Nayara left one of her clients' hotels and headed to the daycare to pick up her son. It was a daycare center Nayara trusted completely. Before she worked her way up from the marketing department as a bank employee, Nayara had worked there as a babysitter while she was still a student.
"That's Ami, dear," a middle-aged woman greeted Nayara while carrying a one-year-old baby.
"Assalamualaikum. What a good boy!" Nayara greeted her son after washing her hands. "I'm going to head out now, Mom. Thanks for always letting me trouble you," Nayara told the owner of the daycare.
"The girl who usually takes care of Andra is still sick?" the middle-aged woman asked.
"She's starting to recover, Mom. But I told her she has to be completely well before she comes back to the house. I don't want Andra catching her cold. Mom, it looks like Andra will be spending a lot of time here," Nayara replied.
"What's wrong, Nay?"
Ratih, the woman Nayara called "Mom," seemed to understand that the girl who had always regarded her as a mother was going through a difficult time.
To Nayara, Ratih was the mother figure she needed. After her biological mother decided to remarry and was taken out of the province by her new husband, Nayara lost the mother she needed so badly. The same was true of a father figure. After Nayara's biological father stopped acknowledging her when she refused to go with him, she came to regard Ratih's late husband as her own father.
"I'll tell you, Mom. Just not now. I'm still confused about where to begin. I'm sure you won't believe me either," Nayara whispered.
"Hasan!" Ratih called.
"Yes, Mom," a muscular man emerged from inside the daycare.
"Take Nayara home. Make sure she's all right," Ratih ordered.
"I can go by myself, Mom. Hasan must be tired—he just got home from work too, didn't he?" Nayara refused.
"Hasan isn't working today, Nay. He's off. He doesn't go back to the site until the day after tomorrow," Ratih replied.
Hasan was Ratih's eldest son. He was still single, but he would soon marry the woman he adored. Hasan was five years older than Nayara. She had been comfortable around him since she was a girl, but once Hasan grew close to a woman, Nayara began keeping her distance, not wanting to disrupt their relationship.
"I'll take you, Nay. Andra looks like he's getting sleepy. It'd be a shame to put him in the car seat," Hasan offered.
"I feel bad for Ms. Arsyilla, Hasan," Nayara protested.
Nayara knew how things looked. Her closeness with Ratih's family made the family's future daughter-in-law treat her with open hostility. At the few family gatherings where they had met, Arsyilla, Hasan's fiancée, always ignored Nayara and tried to limit Hasan's interactions with her, as though Nayara were some kind of threat.
"Don't worry. I'll take responsibility if anyone sees you being accompanied by Hasan," Ratih said, standing up for her.
Nayara couldn't refuse once the middle-aged woman gave an order. What Ratih said was an obligation to Nayara, carrying more weight than anything her biological mother said.
After her biological mother left the province, Nayara met Ratih at the market when her grandmother sent her to buy groceries. Nayara saw Ratih struggling with her shopping and immediately helped her until Ratih found a minibus to take home. Ratih invited Nayara along so she would know where she lived.
When they arrived at Ratih's house, Nayara was stunned by how many babies and children were there. Only then did she understand why Ratih had bought so many groceries: they were for lunch for the employees who took care of the babies and children entrusted to Ratih's daycare.
From then on, Nayara grew close to Ratih and asked to work there as one of the caregivers. Although her maternal grandmother paid for her expenses, Nayara wanted to become independent. Ratih agreed, as long as she worked only after school.
"Leave your car here. I'll have you taken home on a motorcycle so you can get there faster. It's rush hour right now. Come back here tomorrow and ask Rudi to take you," Ratih ordered.
Nayara obeyed. She immediately grabbed her son's things and took Andra from Ratih's arms. Then she said goodbye to the middle-aged woman.