"Your father didn't write a will before his death but he left a safe with me. I don't know what's inside or the password to it but in his last word, he emphasized everyone coming together", the lawyer replied Banjo who demanded why his father's property hasn't been shared.
Mr. Bakare, Banjo's father was a millionaire before he passed away. His only regret in life was marrying three wives, he started with two and when the two wive left his home, he took the third in. Despite the wives leaving, he never stopped taking responsibility for his children.
The three wives bore five children but he had six. His first child was through unprotected sex in high school and he didn't marry the mother of the boy. To avoid problems for Henry, he sent him abroad after his secondary education.
Henry is over forty and he didn't return to Nigeria. Despite staying abroad, he was his father's favorite but none of the wives liked him.
"What kind of man is my dad? He must have given Henry all his property", the lawyer's message made Banjo restless.
After pacing around his apartment for some time, he decided to reach his sibling and mom on the issue.
"I am worried we won't get anything from Dad's property", Banjo expressed his fear while on a video call with them.
"It is impossible, I am his first legally married wife of your father and my children are entitled to the wealth he left behind", his mother replied.
"I need money to execute some programs here which are very important, what is the way forward?", his sibling asked.
"In Father's last words, he emphasized us coming together. We should probably do a reunion so that the whole family will be present and we can't rub minds", Banjo suggested.
"That's impossible, we don't have anything to do with the other wives", his mother turned down the idea.
They discussed for a while and she eventually agreed for the reunion to hold but the issue is if the other wives and their children will show up.
Banjo, reached out to the wives but none of them replied so he gave up on trying to figure out what coming together will result for them.
A few months later, the other wives agreed for the reunion to hold.
"Shouldn't we invite brother Henry", Banjo asked during an online meeting and the name brought lots of argument.
"We all need to understand that he is part of this family", Banjo tried convincing them but nothing worked.
Mr Bakare excessive love for Henry made his wives jealous and they hated him for that.
The online meeting was disrupted, and they ended it without agreeing on something tangible.
A few days later, Banjo reached out to everyone again and they agreed on a date for the reunion. He reached out to Henry through Facebook and he agreed to travel back for the reunion but Banjo kept it a secret from the other members of the family.
The day came and they all arrived at the deceased house, the place was messed up and it was the first time they are all gathered in the house at the same time.
After feeling too pompous to greet each other for some minutes, they eventually did. The wives spoke separately and made up their minds to clean the house first.
They shared tasks among the kids and soon the place was clean. Everyone was hungry after the cleaning and Banjo took Mofeoluwa, the daughter of another wife to the market to get food items.
"I didn't know you are this nice, Mom never said a good thing about Dad's other wives and kids", Mofe told him on their way to the market.
"Don't mind our mothers, they only painted bad pictures about the other families for us because they hated each other", Banjo replied with a smile.
They cooked together and by the end of the day, they were all exhausted. Nothing about the inheritance was discussed and they got to know that they were just hating themselves for no reason.
Around 7 pm in the night, Banjo received a call.
"Oh, you are back", Banjo replied the caller as he stepped away from the sitting where they were all seeing a TV drama.
"I will be right back", Banjo told the rest of the family as he returned to pick up his car keys.
"Let me go with you", Mofe pleaded and Banjo agreed.
While they were gone, the wives laughed at each other as they reminisced old memories.
"This is our big brother", Banjo introduced Henry to Mofe after exchanging pleasantries.
It was a sweet ride back home as they shared memories and joked about different stuff.
On their arrival back home, the majority of them had slept so Banjo took Henry to a room and he was served dinner. They all passed the night in the mansion and even the neighbors were surprised to see light in the house.
"Good morning everyone", Banjo greeted the family as they settle to discuss the inheritance issue the next morning.
They responded and he continued, "Let me introduce Henry our eldest brother".
The wives were surprised, none of them recognized him anymore and were pissed but Henry prostrated to apologize for his father's excessive love for him.
"I have been lonely abroad and it has always been my dream to meet my family but I was scared, please accept me as your child", he pleaded and they didn't have a choice after the other children joined him to beg their mothers.
They embraced him and soon they were all discussing. Banjo told them about the lawyer's claim and they began to search the house with the hope of finding the password to the safe he gave the lawyer.
Three days passed and they didn't find anything tangible in their father's library.
Henry noticed a pool at the back of the mansion, he requested that it was cleaned and they should all have a pool party before returning their separate ways.
They got a barbecue stand, and drinks after it was cleaned.
"You also have this pendant", Henry asked Banjo while they were sitting by the poolside during the party.
"Yes, Dad gave it to all his children and everyone still has it including you", Banjo replied.
"I have the F pendant and you have A, what could the others be", Henry asked
Banjo called the other four children together and after collecting the letters on their pendants, they thought of what the letters could mean.
"Family!", Mofe shouted while staring at the paper.
"What's family?", another son asked.
"Our pendants formed the word family", Mofe replied.
"Could that be the password we were looking for?", Henry asked and everywhere went quiet.
"Let me call the lawyer", Banjo left the pool to get his phone.
"Hello sir, can you come to the house with the safe?", He asked the lawyer who agreed to join them in an hour.
The lawyer arrived and the whole family member was present, they tried the FAMILY as the password and it worked.
They all shouted with excitement as the lawyer brought out the file to read.
"If you are seeing this, you successfully opened this safe and it means my only unfulfilled dream has been fulfilled. I don't have a plan to share my property and I want you all to live in one accord, manage my companies together and be happy with each other. This is my will, I love you all".
They were all surprised and the message got them emotional. The lawyer left and the family worked things out together, the reunion ended the hated they once had for each other.