Mama For Mikaela
THIRTY-FOUR
The knock that docked several times on the car glass made Segara aware of the daydream. Like a miracle that came amid the despair of a man, he found Lana on the side of his car, bending over to be able to peek at her condition in the car.
Slowly, Segara lowered the window, until it was seen by his eyes Lana's face that looked much better than the one he met this morning. The woman smiled, and Segara only realized that there was a beautiful deformity on the left cheek when the corners of the woman's lips were pulled up.
“Pak Segara has been there for a long time?” lana asked, still from her half-bending position.
It was not good to see the woman like she was adoring him, Segara also moved down from the car. Once he cleared his throat, once moved to fix the tie that hung around his neck, then he stood straight in front of the woman. “About ..” Segara glanced at the clock on his left wrist. “Fifteen minutes, maybe. Or more? I don't know,” he continued while looking back at Lana.
“There need to be with me? Or maybe you need to meet an acquaintance who happens to also live here?”
“Err—it..” Segara bit his lower lip, seemingly hesitant to convey his true intentions as to why he is here now. He felt, it had begun to be excessive when it always involved Lana to fulfill Micah's wishes. It was nothing, he was just afraid that the woman was uncomfortable.
But in the end, Segara exhaled a long breath when he realized he was not good at lying. So, she honestly said, “I'm here to meet Miss Lana, at Micah.”'s request
As Micah's name is mentioned, Segara finds Lana's smile noticeably softer. So the fall was already her fear about Lana who might feel irate because of Micah. Apparently, the woman was happy to be around her daughter.
“Arkana chat me, she told me that Micah would like to see Miss. So, if Miss Lana doesn't mind and isn't busy either, can I take Miss Lana home?” ask him politely. Up here, he would just be as normal a father as he wanted to fulfill his daughter's wish of recovering from illness, nothing more.
Lana smiled again, this time followed by a slow nod as a sign of approval. “I happen to also want to give Micah some toys I just bought on the way home from day care. But the toy is still in my apartment, so, can you wait a minute while I go inside to pick it up?”
Segara's head nodded without command, as if it had been set automatically. “I wait, no need to rush.” Even though the night was crawling up, but he could have said that.
No more words came out of Lana's mouth. The woman immediately turned around, half running into the apartment building while Segara was actually waiting in her place. Yes, really in place, because until the woman returned 15 minutes later, Segara did not move at all.
The journey to the house was taken in an amazingly awkward atmosphere. This was the first time Segara had brought a woman in his car, just the two of them, without Micah.
In the passenger seat, Lana doesn't do much. The woman's gaze was fixed straight on the street in front of them, with a thin smile that seemed as if it would not fade no matter what. While Segara began to fidget, grasping the steering wheel tighter when again the shadow of Karenina's face appeared in the corner of his eyes.
What exactly would the woman tell him of her more frequent presence? For God's sake, Segara doesn't understand.
“Pak Segara has dinner?” lana asked suddenly, after silence confining them for quite a while.
Segara was still half-dreaming when the question was thrown, so the first one out of the man's lips was huh?! that ends up making him look like a fool when Lana actually wears a thin smile while repeating her question.
“Oh, no. I came straight from the office, stuck in traffic for 2 hours and—“ Segara stopped when he realized what he said was too much. If you say children today, too much information and it is not good. Again, he cleared his throat to remove the awkwardness. “Miss Lana would like to stop by for dinner? Micah and Arkana may not have eaten yet, we can all buy them.”
“I want to cook dinner, if Mr. Segara does not mind.”
Oh, wow. For some reason, that word suddenly appeared in Segara's head. I don't know what kind of response it was, he himself didn't understand. “I don't know if there are still ingredients in my refrigerator.”
“Still no.” Sahut Lana, again made Segara forced to turn his head in the middle of his driving activities. “So morning, me and Pak Arkana stopped by the supermarket to fill up the food stock.”
“Bby?”
“Bby.” Segara Final. Then there was no more conversation in the rest of their journey that was only a few kilometers away.
...----------------...
It has been a long time since Segara found the dining table in his house occupied by more people. The last time, maybe about 7 months ago, when Mama and Papa came to visit and they had dinner together to celebrate his birthday here. After that, as before, there will only be 2 seats pulled out. One belongs to her, the other one belongs to Micah.
Somehow Segara had to describe his current feelings. Clearly, she felt her heart warm as she found Micah so voraciously accepting a bribe from Lana, arkana, who sat closest to them, seemed satisfied with the food she had put into her own mouth.
Segara put the spoon he had originally held, then brought his hands to the table to be used as a focus while his eyes could not be separated from watching three people who occasionally threw jokes at each other.
“They are happy.”
Segara turned his head, looking from where the source of the voice whispered softly in his ear. Apparently, he came from the figure of Karenina. Unlike the previous one, tonight the woman appeared in a peach-colored dress, sitting next to her while doing the same thing she had done since then—giding the three people opposite them.
“Do, Ga. For Micah.” So said the figure of Karenina after. The moment their gazes met, Segara swore, it was a moment where he felt that the figure was real, not just a hallucination like he had found in previous days.
“Our child is happy, then I am the same.” After that sentence, Karenina's figure slowly turned transparent, then completely faded away. Her soft voice was no longer heard, leaving behind a majestic fanfare emanating from Micah, where the little girl was being ruffled, for what kind of joke.
After Karenina's death, she almost finds herself without a shred of trust in Micah to others. But tonight, when he let Lana grab Micah's body that seemed to have finished eating onto his lap, anchored a faint kiss on the top of the little girl's head, Segara felt that Lana might be the one.
It was not someone she would love next, nor was it someone who would seize the throne of Karenina and remove her from the highest place in her heart, but rather someone who could finally make her believe, made him confident enough to let the woman give Micah the affection he deserved.
“Ren, I'm authorized to make Miss Lana a mother, Micah continued, can I?”
“Bby.”
“I promise, won't fall in love.”
“Fall ask, no problem. Your life must continue, and I will always be by your side to accompany every new leaf you turn in your life book.”
“You're not jealous?”
“Not at all. As long as he's good, I'll bless.”
All those conversations were happening in Segara's mind, as if Karenina was really answering them. Clearly, thanks to that conversation, Segara solidified his intentions. He would persuade Lana once more, so that she would be willing to be a mother for Micah.
Seriate
