Being a Dad to My Niece
Chapter 52. Provocation of the Goddess
Chapter 52
"Where are you going?" ask Sari who went outside the house with Ayu.
"They want to go for a walk to the mall, Eyang. But, it looks like it will rain, so the Goddess suggested to take a car ride. Poor Alva will catch a cold," replied the Goddess.
Somehow Marsha felt annoyed by this Goddess' speech. Not wrong with his words, just that it seemed to corner himself who was less concerned about Alva.
"Truely said Goddess, you should take a car. Poor Alva," continued Ayu.
Marsha got off the bike and carried Alva. The boy was crying because he wanted to ride a motorcycle. Everyone persuaded the boy to get in the car, but still did not want to.
"Yes, already. We are not his streets. We just play at home" Marsha told Alva.
The boy was angry and ran to find Indah or Bagas, as usual if his wishes were not obeyed by the mother. Marsha went into the house chasing her baby.
Arga was very upset with the Goddess, because they did not go for a walk. Though it's one way he gets Marsha's heart and makes Alva happy. The man went into the house and heeded the Goddess' gaze upon him. Ayu's call was not he gubris.
Arga searches for the existence of Alva and Marsha. It looks like the Marsha family is feeding fish in a pond next to the house. He also sat there. Alva was cheerful again and his chatter was heard again.
"One .... two ... three ... four ... five ... six ... seven ... eight ... nine .. ten!" he said while pointing at the hundreds of fish.
"Mother's son is good at counting" praised Marsha and kissed Alva's cheek.
Beautiful and Bagas laughed. They're happy because Alva wants to be persuaded. It wouldn't be nice to the host if the boy kept on raging.
"Tomorrow we go home together, yes!" Arga looked at Marsha expectantly.
"Didn't Brother Arga wait until seven days of his death?" ask Marsha.
"My leave is up, actually. This is also me threatening Pandu to be given a sabbatical. He gave me three days. Tomorrow the day after tomorrow has to go to work," replied Arga.
Alva bounces to Arga and invites him to talk. Not so going for walks replaced by feeding the fish already makes them happy.
The goddess peeked at them from behind the window. He could hear all the Marsha family talk with Arga.
'Their relationship looks fine. Then, why did Mas Arga and Mpa Marsha get divorced? I became more and more curious, ' Inner Goddess.
"What's up, Wi?" sari asked as her foster child entered her room.
The girl sat beside Sari. Then, he massaged the old woman's arm gently.
"Well, will you stay with Pakdhe and Budhe?" The goddess asked.
"Come, Wi. It feels heavy leaving this house. But, Barata said he wanted to take care of this old eye," replied Sari softly.
The Goddess' smile also expands. The two hands of the young lady were still gently massaging Sari's thin arms.
Sari loves Alva who she thinks is smart and adorable. However, he could not play for long because the boy was always looking for the whereabouts of his mother.
"Yes. You said, Wi. But, what about you?" ask Sari.
"If Eyang comes with Pakdhe, yes, the Goddess also goes with Eyang. Because until whenever the Goddess will always take care of Eyang," replied Sari with a sweet smile.
Finally, Sari agreed to join Barata to live in Ayu's hometown. This large house can be taken care of by other relatives. The plantations and farms will also be taken care of by the workers and overseen by the Barata. Every month he would come to Surabaya to check the reports and the state of the plantations and farms.
Marsha's family comes home first with Arga. They leave by morning flight hours. This is so that Arga has time to rest before entering work tomorrow.
***
A week has passed since Marsha returned from Surabaya. In the afternoon while he was walking with Alva to the sub-district square, he saw his former mother-in-law was buying awug, Barata's favorite food.
"Alva, there's Oma. Look, it!" Marsha pointed towards Ayu.
"Geez!" yelled Alva calling Ayu while waving her hand.
Marsha's eyes rounded when she saw the Goddess standing beside Ayu. He didn't think the woman was here. In the past, what she heard was that Arga did not want to leave her husband's house.
'Is he just on vacation here?' inner Marsha asked.
Marsha approaches Ayu while leading Alva. The boy ran so that he overwhelmed Marsha and went for a small run.
"What are you buying?" ask Alva as soon as she gets there.
Ayu crouched down then kissed the smooth cheek of the grandson. A few days of not meeting him made him miss Alva so much.
"Opa and Eyang want to eat awug. Alva wants to too?" Ayu held Alva and pointed towards the multi-layered food made of rice flour and brown sugar.
"No way," replied Alva, shaking her head.
"If it's gonna, won't it?" The goddess pointed at the gulali who was near the awug.
"You!" Alva answered excitedly.
Then, Dewi invites Alva to choose the form of gulali that she wants. How happy the boy was when he saw the unique forms of the gulali. Finally he chose a bird-shaped gulali that could sound like a whistle.
Ayu saw the gaze Marsha did not like to the Goddess. He already knew that his former daughter-in-law was not fond of the attitude of the Goddess who he considered close pretentious and always meddled in his affairs.
***
How did Ayu respond to the Goddess? Can the Goddess take the heart of the Arga family? Follow their story, yes!