Chapter 20
20
“Are you sure about this?” Jems asks as he helps to lug my suitcase down the stairs.
“Yeah,” I mutter, following after him. I check that I have my passport, as well as Nathan’s, with me. When we get to the bottom of the stairs, Jems sets my suitcase down. Nathan rolls his suitcase next to mine.
“Well, that’s everything,” I say.
Jems checks his watch. “You guys have time before we need to head for the airport. Let’s have some snacks first.”
The three of us head toward the dining room.
“You guys all packed?” Elsa says, sliding out of the kitchen while carrying a tray of freshly brewed coffee. She sighs loudly. “I can’t believe you’re leaving already. You just got here like two days ago? Have some local coffee, it’ll help change your mind.”
“Oh, yes,” Sarah agrees, “this is a new blend I just sourced from Kintamani. You’re going to adore it.”
Nathan and I laugh and reach for a cup each. My cousins aren’t wrong; as soon as the scent of the coffee hits my nose, it’s as though my muscles are unlocked, my whole body relaxing. I breathe in deep, closing my eyes. Truly, there’s nothing better than Indonesian coffee. Beside me, Nathan takes a sip and gives an appreciative sigh.
“This coffee tastes sinful,” he says. “Like a rich dessert, but not too sweet.”
Elsa grins at him. “The secret is a spoonful of melted palm sugar.” Then her smile wanes and she frowns at me. “Now, what can we do to convince you not to leave so soon? I hardly had any time to catch up with you, Meds.”
I squirm inwardly. How do I explain to my sweet, wholesome cousins that the reason why I’ve persuaded Nathan to leave Jakarta is because I’m not fully convinced that the whole mess with Abi, Julia Child, and Kristofer Kolumbes is behind us? I mean, sure, they had that whole beautiful moment yesterday where everyone reconciled and everything seemed fine, but I’ve spent enough time with the three moguls to know that they’re (1) hot-tempered, (2) used to getting their way, and (3) very definitely gang leaders. And I’m not sticking around to watch shit hit the fan the next time one of them gets jealous over this or that. Call me cynical, but I’ve been in enough mishaps with my family to know to jump ship the moment there’s any sign of trouble. Plus, it’s not just me that I have to protect.
“I’m sorry, but work came up, and you know how it is.” I force a smile. Nathan squeezes my hand.
Elsa looks hurt. “Was your stay here really that bad? And you were hardly ever in the house! I mean, I know there’s much to improve about the place, but still—”
“No, not at all,” Nathan hurriedly says. “I loved my time here. I was actually really blown away by the city. It’s just—”
Nobody looks convinced, and it makes my stomach sink. I hate the thought that I’m leaving my cousins this way, with them under the wrong impression that we think we’re somehow superior. I put my coffee cup down and clasp Elsa’s hands. “We’ll come back soon, okay? You’re right, we’ve hardly had any time to catch up, and there’s so much to talk about. I—”
The rest of what I’m about to say is drowned out by a series of sharp honks.
“Is that our hired car, maybe?” Nathan says, standing up, but before he can get to the front door, shouts pierce through it.
Oh god. I forget to breathe. I’m too late. I should’ve insisted on flying out last night instead of waiting until the morning to leave the country. And now, the tenuous truce among the trio must have imploded and they’re here to—
“Eh, buka pintu!” Ma calls out from outside.
As though on instinct, Nathan rushes to the door and does as he’s told. He’s barely unlocked it when it bursts open and Ma hurries inside, her arms laden with gift boxes piled high over her head.
“Ma, let me help you.” Nathan grabs the boxes, grunting. “Oof, what’ve you got in these?”
“Oh, so many thing, many, many thing.” Ma breezes inside. Behind her is Big Aunt, carrying shopping bags bursting with items.
Elsa rushes forward to take the bags from Big Aunt, and behind Big Aunt saunters in Fourth Aunt, also carrying bags and boxes. I hurry to help Fourth Aunt, but she gives me a side-eye and says, “Get out of my way, Meddy.”
Geez, okay. I meekly obey, standing to one side as my family streams in, followed by a handful of men carrying yet more gifts. Finally, when the men have set the gifts down, they go out, and in strides Kristofer with Julia Child. Behind them are Abi, with Second Aunt on his arm, looking very smug and regal.
“What’s all this?” Jems says, gaping at the mountain of gifts that have just been deposited on the marble floor.
Elsa is staring at Kristofer. “Wait, hang on, are you—” She gasps. “You are! That’s Kristofer Kolumbes Hermansah. And you’re Julia Child Handoko! Oh my god. Where’s my phone?” She darts away like a frightened rabbit.
“What’s going on?” I can’t seem to stop wringing my hands. They’re here, all of them. The house we’re in, which seemed so big when we first arrived, now feels shrunken, the walls closing in around us. What would we do if things went bad? Where would we go? How would we protect everyone we love?
Julia Child shoots Kristofer a meaningful side glance and he clears his throat. “Ah, we’re here to ah, bai nian.”
“Bai nian?” Jems echoes. He looks around at us.
I’m as surprised as he is. Usually, the younger members of the family go to the house that belongs to the highest member in the family hierarchy to bai nian. Traditionally, this would be the oldest member of the family.
“But—you’re our elders, and uh, not to be disrespectful, Om Kristofer, but we’re not related. And you’re our elders,” he blurts out again. “Even if we were related, we’d have to bai nian to your house, not this way around.”
Kristofer levels a cold gaze at him. “Is that a problem?”
“No. No, of course not! Not in the least,” Jems babbles. He scratches the back of his neck, his gaze frantically moving from us to Kristofer to the aunties and back again.
“Jems,” Big Aunt says, “go make coffee for everyone.”
“Yes!” Jems practically runs out of the room. “Right away.”
Big Aunt shoots a glance at the other cousins.
“I’ll prepare some cakes,” Elsa says. “There’s plenty left from yesterday.”
“I’ll help!” Sarah says. And with that, they all scurry away, leaving me and Nathan with Ma, the aunties, and the strange trio before us.
“So.” My mind comes up blank after that one word. “You all look like you had a busy morning.”
“Yes, well.” Kristofer clears his throat again. “I—we—wanted to apologize to you and your family for the . . . the everything.”
Julia Child nods. “We’ve compensated the caterers at the Ritz.”
“Overcompensated, more like,” Abi mutters. “They said it was more than a year’s salary.”
“Those hardworking, talented chefs deserved more after what you had us do to them,” Big Aunt snaps.
Abi drops his gaze. Julia Child nods. “Yes, I deeply regret that it had to come to that, and I hope that our compensation goes a long way to . . . ah, reviving their spirits.”
I can’t help but feel some relief that those poor caterers that Ma and Fourth Aunt drugged are at least being compensated.
“Hmph,” snorts Big Aunt. “They never calling me Mami again.”
Ma pats Big Aunt’s shoulder, looking very guilty. “We will explain to them that we are the one who drug them, not you.”
Big Aunt nods sadly. “Still, a trust is betray, cannot be earn back so easy.”
“But price was worth it,” Ma says. “Now we have Erjie back.”
Big Aunt sniffs and side-eyes Second Aunt like, eh, is she really worth it? Then she smiles. “Yes, price was worth it.”
It feels as though my heart has melted into sweet milk chocolate. Big Aunt is actually looking at Second Aunt with true affection.
Second Aunt returns the smile. “I still can’t believe you all do such crazy thing to save me.”
“I think Natasya just wanted an excuse to drug people. It’s kind of her thing,” Fourth Aunt mutters. Okay, I guess this beautiful moment is just that. A moment.
Ma narrows her eyes at Fourth Aunt. “You just jealous because I always saving the day, all the time.”
“Hardly!” Fourth Aunt laughs. “Who was the one who came up with the idea of knocking them out in the first place?”
“Ah,” Second Aunt holds up her index finger. “But Meddy was the one who figure out, Julia Child and Kristofer were children sweeties.”
“Childhood sweethearts,” I correct her.
Color blooms in Kristofer’s cheeks. “I wouldn’t call us—I—”
Julia Child cocks an eyebrow at him. “Didn’t you say that one of the lessons you learned from Marjie is to stop being embarrassed of your own emotions?”
Kristofer’s voice trails off and he adjusts his collar. “Yes, well. Good job putting the pieces together.”
Ma grins so wide her whole face is 80 percent grin. “My Meddy is so smart, ya?” She shamelessly looks at Kristofer, then Julia Child, and repeats herself. “So smart, kan? My daughter. She went to UCLA, you know.”
“Ma,” I groan. “Not the time.”
“Well,” Julia Child says, “your mother is not wrong. It takes a certain amount of acumen to deduct these things, and god knows, no one else around us figured it out.” She gives a rueful laugh. “To be fair, we did spend decades of our lives actively trying to take each other down, so that might have been somewhat misleading.”
“But no more,” Second Aunt chides. “You all working together now. Ya kan?”
“Ya?” Big Aunt says, and suddenly, my mother and aunts are all staring expectantly at Abi, Julia Child, and Kristofer.
Under the assault of their gazes, the three tycoons stand no chance.
“Yes, my love,” Abi says. “Of course. From now on, we will cooperate with one another. A new era.”
“I think it’ll bode well for all of our businesses,” Julia Child says.
Big Aunt narrows her eyes at them. “And what is this business? Hanh? Because we also run our own business, but we don’t have henchmen and war and this kind of thing.”
“It’s all legit, right?” I quickly say. It’s hit me that maybe, at the end of the day, I don’t want to know what these people really do for a living. Maybe it’s for the best that we’re kept in the dark. “I’m sure it’s all aboveboard. Real estate and uh, stuff like that.”
There’s a beat of hesitation, then all three of them burst out into fake laughter, half quailing under Big Aunt’s unforgiving stare.
“Oh yes,” Abi says. “We’re all just businesspeople. We do a bit of everything. Trade, manufacturing, land development.”
The problem with that is my brain immediately goes:
Manufacturing=Creating drugs/firearms/whatever other illegal goods.
Trade=Selling aforementioned goods.
Land development=Pablo Escobar-esque development of forests into hidden drug factories.
As though reading my mind, Julia Child says, “We would be more than happy to give you all a tour of our companies when you’re free.”
I immediately start to refuse, but Nathan beats me to it. “I would love to, actually.”
I gape at him. What the hell is he on? Catching my eye, he shrugs. “I’ve read up on your companies, and they sound incredible. And yeah, very legit. I would love to get a tour.”
“Ah, my son-in-law.” Ma beams up at him and pats his shoulder. “He is very good businessman, I tell you, right? He own very nice hotel in America. You all have to come and stay there, we give you room upgrade, free minibar.”
Of course my mother would invite the three people who have had Nathan and Second Aunt kidnapped to stay at Nathan’s hotel.
“Sounds good,” Kristofer says. He nods at the suitcases near the door. “And I see you’re leaving?”
“Yeah.” I can’t say it fast enough. They may have come to assure us that they’re all lovey-dovey now, and sure, they’ve come bearing a ridiculous amount of gifts, but I’m still keen to get away from them. They’re too rich, too powerful. Nothing they do has any real consequences to them, and I don’t feel safe being around them. Unlike my mother and aunts, who seem entirely comfortable, chattering excitedly about all the stuff they’ve just been given. “We loved our stay here, but I’m tired of traveling.”
“Yes, Meddy,” Fourth Aunt says with a sly sideways glance. “You should stay off your feet. What with all this panicking and running around, you must be exhausted. Don’t overdo it.”
A beat of silence follows, everyone’s attention on us. Say something! My mind yells, but it doesn’t come up with any suggestions. Then, as though the penny’s suddenly dropped, Ma gasps, both hands flying to her mouth. “Meddy!”
One look at her face is all it takes for Nathan to get it. All at once, he’s at my side, his hands on my arms, his eyes shining with tears. “Really?”
“Uh—” This is so not how I’d wanted to break it to him, in front of all these people. I’d come up with a plan B. We have a layover in Dubai for a couple of days on our way back to LA, so I’d made a reservation for a romantic dinner at the Burj Khalifa. I was going to tell him then. But when has anything gone to plan, especially when my family is involved? Frustration scratches at me, but then I take a deep breath and let myself fall into this moment, embracing all of it. I should’ve known better than to wait this long to tell Nathan. Because of course, Ma and the aunties would find out one way or another. And this is just the way it’s always going to be in my family. No secrets from one another.
I let the smile spread across my face as I take in Nathan’s expression, memorizing every detail on his handsome face, the way his eyes are open so wide, hope written clearly on them. “Yes.”
The room erupts in cheers. I have to shout to be heard. “But it’s early days yet, and it’s really way too soon to celebrate—” I laugh as Nathan sweeps me off my feet, his arms firm around my waist.
“Oh my god, Meddy,” he whispers, kissing my cheek, my forehead, my chin.
“Aiya, don’t lift her like that!” Ma wails, tapping Nathan’s back frantically. “You put her down. Must be gentle. She carrying my grandbaby!”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Nathan laughs, putting me down ever so gently.
My mom and aunts are suddenly around me, all of their hands on my belly, cooing at it. Oh god, is this what the next nine months are going to be like?
“Baby ah, this is your Ah Ma!” Ma shouts at my belly. “Aduh, so excited to see you. You be good, ya? I buy you so many presents.”
“You’ll hurt the poor thing’s eardrums, shouting like that,” Fourth Aunt scolds her.
“She has to talk loud, otherwise baby cannot hear under Meddy belly fat,” Second Aunt says.
“Geez, thanks, Second Aunt.”
“Tch, not saying you fat, just saying, belly got lots of fat, is good for baby.”
“Not enough fat, you too skinny, Meddy,” Big Aunt scolds. Before I can react, she reaches out and pokes my right breast. “Look at this, chest so flat, got no milk for baby. Is okay, I cook you confinement food, very nutritious. Later you will have so much milk.”
I look up at the ceiling. I guess part of me knew that this is what it would be like, but now that it’s actually happening, it’s still overwhelming. But then when I look back at them, these women who have spent their lives raising me, doting on me and making a fuss over me, it hits me that I don’t want any different for my child. Nathan catches my eye and smiles, and I know that he’s thinking it, too, that as crazy as my mom and aunts drive us, we wouldn’t have it any other way, and it’s a lucky baby indeed that gets born into this family.