"Hi Aom baby, Daddy is home!" Mike drops his bag and spreads his hands widely as he is welcoming the little baby into his embrace. Pie carries little Aom to Mike and hands her to him as she reached his side. The baby is so delightful to see her father, Pie could tell it by the way she giggles when Mike kisses her nose.
"Your duty ended earlier today?" Pie asks to Mike and picks up his bag from the floor. They walks together to the dining table. The food is ready.
"Aah, yes. How are you today?" Mike takes a glance to Pie and then focusing his attention to his daughter. Little Aom keeps touching his face with her tiny hands.
"I'm fine?" Pie gazes to Mike weirdly. What kind of question is that?
"Shak told me you didn't take your lunch?" Mike says out of sudden. They sit around the dining table with Aom on his lap.
"Err.. I lost my appetite to eat today." Pie stutters. She was totally trapped.
"You should eat some. What if you fall sick? Aom will miss her Mummy." Mike said while taking Aom's hands and makes an action like she is crying. Pie laughs because of that.
"Let's eat our dinner now.I'm hungry." Pie changes their topic and put their meal onto the plates. Little Aom sits on her special chair beside Mike. She is getting naughtier. Mike has to distance her from the dining table as she starts to learn to grab stuffs around her. Baby is growing up!
"We're leaving, Pie. See you tomorrow." Mike said. Aom is sleeping soundly in his arms. It's their daily routine. After taking their dinner, Mike will play for awhile with Aom until she feels tired and yet time for her to sleep. Who sings the lullaby for her? Of course it's Pie.
"Drive safely." Pie smiles to him and at the same time she plants a kiss on Aom's forehead. It is not really hard to look after Aom. She is a good girl.
"Mike, are you sure you can handle all of this? Don't you think you need a companion to take care of Aom and also you?" Aom blurts what she has in her mind. Mike gazes to her and curves his faint smile.
"You don't want to take care of Aom anymore?" Mike raises his eyebrows as he utters her golden question to Pie.
"No! It is not what I meant." Pie shakes her head. Mike might misunderstood her words earlier.
"I just think being a single father is not that easy Mike. She is growing up yet she needs your love and attentions while you have so much responsibilities to handle. Could you dwell your body into two and do all the tasks as parents and also as a cop? You know how your work is." Pie explains long.
"I thought you could always be her mother." Mike countered her. Pie knew he has a different meaning behind his statement.
"If I ever wanted to find a new mother for her, I want the woman to be you, Pie. You know how my feeling towards you." Mike continued. Pie's guessing is right. Mike still keeping a hope in her.
"But I don't feel the same as you." Pie sighs and locks her gaze to the ground. How she would tell Mike that she can't give her heart to him. She just can't.
"Why? You still love that tom?" Mike's words strikes Pie's heart. She lifts up her head and locks her eyes to him.
"I don't understand what you see in her. She left you and went missing without any news yet you still want to wait for her to come back?" Mike steps forward and gets near to Pie. He control his voice as not to let Aom to wake up.
"Wake up, Pie! This kind of love won't go anywhere!" Mike whispers to her ear and then steps back. Pie feels something stabbing her heart. Mike's reminder hurts herself.
"Kim has came back. She came here this morning." Pie didn't know where she found the courage to say so to Mike. Her voice is clear and it's really convincing. Pie could see Mike's facial expression changed. He is utterly shocked.
"Mike, you should go home now and rest. Take Aom here tomorrow. I will always be her babysitter or godmother or any name that suits to it." She hinted him to leave.
"Alright. Good night. See you tomorrow." Like he has been put under a spell Mike just nodded and walks heading to his car. He still can't believe that Kim has came back. Pie followed him from behind while carrying Aom's stuffs.
The Villa's Garden
Even though Pie tried to sleep, her eyes rebelled to shut. Her body felt tired not because of she took care of Aom for the whole day but it was because she kept thinking about Kim. At last, she decided to take a walk at their garden. The garden which has witnessed so much good memories between her and Kim.
"The moon is so beautiful tonight." Pie said alone as she looks up to the sky. She walks slowly and finally takes her seat at a gazebo. The garden is only illuminated by a dim light, not to bright and not top gloomy.
"And it's kinda cold too." Pie rubs her arms to gain so warmth. She zips up her sweater to prevent the night breeze from brushing her skin continuously.
"Kim, where are you?" Pie talks to the air, hoping that the breeze would fly it to that tom.
"I hate you Kim! You're so stupid!" Pie shouts out of her lungs. She didn't care if anyone would hear it. She need to release it from herself.
"This is your home. Why you leaved?" Pie adds and stomps her feet to the ground. She remembered vividly how Kim excused herself to leave this morning. She wanted to stop her but her mouth was so heavy to speak.
"Don't you know that I miss you damn much?" Pie hung her head low. A little sobbing could be heard. She starts to cry.
"You're the most stupid lover I have ever had! Don't you realize or notice that Aom is not my daughter? You're so stupid!" Pie cries even more. She knew Kim must be misunderstood with Aom's presence in the villa. She might think that Pie has get married with Aom's father which the truth is not!
"Kim.. I wonder why must our love story turned to be like this. Did we had been cursed by someone or God is so mad to us because we against the natural? Tell me Kim! Even Mike told me that our love won't go anywhere. Convince me that we could love and live happily like other couples. Prove to me that they are wrong." Pie murmurs softly within her hiccups. She is crying too hard.
"Don't you remember our promises, Kim? We will get married and build our family?" Pie tries to stop crying. She takes out the diamond ring that Kim gave her the night before Kim went missing on the next day.
"And you told me not to doubt you love? I said the same thing to you too."
"Kim, please tell me what is really happening back then? I was confused, I am lost and no one got clue where have you been. What are you doing at the USA? I promise that I will hear all your explanation and I won't burst my anger to you. I just need to know what was your reason of leaving me. Please Kim.. tell me.." Pie talks alone again. How would she get the answer. Kim is not there to hear it.
"Promise that you will listen to me?" A familiar voice snapped Pie's attention. She turns her body 360° before she could see the person.
"What are you doing here?" Pie frowns as she caught the figure who is standing just about a meter from her sitting place.
"You called my name for countless time. That's why I am here." Kim said and takes a step forward. Now Pie can see Kim's face clearly under the beam moonlight.
"I will get inside now." Pie quickly get off from her seat as she tries to avoid Kim.
"Wait!" Kim managed to pull Pie's hand before she steps to leave her alone at the garden.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Pie can't do anything when suddenly Kim pulls her into her warm embrace. Pie unintentionally sniffed Kim's scent. It is still the same scent that she had ever smell since she first met Kim. So refreshing. Pie notices the shirt that Kim wore is the same shirt she saw this morning.
"I know I am stupid but please let me tell you everything." Kim said and tightens her arms around Pie as she pulls the petite girl more close to her.
"I bet you heard what I said earlier." Pie scoffs and tries to let herself free from Kim.
"Everything." Kim chuckles and let go Pie from her embrace.
Kim told the whole story and the reason for her sudden missing to Pie. It came to Pie's knowledge that Kim was actually having her eyes treatment and surgery in USA. Pie is so mad when she knew that it is Dr.Mean who accompanied Kim there and at the same time she is so unsatisfied because Kim didn't let her know about it. There are still a lot of suspicious in Kim's explanation. At some point, Pie think that Kim hid something from her too.
"Your explanation is 85% doubtful." Pie stressed to Kim while folding her arms grumpily.
"I hope you don't doubt my love towards you." Kim grins to Pie which caught the petite girl to stick out her tongue annoyingly to her.
"Are we good now?" Kim leans her face close to Pie, staring directly into her eyes.
"No." Pie looks away and hide her face from Kim.
"Really? What about this?" Without Pie notice, Kim suddenly sealed her lips to hers. Surprisingly Pie replied the kiss and kisses Kim passionately.
"Aww.. I love that!" Kim chuckles as they broke the kiss. Warm blood rushes up to Pie's face making her cheeks blushed uncontrollably.
"I know you hide something else, Kim. You better tell me or I will be really mad at you." She hits Kim's chest lightly as to hide her shyness. Pie's instinct told her that it is not the only reason for Kim to stay there for a quite long time.
"I didn't hide anything from you." Kim shrugs innocently.
"Ughh! I can't believe it." Pie locks her eyes to Kim, forcing that tom to tell her the whole truth. Kim stares back to Pie and mocks Pie's grumpy face.
"Where is Aom's mother?" Kim asks out of sudden. She was there when Pie talked alone earlier. She heard everything Pie said. Actually, Kim didn't go home right after she excused herself to leave. Instead she walked to the garden and get her shelter at the gazebo. People won't notice her. It is kinda isolated in the garden.
"She died after she gave birth to her." Pie sighs heavily. Pity Aom. She has no mother.
"What about her father?" Kim is so curious on how Pie could babysit the little Aom.
"Her father is Mike. He is a cop." Pie tells Kim a little detail about Mike. Kim might not know or even met him before.
"Then, what is his connection with you?" Kim stares to Pie with her serious face. She is jealous.
"You stupid! He helped me a lot to trace and find you!" Pie smacks Kim's head with her small fist.
"But still we couldn't trace you. We just knew that you went to USA. I wonder how your family didn't even know too about it. Everyone conclude that you left me." Pie said and murmured the last few words softly.
"Left you? No way! I promised to marry you. How supposed I left my treasure." Kim recoils. Yes, Pie is right. She didn't even tell her what was she exactly do at one and half year at the USA. She has planned everything well.
"Kim, I think our love story is a long nightmare. I even think we had been cursed. When we were about to feel the happiness, there must be something unexpected happened to us. Don't you think so?" Pie looks up to Kim with a frown on her face. She has thousand unanswered questions in her mind.
"That's what we called tests and challenges, Pie." Kim soothes Pie and pulls her lover into her embrace. Pie quickly reposition herself and hugs Kim tightly.
"I think it was too much for us." Kim heard Pie sighed.
"We will make it through." Kim assures her. Pie is right, this time, they faced so much obstacles for their relationship. How hard it was to stand and fight their love. Only God knew how much pain and hurt they had to endure.
"Let's get out from this long nightmare, Kim. Let's end the curse on us." Pie said weakly. She is tired of everything that happened along their love journey.
"Alright." Kim nods knowingly and starts to caresses Pie's hair softly.
"How?" Pie don't have any idea on what Kim has in her mind.
"Close your eyes,Pie." Kim orders her and Pie just followed.
"Listen to me. Now you're a sleeping beauty in a forest. You shall only fall into a deep slumber and your prince shall come and awake you by the kiss of true love. Sleep princess, sleep. When you open your eyes later, everything would change to be better. Sleep until I come to awake you." Kim whispers softly to Pie's ear while keep caressing her long dark brown hair. Slowly, Pie fall into her deep slumber.