the very targeted question. It was Rakia’s turn to sigh, she had to act to appease the man, at least she had to make Dashtan unsuspecting. She set the tablet down on her lap and leaned back.
“I just need a vacation, that’s all. You know with everything we’ve been through lately that’s thrown me into such a state of shock and my mental state has been turned upside down, I need a vacation, soon.” She gave Dashtan a ‘are you satisfied now’ look. The man looked down for a moment then nodded and looked back at his wife.
“Alright, I’ll take you on a vacation soon. Get ready from now on,” Dashtan said, ending his sentence with a smile that gave Rakia definite hope. The smile infected the woman and managed to make her mood a little better. Dashtan pecked his forehead before leaving the room to return to the office. After Dashtan had completely left, Rakia breathed a sigh of relief. She looked down at her stomach that still looked flat under the blanket.
“You have to wait for daddy to find out. He has to be really ready, Little Peanut,” she said, speaking to the developing embryo in her womb. Her plan to watch a movie she postponed for a moment by browsing social media first, looking at some videos on the tiktok and instagram apps. Her mind idly came up with an idea to look back at her ex, Benjamin’s account. The last time she tried to see his account, she was blocked. Rakia was quite surprised by the man who had allowed her to look at his homepage again.
Rakia took the time to look at some photos. Photos of the man and his wife capturing the moment of his wife’s pregnancy, photos of the ultrasound results, and several photos when the man’s wife’s belly began to grow like a globe with different backgrounds. Then, she saw a photo when their baby was born but placed in an incubator. Rakia unconsciously smiled slightly, her mind imagining the position she would feel later as the fetus in her stomach developed. However, her smile faded when she saw a photo of the baby with several medical aids attached to her body to support her life. She read the caption of the photo which was quite touching, that Ben loved the little baby very much and prayed every day for her recovery. And several other photos of the baby still set in the hospital and in one of the hospital rooms with other touching captions. When Rakia read the location of the hospital that the man had embedded in the photo she was looking at right now, she was quite surprised and it silently.
Oregon, Singapore.
She understood more and more why the man was here and found the address. Her sympathy for the man increased but she was still a little overpowered by her ego. The pain the man had given her was still her main obstacle. Rakia sighed loudly and quickly left Benjamin’s account page. She was still debating whether to help the man. She decided to put her thoughts about him on hold for a while and continued with her plan to watch a movie.