No More Mistakes #Projectnigeria

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

AYODEJI'S POV

  That night, I slept beside Omolara but we really couldn’t sleep because Eriayomi had been crying throughout the night. The next day, I took her to the hospital and I was told that her teeth were developing so she was showing symptoms. I was advised to get a teething ring for her which I did. I just tried to do everything so Lara would not have to worry so much.

  Learning that Omolara almost killed herself broke my heart into many pieces, it made me feel horrible, and if she had died that day, even at that time I would never have forgiven myself. I didn’t know she was hurting more than I was.

  We were supposed to go to church today but I wasn’t sure if she still wanted to go. I sat in my room staring at the wall, I remembered I’ll have another child to take care of. I knew soon Eriayomi would meet her other sibling and wonder why her mum was not the child’s mum.

“Ayo” Lara knocked on the door, I went to open it immediately.
“Yeah, good morning”
“Good morning, I was wondering if you still wanted to go to church with me” she said and I nodded.
“Yeah sure, let me shower” I was doing this for her. I had a feeling it would be boring but since she wanted me to go, I would go. I showered and wore a blue t-shirt and black jeans with my plain white sneakers. I came out of my room and waited for Omolara in the living room. She was dressed in a long sleeve light green knee-length dress, black bow sandals, and a black bag. She also wore a shiny curly short wig. Eriayomi was dressed in a cute blue flare dress and a white bow on her head, she also had white sandals on.
“Ayo, please can you close your mouth, let’s go to church” Lara said laughing at me. I was just admiring this beautiful family of mine that I almost gave up. We walked to the church and sat on the seats at the back. They were singing songs I already knew. I was once like this, I used to go to church but I changed and stopped going.

“Carry me dey Jehovah, carry me dey go, dey go, dey go…” I sang along with the rest of the congregation. I stood while Lara was sitting beside me, I clapped my hands as I sang. I turned and caught Lara staring at me smiling, I smiled back at her. I missed this, a gathering of people not judging you, they are just gathered for one purpose which is to praise God. They sang hymns and special numbers, people gave testimonies. Everyone was so happy in this place. The pastor spoke about humility, how people lost the good things they would have gotten because of pride, and how the Bible speaks against pride.
“You are really enjoying this” Omolara whispered to me. I smiled and nodded, I was enjoying it. Listening to words that could encourage and correct me was something I wanted to enjoy often. The sermon ended fast and I was so sad about it. Another person climbed the pulpit after the pastor left and announced for newcomers, I rose my hand. People welcomed me to the church, I was told when they gathered to worship which were Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The service ended shortly. Many people came up to me to talk and I even introduced Omolara as my wife to them.

“Ayo, I want you to meet someone” Lara whispered in my ear, and I followed her to where she was going.
“Lara, how are you?” A woman hugged her.
“I’m fine. Ma, meet Ayo, my husband. Ayo, meet Mrs. Sylvester, the pastor’s wife” Lara said. Wait, she was friends with the pastor’s wife.
“Nice to meet you” I replied and shook her hand. She was tall and quite slim, she had a pretty smile. She told me she had heard so much about me, I turned to look at Lara who turned away acting like she didn’t know why I was looking at her. When Lara was not looking, the woman whispered in my ear.
“She is a very beautiful soul” she said and smiled. I didn’t care to whisper back “Yes, she is” I replied. It was more than a compliment to me, she was so precious and I loved every bit of her.

We walked back home and I noticed how happy Lara was. It was good to see she wasn’t so sad about the death of that little girl. Lara was carrying Eriayomi in her hand, I felt we carried her a little too much.
“Lara, I really enjoyed the service, why don’t we make this usual?”
“You want to be going to church every week?” She asked.
“Yeah, I would love to”
“Okay, we will”
I loved the sense of belonging I felt there and I wanted it to stay that way.