Babysitter For Rain
CHAPTER 18

Ana was sitting on a bench near the tomb. He saw Rain running around here and there tirelessly. Lucas was nearby accompanying him to play. Ana smiled at Rain's carefree behavior.

Marius was still in front of the tomb. He sat in front of the tomb, looking like he was talking. I don't know what he's talking about. Maybe he told me about Rain. Because his gaze always follows wherever Rain moves.

Ana herself paid her respects to Adam, while Marius was cleaning his tomb from the leaves. Only then did Ana choose to move away from Marius and sit on the swing, in order to give Marius some space to let go of his longing.

"He must have missed her a lot" Ana said as she looked at Marius.

Rain was sitting with Lucas to let go of their fatigue in a gazebo, when Marius came to Ana to give her a bottle of water. After Ana accepted it and thanked him, Marius sat down on the other swing next to Ana.

"Ehm ... May I ask you something?," asked Ana suddenly as they were quiet with no one to start talking first.

"What do you want to ask?"

"Is ... Rain knows ...about this?"

Marius shook his head slowly.

"Adam died three years ago when Rain was 15 months old. Ever since she started learning to talk, she's been calling me daddy. I don't know how to explain it to her. I thought I'd wait for a few more years, when he'd start to understand"

Ana could understand Marius's intentions. It's hard to talk about something like this with a 4-year-old. Marius may have wanted Rain to remember Adam as his father in the right way, though Rain had no memory of Adam.

"Ehm .. how about ... his mother .. whether ..." Ana hesitated to ask, but her curiosity was also great. He saw no tomb other than Adam's. If Rain's mother doesn't die, then where is she?

"As soon as she was born .. her mother handed Rain over to Adam. He ... does not want to see it .. nor carry it. Adam took care of her and raised her himself for that year, before she finally .. she died."

"It turns out ... there is something like that ...," said Ana Lirih.

"Before he died, Adam asked me to replace him as Rain's father. Just like you, the first time you accepted a job as a nanny, I also learned how to understand."

Ana smiled remembering that. It was difficult for him at first, but he was able to handle it.

"But you're so much better than me. Rain is having fun with you. I think you helped her a lot to find things she didn't know when she was with me" Marius said.

"Hhmm .. I don't think so. When I first saw Rain, I thought Rain was a shy and quiet child. But, when she was with you, she was much more cheerful. I don't know what makes that difference. But by looking at it, I found out, Rain had another side that he didn't show. Maybe because of that too, I kept looking for ideas to get her excited about something. And it turns out, it worked."

"Is Adam the one who named Rain?" asked Ana, who was watching Rain playing in the pool near the gazebo.

"Yes" answered Marius.

"What makes you think that?"

"Not many have the name Rain. There must have been something special when he thought of that name. Maybe he felt the same way when he saw Rain for the first time, just like when he saw rain."

Marius smiled hearing that. Ana feels guilty when Marius does that. Did I make a mistake, he thought.

"You're right. Adam loved the rain. He once said, when he first saw the newborn Rain, the first thing he remembered was the rain. Everything he felt when he saw the rain suddenly appeared just then. Therefore, he gave her the name Rain."

Ana looked at Marius who was currently smiling at her. He felt something different from Marius' smile today. It feels warm even just by looking at it.

"You must love him very much."

"Adam .. to me she's the perfect sister. He's not only my brother, he's my hero, he's my everything. I learned a lot from him. If he was still alive, he should have occupied this position. He who is .. is better than me."

"You're great too. Naomi said, DYNE can be what it is today all thanks to your hard work. So, you're just as good. It's not easy to do all that alone."

"You think so?"

"of course! I can't even imagine you can do all that."

Ana looked at Marius who was laughing with her release. Clearly visible in his eyes, Marius seemed to be releasing the burden that was in his heart.

"How much burden are you carrying in there," Ana thought.

"Sir Ana .. look, look, look ... there are butterflies ..."

Ana is surprised to hear Rain call her name. "You hear that?" asked Ana to Marius with enthusiasm.

There's something special about what Rain said today. For the first time, Ana hears Rain yell saying something more than a call.

Ana runs after Rain who is busy running after butterflies. He hugged the child tightly with a happy feeling. They teased each other, laughed together, and lay down on the grass just to look at the sky together.

Ana had no idea what was going to happen in front of her. There were still many questions in his heart that remained unanswered to this day. But he knew one thing when he saw Rain's smile, ...

"I think everything will definitely be fine," Ana said in her heart.