Rania immediately returned Arya’s greeting, then reverently kissed the back of her husband’s hand. When she was about to take Arya’s hand and lead him into the house, the tall man didn’t move right away.
Rania furrowed her brow. Something about Arya’s behavior felt strange. Looking at him more closely, she realized that he didn’t just look tired—he also seemed more nervous than usual.
Before she could ask, Arya suddenly hugged her and said, “We’ve received a blessing from Allah, honey.”
“Alhamdulillah. Really?” Rania asked, her smile spreading across her face.
“Yes, honey, but...” Arya’s words caught in his throat as doubt began to creep in.
But this was a decision he had already made, and he had to be brave enough to face the consequences. Whatever Rania said later, he would accept it with an open heart.
“But why?” Rania asked, confused by her husband’s uncharacteristic behavior.
“Go inside first. The blessing is in the public minibus,” Arya said as he escorted Rania into the house, making sure she sat down before leaving his other half behind. She watched him go, her question still unanswered.
After making sure his wife wasn’t following him, Arya hurried outside to retrieve the baby, who had already woken up.
Arya fell silent as he gazed at the tiny baby, who was now smiling at him. It was yet another thing the baby had done that touched Arya’s heart. Just a few hours earlier, he had considered taking the adorable baby—with the hazel eyes he had only just noticed, eyes that had left him stunned—to an orphanage.
Besides that incredibly adorable smile and those unusual eyes, the baby wasn’t fussy either. Arya had never before spent so much time with a baby, and he still didn’t even know the child’s name. Rama had refused to provide any information about the tiny creature who was steadily winning Arya’s heart. He couldn’t deny it: he was beginning to feel affection for the baby as he looked at the innocent, pure face before him.
“You poor thing. Don’t worry, Papa will love you like his own child. Hopefully Mama can accept you too,” Arya said as he gazed at the baby, who greeted him with an adorable laugh, as if understanding the promise Arya had just made.
“Mas...” Rania’s voice calling from inside the house brought Arya out of his reverie.
He quickly carried the box into the house, silently saying Bismillah and reciting whatever prayers came to mind, strengthening his resolve and hoping his wife would accept the presence of this baby—whose origins, and even where Rama had brought the child from, remained unknown.
“Sorry, honey. I took a while because I had to make sure everything was all right,” Arya said as he entered to find his wife staring at the box he was holding in both hands.
“What was all right?” Rania asked, but Arya didn’t answer right away.
“That... what is it?” Still curious and without an answer, Rania asked again, this time giving Arya a searching look as she pointed at the baby box, which made Arya’s heart race even faster.
“This... is a baby, honey,” Arya replied. “You’ll take care of this baby, won’t you?”
Arya’s question left Rania speechless, her emotions tangled and even more questions filling her mind.
Rania wasn’t the only one shocked by Arya’s sudden barrage of questions. He himself hadn’t expected to be able to ask her so easily. All the words he had prepared beforehand had vanished, but a small corner of his heart felt relieved that he had finally said them.
“A... ba-by? Whose baby is this?” Rania asked, holding back the turmoil inside her. After remaining silent for several long moments, she couldn’t keep her expression from turning pitiful, though she managed to hold back the tears gathering in her eyes. At the very least, she still wanted to hear her husband’s explanation.
“I found this baby at a rest stop yesterday, honey. The place happened to be empty at the time, maybe because it was still early and the sky was overcast. I don’t know much else. All I know is that I felt sorry for this baby. You know that rest stop is far from any houses, right? I kept imagining what it would be like if our baby were the one left out in the cold and abandoned like that,” Arya explained at length, his face serious as he held back tears. In his heart, he repeatedly apologized for lying.
“But we’re going to have a child of our own soon. Can we really take good care of this baby? And with our financial situation... you know how it is, right? Everything costs money,” Rania said. She didn’t want to hurt Arya’s feelings, but she also had to express her concerns about their circumstances.
It’s better to be honest, even if it hurts, than to keep these feelings bottled up and end up suffering later, Rania thought.
“I’m sure we’ll find a way, honey. To be honest, I had doubts about this decision too. But I was afraid I’d regret it later if I turned a blind eye to something that might help us someday.”
“What do you mean, help us?” Rania asked, confused by Arya’s statement.
“I’m confused myself about why I thought that way, honey. I’m just following my heart. I also believe that Allah’s help will surely come. Good deeds will, God willing, bear good fruit. As for our provision, I believe it won’t pass us by. Doesn’t every child have their own blessings?”
“Yes, I believe that too, but...” Doubt was still evident in her voice.
“Just look at this innocent baby’s face, honey.” He held out the tiny baby, whom he had taken out of the box where the child had spent the entire day.
Rania received the giggling baby with trembling hands. In an instant, she imagined that she was holding her own child. A wave of emotion and happiness passed through her. Her maternal instincts had been awakened.
“Well, honey?” Arya asked, watching as Rania began to grow fond of the baby.
Rania didn’t answer Arya’s question for a long time. Then she looked at her husband and asked, “You’re not hiding something from me, are you?”
“What do you mean, hiding something, honey?”
“About this baby? You really don’t know anything, or...”
“I swear to Allah, I don’t know anything about this baby’s identity, name, or parents. I don’t know anything at all, honey...” Arya spoke earnestly. What he said was the truth. Even now, he still didn’t know anything about the baby Rama had handed over to him.
“Why didn’t you turn the baby over to the authorities? What if this baby was kidnapped? We could get into trouble, you know...”
“If the baby was kidnapped,” Arya said meaningfully. “But what if the baby was deliberately left there?”
“What do you mean? How do you know whether it was deliberate or not?”
“From this...” Arya replied, showing Rania a brown envelope.