After all this time, the extended family event had finally arrived. Gandy's cousin's child would be getting married soon.
Yes, Gandy's cousin's child.
So, in the extended family tree, Gandy's parents were considered among the "elders."
That meant anyone younger than Gandy's parents would be addressed as "Bu Lek" if they were women, or "Kang/Pak Lek" if they were men, following the Javanese Indonesian forms of address. And among his cousins, Gandy was one of those who received those forms of address.
So Gandy could be said to be treated as though he were about the same age as his cousins. But if you lined up their ages in order, Gandy was actually the youngest of all of them.
However, because Gandy's parents were considered among the "elders," he wasn't regarded as younger than his cousins.
And that would continue into the next generation.
Gandy's cousin's child's wedding would be held a month from now.
Today, though, was the preliminary extended-family gathering.
In Javanese family terms, it was called a "Rembugan"—a meeting to plan the series of activities each family member would handle when the big day arrived. And it came right after Rimby and Gandy had discussed their plans the other day.
Because the "Rembugan" fell on a Sunday, Rimby and Gandy could take the day off from work.
Inside the married couple's large bedroom, decorated in a combination of white and gray, a woman was getting ready in front of her mirror.
In Java, batik was practically synonymous with every important occasion. Since this "Rembugan" counted as one of them, Rimby confidently chose a beautiful dark-blue batik dress for the occasion.
Rimby's batik dress fell to her knees, deliberately keeping the look modest. Its sleeves ended at her elbows, giving it a semiformal appearance.
Even though she was married, Rimby believed that no matter the circumstances, she should always make an effort to look her best.
After all, wherever someone went, they could very well run into someone else who might be interested in getting to know them.
That could be very useful for her husband Gandy's business connections.
"Are you done?" Gandy asked as he fastened the buttons on his sleeves. "The event starts in an hour. If we're late getting there, everyone else is going to look at us pretty unpleasantly." He continued.
Rimby huffed in annoyance. "Then come help me deal with my problem first."
Gandy approached Rimby, who was having quite a hard time pulling up the zipper in back. It ran all the way down to her waist.
All Gandy could do was chuckle as he helped Rimby.
"You're laughing at me? What's so funny about what I said?" Rimby was still frowning irritably.
"Why didn't you say something earlier? If you know your arms are short, don't push yourself, sweetheart~. Was I really that unimportant, standing right next to you all this time, hmm?" Gandy began teasing Rimby.
For a moment, Gandy forgot that he had just reminded Rimby to hurry up and get ready to leave.
How could he not?
Their considerable age difference meant that, in Gandy's eyes, Rimby always seemed more like a kid than an adult.
Because of that, his instinct to playfully mess with Rimby would keep surfacing whenever the perfect opportunity arose.
Rimby clicked her tongue. "Ugh, why are you making fun of me? Just because you're tall. It's not that my arms are short. The zipper's just too long. Who makes one that reaches all the way to the waist? It's just wasting zipper material for whoever sewed this dress."
Whenever Gandy's teasing started to get on Rimby's nerves, she would launch into all sorts of rambling complaints to defend herself against his ridiculous antics.
For some reason, whenever Rimby was with Gandy, she always did something that made her look adorable to him.
Gandy did what Rimby asked, still laughing at her as he helped. Rimby could only keep rambling on and on.
After that little drama, they left for their destination: Gandy's cousin's house.