This was the reason Stephanie hated traveling abroad, the 2 days sitting down wasn't favourable for her, she hated the idea of sitting one place for hours, moreover, it was always so boring but this time she enjoyed it. Chinaza snuggled into her at times, being a mother was actually nice, no doubt. She smiled as she remembered the look Naza's face when they got to the Airport Departure check in. He wasn't as surprised as Stephanie thought he would be, if anything, she believed he was faking the surprise and at the end he told her he knew about the plan and she was terrible at being sneaky. She would have to top her game if she wanted to surprise this boy because he was very smart.
Chinaza watched movies halfway through the journey and then slept through the remaining part. Sister Amanda just slept throughout and whenever she woke up, she complained about how cold the place was. Stephanie pitied her. Alabama was cold.
Sister Amanda was shivering. "Who's coming to pick us?"
"You can have my jacket." Stephanie offered.
"Are you sure?" Sister Amanda hesitated.
"Yes." Stephanie removed the jacket and handed it over to her. She was glad she had packed a jacket and gloves for Naza in her bag because she would've felt terrible if he caught a cold.
"My regular driver. He knows I'm coming." Stephanie answered Sister Amanda's question.
Naza wasn't even cold, he was just really sleepy. Sometimes he would lean on Stephanie to get a bit of sleep and other times he'd fight it off. The driver was running late and Stephanie was getting furious. She looked around, saw a placard bearing her name and led them towards the man holding it. He took her box while she took Naza's own and helped him get into the car.
Naza and Sister Amanda were both fast asleep by the time they arrived at her sister's house. Chidinma had invited them to stay but Stephanie had booked a hotel just in case.
"We're here." Stephanie woke them both.
They both sluggishly came out from the car.
"You guys are going to have to do better than that if you want my sister to respect herself." Stephanie was bringing the boxes out of the trunk. That was the wake up call they both needed. They carried their boxes into the house with Stephanie leading.
"Stephanie! You made it. I'm so glad." Chidinma's words were laced with sarcasm.
"Where are the kids?" Stephanie asked, ignoring her comment.
"In their room. Let me arrange your room for you." Chidinma shouted her children's name.
"You are here already. You could have call me. I'd have come to pick you up." Chidinma's husband said.
"I'm fine Jumbosco. There was no need to come pick me." Stephanie answered, calling him Jumbosco to spite him
"It's Jumbo. I'm glad you here." Jumbo said.
"Aunty Stephanie, Aunty Stephanie!" Stephanie's name rang through the house as she heard footsteps treading down the stairs. She was glad, the only individuals that made her smile in this house. They both ran to hug her, with the corner of her eyes she could see Chinaza, his face was blank. Sister Amanda had already gone in to sleep, she was probably still jet-lagged. Stephanie took the kids to introduce to Naza, the older was Hailey and the younger was Ryan. The kids began bonding, all laughing, that was one thing about children that Stephanie admired.
"Mom and Dad are here but they went shopping." Chidinma said, chopping some onions.
"I figured." Stephanie replied.
"Chuka isn't sleeping here, he booked a hotel." Chidinma said.
Stephanie was surprised at the small talk Chidinma was trying to make. She noticed that she kept glancing at Chinaza while he played with her kids, she was trying so hard to make it less obvious that she wasn't comfortable with Chinaza but Stephanie didn't say anything.
