UNWAVERING FAITH
WRITTEN BY SOPHIA OKEHIE
Episode 1
Have you ever believed so strongly in 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 s*xy. 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 s*xually 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”.
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