Chapter Twenty-Six: Irani:

I love my son. He’s my oldest after all. He doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore. Somehow, I am okay with this. Nothing will change how I feel about my son.

For now, we are focused on the happier times between us.

Irani was shy around me at first. I wasn’t around when he was born. When it was just him and me, my boy didn’t talk much.

“I don’t think you can get him to open up,” Bayu’s told me. I smiled and shrugged at her.

“Well then, I’ll do the talking for both of us,” I said. I turned to our son.

“Isn’t that right, buddy?” I asked. He didn’t speak. I didn’t mind it. I got a good look at my son. I could see all of my resemblance in his little face. I think Irani was at least four or five when he and Bayu first came to live with me. I could let my fingers to lost is his messy hair.

When I first met Irani, he was a quiet child. He ate his dinner the first night. He had the same demeanor at breakfast. The child just ate quietly as I had my focus on Bayu. Me as a father? At the time, I hadn’t thought much about parenthood. Still, I had to give it a chance.

“Want to tell me about yourself?” I asked him. Irani stared at me with those big brown eyes of his. I had to push myself to be patient. The kid just met me after all. I wanted to get close to him.

“You know, I used to live in Heaven too,” I said. Irani looked up at me with a curious look on his little face. I leaned back against the stone bench.

“Yeah,” I said. “It was a different time then. Our world was still developing. We all used to be happy. All of us. Your grandpa, aunts, uncles, mom, and me.” I noticed that there were no kids his age in my kingdom. I didn’t know why. I guess I didn’t think about it. My other sons weren’t allowed to come here. I patted Irani on the head.

“Did you know that you have little brothers?” I asked. He tilted his head.

“Oh yes,” I said. “You have three of them. They are called Leo, Jim, and Aven.” I sighed and dropped my head.

“I don’t know where they are anymore,” I said. “I think you would’ve gotten along well with them.” My mind went back to the sons that I would possibly never see again. I had been a father for a short time before Kayako was murdered.

“What’s wrong?” I heard next to me. I looked down to see my oldest son looking at me with concern in his eyes. I sighed and patted him on the head.

“Nothing,” I said. “It’s just…” I shook my head.

“Never mind,” I said. “Do you want to go play in the sandbox?” My son perked up. Something about that smile warms something inside me.

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s go do that.” I stood up and held out my hand. At first, Irani stared at me, blinking. I waited patiently. A couple of minutes later, he slid off of the bench and walked up to me. I smiled and took my hand. I led him down the cobblestone path.

We spent the rest of the morning making sandcastles. Irani had his little attention on his castle. How could someone so young be so skilled with their hands?

“That’s a nice castle you got there,” I said. My son glanced up at me before he went back to work. I couldn’t help but picture Irani, Leo, Jim, and Aven all playing together. Even people like me want a family at some time in their life.

I happened to look up across the sand box. Bayu stood near the trees shaped into an arch. She didn’t say a word as she watched us. I just smiled and waved at her. I wished that every day could be like this. Once he finished his little castle, Irani started to build a drawbridge to connect to mine. I saw what he was doing and got right into helping him out. I decided that I was going to get him something sweet later.