IN TWENTY ONE DAYS

55; GLADDEN.

ABUJA, NIGERIA.

"Oh, such joyful news!" Gigi cheered her frail wrinkly hands moving up in front of her in joy. She hasn't heard any great news in a while and this really worth sharing sweets to the less privileged to.

"I know right. I am glad Amani accepted the boy, it would've yawed to something terrible. The love he has for her is irrevocable, Gigi. I feel like even Mika'il didn't love her the way Amir is doing right now, it looks deep just from the way he talks about her. I knew he would've fought with me had I turn down his offer." He shook his head recalling what happened the night before in the dining room. He is proud of his son for taking such step, not everyone his age could do this even for love.

"That is the spirit I want because my Bushra deserves that and more. She stood strong after all Mika'il did, she is worth everything Amir is going to do now and in future. Finally, happiness will knock on her door, the raw love she is entitled to." Gigi's smile is extra large, she couldn't remember the last time she smiled like that.

In utter happiness, she didn't know she's poured some water down on the carpet, her legs soaked inside. She fisted her wrinkly hands in merriment then glance at her grandson who is the next person to go through such happiness. She isn't against what her daughter did, fixing his marriage with his cousin Badriyah, she is a nice girl. The same love Amir has for Bushra is the same one Badriyah buried in her chest, she don't see anything wrong in that. The love she'd shower on him will definitely make him happy, though not enough for him to fall in love again.

Maybe she should get him married before his children, perfect idea.

"She does." He is also unconsciously smiling, glad that his daughter in-law is back after all the terrible things his first son did to her. His second son is straightening and seasoning things up, he is a proud father now. The guilt weighing him down after the incident was vast but now, it vanished like it was never there.

"Off you go, get her hand in marriage officially. Just because we've been related once upon a time does not mean we won't go through the formalities. She is going to get married like all maidens out there, a grand wedding she didn't get last time. Don't make her regret this decision no matter what. I want to make her feel like a princess who deserves everything gracious." Gigi is smiling while she talks like she is building the image in her head which she is. Imagining a dazzling smile gracing Bushra's face on her wedding day.

"Oh, grandma, don't worry about that. I'm going to make sure everything is perfect for her, no inconvenience." With that, he stood up and bid the old woman adieu then glided to his parents quarters intentionally not taking the root that would lead to where Badriyah is.

"Are we going there now?" His mother asked in her usual matriarchy voice earning a dutiful nod from her son. He can't exactly point out why the woman is never soft, he's never seen anyone like her his entire lifetime. His father is just too quite but his mother, she is an entire story on her own for her attitude.

She is wearing fine clothes like always, she always dresses like she's expecting the ministers to come give her a visit every blessed day. An expensive looking hollandaise is what she is wearing, the colours dull but manage to pop out her beautiful dark features. Had the woman being ugly, she would definitely have died a spinster! A woman without soft spot is not an ideal wife talk less about being the perfect mother. He wonder how his father cope with her sometimes, he can't imagine himself being with someone like her. Or is it because his dead wife's bubbly personality that rub off of him?

"Yes, they are waiting for us." He gazed at his watch worriedly only to suspire inwardly seeing they have almost an hour to the given time. He likes leaving good impressions no matter the situation. Yes, they are close to the Danbazau's but this is marriage proposal, it should be dignified.