I told Daddy I missed him and I kissed him many many times, and he kissed me and told me he missed me very much too. It was the happiest moment of my life up until then.
Daddy stayed with us for a week and we had lots of good times together. We played in the park near our house early in the morning and again in the evening almost every day, and Daddy also took me to school and met my new friends and teachers and me and Daddy talked a lot and I told him all my news. I told him all about my school and my friends, and all about the schools Mummy was opening and the journeys we had been on to many places like Malang and Bali and Singapore, and Daddy listened to all my stories and was very interested.
We had lots of McDonald’s to eat, which was good because Mummy normally didn’t let me eat that food, and Daddy gave me some toys that he had brought with him from England. It was such a happy week.
On one day Daddy went somewhere by plane ( to a big city called Jakarta, I think), but he came back in the evening and played with me before I went to bed. I was worried that he and Mummy would argue again, but actually they didn’t. They did talk to each other quite a lot, but they always talked quietly and seriously without any shouting, and I was pleased about that. Um Ritchie wasn’t there very much for that week.
Quickly it was Daddy’s last day in Indonesia and I became sad again. I tried not to cry because I remembered that Daddy said I had to be a brave girl and then I could come to England soon, but it was very, very difficult. I think it was difficult for Daddy too, because he cuddled me and he cried a bit. This made me cry a bit, too.
Then Daddy spoke to Mummy.
He told her he had made a decision and he was going to come back to live in Indonesia. Mummy looked a bit surprised and asked Daddy why. Daddy just said it was too hard to leave us again and he didn’t want us to live apart anymore. Mummy didn’t really say anything very much then, but I was so delighted. I asked if this meant that Daddy was not going to go back to England today, but Daddy said he still he had to go but he would be back very soon. When I asked him how soon, he said it would be just one month. Well, that still sounded like a long time to me, but Daddy explained it wasn’t really and it would soon go quickly. Daddy said he wasn’t sure if we would live in Surabaya or in Jakarta but he would know soon and then tell us. Again, Mummy didn’t say much.
So, we all went back to the airport. Again. And we all said goodbye. Again. And we were all sad. Again.
Soon, though, things got better. I knew my daddy was coming back to live with us in a short while even if I didn’t know where exactly. Mummy was still a bit quiet for a few days after Daddy left and she seemed to talk often with Um Ritchie about grown-up things during this time. They both looked a bit sad and not really excited like I was about Daddy coming back to live with us and I didn’t know why, but after a week or two they seemed to be happier and they told me they were looking forward to living with Daddy and me in Jakarta.
I didn’t really know much about Jakarta except that it was another city in Indonesia and that it was quite a long way from Sidoarjo and Surabaya. Mummy told me that Daddy had decided to take a new job there and so we would all move together and we would all be happy together again. This was all I ever wanted to hear, and I started looking forward to it right away, but Mummy told me I had to finish my kindergarten in Surabaya and then we would move to Jakarta in time for me to start primary school. In the meantime, she explained, Daddy would go to Jakarta and start his new job. Well, I told Mummy that all of this just sounded the same as before, Daddy still wouldn’t be living with us. I told Mummy I was not happy at all about this idea but she explained that it was different because now at least Daddy was in the same country and we could see each other more often. Mummy said we could go to Jakarta and see Daddy and also that Daddy would come to see us in Sidoarjo.
Well, this made me feel a bit better, and a short while later we got on another plane and went to see Daddy. This time it was only Mummy and me that went on the plane and Um Ritchie didn’t come with us. I think I was more excited when we got on this plane, because I knew that not only was the journey going to be fun, but at the end of it my daddy would be waiting for me. When we landed I was right. There was my dad! It was his turn to wait outside in the hot weather but he told me he didn’t mind and now we were going to have lots of fun again.
Daddy was staying in his own house and it was a bit bigger than our house in Sidoarjo. When I came inside it, the first thing I saw was the pictures Mummy and me had sent to him when he was in England. Daddy had put them up on display in his living room. He had also made a bedroom ready for me, and
