..."Naughty girl." Hauwa shook her head from where she stood.
*
Dressed in a beige gown and wearing a coffee brown backpack was Jasmine. She had a beige veil draped on her shoulders, was wearing a pair of glittery ebony brown peep toe heels. She stuffed her ATM card, some naira notes, keys, lipgloss and phone into her glittery ebony brown purse.
"Here Humayd, hold this for me." She gave Humayd the purse. He was dressed in a navy blue T-shirt a denim jeans and black sneakers. "Keep this cookies in that bag, you'll take cookies to everyone at home." She gave him the box of cookies, referring to the paper bag beside him.
"Why?" He asked her as he did as she said.
"To make them happy and to out smiles on their faces." She smiled at him.
Jasmine carefully picked Aayan up, he was sleeping and she didn't want to wake him up. She held him with one hand and pushed his stroller with the other.
"Let me push it." Humayd offered and she let him.
"You took so long to come out. I've been waiting for you." Muslim stood up from the waiting chair just outside the entrance of the house.
"We didn't talk about you driving me, I'll drive myself." Jasmine said with a small smile. "You don't need to worry about me I'll handle it." She smiled a little wider.
Muslim stared at her blankly. "I promise you I'll handle it. Yes I'll call you if I need any help, yes I'll take care of myself and our baby, and my other baby too, no you can't come with me and no you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't offend me I just want you to rest." She grinned creepily. "See I can read your mind." She boasted, wiggling her brows.
"This color combo looks so good on you, you look so beautiful baby. You look like the most beautiful college girl." Muslim said with the most vibrant smile he could ever muster then gave her a peck on the cheek.
"I'm not a college girl." She punched him lightly on his chest.
Humayd tilted his head to one side, "You say your name is maama, but now your name is baby?" He sounded so confused.
"Right, her name is maama." He collected Aayan from her hold and kept him in his stroller then hugged her waist, forming a barrier between her back and the backpack she had on. She rested her hands on his shoulders, whispering, "what are you doing? Humayd is watching." But he only hugged her tighter.
"Can we please stop being strangers? I miss the old you, isn't it cute how we just are right now?" His voice was so low, very very low that it sent frissons down Jasmine's body.
He pulled away, cupped her face and said "What changed you?" He asked and she gave him an unbelievable look.
"I lost my best friend Muslim. And I'm trying to get used to the change in my home, it's nothing much I'll come around." She said and gently removed his hands from her face.
"Me too." Humayd said, stretching his two tiny arms. Muslim crouched down and picked him up, he tickled him and the little boy laughed as he tried to wiggled out of Muslim's hold.
Keeping him down, he said, "let's go."
"I told you I can drive myself. I want to go survey my shops tomorrow on my way back that's why I need to be with my car." She pushed the stroller and Humayd followed suit.
"I'll come back and pick you up then, we'll stop by at your shops, is that fine?"
"Why are you being so insistent? If you want us to go out, I promise we'll do that tomorrow night. Now let me go." She yanked her arm from his loose hold.
