146 Rainbow 1 (1/2)

The next morning, Tereza got a striking piece of unexpected news from Ta. It was about Stevan. Last night, Stevan killed himself by biting his own tongue to bleed. The guard checked his cell this morning and found him laying on the floor with his mouth agape. The blood was dried and turned red-black. It was a frightening nightmare for the guard who witnessed it.

Close-mouthed, she was thinking, why he did that? Was it due to news of Laura death which she told him yesterday? Or was it because he couldn't maintain cooped in the prison? Whatever the reason, Tereza ordered Ta to give him a proper burial. He was her enemy, but she was still a human, it was her first and last kindness for him.

Inwardly, she well aware that she didn't feel sympathy to Stevan or even concern about him, in fact, she was glad that psycho man was finally gone off from this world. If not for him, Alexandra wouldn't die! If not for him, Han wouldn't be in this condition!

Tereza strode her legs to one of the baby room, there laid a pink cradle. Inside was a cute chubby baby girl, named Aurora. It was Alexandra's daughter. Red cheeks, small hands, she was wrapped with frog clothes. When she paid attention closely, Tereza could find her face identical, like Laura, even more than Stevan. Currently, Aurora was enjoying her sleeping time as she grunted cutely.

Tereza was having a complicated feeling. She was still not over from Alexandra death, yet starting today, she must treat Aurora as her own daughter. It was Alexandra last request, as her friend, she would fulfill her wish, it was the least she could do.

Grievously, she was baffled, conflict, inside her inner feeling. 'Can she do this? What will I say when Aurora discovered the truth when she has grown up? The fact I'm not her mother, the fact her former father is a scumbag who liked to destroy someone's lives?'

Diverting her anxious thought, she determined herself that she would be leery about this horrible truth. She would keep this secret, forever, into her grave.

Reaching her fingers, she brushed Aurora small cheeks softly as she kissed her forehead. ”Mama!” An abrupt voice came behind her. Tereza turned around and saw Ringo with his panda outfit. ”Mama! What is that?” Ringo blinked curiously. He hopped around to reach her side.

His feeling was still in vigor state. He just finished playing with the pandas, enthusiastically that he made himself exhausted, sweating, he asked the servant to bring him back to his room. Questioning, he was wondering why there was another cradle inside his room?

Tereza walked to his side, squatting down and lifted him up into her embrace. She explained slowly, ”Not 'what', but 'who'. Look, this is your new sister. Her name is Aurora. She's cute, right?”

”Mama! Since when you pregnant again?! Are you cheating on dada?!” Ringo smacked her face furiously. She held his petite hands, calmly said, ”She is my friend's child. Because of some unfortunate happen, she'll be your sister from now on.”

Ringo didn't fully grasp what was the story about, but because he heard the word 'unfortunate', he learned which mean something terrible happened. He turned his neck from his mother to the small creature. ”So, she'll be my step-sister then?” With his big round blue eyes, Ringo stared astonished to Aurora. She was like a little cotton-candy.

He watched her yawned, slightly opened her eyelid, glancing at him with dark blue eyes, she ignored him and continue to sleep. The baby girl didn't even wake up from the various calls he made. What was she? A sloth? Ringo thought. ”Mama! She's weird and ugly.” He pouted from his sister unresponsiveness.

Tereza shook her head and advised him, ”Be good to her. Protect her well, alright?” Reluctantly he nodded his petite head. Realizing the time, he asked Tereza to place him down and so she did as he instructed to.

Ringo walked to his small study table, lowering his head, he crawled beneath the table. After a second, he was pulling, grabbing his various color crane origami outside. Tereza was awed, the origami was quite a lot, since when did he fold that much? Tereza was wondering what he was doing with those things. She asked him, ”What are you going to with that origami?”

He responded quickly, ”For dada. One of the maids told me that if you give one thousand crane origami to the sick person, they will get better again! Because my hands are still small, I asked the maids to help me to fold this! I can't wait to show this to dada! Mama! When will he wake up?”

Tereza was stunned. How could this small child be so intelligent? At that time, she didn't how to say besides lying to him that his dad was still traveling through a fantasy world, adventuring, fighting monsters and was trapped in a labyrinth.

As expected of their child, Ringo wasn't a fool. He who heard her reasons was confused, although he was still one year old, his intellectual was that ten years old boy. He wasn't dumb. His father was sick, he knew about that. The thing he didn't know what kind of illness he got.

Tereza told him, ”So, you know all along that he's sick, why you didn't tell me until now?”

Ringo lowered his petite head and muttered, ”I know you don't want me to worry, I know you are sad, that's why I kept quiet and pretend to believe you, but it has been a year that dada is sleeping, so I was feeling, dada's illness is much serious than I thought. Mama, he will wake up right?” He stared at her with his watery eyes.

Tereza who heard the small boy question was in friction feeling. ”Sonny, your dad is-”

”Ma'am!!”