HER BABY’S SECRET
SERIE ELEVEN
Arike’s POV
“Da…Dayo. it’s Dayo’s baby.” I sobbed.
“What?!” She gasped in shock.
My heartbeat accelerated. Seriously I have never been this scared in my life.
“Dayo?” She frowned. “Hold up…which Dayo?”
I couldn’t dare look into her eyes.
“The..same.. Dayo.” I whispered shakily.
Then I heard her laughing as she stood up from the bed. I didn’t feel any better by the sudden laughter.
“Oh please! That was such an expensive joke!” She laughed.
This is not good. She thinks I am joking! Oh my God! What have I gotten into?!
“I..am..se..serious.”
“No! You can’t be serious!” She snapped.
“Adedayo..is the father of my child!” I cried.
“No…”
“Please..please don’t make it hard for me than it is now.” I pleaded.
“Oh God! This must be a dream.” She tapped her cheeks.
I wish it was a dream too so I could just wake up and pray to never let it happen.
“How on earth did Dayo become the father of your child? Have you guys been sleeping with each other? Oh! Obviously! This is it!” She pointed to my belly. “I should have known! So this is the result of all the sleep overs!”
“No..it only happened -”
She interrupted me. “So you’ve been sleeping with him, knowing that he already had a fiancee and now a wife!” She said angrily.
“No..no..no..”
“What do you mean by no?! You are pregnant!” She shouted.
I nodded in agreement. “Wait..are you trying to pin it on him because you want to hide the real father?”
“No..I swear…it’s Dayo’s baby. And…and..it happened..just once…just once. You have to believe me.”
She paced to and fro with an angry look. “And you didn’t tell me! You just decided to keep it to yourself.”
“I am sorry…I wanted to tell you about it..but..I was scared.”
“Scared? Scared of what? What else have you been hiding from me?!”
“Nothing else…believe me.”
“How do you -” she paused,threw her hands up and turned her back on me.
“Please..I..am sorry.” I begged her.
Busayomi turned towards the door. And I figured what she was about to do. She was leaving.
“I am disappointed in you.” She mumbled.
“Please..don’t..leave me.” I sobbed.
She opened the door and went away. I was wrong to have kept such big deed away from her. Busayomi was like a big sister to me. She was part of my life,the only person I could turn to as a family.
I understand how she was feeling – betrayed! Finding out that I was carrying the child of the man I clearly denied to never have feelings for was so hard for her.
So how do I live my life now? Busayomi was gone,my baby’s father was out somewhere probably enjoying the honeymoon with his wife and I have no idea of how to raise a child. I shouldn’t have let this happened to me after the promise I made to my mother. How could I have forgotten such promise?!
More tears streamed down as I remembered that day. The day my mother had called me into her room when I was just 8.
FLASHBACK
“Arike,are you done with your homework?” My mom asked as I climbed into the bed and lay my head on her chest.
“Yes mom.”
It was just the two of us. Grandpa had stated clearly that he never wanted to see my mom again because of me. He disowned her even after everything Uncle Badejo said to dissuade him from his decision.
“You know I love you so much.” She kssed my forehead.
Everything she did was just for my sake. She lived for me.
“Yes mom and I love you too.”
At that time she already told me the story of how my father denied ever having anything to do with her.
“You’re growing up so fast.” She caressed my cheeks. “And I can’t wait to see you grow up into a big woman,then you’ll achieve your dream of becoming a lawyer. You’ll have a good husband and bear children too.”
“Yes..a husband like big daddy..not a man like my father.”
I call uncle Badejo big daddy.
She chuckled. “Why?”
“Big daddy is really nice but my dad is not good because he didn’t want me.”
“You’re right about uncle Badejo but your father is a good man.” She said.
“Then why didn’t he want me?”
“Arike, we have talked about this before. Your father and I were too young. He wanted so many things but raising a child wasn’t part of his plan.” She hugged me. “Let’s not talk about it okay?!”
“Okay..mommy.”
“Arike?” She pulled away from me.
“Yes mommy.”
“I want you to promise me one thing.”
“What is it mom?” I looked into her eyes.
“Promise me that no matter what happens, you’ll never end up like me.” She said.
Even at that age I knew what she was talking about. She had clearly outlined the consequences of sex before marriage to me. And I had heard her praying to God that I shouldn’t end up like her who lost focus and couldn’t achieve her dreams and give her child the life she deserved.
“Arike? You have to -”
“I promise. I won’t engage in premarital sx.”
“Pinky promise?” She smiled.
“Pinky promise.” She locked our fingers.
“I will buy you a big house and a car too when I have a lot of money.”
“Then I can’t wait for you to grow up..my baby.” She kissed me on my cheeks.
FLASHBACK ENDS
She didn’t stay alive for me to buy her a car or a house. My mom died a year after and she didn’t get to fulfill some promises she made to me like telling me who my father was, attending my graduations and buying my law outfits.
And what about me? I failed her! I only got to become a Lawyer but I didn’t fulfill my promise of not engaging in Pre-Marital Sx. That promise has be the reason why I never had a boyfriend. I was scared that I would be compelled to lose my virginity if I got involved with any man.
I couldn’t control my tears at the realization of how I had ended my life. I didn’t get to know the man who fathered me and the same thing was repeating itself but the only difference was that I know the father of my child,he won’t deny our baby but I could never be with him because he was married to someone else. My baby will never get to be with her father. I have ruined my life and the life of the innocent soul in my womb.
A glint of hope stirred within me when Busayomi opened the door. She walked in with a tray in her hands.
“Sit up…you need to eat.” She said.
I shook my head. “I..I..am not hungry.”
She frowned deeply. “My friend sit up before I beat you up now.”
I did as she instructed. “I am not doing this for you but for the baby. So don’t feel like I have forgiven you.” She placed the tray filled with tea and bread on the bed.
“Oya madam eat up.”
I picked a slice of bread. “I.. I thought you..left..” I sniffed.
“Yeah…I feel like leaving but you have no one else to turn to. If I leave now who will take care of you and the baby? So I am stuck with you.”
She was right. Uncle Badejo was the only family I know with my mom aside the day Grandma came visiting after my mom died.
Tears spilled down my cheeks. “I..am..sorry.” I mumbled with the bread in my hand
“It’s alright.” She said.
“No, It wasnt…supposed…to happen.”
I dropped the bread in the tray. I couldn’t even swallow the portion in my mouth. It felt like my throat was closed.
“Am I eligible to know how it happened?” She asked.
I shook my head. I couldn’t dare look up at her because I was afraid to see the look of disappointment in her expression. I know that I messed up big time.
“I will tell you everything.” I sniffed and wiped my face clean.
“Okay..I’m listening.” She said.
“I was asleep that night when I heard the doorbell. It was so late that I couldn’t even tell who it might be. And it turned out to be Dayo. He was so drunk that I couldn’t ask him ~to leave.”
Busayomi was aware that I was trying to avoid Dayo because of Shalewa.
FLASHBACK TO FOUR WEEKS~ AGO
“Why can’t they be like you?” He mumbled into my ears.
“W..what are you talking about?” I asked. But no response came from him.
Maybe he already dozed off. I thought.
“Dayo?” I tried to get away but his hold on me was tight. I stopped trying.
“I..erm… I keep wondering why they can’t be like you.” He moved away from me to look into my eyes.
“You’re drunk. Stop saying nonsense.”
“I am talking about all the women I have dated..includin
g Shalewa.”
“You are drunk. I will go and boil water so you can shower and relax your body.” I tried to stand up but he pulled me back to the couch.
“I don’t want this relationship with Shalewa.” He said soberly.
Okay! He’s seriously drunk! That’s why he’s saying nonsense. I concluded.
“She’s not the woman I want to be with.” He stopped to study my expression.
At the same time, I have heard that a drunk man tends to speak the truth in such state.
“I don’t like her at all.” He said.
“You told me that you guys are getting along well. And that you love her.”
“I..I..was only playing along. I have to act like I am in love with her.”
“You know this is wrong.”
“Yes..yes..I know..but -” he paused. “I can’t do this anymore.” A tear slipped down his right cheek.
And it breaks my heart to see him cry. And now I see the reason why he has been avoiding Shalewa.
“She’s cheating on me.” He added.
My forehead creased. “What?!”
“Shalewa is a cheat!” He spat out.
“Wait..are you for real?” I raised my eyebrows at him.
“Yes..yes..she’s not honest with me.”
“Well..you can’t be so sure.”
“I am 100% sure.” He wiped his face and stood up from the couch. “I saw her with him.”
“Who?”
“The movie she acted one month ago.”
“Yeah…I checked out the thriller.” I nodded.
“She has been cheating on me with the lead actor in that movie. What’s his name again?” He tried to remember.
“Charles Adams.” I answered.
“Yes! It’s him! I suspected it at first but had to check her phone to confirm. I asked her about him but she denied it.”
“Maybe it’s not true.”
“Did you not hear me say that I saw her with him! I saw him coming out of her apartment when I went to visit her yesterday. She tried to deny it but I showed her the picture of him which I snapped while he was driving out.”
I was shocked.
“And he hasn’t been the only one. Over the months I have suspected her having affairs with co-actors but she would never admit it anytime I confront her.”
I tried to control the anger that was trying to stir up within me. Now I get the reason why Shalewa always ask me if Dayo ever told me anything about her! That bch has been lying to me! She said Dayo has been her crush forever the first day we met. She acted like Dayo was the only man she has ever loved. Such a cheat and a liar! She tried to make me think that I was the reason why Dayo couldn’t pay attention to her whereas she has been sleeping with other men! Shalewa is a Sly!
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” I asked him.
I wouldn’t have tried to stay away from Dayo if I knew she was a devil! Sleeping with half of the men she has acted with! Wow! Unbelievable!
“I didn’t want you to worry about me.”
And now that I know won’t it bother me? Won’t I be worried?!
“So you decided to drink to stupor because of her?”
“I was so angry. Not because she cheated but she blamed it all on me.”
“Why would she blame you?!”
“She cheated because I haven’t gotten intimate with her.”
My jaw dropped slightly. “What? And is that true?”
“Yes…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I haven’t slept with her. I can’t do it. I don’t love her and she knows it too. I am only in this relationship because of my family business. This is all business!”
“It’s a lame excuse for her to cheat because you refused to sleep with her.”
“She’s doing it to get back at me for not loving her. God! I shouldn’t have agreed to get married to that witch. And now it’s too late.”
I went to him. “She would definitely cheat on me if we get married.”
“Why don’t you try to talk to your dad? Tell him everything she has been doing…I am sure he would understand.”
Dayo shook his head. “No..he doesn’t understand me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I told him what Shalewa has been doing yesterday but he doesn’t care if she’s a cheat or not. He already spent so much on the wedding so nothing can be done.”
Wow! Wow! What a father?! How could he do this to his son? He doesn’t even care about his son’s feelings! What a selfish father! All he cares about is money,and his business! If all fathers are like this then I don’t regret not having one.
I felt pity for Dayo, so I wanted to comfort him. I wrapped my hand around him for a tight hug.
“What are you going to do?” A tear slipped from my eyes.
“I don’t know what to do.” He mumbled as he hugged me back.
I couldn’t bear to see him hurting. It felt like I was the one hurting badly anytime he was like this. And the reason wasn’t far-fetched. I love him! But I never wanted to admit my feelings because I can’t stand a chance.
I have been hiding my feelings since high school. To be honest, it had hurt me to see him date several women. But I know I would just remain a best friend in his life and nothing more so I didn’t try to get my hopes him.
“But..I wish I could just end everything.” He pulled away from me. I could see tears at the corners of his eyes.
“Hey..” he placed both hands on your cheeks. “I know..I look pitiful but I don’t want you to cry for me.”
I shook my head but I couldn’t stop the tears.
“Please don’t cry.” He kissed my forehead.
And the feelings came rushing in – I didn’t want him to stop at just kssing the forehead.
“Dayo..” I whispered as we stared at each other intently.
“Arike..” Slowly he brought his face closer to mine that I could feel his breathe on me. He kssed me and I kssed him back. It was my first so I wasn’t really good at it but I managed to go in line with what he was doing. I didn’t want it to end.
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