Silence hung in the air as the six of them sat on the couches, watching each other.
Then Jide cleared his throat and sat up. "Ma'am, you're Fade's mum?"
Doyin nodded, her eyed darting to and fro. She kept shifting in her seat, her hand reaching up to scratch her neck every once in a while.
"Why are you here, Ma?" Fade asked, exasperated. "You always come and go as you please. Why?"
She glanced at her son, tears springing to her eyes. Pushing her matted hair away from her face, her lips quivered and she scratched her arm.
"You think it was easy letting go of my children?"
Fade stared at his mother, his eyes taking in her appearance. Her clothes hung off her body, ridden with holes. Her feet were smudged with mud as if she had been walking barefoot. She licked her lips that hadn't seen a lip balm in months, her hair a tangled mess on her head.
"I had no choice!"
Her voice shook with desperation, startling everybody.
"I had no choice." She said, her voice now lower than before. "I had no choice."
She knew she had made wrong choices in the past, but she always did what she thought was best for her babies.
"What happened?" Nifemi asked in a soft voice, her hand gripping her husband's.
Doyin stayed silent for a few seconds, her eyes glancing at every object in the sitting room. Then she dropped the bombshell.
"My father is the Ooni of Ile-Ife."
Gasps of disbelief echoed round the room as her words sunk in.
"The Ooni?" Fade's head reeled with shock as he tried to process what he just heard.
She nodded.
"I'm of royal blood. How did you think you got your names?"
"I thought Pa liked it..." He said, his voice trailing off as the full impact of her words hit him.
If his grandfather was a king, then his mum would be a princess. And if his mum was a princess, then that means Sewa was also a princess, and he–he was a prince.
Goodness.
He was a prince?
A smile grazed Doyin's lips, although it was strained. "He was such a kind man. But you know he is not your real father, right?"
Fade shook his head. He didn't want to know that. Pa was a good man, and he was a father to him.
Doyin sighed, her shoulders slumped.
"When I was fifteen, I met a guy four years older who swept me off my feet. My parents warned me about him but I was so much in love that I didn't heed to their warning. Eventually, he impregnated me, and my father disowned me."
She swallowed, struggling to get her words past the lump in her throat.
"The guy accepted me though and I was happy that I wasn't alone. I gave birth to you and for ten years everything was okay as we lived together in a small house. We didn't have much, but it was still enough. Then your father met some bad men and he began to traffic drugs. He also started to use it, and he introduced me to it, although I never took as much as he did."
Everyone stayed silent as they digested her words.
"Then he began to hit you, Fade. You, our little boy, and I knew I couldn't keep you in the house anymore. So I took you to a different place and kept you with the old man even though I had never met him before, hoping to come back to get you. But your father never got better. He lost a substantial amount of his money in a bad deal and transferred his aggression unto me. Over the course of five years, I lost three pregnancies because of his beatings, so when I realized that I was pregnant once again, I hid it for as long as I could.
"When I couldn't hide it anymore, I lied to him that I happened to meet a distant aunt of mine and she invited me to come visit for some months. He was suspicious, but I didn't even wait for him to object before fleeing to a nearby riverside where I stayed alone in an abandoned hut I found there. After a while, my supplies ran out and I was growing weak from hunger and thirst. Just as I was about to give up and jump into the river, a man walked up to me and offered me food, water and clothes.
"Although I was surprised, I collected the items with gladness in my heart. I went into the hut to drop them, but by the time I went back out, the man was gone. This is how I was fed everyday for the next few months."
She picked at the loose threads on her sleeve as she continued when no one said anything still.
"I was so scared when it was time for me to have my baby. There was no one to help me, and I didn't really know what to do even though it wasn't my first time. I lay sweating on the clothes I had spread on the floor of the hut, when someone knocked on the door and came in. She helped me with the birth of the child, and cleaned us up when I birthed her."
She stared down at her hands, tears spilling from her eyes.
"It wasn't easy, but I did it so that both of you could live. I knew I couldn't take my baby back home because she wouldn't be safe with me, which was why I came to give her to you. That day that I came to drop Sewa with you, I saw one of your father's friends on the way. I knew he would tell your father, that was why I dashed in and out. I couldn't risk your father knowing that I had a child, because I was scared of what his reaction would be.
"When I got home, Temilade beat me so much I passed out for two days. Afterwards, I made up my mind that I would never meet you face-to-face or speak directly to you because I couldn't risk people seeing us together and then connecting the dots. That was why I could only watch you from afar."
While she spoke, Sewa stirred for some time before rousing from sleep. She sat up in Ara's arms and blinked at the woman who was crying and talking at the same time. Curiosity got the better of her, so she slid down Ara's legs and wobbled to the woman's front.
Doyin recognized her little girl. Her eyes grew misty all the more while she gazed down at her, love shining in her eyes.
"Sewa?" Her voice broke as she reached out to take the little one into her arms.
But Sewa stumbled back in fear and Doyin jerked back as if she had been shot when her little girl did this. Her eyes glazed over with tears.
Of course, she should have expected this. Sewa didn't know her, so she wouldn't be receptive towards her.
With a sigh, she let her hands drop back to her sides and looked at Fade, her voice trembling as she spoke.
"I'm sorry I was a coward. I'm sorry I was not strong enough as a mother. I'm sorry I failed you."
She wiped her tears and sniffled.
"I'm sorry I wasn't the kind of mother you'd be proud of. I'm sorry if you've ever felt I brought you into this world to suffer. I'm sorry you had to pay for my sins. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Then she broke down in tears, her body heaving as she sobbed.
Tears pooled in Fade's eyes as he watched his mother weep. He glanced away from her, his chest tightening as he thought about all she had said.
It wasn't her fault. She truly had no choice.
And in that moment, he decided to forgive his mum. There was no use holding on to past hurt, especially since she was sorry for all that had happened. Rising to his feet while Ara, Tooni and their parents watched, he walked to Doyin's front and picked Sewa up.
Sewa stared at him with curiosity. "Pawdey?"
He smiled.
"Sewa, this is Mummy."
"Mommie?"
He nodded and placed Sewa in their mother's arms, his smile broadening when she wrapped her arms round her baby girl and buried her lips in Sewa's hairline.
"Yes. Mummy."
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YOU ARE READING
Awaiting Her Beau
Spiritual"Do you have anything to say?" He shook his head, but never shifted his gaze from her face. "Well then, what do you want?" She snapped, tired of his incessant staring. He shook his head again, still remaining speechless. She sighed. "Is there someth...
