Forgetting Yesterday

Episode 21

Sandra.
“Justin!”

I scream his name down the hallway and he turns to me.

I hear doors open as the rest of my family step out.

“What’s going on?”
Justice asks as he steps out.

Sage looks at my state of undress and he sighs.

“Are you guys fighting?”
Kele asks.

I vaguely notice she comes out from Tony’s room.

I don’t answer any of them, I just have eye for Justin.
“Justin?”
“I have to go, something’s very wrong, Will be back soon, I love you”
He says as he climbs down the stairs.
I can’t even savor the feeling of him saying i love you, am too scared.

Justice follows him, completely dressed in his PJs, he doesn’t care, he turns to us.
“Am gonna go with him, will call you guys”
He jogs out and place my hand over my mouth.

Am so scared.

I have never seen Justin so scared.
“What happened?”
Sage asks.

“He got a call and he panicked….., Am scared for him Sage”
I say and he nods.

“Go get dressed, we are going to him”
I nod my head.

---

I run down stairs.

I feel justice on my heels.

I don’t know how I know it’s him but I just do.

I have never been so scared in my life.
Please God, you can’t take her away from me.

I run to my car but i feel justice hold me back.
“Let me drive, just give me directions”
He says and I nod.

We pull out of the compound and i direct him toward the hospital where Jew’s specialist practices.

“What’s going on Justin?”
I sigh, my head in my hand.

“Please drive justice, I can’t let anything happen to my daughter”
He just nods, no comment but I feel his shock.
I scoff.

After all the hiding he finds out, this way no less.

He drives into the hospital parking lot and I exit before he idles the car.

I run to reception and i feel him with Me.
“Jew Maxwells”
I say to the receptionist.

She nods and gives me a door number.
It’s a private room.

I run to the elevator and I enter.

This thing can’t go fast enough.
I see justice typing on his phone.
A text to my family, no doubt.

The elevator doors open and I follow the sound of my baby girl crying.

I open the door and I see Leila crying too.
“Jew baby, am here……”
She raises her hand out for me.
“Daddy, it ….hurts please make it stop ….”
I turn to Leila.

“Why isn’t she bloody sedated!?”
I yell
“Calm down brother”
Justice says.
Leila sobs.

“The doctor wants to go ahead with the surgery now, he can’t sedate her yet, she’s in pain Justin, she’s been asking for you”
“Daddy, daddy, daddy…..”

“Am right here sugar cookies”
“It hurts”
“I know baby girl, it’s gonna end soon.”
“Where were you Justin, I called you a long time ago”
Leila asks.

I feel guilt swamp me.

S–t.

This isn’t happening again.

I hear the door open and I see it’s Sandra and my family entering.

I turn my attention back to Jew.

I can’t face anyone right now.

“Daddy…. Am scared”
My baby says in a soft voice.

“Daddy’s here baby, it’s ok to be scared, I will protect you”.

I kiss her head.

“Can we get a damned doctor in this room?!”

Julliet says and I feel an overwhelming relief.
I have my family.

---

Sandra.

I watch Justin lean over the beautiful baby on the bed.

He has a daughter?

I feel an headache blooming between my eyes.

I look around the private room.

Where is the f-cking doctor?

My hear goes out to the baby writhing in pain on the bed.

Seriously.

Where is the doctor?
“I swear to God if anything happens to my niece I will close this facility down”
Sage says to a nurse that just entered.

The woman looks scared.

“Can we get a doctor here?”
Justice asks.

No wait.
Demands.

“Am sorry Mr Maxwells, the doctor is on his way, he was just in the theater helping…..”
“I don’t care if he was helping Kim Kardashian birth her baby just get him in here”
Kele demands and I swear this hospital won’t know what hit them.

The doors open and a man in white enters.

“Hi, am Olu, I will be the doctor for this baby right here”

He says, completely unconcerned that we are all staring daggers at him.
“Where is doctor Kim?”
Justin asks.

“She went on a sabbatical, she explained at length what I am to do, be rest assured, I will get this girl better in no time”
“Well get on with it, you are talking way too much”
I say.

He nods.
He turns to the nurse.

“Get her ready for the theater”
The nurse nods and goes to administer an injection to the baby.
“No…no…daddy…needles…”
He pulls her close as he strokes her hair out of her face.

“It’s gonna make you feel better baby girl”
He says.

He closes her eyes with one hand and holds her with the other before nodding to the nurse.

After she is done the baby speaks.

Albeit a little drowsily.
“You won’t leave daddy?”
“Promise baby girl.”

The baby sleeps and the doctor and nurse wheel her away.

We follow behind and I feel like crying.
Poor baby.

When the theater door closes and we can’t follow any further, Justin leans his head on the wall and closes his eyes.

I go to place my hand on his shoulder but the lady, Leila, I presume, does first.

I feel a wave of something.

I won’t name it.
He turns to her.
“You ok lay lay?”
He asks.

She nods, he kisses her head and I think.
Oh s–t.

He turns to us.
“Thanks guys”
No one responds.

“Tell me everything I have to know about her sickness”

Justice says and Justin nods.
He looks so tired .

He goes to speak but stops.
He sighs.
“Am so tired justice”
He admits and my heart breaks.

I feel tears rush my eyes and I turn .

I can’t let him see me look this weak.

I have to be strong.

Justice pulls him into a hug and Justin breaks down.

It’s the first time I have seen him cry.
“Am so f-cking scared brother”
“Am right here brother”
“She’s gonna be alright right?”
He asks, sounding lost.

The tears finally come through and I sob quietly.

“She’s gonna be real fine, I promise you”
Justice says and Justin nods.

I turn into Julliet’s arms as she pulls me in.
Gosh,
My heart hurts for this man.

---

Episode 22

Sandra.
A shake on my shoulder brings my head up, I slowly open my eyes, I can t believe I fell asleep.

I look around to see my family camped out in various stages of tiredness around the waiting room.

I turn to the person who woke me, it’s Justin.
I stand up immediately.
“Are you ok? Is she ok?”
I immediately begin to panic.

“She is fine, she’s not out yet, I brought coffee, I guessed you might need it”
I smile a grateful smile as I accept.
“Are you ok now?”

Justice asks and I see by the opened eyed appearance he has he didn’t catch any sleep.

Sage is also the same.

Tony is standing by the theater doors as if on guard.

Apparently only us girls got some sleep.
“Ya, am fine, just a little bit tired”
Justin replies to Justice’s earlier question.
“I spoke to a specialist in Abuja and she says she will fly out to see Jew today”
Justice says and Justin nods.

“I called her, she says she is already in Lagos”

Sage says and Justin looks relieved.
“Good”
He says, He turns to the lady, Leila, as if he just remembered something.
“Where are Styxx and Raine?”
He asks in a low voice.

“They are with my friend, he will be here with them soon, he will also be bringing a change of cloth for Jew”
She says and Justin nods.
“Take care of your self Leila”
Justin says and she nods.
Wait.

Who are Styxx and Raine?.

I don’t get to ask because the theater doors open and the doctor steps out.

He looks drained.

We immediately swamp him.
“How’s she?”
Justin asks.

“She’s fine, she’s a strong girl, we already underwent 4 surgeries, just one more to go”
“So she’s fine?”
Juliet asks the question on my mind.

“Yes, for now”
“What do you mean for now?”
Tony asks, finally leaving the door way.

“This last surgery is different from the rest, this is the one that will help In restoring her hearing, so it’s a little close to her brain,…..What am trying to say is that, she might slip into a coma, it’s 50/50”
He says and my heart clenches.

“But she has a chance right?”
Magic asks, I can hear the tears in her voice.
“Yes, she does, a slim chance, you can decide now that you don’t want her to take this surgery, she can live a fairly normal life”
Justin shakes his head.

“Mr Maxwells you don’t seem to understand that your daughter might die if she takes this surgery, she is strong but not that strong”

The doctor says and I feel like punching him.
Where is the ‘Good Doctor’ behavior when you need it?

“You have to do this surgery, her mother, my late wife also had this condition, she couldn’t live without her hearing, it eventually made her kill her self….”

A suicidal ex wife?

The surprise is just rolling in today.

“…… I promised Jew that she will have her hearing back, you have to help me”

I hear the defeat in his voice and I wish I can stop time and make that baby better for her father.

“Well Mr Maxwells, you have to sign a waiver stating that you made this decision on your own without influence from the hospital”

The doctor says and I frown.

Who is this jerk?

Can you be a little more compassionate?

“Wait a minute”
Sage states stepping forward.

“I would like for you to stay very far away from my niece from now on, we have a specialist coming in, she will be conducting this surgery, we will be using your facilities and we promise to pay, of course”
Wow, I almost forgot Sage has a law degree.

The doctor scoffs.

Jerk.

“Who is better than me in all of Nigeria?”
“I am”
A feminine voice says and we turn.
“I am doctor Annie and I will be conducting this surgery”
She says.

“Annie? Annie as in Annie Abubakar?”
The doctor gushes.
I roll my eyes.

“It’s so nice of you to fly out this early Annie, thank you”
Justice says and I frown.

He knows her?

“Anything for you justice, Lydia just wanted me to tell you that she is sorry she can’t be here sooner”

The woman says.

Justice nods.

Lydia is Justice’s PA.

She must be Lydia’s sister?

“Hello Sage, hello everyone, let’s see the baby, I can guarantee you it won’t be as tragic as it sounded earlier”
She says and I breathe a sigh of relief .

“Aren’t you going to go ahead with the surgery now?”

Kele asks and the doctor shakes her head.

“She has to wake from the sedatives first so we can monitor her progress before we send her under again”

Doctor a-hole says before Annie could reply.
“Yes, what he said”
Annie says and Justin nods.

“She is in the recovery room now, why don’t we go see her?”
Doctor Olu says and we follow.

We step into the room.

She looks so small in the middle of the bed.

“She’s still sleeping?”
Annie asks Olu with a frown.

“Yes, we are bringing her to now”
He says and she nods.

Ok.

So that wasn’t a bad thing.

“I know we all want to know how the baby is doing but the room is too packed, some persons will have to leave after she wakes up”
Annie says.

The baby on the bed fusses and frowns in pain.

I take a step forward and stop.

Justin is immediately there.

She blinks and it seems everyone in the room is collectively holding their breath.

The bandage around her head contrasts with her dark skin.

Skin so like Justin’s.

“She won’t be able to hear you so maybe sign to her”

Doctor a-hole says and Justin snarls at him.
“Shut the f-ck up”
Seriously.

I am going to buy this hospital just to have the pleasure of firing this moron.

I think julliet and Magic had that same thought too.

“A-hole”
Kele says.

Not hiding her thoughts.

The doctor looks put out.

Good.

My attention goes back to the baby.

She blinks her eyes slowly open and she close them again.

I panic, it stops when she blinks them open again.

“Daddy?”
She asks in a broken whisper.
“Here baby kitten”
“My….he..ad… hurt..s”
“Am sorry baby.”

I see that Justin is kind of speaking slowly to her.

She seems to be focusing on his lips.

Hot d–n.

Leave it to Justin to have an intelligent beautiful kid.

The baby reads lips.

“I want water”
She says.

“She can’t have any”
Doctor A-s..
. sorry, Olu says when Justin looks to him.
“Am sorry baby, no water yet”
Justin says, turning his attention back to her.
“I want Raine and Styxx”
She says.
Again.

Who are this people.
Are they her best toys?

The door opens and a guy enters.
He looks up, looking startled he stops.
“Chika, you made it”
Leila says.
“Hey baby”
The guy says.

My attention gets stolen when 2 ball of energy run towards the bed.
“Jew!”
Energy ball one says in a loud voice I wince.
“Squid, lower your voice, it’s an hospital”
Energy ball 2 says in a whisper.
“Don’t call me squid”
Energy ball 1 says, but this time in a whisper.
She turns her attention to the bed.
“I was so scared Jew juice”
“Am fine, Raine Ray”
Jew says.

And the little girl, Raine nods.
The little boy steps forward with a small Ziploc bag filled with pink flowers.

“Here, mom will make you feel better, I saved it from our last visit to her”
The little boy says and I frown.
Pink flowers is mom?
Am confused.

Jew accepts, she raises the bag to her lips and kisses it.

The kids steps back and as if noticing Justin for the first time turns to him.
“Daddy!”
Raine shouts.

I frown.

Wait….

It can’t be….
“Daddy, I was so scared”

The little girl says.
“Am here baby bottom”
Justin says before turning to the little boy
“How are you Styxx”
“Am fine Papa”
He says and I realize.

It really is.

Styxx, Raine, Jew.

They are triplets..
Justin had freaking 3 kids.

I seriously did not see that coming.

---

Episode 23

Sandra.

We don’t say anything, my family is pretty quiet about all this.

I mean I want to scream and ask what’s going on but I can’t.

Jew is wheeled to the theatre doors and Justin lean down to kiss her sleeping head.
He steps back, holding the hands of his other kids.

Other kids .

God.

I watch him as he watches the door close.
The little girl tugs on his shirt.

“Daddy, is Jew going to come back?”
He smiles as he crouches in front of her.
“Yes baby, she will be coming back soon”
He stands up and turns to us.

“I can explain, but please not now, later, when all this is done”
He says and Justice nods.

“Daddy, I have to pee”
Raine says.

“Ok baby, let’s go”
“It’s fine, I will take her”
I say.

“You don’t have to”
“It’s alright, I have to use the bathroom too”
He nods.

I hold out my hand to the girl and she looks at it suspiciously.

“It’s ok, I don’t have cooties”
I say to her and she nods.

I lead her to the bathroom and she does her business.

I help her wipe and wash her hand before she zips up her skirt.

I go about my own business, as I step out from the bathroom stall she asks.

“Who are you?”
“Am Sandra”
“Are you my Aunt?”
“Well, kind of”
I say.

So, what do I say to that?
“I like your hair”
She says.

“Thanks, I like yours too”
“Thank you, daddy take me to the hair salon every weekend”
She says and I nod.

“Daddy must really like your hair too”
“Oh, he does, he says I look just like Mommy”
She says and I nod.

We step out of the bathroom to see Justin standing there.

I raise an eyebrow.

He grimaces.

“Am sorry, am a worrier”
He says.

What?

He thinks am going to kidnap his child?

I shake my head to dispel that thought.

“Daddy can I do my hair like Sandra’s?”
Raine asks.

He turns his eyes to me before looking to his child.

“When you are 40 baby girl”
He says and I roll my eyes.

Typical dad.

“But that’s so far”
Raine says.
“Patience is a virtue baby girl”
“What’s a virtue?”
“You will find out when you are 40 sweetie”
Raine rolls her eyes and I almost burst out laughing, so comical.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me young lady,”
Justin rebukes.
“You are too mean father”
“Yes I am your father, I can be mean sometimes”
She almost rolls her eyes again but stops when Justin growls in a low voice.
“Don’t even think of it”
She giggles as she pouts, the little minx knows she has her daddy wrapped around her fingers.
She holds my hand and Justin’s as she tries to skip between us.
I almost sigh.
It’s so obvious that they both have a good relationship.
Justin is a good father.
We turn the corner and we see that our little party has grown.
Tamara is there with Daniel and Alec, she must have gone to get him at my parents house.

Tamara is the Maxwells’s cousin, Daniel is her son.

She is helping with baby Abigail and Cara.
I exchange greetings with her before turning to Justin.

He has moved away to his son .
The little boy seems to be shy in the face of so much attention.
Sigh.

I know how that feels.

Alec moves to him, Daniel follows.
“So you are my brother”
Alec says in typical Alec fashion.
The boy doesn’t respond just stares at him.
It’s disconcerting, it’s like looking at a little Justin and justice.
“Am sorry Alec, Styxx doesn’t like to talk much”
Justin says.
I noticed that.
And this crowd does not seem to be helping.
Alec nods.
“You must be scared for your sister”
Alec says.
Styxx just lifts a brow.
I shiver, someone just walked on top my grave, it’s a mini Justin.
“He’s like a mini Justin”
Kele whispers behind me.
“Am not scared, she will be fine and when she is we can go back home and leave all you people here”
Okay….
I don’t think he likes us much.
“Styxx, this is your family”
Justin says softly.
“No, I don’t want this family, let’s just take Jew and go home”
He says.

Justin stands up straight from leaning on the wall.

“What’s that supposed to mean Styxx?”
He asks and I can hear the dangerous edge in his tone.

Apparently, daddy does not go soft on his little boy.

“It means we don’t need this people, they can go home, we are with Jew, they can stop pretending to care”
He says.

Apparently, little boy is not scared to go against daddy.
And wait.

Since when did little kids get so articulate?
How old is he?5?6?

He can’t be older than Alec.
“Styxx…”

“Dad, we don’t need them, I don’t need them”
“I need them daddy”
Raine shouts in typical Raine fashion.

“Shut up Raine, you are stupid”
“Don’t call your sister stupid Styxx”
Justin says.

“Whatever”
Styxx murmurs.
Are you serious?

“Styxx, follow me, you are on time out”
Justin says and finally the little boy looks scared.

He leads him a little ways from us.
How stressful it must be dealing with kids this age.

Poor Justin.

---

Justin
I knew Styxx was different, matured for his age, a genius but never did I think that I keeping them away from my family will affect them like this.
“Is there anything you want to say?”
I ask him.

He shakes his head, going back to silence.
How convenient for him, he only talks when he wants to.

Well that ends now.

“Styxx, your sister needs my families support, she needs your support, don’t you think it’s better that she has people that loves her with her?”
He doesn’t respond.

“Styxx, use your words”
“I want to go back home dad, I don’t like this people”
“Why?”
He doesn’t respond.
“Why Styxx?”
He still doesn’t respond.
“Styxx, I need you to use your words”
I say, my voice going up this time.

Am not going to let my son act like a weak girl.
If he has problems with what he doesn’t like and he voices it, then he should be strong enough to stand by what he believes.
“They steal you away from us”
He says softly and I almost did not hear.
“Styx….”
“You abandon us and go back to them every other day, last weekend you came on a Saturday instead of a Friday.
Dad, they steal you away”
He says with his little man voice and my heart breaks.

I think I single handedly destroyed my family.
I didn’t know my absence made them feel insecure.
Sh-t.

“Styxx….”
“Are you going to marry her and leave us?”
He asks and I frown confused.
“Who?”
“The one with the red hair, you look at her different”.

Leave it to my kid to understand my feelings for Sandra in an hour than I could understand it in 2 years.
“Styxx…”
“You can go dad, I will take care of Jew and Raine, we will be with aunt Leila”
He says .

I sigh as I scrub a hand down my face.
Mariah, our kid is too brilliant for his own good.
I see justice signalling to me at the edge of my vision.

I turn to Styxx.

“We are going to talk about this later, ok Styxx?”
He doesn’t respond.

I turn his shoulder as we move back to our group.

I turn to Justice.

“The girls are going to go home to freshen up and take care of the kids”
I nod.

That’s good, the doctor was already talking about decongesting the hallway.
“I will call you if there are any changes ”
I say to julliet.
She nods.

I turn to Sandra.
“You gonna be okay?”
I ask her.

“Am not leaving you”
She says.

“Squirrel…baby…”
“I can’t leave you Justin”
“Am fine, take Raine and Styxx and Leila home, I will call you I promise”
“Ya?”
“Ya.”
She nods.

Raine instantly grabs her hand and Sandra leads her away with the others.

Styxx follows at a slower pace.
I sigh as they go out of view.

I take a sit beside Justice who is typing away on his phone.

“Is he okay?”
Tony asks.
He is still here?
Am surprised.
But I nod.

“He’s gonna have to get used to having lots of people around him”
“He has mild autism, I think that’s going to take a while”
“You will be surprised, he’s a good kid, saw the way he was watching his sister to make sure she doesn’t get hurt even when he was angry”
I nod.

Styxx is my broody hero.
I smile slowly.
“Thanks for that”
“Anytime brother”
I nod.

I feel like one good thing has come out from today, at least I am a step closer to understanding Sandra’s friend.

AN.
Heya.
Thanks all for the comments.
Y’all are awwwwwwwsome.
So, what do you think about this one?
Let me know.

It’s 01:37pm Am over here .
What time is it when you read this?
Let me know.

Love you guys so much.

---

Episode 24

Sandra.

We don’t say anything, my family is pretty quiet about all this.

I mean I want to scream and ask what’s going on but I can’t.

Jew is wheeled to the theatre doors and Justin lean down to kiss her sleeping head.
He steps back, holding the hands of his other kids.

Other kids .

God.

I watch him as he watches the door close.
The little girl tugs on his shirt.

“Daddy, is Jew going to come back?”
He smiles as he crouches in front of her.
“Yes baby, she will be coming back soon”
He stands up and turns to us.

“I can explain, but please not now, later, when all this is done”
He says and Justice nods.

“Daddy, I have to pee”
Raine says.

“Ok baby, let’s go”
“It’s fine, I will take her”
I say.

“You don’t have to”
“It’s alright, I have to use the bathroom too”
He nods.

I hold out my hand to the girl and she looks at it suspiciously.

“It’s ok, I don’t have cooties”
I say to her and she nods.

I lead her to the bathroom and she does her business.

I help her wipe and wash her hand before she zips up her skirt.

I go about my own business, as I step out from the bathroom stall she asks.

“Who are you?”
“Am Sandra”
“Are you my Aunt?”
“Well, kind of”
I say.

So, what do I say to that?
“I like your hair”
She says.

“Thanks, I like yours too”
“Thank you, daddy take me to the hair salon every weekend”
She says and I nod.

“Daddy must really like your hair too”
“Oh, he does, he says I look just like Mommy”
She says and I nod.

We step out of the bathroom to see Justin standing there.

I raise an eyebrow.

He grimaces.

“Am sorry, am a worrier”
He says.

What?

He thinks am going to kidnap his child?

I shake my head to dispel that thought.

“Daddy can I do my hair like Sandra’s?”
Raine asks.

He turns his eyes to me before looking to his child.

“When you are 40 baby girl”
He says and I roll my eyes.

Typical dad.

“But that’s so far”
Raine says.
“Patience is a virtue baby girl”
“What’s a virtue?”
“You will find out when you are 40 sweetie”
Raine rolls her eyes and I almost burst out laughing, so comical.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me young lady,”
Justin rebukes.
“You are too mean father”
“Yes I am your father, I can be mean sometimes”
She almost rolls her eyes again but stops when Justin growls in a low voice.
“Don’t even think of it”
She giggles as she pouts, the little minx knows she has her daddy wrapped around her fingers.
She holds my hand and Justin’s as she tries to skip between us.
I almost sigh.
It’s so obvious that they both have a good relationship.
Justin is a good father.
We turn the corner and we see that our little party has grown.
Tamara is there with Daniel and Alec, she must have gone to get him at my parents house.

Tamara is the Maxwells’s cousin, Daniel is her son.

She is helping with baby Abigail and Cara.
I exchange greetings with her before turning to Justin.

He has moved away to his son .
The little boy seems to be shy in the face of so much attention.
Sigh.

I know how that feels.

Alec moves to him, Daniel follows.
“So you are my brother”
Alec says in typical Alec fashion.
The boy doesn’t respond just stares at him.
It’s disconcerting, it’s like looking at a little Justin and justice.
“Am sorry Alec, Styxx doesn’t like to talk much”
Justin says.
I noticed that.
And this crowd does not seem to be helping.
Alec nods.
“You must be scared for your sister”
Alec says.
Styxx just lifts a brow.
I shiver, someone just walked on top my grave, it’s a mini Justin.
“He’s like a mini Justin”
Kele whispers behind me.
“Am not scared, she will be fine and when she is we can go back home and leave all you people here”
Okay….
I don’t think he likes us much.
“Styxx, this is your family”
Justin says softly.
“No, I don’t want this family, let’s just take Jew and go home”
He says.

Justin stands up straight from leaning on the wall.

“What’s that supposed to mean Styxx?”
He asks and I can hear the dangerous edge in his tone.

Apparently, daddy does not go soft on his little boy.

“It means we don’t need this people, they can go home, we are with Jew, they can stop pretending to care”
He says.

Apparently, little boy is not scared to go against daddy.
And wait.

Since when did little kids get so articulate?
How old is he?5?6?

He can’t be older than Alec.
“Styxx…”

“Dad, we don’t need them, I don’t need them”
“I need them daddy”
Raine shouts in typical Raine fashion.

“Shut up Raine, you are stupid”
“Don’t call your sister stupid Styxx”
Justin says.

“Whatever”
Styxx murmurs.
Are you serious?

“Styxx, follow me, you are on time out”
Justin says and finally the little boy looks scared.

He leads him a little ways from us.
How stressful it must be dealing with kids this age.

Poor Justin.

---

Justin
I knew Styxx was different, matured for his age, a genius but never did I think that I keeping them away from my family will affect them like this.
“Is there anything you want to say?”
I ask him.

He shakes his head, going back to silence.
How convenient for him, he only talks when he wants to.

Well that ends now.

“Styxx, your sister needs my families support, she needs your support, don’t you think it’s better that she has people that loves her with her?”
He doesn’t respond.

“Styxx, use your words”
“I want to go back home dad, I don’t like this people”
“Why?”
He doesn’t respond.
“Why Styxx?”
He still doesn’t respond.
“Styxx, I need you to use your words”
I say, my voice going up this time.

Am not going to let my son act like a weak girl.
If he has problems with what he doesn’t like and he voices it, then he should be strong enough to stand by what he believes.
“They steal you away from us”
He says softly and I almost did not hear.
“Styx….”
“You abandon us and go back to them every other day, last weekend you came on a Saturday instead of a Friday.
Dad, they steal you away”
He says with his little man voice and my heart breaks.

I think I single handedly destroyed my family.
I didn’t know my absence made them feel insecure.
Sh-t.

“Styxx….”
“Are you going to marry her and leave us?”
He asks and I frown confused.
“Who?”
“The one with the red hair, you look at her different”.

Leave it to my kid to understand my feelings for Sandra in an hour than I could understand it in 2 years.
“Styxx…”
“You can go dad, I will take care of Jew and Raine, we will be with aunt Leila”
He says .

I sigh as I scrub a hand down my face.
Mariah, our kid is too brilliant for his own good.
I see justice signalling to me at the edge of my vision.

I turn to Styxx.

“We are going to talk about this later, ok Styxx?”
He doesn’t respond.

I turn his shoulder as we move back to our group.

I turn to Justice.

“The girls are going to go home to freshen up and take care of the kids”
I nod.

That’s good, the doctor was already talking about decongesting the hallway.
“I will call you if there are any changes ”
I say to julliet.
She nods.

I turn to Sandra.
“You gonna be okay?”
I ask her.

“Am not leaving you”
She says.

“Squirrel…baby…”
“I can’t leave you Justin”
“Am fine, take Raine and Styxx and Leila home, I will call you I promise”
“Ya?”
“Ya.”
She nods.

Raine instantly grabs her hand and Sandra leads her away with the others.

Styxx follows at a slower pace.
I sigh as they go out of view.

I take a sit beside Justice who is typing away on his phone.

“Is he okay?”
Tony asks.
He is still here?
Am surprised.
But I nod.

“He’s gonna have to get used to having lots of people around him”
“He has mild autism, I think that’s going to take a while”
“You will be surprised, he’s a good kid, saw the way he was watching his sister to make sure she doesn’t get hurt even when he was angry”
I nod.

Styxx is my broody hero.
I smile slowly.
“Thanks for that”
“Anytime brother”
I nod.

I feel like one good thing has come out from today, at least I am a step closer to understanding Sandra’s friend.

AN.
Heya.
Thanks all for the comments.
Y’all are awwwwwwwsome.
So, what do you think about this one?
Let me know.

It’s 01:37pm Am over here .
What time is it when you read this?
Let me know.

Love you guys so much.

---

Episode 25

Sandra.
“You can stay here, I already prepared separate bedrooms for the kids”
I say to Leila as I show her to one of the many spare bedrooms the mansion has.
She nods.

“Thank you so much for all this but really I can manage a room with the kids”
“No No, it’s fine, Justin will want them to get settled in right away, I already did that, you can rest”
I say to her.
“You should too”
“What?”
“You look exhausted, you should get some sleep too”
She says to me and I nod.
I turn to leave.
“You are really pretty”
She says and I turn back
“I’m sorry?”
“You are really pretty, Justin talks about you a lot”
“He does?”
“Yeah I could tell he likes you”
I frown.
Justin liked me before this weekend?
Well that’s news.
“Are you?…..”
She seems to get my unspoken question.
“Oh no, I and Justin are not romantically involved, I’m just his wife’s sister”
I nod slowly.
“About that…..”
I start.
“Yes? ”
“You know what? nevermind”
If I have any questions I’m going to ask Justin and not his ward.
“Ok, then, get settled in, try to rest”
I say to her.
“You too”
I make my way to my room and i enter to see Julliet sitting on my bed she’s not alone she’s with magic and Kele.
“I’m exhausted, not now”
I say before they could speak.
Seriously, I’m not to ready for this.
I know they saw me come out of Justin’s bedroom semi naked and they want an explanation but am not ready.
And besides we have bigger fish to fry.
“I am exhausted too, you don’t see me complaining”
Julliet says.
I raise a brow as I take off my jeans.
“Can we do the third degree later?”
I ask them.
“We are not here for that, we just want to make sure know how well you are holding up”
Magic says.
Oh.
Well.
That was sweet.
“Am fine, thanks for caring”
I say to them.
“It must have been real hard for you”
I nod, I take off my shirt as I face plant on the bed .

It was big enough to accommodate the four of us.
“Do you need a hug? Can we touch you?”
Kele asks and my heart breaks.
With all this drama I have forgotten my family was still scared for me.
I nod my hear and we share a group hug.
We lie back, me in my undies and the rest of them fully clothed.
“Do you think the kids will accept us?”
Julliet asks and I can hear the fear in her voice.
“We have to wait and see then”
I say.
“Yup, that we have to do”
Kele says.
“But they sure are cute though”
Magic says after a while.
“Yeah, the boy looks like a mini Justin”
Julliet says and we giggle softly.
I feel sleep trying to take me under.
“Who is with the babies?”
I ask sleepily.
“Tamara….she’s on baby duty ”
Julliet replies and I nod.
I drift off and I feel them do too.
Everyone is so exhausted.
It’s some time before we wake up.

.
“Sandra, I want to pee pee”
The tiny voice wakes me up and I sit up slowly, scrubbing my eyes.
“Raine?”
I ask.

“I really want to pee pee, am sorry I disturbed you, I couldn’t find aunty Leila”
She says and I nod.

I get up but find out am in my underwear, I quickly grab my robe before I scar the kid for life.

The girls are sleeping soundly so I grab Raine’s hand and we quietly exit the room.
“Why didn’t you use your rooms bathroom?”

I ask her when I get her settled on top the toilet sit.

“The door way locked, I couldn’t open it and I also I was scared, I wanted daddy, I saw you first”

She says with brutal honesty, only a kid can be this honest without fear of rejection.

I nod my head as I stroke her hair off her face.
God, I always wanted to do that.

I quickly rein in my emotions, these kids aren’t mine, am not going to get attached.
I help her wash and wipe before we step out.
“Am hungry”
She says.

I should probably get her some food, she probably hasn’t had anything to eat since morning.

” What do you want to eat?”
” Chocolate?”

She asks with a toothy grin.

Thats not gonna work on me, she probably tries this with everyone.

“You can’t have chocolate Raine, not until we ask your father ”
She pouts and I laugh.

I walk her to the kitchen where I give her some chocolate chip cookies and milk.

Am sorry, am not immune to little girl charm.
“Do you think we should bring some up for Styxx? ”

She nods her head, her mouth too full to reply.
When she is done we take some. Cookies to Styxx, he is still sleeping so we place it on the night stand.

“Do you want to go back to sleep? ”
I ask her and she shakes her head no.
“Can I see daddy’s room?”
I lead her to Justin’s room where she looks around with wide-eyed wonder.

She touches almost everything before plopping on the bed.

“It smells like daddy ”
Am sure it does.

I think this.

” You know what?, let’s sleep here OK?”
She nods and I get into the bed with her, I switch on the TV and we watch for a while, she drifts off with her head on my stomach, I pull the cover over us and soon I drift off too.

---

Justin.
I didn’t expect to see Sandra and Raine in my bed but that’s what I see when I enter.

The surgery is done and Jew is still sleeping, justice asked me to run home and quickly freshen up so I won’t miss when Jew wakes.
I really didn’t want to but he insisted.
You know what happens when justice insists.
Now I’m glad that I came home
I step closer to the bed quietly so I don’t disturb them.

Raine snuggles closer to Sandra and Sandra pulls her protectively closer even in sleep.

My heart breaks.

It’s so obvious that Raine needs a feminine touch in her life.

Not that Leila wasn’t doing a good job, just that Leila was well .. Leila.

I bend down and place a kiss on Sandra’s head.

It must have been hard for her to let Raine touch her like that.

I go to my bathroom and I bath, as I step out I see her waiting for me with an aspirin and a glass of water.

I take both from her and I swallow.

“How’s she”
She asks in a whisper so as not to disturb Raine.

“The surgery is done, we just have to wait for her to wake”
“She’s gonna wake up Justin”
I nod my head.

I hope so, I really seriously hope so.
“Thank you Sandra”
She frowns.
“What for?”
“For being you”
She smiles as she goes on her tippy toes to kiss my cheek, I turn my head to kiss her lips but she steps away.
“What’s wrong?”
I ask.

She shakes her head.
“Sandy? What is the matter”
“I don’t want to bother y…”
“Tell me”
I say to her.
She sighs and speaks.
“I don’t think we can continue our relationship Justin”
The f-ck?
What relationship?
The one that just started?
“Sandra….”
I go to speak but …
“Daddy?”
Raine sits up.

I walk to my daughter but not before throwing Sandra a look that clearly stated that this wasn’t over.
She sighs again.

What is wrong with women?…..

---

Episode 26

Justin.

For the life of me I just don’t get how women’s brains work.

I almost grabbed her arms last night to shake her so she would start making sense.
“So let me get this straight….she wants to break up the fragile relationship the both of you are trying to build”
I nod my head at Justice’s question.

I finally confided in my family about my relationship with Sandra, well I confided in Tony, Justice and Sage.

They are taking it relatively well I’m surprised.

I thought for sure Sage will blow up but no he seems to get it, it seems as if he already knew I don’t know how that is.

“She probably thinks she’s doing me good, I don’t know what to do”
I say.

“Well maybe you should talk to her about it, I mean she has gone through a lot she probably thinks she is doing you a lot of good, I mean you have kids now she might be scared, she might think the next best thing is to leave you be with your kids, you just gotta set her straight”
Justice says and I nod.
“I probably screwed up our relationship by agreeing to the friends with benefits stuff”
I say.

“Its just that I was scared I wanted to have her in any way I could, that way was just the available one at that moment”
They nod their head in understanding and I frown.

“You guys are taking this relatively well, do you think…. no wait, I feel like you know something, what’s up?”
I ask.

Sage just sighs as he scrubs his hands down his face.

“It was pathetic watching you guys try to decieve us, I always knew Sandra had a crush on you, it was so obvious.

I didn’t want her to get hurt so I asked you if you like her too but you said no, imagine my surprise when I saw her sneaking into your room,
dude I feel like punching you right now, you know how disgusting it was watching my sister make out with you in the hallway? Ya, I saw you guys”
He says and I grimace.

“Yeah that’s true you both should probably get a room it was so awkward, Julliet and I saw the both of you making out, I mean there are many rooms in the mansion, use one”
He says with mockery and I flip him the bird.
He just chuckles.

“The both of you should probably stop the friends with benefits thing”
Tony says and that sobers me up pretty quickly,
“I know you’re right ”
He’s right.

“I’m going to tell her I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with, you think she will accept?”

I asked nobody in particular I just don’t know what to do.

“Trust me, she’s going to give you a hard time, trust me on that she will try to sabotage every good thing that comes her way and that includes you, its up to you make her see that she deserves happiness, no matter how small”

Tony says and I smile gratefully.

The nurse approaches us and my heart clenches.

All the joking made me forget what was actually going on, I stand up as she comes closer.

I feel the others stand with me too.

Waiting for any news about Jew was a punishment, I arrived pretty late last night and we have been camped out outside the recovery room.
“Mr Maxwells?”

The nurse asks and I nod.

“Your daughter is awake and asking for you, please follow me”
I almost dance in glee, I would have if I was a man into that stuff.

Am pretty pschyed though, not that I thought she would not wake.

Quite the opposite, I knew a child of mine is d–n strong.

I follow the nurse in.

---

Sandra.
Am having a bad dream.

One of my night terrors, I don’t know what has triggered this dream but am willing to bet it had everything to do with Justin.

In this dream I am running away from Mavin, am running towards the garage, I can feel my real self telling my dream self not to do that.
The garage is a dead end.

He can easily get you there.
But my dream self doesn’t hear me, I can hear my self sobbing in real life, please come back, don’t go there.

My dream self enters the garage and runs to the door, it’s locked, am scared, I turn and he’s there.

“You made me run after you?, You made me run Sandra?”

He asks calmly and I shake my head no, please please.

“Please Mavin, am sorry”
“I don’t think so, I don’t think you are sorry”
He’s unbuckling his belt.
God, no, I can’t take more of that.
I can feel my self crying in real life, I try to wake but I can’t, am too tied in this dream.
I begin to choke as the belt hit my back the first time.
I cry out.
“Don’t make a sound, take it like a big girl, shut up and take your punishment”
I cry harder in real life.

My dream self is bleeding from her arm where the belt cut in too deep, I cradle it to my self.

Mavin drops the belt
God no, please not the kicks.

He seem to read my mind because that is what he does.

His boot slams into my stomach and I cry out coughing blood, I curl into a ball and he slams his boot into my back.

“You are nothing, you are just a silly fool with no ties, I own you, you are mine, you will never get away because you are a waste, no body wants you”

He says this before slamming his boot into my face, I feel my jaw crack.

He steps away calmly and turns as he exits.
My dream self is crying.

My real self is crying.

“Sandra, wake up, Sandra….. Sandra!”
I sit up with a wail on my lips, I see that julliet and Magic and Kele are standing over me.
I immediately begin to cry.

“What’s wrong? Tell me, please”
Julliet says but I can’t speak, I can feel my self getting detached, shutting down my emotions.

I have to get away from this pain.

Oh God.

It hurts so much.
“Was it a nightmare?”
Julliet asks going to touch me.
“Don’t touch me!…..don’t …touch…me”
I say and she nods.

I continue crying and they stand helplessly.
My phone rings and I pick slowly.

I don’t say a word.

“Sandra? Sandra are you there?”
It’s Justin,
“Yes”
I say in a scratchy voice.

“Jew’s awake, she woke up a while ago, I wanted to share this with you and to tell you I can’t wait to see you and I love you”
He says and I blink.

My heart clenches, why does it feel like I should respond? Why does it feel like I have waited years to hear this?
“Sandra?”
“I heard you Justin, whatever”
I say and I feel an inner part of me screaming, crying, telling me to listen.

But I just can’t, I have numbed the pain, it’s there , it’s also gone , with it are most of my emotions.

“Sandra, i just said I love you”
He says softly.
“I heard you Justin, what do you want? A medal?”

He pauses for a while and that part of my brain tells me something is wrong, very wrong.

After a while he speaks.
“Always thought I would be the one acting like an a-hole Sandra, but I never thought it would be you acting like a b-tch.”
He says this and he ends the call.

I feel a sob ride up my chest.

I can’t do this again, what made me think, feel I could?
“Sandra….”
Julliet starts.
“Get out”
“Sandra….”
Magic starts this time….
“Get
Out! Get the f-ck out!”
I scream and they step back.
Fine!

They should all go, I don’t need anyone or anything.

I can be alone.

I was meant to be alone.

They exit the room and I lie back on my bed, curl into a ball and cry my heart out.
God.

I need you.
Justin, please Justin.
I cry for so long that it gets to a point where I could not tell where I ended and where the pain started from.

---

Episode 27

Justin.

I always knew that I had to talk about this one day but that didn’t make it easier.
Here goes.
“I met Mariah 5 years 7 months ago in one of my many missions, she was different, she was lovely, when I saw her I knew instantly that I wanted to make her mine.”

---

Sandra.
I feel my heart break as he speaks, I had heard Magic and Justice quarrelling and I had come to investigate.

Was about to leave when they settled, when I heard justice tell Justin to spill I stopped.
I don’t know why I stayed to listen, maybe I was a sU-Cker and a masochist because I could not stop my self from listening.
I slide down on the floor my back to the wall as I listen.

“I met Mariah 5 years 7 months ago in one of my many missions, she was different, she was lovely, when I saw her I knew instantly that I wanted to make her mine.”
He started.

“She was a dance instructor, she was Spontaneous, she lived in the moment, she was free, she was everything I wanted at that moment”

He laughs a little and my heart breaks.
I wanted him to feel like that with me, I really wanted that.

“We got talking and after a while I found out she was deaf, she could not hear, but what amazed me the most was that she did not let that stop her, she was a dance instructor! I mean who does that, she felt the music through the beat, she was awesome”
He says this, he says in a way that left nothing to the imagination.

He was amazed all over again.
“On our first date we went to her dance studio, we danced, it’s was lit,.we started dating, we went out, we did things, soon I feel in love”

I could not hear any longer, I stood up silently and I left.

How can I compete with that?
The worse thing is that my competition isn’t even alive.

---

Justin.
“On our first date we went to her dance studio, we danced, it’s was lit,.we started dating, we went out, we did things, soon I feel in love”

I hear my self say.
“I just didn’t know that I was the only one in love”
“Wait I don’t get it, I thought you said she was lovely?”

Julliet asks, I go to answer but Leila beats me to it.

“What Justin is trying to say julliet is that my sister was a stark raving lunatic and a b-tch”
“Leila , that’s enough”

Leila mimes zipping her lips and I continue .
“She was lovely Jules, she really was but she just didn’t know how to love me, soon we started fighting, it was just over little things.
Like, I didn’t remember it’s our 100th day together, I didn’t know that her best color is red, I forgot to buy Chinese takeout when I was coming.

Even about things she didn’t tell me about.
I was broken, I loved her and I was hurting her, I wanted to do the right thing by her so I ended it.”

“You ended it?”
Kele asks, confused..

“Well I tried to, she wouldn’t let me, she told me she loved me, told me she couldn’t do without me, told me she was lost without me.

She told me all the things I wanted to hear, so I didn’t break it up.

Infact things went back to normal, I was living the life, we were happy.

One day we came back from a date, it was raining, she loved the rain, we were making out and we started getting serious.
We had had s-x before that day but this day was different, she wanted more, I didn’t, she told me she was on the pill, that I didn’t need protection.

I believed her, in hind sight I should have seen it coming, I never saw her take any pills, I should have known what her game was.
I should have known that she thought she could keep me from ending things by getting pregnant.

So well,.we had s-x, 3 weeks later she started getting sick and started having mood swings.
We went to the doctor, he said she was 3 weeks along.

I was shocked, I really was but I was happy, she said she was happy too and wanted to keep the baby.

We started making plans, I bought the house on the beach because it was her dream house.

We made so much plans”
I stop for a breath.

“I even made plans of her seeing you justice, you and Dad and taking her to Mom.
We went to see her parents and her sister, I got their blessing.

There were talks of wedding after the baby was born.

Things were going fine and we were happy.
I should have known something was wrong, it was too good to be true.

When she was about 7 months along something happened, I came back from work one day on a weekend- I started the weekend routine with her- she was in the tub, the water was full to the brim and she submerged her head inside.

Like she was literally drowning her self.

I was spooked, I took her to the hospital and a psychiatrist diagnosed her with bipolar disorder, she was prone to depression and mood swings.

The doctor also said her being deaf didn’t help matters.

When asked why she did what she did, she said it was because she felt i wasn’t giving her the attention she deserved, that she felt I loved the baby more than her.

I didn’t know what to do so I moved in with her, I mean at that time, justice was never around, julliet was in the States, our father hated my guts so it was pretty easy to move in with her.

After that things went back to normal, she was taking her pills, she was happy.

Before then we didn’t know what the s-x of the baby would be, we just knew she was heavy, pretty heavy,we speculated that we might be having twins and that was it.

When the babies finally came i was shocked, imagine my surprise when the doctor brought in the triplets on a gurney, we were beyond our self with happiness.

She named Raine, after her love for rain and Styxx after the mythological river Styx, and I named Jew because well it was a form of my and Julliet’s name
We were content.

We went home and soon enough after the first 3 months the mood swings started.

She was just not content with what she was getting.

Constantly ignoring the babies, I came back from work one day to find her watching reruns of 2 broke girls while our babies were crying in their cot.

By then the doctor already diagnosed Jew of the disease and that Styxx was midly autistic and that Raine was OCD.

There were still too young to know but he had a strong feeling.

It was as if Mariah shared her personality to our children.

Still I was content, they were my kids.

After that incident with the babies I called in Leila to help, I really needed the hand, Mariah was not acting like a mother, at all.

When lay lay arrived things got a little better but soon Mariah started getting suspicious, she thought I was cheating on her with Leila.

I started getting fed up, the last straw was when I came back from work one day to see Jew bleeding from her head, she was 5 months by then,. Leila was not around.

I asked Mari what happened and she said that Jew, my sweet baby was jealous of her.

I got angry and flipped, what could a 5 month old baby do to a grown woman.

I said somethings that I am not proud of, called her selfish and obnoxious, that I wished she would just disappear.

At that time I was going through a hard time at work,my old boss was being an a-hole and the added stress of Mariah was not helping.

After my anger burned out I apologised because she seemed pretty shook by what I said, she said she forgave me.

She apologized too, saying she would never hurt our baby again and she was ready to be a good mother.

I should have known that was a facade she put up,.that night we had s-x, it felt deep, like I was seeing into her soul.

She cried after that and I held her close thinking it was because she was overwhelmed by the feelings.

I woke up in the middle of the night and I instantly knew something was wrong, Mariah was not in the bed.

I searched for her in our apartment but I didn’t find her
Leila joined me, I went to her studio that night and I saw the lights were on, I entered and I saw my wife looking broken as she bled out from her slashed wrist.

She left a note saying that she wasn’t good enough a mother for our kids and she will always be jealous, she apologized for hurting me and that she loved me, she wrote that she wanted to be buried underneath a tree so that in the future when our kids came to visit they will be able to shout their pain or laugh their happiness into her.

She promised that she will hear us and would shower her flowers on us when we do so.”
I take a deep breath, my voice suddenly breaking at that last point.

“So you see how I sent my wife to her death? I might as well have killed her”
“Justin, you didn’t kill Mariah, she was a selfish person that only though of her self till the very end”

Leila says and I don’t say a word.

Getting this off my chest feels good.

Refreshing.

“I kept the kids away because I got so used to them, to having them to my self, I always said I would bring them home when Jules arrived but I could not bring my self to do it, I was selfish….I…”

“It’s ok Justin, it’s really fine, we totally understand”

Julliet says with tears in her eyes.
“You’ve been through a lot guardian, am so sorry for what happened to you”
Magic says and I nod.

Justice nods at me and I know he is trying to work out his feelings.

I don’t say anything, I just let my words settle.

It feels good to finally admit the truth.
AN
So let me just say that I hope we all know depression is a silent killer.
You know anybody prone to mood swings and depression?

Please take them to a psychiatrist.

---

Episode 28

Justin.

After my confession down stairs I feel drained.
All I want to do now is to get some sleep and strategize on how I will get my girl back.
I just have to check on Jew first.

I walk to her slightly open door, I opened it a little to make sure I hear if or when she calls at night.

I step in quietly and I notice 2 things.

1. Raine left her bed and is cuddling with Jew .
2. Styxx left his bed and is cuddling with Raine and Jew.
3. Sandra left her bed and is cuddling with Raine, Styxx and Jew and currently singing a song.

I freeze as I listen.

She’s singing holdin’ out by the Lumineers.
Her voice sounds so so so good, I find my self leaning against the door jamb and just soaking up the scene
She doesn’t notice me .

She finishes her song and she leans down to kiss their head.

My heart clenches at the scene before me.
How long, how long have I wanted this for my children.

This only strengthens the conviction in my heart.

Sandra is not going to escape, she will either come to terms on her on or I will force her and make her see reason.

She is perfect for me and my children.
She needs us too.

She leans over and switches off the lamp on the nightstand.

She pulls the sheet over them ,
She doesn’t notice me.

She walks toward the door, she turns her head from fixing something at the foot of the bed and she sees me.
She freezes.
“Shut up and come with me”
I whisper and exit the room, knowing that she is following me.

I enter my room and I hold the door open for her.

She hesitates, I raise a brow and she enters with a sigh.
“What was that?”
I ask.

“Am sorry, you probably don’t want me around your kids”
She says.

“One more word on that subject and I will spank you, just try me Sandra”
She gulps.

“Now, tell me what that was”
“I heard Jew fussing and I heard Styxx and Raine disturbing her, I knew she needed her rest so I went in to calm them.”
I nod
“The song you were singing, what’s that about?”
“Raine asked me to sing it to them and also I love the Lumineers, it wasn’t a hard feat, it seemed to work because they fell right asleep”

She says and I watch her lips as she speaks.
Honestly I stopped listening to her after she said Raine asked her to sing it to them.

She stops and I drag my eyes back to her eyes.
She tries to escape.

“Am just …. gonna…”

“So what slipped up your a-s and died?”
I ask and she blinks.

“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, why have you been acting all b-tchy?”

“I would thank you not to call me a b-tch Justin and to stop using vulgar words towards me”
“Bullsh-t”
“What?”
“I call bullsh-t Sandra, you don’t get to act like you don’t know something is very wrong with our relationship”
“There is no relationship Justin”
“Bullsh-t”
“Justin…”

“Tell me what happened”
“Nothing happened”
“Sandra.”
I growl.
“Justin..”
She growls back.

This is going nowhere.

“Tell me what happened”
I try again.

“Nothing happened”
She says again and I sigh.

I go to take her hand but she steps away.
The hell?

“Sandra did you just flinch from me?”
I ask her.

She shakes her head uncertainly.
Yup.

She bloody flinched.

“Sandra so help me God, if you don’t get your fine a-s over here and tell me what made you build up your walls again,. I will come over there and do things to you, that I swear on my mother’s grave, you won’t be able to walk straight for a week”
I say and she gulps again before she starts to speak.

I notice she still didn’t come closer.
But at least she is talking.
“I had a break down”
She says.

I nod,she continues.
“I dreamt about Mavin and I was not in a right place in my head when you called”
I figured.

“Am sorry I said those words to you JM”
She says and I nod.

“I was scared now that you have kids that you won’t want me anymore”
She says and this time I don’t respond,
Now that I have kids? Did I ever not have kids?
She continues, a little uncertain.

“You do know I love you right? I love you to the moon and back”

She says and a pressure releases in my chest.
“Say something Justin, do you want me? Do you still love me? I will understand if you want to end things…I mean….”

I close the distance between us as I pull her in for a kiss.

She comes willingly.

I make my way to my bed my exhaustion suddenly disappearing.

I pull my head away from her .
“Promise me you will always let me know where your head is at at all times”
She nods.

“I need the words Sandra”
“Yes Justin, I promise”
“Good”
I say as I swoop in to take her lips.

---

After a while when we finally calm down and she is cuddling into me I speak.

“We have to see a therapist for your PTSD Sandy San”

I say softly and she nods.
“I know”
“That’s my strong sweet girl”
I say as I kiss her hair, am really proud of her.
She cuddles closer and I pull her as close as I could.

“I heard you downstairs”
She says.

“I know”
“What?”
She says as she sits up a little.

“I saw you from the corner of my eye, you didn’t stay for the whole story”
“The whole story?”

She asks as she settles back down on my chest.

“Am gonna tell you the whole story soon but first I need something”
She frowns.

“What?”
I whisper in her ear and she blushes, playfully hitting my chest.

“You crude human being”
She says.

“I am your crude human being”
I reply.

“Well that’s true”
She says speculatively.

“So what do you say?”
“Well… alright..”
She says with a blush and I laugh a full belly laugh.

I kiss her hard as I straddle her .

We make out for a while and after that I tell her the story.

She had tears in her eyes when I was done , I kiss them away and we settle to sleep.
“Now, I feel really content”
I say softly into the room.

She doesn’t respond because she is already asleep, she just mewls softly as she cuddles closer.

Bliss.

What I don’t know is that while I laughed my family heard and they were happy, even smiling to know that I was happy with someone who loved me.

---

Episode 29

Sandra.

“Where are you going?”

Justin asks, instantly awake even though it’s barely 6 in the morning.
“I…”

“Are you trying to leave me? Are you having second thoughts again?”
He asks and my heart melts.

I shake my head no as I walk back to the bed, I bend and kiss his head.
“Am just gonna go prepare breakfast, I think I have an apology to give to my family”
I say and he lies back,
“Ok.”

I turn to leave but i turn back to him.
“I will never leave you Justin, not again, not of my own free will”

I say to him and he nods, pulling my head down for a kiss.

“Sleep in sweets, I will take care of the triple treat”

I say to him and he nods, chuckling sleepily.
I leave the room and I go down to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

When am down i lay the table and I go upstairs to bath the triplets.

Well I bath Raine, Styxx took care of him self in his big boy way and I pat Jew down with a wet cloth.

“Why are you being so nice to us?”
Jew asks as I braid Raine’s hair.
I pause.
“Excuse me?”
“Why are you acting so nice? only auntie Leila takes care of us like this”
She asks again and even Styxx is quiet waiting for my reply.

“Well, you lot are cute and not that hard to be nice to”

I say and she turns away from reading my lips, she’s still too weak to talk much so I just kiss her head and turn back to Raine’s hair.

“Are you daddy’s girlfriend?”
Raine asks and I pause again.

How do I answer this question? is this a trick question?

Why Lord was I asked.

Am almost tempted to tell her to ask Justin but I answer.
“Well kind of”
“Cool, that’s good, I like you”
I beam, I can’t believe am smiling so much from receiving approval from a 5 year old.
“Why didn’t you come to see Jew at the hospital? You were always at home”
Styxx says accusingly and I freeze again.
“We seem to be full of questions this morning”

I say, he just watches me and I almost gulp.
How can a 5 year old be so intense?
“I was in a bad place at the time Styxx”
“Were you sick?”

Raine shouts and I wince at her loud voice but I answer.

“You can say that”
Styxx nods and smiles.

He looks just like his father.
“Am glad you are fine now, I kind of like you”
He says matter of factedly.
“I kind of like you too Styxx”
I say to him and he nods again.

I wait for Jew to say something along the lines of she likes me but she just remains quiet.
Well, I guess that’s all the likes am getting for today.

I wheel her down the ramp the guys made around the house for her wheel chair into the dinning room.

I see everyone already sitted.
“Good morning mi familia”
I say and no one answers.

Well seems they are holding a grudge.
I set the triplets on their sits and they immediately dig in as soon as I serve.
“You made all this?”
Kele asks and I nod.

“D–n, I should probably hire you as an understudy chef instead of my shows host”
I laugh a little.

Julliet throws Kele a dirty look and Tony says…
“Children on board mailma ”

I raise an eyebrow at Tony’s endearment, he literally just called Kele his soul.

I don’t say anything but my gaze goes back to julliet, seems she is angry at me.
“Hey Jules”

I say to her as I purposely take a sit beside her.

She doesn’t answer, I bump my shoulder against hers, still nothing.
Oh hell.
“Am sorry”
Her shoulders settle and I know she is listening.

“Am sorry for acting like the B word”
I say to her.

She goes to answer but stops at Alec’s next comment
“The B word means b-tch right?”
I gape at Alec and so does everyone at the table.
“What’s a b-tch?”
Styxx asks with interest.
Oh no, hell no.
“Alec Max Jacobs,! Who thought you a bad word”
Julliet asks and he looks scared.
“Sage…”
Julliet says to Sage, he understands.
“Alec, where did you hear that word?”
“I saw it on a movie I watched on YouTube”
He says.
“You watch movies on YouTube?”
Julliet asks, appalled.
“Yes, on the tab”
He says and I almost shake my head.
Bye bye to your tab Alec.
“Alec, i placed YouTube under censored on your tab, how did you get passed the security?”
Jules asks and he gulps.
“I kind of know the password”
He says slowly.
“Jesus!, What else have you been watching?”
She asks, she looks sick to her stomach.
“That’s it, your tab and Mac book is gone for a week”
She says to him.
“But Mom….”
“You should be Happy it’s just a week A, I would have recommended a month”
Sage says to him and I chuckle softly at the horrified look on Alec’s face.
“But dad….”

“Eat your food and go get ready for school, buddy”
Sage says and Alec nods with a sulk.
“Don’t worry, you can use my tab”
Styxx says in a side whisper to Alec that everyone pretends not to hear.
Alec beams at him and resume to gorge on his food.

I shake my head and I turn to julliet.

“Don’t act like that again, let me in when you need help ok?”
She asks and I nod.

“Ok, am gonna go take my bath now”
Justin says as he kisses the triplets head, one after the other.

When he gets to me he bends and kisses me on the lips, slowly.

I sigh into his mouth.

“Please am begging you , get a room”
Justice says just as Sage says…

“Stop molesting my sister in front of me you idiot”
Sage says and I reluctantly break away.

Justin just scratches his head with his middle finger at Sage and Sage returns the gesture.
Real mature.

He leaves the room.

“Am guessing you guys worked things out”
Julliet asks and I nod.

“Am happy for you, the both of you”
She says and I beam.

My eyes goes to Jew who is looking at the door Justin just followed.
Oh sh-t.

Her eyes come to mine before going back to her food.

I didn’t think she liked me before.
But now it’s so obvious she doesn’t.
Oh hell.

---

Episode 30

“What do I do!?”

Kele cries, no seriously, I have never seen her this serious.

“I thought you said it was only just a fling?, a game?”
Magic asks and Kele growls at her.
“Don’t tell me what I said Magic”
Magic muffles a laugh in her hand as she takes a sip of her drink.

“Let me get this correctly….you have feelings for Tony?, Since you guys started sleeping together you have gotten to know him and he is kind, he lost his sister to an abusive husband so you guys get each other on that point.

You are scared of what you feel for him and you don’t know what to do since he is leaving in a week… Did I get all the facts right,?”

Julliet asks and Kele nods.

I don’t say a word, am still trying to wrap my head around it.
“The worse part is not that he is leaving, the worse part is that he says he will stay in Nigeria for a while to see where this goes because obviously am not giving up my restaurant to go be with him in California”
She says.

“How’s that the worse part? The man obviously likes you”
I say to her.
“He kind of used the love word with me”
She says and I gape.
I knew that Tony and Kele were together but not this together.
If you know what I mean.
“So what’s the problem?”
I ask her again.
Because seriously am not seeing any problem with this arrangement, it means am gonna get more of my friend.
Sooo…

Speaking of which, I still have to apologise to him
“The problem Sandy, if you were listening is that what do i do if he stays in Nigeria because of me and we later find out we are not compatible?

Won’t he regret wasting a period of his life with me?

I don’t want him to think of me in the future with bad thoughts.”
“What I see here is that you love him too”
Magic says.
“Well I do”
Kele confesses.
“What I also see here is that you are ending a relationship in your head even before it has had the opportunity to begin”
Julliet says and Kele pauses.
“Would it be so bad if he stays in Nigeria because of you?
Don’t you think you are worth it and more?
And besides if it doesn’t work out, am sure he is mature enough to handle himself.
Why don’t you see were this goes?”
Julliet says again and Kele looks lost.
Seriously am feeling a little sympathy for her.
“Don’t end the relationship you can start just because you are scared.

Think about it, what if just what if the relationship between the two of you is good and gets better and the both of you fall deeper in love.?

Have you thought about how happy you would be then?”

Jules asks her and I nod slowly.
“Seriously, think about that”
I say.

“But what if we fall in love deeper and it comes to a time for the both of us to chose were we are going to stay?

Long distance relationships work but this would be really really long distance.

And besides, I can’t ask him to choose between his work and me.

He loves his work.

And also, I can’t leave Tasty’s behind, and there is Magic and you and Sandra and Alec and….”

“Hey, don’t use all of us as an excuse to sabotage your happiness, we will always be here for you, even if you go and come back in 60 years.

And also you don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring.

Why don’t you see where it goes first before you start planning baby showers and send forth’s?”

Magic says and Kele takes a big breath.
“Ok, nice and slow, I can do that”
She says and I pat her on the back.
“Atta girl”
I say and she laughs.

“So what’s up with you?”.
She asks me and I frown.
“What?”
“Since we started this night out ..no wait since morning you’ve been tense.

One would think that after getting some last night you would be more pliable”
Kele says and I shake my head.
“What’s wrong?”
Julliet asks me.
I open my mouth to say nothing’ but I stop.

These are my friends, they can help.
“I think…no wait, I know Justin’s kid, Jew,.she hates me”
“Jew? Pffft, the kids love you, you are like a mini mom”
Magic says and I shake my head, my red hair spilling to my face and I brush it away.
“The other two might, but Jew really doesn’t like me, you should have seen her face after Justin kissed me today”
“Well, I saw it”
Julliet says.

“It looked murderous, if looks could kill”
Julliet says.
“See?”
I say to no one in particular.
“Why do you think she hates you?”
“I think she thinks I am stealing her dad from her”
“Well you kind of are”
Kele says as she takes a sip of her mimosa.
“Kele!”
Magic rebukes.
“Am just joking, geez”
Kele says after she gets a look at my fallen face
“Sandra.., you don’t have to be scared, the kid will love you, it’s only a matter of time, am sure she is still getting used to seeing a female in her daddy’s life”
Kele, kele! Says and am surprised.
I nod.

“I mean, with your red hair, you are a good role model”
She says and my heart skips a beat.
“You think I should dye it black”
“Nah, red is so you, and besides, your hair color does not factor into the hate system the kid has going on, if anything she will love you better, what kid doesn’t like a goth Barbie wannabe?”

Kele says and I flip her the bird.
She just laughs.

“So you think I should wait and be patient that she will come around?”

I ask and they nod.

I settle back into the couch.
“So what’s going on with you Jules, you never say anything about you, don’t tell me your relationship with my brother is that good”
I say to her and she pokes her tongue out at me.
“It’s that good”
She says.
“D–n, am jealous”
Kele says and we laugh.
“Am lying, it’s not that good, just that he loves me enough to forgive everything I do wrong the moment I do them and vice versa”
She says.

“I mean, we had a pregnancy scare last month, I was late and we thought I might be pregnant, seems we didn’t calculate it well”
She says and we laugh.
Wait, hold on.
I have been late for 2 months now.
Oh hell.
It can’t be..
“What’s that look on your face?”
Julliet asks me and I laugh.
“Oh it’s nothing, am thinking how I have missed my period for 2 months now”
I say jokingly but they don’t laugh.
“Sandra, you do use protection with Justin right?”

Magic asks and I shake my head no.
“I don’t”
They gape at me.
“It’s ok, I can’t get pregnant, the doctor said so”
“Why?”
Julliet asks.
“My womb is kind of inactive in that department so….”
“What do you mean?”
“Mavin said that’s what the doctor said the last time at the hospital after he hit me,.it was what made me leave him,”
I say.

“How sure are you that he is right? I mean the man could have lied about it to make you feel hurt”
Jules says and I pause
I never thought of that.

“Am not.. . pregnant…it can’t be..”
I say.

Julliet and Magic and Kele squeals.
“We are getting a home pregnancy test tomorrow”
“Guys, please don’t get your hopes up, it might be nothing, it might just be that I am sick”
I say.
“But
. Sandra…”
Julliet starts.
“Jules please, I can’t get my hopes up, am just going to go for a test ok?”
“Ok”
They say in unison, their voices down.
“Oh, cheer up, it’s fine”
I say to them and they nod
We go back to telling stories.
Whew.

I can’t believe they thought am preggers?
I almost laugh.
Seriously, the universe can’t be that cruel.

---

Episode 31

“What do I do!?”
Kele cries, no seriously, I have never seen her this serious.

“I thought you said it was only just a fling?, a game?”
Magic asks and Kele growls at her.
“Don’t tell me what I said Magic”
Magic muffles a laugh in her hand as she takes a sip of her drink.
“Let me get this correctly….you have feelings for Tony?, Since you guys started sleeping together you have gotten to know him and he is kind, he lost his sister to an abusive husband so you guys get each other on that point.

You are scared of what you feel for him and you don’t know what to do since he is leaving in a week… Did I get all the facts right,?”

Julliet asks and Kele nods.
I don’t say a word, am still trying to wrap my head around it.
“The worse part is not that he is leaving, the worse part is that he says he will stay in Nigeria for a while to see where this goes because obviously am not giving up my restaurant to go be with him in California”
She says.

“How’s that the worse part? The man obviously likes you”
I say to her.

“He kind of used the love word with me”
She says and I gape.
I knew that Tony and Kele were together but not this together.

If you know what I mean.
“So what’s the problem?”
I ask her again.

Because seriously am not seeing any problem with this arrangement, it means am gonna get more of my friend.
Sooo…
Speaking of which, I still have to apologise to him
“The problem Sandy, if you were listening is that what do i do if he stays in Nigeria because of me and we later find out we are not compatible?

Won’t he regret wasting a period of his life with me?

I don’t want him to think of me in the future with bad thoughts.”
“What I see here is that you love him too”
Magic says.
“Well I do”
Kele confesses.

“What I also see here is that you are ending a relationship in your head even before it has had the opportunity to begin”
Julliet says and Kele pauses.
“Would it be so bad if he stays in Nigeria because of you?

Don’t you think you are worth it and more?
And besides if it doesn’t work out, am sure he is mature enough to handle himself.
Why don’t you see were this goes?”
Julliet says again and Kele looks lost.
Seriously am feeling a little sympathy for her.
“Don’t end the relationship you can start just because you are scared.

Think about it, what if just what if the relationship between the two of you is good and gets better and the both of you fall deeper in love.?

Have you thought about how happy you would be then?”

Jules asks her and I nod slowly.
“Seriously, think about that”
I say.

“But what if we fall in love deeper and it comes to a time for the both of us to chose were we are going to stay?
Long distance relationships work but this would be really really long distance.
And besides, I can’t ask him to choose between his work and me.
He loves his work.

And also, I can’t leave Tasty’s behind, and there is Magic and you and Sandra and Alec and….”

“Hey, don’t use all of us as an excuse to sabotage your happiness, we will always be here for you, even if you go and come back in 60 years.

And also you don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring.

Why don’t you see where it goes first before you start planning baby showers and send forth’s?”

Magic says and Kele takes a big breath.
“Ok, nice and slow, I can do that”
She says and I pat her on the back.
“Atta girl”
I say and she laughs.

“So what’s up with you?”.
She asks me and I frown.
“What?”
“Since we started this night out ..no wait since morning you’ve been tense.
One would think that after getting some last night you would be more pliable”
Kele says and I shake my head.
“What’s wrong?”
Julliet asks me.

I open my mouth to say nothing’ but I stop.
These are my friends, they can help.
“I think…no wait, I know Justin’s kid, Jew,.she hates me”

“Jew? Pffft, the kids love you, you are like a mini mom”
Magic says and I shake my head, my red hair spilling to my face and I brush it away.
“The other two might, but Jew really doesn’t like me, you should have seen her face after Justin kissed me today”
“Well, I saw it”
Julliet says.

“It looked murderous, if looks could kill”
Julliet says.
“See?”

I say to no one in particular.
“Why do you think she hates you?”
“I think she thinks I am stealing her dad from her”
“Well you kind of are”
Kele says as she takes a sip of her mimosa.
“Kele!”
Magic rebukes.

“Am just joking, geez”
Kele says after she gets a look at my fallen face

“Sandra.., you don’t have to be scared, the kid will love you, it’s only a matter of time, am sure she is still getting used to seeing a female in her daddy’s life”
Kele, kele! Says and am surprised.
I nod.

“I mean, with your red hair, you are a good role model”
She says and my heart skips a beat.
“You think I should dye it black”
“Nah, red is so you, and besides, your hair color does not factor into the hate system the kid has going on, if anything she will love you better, what kid doesn’t like a goth Barbie wannabe?”

Kele says and I flip her the bird.
She just laughs.
“So you think I should wait and be patient that she will come around?”
I ask and they nod.

I settle back into the couch.
“So what’s going on with you Jules, you never say anything about you, don’t tell me your relationship with my brother is that good”

I say to her and she pokes her tongue out at me.

“It’s that good”
She says.
“D–n, am jealous”
Kele says and we laugh.
“Am lying, it’s not that good, just that he loves me enough to forgive everything I do wrong the moment I do them and vice versa”
She says.

“I mean, we had a pregnancy scare last month, I was late and we thought I might be pregnant, seems we didn’t calculate it well”
She says and we laugh.
Wait, hold on.

I have been late for 2 months now.
Oh hell.

It can’t be..

“What’s that look on your face?”
Julliet asks me and I laugh.
“Oh it’s nothing, am thinking how I have missed my period for 2 months now”
I say jokingly but they don’t laugh.
“Sandra, you do use protection with Justin right?”

Magic asks and I shake my head no.
“I don’t”
They gape at me.
“It’s ok, I can’t get pregnant, the doctor said so”
“Why?”
Julliet asks.

“My womb is kind of inactive in that department so….”
“What do you mean?”
“Mavin said that’s what the doctor said the last time at the hospital after he hit me,.it was what made me leave him,”
I say.

“How sure are you that he is right? I mean the man could have lied about it to make you feel hurt”

Jules says and I pause
I never thought of that.
“Am not.. . pregnant…it can’t be..”
I say.

Julliet and Magic and Kele squeals.
“We are getting a home pregnancy test tomorrow”

“Guys, please don’t get your hopes up, it might be nothing, it might just be that I am sick”
I say.

“But
. Sandra…”
Julliet starts.

“Jules please, I can’t get my hopes up, am just going to go for a test ok?”
“Ok”

They say in unison, their voices down.
“Oh, cheer up, it’s fine”
I say to them and they nod
We go back to telling stories.
Whew.

I can’t believe they thought am preggers?
I almost laugh.

Seriously, the universe can’t be that cruel.
AN.

Hello, good day to you, or night, or when ever you read this episode.
I hope you liked it.

---

Episode 32

Justin.
I watch her from back stage as she does her thing camera.

I can’t believe she is mine, I can’t believe she is finally all mine.

It’s been two weeks since we got back together, two weeks of enough trial and tribulations to last a life time.

Ok maybe not really trial and tribulations.
Am just exaggerating.

But really, it was hard.

First of all Jew had a fever which sent all of us into a panic.

We later found out it was just a normal cold and flu.

As it is with children, and triplets she shared her fever to the other kids and her siblings.
Even Alec.

It was five days of snotty noses and pills and temperature check.

It was hell.

Even Justice had to escape at one point.
We found him sleeping with baby Cara and Abigail with them on his chest.
It 2as comical.

Next came Kele’s and Tony’s drama.
Personally I think the woman is a loon.
And also that she has commitment issues.
Tony is as frustrated as I am sure a person trying to fetch water in a basket will be.
Then came Sandra and her phobia issues.
Firstly she tried to convince me that Jew hates her, I didn’t believe, mind you.

I later got to find out that indeed my baby girl despises my girlfriend.

I dealt with that after convincing Jew that I won’t abandon her and travel the world with Sandra.

I think she is coming along, nicely.
Next week me trying to convince Sandra that we have to go and see the therapist.
She was scared, saying what if she had to get locked in a padded cell.

AKA psychiatric hospital.

I told her that no, she won’t be locked in a cell.

She is perfectly normal.
It took us 2 days or rather her 2 days to gather her wits to even enter the car and make our first appointment.

That was five days ago, now she is better .
No not better because of the therapist, better because she is now brave enough to go to her appointments herself.

My brave girl.

It’s a wonder how we got from the beginning to the place where we are now.
It seems like a miracle.

Looking back it feels longer than it actually is, but finally we are here.
I am glad we are.

Really.

But what I am not glad of is that it seems as if Sandra, my lovely Sandra is having second thoughts.

Not towards me or our relationship but towards something else entirely.
When I ask she says it’s nothing and laughs it off.

I don’t believe her.
Swear to God.

I plan on seducing the truth out of her tonight.
I know, I know, it’s not one of my finest moment but a man has to do what a man has to do.

I have a sneaking suspicion I won’t like what I will hear.

I turn to her as she interacts with the audience as kele cooks.

Ok, seriously, my girlfriend is beautifully pretty.

Sh-t.

That sounded cheesy.

But hell, she has turned me to a a-hole.
I like it.

I smile at her when she glances my way as if to make sure i am still here.

She continues.

I smile wider.

“Any wider and we will be stitching your lips”

Tony says to me quietly and I almost punch him.

Almost.

I would have if I didn’t think that Sandra will hurt me for hurting her precious best friend.
I just give him the middle finger and he chuckles.

Sage and Justice do too.
Idiots.

It’s not as if the women don’t have them wrapped around their fingers also.
Demons.

We watch Sandra from back stage as she does her magic.

It’s spectacular.

I watch her so keenly that if I wasn’t doing so I wouldn’t have seen her stiffen a little.
I feel Tony and Sage and Justice stiffen too, they saw her too.

Am sure the women in the audience also noticed.

It’s just that Sandra is good at what she does and she hardly if ever makes any mistake.

Her falter was brief and unnoticeable to a normal eye but she is my girlfriend the woman I want to marry.

I made it my life mission to know when she is feeling any discomfort.

I lift my bracelet to my lips and I speak into the mouthpiece.

After giving instructions to my crew I stand up from the bench.

I don’t know what’s going on but i don’t like it.

My instincts says something is wrong and I seriously listen to my instincts.
It has gotten me this far .

I watch her keenly after that and I make sure I have at least 3 other people watching her every move.

When she is done she approaches me with a smile,

I pull her in for a hug and she kisses my cheeks.

“Congratulations babe”
I say to her and she nods, she turns towards the triplets as they come closer with Juliet and Magic.

“You mentioned our names at the end!”
Raine squealed.

“I was on TV”
Jew says with awe and I smile.
Styxx is keeping it cool but I know he is excited.
She kisses their head and they kiss her cheek, she turn to me after that.

“So what was that?”
I ask

“I knew you weren’t going to miss that,”
She says and I raise my brow.
“It was nothing”
She says and I frown.
“What did you see Sandra?”
Tony asks and she sighs.
“I thought I saw Mavin in the audience but that’s just stupid, it wasn’t him, the doctor said this might happen”
She says and I hug her closer, scanning the room slowly.
Sage is in guard and Justice leads the women and kids to the cars.
Tony tells Kele to get to her car as he helps her park supplies.
“Guys it’s nothing”
Sandra says but a little uncertainly.
“Am sure it’s nothing baby, but am gonna go over the CCTV footage okay?”
I say to her and she nods.
I lead her to her car .
I bend and kiss her lips.
“Go home, bath, take care of the triplets, I will be home soon, okay?”
She nods and I kiss her again.
I watch her drive off with the other and I turn back to the hall, speaking into my bracelet.
If that f-cker really is in town, he’s got a death wish.

He made me drop my plans of s£duct!on.
Sh-t.

Nigga is dead.

---

Episode 33

Justin.
“What do we got?”
Tony asks as he slides into a chair beside me.
I point to the screen and he mutters a quiet ‘s–t’

This a-hole seriously has guys, he is d–n stupid.

What does he think? That he would bounce in here torment my girl and cart away with her to bus her again.

Shut the bloody front door, am gonna fleece him within an inch of his life.

“You know he is not going anywhere without not knowing the repercussions of messing with a Maxwells- Jacobs right?”
I ask Tony and he nods.

When Sandra pulled up a photo of her ex and abuser I ingrained it into my memory because heaven knows I am going to kill him.

The pictures I just pulled from the CCTV footage shows that this guy is the one.

I can even see that he has tried to approach her from different angles but she was always busy.

It infuriates me to think how close my Sandra was to this moron some hours ago.
This idiot is not going to walk in here and ruin my months of hard work.
He is dead.

He doesn’t know how much danger he placed himself in when he got off the plane and entered Nigeria.

“You gonna take care of this or shall I? I have been meaning to have words with this f-cktard ”

I give tony a long side glance and I smirk.
“With all pleasure Tony, let’s do this”
I stand and I strap my vest, I shoot a quick email to my brother to let them know what is going on.

They are angry, seriously angry that they won’t be in on the action but we have to be incognito about this as can be.
We don’t want to give the women ideas.
Mostly Sandra.

She’s is kind enough to think that she has forgiven the idiot.

My phone pings and it’s my assistant, Simon.
I answer the call.

“Speak”
“Boss, we are on ground at the location, i and the other guys, I will send you the details”
He says.

“Good”
I say back.

“And boss?…..”
“Yes, Simon”
“Please let me get a shot at mauling this motherf-cker.”

He says and I smile again as I feel the calm rage settle on me.

“With all pleasure Simon”
I say to him.

I disconnect and i turn to Tony who has also strapped on his Kevlar.
“Let’s roll out”
I say to him and he gives a shot nod.
I grab my Glock, my lucky gun and a shotgun and a pistol for Tony, I place a Swiss army knife in my boot.

“All done.”
He says .

I give a short nod and this time we rolled out.

---

When we got to the B&B he is staying I almost laugh.

S–t.

This guy made it too easy for us.
I was expecting more of a challenge.
When I step out of the truck Simon and another guy I have seen around the office approaches me.

“What do we got?”
I ask.

“A-hole got in a while ago, had some dinner and he seems to be using his laptop for a while now, we have reason to think he has a fire arm”
I nod .
“The rooms besides him are empty, the Bed and Breakfast only had 7 rooms, the only other occupant is a diabetic old lady who has gone to sleep for a while now.
The owner of the B&B has gone out so the coast is clear”

He says and I would have chuckled at how easy this is but the rage is still on me.
Even the angels in heaven know not to mess with me when I am this way.
The other guys have approached us now and together my merry band is consisting of 7 men, including I and Tony.
“In formation”
I say and they nod.

“Simon come with me and Tony, ”
You think me and my guys with the fire arms is overkill?

I don’t think so.

I don’t want any mistakes to happen.
Not one tiny mistake.

We silently enter the B &B to find the cashier sleeping.
Pffft .

Easy peazy.

Simon leads the way and when we get to the door he steps aside.

I turn to my guys silently asking if they are ready and they nod.

They were born ready.
I turn the door knob and it gives, I open the door and step in my gun trained on the a-hole.
He looks up with his hands in the air.
“Am not a terrorist”
He says and I hear Tony Chuckle, weak idiot.
“Are you Mavin?”
I ask and he nods hesitantly.
I know he is the one but just feel the need to ask.

“Ok then a-hole, you are in for one dirty ride”

As soon as the words leave my mouth two of my guys step to him and hold him down..
“Tony , please do you want to do the honors?”

“I thought you would never ask”
He says before giving a mock bow and I smirk, s–t this guy won’t know what hit him.
When Tony and Simon get through with him he looks a little worse for wear.
Am sure two broken hands and a broken leg and hip will do that.

His face is swollen , his eyes are darting all over the place, he couldn’t even shout because Simon gatgged him.
I can see the question in his eyes.
He doesn’t know what he did wrong.
We can’t have that now can we?
I bend to his level and his eyes flies to me.
As tough as he tried to be towards my Sandra, he still just a weak little man.
A coward.

“I won’t kill you, you know why, because I don’t want your filth to be on my conscience, you are not worth the problem.

This is the last time you will hit a woman, I want you to remember that Sandra Jacobs is the only reason you are not dead.

Every morning when you wake up f-cking pray to her, wait , infact, don’t forget about her, don’t think about her, loose her memory.
Don’t think I won’t be watching you, don’t think you can go around hitting other women.

Trust me you will die before you do so again.
Are we clear on that?”

He nods and a pungent smell drifts to me..
The coward pissed his pants..
Good, he must have heard the death threat in my voice.

“You will take yourself back to Cali tomorrow, and if you try any funny business I promise to make you disappear, just try me”
I say to him and he whimpers around the cloth in his mouth.

I stand up from my crouch.

As I turn to leave my eyes go to his laptop.
I tense.

I turn back to him and I can see the fear and guilt in his eyes.

The f-cktard was watching a reel of Sandra’s pictures, recent ones, he was stalking her.

I see red as I punch him, I feel hands pull me away from him and I calm down enough to see that I have reconstructed his face.
I pull out my gun and point it on him.
“He’s not worth it Justin”
Tony says still holding me back.
I take a deep breath to push back the rage before I turn to leave.
I turn back and pop him one on his knee.
My silencer muffles the shot.
He cries out but the gag in his mouth muffles the sound.
I exit the room with my guys and Tony and I go down stairs.
Let him explain to the police what happened to him and why he has incriminating pictures of women on his laptop.
“Police on their way boss”
Simon says and I don’t respond.
Good.

I get downstairs and I get into my car.
All I need now is Sandra.
“Let’s go home J”
Tony says.
Ya, lets.

---

Episode 34

☆☆☆Finale

Sandra.
Just one word can change a moment, just one look can change a mood and just one feeling can last forever.

“Sandra, walk fast you have to meet momma”

“Am trying Jew, gimme a minute”
I say to her as I try to walk amongst the other tomb stones.

My family is in front of me and they are there already, in front of the greet tree, Justin is behind me carrying the picnic baskets with justice and Sage.

It’s been four months of unadulterated Bliss, I have been more than happy and I know it’s going to stay this way forever.
I have my family and I have my boyfriend, Justin.

I thought I was in a dark place for sometime and I would forever be there but I just didn’t know that all I had to do was reach out.
If I reached out, there would be people there waiting to hold me, waiting to ground me, waiting to show me all the love I deserve.
I no longer live in fear of tomorrow neither do I fear any form of contact because I have my family.

I have forgotten all about the memories of yesterday.

They have made me understand that they would have me in any way I am .
Wether damaged or whole.
I thought the worst thing that Mavin took from me was my ability to trust in others but no, the worst thing he took from me was my ability to trust in my self.

Turns out I was not pregnant, the pills i was taking for depression was what was messing with my cycle. The added stress was not helping either.

When the doctor told me I was tested negative to a pregnancy test I will admit I was disappointed.

I wanted to have a child that is Justin’s but the good Lord granted me another gift.
Mavin lied, I can get pregnant, I am perfectly healthy and fine.

I spoke to Justin about it And we have decided to wait till the triplets are 7.
We will try for a baby then.
“Are you coming or what?”
I blink at Justin’s question and I realize I am standing in front of the tree in thought.
“Please spread the blanket, I can stand straight for more than a few minutes now”
Kele says with her hands on her waist.
Magic rolls her eyes and am sure everyone did too.

“Kele, you are two months pregnant, I think that hardly qualifies you for a wheelchair, you are hardly showing, not even a sign of a baby bump in the horizon.”

Justice says and I chuckle.

I swallow my laugh when she pouts.

“Tony is not here, I think I deserve some babying, am going to tell him you are bullying me when he returns”

Kele says and I do laugh this time.
My friend and my friend did get together, they are expecting their baby to arrive early next year.

Tony returned to Cali last month to park up his life and come to Nigeria, he is that in love with my friend.

I smile at that thought.

“Do I want to know what you are thinking?”
Justin asks as he pulls me to sit besides him.
“Am thinking how happy I am”

“Good”
“So who wants to talk mother first?”
Styxx asks and Raine shouts.

“Me!”

This is the first time my family and I are coming to see Mariah.

We know Justin takes the kids to see her every month but this is the first time he has summed up enough courage to go see her without any guilt.

We talked about it.

“Let me introduce you to Mom”
Jew says.

She walks to the tree and a sprinkling of flower falls down on her.
She giggles.

“I missed you too momma”
I frown.

“What’s that?”
I ask Justin.

“I don’t know exactly, but when a person gets close to the tree it does that, we believe it’s Mari telling us that she can see us and she is with us”
“OMG , that’s so cool, it’s like she is telling the person that she likes them”
Kele exclaims.
“Ya, something like that”
Justin answers.
“I want to go next!”
Kele says with excitement.
“Calm down Kel’s”
Magic says.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, it’s a mystical event in Nigeria! And also am pregnant, it’s the hormones”
We all groan.

Kele literally does anything these days and blames it on the hormones.
Justin introduces every one to mari and everyone gets a sprinkling of flowers.
When it got to my turn the most amazing of things happened.

I thought I heard a voice telling me well done as a cool breeze blows my hair from my shoulder.

I smile as Justin hugs me from behind.
He speaks next.

“Hello Mari, it’s been a while”

THE END