Chapter 30 Chapter Twenty Seven

Chapter Twenty Seven

' "I love you" was a lie, he didn't know yet but they were going to make him see the truth'

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March,

Mayfair Residence,

South Africa.

Amanda Mayfair

Maternity and childbirth wasn't new to her. Once upon a time, she'd held a little life close to her bosom. She'd sobbed staring at the scrunched up, pink and angry face of a tiny human.

She'd stared into the wide innocent eyes filled with unfettered trust and felt her heart flood with boundless love.

Hadn't she promised to be the best mother a child would have once upon a time, had she failed?

No! Whatever she'd done,  she'd done it because she loved her child, because she wanted to protect and shield her child from the darkness.

Kadin.....

She always thought of Jemila, whatever she had done and what she was doing was to protect the ones she loved.

At least, Halima and Jemila were safe from Kadin....that alone justified everything she'd done.

It was at exactly 2 AM in the morning on the 28th day of March that the doctor placed another infant in her arms. Another life that was solely dependent on her.

A little girl....this one was much quiet than the first, she mused staring at the plain face of the infant.

"Oh my God, look at what we made" It wasn't until Denola spoke that she remembered he was beside her.

That he'd wheeled her into hospital, that he'd held her hand through out the delivery, whispering sweet nothings to her ears just to distract her from the pain she was feeling.

"She's beautiful...." Amanda said getting teary eyed.

Denola smiled and kissed her forehead "Thank you" he murmured. She wanted to tell him that it was she who needed to thank him.

For everything he'd done for her since she laid eyes on him.

He'd given her a home, a family and finally this gift.

"She has your cute nose" Denola chuckled playing with the tiny pink fingers of their baby.

"She may have some of my features but it's quite obvious who she's going to take after" Amanda said sniffling.

"Damn right! I do hope she has your feisty spirit though. It will help to keep the boys away" Denola said grinning.

Amanda rolled her eyes "Sweetheart, she's barely an hour old. You still have a couple more years before you start playing macho father and keeping the boys away" Amanda said and the little one opened her mouth to bless their ears with her first cry.

"Did we do something wrong?" Denola asked a little alarmed, he didn't know a lot about the newborn baby business.

He had been very little when Jadesola was born and besides he never spent a lot of time with her. Jadesola had been looked after by the nanny and away from him till she was old enough to walk and play with him.

Amanda on the other hand was not new to this so she simply smiled. "Our daughter is hungry, stop panicking" she said to Denola whose primary concern was their daughter's welfare.

"Right...where is the silly nurse who is supposed to teach you how to...." he was saying when Amanda shushed him.

"I got this" she snapped and cradled the baby in her arms. In a few seconds, their daughter had latched on to her breast and was sucking noisily.

Denola smiled affectionately. "Good thing you're a natural" He said.

Amanda looked up at him and smiled weakly.

He had no idea and she wasn't looking forward to the day she would have to tell him the truth.

He didn't know that before their beautiful daughter, she was already a mother.

That she too had been clueless when she held her first baby in her arms.

That she'd learnt everything herself because she was determined to raise her daughter without anybody's help.

"D...what are we going to name her?" Amanda asked looking at her daughter again.

When she was pregnant, they'd talked about baby names but they hadn't decided on any.

"Well she'll have a lot of names that's for sure because Dame, mother and Jadesola would want to give her names too but one thing is certain. She's going to have an English name, a Yoruba name and an Igbo name" Denola responded.

Amanda paled. She was supposed to be Igbo, of course Denola would suggest something to honor her roots.

"No,  I actually don't want the Igbo name. And I don't mind the English name but it won't be her first name" Amanda said.

Denola didn't ask why she was objecting an Igbo name, it wasn't rocket science that Amanda wanted nothing to do with her roots.

"Alright, then her first name will be the Yoruba name" Denola decided.

Amanda shook her head, she hadn't discussed anything with Denola but right from the very moment she found out she was pregnant, she already knew what her daughter's name would be.

"What then?" Denola asked watching his wife and daughter.

"Kamila...." she murmured watching her daughter who had stopped sucking and was looking at her with unseeing eyes.

She had wanted her first child to be Kamila when she was pregnant with Jemila but when she finally had Jemila the name had felt wrong because of the situation she'd been in then.

However, with Denola, it was perfect.

"Camila?" Denola repeated skeptically. "isn't that Spanish or Italian?" he asked.

"Kamila with the K not the C. It's an Islamic name" Amanda responded.

Denola's brows furrowed. "Honey, wouldn't it be odd to give our daughter an Islamic name? We're Christians first and foremost. Secondly, I don't think the family will support that" Denola said.

Amanda rolled her eyes "Why must we always seek your family's approval for everything. God I'm so sick of it Denola Mayfair, We're Kamila's parents. No one else, just the two of us" She hissed.

Denola sighed "She isn't just our child,  she's my mother and father's grandchild and also my grandmother's great-grandchild" Denola said not in the mood for a disagreement.

Amanda pursed her lips in displeasure. "Kamila means Complete and that's how I feel right now. Kamila will be her first name" Amanda said with a note of finality.

Denola nodded "Alright, you know I'm in for anything you decide. Give me a few minutes, let me go out and call home to tell them of Kamila's arrival" Denola said kissing the top of her head before leaving.

Amanda smiled at his retreating form before turning to the baby. Kamila was the answer to her problems. She could already tell that Kamila would be Denola's control button.

*

*

*

Abuja

Kadin's Residence.

Kadin.

Kadin watched his daughter paint her doll's hair with serious concentration. It didn't even matter that she'd stained her dress or her face, Jemila was determined to get Blondie's hair pink.

He knew he should step in and stop her but he couldn't. After Hassana, his other weakness was Jemila.

He turned to Aliu. "She's growing up really fast, I wonder when she'll stop believing that cock and bull story we told her about her mother" Kadin murmured.

Aliu placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That's a long time from now, we'll find her before then. But then, have you ever thought of what you would do when you find her?" Aliu asked.

Kadin gritted his teeth "If we didn't have a daughter or I wasn't in love with the stupid woman, Allah knows I would kill her with my bare hands. Make her regret leaving me in first place" He swore.

Jemila looked up from her doll upon hearing her father's upset voice

"Daddy, what did you say?" she asked innocently.

Kadin smiled at her "Keep painting Millie" He said and turned to look Aliu in the eyes.

"When I find her, I don't know what I'll do to her but one thing is certain. She won't be leaving again, I will use everything in my arsenal to make sure she stays" Kadin said.

Aliu nodded and was about to speak when Hajiya entered the room. She looked at her son,  her lips pursed and her eyes cold.

"What's the matter?" Kadin asked.

"Your in-laws are here" She scowled.

Kadin sighed exasperated "What do they want again, didn't you send them their cheque this month?" Kadin asked Aliu.

He hated dealing with Hassana's parents, they were two gold digging and desperate people who didn't mind selling their children for change.

"I tried to send them away but they've refused to leave, insisting that they need to talk to you about Hassana" Hajiya said.

Kadin nodded and turned to Aliu. "Let's go, stay with Jemila. I'll be back in a few minutes" Kadin said before leaving the room.

Hassana's parents were in the guest quarters, they were speaking like conspirators when he entered the room.

Immediately they saw him, they stopped and stood immediately.

"Kadin....we're so grateful that you agreed to see us. How are you and how is Jemila?" they asked immediately.

Kadin grimaced "Alhaji, Alhaja please cut to the chase. What do you want?" Kadin asked sitting down opposite them.

The couple looked at each other before turning back to Kadin. "We got a phone call yesterday, it was concerning Hassana" Alhaja said.

Kadin frowned and sat up immediately. "If I find out that whatever you'll say here today is a lie,  there will be consequences" Kadin said.

Alhaji shook his head and took out his phone from his pocket. "We swear, we are telling you the truth. A lady called us yesterday and told us she would like to invite us to come and see our daughter Hassana" Alhaji said handing Kadin the phone to show proof of his call records.

As if seeing a strange number in his call log proved anything.

"Where?" Kadin asked.

"In Lagos" Alhaja responded.

Kadin laughed "That's impossible, we've combed through Lagos and there's no trace of Hassana there!" Kadin shouted.

"She's..she's...she's....not there now...but the lady said she'd be there in a couple of days" Alhaji said.

"What nonsense are you saying?" Kadin yelled at them.

"The lady said Hassana was her sister in-law and that she went to South Africa to have a baby" Alhaja said.

Kadin paled immediately, not once did he ever consider that Hassana would remarry or have another child!

How could she? She was still married to him!

"That's impossible" Kadin murmured.

"Well...we can't rule that out yet" Aliu said. "Give us the number and we'll handle the communication from now  on" He said.

"The lady said she'll talk to nobody but us and that we had to promise not to tell anyone else but Kadin we are loyal to you so we had to come to you immediately" Alhaji smiled.

Kadin cleared his throat "Very well then, you'll be living here till further notice. I will be present in this room every time the lady calls, we will get to the bottom of this" Kadin said.

Alhaja and Alhaji nodded as Kadin stood up.

He turned to Aliu. "Write them a cheque and send someone over to their house to get a few of their things. They will be here for a few days" Kadin instructed.

Turning back to his in-laws "While you're here, you better stay away from Jemila. She doesn't need baggage in her life, it's best if she didn't know you two as grandparents" Kadin said walking out of the room.

Aliu cleared his throat "Please make a list of everything you'd need from your house, I'll send someone to pick it up in a few minutes" He responded and left the room.

*

*

Amanda had just put Kamila to sleep when Denola walked into the nursery.

"I don't feel comfortable with her sleeping alone here, are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Denola murmured.

Amanda chuckled "Oh please, what's the worst that could happen. There's a baby monitor and the nursery is in the adjoining room. She's fine" Amanda said.

"She's just four days old, she's still too little. I think she should sleep with us till she's at least two months old" Denola suggested.

Amanda groaned "You'll get over it, now shhhh.....let's go before you wake her up" Amanda said walking out of the room.

Denola followed "Your phone rang while you were nursing but I didn't want to interrupt you" Denola informed.

"Who called?" Amanda asked. She knew Denola wouldn't answer her calls, not when they had argued about her privacy policy several times and her phone had a password lock anyway.

"Hassana" Denola replied prompting a shocked look from Amanda.

"What?" she asked alarmed.

"Hassana called, is everything okay?" Denola asked worried when he saw her expression.

Amanda sighed "Yes, I'm just surprised. It's my friend in Jos, I'm just surprised she's phoning me now. We haven't spoken in a while" Amanda lied.

Denola nodded "Alright, I'll go fix myself a sandwich. Do you want some?" Denola asked.

Amanda smiled "Yes but can the sandwich wait?" Amanda asked.

Denola frowned "Why?" he asked.

Amanda sighed "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about....Denola I think...I think...I'm considering relocating to Canada" Amanda said.

"Wh..What?" Denola stuttered.

Amanda took in a deep breath "With or Without you and I'm taking my daughter with me" she said.

She hit the nail on the head, better now than later.