The Third Party

51. The Grandma's House

I'm finally taking Damar to his grandmother's house. We're done getting ready. Damar is well dressed. I combed her hair just like her father used to so it became clear how similar Damar was to her late father. I did it on purpose but I myself do not know what the reason was.

I put some makeup on my face and put on some pretty nice clothes. I don't want to be ordinary. Today I want to look special. I want to see how Hasan reacts if he sees me later.

Though my intention to come there is to deliver Damar so that mother can see him after that leave. But I don't want to just leave. I'm sorry if my good intentions of seeing my in-laws are accompanied by a little act of revenge. I want to leave a deep "impression" to Hasan.

"So I still have a grandmother?" Damar has been posting questions that I find difficult to answer. I realize his curiosity is very high at his age now.

I nodded while continuing to drive the car.

"Why is it that mom is taking me to see Grandma? I never told you about Grandma either. Did you forget that I still have a grandmother?"

"Mother didn't forget, it's just that your grandmother lived outside of a city that was very far away."

"We can visit grandma in the car, as it is today." Why don't we do it first?"

"We didn't have a car before."

"Why don't we ever call grandma or vice versa? Does grandma have a phone?"

Jeez ... How should I answer it?!

"Later we all play to Bude Eka's house? You want to, right?"

"If bude Eka and bude Rina are mother's brothers, then who is father's brother? Don't you have any brothers?" I intended to make Damar not talk about his grandmother anymore by mentioning the name of Mbak Eka, but instead another question arises.

I kept turning my brain around to answer Damar's questions without making his father's family look bad. From the beginning I never told him about his father's family. I hate them. Besides, I also thought that we would never deal again. So there's no point in telling Damar about them.

None of his father's family I ever mentioned in front of Damar. Wh why? Because I don't want to remember them anymore. Am I being selfish? Might as well. For now just leave it like this. Damar was too young to know the problems that had occurred between me and his father's family. And I don't want to instill hatred in him.

But apparently fate says something else. I had to meet and deal with them again, so inevitably I also had to introduce them to Damar.

"If bude Rina and bude Eka are her sister's mother, then who's her brother's father? Don't you have a brother or sister? If you have a sister, then I have Om or Auntie?"

I introduced Mbak Eka and Mbak Rina to Damar as my brothers, budenya.

"Later you will meet them. You can meet your boss directly."

"So I also have a pakde?"

I'm nodding.

"Then why has Pakde never visited us like Bude Eka and bude Rina?" Damar's question was getting more and more difficult so I was confused how to answer it.

"You should sleep. Our journey is still far."

"I'm not sleepy Mom."

"Then don't be noisy so you can focus on driving." I breathed a sigh of relief. Damar was silent at last. How else would you like? Otherwise he'll keep asking questions I can't answer.

The closer I get, the more I put my car down. Am I really ready to see my mother-in-law again? The one who made my life suffer.

Finally my car stopped right in front of my mother-in-law's house. I was still silently staring, looking at the house from the car. A house with a million memories.

"Have we arrived?"

"Yes, it's grandma's house." I can't turn my face away from that house.

"Then why don't we get out of the car?"

"You can't wait to see your grandmother?"

Damar nodded enthusiastically. She was so happy when I told her that she still had a grandmother, especially now that she was going to meet her grandmother.

I helped Damar get out of the car, after that I took the souvenirs that I had prepared. I couldn't have come here without bringing anything.

I took Damar's hand into the terrace.

"Excuse me ... " I saw the front door open, so there must be someone at home.

It was not long before Heni appeared at the door.

"Emma?! You really came?!" Heni looked surprised. I didn't tell him I was coming today.

"Hi Damar ... Enter ... I'm gonna be glad to see you guys coming."

Slowly I put my foot inside the house. In the living room I was greeted with a row of photos displayed there. Everything is the same except for the photos. I remember those pictures hanging in the living room. Why can it fill the living room now?!

"Mom, I see none of your photos. We didn't go wrong in the house, did we?" chirps Damar. Apparently he was watching the pictures. Then he stopped his steps and looked at one of the photos. Heni and I stopped and watched Damar.

"That's Bude Rina and Bude Eka. Why are there them but no mothers there?" Damar pointed at the photo in front of him. It was Heni's wedding photo.

And I had to remember that stifling day, where everyone was wearing a uniform only I didn't. Even when taking pictures I am not allowed to come because my clothes are not the same as theirs.

I saw Heni misbehaving a question from Damar. He was the one who didn't allow me to take pictures at the time.

"Emma is not to be invited. He doesn't wear a uniform like the others. Later the photo is not aesthetic, ruin the photo!" I clearly remember his words at the time.

"Come ... We're meeting grandma now." Then the three of us stepped back. I was almost surprised as soon as I passed the living room. Now the room was given a partition divider into two rooms. One of them became a room, no matter whose room.

This house feels narrower than when I was living here. Too many things, and not neatly arranged.

"Looks messy huh? Understand, there are a lot of people living here now."

I almost forgot that this house is now occupied by six adults and one child. But where are they all?