Her Baby’s Secret

Arike’s POV

“No.. no.. no.. my heart beat skipped two beats at a time. Suddenly I went into hyperventilating mode! And I couldn’t control it.

“Hey.. Arike… Arike..” she shook my shoulders. “Can you hear me?!”

She sprinkled water on my face and held me tight so I wouldn’t hit the ground.

“Pull yourself together! Relax… breathe in breathe out..” I did as she instructed until my breathing returned back to normal.

“Are you okay now?” She asked with a worried look.

“Come.. you need to relax.” She led me out of the bathroom.

“We.. we.. need to talk.” I whispered.

“Yes.. yes.. I know.. but we will do that after you get enough rest. You don’t need to stress yourself because of the baby.”

The mention of _baby_ brought tears to my eyes as I lay back in bed.

Busayomi sat beside me and held my hand. “Everything will be fine.”

I closed my eyes. No! Everything is not fine. Infact this baby is gonna change my life forever. Whatever decision I make about it, either good or bad is going to change my life forever.

“Being pregnant isn’t the end of the world. It’s a good thing. And do you want me to call Bamidele?”

I reopened my eyes. “No.. no.. don’t call him.”

“Why? I am sure he’d like to hear the good news.”

Panic set in again. “No. no… no.. you can’t tell him.. please.” I pleaded.

She frowned and raised her brows. “Why not?”

“Nothing..”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“He deserves to know you’re carrying his child.”

“No.. no… no..”

“What do you mean by no?” She asked angrily.

“He’s not the father.” I cried.

“What?!” She gasped. “Wait.. hold.. wh.. what are you talking about? Bamidele is the only man that I have seen with you. And he is your boyfriend.”

I finally agreed to date Bamidele few days after he confessed to me. The connection wasn’t there yet but I knew I had to distract myself from the Feelings I had for Adedayo. And I hoped my feelings for Bamidele would grow with time.

Busayomi thinks we are really a big thing because Bamidele told her that he loves me. He didn’t take his hands off me at Dayo’s wedding too which made Busayomi happy to finally see me with a man who loves me.

“I know.. he’s my boyfriend.. but he didn’t impregnate me. As a matter of fact we never got intimate.”

Busayomi gave me a surprised look. “Arike… I need you to tell me the truth.” She paused and I nodded.

Another wave of heavy tears hit me again and I couldn’t control it.

“Have you been seeing another man aside Bamidele?”

“No. no.. its not what you’re thinking. Bamidele is.. the only man I… I.. have been seeing.”

“So how come he’s not the father of your child?!” She asked with a confused look.

“It’s. It’s.. it..” I stopped.

Da… Dayo. it’s Dayo’s baby.” I sobbed.

“What?!” She gasped in shock.

My heartbeat accelerated. Seriously I have never been this scared in my life.

“Dayo?” She frowned. “Hold up… which Dayo?”

I couldn’t dare look into her eyes.

“The.. same.. Dayo.” I whispered shakily.

Then I heard her laughing as she stood up from the bed. I didn’t feel any better by the sudden laughter.

“Oh please! That was such an expensive joke!” She laughed.

This is not good. She thinks I am joking! Oh my God! What have I gotten into?!

“I.. am.. se.. serious.”

“No! You can’t be serious!” She snapped.

“Adedayo.. is the father of my child!” I cried.

“No…”

“Please.. please don’t make it hard for me than it is now.” I pleaded.

“Oh God! This must be a dream.” She tapped her cheeks.

I wish it was a dream too so I could just wake up and pray to never let it happen.

“How on earth did Dayo become the father of your child? Have you guys been sleeping with each other? Oh! Obviously! This is it!” She pointed to my belly. “I should have known! So this is the result of all the sleep overs!”

“No.. it only happened -”

She interrupted me. “So you’ve been sleeping with him, knowing that he already had a fiancee and now a wife!” She said angrily.

“No.. no.. no..”

“What do you mean by no?! You are pregnant!”

I nodded in agreement. “Wait.. are you trying to pin it on him because you want to hide the real father?”

“No.. I swear… it’s Dayo’s baby. And… and.. it happened.. just once… just once. You have to believe me.”

She paced to and fro with an angry look. “And you didn’t tell me! You just decided to keep it to yourself.”

“I am sorry… I wanted to tell you about it.. but.. I was scared.”

“Scared? Scared of what? What else have you been hiding from me?!”

“Nothing else… believe me.”

“How do you -” she paused, threw her hands up and turned her back on me.

“Please.. I.. am sorry.” I begged her.

Busayomi turned towards the door. And I figured what she was about to do. She was leaving.

“I am disappointed in you.” She mumbled.

“Please.. don’t.. leave me.” I sobbed.

She opened the door and went away. I was wrong to have kept such big deed away from her. Busayomi was like a big sister to me. She’s part of my life, the one person I could turn to as a family.

I understand how she was feeling – betrayed! Finding out that I was carrying the child of the man I clearly denied to never have feelings for was so hard for her.

So how do I live my life now? Busayomi was gone, my baby’s father was out somewhere probably enjoying the honeymoon with his wife and I have no idea of how to raise a child. I shouldn’t have let this happened to me after the promise I made to my mother. How could I have forgotten such promise?!

More tears streamed down as I remembered that day. The day my mother had called me into her room when I was just 8.

(FLASHBACK)

“Arike, are you done with your homework?” My mom asked as I climbed into the bed and lay my head on her chest.

“Yes mom.”

It was just the two of us. Grandpa had stated clearly that he never wanted to see my mom again because of me. He disowned her even after everything Uncle Badejo said to dissuade him from his decision.

“You know I love you so much.” She kissed my forehead.

Everything she did was just for my sake. She lived for me.

“Yes mom and I love you too.”

At that time she already told me the story of how my father denied ever having anything to do with her.

“You’re growing up so fast.” She caressed my cheeks. “And I can’t wait to see you grow up into a big woman, then you’ll achieve your dream of becoming a lawyer. You’ll have a good husband and bear children too.”

“Yes.. a husband like big daddy.. not a man like my father.”

(I call uncle Badejo big daddy.)

She chuckled. “Why?”

“Big daddy is really nice but my dad is not good because he didn’t want me.”

“You’re right about uncle Badejo but your father is a good man.” She said.

“Then why didn’t he want me?”

“Arike, we have talked about this before. Your father and I were too young. He wanted so many things but raising a child wasn’t part of his plan.” She hugged me. “Let’s not talk about it okay?!”

“Okay.. mommy.”

“Arike?” She pulled away from me.

“Yes mommy.”

“I want you to promise me one thing.”

“What is it mom?” I looked into her eyes.

“Promise me that no matter what happens, you’ll never end up like me.” She said.

Even at that age I knew what she was talking about. She had clearly outlined the consequences of sex before marriage to me. And I had heard her praying to God that I shouldn’t end up like her who lost focus and couldn’t achieve her dreams and give her child the life she deserved.