55: Unreal Surprise

She got down from the car with her hand firmly holding her bag and the other fixing back the veil of her Abaya. She was in awe of the house like she knew this was what she should expect from the Bunza mansion but then it was so beautiful that she couldn’t wait to see what was inside the house. Yazeed got out of the other side of the car and he walked to where she was, taking her hand in his with a wide grin plastered on his lips.

“Welcome to my house, Ballerina. No, this isn’t my house, my father’s house.” He chuckled softly and she squeezed his hand, smiling widely as taking in the view of the house. It was exquisite and screamed of filthy wealth. She wondered if this house got an amazing woman and a very big family, so much love would have been born in it, it would have been so amazing.

“It’s such an amazing, Yazeed. Can we get in?” She asked and he nodded his head, ordering the driver to take their luggage to his side. He didn’t want to remember that he had to leave for Abuja alone while Jalilah would stay in this house, alone with just Hajia and sometimes, when Alhaji wasn’t away in his trips, with him.

They got into the first living room and she smiled, this was everything she imagined it to be and even more. The house was so amazing, full of luxury and everything you could ever imagine to be tagged as lavish. And she could comment, Hajia had gotten a very good taste of interior designing, it was beautiful. He helped her sat down and looked into her eyes, “I’ll ask one of the maids to call her for us...”

He wasn’t able to complete his sentence when they heard the clacking sound of her shoes as she got down from the stairs, “They don’t have to call me, Yazeed. I'm all here by myself to complete your bride. You’re welcome-” her next words became guttural when her eyes landed on Jalilah, it was something she had never imagined seeing. Didn’t they tell her that she was dead? Or if not dead, how did Yazeed end up with her after telling her that she had an ex-husband?

She quickly masked up her emotions at the smug look Jalilah just flashed her. She found herself a spot and sat down, taping her knees to mask everything she was feeling. “How are you? Is she the bride, Yazeed?” She asked, not even waiting for them to greet her first, she was burning and they both knew why.

“Yes, she is. Where is Alhaji?” He asked, and one thing she had noticed about him was since he met this girl, he had been more courageous than he seemed to be before. It didn't; look promising, she didn’t like where this was going. Whoever the hell was this girl, she would do all she could to move to get her the hell out of Yazeed’s life.

“Good afternoon, Hajia. And thankfully, we met again.” Jalilah smiled at her even though they both knew it was more of a sarcastic smile then a real one. Before any of them could speak, Alhaji came down and Jaliah softly ducked her head down. Even though she was angry at him for treating Yazeed the way he did, she still respected him as his father.

“Good afternoon, Alhaji.” She greeted softly, feeling the way her palms were getting sweaty. She didn’t know what she would feel if Hajia said something about her now and he would start to act up, maybe insulting Yazeed in front of her which she knew she couldn’t tolerate from anyone, so far Yazeed was involved.

To their utmost surprise, Alhaji softly smiled. “Is she the bride, Yazeed? She’s the daughter of Alhaji Ibrahim Fufure? He was a business partner of mine; my Allah has mercy on his soul.” Yazeed heaved a sigh he didn’t know he was holding since they landed in Kebbi. It turned out that telling Alhaji, whose daughter Jalilah was, had helped a lot. Maybe that was why Hajia couldn't make any comment? At least for now?

“Yes, Alhaji, she is. Her name is Khadija, but everyone calls her Jalilah as I told you.” Maybe this was the first time after decades that he was talking to his father normal. Maybe not as normal as a son and father would communicate, but at least they were better than before. Thankfully, it all happened because of Jalilah.

After they were done exchanging pleasantries, Alhaji ordered them to get back to their part, and gladly Yazeed guided her there. “Wow! Did you live here as a young boy? This place is so amazing, please tell me you haven't renovated it because of me, I want to use all your old stuff.” She giggled when they entered the living room and handed him her bag while she walked into it, smiling and looking around the living room.

He chuckled and sat down, staring at the way she kept checking things and admiring them. “I don't think it has been renovated in more than a decade now or even more. You promised me that you won’t live here for long, right? So, I don’t have to renovate it. But if you want...”

She quickly turned to look at him, “Want what? I love every freaking thing that’s in this place. Can I see the rooms? Ya ilahi, if it wasn’t because you were lonely, I would’ve said you had a lovely childhood, but I know better to say that.” She smiled sadly and he pulled her to sit beside him on the sofa.

“You had the best childhood, Ballerina, you can share all your childhood memories with me, right?” He asked and she softly nodded her head.

“Yes, I will, Insha Allah.” She rested her head on his chest and smiled while she wrapped her hands around his chest. “And our baby will have the best of its kind, Insha Allah.”

He placed his hand on her stomach and fondled it, “Is it here already, Ballerina?” She laughed before she smacked his hand off her stomach while shaking her head as she broke their hug.

“Come on, I don’t have anything in there. Let’s check the rooms out!” She quickly got up and headed to where she thought were the rooms, laughing at the way he was groaning.

“Come on, Ballerina! You know I'll be leaving in two days; we have to make the baby before then!” He followed behind her while she turned to look at him, stuck her tongue out at him and shook her head.

“I didn’t tell you I'm in a hurry for a baby, Yazeed! Besides, I'm sick from now until after a month!” He rushed to catch her, and she screamed while bumping into a room which was his. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that!”

After he got a hold of her shoulders and she was still moving backwards until they both fell on the bed, she whined, “Please, Yazeed! I want to see-” he sealed their lips, and her next words came out as a rumbled moan. What would she do if she didn’t love this man?

“I'm rearranging your room, there are things that shouldn’t be here, Yazeed. What do you think I should add before you come back?” She was fixing the phone between her shoulder and her ears. She suddenly got tired and placed it on the speaker while she kept working around the room.

“You can add everything to you, but like what? A baby’s crib?” He asked, trying so hard to suppress his laughter because he knew she would certainly make him laugh now, she would whine about how she didn’t want a baby now, in fact, she was sick, and he wouldn’t be able to see her until after a month. He should please help her stay in Abuja until she had fully recovered.

She pouted her lips as if he could see her and began, “Yazeed, you know I've been telling you I'm sick, right? I don’t even know what’s wrong with me anymore. Maybe I'll just go back to Adamawa for some time and heal, you can stay in Abuja, right? We will always be on touch through the phone...” The sound of his laughter stopped her from continuing what she was saying, and she stayed silent, remembering the time she got so excited whenever she saw him smiled, and the first day he laughed would always be in her memories.

“Tell me the truth, Jalilah, what are you afraid of? The baby or the baby’s daddy?” He teased and kept laughing so hard.

“Yazeed, I've always loved it when you laugh this hard. And I'm afraid of the baby’s father, he seems like a patient that needs to be taken care of but then he doesn’t want to visit the doctor.” By Allah, if he was standing by her side now, she knew she wouldn’t have been standing the way she was now.

He kept laughing, so hard that she wished she could see him now. “But you know that the next time you’ll say something about being a patient, I'll take the next flight to Kebbi, right?” He asked, which she softly nodded her head with blush laughter on her lips.

There was a soft knock on the door and when she asked the intruder to come in. It was a maid, “What do you want?” She asked, straightforward and Yazeed was silent to know what was going on.

“Hajia asked me to call you, she said she hasn’t been seeing you around, you haven’t been going to greet her.”

She chuckled and shook her head, “Tell her I'm busy now, and unless I'm bored, I wouldn’t be there for today.” The maid was about to speak again when Jalilah closed her off, “Close the door on your way out.” And she did, as silently as she could.

She had been in Kebbi for nearly two months now, and they always fought with Hajia about this. She didn't want to be bossed around lie she was used to bossing Yazeed and his father, she would have to show her that there was a difference. Didn’t she promise she would be the one to call Yazeed and beg him to take his wife away? She was on her way to that. Yazeed always came back on Fridays and left early thing or Monday. There were times if she didn’t push him to leave, he would stay for the whole week.

“Always the same thing, why are so stubborn, Ballerina?” He asked, but she could hint laughter on his voice.

“She can’t be making your life a living hell and expect me to respect her. I can’t do that.”

“But you have to go since she called for you, right?” He asked, he knew Jalilah, she might even promise him, but she wouldn’t go.

“Like I said to her unless I'm so bored.”

“I have a minute in two minutes now, promise me you’ll go, Ballerina.”

“Okay, promised. Take care of yourself and great Wafiyya with Sulaiman, please. Yazeed jr and his mother as well.” She said while twirling the old image of his mother, him, and Amina that she had found, and right after she had closed her mouth, she noticed a phone number faintly written with a pencil on the picture. What did that mean?

“I will. Take care of my baby and yourself. I love you.”

She whined; her eyes fixed on the phone number. “I’ve told you, Yazeed, I'm not pregnant!”

“I'll have to confirm that myself. Bye! I need to go.” She heard his laughter before he ended the call. And the next weekend he came, they took a pregnancy test, which was negative, she was so excited that Yazeed didn't let her rest for his whole stay. He wanted a baby!

“Do I have to wake up now, Yazeed? Can’t you just make us a pancake while I sleep, please?” She silently begged and he pinched her cheeks lovingly, helping her sit on the bed.

“You were the one that told Hajia you want to go there and have breakfast, we can’t say no at this point, Ballerina. You weren’t this lazy before, are you?” He let his words trailed off with laughter at the edge of his voice because he knew she would wake up in the next minute, and she did.

“I'm up, please!” She said while loosening her ribbon, making her hair fall as though a fountain on her shoulders. “How do I look? I'm gaining weight, right? I can’t even dance peacefully these days, Mrs. Rosey kept complaining that I'm lousy.” She made a face while she moved to the mirror and began brushing her hair. Turning to face him from where he sat all clad in his kaftan that she wanted nothing but to stare at him for the rest of her life.

“You look so beautiful than you’ve ever looked. And I think your hair is longer than it used to, your skin glowing beautifully. And also, some certain places are now fuller and curvier...” He let his words trailed off while he moved to where she was standing by the mirror and placed his hands beside her hips.

He began to unbutton her nightdress and she let her hair slipped off her hands, a single touch from Yazeed always felt like fire, it ignited a feeling in her nothing could ever be able to. She always loved it. Her chest got revealed and she pouted her lips, “I want to sleep, Beloved.” She called out in a husky voice and leaned more onto her body.

“Beloved? A new name for me?” She smiled and nodded her head, feeling as his hands kept moving around her chest and she knew, they might delay this breakfast, but she wouldn’t let it be. She had to rush them, today wasn't just any day for breakfast, as much as it was important to her and she was happy that it was happening, it would mean the world to the Yazeed.

“You’re my beloved, sometimes I love you to the extent that I feel it’s illegal to love someone that way. So, beloved, can I take my bath now?” She asked softly and he teased her even more.

“Hajia is knocking!” She said pointing at the door and he quickly released her, and she ran to the bathroom door. “That was a trick, she isn’t here!” She laughed so hard and closed the door before her, knowing that if he laid his hands on her they would have to cancel this breakfast for today.

They walked out of their part together, their hands entwined as they laughed at what Jalilah was telling him. “I have something to show you today, or maybe it was something to tell. That’s why I wanted us to have breakfast in Hajia’s chamber for today.”

“What is it?” He asked when they were about to enter the chamber and she quickly shook her head.

“That’s meant to be a surprise, it would be destroyed if I tell you now. Just make sure you brace yourself for the most heartwarming surprise ever.” She giggled and he stopped to ask her what it was, but she pulled him into the chamber, and they met Hajia and Alhaji seated on the dining table waiting for then, she quickly released his hand and moved to the dining table.

After they sat down, they exchanged pleasantries and the maid served them. They were midway in their meal when Hajia cleared her throat and all eyes turned on her, she was glaring at Jalilah, and that made her smile. She knew for a very long time that Hajia had been looking for ways to hurt her but then Jalilah was so fierce that she couldn’t even speak to her when she had her face all scrunched up. She hardly ever saw her unless Yazeed was back for weekends.

She sighed and placed down the spoon she was holding. “Yes, I have something important to discuss with you. But I'll have to make a phone call first.” She took her phone and dialed a number, “Hello, will you please come in?” She asked, and they all moved their eyes to the door, wanting to see who it was.

At first, Yazeed wasn't sure if the two people that walked into the living room. And when he saw that Jalilah walked up to them and smiled before she hugged the older woman. “Good morning, Ummi.” She called as she softly hugged the woman and then the lady standing beside her. “You’re welcome home, Ameena.”

No, he was sure those names were the names he used to call his mother and sister and he had told Jalilah about them. And even though the woman standing there was standing there had the exact face of his mother, he couldn’t believe that she was the one standing in front of him. He stood up as if he had been sleeping for years and couldn’t find an ounce of energy in him. He walked up to them, watching as they also fixed their eyes on him, but he had his eyes on Jalilah, he could only believe it if she told him who they were.

He took her hands with his weakly beating heart, “Ballerina, who are they? I mean...” He closed his eyes and sighed; he didn’t know what he was feeling in his heart. “She looked like Ummi, my mother. And this lady, she has my sister’s name, who are they?” He asked with the weakest voice Jalilah had ever heard him sounded, and she smiled before she softly nodded her head.

She pulled him close to Ummi and smiled widely this time, “Ummi, here’s Yazeed, your son. And Yazeed, this is Ameena, your sister. Ameena, you're Yayid.” He heard her wrong, but the tears he had seen on the women’s face was enough evidence to tell him that they were indeed the ones. He wanted to run away and never come back because he didn’t want to touch them, and they would evaporate in thin air. He didn’t want them to vanish just when he wanted to believe that they were back into his life.

He didn’t know tears were flowing on his cheeks until Ameena fell into his body and broke into tears. “Yayid...” She let her words trailed off and she hugged him so tight, crying with so much agony dripping from her tears.

He held onto her, and when he turned to look at Ummi, she was staring back at them with tears freely rolling down her cheeks, “Ummi?” It was more like a question and his voice broke when he called out her name, she fell into his body. Yazeed had never melted in his life until he felt Ummi’s body on his and Ameena hugging him as firmly as they could, crying their eyes with so much grief.