“LEANDRO”

Lara needs to be early at work the next day. Her schedule was opening, so she had to wake up earlier.

Holding the mug of hot coffee when Lara came out of the terrace. She expected to see Rodolfo there who was busy sweeping their yard. But she found something else.

Lara's eyebrows met immediately when she saw her father talking to a boy. Rodolfo was outside their open gate.

The boy she thinks is between ten to eleven years old is familiar to her.

Leandro.

Her father was very fond of that boy. She did not wonder why. His father loved children.

Leandro is an orphaned child who has been collecting junk in their area. He is hardworking and kind. Once when her father told her that the boy ran away from his stepfather due to child abuse.

"Papa," Lara whispered to her father who was busy talking to Leandro.

The boy turned to her and smiled sweetly when he saw her.

"Good morning, Miss Lara," he greeted her.

Lara immediately responded with a greeting and a sweet smile Leandro.

"I already gave him the plastic bottles I had collected," Rodolfo said when she got close to him.

Lara nodded and then sipped coffee from the mug she was holding. "Are you still sleeping and spending your nights at the church, Leandro?" she asked him afterward.

"Yes, the priest offered me to live with them, but I refused," the boy said.

She and Rodolfo immediately exchanged glances because of what the boy had said.

"Why?" she asked.

Leandro shrugged his shoulders. “If I live there, I will just be a burden to them. And it will be easier for my stepfather to find me just in case,” the boy explained.

Lara could no longer speak at what the child had said. In fact, he has a point. But it probably won't be that easy for his stepfather to find him just in case.

Shortly after that, Leandro said goodbye to them. Then they get inside and closed the gate. They both continued in the kitchen. They were facing each other at the table when Rodolfo spoke.

"Poor kid," he said as he began to make coffee.

She just looked at Rodolfo who continued what he was doing.

“I remember when we lost your mother and I became addicted to gambling and vices,” his father's voice was sad as he said that.

"Pa, forget that already, please?" she said here.

“I will never forget that, Lara. But I have to admit that somehow everything turned out well because of the arrival of my granddaughter in our lives. Just so, what if you never see her father again? And that's what always pinches my conscience,” said Rodolfo whose tone of the speech was full of sadness.

Because Lara kept staring at her father's face, she saw the intensity of sadness in his eyes.

Lara just sighed because of that. Then she stood up and hugged her father from behind and tenderly kissed him on the cheek.

"Even before Joaquin, we are already happy, weren't we, Papa? You and Callie made my life complete," she said sitting in the chair next to him then reached out for her father’s hand and gently squeezed it.

Rodolfo nodded. "Maybe it’s because I'm just sad. Because sooner or later I'll be left alone here once you get married," her father admitted.

At her father's confession, Lara immediately felt a hand that seemed to grab her heart and squeeze it tightly.

"But P-Papa, didn't you say that you prepared yourselves for this?" she asked in a tone she couldn't help but feel pity for her father.

“Yes, that’s true. But I still can't stop feeling sad.”

"You can come with me, can't you?" she said in an encouraging tone of voice.

Rodolfo immediately shook his head at her suggestion. “I will never leave this house. You know it is full of beautiful and happy memories with your mother,” he said picking up the cup of coffee again.

Lara thought for a moment.

As a daughter who loves her father, she knows that she needs to think of a permanent solution to what her father is going through right now.

"What if we offer Leandro to live here with you?" she suggested.

When she mentioned the boy's name, Rodolfo's kind and gentle face immediately lit up. After a while, he also smiled sweetly.

“It would be nice if that is what you wanted to happen, Lara. But I just thought, if he refused to stay in the church, what guarantee do we have that he would accept our offer?” his question.

“Let's try to talk to him first. In the church, somehow, we can tell the truth of what he says, it will be easier for his stepfather to find him. But here, I think not. And another thing is he is close to you. Maybe when you offered him help, he would agree,” Lara explained to her father.

His father was silent for a moment, thinking of what she just said. A little later then he nodded in agreement with what she wanted to happen.

"Papa, I want you to always take care of yourself when Callie and I moved to Joaquin’s place already. Okay?" this time the young lady was unable to refrain from being emotional.

"And here I thought I was the only one who was sad about you getting married?" Rodolfo asked her in a teasing tone

Lara quickly wiped away her tears after what her father said. Then she laughed softly and frowned.

"I-I'm not used to not being with you, P-Papa," she said, bursting into tears.

“You have to get used to it, sweetheart. I am old,” he said meaningfully.

That was when once again Lara stood up and quickly hugged Rodolfo. Once more, from behind him.

"I'm not ready for that yet, Papa," she said, controlling her emotions.

Rodolfo patted her arm a moment later. It was then that she released her father to return to her former seat.

“I'll talk to Leandro, Papa. And if he agrees, I will also try to convince him to go back to school,” that was true inside her.

A contented smile flashed on Rodolfo's lips again as his eyes twinkled with undeniable happiness.

"Thank you very much, sweetie," he added.

Lara nodded there. “I know that boy is close to you. So I think he is the one you should be with here. Because I'm sure he won't leave you either,” she explained then grabbed Rodolfo's hand and then gently squeezed it.

“Better future waits for Leandro. Thank you so much for the good decision you made, Lara.”

The young lady simply nodded after that. The truth is even if her father doesn't speak anymore, the aura that she sees on his face now can't hide how he feels. How happy he is. And for her, as a child was happy to see that.