Karmanami Series

Just Like Her

When the baby was born, Karma was baffled because the baby looked just like him – red-haired and a pair of mercury eyes when he blinked before bawling his eyes out. Karma cooed him with lullaby to make him sleep while silently thanking his wife for giving this valuable gift.

He gave her a chaste kiss while the small baby in his cradle slowly drifted back into sleep. He was aware of his reddened face when she told him he was cute while holding the baby. He merely scoffed at her compliment.

Then, a sudden thought clicked on Karma's mind one day. Those pair of eyes which belongs to the baby were much softer than glimmering with hint of mischief like him despite being a duplicate of him. Even his face brings peace to Karma whenever he felt this urge to give people a hard time like he used to be back in the old days.

Finally, they named the baby Dharma after crossing every single name on the list they made prior when Okuda found out she was pregnant. The name rhyme to his name or so he concluded after bribing her with self-made tickets for her birthday.

To take care of Dharma was such an easy task. He didn't cause much trouble to any of them – much to his relief but Okuda was wondering if he understood that his parents were tired from a long day at workplace and Karma had to add that Dharma is an independent boy just like him.

She laughed happily.

/

Karma loved Dharma even more for each day and Okuda almost never forgot to shower his face with kisses every morning before both of them send him to the day care center. Karma swore he would rather going back home early to pick his son from day care center than hearing complaints from his boss.

One day, their old classmates came to visit them to see their newborn baby. Sugino said that Dharma didn't even crack a smile at his attempt in making weird faces and Kayano even failed to make him laugh by playing peek-a-boo.

They complaint he was hard to please baby causing both of them to laugh over that matter. Karma told them he must be inherited that trait from him; much to their dismay and hoping he didn't grow up to be like him or the world is going to end soon.

Karma glanced at Dharma who was snoring softly on his small mattress. His lips curved upward. Oh, he was only smiling around both of them.

The one time Karma knew he has a dimple on his left cheek when both of them picked him up at his daycare after work one day. Karma was there - witnessed it and can't help but to capture those moment before framed it on his office.

Dharma turned six and he looked even more like him. Even Nagisa was taken aback with their similarities when he came to visit him but Karma reassured him he was more like his mother – a gentle person and like Science more than anyone else.

When Karma caught a cold after running over the pouring rain, Okuda had to go to work outstation on that day without anyone else to cover her so she instructed Dharma to take care of him. He obliged her order with no complaints.

After heading home from school, Dharma went to the kitchen and warming a bowl of porridge in the oven. He even prepared a medicine and plain water on the tray before bringing it over to Karma's room. He greeted his father who is lying helplessly on the bed.

He changed the towel on his father's forehead and requested nicely to eat the porridge and medicine. While Karma was doing so, Dharma took a seat on the edge of bed before rambling about what happened at school and how he got an A+ for his science experiment. He even informed Karma on how he got praised for helping his friends in understanding Science in simple way.

Karma finished his meal while listening to him at the same time. Occasionally, he said one, two thing before completely silence because in this state, even a small talk took all his energy. Watching his son brighten face makes him forgot momentarily about his sickness. He reminded him of Okuda with his brightness when explaining his favorite subject.

Karma wondered if they are going to have another child which he didn't even discuss with Okuda yet –would the baby acted like him instead. He was looking forward for it.

His question was answered later when she got pregnant with their second child. This time, it was a reincarnation of Okuda but her behavior was more like him; naughty and a prankster to the bone.