LOVE WINARSIH

43. Decisions

Huddled under an umbrella that Rojak gave them, Winarsih and Bu Sumi approached Pak Hartono who was standing on the terrace waiting for them.

The old man's face looked tired yet his eyes still radiated friendliness.

"Say you don't work anymore Win? This who? Your mother? Can I help you?" asked Mr. Hartono in front of Irman and Fika who were still standing by his side. Mr. Noto has brought the car back to the left wing of the house to park.

Winarsih glanced uneasily at Fika and Irman who seemed to also be waiting for what she would convey to their superiors.

"I'm Winarsih sir's mother, I have something to say. May I speak to Father? I'm sorry if we're soaked like this." Bu Sumi made her point while looking at Fika and Irman.

"Oh, can-can. You go back, Win. Take a towel with Mbah. Then meet me in the workspace. Fika and Irman can leave me, it's okay"

"I'm waiting in the study." Mr. Hartono stepped inside towards the circular staircase.

Winarsih led her mother to the kitchen and headed to Mbah's room.

After three taps, Mbah appeared at the door with a sleepy face and his white hair unraveling.

"Win! Where the hell are you from? You're so wet you can catch a cold." She went to her room and opened the closet to look for towels.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted my sleep, I just arrived from Jambi. This is my mother Mbah." Winarsih stretched the towel that Mbah gave around his mother's shoulder.

Mbah nodded at Winarsih's mother then led the two women to sit down.

"You want to change clothes first Win? You came to work here again, didn't you?" ask Mbah to Winarsih.

"My mother wants to see Mr. Hartono Mbah, we're in a hurry. So it's not like you need to change clothes," said Winarsih timidly while glancing at his mother.

Mbah looked towards Winarsih and his mother alternately.

"Yes, meet Mr. Hartono immediately. It's already night. Poor him too must be tired. You also have to rest" Mbah said, then took a towel from Winarsih's hand and helped dry her hair.

Shortly after, the two women went up the circular stairs to Mr. Hartono's study.

"This house is huge Win, too fancy and nice. I don't want you here if you're not treated well. I just want to meet and hear what the man said. If they refuse you, we'll go home tonight." The words of Ms. Sumi lamat-aim were heard by Winarsih as they reached the topmost rungs of the stairs.

At a glance Winarsih's eyes looked at the right corner. The place where Dean's room is. Room with balcony with direct view to the fence.

When they arrived earlier, Winarsih had seen Dean's room which from outside looked dark. Most likely the man had not returned home, or had even gone to sleep.

Winarsih can only guess. Although it feels like Winarsih spent a lot of time with Dean and memorized his habits, but a few days did not meet, Dean feels foreign again.

Distance and time are always a good reason for someone to change.

Winarsih took a deep breath and then knocked on Mr. Hartono's office door.

"Come in" came Mr. Hartono's voice from inside.

Winarsih took his mother's arm inside, headed straight for a large desk where Mr. Hartono used to work for hours.

"Sorry sir" Winarsih said directly.

"Ah yes, Win. Let your parents sit down first. Just turn off the AC. The more cold you will be" ordered Mr. Hartono on Winarsih who is still standing near the door where the AC remote is located.

"What's that about? Is there a problem in the village?" guess Hartono looked at Winarsih and Bu Sumi who were already sitting opposite him.

Winarsih stood down behind her mother. The position of the working table that runs across the right, making Winarsih stand back to the entrance.

"Sir, I'm Winarsih's mother. I came all the way from Beringin Village in Jambi just to make sure of something" Bu Sumi told Mr Hartono, who has now devoted all his attention to the woman.

"What is Mom?" ask Mr. Hartono while advancing his seat.

"Winarsih yesterday came home to the village all of a sudden-" Bu Sumi took a breath. "She came home 4 months pregnant. It's hard for me to ask for his confession about who the father of the baby he contains." Bu Sumi sighed and shifted her gaze momentarily towards the bookshelf.

Winarsih started crying behind Bu Sumi. Mr. Hartono now puts both his hands clasped on the table.

"Forward Ma'am" said Mr. Hartono.

"According to my son's confession, the baby he contained was Dean's son. The Father's Son." Ms. Sumi looked straight at Mr. Hartono.

The old man seemed to take a deep breath.

"I just want to make sure of it myself. If Dean doesn't acknowledge what Winarsih said, I'll take my son home tonight. Sorry if I was sassy. But I'm like this because I believe in my son." Ms. Sumi stopped talking as if waiting for a reaction from Mr. Hartono who was now leaning into his chair and clenched his hands together on his stomach.

His face continued to look down at his legs wrapped in flatshoes skin that was limp because it passed through a puddle of water in the terminal earlier.

"Win," call Mr. Hartono.

Winarsih gulped her saliva then replied,

"Yes Paaak..pardon meaa...." Her tears came down incessantly.

Winarsih never imagined being in that house like someone who was begging for responsibility.

"What did your mother say?" asked Mr. Hartono to look at Winarsih.

The man looked at Winarsih's body fixedly. Her soaked clothes that night could not hide her already enlarged stomach.

With both hands Winarsih knotted in front of the body actually makes the bulge in his stomach more visible.

"It's P-Pak." Winarsih.

Mr. Hartono let out a long sigh then leaned on his chair still with eyes that could not be separated from Winarsih.

Then the man picked up a cell phone located not far from him. A second later Mr. Hartono was waiting for his phone call to be answered.

"Yes-this Papa. Where are you De? Come on, get up first. Meet papa in the study, now. Someone wants you to ask me. Significant. Now it's Dean." Mr. Hartono then hung up.

"I'm calling Dean here, and we'll ask him."

Hearing Dean's name mentioned, Winarsih's entire bones felt useless to his body. His legs immediately limp and his chest pounded violently.

Like knowing what her son was feeling, Bu Sumi grabbed Winarsih's trembling hand over his shoulder.

Winarsih had already left the man. He shouldn't have come back in this situation. Shortly thereafter Winarsih heard the door behind her open, and the sound of footsteps dragged into the room and closed the door.

"Yes Pa?" dean asked directly as he headed for Mr. Hartono's desk.

And a second later as Dean who arrived with a pair of pajamas and a sleepy face turned to the right, "Win? You-"

Winarsih was silent not daring to look at Dean. His head was only bowed with both hands that were on the shoulders of Bu Sumi who was sitting.

"Father, ask directly to you. This is Winarsih's mother came all the way from Jambi to meet papa. Her mother had her interrogated, and according to her confession, she is now pregnant with your child. It's been 4 months. Is that so Dean?" asked Mr. Hartono with a sharp look at Dean. The chair the old man occupied now led to his son standing still half-conscious.

"Huh? You really-so--win? Why didn't you say - Win? I'm-" Dean's really woken up from his sleep.

"Papa asked you who Dean is!! Yes or no? You feel like you've got a papa-pain-headache! Is that your son or not?" Mr. Hartono screeched restrained. It felt like he wanted to yell at Dean and slap his son.

But considering Winarsih and Bu Sumi who were in front of him, Mr. Hartono was quite able to dampen emotions.

"Win? That-" Dean again tried to call Winarsih.

"Your son or not?" ask Mr. Hartono again.

"Yes Pa-iya. If Winarsih is pregnant it is definitely Dean's child," replied Dean quickly still with a glance at Winarsih who had not turned to him in the slightest.

Mr. Hartono is now massaging his forehead.

"Marry her!! That's papa's grandson! Your child! You can relax to and fro while your prospective child has been 4 months. What kind of man are you? Shame and headache for parents. Until Winarsih's mother came here. Don't you think you've done something like that?! Marry her! Denger is not what papa said?" pak Hartono's girlfriend to his son.

"Denger Pa," replied Dean.

"Want you marry her?" ask Mr. Hartono again.

"You Pa," Dean replied to his papa.

Dean glanced at Winarsih who had not been willing to look at him since. His gaze descended toward the stomach that the woman had been holding tightly.

He was so impressed with God's way. This afternoon he requested that Winarsih be sent back to him. And by midnight tonight, Dean was delivered one package at a time. Winarsih and her son-in-law.

The To Be Continued.....

Likes and comments dooong...