Saving Abba

Chapter 25

I was up early the next day, I was way too excited to sleep. I was absolutely restless, deciding to expend the extra energy, I decided to go for a run. By the time I came back I was drenched but I felt much more calm. I showered and made my way to the main house. Yasmin was munching on a piece of toast, her eyes glued to the tv. I pressed a kiss into her head and she huffed moving away.

I chuckled moving away from her.

Children and their cartoons

I walked back to the kitchen and got myself a bottle of water, I was already alert so I skipped the coffee.

"Good morning Hajiya" I greeted walking back to the living room to see her seated near Yasmin.

"Good morning Abba, I was about to have one of the maids call you. The lawyer is going to arrive any moment from now." She explained.

"Oh, no problem. I honestly couldn't sleep, I was too excited for this" I replied grinning. She shook her head but I could see the happiness gleaming in her eyes.

A few minutes later the lawyer walked into the living room.

"Good morning Mrs Barde." He greeted. "Good morning Mr Ibrahim. This is Abubakar, my grandson, and Yasmin, the little girl we talked about over the phone." Hajiya introduced. I shook hands with him and we moved to the dining room, leaving Yasmin to watch her cartoons.

"I have contacted a few of my colleagues about the adoption laws in Nigeria and unfortunately Abubakar, you cannot adopt Yasmin due to the fact that she is not of the same gender as you and you are not married, however I found a loophole and with the agreement of Mrs Barde here, we can file for the adoption in both your names." He explained. I turned to Hajiya, her eyebrows were furrowed in contemplation.

Please agree Hajiya. Please

I kept praying, our eyes met and I sent her a pleading look.

"Alright. Will this give us a chance?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am. A solid chance infact." With that he brought out some forms and handed them over to Hajiya and I. We filled them with some assistance from him.

"Alright. I'll submit this on Monday and see how fast I can move the application. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have a date set for the hearing." He said gathering the papers and placing them into his briefcase.

"Is that all?" Hajiya asked.

"No, there is the Financial documentation, I have the forms here with me." He said producing them from a binder. Hajiya and I quickly filled them with a call to the Bank.

The lawyer collected everything and assured us of getting a date for the hearing within the following week before leaving.

I made my way back to the living room, Yasmin was still watching TV. I sat next to her, she glanced at me before crawling onto my lap and resting her head on my chest. I gently stroked her hair, turning my attention to the cartoon.

I could get used to Sundays like this.

              *************************

It was late Wednesday when the lawyer called, he had gotten us an appointment for Friday morning.

"How are you feeling?" Khalifa asked. "A nervous wreck to be very honest." I replied covering my face with my hands.

We were currently seated in the living room of the chalet playing Warframe on the PS4.

"Don't be like that. Everything will work out in the end. Besides with Hajiya and the lawyer on your team, you have nothing to fear."

"Yeah, you're right." I whispered nodding.