Chapter 27

One year had passed after Kojo Ganyo was released. He had recorded and released a secret video about Accra City Prison. Citizens were overwhelmed and surprised at how the prisoners were being treated there.

"They don't care about the prisoners. Look at the potbelly of the warden in blue." One citizen had said in an interview.

"Well, it's so bad. I can't imagine being in that prison for a second." Another citizen had added.

"My Dear, please pick up the phone. Someone is calling." Afia said after her phone rang. She was heavily pregnant and complained of waist pain most of the time.

"It's Emily." Kojo said as he gave the phone to Afia.

"Hello, Dear." Afia said after answering the call.

"Afia, the baby is coming." Emily said quickly on the phone and Afia quickly responded.

"Ok ok, we are on our way." Afia said hurriedly and hung up. She informed Kojo who quickly took his car keys and drove off with Afia to pick Emily to the hospital. Stephen was outside the country for a visit to some of the branches of their salon which had their name as a brand. He was supposed to have returned however his flight had been canceled and he had to wait for the next flight. He would have loved to be close to his wife before the delivery of the baby.

Afia was seated as Kojo paced back and forth in the ward. His friend had entrusted Emily in his care before going and he wanted to ensure that all was well before Stephen returned. Ten minutes later the doctor came out of the labor ward smiling.

"Are you her husband?"

"I'm a friend to her husband." Kojo replied.

"I have good news. She just gave birth to a healthy and bouncy baby boy." The doctor said and Kojo was relieved.

"Can we go to see her now?" Afia asked, smiling.

"Yes, you can go see her." The doctor added and they went into the ward to see the baby and Emily.

He looked so much like his father Stephen.

Emily said, "I'm so excited to see you both."

"My dear friend, congratulations." Afia said excitedly and hugged Emily gently.

"Thank you, my friend." Emily responded.

"Aww he's so cute." Afia added as she looked at the baby with admiration.

"Thank you so much, Afia." Emily replied.

"I have to call Stephen and break the wonderful news to him. I can't imagine how excited he would be after hearing the great news about his baby boy." Kojo said excitedly.

Stephen returned to the country a week later and was so happy to see his son. He and Emily made plans as to how they were going to organize a party for the baby's naming ceremony.

"Stephen, someone is at the door." Emily told Stephen after hearing a knock at the door.

"Okay, okay." Stephen replied as he went towards the door. He opened it and was surprised to see Auntie Okaibea and her husband at the door. "Emily, come see who's here!"

He exclaimed excitedly.

He offered them a seat and quickly went to the kitchen to bring them water.

Emily was changing the baby's diaper and Otubea was all over her, refusing to allow her mother attend to her brother. He had been named James Adams and was very handsome.

"Otubea, please allow me to attend to your brother." Emily told the impatient Otubea.

"No, Mum." Otubea responded and Emily laughed.

"Go to Daddy now and I'll come over to get you something nice okay?" Emily tried to convince her daughter.

"Okay, Mummy." Otubea responded happily and went towards Stephen and their visitors.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed excitedly after seeing her father.

"Heeeyyyy my baby girl, my darling baby!" Stephen responded excitedly and carried Otubea up as she giggled.

He put her down and ordered her to greet Auntie Okaibea and her husband.

They were both excited to see Otubea.

"Waooo, my baby is a big girl now." Auntie Okaibea said excitedly and Otubea only smiled sweetly at her.

"This is Auntie Okaibea. You would call her big Auntie. You would also call your uncle Big Uncle." Stephen said and they all laughed, leaving Otubea confused as to why they were all laughing.

Just then, Emily entered the hall with the baby.

"That's my darling Emily." Auntie Okaibea said excitedly upon sighting Emily and went for the baby. "Oooh he's so cute and handsome."

"Yes, he resembles me." Stephen said proudly and the others laughed.

"Nooo, I won't accept that. He resembles me instead." Emily challenged him and they all burst into an uproar, exciting Otubea who laughed along with them.

"Well, I'm not going to fight over this with Emily. I know she'll win the case. You are welcome once again, Auntie and Uncle."

Stephen gave them another warm welcome.

"Thank you." Auntie Okaibea and her husband replied.

"Well, we are here to see you both after a very long time of neither seeing you nor hearing from you." Auntie Okaibea stated as her husband nodded his head in agreement. "We decided to come over to see the newborn baby and to also congratulate you both."

Auntie Okaibea and her husband stayed there for the next hour, before taking their leave. She used the opportunity to catch up on old times with Emily. She had missed her so much and wanted to know what the popular beautician had been up to.

Emily told her about the salon, Afia and Kojo Ganyo, as well as Stephen's support in all of these.

"I'm glad I didn't make a mistake concerning who to marry Auntie. Stephen has been so supportive to the extent of quitting his job in order to support the business. I'm grateful to God for the gift of Stephen Auntie." Emily told her.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm so happy I played a role in ensuring that you got back in a relationship with Stephen. I'm encouraged." Auntie Okaibea told her.

Stephen's phone rang and he quickly went to answer the call.

"Waooo!" Stephen exclaimed as the caller passed information on to him. "Congratulations, man!"

Stephen said excitedly and Emily suspected he was talking with Kojo Ganyo. She thought probably Afia must have been put to bed.

"Afia has given birth to a bouncy baby girl." Stephen said after ending the call and the others rejoiced.

"I knew it." Emily said happily.

"It means James is two months older than she is." Stephen added and Emily nodded her head in agreement.

***

A month later, Kojo and Afia had a naming ceremony for their daughter. They named her Pearl Ganyo. She was hairy and very beautiful. Some said she resembled Kojo while others said she resembled Afia. After the naming ceremony had taken place at the chapel,the family went to Sibi's Palace to have a party. Aunt Ama and Maame were there also. Maame's husband, Daniel, hadn't come along because he had an assignment to carry out in Church.

"I think I love this place. I would love to come here often to enjoy myself." Auntie Ama told Maame as they were seated behind one of the tables at Sibi's Palace.

"Yeah, it's a nice place." Maame responded sluggishly not looking into her mom's face. She was still angry at how her mother had behaved during Christmas.

"Are you still angry at me?" Auntie Ama asked her and Maame only looked away.

"Well, I'm not angry at you. I'm just doing my own thing." Maame responded still looking away. "I think I'll have to help with the dishing of the food."

Auntie Ama held her hands. "Please sit, Maame. I'm sorry. I apologize for all I did during Christmas. I was just showing concern for you, Maame." Her mom said and Maame sighed. She quickly wiped a tear from her eyes so Auntie Ama wouldn't see it.

"I was affected by the so called curse and I didn't want you also to be affected. Well, I'm not the one who gave birth to you. Someone else did."

Maame looked into her mother's face, greatly alarmed. "Wait..." She stammered. "What... What did you just say?" Maame asked, not knowing whether her mother was joking or not. "You are not my mother?"

Emily came to the scene and hearing what had happened, tried to calm Maame down as Auntie Ama sobbed. She took them away from the public view to one of the inner restaurants at Sibi's Palace. Emily was already aware that Maame was not Auntie Ama's daughter because her mother had told her so. She was sorry that Maame had to find out this way.

"I'm so sorry for not telling you all this while Maame." Emily said and Maame yelled at her.

"Sorry about what Emily? You're sorry?" Maame asked angrily.

"I'm not the one who is supposed to break this news to you for God's sake. Auntie Ama and Uncle are the right people to give you this information." Emily tried to defend herself and Maame looked at her with anger.

"You are all deceptive,all of you. I don't know who to even believe anymore." Maame said painfully and Emily still tried to calm her down.

Immediately Maame stood and she ran as if on impulse. Emily ran after her confused. Maame threw up uncontrollably and Auntie Ama went towards them.

"Haaa, I feel dizzy." Maame said after throwing up and Emily gave her water to wash her hands, her face and her mouth. Auntie Ama looked into Maame's face as though she were looking for answers to a question.

"Maame, you're pregnant." Auntie Ama said bluntly and Maame sighed.

"How did you confirm this, Mum?" She asked and quickly left them after remembering what had transpired earlier between them.

"Emily followed quickly after Maame went to sit. She put her head on the table, overwhelmed. She burst into tears and Emily held her closer to herself.

"Maame, I was the one who raised you since you were little. You would always be my daughter no matter whether I gave birth to you or not. I love you and I always will." Auntie Ama said and Maame cried the more. Emily herself couldn't help it. She knew she had to be strong for their sake.

Auntie Ama went towards Maame and pulled her closer, patting her on the back.

"It's okay Maame. Stop crying. You have to be happy so that the baby would also be happy."

Auntie Ama said. Maame raised her head from the table and wiped her tears with a tissue Emily had given her.

"I want to go home now. See you all soon." Maame said and stood to leave,as Auntie Ama and Emily watched her.

"With time, she will come around." Emily assured her Auntie. "For now, I suggest we leave her alone. The shock is too much for her to bear. She needs time to reflect on a lot of things."

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything to her." Auntie Ama told Emily.

"You did the right thing, Auntie Ama. It's good she is aware now." Emily encouraged the already devastated Auntie Ama. "Don't worry, everything is going to be alright."

"I hope so, Emily. I really hope so."

Maame told Daniel all of what had transpired at the naming ceremony and he had been shocked.

"What?" He had exclaimed earlier after hearing that Auntie Ama was not the biological mother of Maame. "But why didn't she tell you earlier?"

"Exactly my point. Why was she telling me now?" Maame replied angrily.

"However, Maame, I think I understand her. She wants you to see her as your mother. It's not easy for her to disclose such vital information to you."

"I don't agree with you, Daniel." Maame retorted angrily.

"Come on, she's still your mother.' Stephen responded.

"And I even threw up earlier after hearing the news. Now she is saying I'm pregnant. How did she confirm that?" Maame asked rhetorically.

"W-wait, you mean you threw up earlier and she said you are..." Daniel said while looking into Maame's eyes with joy and Maame nodded her head in response. "Hallelujah! Let's go to the hospital right away. Let's go." He said, dragging her along with him.

After the tests were done at the hospital, the doctor confirmed that Maame was eight weeks pregnant and Daniel was beside himself with joy.

In seven months time, she gave birth to a set of twins; a boy and a girl. There was celebration in the whole family. Emily and Stephen were so excited and they bought lots of presents for the babies.

Auntie Ama was so happy that Maame had given birth to twins and she had been around since she was in the eighth month of her pregnancy. They had bonded really well at that time and Maame still called her mother.

"Let's forget about all that happened earlier. Let's just behave as though nothing really happened."

Maame had said after Auntie Ama had come to visit during the eighth month of her pregnancy.

The twins were named John and Joana and the party organised by Daniel and Maame was filled with so much joy. It lasted into the evening.