Chapter 10 Farrel's Love

After dinner, the living room was a little busy as Lisa helped Farrell organize the dozens of invitation papers that the courier had just delivered that afternoon.

Farrell showed her the list of classmates and teachers he'd invited to his important event.

"Mizu's name is first," Lisa teased, pinching Farrell's cheek.

"Mommy!"

It wasn't long before Frans and Wendi showed up after staying with Frans' sisters for three days. This afternoon, Arka had followed them to Bandung because he had to attend an invitation even without Lisa. Her husband seemed to still be out and about transporting the goods bought by his dad. Also, souvenirs that were ordered from home.

"That's grandpa and grandma coming home," Lisa said.

Just as Farrell was about to greet his grandfather, the old man walked away into his room. Farrel looked disappointed, how much he missed his grandfather after almost three days without seeing him. Only Wendi welcomed Farrel's embrace and gave a bag of souvenirs to his grandson.

"For you," said Wendi.

Farrel was very excited to receive the bag. The grandmother sat down in the living room to unwind. When Farrell opened the bag, there was a plastic mango inside.

"You bought me a mango?" asked Farrel with an innocent face.

Wendi tapped her forehead, immediately took the bag from Farrel and gave it to Lisa.

"This is your mom and papa's, Farrel. I think the souvenirs for you are brought by Grandpa. Let me go to the room first," said Wendi.

Wendi left the living room. Farrel was annoyed to see his mother smelling mangoes while smiling. This was his first time seeing mangoes.

"Do you want mangoes, Mom?" said Farrell.

Lisa smiled. She nodded and was very excited to see a very large yellow mango. It must be sweet. She couldn't wait to taste it.

"Your father is also craving mangoes, Farrel. Do you want some? I'll peel it, or make some juice," Lisa said.

Farrel immediately shook his head. He sat back down and wrote the names of his friends on each unfinished invitation. The event was only a week away. And for sure, he was waiting for a special gift on that day.

"No!" he moaned as he continued to write.

Lisa laughed and went back to helping Farrell finish his invitations. Farrel wanted to write instead of using a computer typing service. His writing was quite good, unlike Arka's which even Lisa couldn't read even if her husband wasn't writing a prescription.

Before long, Lisa paused and massaged her waist, which was sore from sitting too long. At the same time, Arka approached the living room while carrying many bags.

Seeing Lisa in a bit of pain, Arka rushed over after putting the bags on the floor. Arka grabbed Lisa's arm pulled the invitation sheet and threw it on the floor. Lisa's pale face made him anxious.

"If you're tired, don't push it, Lisa!" he grumbled.

Once again, Lisa sighed at Arka's excessive attention. Farrel could only see the anxiety of his father who even unconsciously threw the invitation like it was worthless.

"I just helped write a few, anyway. I'm bored in my room anyway. I can play with Farrel. You know, Farrel said Mizu ...."

"I told you, just print out the name, why bother writing it down?" Arka interrupted.

Arka reprimanded Farrel sternly, even though he didn't have such a hard heart because he couldn't look at Farrel when he scolded. Farrel was surprised to hear his father yell at him.

He had intended to reprimand him, but because Arka had been speaking so softly and sweetly, the slightest hint of a high tone startled Farrel. Lisa could feel the disappointment in Farrel's heart, but Arka was indeed in a quandary of his own.

"I'll go to the room first! Make you some milk," Lisa pleaded, deliberately wanting to leave Arka alone with Farrel.

After Lisa left, there was no intimacy. Farrel cleaned up the scattered cards, while Arka picked up the stack of cards that had been written. Arka examined the cards and saw that there was a lot of Lisa's writing.

"How long did she sit and do this?" Arka muttered.

At the same time, Farrell smiled and picked up a white sheet of paper that he had written on with colored beads. He had been working on it in his room all afternoon. On a Sunday without Arka, he created something with his hands.

"Pa, this is ...."

Instead of accepting the paper that Farrel thrust at him, Arka pulled it out and threw it on the floor. Farrell was surprised by his father's temperament, which he had never seen.

"What's wrong with you? I just left for a while, and your mom is already tired. Can't you take care of your mom for a while? You're a big boy, not a kindergartner anymore, do you have to be told everything?" Arka said in an annoyed tone.

Farrell was surprised to hear his father yell. This was the first time he had been this angry.

"Pa ...."

"You're the only one who matters. I told you, you don't need to be written down, but you're stubborn and even bother your mother. You knew your mom was pregnant, why didn't you tell her to rest?"

Farrell tried to open his mouth, holding back his fear because he was sure his father was only reprimanding out of love, not hatred.

"The event is only a week away, on weekdays I have a lot of homework, so I do it during the holidays. So the intention is to finish it today, so tomorrow I just need to give it to my friend, Pa."

Feeling that Farrel was arguing, Arka became increasingly annoyed. For some reason, he began to distance himself and consider Farrel to be 'someone else'.

"Your party is all you think about. Selfish!"

After all this time his father had always defended him when his grandfather brought up that Farrel was an adopted child, but hearing it directly from him made Farrel so devastated.

After a few seconds, Arka realized that he had gone too far. His love tapped at the emotions that were rising from his chest. Just as he looked down at the floor, a beautiful, ornate inscription caught him by surprise.

I Love Papa.

Only three words, but written so sincerely by Farrel. Unconsciously, Arka's hand trembled and reached it.

"Why ...."

Holding the paper, Arka staggered towards Farrel's room. He only wanted to apologize. However, the teak door was firmly closed. Arka didn't dare to look at the son he had rebuked earlier.

"I'm sorry, Farrel. I'm just too worried that something will happen to your mom. Because after ten years... we finally have a child."

Arka delayed meeting his son. He returned to the kitchen and made milk for his wife in the room. He kept his eyes fixed on the door of Farrel's room and hoped that his son would come out from there.

Without realizing it, Frans noticed Arka's anger at Farrel, which he considered unnatural.

'Is Arka starting to put Farrel aside because he's going to have a child of his own? Has your heart changed that easily, Arka?' Frans wondered.