BABY TUNMISE

Chapter One

Itunu's mother's driver brought the car to an abrupt stop, outside the gate and pressed the horn.

Itunu, who was sitting at the back with her Mum squealed. "Mummy, is this their house?"

"Yes now," her mother replied.

"Ah Mummy you didn't tell me I was coming to enjoy like this," she said excitedly.

Her mother chuckled, "Well, you're here now."

A tall, lanky old man opened the small gate and came over to their car. Iya Itunu told him who she was and he nodded, before going back to the gate and opening the big one, ushering them in.

The driver drove into the spacious compound. Itunu marvelled at how big and beautiful the house was.

The house and it's walls were painted a very light pink. It had white modern casing windows and a brown roof. Light shrubbery was scattered in the compound, and the ground was a satisfying mass of interlocking blocks. There were canopies already arranged.

The driver drove them to the garage and they opened the door and began walking towards the main entrance to the living room.

A gust of cold air hit Itunu and she shivered a little, as her mother opened the door.

"Maami, E kaaro," Itunu's mother greeted her mother, getting on one knee. Itunu saw her grandmother and immediately got on both knees, greeting her in the same manner. Her grandmother and her aunties were sitting on the cream coloured couches in her aunty Tamilore's living room. Aunty Tamilore was the mother of the new baby, she was the one they all came to celebrate with.

"Ahan ahan, E kaabo oh! Come, my daughter..." Grandma stretched out her hands, gesturing for Itunu to come and hug her. Itunu went and hugged her. Her grandmother teased her for a moment, asking her about her "boyfriends" and whether they sent any presents to her through Itunu. Itunu laughed and said no.

She then went to greet her aunties who were there too.

"Mummy Dami! Your stomach is so big now," Itunu teased and everybody laughed. Her aunty Bisola, who was popularly called Mummy Dami---the name of her first daughter---rubbed her stomach fondly.

"It will soon pop you know," she smiled.

"How far gone are you?" Itunu's mother asked her.

"Six months." Itunu's mother nodded.

She greeted her aunty Tiwa too, her grandmother's last born. She was about twenty one, tall, skinny, and fair skinned. Itunu really liked aunty Tiwa because she was young so she was a good gisting partner.

Another woman Itunu did not recognise was seated on a lone couch, and Itunu made sure to greet her too.

Itunu took the time to look around now. The living room was painted a pristine cream colour. Various modern devices were in front of the living room, and grey marble adorned the floor. It all spelt wealth.

"Alhaja, Modupe didn't come?" Itunu's mother asked her own mother. Grandma was referred to as "Alhaja" because she had gone to Mecca a number of times.

"Ah she came oh. She's busy playing with the baby inside." Itunu smiled sadly at her grandmother's words, even if she wasn't talking to her. Everybody knew of Modupe's fertility struggles, probably even Dami, her youngest niece. Modupe had been trying to have a baby with her husband over the years, all to no avail. Itunu wondered how God worked. In Itunu's opinion, aunty Modupe deserved a baby more than any of her other aunties. She was so in love with babies, in fact, she was obsessed with them.