Fidel and Felix had always wondered why there haven't seen their father like other children in the neighborhood. Their mother, Pat would cook, wash and take care of them every morning, drop them off at school, and pick them after work in the evening. The two boys were always the last to leave school. The school authorities had put an extra fee for having to watch over them till late in the evening when school has been closed for the activities and all other students have gone home.
This had been going on for four years. The boys are having turned right (8) years old, yet they haven't met their father for a day. On Christmas Eve, the test they were in primary four, Fidel asked their mom:
Mummy, will dad be joining us this Christmas?
Pat, with a smile on her face, replied:
Your dad is in heaven with the angels. He won't be coming back anytime soon. Be happy, ok. He is a time where he is.
That was the least of all the answers he had expected to get from his mother. As soothing as the answer may look, Fidel wanted to hear more, like what took his father to heaven and the likes.
As a little boy, his curiosity never ends. Anytime a special event occurs in their school and the need for a parent to be available, Felix and Fidel would come home to ask Pat to take them to their father in heaven. They never understood what it means to get to heaven.
After college, Pat met a young medical student named Mike. He was handsome, and every lady's man. Pat herself wasn't bad. She was one of the beauties in the college. All her life, she had never dated a guy until Mike walked up to her that evening after their graduation party and asked her for a dance.
They danced to the tune of Celine Dion's Because You Loved Me. While the dance lasted, she felt the heartbeat on his chest as it beat faster than normal. Her heart too skipped each time she looked him in the eyes.
To break the silence, Mike decided to talk to her head to see if he could win her heart.
What will you be doing after graduation?
She kept mute for a moment before she responded.
I will be going back to Calabar. I hope to start a job there.
Mike does not appear to be cool with a response. Calabar is a far place.
Ok. But don't you think that place is rather far?
She wasn't ready for all these questions. All she wanted to hear was for the young man to hit the nail on the head.
Yeah. Far away from here. That's where I know how to get a job quickly with the connection I have made over time and my parents reside there too.
At this juncture, Mike started feeling that he had lost the opportunity to find love. The love of Pat especially.
The DJ changed the music to West Life's, Soledad. This time, Mike gently pulled Pat closer to his chest, he felt her cleavage against his body. That sent some signal to his nerves. Then, he whispered to her ear:
Pat, I love you. Give me the honor to be the man in your life.
As if that message was a catalyst, Pat buried her head in his chest, then stared at him in the eyes and said yes with a mild smile.
After the show, Mike accompanied her to her apartment off-campus. As Mike bid her good night and turned to go to his hostel, Pat called him back. It was a long night for the love birds as they lurked on each other throughout the night making sweet love.
The next morning, Pat made a sumptuous breakfast for two, she had been made a woman by the man she always wanted. Nothing can be more satisfying than this to a woman. After that breakfast, Mike and Pat went their different ways.
Three months later, she found out she was pregnant. Quickly, she put a call across to Mike. He was so elated at the news and promised to come over to Calabar that weekend. When he arrived at the Ekanems, the welcome was super warm and hospitable. Pat introduced Mike to her parents and they accepted him. They accepted that they could go ahead with marriage plans. Three months after, they married in a low-key court wedding and Pat relocated to Lagos with her husband, Mike.
Mike lives in a luxury home in Lekki, the hybrid part of Lagos. It's a family property but now it belongs to him as an inheritance from his late father's estate. When Pat arrived, she couldn't believe her eyes. Though she likewise isn't from a poor home, this one beats her imagination.
Pat put to bed a few months after joining Mike in Lekki-Lagos. It was a set of twins, Fidel and Felix. During the first four months of year delivery, Pat's mom came over for Omugwo (The maternal visit during when her daughter puts to bed, to help take care of the newborn and mother). During the period, she doesn't have to do much of the chores since her mother was around to take care of them.
A year after, Mike had a job with the WHO and had to travel out of Nigeria. The job specification had it that he will only have a leave after two years. Pat wasn't happy at first but since it will be of economic advantage to their home, she accepted.
When Mike arrived at his new location. He would speak with Pat and the boys via skype. It was more like he wasn't far from home. All of a sudden, the calls weren't coming again and each time Oat put a call across to him, would turn it down. It has been seven years now and Mike would not call Pat and the boys not would he come home.
While Pat was reminiscing all that transpired between her and the only man she love, the doorbell rang. Fidel made to see who it was. When he checked through the Pidgeon hole, he didn't know whom it was so he called his mom to come to check for herself. Mike was standing outside, waiting for the door to be opened.
Pat, upon seeing who was at the doorstep skank in bewilderment not knowing what exactly to do. Whether to open the door for him to come in or asked that he returns to where he was coming from. She picked the pieces of her strength with tears flooding her cheek happens the door for him. He made to hug her but she refused. Fidel and Felix don't seem to know what happening.
Mom! Mom!! What's wrong with you? Why are you crying?
This is your father. He is back from heaven.
Mike appealed to Pat asking for her forgiveness. As he had no tangible explanation to give. All family members from the Pat and Mike families gathered for the new year celebration and they were happily reunited. Fidel and Felix were so happy to have their father.
When school resumed, they requested that their father drops them in school every morning. This Mike did with all his heart as an opportunity to get along with the boys.
I hope you enjoyed reading this story. It is submitted to @Inkwellprompt #38: Family Ties.