The trio standing at the door stood in silence for a few seconds. Arcadius had expected his mother to have already embraced him by that point.
But there she stood, her eyes trembling in disbelief, her hands gripping the man's shirt.
[She must be shocked to see me...]
[Did she think I was already dead?]
He pondered, trying desperately to understand his mother's reaction.
Berkah stood quietly behind them with his arms folded and his expression slowly turning sour.
"Mom! Who's at the door?"
A little girl dragging a stuffed animal peeked through her mother's armpit.
She looked to be a bit younger than Arcadius, by a year or two.
"Gasp! Big brother?!"
She exclaimed excitedly and jumped to embrace Arcadius, the two of them falling into the mud.
"Waaah! Where have you been? Mama said you passed away just like Dad!"
She cried out loud, her arms tightly wrapped around Arcadius's neck, suffocating him a little, but he didn't mind it.
