We agreed that I could come over to the house in two weeks. But it would be subject to how fast his wife approves for him to bring us to the house. And that’s the part I dislike so much. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t understand how or why we have to wait till his wife approves for us to come over, did he not build the house himself? Is he not the head of the family? Or, rather, since there have not been children to bless the marriage with, it’s just the two of them, is he not the husband and she, the wife?
But I kept my cool. It’s not in my place to dictate how they run the home, it only becomes a problem to me when they begin to make things difficult for me with the way the decisions they take together. It was a week after that MD told me he had informed her and that she was okay with the idea of me and Junior coming over to the house.
“And she’s okay with having us stay for a few days as well?” I asked her, curious to hear what his response would be.
“Stay for a few days?” he’d thrown back at me. “To be honest, I did not discuss that with her,” he responded.
“But, why, MD?” I asked, already angry. “Wasn’t that part of what we discussed?
“To be honest, Anita, I didn’t even remember we talked about you guys staying over for a few days….” He was explaining. But I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t even listening to him anymore. I was too upset to.
“Anita, you’re not saying anything, are you angry?” he asked.
“Why won’t I?” I shot back at him. “That’s not what we discussed, was it?”
“Calm down, young lady,” he said to me. “That shouldn’t be a problem. I will talk to her and let her know that you guys will be spending a few days at the house. So, is that all or is there something else you would like me to tell her again?” he asked with mischief in his voice. Of course, he knew that was the only thing I wanted him to do for me.
I smiled. He knew I was not entirely satisfied but I just had to let it go for now. It’s up to him to ensure he gets his wife to be willing to accommodate me and my son in his father’s house for a short while.
The following week, we were finally ready. It was a Saturday. MD had arranged for his driver to come over to the house to pick me and Junior up. By 10 o’clock in the morning, we were up and ready waiting for the driver. The driver appeared and promptly we got into the car and headed to my husband’s, or better still, the father of my son’s house.
His house was tucked in one of the high brow areas of Ikoyi, Lagos Island. I had never seen such array of magnificent houses before. I had heard so much about Ikoyi before but had never been there. It was like being in a part of Europe. This got me even more curious as to what MD’s house would look like. I was not disappointed. It was a house befitting of a man of his status. By the time we got inside the magnificent house, I found that it wasn’t just MD and his wife, Aunty Elizabeth that were waiting for us, there was a full house…..
The interior décor of MD’s house was breath-taking. It looked like one of those posh apartments you see in foreign magazines. The giant–sized television set sitting comfortably on the shimmering polished shelf and the exotic furniture that I was sure were imported plus the colourful drapes all added to give the house a paradise on earth look. But I could not settle down well enough take in the entire beauty of the house the way I would’ve loved because of the full house I met waiting for me.
I didn’t expect to meet the people I met. The arrangement was simply for me to take my son to his father’s house and spend time there before we return home. There were about seven new faces in the living room, all of them gazing at me and Junior. There were five women and two men, all of them fairly elderly. I greeted everyone with a slight bow.
“You’re welcome our daughter, please, come inside, let our son come and greet us,” one of them said as the others responded to my greeting beaming with smiles.
“She is a very beautiful wife,” one of the two men said.
“You know our brother has taste for pretty women,” the other man said and they both laughed. They both seemed fairly older than MD so I figured they must be his elder siblings.
“How are you, my dear?” Aunty Elizabeth hugged me.
“I’m fine, thank you, ma,” I replied, trying to quickly comport myself and get acquainted with the situation around me.
“I’m sure you’re a little surprised to find a full house here,” MD offered to answer the question that had been on my mind the moment I stepped into the house.
“These are members of my family, my elder sisters and brothers, “he introduced them. “When I mentioned that you were going to be here with Junior, they decided it was time they get to meet you and my son, so that’s why they are here,” he explained.
They were all excited to see my son. He looked really fine, like his dad and very healthy looking too.
“See how he resembles his father with everything, from the shape of his head to his face and the way he walks, everything is like his father!” the man that seemed like the eldest said.
“How have you been, our wife?” the man said to me.
“Fine, thank you, sir,” I answered, bracing myself up for more questions. I was sure they didn’t just come to see my face and that of their son, they also came to talk to me.
“How about your parents, hope they’re fine too?” one of the women asked.
“My mother is fine, ma, but my father is late,” I returned.
“So sorry about that,” they said to me.
“I can see that you and Elizabeth, the woman of the house have met before now, am I correct?” the man continued.
I nodded. “Yes, sir,” I answered.
“I know you already can see that she is a very good woman. She has accepted you into the family without any problem,” he began his sermon. “I’m sure you must consider yourself lucky for having her as the woman of the house, otherwise, if it were some other women, we will not be able to meet here peacefully like this. So, you must not see her as your rival but as your big Aunty,” he added.
“Now, the question I will like to ask you is this, do you want to marry MD or you just want to be the mother of his child or children if God gives you more?”
…to be continued
