Whira looked at her husband. “I’m scared too, Bang. I’m afraid Mom will wait too long. I’m afraid that one day we’ll come home, but they won’t be able to welcome us the way they used to.”
Amri moved closer, then carefully touched Keysa’s head.
“We’ll come home,” he said. “Maybe not next week, maybe not next month. But we’ll come home without losing each other.”
Whira’s eyes grew hot. She didn’t answer. For the first time that night, she let her shoulder rest against Amri’s.
The next morning, they still went to Amri’s older brother’s house. They brought Keysa with them, asleep in the cloth carrier wrapped around Whira’s body. No one said much throughout the journey.
Amri’s brother’s house stood at the end of the road, with a spacious yard and a freshly painted iron fence. On the porch, his brother was sitting and looking over several sheets of paper. He raised his head when he saw them.
“Finally decided to show up,” he said.
Whira didn’t return his smile. She sat in the chair closest to him, keeping Keysa in her arms.
Amri’s brother placed the papers on the table.
“I’ve spoken to someone who can provide the money. You can leave next week. I’ll cover the tickets and travel expenses upfront.”
Amri gave a small nod. “We’re grateful.”
“But you already know the condition.”
“We don’t agree to that condition,” Whira said.
Amri’s brother looked at her. “You think we’re trying to make things difficult? Mom only wants to be close to her grandchild. The two of you can work without having to worry about the baby.”
“I never asked your family to look after Keysa every day.”
“Then how are you going to work?”
“We’ll find our own way.”
The man gave a short laugh. “You’ve always been stubborn. Amri stopped helping his family because he followed you. Now you want to make your own decisions without thinking about the consequences, too.”
Amri tensed. “Don’t bring up old problems.”
“Old problems never end when you keep avoiding them.”
Whira held Keysa tighter. The baby began to stir and make small noises. Whira immediately patted her daughter’s back.
“We’re not avoiding anything,” she said. “We just don’t want to pay for the trip home by losing the right to care for our own child.”
Amri’s brother looked at Keysa, then turned his gaze back to Whira.
“Then don’t blame anyone when your parents keep waiting.”
His words hurt, but Whira didn’t lower her head.
“They’ve already been waiting for three years,” she replied. “If they have to wait a little longer, I’ll explain the reason myself. But I won’t come home with a clear heart while my child cries for me in someone else’s house.”
Amri looked at his wife. There was fear in his eyes, but also something that had rarely been visible until now: pride.
They left the house without taking the money or gaining any certainty about the trip. Along the way, Keysa fell asleep again against Whira’s chest.
Amri walked beside them, holding her hand.
“We really don’t have a way forward yet,” he said.
Whira looked at the long road ahead.
“Not having a path yet doesn’t mean we won’t reach our destination.”
That afternoon, Whira opened the message from her former workplace again. She had to start working next week. For the first time, she didn’t see the job merely as a way to save money.
The job was the first step toward taking back control of their lives.
At the house far away, Tina was putting the bracelet left behind by her mother into a wooden box. She didn’t know yet that Whira couldn’t come home. She also didn’t know that her daughter was trying with all her might to make sure that, when Whira finally returned, it wouldn’t turn into another separation.
Night fell once again over two homes separated by distance.
At Tina’s house, the living room remained spacious and silent.
At Whira’s rental place, Keysa slept between her parents.
None of them truly felt at peace. But that night, for the first time, they were no longer facing their loneliness alone. They had begun fighting for the same goal: to come home without losing their family.