Not a Choice
34
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...~ Forgive your past, though it cannot be forgotten. At least we can step with certainty and sincere ~...
...~ Maya Goddess ~...
With a gontai step Ata returned home, after talking to Runi. Surely his heart and soul also hurt to hear all the explanations from the younger sister he loved so much. That was how Runa suffered at that time. Now he must do what with the circumstances he created himself in the past. Arunika Pramesti must be driven from her own home with an unforgivable disgrace. “I'm sorry, Run,” he whispered to himself.
Arriving at the terrace of the house, Ata was greeted with the most beautiful smile of the woman who had given birth to him. Maya Dewi–sang beloved mama who is so proud of all the success that Ata has achieved. With all his achievements and work at the moment. He didn't know that his son had a wound in the past.
“You from anywhere?” asked the mother when she saw her son had just come, but never got an answer from his son.
Ata just looked at her mother with a guilty look. Did he have to tell her about his life when he was with Runa at that time? Will the mother accept everything or even she experienced the same thing with Runa. Worryingly, he approached the blue hooded woman. Hope to calm down and get out with all these problems.
Without a word spoken, Ata immediately entered the Maya decapitation, making Maya and Hasan who had just joined, confused about his behavior. In the warm embrace of the woman who had given birth to her, wept ata. He shed all the pressure and regret he had in him.
Mistakes for the sins he committed with Runa, and left her when she was not well. Regret for making the woman hated and insulted by her own parents. Dilemma with all feelings. He felt guilty for both his parents. Surely both of them would be disappointed with all of Ata's explanations in the end.
"What's up, kid? Until you cry this hard. Did something happen?” ask Maya about her son.
"Well, would mom and dad hate me if I were honest?” In a slow voice Ata asked her mother.
"Honest about what problem?” Maya frowned, astonished at her son's behavior.
“Son, try to explain to you mom and dad, maybe we can both help and ease what you feel."
Ata just kept quiet. He was confused where to start. So tight his chest when remembering all the sacrifices Runa made for his son–Khan.
“We go in first.” Hasan led his son and wife to sit in the living room.
Maya and Hasan were silent without making a sound, until Ata began to speak.
"I've got a kid, Mah."
Ata started a conversation with her parents with a downcast face. He could not see the disappointed face of the one he loved. Ata's words suddenly made Hasan and Maya widen their eyes. Hasan and Maya look at each other, a sign of not understanding the meaning of his son's speech.
The two just looked at his son with a face full of confusion, why did Ata suddenly speak like that.
"What does that mean, Ta? The kid? Whose son?” Maya first throws a question to confirm the hearing earlier.
“A-my children, Ma. My flesh and blood.” Stuttered Ata answered the mother's question.
"Kids? Whose is your son with? Don't freak you out, Ta!” hasan snapped with a bit of emotion. It is not time to joke around in this situation. Because Ata is the fiancee of Alea Putri—an of Hanum's best friend. Now it was easy for Ata to say that.
“Don't joke! It's not worth making a joke of. Soon you will be married to Alea,” circus Hasan.
"Don't make it up, Ta! You made up a story just to end your relationship with Alea? Is Alea wrong with you?” Hasan shook his head. Then continue saying, “don't hope we'll just believe it with all that crap coming out of your mouth!” hasan's cry grew angry and his eyes looked sharp at the handsome man with the sharp nose.
"Really, Dad, I'm not making it up or making it up. Everything I've explained is true." Ata tried to convince her parents. He always remembered all the suffering of his Runa at that time.
"I once committed a sin that God hated with Runa, when we learned that we were declared to pass in the thesis.” Ata also returned to crying quietly without a sound, “ at that time I did not know it was our actions made Runa pregnant. I even dumped her once, right on our graduation day. A week before my departure to England.”
Ata sighed with rage. The shadows where Runa asks Ata to maintain their relationship dance in memory.
“As long as Runa was pregnant, she experienced a lot of bitterness. He was driven from his home, and until now Runa has not returned to his family. Runa was expelled for allegedly smearing his family's big name.“ Ata looked at her parents with a sad look, “this is all because of me, Ma, Dad. I made Runa part with her family. Until he had to fight alone to raise our son.”
Maya approaches Ata and gives a hug to the son. Ata's gaze fell on Maya while holding her mother's hands together. “Your grandson is now six years old. His face looks a lot like mine as a kid, Mom, Dad. Name's Khan. He is very smart and polite. I'm sure Runa was very good at educating and taking care of her.”
Ata pulled out her cell phone from her pants pocket and showed a picture of Khan at school. The photo that Ata took was secretly without the knowledge of Runa and Sandy.
Then show me another photo. Seen a boy standing next to a beautiful woman with long hair, dressed in a maroon-colored couple, looks so handsome when laughing. Hasan and Maya who saw the photo look at each other and iam a thousand languages.
Right now they don't know what to do. Because Khan's face is very similar to Ata's childhood. This was really surprising for Hasan and Maya. They never thought there was a strange destiny tucked away in the journey of life they had visited.
Long silent the two were aware of all his daydreams. "What are you going to do, Ta? What about Alea? That's all you have to think about. Don't make the same mistake." Hasan advised his son to consider what to do.
"I'll take responsibility for what I did by marrying Runa, Dad. I have also cut off my relationship with Alea. Maybe the day after tomorrow I will go to his house to meet with Om Rahman, to explain all my problems. May Om Rahman understand and accept my decision." Ata was firm. He was determined to carry out all his plans.
"You're too rash, Ta. Your engagement with Alea was done very well, but why don't you respectfully decide what both families already know and agree on. Put your wits on, Ta. How did Alea and Alea's own family feel? Don't hurt that woman, Ta. Their hearts are softer and mirror-like when they are broken, they can never go back to the way they were before." Hasan firmly rejected what Ata revealed, feeling that he failed to become a father. Having a child who is very stubborn about his stance.
"That's been my determination. Dad and Mama are just supportive, let everything be my responsibility to the extended family Alea.”
“Byakta Kalingga, try to reconsider well, Nak.” Maya rubs her son's back lovingly, in order for Ata to undo her intentions. He does not support Ata marrying Runa, just hope Ata solves everything well.
He supports the steps Ata took to marry Runa, but Ata also has to take good care of her engagement. If it must be canceled there must be the right answer, so that there are no more problems later on.
“Sometimes what we want is not always achievable no matter how hard we try. There will be learning in every event and there is wisdom behind all the events we experience. All need process to get better.” Maya rubs gently on her son's back.
“If anything you expect has not materialized. There could be two possibilities, God tells us to be patient because it knows which is better than our expectations.” The message of the mother was so wise, so that Ata would not make the same mistake on another occasion.
Ata just nodded her head of the sign she understood what her mother was talking about. Holding the woman's hand, he asked her blessing so that everything would go as he expected.
Hasan just snorted resignedly. He did not expect that there would be such a complicated event in his old age. He also intends to invite the wife and Hanum to visit Rahman's residence to help Ata solve the problems that occur.
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...To be continued...
