CHAPTER 17
SWB: Akinsehinwa Oluwaseun
My heart almost jumped into my mouth.
I suddenly developed a headache.
I couldn’t move forward, I just stood still on a spot.
Mr Jude was smiling while my husband cleaned his hands with an handkerchief moving towards me.
“Nifemi” my husband called and gave me a peck.
“You’re welcome sweetie, I’d wanted to call you to inform you that your boss is around but Mr Jude said he was going to send you a message himself”
It was beginning to make sense to me, when Mr Jude sent that message to me, saying he can’t believe I’m carrying his baby and that he can’t wait to see me again, he was already in my house. This guy will ruin my marriage, Lord please just save me from this mess.
“Mrs Thomas, how are you? We are really sorry for any inconveniences we might have caused you at work. We understand the workload is too much , probably that’s the reason you’ve decided to terminate your appointment with our company. Though you haven’t resigned officially but the handwriting is clear enough. Hence Mrs Thomas the company have decided to reduce your work load and also increase your salary. Your contribution towards the development of our company is ineffable, we can’t afford to lose a staff like you, please consider our offer. We shall be expecting you to resume work anytime soon” Mr Jude said still smiling, I couldn’t say a word. I just stood there like a statue with no words coming out of my parted lips. I wanted him out of my matrimonial home right away before he lands me in bigger trouble.
“Thank you very much Mr Thomas for the hospitality. I must confess you’ve got a great wife , please help our company convince her to reconsider us and resume back to work” he said to my husband who gladly held me close to himself, feeling proud of all the compliments Mr Jude showered me with.
“Okay Mr Jude, I’ll try my best. Thanks for the compliments. You should join us for dinner” my husband said and I almost said No before Mr Jude could answer for himself. Thank goodness he read my mind.
“No Mr Thomas, I have to be on my way now but I promise to visit some other time, maybe then I can settle down to eat dinner” he stretched forth his hands to have a handshake with my husband. I said within me that there’ll never be another time, I have to get Mr Jude far away from my family before he ruins my life completely. Maybe if Richard knew the secret between Mr Jude and I , he wouldn’t allow him walk away alive. My husband walked him to his car, it wasn’t until after he drove off did my heart started beating normally again.
I realized I was sweating already. The presence of Mr Jude in my matrimonial home has turned my stomach upside down. How I wish I didn’t allow an unguarded moment get the best of me.
I settled down on the dinning and kept on thinking of what to do. Do I just keep it a secret and tell my husband a lie that I was violated? What do I do, Lord I need help.
I was so lost in deep thoughts that I didn’t know my husband was already at the dinning calling me
“Nifemi!!!” He called, jolting me back.
“Hey Handsome” I feigned a smile.
“Are you alright? I called you four times before you answered. Is everything okay?”
“Yes Richy, I’m so sorry , I didn’t know you were calling me”
“Tell me what’s wrong. Or is it about your Boss’ insistence on you coming back to work in his company. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, okay Baby? I’ll just explain to him that you are no longer interested in the job”
“Okay , thanks but please don’t tell him anything yet, I’ll find a way of explaining things to him later”
“Okay Baby, let me get you your meal”
I had lost my appetite but I was really hungry, so I had no option than to eat. Throughout that night, my sleep was constantly disturbed. Could Mr Jude be right? I hope this symptom isn’t that of pregnancy. Eh! How do I explain it, that another man got me pregnant barely a month after my wedding. Who do I confide in? Do I tell Tracy about my problem. Do I tell my Mom? She will be so disappointed in me. Do I tell my Pastor’s wife? No she may become so judgemental.
I wished morning won’t come but my wish wasn’t granted, as morning came faster than I expected.
” Babe you should go and take your bath, so we can quickly go to hospital before going to church. You know today is Sunday” Richard announced as he brought me some tea on the bed. It was already six thirty am.
“Uhm,honey you can go to church, I’m too tired to go anywhere. I can’t even go to the hospital as earlier planned”
“Oh! Sorry Baby but you need to visit the hospital so that we can know the nature of this sickness and get the right medicine for it. I wouldn’t want us to resort to self medication” he said trying to convince me to get to the hospital.
“Babe I’ll be fine, I just need some rest”
Actually my plan was to rush down to a chemist and get a pregnancy test kit before my husband will come back from church but my husband wanted to stay back at home with me.
“I’ll stay with you,I can’t leave you in this condition” Richard said.
“Richy don’t bother. I don’t want us to miss church, in fact I would have loved to go with you but my health isn’t cooperating”
“No no don’t stress yourself, just relax, I’ll go to church at least to pray for my baby to recover quickly” he said tickling me, I was too weak to laugh but I could smile a little.
“Alrighty let me fix you breakfast before going to church” he went straight to the kitchen while I kept thinking on where to go to get the kit.
I wasn’t sure yet what my decision I’ll take if the result comes out positive but I wished and pray silently that Mr Jude’s assumption will never be right.
After eating breakfast together, my husband left for church, while I rushed down to the chemist to get the test kit. Apart from the day I watched an horror movie at 10years old and could not stay alone in my room for two days for fear that the villain in the movie will harm me, this will be the scariest day of my life.
I got the pregnancy test kit and hurried home. I went into the bathroom and took the test. I was instructed on how to use it by the chemist. I prayed like I have never prayed before that the result won’t come out positive.
“Lord if only you can help me, I promise never to sin against You again for the rest of my life. Please give me one more chance in this marriage, just one more chance to make things right”
I was praying with my eyes closed, when eventually I opened my eyes to see the results, lo and behold, there it was, the two stripes staring wickedly at me.
“The results came out positively. I’m in trouble, I’m pregnant.” I whispered. I sunk on the toilet seat and began to weep.
What do I do?
Abort it! That was the thought that came to my mind. The only available option to save my face from this shame was to abort this unwanted pregnancy.
Probably I should get to the hospital first, maybe this test kit is lying. I can’t possibly be pregnant.
What do I do? A wicked came to my mind that since there’s the hope that Richard can at least manage to perform now, I should probably get him to sleep with me and then claim he’s the father of this baby. Another thought came that I should divorce Richard on the case of deceit and then go ahead to marry Mr Jude. Then finally another voice told me to travel far away , where no one knows me. I was thrown into complete confusion. I was no longer thinking straight. I was still in the weeping state when I heard my husband’s car zoomed in.
“What do I do Lord?”