Written by Sonia Okehie Unwavering Faith

[Unwavering Faith (episode 1)

Have you ever believed so strongly on something and never doubted the manifestation of that thing even when your present reality didn’t give hope to that thing ever coming to past? Have you ever wanted something so bad that you did everything in your power to get it but all to no avail? Well, if yes! Then I guess you’ll be able to understand the plight of a certain lady called ‘Susan’.

It’s been over five (5) years since Susan got married to the love of her life ‘Raymond’. Things were perfect and blissful in the first two years of their marital life but suddenly changed at the end of the 2nd year, due to the absence of a child in their union.

Initially, they cared less and weren’t giving their childlessness any serious attention or thoughts. However, things changed after the 2nd year as pressure started coming from every angle. Raymond’s parents suddenly became cold towards Susan and didn’t hesitate in showing her that they wanted to hear the cry of a baby in their son’s house. Despite all the pressure and threats from family members; especially Raymond’s parents, the two lovebirds still stood strong and weathered the storms together.

Due to the sudden pressure from family members and the couple’s concern about their inability to conceive, they consulted numerous fertility specialist to seek for solutions but always heard one thing which was; “There’s nothing wrong with your wife, just monitor the time when she’s ovulating and make love more often during that period”. This was the popular anthem of all the specialist and doctors Susan and Raymond consulted as regards their situation.

Years went by and they were still trying and trying and trying. Before the 5th year, Susan had tried over three IVF’s but still wasn’t able to conceive. Each IVF cost a lot of money but these desperate couple were ready to do just anything to have a child of their own. At that time, Raymond was already getting fade up of the whole situation and started seeing Susan less attractive than she was. He stayed out late after work everyday and barely ate her food.

At first, Susan thought it was her husband’s way of venting out his anger of their situation but later became extremely concerned when Raymond’s attitude lingered for a long time. Most nights, he wouldn’t touch her despite any advances she made to turn him on. The truth of the matter was that Raymond was tired of her and wasn’t excited about their union as a couple anymore. “Could he be cheating on me or probably have a mistress?” Susan wondered day in day out without any answer to her numerous disturbing questions.

While Susan’s marriage was gradually hitting the rocks, Raymond’s parents didn’t help matters as his mum was constantly persuading her son to take in another wife; of which he disagreed initially but suddenly started considering.

Everyday was like a nightmare to Susan because she could hardly get through each day without her in-laws and husband reminding her of her predicament. Life made no sense to her anymore and the fact that three IVF’s failed made her more insecure and scared of what could be her fate. But despite everything Susan was going through, she never gave up the hope of holding her own child someday.

The childless situation of the couple eventually became obvious and the topic for gossips among friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances. Susan no longer glowed like she used to when she initially got married. The pressure from family, friends and society was taking a toll on her and it made her break down in tears at any given opportunity. She decided to see a counsellor occasionally, just so she can have someone to talk to so as not to lose her mind and also someone that wouldn’t judge her.

While Susan was trying not to fall apart, Raymond was busy seeing someone else. Apparently, there was this lady he met at an official gathering. The lady’s name in question was Venita; she was hot, classy, and sexy. Everything a man would ever want in a woman was in Venita. When they first met, it was more like a love at first sight thing because their desire and attractiveness for each other just sparked.

From the moment Raymond met Venita, his love for Susan started fading despite how hard he tried to ignite his love for his wife. Just so you know, Raymond didn’t want to cheat on his wife with Venita initially, but things changed when he started falling deeply in love with Venita due to her prowess when it comes to handling men.

Raymond’s love for his wife was founded on condition because if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t be misbehaving and cheating on his beloved wife simply because of the absence of a baby in their union. I guess he would have stayed faithful to Susan if they had a child together, but sadly that wasn’t the case.

Deep down in Susan’s heart, she knew her husband was cheating on her but didn’t have the strength to investigate or stalk him to confirm her fears; as the only thing of concern to her was to have a child. Well, just when we thought things had gone bad, it became even worst. Apparently, Raymond got sexually involved with Venita and she got pregnant.

One month after they made love, Venita was confirmed pregnant and the news was broken to Raymond. Oh! What a joyful and happy day it was indeed for the young man that had been searching for a child with Susan for over 5 years. “I said it, I said it that something was wrong with that woman but you didn’t listen to me, now see; one touch and this fine beauty have given us a grandchild” Raymond’s mother said when he broke the news to her.

Raymond begged his mum not to tell Susan anything about Venita or the baby but she refused. “That woman must leave that house immediately, how can a barren woman be occupying a house that the fertile mother of my grand child should be occupying” his mum flared. After persuading his mum by telling her that he already bought another house for Venita to live peacefully with their son, Raymond’s mum calmed down and promised not to say a thing to Susan.

While there was joy and jubilation in the new finer house Raymond bought for his mistress, Susan was soaking her pillow with tears and wondering why her husband wasn’t back from work for over three days. Too sad she wasn’t even aware that her husband was now a proud father of a bouncing baby boy and was celebrating with family and friend’s at a new house he just bought for another woman. Heartbreaking indeed!

Days went by without Susan hearing from Raymond, not even a phone call. She went to work each day sad and cried most of the time. Her friends who were near came around occasionally to console her and assure her that everything was going to be alright. Well, no secret can be hidden forever and so was that of Raymond.

One fateful evening, Raymond returned home and tiredly took his shower and retired to bed without even communicating with his wife or touching her. Susan sighed and covered him with the duvet on their bed as she went about doing the necessary things she had to do that night. When she was done tiding the house, she took her bath and laid beside her husband on the bed.

As Susan was about to sleep, Raymond’s phone beeped continuously and she curiously picked it up to see who was sending numerous messages to her husband at that time of the day. Unfortunately, his phone was on lock so she put it down and laid back on the bed. As she laid on the bed, her mind kept disturbing and directing her to check her husband’s phone. After fighting with the thoughts in her head but all to no avail, she picked up the phone again and gently reached for her husband’s finger to unlock the phone.

Luckily, Raymond didn’t notice anything as he was fast asleep. When the phone opened, Susan scrolled through his WhatsApp messages and the first one caught her attention. Immediately she opened it, her heart almost dropped with what the person sent. It read; “Here’s a collage photo of our son since when he was still in my tummy, I love you baby and ensure to buy cookies when coming tomorrow”.

With shaky hands, Susan opened the photo that was sent and it was a collection of pictures right from the first pregnancy scan photo of the baby.

Susan almost collapsed as she looked at the photo. Tears started dropping uncontrollable from her eyes as she just sat there looking at the photo of a child that was supposedly her husband’s own. Raymond heard her sobbing and woke up only to see Susan with his phone. Devastated and broken, she asked; “Is this the for better and for worst you promised me?”.

Caught in the act, Raymond sat up and said, “Our marriage was over a long time ago, I’m sorry”.

End of episode 1 😉

Stay tuned tomorrow to see what happened next.

: Unwavering Faith (episode 2)

There’s nothing as heartbreaking as hearing a person you love tell you to your face that they don’t have feelings for you anymore, talk more of your own husband who promised to love you through thick and thin. It’s quite sad that people don’t see the need to work their relationships out when there’s an issue or to be patient with their partner through trying times; they rather just take the easy way out by quitting the relationship and moving onto the next available person.

It was quite unfortunate that Raymond gave up on his love for his dear wife and even went as far as having a child with his mistress, simply because God hadn’t answered Susan’s cry for a child yet. The most confusing thing in the whole situation was that Vetina got pregnant in just few months of meeting and being in an extra marital affair with Raymond, which brings Raymond’s family and himself into the conclusion that something was definitely wrong with Susan; thereby resulting to her inability to conceive and bear a child.

Finally, the cat was let out of the bag and Susan was now aware of the little secret Raymond and his parents had been hiding from her. She was still finding it extremely difficult to digest the shock of her husband’s extra marital affair with another woman which led to the birth of a child and there he was, confessing to her that he didn’t love her anymore.

At that moment, Susan was utterly devastated and could hardly breath. “What do you mean by our marriage was over a long time ago? Who ended it?” she curiously asked with tears dripping from her eyes, “When last did I touch you?” Raymond enquired looking right into her eyes, “I don’t know, I guess it’s been 6 months” Susan replied sobbing. While she sobbed, Raymond took his phone from her hand and cleaned the tears from her eyes; “I’m glad you were able to remember when last I had any intimate thing to do with you. I tried to be strong and weather the storms of this marriage but I figured out that I just couldn’t continue anymore. It’s been 5 years we have been married but no child yet, what do you expect me to do? Sit around till old age catches up with me and then we finally adopt a child that isn’t mine? I waited with you for a miracle but non was forth coming and as human as I am, I became tired and couldn’t continue holding unto a marriage that had already hit the rocks. I’m not saying I want a divorce yet and I don’t even know it I want a divorce at all. I’m willing to still be tagged as your husband just so I don’t bring shame to you and your family. And yes! I’m a proud father of a bouncing baby boy and I’m planning on doing the marital rites of the mother to my son so he can fully be mine. All these while, I thought that maybe I was the reason for your infertility but was proven wrong by the mother of my new born. I’m sorry if you are hurt but it is what it is” He coldly said.

While Raymond spoke, Susan died and resurrected multiply times. Everything still felt like a bad dream and was hard for her to digest. For some strange reasons, Susan felt insure about her right to get mad at her husband for what he had done. For crying out loud, he cheated on her and deserved a taste of her wrath but for some weird reasons, she felt she didn’t have the right to react; maybe because he got something he had always wanted from another woman in a short time of knowing her, while they had been trying as a couple for good five (5) years to get same thing.

At that moment, Susan felt less of a woman and that insecurity made her weaker. After being mute for a while, she finally summoned the strength to speak. “I trusted you with all my heart and this is how you pay me back, by making me subject to mockery and disgrace? What happened to that unwavering faith we had concerning the birth of our own child? Why did your faith waver at the slightest crisis that hit our marriage? Even the doctors have attested that there’s nothing wrong with my reproductive organs and that our child will come in due time, don’t you think if there was anything shady I did in the past that might have damaged my womb, the doctors wouldn’t have known? Now I look like the bad person in this marriage simply because someone else was able to conceive for you in a short period of time. Don’t you know that as our faces are different, so are our destinies and timing? Why have you decided to give up on the Love we had and shared? I don’t deserve this Raymond, I don’t” She said with tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes.

Unfortunately for Susan, it was too late to cry because Raymond really cared less and wasn’t that in love with her as she thought. All that was going on in his mind at that moment was for the next day to reach so he could zoom out to his peaceful haven; which was Venita’s house that contained his son. What a hunting experience indeed for any lady to have to go through the trauma Susan had to go through that day. Before she knew it, he got up and walked out on her. He headed for the living room and laid on one of the couch to sleep.

When Raymond left, Susan burst into tears and followed him to the living room. “Where are you going to? So you just want to leave me like that huh?” she said, “I didn’t say I was quitting the marriage unless you want me to?” he asked and she cried even more. “Why did you cheat on me? Am I now less of a human because I don’t have a child yet, why will you do what you did without even considering my feelings and how devastated I would be? Who made you God over my womb that warranted you to rule me out and declare me childless just because your mistress got pregnant for you in a short while. One thing I am sure is that this isn’t the man that promised to always be by my side. After all I did for you and how we suffered together to build this wealth and name we now have today, how could you do this to me” She said sobbing.

As the atmosphere got heated, Raymond saw that Susan wasn’t ready to calm down anytime soon so he quickly grabbed his car key and zoomed out of the house without telling her where he was going to. Immediately he drove off, Susan raised her hands and placed them on her head as she burst into tears. She cried bitterly as someone whose loved one just passed away. The shock was just too much for her to bear as everything was happening too fast and impossible for her to grasp at a time. Her whole world seemed to be coming to an instant end and it was quite unfortunate that everyone was against her, with no one for her to pour out her pain to.

While Susan was crying her eyes out, Raymond was on his way to Venita’s house. When he arrived, the gateman opened the gate for him to enter inside. At that time, everyone was fast asleep so he joined them and laid gently on the bed. Venita noticed his presence and was more than happy to see him, as she thought he would be away that night.

“Baby, you are here, I thought we weren’t going to see you again till tomorrow” Venita gently asked, ‘Nothing, I just couldn’t stay another minute in that house with my wife, she is trouble and now knows about you and my son because she saw the text you sent to me. Why did you text me at such hour knowing that I would be home and that Susan will probably be around?” Raymond angrily replied.

At that moment, Venita was aware that Raymond was angry with her so she began to seek for ways to calm him down. “Baby I’m sorry, I just missed you and also wanted to show you the pictures of our baby. Besides, I’m happy your wife now knows about us so we can come out of hiding. I mean, if you are no longer interested in the marriage, why not file for a divorce so you can now focus on our own family. Close every chapter of her and let her go so you wouldn’t be as worked up like this again. Now come here my baby and give mama a kiss” She said.

If there was one thing Venita was extremely good at, it was her power to use words. She was so good with words and could capture the heart of anyone she used that technique on. Raymond was a baby in her palms and she had him any day any time. He sheepishly moved closer to her and laid on her chest till they slept off. The sad thing was that Venita had succeeded in planting the ‘Divorce option’ seed in his mind that night.

The next day, Susan alerted her parents on the latest development concerning Raymond and his extra marital affairs. With immediate effect, her mum contacted Raymond’s parents to report what their daughter told them, only for his parents to acknowledged Venita and her baby as their son’s new wife and grand child.

Just imagine for one second how Susan’s parents felt knowing that Raymond’s family were already aware of Venita and had even started referring to her as their in-law. When Susan got to hear about this, she cried her eyes out the more, knowing that his parents weren’t siding her and didn’t care how she felt as regards the matter. The one thing that shattered Susan’s heart was the fact that Raymond’s parents had already accepted the lady and child as family.

The whole world seemed to be coming to an instant end and Susan couldn’t take it any longer. She started contemplating of committing suicide but felt it was a coward thing to do. She called Raymond continuously that day but he wasn’t picking up. She held herself from totally losing it and waited for him to return home. Days passed and there was still no trace of Raymond. Susan had slimed down due to the crying and excess thinking she had been doing.

Unfortunately, Raymond returned one evening to get some of his clothes. When Susan saw him, she pounced on him and started crying and telling him to kill her. Initially, he ignored her and went straight to his wardrobe to get few of his clothes but she didn’t leave him either. “You must kill me today; after all I have suffered for you. You must kill me because I’m already as good as dead” she said as she cried.

Things began to blow out of proportion and Raymond mistakenly pushed her so he could pass through the living room. Unfortunately, he pushed her so hard that she hit her waist on the sharp edge of one of the couches.

Before Raymond knew it, Susan completely blacked out!

End of episode 2 😉

Stay tuned tomorrow to see what happened next.

Unwavering Faith (episode 3)

Life is filled with so many unpleasant uncertainties that has the ability to make a person wonder if God have forsaken them or not. That moment when it feels like the whole world is against you; where you have no one to run to and certainly no one that has your back. This was the exact way Susan felt when she realised that Raymond’s parents were in support of his extra marital affairs and have wholeheartedly accepted his mistress child as their own. There’s no pain as hurtful as the one inflicted on a person by their loved ones and family members because these are the set of people that are supposed to have your utmost interest and welfare at heart at all times. It’s so sad that the one man Susan loved with all her heart, was the cause of her pain.

After the incident that led to Susan’s unconsciousness, Raymond tried to revive her the way he could but all to no avail. Great fear overshadowed him as he watched his wife lie lifelessly on the cold floor. “Susan! Susan!” he screamed but she wasn’t showing any sign of revival. When Raymond figured that things had gone out of hand because Susan wasn’t responding to his calls, he carried her to his car and speedily drove off to the nearest hospital in sight.

After about 10 minutes of driving, they arrived at a hospital not far from their house. Raymond hurriedly carried his wife on his hands and headed towards the emergency ward that was clearly in sight. Immediately he entered inside the ward, he alarmed the nurses and doctor on duty that night to help attend to Susan. Without wasting time, the nurses instructed him to lay her on the bed so they could commence treatment on her.

In no time, the nurses started administering treatment on Susan and told Raymond to wait at the reception. Unfortunately, he couldn’t wait because he had to go over to Venita’s house that night, as he wanted to be with his son. What an unreasonable man Raymond was; so he would rather go to stay with his mistress for the night with the excuse that he wanted to be with his son, than stay with his unconscious wife who was seriously battling with her life in the emergency ward. Too bad!

“It’s best someone is here when she wakes up” one of the nurses said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be here tomorrow and will also inform her parents about the incident” Raymond said. Before he left, he deposited some money for Susan’s treatment and told them that he would complete the bill the next day after they might have done a full estimate of her debt.

In no time, Raymond left the hospital; leaving his unconscious wife behind. All through that night, Susan battled for her life and all the medical officials that were assigned to her did all they could to revive her that night but she wasn’t responding to treatment. They put her in coma and prayed that she hopefully wakes up the next day. All fingers were crossed as everyone waited for a miracle to happen the following day.

On the other hand, Raymond arrived at his mistress house and pretended as though his wife wasn’t in the hospital fighting for her life because of him. “Where’s my little man?” he asked, “He’s fast asleep” Venita replied smiling as she hugged and kissed him.

The most annoying thing was that Raymond hadn’t even bothered to contact Susan’s parents to inform them of what happened to their daughter, so they could at least go and stay with her at the hospital. The height of unbothered attitude he exhibited after that incident was quite disappointing, considering the fact that Susan was his lawfully wedded wife for Christ sake. One thing I know for sure is that God is too faithful to put his children to shame; he(God) is the best attorney and never loses a case that brings injustice to those that puts their trust in him. Did God allow all these to happen because he has a better plan for Susan? Well, we will find out.

In the early hours of the next day, the doctors came to check up on Susan but she was still unconscious. They gave her some medications and assigned a nurse to check up on her from time to time. At around 10am that same day, a man brought his son that was having high fever. They attended to the child in that same emergency ward Susan was at.

While the treatment was going on, the father of the little boy refused to leave his son and wait at the waiting room despite all the nurses did to separate him from his son. The hospital’s emergency ward is designed in such a way that you can see other people in the ward clearly. The ward only had slight demarcations to distinguish the beds and also a tarpaulin cover that had tyres to enable the nurses cover up the patients lying on each bed.

Due to the way the ward was designed, the man could clearly see part of Susan’s body lying unconscious on the bed directly opposite to his son’s bed. Due to the way she laid down, her wedding ring wasn’t in plain sight so the man felt she was unmarried.

Initially, the little boy’s father paid less attention to Susan and tried to focus on his son that was receiving treatment, but after a while, he figured that he just couldn’t take his mind and eyes off her. After about an hour later, the nurses were able to calm the little boy’s temperature down and put him to sleep. “Sir he has been stabilized and will be better by the time he wakes up” a nurse said, “Thank you very much, I was really scared few hours ago” he replied. The nurse smiled and was about going when he stopped her; “Please, I don’t mean to pry but I’m rather moved to ask if the lady lying over there is alright?” he curiously asked, “Yes she is, it’s just that she’s on coma but might be regaining consciousness anytime soon” the nurse replied. “Too sad, is she with anyone of here alone?” he continued, “I’m on morning duty and wasn’t around when she was brought in so I can’t really tell, all I know for now is that she’s alone” the nurse said and walked away.

After the man’s conversation with the nurse, he was moved to keep an eye on both his son and the lady which was Susan. Few hours later, the boy was totally ok and ready to go home but his dad still had this desire within to wait around a little bit to see if Susan would wake up before he leaves. As God may have it, at around 2pm in the afternoon, Susan came back to her consciousness. When her eyes opened, the first person she saw was the man and he quickly alerted a nurse close by. The nurse came to remove all the machines Susan was connected to.

“Oh thank God, are you ok?” The man asked after the nurse was done, “What happened and who are you?” Susan enquired, “You don’t know me, I brought my son to this ward and was opportune to see you and had to wait around for you to wake up even after we had been cleared and told to go home” he said. When he was done talking Susan smiled faintly; “Do you have a child?” she gently asked and the man replied ‘Yes, “Can I see and touch him?” she continued, “Sure you can” he replied.

The little boy went close to Susan and she sat up and lifted him from the floor to her bed and gave him a warm hug. The sight was very beautiful to behold and it pierced the boy father’s heart. While they hugged, Susan started crying and didn’t know why she was tearing up. “Aunty please stop crying?” the little boy innocently said and Susan smiled in the midst of the tears that fell off her eyes. “Be a good boy ok” she gently said and the boy nodded ‘Yes” and tried to clean the tears from her eyes.

As all this was happening, the boy’s dad just stood back and watched them display affection towards one another. His heart broke as he looked at Susan and he didn’t even know why. It was as he looked further that he was able to spot the wedding ring on her finger. At that moment, it felt like the whole world should just come to an instant end because the reality of the fact that the lady was ‘Taken’ dawned slowly on him. “Oh no!” he quietly muttered as he tried to digest the hard truth of Susan being married.

After few minutes of being lost in the moment, Susan finally released the little boy from her arms. “We have to go now, hope you are ok Mrs?” the man asked and Susan nodded ‘Yes’. Just as they were about to leave, she interrupted; ‘Can I know your name?” She asked, “Williams and you?” he replied, “I’m Susan, how about your son’s name?” she continue, “Oh, he’s Jojo” he said with a smile on his face before leaving.

Immediately they left, loneliness overshadowed Susan again and she broke down in tears. An hour later, Raymond arrived and cleared the hospital bill and took her home. On their way home, there was total silence and no communication. Susan laid back on the car seat and faced her head towards the window direction till they got home.

They arrived at the house in no time and entered inside. Raymond tried to apologize for pushing her but Susan wasn’t ready to listen to anything that came out of his mouth. After staying for a little while, he left and she broke down in tears afterwards. Susan cried bitterly and didn’t know why her life was gradually becoming a sad story. She cried all through the remaining hours of that day and couldn’t eat anything. After crying for a long time, she slept off on the parlour couch.

Life moved on and Susan gradually began to accept the reality of her husband sharing himself with another woman. The truth of the matter was that Venita got most of Raymond’s time, affection and attention, while Susan got what was remaining. Susan lost every pride she had in her home and was just wearing her ring because of what people will say.

Unknowingly to Susan, Venita was fighting extra hard to get her completely out of the way so she could have Raymond all to herself. Well, the worst happened one fateful day.

On that day, Susan returned from work very late and had to stay out late with some of her friends to cool off her head. When she returned home, there was a file on the dinning table which showed that Raymond came around earlier. She opened the file out of curiosity to see what the content was.

One look at the content and Susan held her chest with one of her hand.

Lo & Behold, it was divorce papers already signed by Raymond!

End of episode 3 😉

Stay tuned tomorrow to see what happened next.

Unwavering Faith (episode 5)

Have you ever been in your low moment and just out of nowhere, a breakthrough comes along and restores joy back into your life? A person once said that ‘most of the best things of life happens unexpected’ and I kind of agree to that school of thought concerning life. Just when you have given up all hope about a particular situation, something happens and turns the whole situation around.

If anyone had told Susan that God had better plans for her than what her ex-husband was giving to her, she wouldn’t have believed one bit. All she saw herself as at that point was a barren and divorced women, but I’m highly relieved that God doesn’t seek the validation of men to carry out any action in our lives. Things were about to take a good turn in her life and I doubt she saw any of those things coming.

JoJo’s innocent revelation made Susan blush. Her smile was clearly evident for Williams to see. The way Susan felt at that moment was so good that she wished it would never end. What a sweet and relieving thing indeed to feel that way again; after crying and being bitter for several months.

After the little display of affection between Susan and Jojo, Williams had to cut into their conversation. “Small world indeed, I just kept wondering where I met you and thanks to my son, my guess have been confirmed right. Nice meeting you again” he said and she smiled faintly, “You have a very lovely kid and I’m glad to meet you again too” Susan said.

The first thing Williams noticed as they conversed was the ring that was missing in Susan’s finger; unlike the first time he met her. He kept contemplating if she might have forgotten it at her house or probably got tired of wearing accessories. Out of curiosity he asked more questions just to know a little about her, because at that point she seemed mysterious.

“Why are you here? Did you come to pick your child from school?” Williams inquired, “Oh no! I’m just helping my friend pick her son cause she had an urgent appointment to get to” Susan’s replied. As they talked, the little boy she came to pick came out with his teacher. “Here he is, that’s my friend’s son” she pointed, “I guess we should be on our way now” she added.

One thing was clear that day and it was the fact that Williams wasn’t going to fold his arms and watch Susan slip right through them again, without making an effort to get to know her better and probably be friends with her; seeing how much his son liked her. He was determined to get close to her and was ready to make the first move. “I won’t know if she’s married or not till I get close to be able to know her better. Standing outside her life wouldn’t give me the details I need” he thought within.

On the other hand, Susan realised that she liked their vibe and the positive energy that surrounded them. The joy she felt in just the two times she had met them was totally remarkable. Deep down, she wanted Williams to make a move so they could at least become friends, so she gets to see Jojo anytime she wanted. What neither of them knew was that God had something bigger planned for them, than being just ‘friends’ to each other.

With the look of things that day, it seems as though they were gradually liking each other without even knowing yet. Due to the fact that two kids were in their midst, they had to conceal some emotions within. On seeing that Susan had to go, Williams acted fast. “Did you come with a car or would you prefer I drop you off?” He asked, “Don’t bother, I came with my car” she replied.

Everyone started walking towards the parking lot and the two kids seem to be distracted with the little play they were engaged in as they walked to the parking lot. When Susan got close to her car, she notified Williams that they have reached where she parked. “Can I please see you again? It will mean so much to me if I did” He chipped in and Susan smiled faintly; “What of Jojo’s mum?” She indirectly asked to know if he was married. Williams sadly revealed to her that Jojo’s mum died when she gave birth to him and that he had been taking care of his son alone ever since his late wife passed on years ago.

That heartfelt revelation made Susan emotional and almost brought tears to her eyes. She tried to comfort Williams for his loss but he told her that it was all good and that it made him stronger. They didn’t have much time to express their sad emotions towards each other because they obviously had to go back to their various destinations. Before Susan left, she asked Jojo to give her his pen; of which he willingly did. When the pen was given to her, she told Williams to bring forth his palms and wrote her number on them. “If it cleans, then I’m sorry because you’ll have to coincidentally met me to get my number again” She said blushing.

When Susan was done writing her number on William’s palms, she gave Jojo back his pen and drove off with her friend’s son. Immediately she left, Williams hurriedly brought out his phone and saved the number there. He entered his car too and drove off with his son.

With all the beautiful things that seemed to be happening, Susan tried not to be overly excited or expectant so as not to get her heart broken again. She had to talk to herself and try to calm herself down because the butterflies in her stomach had already started dancing for joy.

Just as expected, Williams called few hours later that day just to check up on Susan and called the following day afternoon. They talked briefly whenever he called and didn’t go deeply in their conversations. Williams knew he had to know more about her so he took a Big step by requesting for a date with her. To be honest, it’s been a long time since she went on any date, as the only thing her and Raymond did for the past three years of their five years old marriage was to try and bear a child. Due to that, she had forgotten what it felt like to be loved and treated to fancy things.

After contemplating for a while, Susan agreed to go on the date with Williams. She felt she was not living life anymore and probably just existing. Being a 34 year old divorcee wasn’t the end of the world so she didn’t want to treat it as one.

The date venue and time was agreed upon and it became official. The date was scheduled for Saturday so Susan had enough time to figure out what she was going to wear for it. The search for the perfect dress wasn’t an easy one but the end result was worth it. Everything was set as they both waited for Saturday to come.

The D-day finally came and they met at the appointed place for the date. One look at Susan in that hot white dress and Williams knew that he wasn’t going to back down without a reasonable reason or fight. The evening started off on a good note and they had a nice meal for dinner. After they were done eating, a conversation started.

“I have been wanting to ask you this question, are you married? I’m asking because the first time I met you at the hospital, you were putting on a ring on your wedding finger” Williams asked. That questions made Susan cold and nervous because she knew that there was no way she would answer that question without him asking further questions that would lead to her barrenness story. Williams figured she was a bit hesitant to answer his question so he further asked; “Did I say anything wrong?”, She nodded ‘No’, “then talk to me, I promise to be understanding” He added.

The moment of truth came and Susan knew that there was no turning back. She took a deep breath and said; “I was married but just got divorced a few months ago”, “Why? What happened?” Williams inquired and Susan started tearing up. “My ex husband and I were married for 5 years and have been trying to have a child but non was forth coming. Apparently, he couldn’t put up with my childlessness so he cheated with someone else and she bore a son for him. I had never felt so broken and betrayed all my life the way that incident made me feel. There’s so much left to tell you but I’d rather leave them unsaid. It’s been an emotionally draining couple of months for me but I’m taking life one step at a time. I really don’t know why I couldn’t have a child while still married but will just leave it all to God” she soberly said.

By the time Susan was done talking, Williams had already figured why she loved Jojo so much and always acted affectionately towards him. His heart was also broken, knowing that she had to go through all she went through in her marriage. The last thing in William’s mind at that moment was to run away due to her barrenness, as he thought to himself that Jojo could always fill in that gap and be her child.

After being quite for a while, Williams finally spoke. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through all you went through and it’s sad to know that your ex-husband let a beautiful and nice woman like you go just because you couldn’t conceive after just 5 years of marriage. Haven’t he heard of couples that stayed for years without a child but a miracle came knocking at the 11th hour? Besides, why are people too quick to blame women when a child isn’t forth coming in a marriage union? Anyways, I’m glad it’s all over and you can now start life afresh. I like you Susan and really want you around in my life and that of Jojo if you don’t mind coming in. You look like a really nice person with a good heart and such attributes are very rare in our world today. On this note, I’ll like to ask you to be my friend, then we’ll see how things goes with time” he said.

The friendship proposal was a good first step for the two lovely individuals that seemed to be gradually liking each other. They obviously didn’t want to rush things because they both had hurtful past experience with people they were with. They figured it’s best to take things slowly and carefully work their way up to the top.

Life began to seemed fair to Susan as she now had a man and little boy that cared so much about her. She spent alot of her spare time with them and the love in her heart for Williams started skyrocketing; same with Williams.

Due to the exciting new things that was now happening in Susan’s life, Raymond suddenly became past tense in her memory. She stopped crying about their failed marriage and gradually began to forgot his existence. Raymond was also more concerned about his new family and had even gone as far as going to see Venita’s parents to ask for her hand in marriage. Everything seemed to also be going on well for Raymond until something happened one day.

On that fateful day, Raymond’s son was sick and was rushed to the hospital by both parents. It turned out that the little boy urgently needed blood transfusion because he was short on blood. Due to the fact that Venita was a new mum and still breastfeeding their son, they couldn’t drain her blood by taking from her body but rather suggested that Raymond do the donation for his sick child.

Without hesitation, Raymond agreed and some blood sample was taken out from his body for testing; just to be sure that it matches that of his son. After about an hour of conducting the tests, one of the doctors came to their hospital room with a confused countenance.

“Doctor what’s the problem?” Raymond curiously asked, “Are you the father to the little boy?” The doctor inquired and he confidently said ‘Yes’, without hesitation.

The doctor took a deep breath and dropped a shocker; Your blood type doesn’t match that of your son, it tested negative!”.

End of episode 5 😉

Stay tuned tomorrow to see what happened next.

Episode 6

One beautiful thing I love about God is that he’s always victorious in any battle you leave for him to fight. Since I was born till now, I have never seen God fail those that solely puts their trust in him. Susan could have broken all hell loose when she found out that her ex-husband ‘Raymond’ defiled their marriage union and even went as far as impregnating another woman. But all she did was pour out her pain by crying, and afterwards trusted everything into the hands of God to fight for her and gently redrew from the battle field.

A lot of times, we as humans want to run faster than God but fail to realise that we might end up crashing because of our inability to see the hindrances and hurdles right ahead of us. If Susan had taken matters into her own hands, she might have lost out on the happiness she now had with such a good man as Williams. She probably would have been so emotional deranged and filled with bitterness within; and that could have made her a hundred times less attractive for another man to get attracted to her. Sometimes, letting go is actually less painful that holding on.

While Susan was busy enjoying life again with her newly found best friend and lover, Raymond on the other hand was in shock and doubt of if he’s the real father of his supposed son. After the doctor dropped the shocker, the whole atmosphere suddenly became silent that you could hear a pin dropping on the floor.

The doctor was very sharp and already knew the truth about Raymond son’s paternity, but because it wasn’t his business to interfere in people’s family matter, he pretended as though nothing was wrong and gave an option for them to buy from a blood bank instead.

With immediate effect, the blood was purchased and treatment commenced on their son. Everyone tried to avoid talking about the incident that happened earlier with the blood test, as both Venita and Raymond were confused as to why it tested ‘Negative’.

All through their stay in the hospital that day, they didn’t talk much and only occasionally gave each other weird stares. Venita wasn’t that worried or disturbed because she knew deep down that Raymond was the father of her son. That fear of being caught for deceiving him wasn’t in her mind at all because she knew he was the father of her son. “Maybe their testing machine is faulty” she said to console herself.

While Venita was being overly convinced of the paternity of her child, Raymond on the other hand was seriously nervous and confused. He kept thinking of the odds of a blood test between a father and son testing ‘negative’. There and then, he brought out his phone and quickly checked Google to get some answers to his questions and most of the articles he read revealed that the chances are rare; especially between parents and their children.

As the confusion lingered, Venita tried to break the awkwardness between them by asking what Raymond wanted for dinner when they get home. He told her what he felt like eating and she nodded ‘Ok’ and the awkward silence took over again. Few hours later, the little boy was now feeling well and was discharged from the hospital.

Before they took their leave, Raymond tried to secretly meet that doctor that broke the news to them, so as to inquire why the blood tested ‘negative’ but sadly, the doctor had already gone home. Disappointed and frustrated, he went back to the hospital room to get his family and they all left.

All through that night, Raymond was worried and couldn’t sleep properly. He kept surfing the internet to read more articles about the odds of a person’s blood testing ‘negative’ with that of their child. Each article he read inspired a whole new level of fear and got him more depressed. After thinking about what to do concerning the situation, he finally decided to do a DNA test to know the truth once and for all.

The next day, Raymond was able to get some strings from his son’s hair and neatly put them in an air-tight plastic bag. It took over a week for him to make up his mind and finally do the test.

While Raymond was nervously awaiting the DNA results and being depressed all together, Susan was having the best times of her life with Williams. Their relationship was stress free and very easy; without headache and problems. They were both matured adults and knew what they wanted from each other.

At that point, Susan was still hopeful for a child of her own but not as desperate as before anymone. Matter of fact, she had taken Jojo as her own child and wasn’t feeling like a barren women anymore. Whenever they all went out, people who didn’t know either of them usually thought that they were one happy family. In many occasions, strangers have referred to Jojo as Susan’s son and she always happily went with the flow and never corrected anyone.

It’s been over 4 months since Susan and Williams started seeing each other and by this time, they had gotten very fond of each other and became almost inseparable. Susan occasionally spent the night over at William’s house but they kept boundaries and never got intimate. Despite the fact that they wanted each other so bad, they were adults and therefore controlled their urges. Their relationship was headed towards the right direction and Williams actually started thinking of making it official.

One beautiful evening while Susan was away, Williams called his son and tried to talk to him about his next course of action. “Jojo, there’s something I want to talk to you about” Williams said, “What’s it daddy?” Jojo asked. He took a deep breath and started pouring out his heart in a way that his son can understand. “Do you like Aunty Susan?” Williams continued, “Yes daddy I like her” jojo confessed, “Well, I like her too and want her to be your mummy. Daddy wants to bring her to our house so she can stay forever” Williams said and before he could talk further, Jojo’s shouted “Yessss daddy! Bring aunty to stay with us forever”.

What a relief it was indeed for Williams to see such happiness on his son’s face. He took a deep breath knowing that there was nothing else stopping him from making Susan his partner forever. They complemented each other very well, even in business related things. Susan was like that best friend he never had and it gladdened his heart to know that he had taken one step closer to making things official between them.

While there was happiness and joy in one camp, there was pain and heartache in another. Turns out that the DNA test Raymond did came out ‘Negative’, which meant he wasn’t the father to the child he dearly thought was his own and had ruin his marriage with Susan for. It took him days to fully digest the news and finally confront Venita.

The funny thing about this whole situation is that Venita believes Raymond is the father of her son. She wasn’t even aware that the incident that happened since at the hospital was still bothering him. It was one fateful morning that everything went down.

That morning, Venita was seated in the living room breastfeeding her son when Raymond walked in with a paper in his hand. “Take” he gently said with a sober countenance. Venita reluctantly took the paper from his hand and read through. Her heart dropped when it finally dawned on her what she was reading and what the results said.

Before Venita could utter a word in shock, Raymond broke down in tears. “So you lied to me? How could you do a thing like this?” He inquired with tears falling off his eyes, “Baby I swear I don’t even understand what’s going on, I’m as confused as you are” she replied in a shaky voice.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Venita could say at that moment that would calm Raymond down or change his mind. Actually, the truth of the matter was that Venita got sexually involved with someone a week before she met Raymond. She felt she took protective measures to avoid getting pregnant but didn’t know that she actually took in; meaning that she was like 3 weeks past before getting intimate with Raymond. It genuinely wasn’t a deliberate act but Raymond cared less and just wanted to descend his anger on her.

“Because of you lying tramp, I ruined my family and totally betrayed my wife. So you want to tell me you didn’t know you were already pregnant for someone else before we met? How could I be so naive and blind to see through you. Venita you have hurt me more than I ever believed I could be hurt. Do you know the pain I feel knowing that the child I have lived with these past months isn’t mine? Do you know the kind of emotional trauma this whole situation have put me through? How could you do this to me? I loved you and was willing to ruin my marriage just so we can be together as a family and yet you do this to me in return. You know what? I give you 24 hours to get your lying self out of my property before you see the unattractive side of me” Raymond said and walked away.

At that moment, Venita wished the ground could open up and swallow her. She cried her eyes out and held her head as she watched Raymond leave with his car key. That day was a devastating one for both of them cause they sobbed all through. Raymond hadn’t started regretting his actions towards Susan just yet because he felt there was actually nothing to loose in the whole situation because she was still a barren women after all. Well, we will soon find out who’s truly at the losing end.

Apparently, while Raymond and Venita were breaking hell loose, Williams and Susan were about to take their relationship to another level. Williams was ready to make things official between them but was scared on how to go about it and later decided to go with his heart.

One fateful day, Williams begged Susan to help pick Jojo from school with the excuse that he had urgent work to attend to. She gladly picked Jojo up and spent the remaining hours of that day with him at her office till closing hours.  After work, she drove down to William’s house to drop the little boy off but what she didn’t know was that she was being set up for a Big surprise.

When they arrived at William’s house, Susan carried Jojo on her hands because he seemed tired from all the playing he did back in her office. She walked to the door and rang the bell and immediately the door opened, the first thing she saw asides Williams was the “Will You Like To Upgrade To Mrs?” decoration with roses on his Big living room floor.

The emotions that overtook Susan at that moment brought tears to her eyes. She held Jojo that was lying on her shoulders tightly and started tearing up. Williams gently hugged her as she held his son and whispered into her ears saying; “Please be mine forever”.

Susan kissed his cheek, smiled with tears in her eyes and gently nodded ‘YES’.

End of episode 6 😉

Stay tuned

There’s this joy that can’t be properly explained until you experience it yourself. Do you know how it feels to be declared barren by people for over five years of your marital life with your ex-husband, only to find love again and get pregnant in less than one month of remarrying that special someone that picked the pieces of your broken heart? I tell you that I personally can’t fathom and put to words how Susan felt when the doctor broke the pregnancy news to her.

At that moment, the ability to even breath properly was hard for Susan because her heart kept beating faster that normal. She was utterly dumbfounded and shocked to the brim. There’s no word suitable enough to describe how she was feeling at that moment. What a memorable day it will always be for the once barren women; she didn’t even know when tears of joy started descending from her eyes.

“Doctor please tell me you aren’t joking, am I truly pregnant? I’m shaking, please tell me the truth sir?” Susan said with tears falling off her eyes. The doctor couldn’t stop smiling because her reaction was touching and all shades of beautiful. “By your reaction, it seems you have been trying for a long time, right? The doctor inquired, “Yes I have sir and felt I was a barren women when I was still with my ex-husband. My inability to bear a child after over 5 years of our marriage was what broke my home. I found someone else that accepted my ill fate and just remarried few weeks ago, now I’m pregnant. I am greatly shocked because I got in a few weeks, something(pregnancy) I have been looking for in the past 5 years even after several IVFs. God is too good and I can’t fathom his ways because I have already accepted my husband’s son as my own child and left everything in God’s hands. Thank you so much doctor, God bless you” She soberly said.

When Susan was done talking, the doctor shared in her happiness and told her that God had visited her. However, the doctor also pointed out the chances of her ex-husband being the main problem of her past failed inability to conceive. He made Susan understand that her ex-husband could have been the fault of her marriage failure. The doctor also inquired if they both went for check up to know where the problem was from, and she told him that whenever they went for such check ups, the focus and concentration was always on her and not her ex-husband. It was there and then that it dawned on Susan that Raymond could have even been the cause of her childlessness.

It’s really sad that these kind of things still happen today in our society. The woman is usually the prime suspect when the cry of a baby isn’t heard in a home after few years of marriage. The sad thing is that people don’t see the fact that the man could be the main reason his wife isn’t conceiving. It’s always better for both couples to check themselves when having fertility issues in marriage, because the fault can be from either of them.

It was such a blessed day for Susan that she couldn’t wait to break the good news to her dear husband. After the hospital appointment, she excitedly entered her car and headed straight home. While on her way, she called Williams to inquire if he was home and he told her that he left for an appointment and wouldn’t be back till in the evening. She didn’t want to break the good news to him on the phone and preferred to wait till he got back home.

With Williams away, Susan knew she had to first make a stop at Jojo’s school to pick him up because it was already closing time. She arrived just on time to pick him up from school and Immediately Jojo’s saw her, he ran towards her and she happily squat down to catch him because he was running with speed. When he finally got to her, they hugged each other tightly and Susan didn’t know when she started tearing up.

“Why are you crying mummy?” Jojo’s innocently asked and Susan looked into his eyes; “I’m crying because mummy is going to give you a sister or brother soon” she said with tears on her eyes. At the mention of a playmate on the way, Jojo jumped for joy even though he didn’t understand what Susan was talking about. “Where’s my friend mummy? Will you buy my sister and brother?” He innocently asked and Susan smiled warmly. She took his hand and placed on her tummy and told him that’s where his friend was going to come from.

It was such an overly emotional moment between mother and son. They drove off afterwards and headed home. While Susan waited for Williams to get back, tears of joy didn’t cease from her eyes. Jojo was fast asleep by then so she sobbed as much as she was moved to. Who could blame her for being overly emotional? I mean this was something she had waited a long time for, so it wasn’t going to be that easy for her to digest the new reality in front of her.

At around passed 8pm, there was a knock on the door and Susan ran to open the door because she knew it was her dear husband knocking. When the door opened, Williams was looking extremely exhausted from all the appointments and meeting he attended throughout the day.

The first thing Susan did was to plant a soft kiss on her husband’s lips to ease his stress. “How do you feel now baby?” She asked smiling and he blushed, “I feel great babe” he said. However, Williams was quick to notice the glow and happiness that overshadowed his wife and had to inquire what was going on. “Babe, is there anything you want to tell me? Because you look so happy and excited” he happily inquired.

Susan was saving the great news for last; she took her husband to the dinning table and fed him with assorted delicacies. Williams was overjoyed seeing his wife that happy; he ate till his satisfaction and headed upstairs to go drop his briefcase and freshen up. Immediately he opened the bedroom door, the first thing he saw was the boldly written ‘Baby Number Two Loading’ decoration with roses on their matrimonial bed, with the pregnancy test result beside it.

It took Williams over ten minutes to wrap his head around the message Susan was trying to pass across to him. When it finally hit him, he gently muttered “Oh My God” and broke down in tears. As he was about to turn and run out to confront Susan, there she was! Standing at the door frame behind him and crying too.

“Baby…. Baby….is this true?” Williams soberly asked and Susan nodded ‘Yes’, with tears falling off her eyes. He sat on the floor afterwards and started crying and she immediately joined him too. They cried and held each other tightly because that new reality was hard to digest.

Williams was overly emotional because he was truly happy that his wife gets to carry her own child in her womb. In as much as Susan treated Jojo like her child, he knew that there was still a part of her that wanted to personally experience the joy of carrying and bearing her own child. He was glad that he gave her what her ex-husband left her for. It was a thing of great joy indeed and the to-be parents couldn’t wait for their bundle of joy to arrive.

The good news was broken to family members and friends a week later. Everyone couldn’t believe at first because it was too good to be true. Susan’s mother danced for joy and was the happiest amongst all. Everyone prayed for the expectant parents and wished them nothing but the very best.

Few months later, Susan’s baby bump started showing for all to see. Those that mocked her earlier started chewing back their words and became ashamed of themselves. Susan flaunted her bump well and glowed through her pregnancy. Raymond wasn’t still aware of this new development in his ex-wife’s life, but was about to shamefully find out soon.

It happened one fateful day that Williams took Susan for outing. They went to the cinema and other fun places to relax themselves. Jojo couldn’t come with them because he was having extra lessons with his teacher and nanny at home. The couple wanted a little break from their busy workdays schedule.

Turns out that Raymond was at the restaurant Susan and Williams made a stop to have lunch in. Unfortunately, Raymond was in the restroom when the couple entered and by the time he was out, Williams had stepped out to redraw some cash at the ATM in front of the restaurant. Susan was majestically seated alone and surfing the internet with her phone when Raymond suddenly caught sight of her.

“Isn’t this Susan?” Raymond wondered as he looked at her intensely. The only reason as to why he kept doubting she wasn’t the one was because the lady he saw was heavily pregnant.

After looking for a little while still in doubt, Susan raised up her face to check for Williams and bent it afterwards. Immediately she did that, Raymond almost collapsed because his doubts were confirmed.

Confused and shocked, Raymond walked towards Susan to know what was happening. When he got closer to her, he tapped her shoulders; “Susan is this truly you? Wow! Are you pregnant?” He shockingly inquired.

Before Raymond could utter another word, Susan cut him off and bluntly said; “I beg your pardon, it’s Mrs Williams now and Yes! I’m heavily pregnant”.

End of episode 8 😉

Stay tuned

There’s this popular saying that ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, so becareful how you treat that person that genuinely loves you. Regret is never a pleasant experience as it usually leaves it’s victim feeling like they have missed out on something great due to an ill decision or action they once made. If there’s something you should try to avoid in this life, then it’s the ‘Had I known’ feeling, because you might never be the same again knowing that you can’t undo what was done or turn back the hands of time to do things correctly. Raymond couldn’t believe that a lady he once neglected and abandoned just because of her inability to bear a child was now the heavily pregnant woman he was staring at.

Life is such a mysterious puzzle indeed because you can never figure out what could happen in a person’s life the next minute. This is the exact reason we should never condemn or write anyone off because something could happen and change that person’s situation and we might just end up chewing back our words.

Raymond’s encounter with his ex-wife was a show of shame for him and the way Susan replied him even made matters worst. After few minutes of digesting the shocker she dropped on him with her blunt reply, he continued the conversation. “Mrs? Are you married again?” He shocking asked, “Yes I am, and thanks for walking away from my life because if you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have found my dear husband. Now if you don’t mind, kindly go away because I wouldn’t want my husband to come back and see you here with me” she replied.

The mode at which Susan replied Raymond gave him the clue that she wasn’t one bit into him again. He couldn’t believe that a woman that once loved and worshipped the ground he walked on now happily belonged to someone else. What a tough reality for him to wrap his head around in.

Before they knew what was happening, Williams majestically walked in on them. “Hey babe, have you made our orders yet?” Williams asked, “I was about to do so before I got distracted” Susan replied. It was when she revealed about being distracted that Williams even noticed Raymond’s presence. “Hello, please you are?” He gently inquired but Raymond remained mute and eventually walked out of the restaurant.

With Raymond gone, Williams tried to inquired whom he was and why he was at their table when he returned, and that was when Susan revealed who Raymond was and narrated all that happened while he went to redraw money. When she was done talking, he took a deep breath and smiled afterwards. He understood how shocked Raymond must have been seeing his ex-wife heavily pregnant and even wished Raymond was still around so he could thank him for letting Susan slip away from his hands.

In order not to ruin their outing, the lovebirds put the incident that happened aside and continued from where they stopped. After having fun to the fullest, they retired home because it was getting late. While Susan had forgotten all that happened earlier that day, it was unfortunately still fresh in Raymond’s mind. The image of seeing her pregnant hunted him all through the remaining hours of that day. Raymond couldn’t believe that his ex-wife was pregnant after over 5 years of them trying to conceive. It was then that it began to dawn on him that he could be the problem.

“I was with Venita and the son she gave birth to wasn’t mine, I was with Susan and she couldn’t conceive throughout our five years of being together, but now heavily pregnant for another man. Could I be the problem here?” Raymond wondered as he laid restlessly on the bed. It was then that he realised that he missed Susan and the thought that she now belonged to another man drove him highly crazy. He felt like a failure and loser, but that was just the beginning of his misery. Chat MartinMartino on zero eight zero five five eight eight nine one eight three to be added to his WhatsApp group.

Turns out that Raymond visited a fertility specialist the next day and was made to run some series of tests. After the tests have been done, another meeting was rescheduled for the next day of which he was present. Raymond was anxious to know whether he had been the problem all these while. The results were out and it was confirmed that he had Low Sperm Count, which is a condition that affects fertility; especially if the fewer sperm that were released are also weak.

What actually hurt Raymond more wasn’t the fact that he had that condition, but the fact that it was curable. He died slowly within knowing that his home could have been saved if he had put his ego aside and followed Susan to do the numerous fertility test she did while they were trying to conceive. Back then, Raymond felt fertility issues only concerned the woman and not the man. He couldn’t bring himself to thinking that there was something wrong with him fathering a child and it’s sad to know that majority of men in our society today would never see themselves as the problem whenever there’s fertility issues in marriage, talk more of going for tests; that’s how come they never know they need help.

Like I said earlier, Regret isn’t a pleasant experience but it was too late for Raymond because it had already caught up with him. Days began to get longer and so was his grief. For once, just for once did Raymond begin to feel how Susan felt all those years; worst still, when he left her for Venita.

It wasn’t long before depression set in and that was when Raymond’s parents got to know everything that was happening and also their son’s condition. The reality of Susan’s pregnancy brought shame to his mum and she wished she never treated her the way she did.

While hell broke loose in Raymond’s camp, Susan and her husband were preparing for their bundle of joy that was due any minute. The parents-to-be joyfully awaited their baby’s arrival anytime soon.

One fateful morning, Susan’s water broke and fortunately for her, Williams was around to rush her to the hospital. The labour pains wasn’t that bad and after a little while of pushing, a bouncing baby girl was born. As Susan held her daughter for the first time, tears of joy kept falling off her eyes. Williams gave his wife a peck on her forehead for a job well done and held his precious baby girl too.

Jojo came to the hospital immediately after he got back from school and was so happy to see his sister. The happiness on Jojo’s face was priceless and everyone’s heart was filled with nothing but Joy. Susan and William’s parents came to the hospital as soon as the news was broken to them. A mini celebration party commenced at the hospital as they all welcomed their newest family member.

The news of Susan’s new born spread like wildfire and eventually got to Raymond’s ears. It killed him within and sadness overshadowed him. Deep down, he wished it was his child she was carrying. Too bad!

Raymond was restless and knew that the only way he could find peace was if he apologised to his ex-wife for everything he put her through and for what he did to her. He sought for ways to see Susan and learned that she was still at the hospital. Without thinking things through, he headed to the hospital to see her.

When Raymond arrived, he was able to locate her room and headed towards there. When he got to the door, his heart skipped several beats because he knew there were going to be alot of people inside that room that didn’t want to set eyes on him and also, he knew that he was invading Susan’s new family privacy.

Regardless of what the consequences would be, Raymond was about to risk it all if it meant that he would get his peace afterwards. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door and after the second knock, Williams opened up. One look at Raymond and he could already tell whom he was. “Why are you here?” Williams surprisingly asked and before Raymond could answer that question, Susan asked “‘Baby who’s at the door?”.

Williams took a deep breath, turned to his wife and family members present and said; “Your ex-husband is here!”.

End of episode 9 😉

Stay tuned

To err is human but to forgive is divine. There’s no pain that’s unique to only one person alone because everything you have gone through and will ever go through has been witnessed by someone else before you, so it’s best you forgive when the right time comes. Majority feel they are doing the person that wronged them a favour when they forgive but fail to realise that they are first doing themselves a favour by letting go of that grudge and burden from their heart. When you forgive a person, you take charge of any power they could ever have to use that pain against you but when you don’t forgive, they get to keep that power.

In Susan’s case, God had blessed her and wiped away every years from her eyes. God answered her prayers and restored her joy within, he brought to nought her adversaries and made an open show of blessings for her mockers to see. At that point in her life, there was no room for anger, hatred or bitterness. She was willing to forgive anyone that had hurt her in the past because she wanted to move on completely with her new family and didn’t want to get pulled back every now and then by any incident from her past.

When the news was broken to Susan and everyone gathered in the room, that her ex-husband ‘Raymond’ was at the door, they were all shocked because that was the last person they were expecting at that time. There was fire on the mountain but it seemed no one was running yet.

“What’s he looking for and why is he here?” Susan’s mum flared up but her Dad calmed her down. “Baby, do you know why he’s here?” Susan gently asked as she breastfed her daughter, “No, should I let him in?” Williams inquired, “Do whatever you want to do babe, it’s all in your hands” Susan wisely concluded.

One look at Raymond and he looked sober and lost. Williams wanted to excuse him away from his family happy moment but had to consider his fellow man; at least to first hear him out. “How can we help you, do you have anything to say?” Williams curiously inquired, “I just want to apologise to my ex-wife before I loose my mind. Please just give me few minutes and I promise that I’ll be out in no time” Raymond said.

Out of compassion, Williams asked everyone if they were in approval for Raymond to come in and they all murmured quietly without directly answering the question. Susan picked up a towel that was lying on the bed and covered her breast and part of her baby’s body. The door was finally opened and there was pin drop silence. Raymond gently walked into the room and the first place his eyes went to was the baby Susan was carrying. He almost broke down in tears when he saw the beautiful baby sucking Susan’s breast. The fact that the beautiful reality right in front of him could have been his but wasn’t, broke his heart over again.

After being mute for a while and ignoring the rude stare Susan’s mother was giving, Raymond finally spoke; “I first want to say that I deeply regret the way I treated majority of the people in this room. Susan, you deserved better and I’m so happy that you have found someone that gave you that fulfilment I never did because of my pride and ego; even though it hurts me. You were such a good woman to me and it kills me each day knowing that I treated you unfairly. Please find a place in your heart to forgive me, your forgiveness will mean the whole world to me. I pray your parents find a place in their hearts to forgive me as well because I wasn’t the best in-law to them. I’m so sorry for making the past 5 years of your life a miserable one and making you think it was your fault that we couldn’t conceive when it was all my fault” He soberly said and turned towards Williams direction, “Please take care of her, you are a true man indeed and I’m glad you both have each other” he said.

Immediately Raymond was done talking, Susan smiled and looked at him pitifully. She genuinely wished him all the best but not with her because she was now with someone she loved and could move mountains for. After looking at her ex-husband for a while as he stood in front of her, she finally spoke; “I forgive you, it’s absolutely fine. You really shouldn’t have come all the way here to say all this because I forgave you a long time ago when I met my dear husband. Thanks to you, I was able to meet the one man that has shown me what patience, hope and perseverance feels like. With him, my faith suddenly became strong and never wavered again after you previously crushed it. Thank you so much for walking away, thank for for letting me go and thank you for signing those divorce papers. This my daughter is the blessing in disguise you gave to me by doing all those things. Move on and stop being hard on yourself because I have forgiven and forgotten all that happened in the past and wouldn’t want you to invade my husband and new family’s privacy again. Take care and I wish you all the best” She said.

With that being said, Raymond knew it was time for him to excuse them and take his leave. He smiled faintly and walked away. Deep down in his heart, he was still heartbroken for loosing Susan but at least a bit relieved she had forgiven him. The hospital door was shut immediately after he left and that made him feel unwanted and deserted.

The reality is that Raymond never remained the same again, while Susan enjoyed a blissful marriage with her new found family. Another baby boy came a year after her first pregnancy and the couple had three children in total. Raymond took his fertility treatments serious and hoped to be called a ‘Dad’ someday.

Life moved one but Raymond still remained and wallowed in regrets. Happiness became a taboo for him but we pray he finds his ways again and truly reconciles with his past.

So many couples are fighting the battle of infertility but might never tell you they are trying to conceive. Don’t go about asking people why a baby hasn’t landed after one or two years of marriage because you don’t know what they deal with behind closed doors.

Be a pain relief to people and rather not cause them pain. Children are gifts from God and he will give everyone their own child in due time. Also, fertility issues aren’t exclusive to women alone, as men can also be the cause of infertility too. As a man, you could be the one making that woman suffer and carry the shame of being called ‘Barren’. Check and take your fertility health status as serious as the woman takes hers.

Let’s all try to be better co-workers, neighbours, in-laws etc to couples that are going through this phase in their marital life, the world is already cruel enough so let’s be kind.

End of story! 😉

Written by Sonia Okehie