"Do you want us to keep the baby?" Chike asked after her tears had finally stopped. It was hours after Kachi and Aria left and the sun had even set.
"Yes, I'm keeping the baby."
"It's us and we, Ada. We made this baby together."
"I know that, but it's not like you have a say what I do with my body. If I choose to remove the baby, it would be my choice." She sat up, pulling away from him and Chike felt like someone was kicking him in his nuts.
"What are you saying? Why won't my opinion matter? It's as much mine as it's yours."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm not thinking straight. I don't know what I'm saying right now." She stood up and began to pace. "I've been drinking wine and even vodka all these while. What if I've harmed the baby?"
"You haven't. A little alcohol won't harm him. How far along are you?"
"Him? What if it's a her?" She eyed him. "The lab technician said it might be around three weeks since my period isn't supposed to come for another few days, but I have to go to a hospital to check."
"A her is also wonderful. Ada, can you sit? Let's talk."
"I'm starving," she said in reply but sat down beside him, leaving a few inches of space. Chike immediately recovered that space by pulling her into his lap. Their relationship had been going very well, he wouldn't let a new development put any wedge between them.
"I'll order food, what do you want to eat?"
"Pepper soup." She stood up again and stretched, then let out a loud yawn. He quickly placed the order for the food, satisfied when they said it would arrive in an hour. That should give them a lot of time to talk.
"Can you come sit? There's a lot to talk about."
"What's there to talk about? I'm keeping the baby and you can be here for every step of the way, you know I won't keep him or her from you."
"I want us to do this together, the proper way. Let's get married."
Ada stared at him for a few seconds before her shoulders started to shake. He thought she was crying until she bent over and began to laugh. Chike watched her for a solid two minutes until her laugh subsided.
"What?" She eyed him. "Why are you not laughing? You're supposed to laugh when you tell a joke."
"Ada I'm not joking."
"No, you have to be."
"I'm very serious about this, let's get married. This baby deserves to have a complete family."
"No. I don't want to get married because I'm having a baby. I know you're a responsible man, but I don't want this."
"Why not? We're already together, so a marriage would have happened sooner or later."
"I want a proposal based on love, not because you're trying to do the honorable thing."
"But I love you!" Chike exploded, getting out of the chair. "I love you and you know that," he added in a more quiet tone after Ada glared at him.
"Yes, I love you too, you're my best friend after all. I've always loved you."
"Ada, that's not what I meant. I love you as a woman. I've always known I'd marry you. You've always been the one for me."
"No, this is just your misplaced sense of duty speaking, you don't really love me like that. If you did, you would have said something since."
Chike wished he could shake some sense into her, instead he settled for placing his hands on her shoulders. "I know I'm a writer and I'm supposed to be good with words, but what I feel for you? It's too much and I've never had the words to express them to you. Love? That is an understatement to what you mean to me. You're my entire life and without you in it, I'd be done!"
"What?" She stared at him, dumbfounded.
"When I'm not around you, I feel like I'm suffocating and when you are with me, I can't breathe because what I feel for you is too much. How do I express that? Saying I love you is a dull imitation of what I feel for you. I'm completely smitten and utterly besotted with you, and I'll go beserk if I lose you."
"What is happening right now? Do you mean everything you're saying?" Ada began to sob, her shoulders drooping.
"I love you Ada, I really do. And if you even like me one bit, you'll put me out of my misery and say yes to my proposal."
"Oh God, yes. I've dreamed of this since I was a girl." She threw her hands around him, her sobs becoming louder as she squeezed him in the tightest hug.
"Is that a yes? You'll marry me."
"Yes, yes."
He pulled her arms from around him and grabbed her face. "Thank you so much." He wiped her tears away then placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Ada didn't seem to get the memo because she instantly deepened the kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth. Her fingers grabbed at the front of his shorts and Chike had to physically pry her off of him.
"Why are you stopping me? Don't you want this?" She tried to kiss him again but he shifted his face causing her to send him one of her infamous glares. "What?"
"It's killing me to say no, but I have to say it. There's something I want to give you first."
"Give me later, right now, what I want is your cock inside me."
"This your mouth." He grinned, pecking her on said mouth. "Just sit down, I'll be back soon."
***
Ada waited for exactly five minutes before Chike returned from his house. Her head was spinning with everything that was going on so she didn't bother getting up from her comfortable sprawl on the couch. He grinned at her as he shut the living room door, then slowly made his way inside. One of his hands was held behind him and she frowned.
"What's that?" She sat up, curiosity getting the best of her.
Ada thought she wouldn't have any more tears after the ones she'd shed with Aria at the parking lot of the lab and all the other times that had followed, but when Chike got on one knee in front of her and provided the most beautiful diamond ring, she burst into tears. Not pretty sobs, no. She cried so hard that her throat began to burn and still the tears kept coming.
"Baby, my knee hurts." Chike grinned at her, his eyes filled with so much light.
She stretched out her left hand and watched him slide the ring onto her fourth finger. "It's so beautiful Chike. When did you even get this?"
"It was the first thing I bought after we returned from Anambra. We were finally taking the relationship seriously so I went out that night and got it. I've just not found the right time to pop the question."
"You sly man." She slapped his chest painfully. "You're already using your unborn baby against me. He or she gave you the perfect opportunity." Ada held the ring up towards the light so she could better inspect it. "Fancy, I love it."
"Only the best for future Mrs. Umeh."
Ada sniffed, pulling him to her for another tight hug.
"Oya stop crying nau." Chike sat beside her on the couch as she held the ring finger up and continued to stare at it.
"They're happy tears."
"Now, who's going to tell your mother?"
"You got me pregnant, you tell her."
"Your mother is going to kill me." Chike groaned.
"That one is small, imagine what Chukwudeh would do to you."
"Oh God!"
"And then my father." She laughed.
"Maybe this was a bad idea. Let's just marry and then tell them after."
"That's even worse. Don't worry, they won't hurt you too much. After all, my baby needs her father."
"How soon should we get married? Should we do it next week?"
"We're getting married after the baby is born. I want to be able to get shit drunk on my bridal shower day. I can't drink with the baby." Ada laughed at the horrified expression on Chike's face.
"An entire nine months?"
"More than that. I have to be healed from the birthing because I want lots of sex during my honeymoon. So let's get married in a year. Let's get married on this exact date, next year."
"June twenty second?"
"Yes."
"Deal." And Chike sealed the deal in his usual fashion, with a kiss.
THE END
And it's a wrap for this couple. Their love was so sweet ehn, no too much complication. My main Author's note will be up after this. In the meantime, comment massively. If you've not been dropping comments since you started reading, please drop one now biko.
T for thanks ❤️