TWICE A ZING |A Nigerian Romance|

Chapter 27.

AMADI

I started by first mending our friendship. The day I decided to be in attendance for his birthday is one step I am glad I took. At the end of the event, she gave me the permission to visit him subsequently. I can never forget how she said it.

"Amadi. You're permitted." She says.

"To?" I ask, while she just stood, body leaned on the wall with her arms folded over her chest. She watched me like a hawk watches its prey.

"To be part of his life." She says. Before I could say anything, she walked out.

That day, I did not want to create a scene in front of the kids. So when I was prepared to go back home, I told Kaima to wait for me before I went to Shalewa to properly thank her.

I would fight for custody and might win it, but what's the point? Besides, I hate court cases as they are mostly messy.

Not being able to physically see my child on the day he was born all through his one year birthday really had a toll on me. It was like she disappeared from anything connecting us on purpose. She even left the centre where I could run into her accidentally. It was like she blanked. Well, asides on social media.  She was very active there.

Which is why after that day she finally changed her mind, I started mending our friendship. It's what I'm still doing till now as it has just been two weeks since his birthday. I don't know what or how it happened but I'm grateful for her change of heart. I am glad I followed my guts to attend that birthday.

The first time I caught a glimpse of him was in that Molfix advert they both were on. I have had that ad stored on my phone ever since because it was the closest I got to seeing him. Honestly, I didn't even know he was the one until I saw the mother's face. How? Kaima pointed it out, because on what grounds would I normally watch a diaper ad? To say I was shocked would be an understatement. Even Emeka testified to the fact that the baby in the ad looks like me, further cementing my thoughts.

"Hi. May I come in?" I ask her. She's always with a straight face. I decided to do something different today.

"Yeah." She answers.

"Here. I got this for you." I present a flower to her. I have been hiding it at my back since I got here.

"A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman." Oops. I already let that slip. For the first time in the two weeks O have visited, I see her give a genuine smile.

"Thank you." Her smile is still unwavering as she ushers me into her house. Guess what I did. Well, it's simple. I got a bouquet of her favourite flower from her own flower shop. Even as she places it into a vase of water, she's still smiling.

"He's upstairs with Nadira." She points out.

"She still works with you after all these years?" I ask.

"Nahh. She doesn't. She's done with school and works now. She's currently on leave so she came to stay here for a while. She loves coming here at her free time."

"Ohh...Can I see him in his room?" It's the first time I'm asking this. He's normally brought downstairs to meet me.

"Alright." She says, leading the way to the room. It's well decorated in amazing designs and a mild blue color as the main theme.

"Dada!" He says, smiling. I am in shock.

"Oh, Jason. You couldn't even make your first word Mama? Come on!" Really? I guess it might be my lucky day, then. He chuckles and as if understanding what she said, utters another word.