And Baby Makes...Two

17

Theous stared at Nonny from across the dining table as she gorged herself on some of the food he had warmed up. He smiled, loving her appetite because he was a foodie himself.

"Can we talk now?" he said.

Nonny looked up from her Jollof rice and stew. "I'm listening."

"Well, I think...I am ready."

She paid attention to him.

"You already know...I'm Theous Dembele Dior. I'm 30 and I come from Accra, Ghana. For 18 years of my life, I was raised there but I came here to start school even though my passion was soccer. I quit school at 19 to pursue a possible career in sports but...but things didn't go as planned."

Theous sighed.

"I used every single cent my father sent trying to travel to sporting events in order to get coaches and scouts to recognise me because truth be told, I was a very good talent but people judged me mostly by my appearance. I was very shabby and on the brink of poor so nobody paid attention to me despite my skill on the pitch.
Eventually...my funds started running out and I couldn't exactly tell my family what was going on because I had lied to my dad and told him that I was doing my best at school, even going as far as to fabricate result slips and awards."

Nonny bit her trembling lip. Lies. One could never really get away with them.

Theous went on. "Things got so bad that...that I became homeless for some time. Nothing to my name and sleeping in dark alleys where people would not find me and it would be hard for someone to attack me."

He slightly chuckled humorlessly. "But I kept going to soccer events, trying to get someone to recognise me. A few times, I was successful but I was only filling in for a player who replaced me the instant he was better. See, my skills could barely be seen because I was weak and hungry most of the time so I couldn't bring my best forward.

Anyway, I got paid and started surviving off odd jobs here and there. A couple of years back, I managed to hold a job down at a plant, doing their security and while I was there, they gave me a roof over my head and meals every day. So life was better but I still had hope that one day I would do what I love which was playing soccer."

Nonny nodded to show she was still listening.

"While at the plant...I met and fell in love with a woman." Theous smiled. "She was the most beautiful soul alive and i fell hard for her even though she was a few years older than me. She was a skinny Irish redhead who worked at the plant and ran a side hustle as a seamstress. Quickly, we were in a relationship and then we lived together and then we were engaged. It was all so great and mostly blissful because we got along well."

And now comes the bad part, Nonny thought, bracing herself.

"One day...I came back from work and guess what? It turns out she's rich and her parents don't approve of the life choice she made, living with someone as poor as me, a mere under paid security guard. Her parents didn't care that I was black...they cared about the fact that I could not take care of their daughter and...they were right. My salary and hers combined barely got us through every month. So me...being the man I was then...I left everything behind and left her, no warning, no note, nothing."

Theous held his head in his hands, clearly overwhelmed. Tears gathered in his eyes as Nonny just stared at him. "One day...a few months down the line, I get a call and...it's her. She had managed to find me and she bluntly tells me that...that she's pregnant."

Nonny's hand unconsciously jerked and she hit the juice glass on the table, sending it over the edge. It crashed loudly on the  tiled floor, spilling and splattering juice everywhere. She quickly got up and cleaned the mess up, her heart racing, threatening to go into her throat. When she was done, she sat back in front of Theous.

He continued.

"Well, naturally, I need to take responsibility and anyway, I still love her so I went back to our place and when I get there...there she is, no longer skinny and with a very much pregnant belly. She was not happy to see me...after what I did but eventually, we managed to go back to being a happy couple with a baby on the way. Life was great once again."

Nonny didn't want him to continue but he insisted.

"One day...I make a very bad decision and spend some money we saved for the baby on a plane ticket to some soccer tryouts. I was really hoping this was my big break but just like last time, I failed." A tear fell. "When I came back, she had packed up everything and left and I got into a cab since I didn't have a car then I went looking for her at her parents' house.
On the way...we passed by an accident scene and I didn't really pay much attention to it because help had arrived but then something told me to stop and have a look."

"Theous-"

He broke down. "I wish I didn't. Because that was the last time I saw her. I ran blindly into the wreckage to save her and our baby but there was an explosion and...the scars on my chest...the fire got me. Nonny...it was so bad and I passed out from the flames and smoke. I was in a coma for so long that my fiance and my unborn child got buried without me. But...I had no one to blame except myself."

He cried. "If I hadn't taken the baby's money...if I hadn't gone to the tryouts...she would probably still be here and...we could have been a family and... it's all my fault, Nonny. It's all my fault."

Nonny got up, walking over to his side and hugging him tightly as he buried his head in her stomach and put his arms tightly around her waist, letting his sobs take over. Theous wept like a man whose soul was broken as Nonny held him tightly.

After he calmed down, he slowly looked up at her, frowning slightly. His hand touched her belly, feeling around for a bit before he paused.

Nonny stepped back, away from him.

He stood up and stared at her, quiet, wondering how he missed it all along. He had noticed the signs but he had ignored them.

"I wanted to tell you," she said in a trembling voice. "But I was afraid that I was going to lose you and I...I became selfish. Theous-"

"Zara was right," Theous said with disbelief. "You're pregnant."

Nonny nodded. "All those times I was throwing up...it was morning sickness. I tried to tell you so many times but I was too chicken to do it. Theous... I'm sorry...Um..." She swallowed thickly, afraid look at him. "I'll just see myself out."

She didn't even wait for him to speak but walked out.

Theous stood staring after her, numb.