Love's Pain - Part 2

“Lolu” I knew he was sleeping but I was hoping I could wake him up before my favorite ice-cream place closed. “Lolu” I repeated while pushing him a little harder.

“Hmm” he says while rubbing his eyes as if to rub the sleep away. “Are you ok?”

“Ololufe mi, my love.”

“Ahh... oya what do you want?” he said just like the man I married who knew me well enough to know that I wanted something.


We had gone out all day this particular Saturday hence why we were in bed a lot earlier than normal. The day started with an 8am prayer at his aunt’s house, then my little nephew’s 4th birthday at Chuck E Cheese, then a birthday dinner as Mastros Steakhouse for one of our mutual friends. When we got home at 8: 30pm after a long day, sleep was the only thing calling our name. Why I was awake an hour later seriously craving ice-cream is beyond me but my loving husband always does what I want.

“Babe I want coconut ice-cream from cold stone, please please, before you say no, remember that it’s your child that is giving me all these cravings oh.”

“Joju, you are spoiled and it’s my fault.” He says right before he closes his eyes again.

“Ahh spoiled ke? I thought this was how all husbands treated their wives now.” I said and chuckled. “Oya please, we can go together but I am too tired to drive.” I started to get up from the bed so I could put on something more appropriate.

“I want to sleep jo, we can get ice-cream tomorrow.” he said matter of fact and covered his head with the yellow comforters it took him a while to adjust to in the first place.

“Please now, I won’t be able to sleep.” I was changed and waiting with my hands on my hips like I could do anything if he absolutely refused.

“Ok, I’ll go put on my boots and jacket.” I say to him in hope of getting him to get up from the bed. As I exit the bedroom to go and look for my jacket, I was sure it was lying somewhere on the floor between the front door and the bedroom. I walk back to the bedroom and Lolu is still sleeping so I decided to just drive myself to cold stone. I didn’t want to disturb him further, he had driven so much today while I had just relaxed in the car the entire day. Even though it was snowing, I didn’t think it would be that bad and it’s not like I didn’t know how to drive so I was good.

I get behind Lolu’s pride and joy, after been married to him for just a year; his new Range rover was the only thing that came in close comparison to our love. He loved his car too much and I even got jealous sometimes when he started to talk about washing and servicing it. I pulled out of the garage and headed towards cold stone and suddenly felt the car get stiff while trying to adjust to the snow that had covered the floor beneath it. I just hope that they were still opened after all the trouble I’d gone through this night.

The five minutes’ drive took about 12 minutes because I had to be extra careful since the ground was really slippery. I finally made there with just a minute to spare, got my coconut ice-cream and quickly got back in the car to head home. I hadn’t even gotten through the door when I heard Lolu running through the hallway screaming my name.

“Joju what the hell, are you crazy or just trying to kill yourself and my child?” he screams.

I thought he was just being funny so I started laughing “When I told you I was craving ice-cream nko?”

“Do you think this is funny? Like are you kidding me? You’ve really disappointed me.”

I am standing there staring at him in awe like he just did something shocking but shocking this scenario was because I had never seen him flip out like this. My ice-cream was even beginning to melt with every minute it sat in its cup without being devoured by me.

“Babe, what is the big deal though?” I say trying to get him talk so I can determine what the real problem was.

He just turned around, shook him head and went back to the room. I thought I was the pregnant one in this relationship so why is he being hormonal? I sat at the kitchen counter and ate my ice-cream joyfully hoping that by the time I got to the room, he would be asleep. I don’t know what he was going on about in the first place so it’ll be better if we just slept it off. I walked into the room as quiet as possible and saw my phone blinking on the chaise lounge chair in the corner. I picked it up and saw 13 missed calls from my husband, now I knew why he was upset.

When I think about this day and other days I had upset him, I am very scared to tell him Tunmise is not his daughter.

“Babe how did you presentation go? Did you get the client?” Lolu broke into my thoughts before I remembered I was sitting at the dinner table on a very hot summer day.

“Yea mummy, you know if you got the client you owe me $50 for helping you set up your documents” my oldest son Fola reminded me. I am not even sure how an 11 year old was able to use all these power points features better than I could.

“It went well jare” I said before I looked at Fola and said “the client has to pay first before I can give you the $50 so calm down.”

“Stop harassing your mother, go and call my baby so she can come tell me about her day at school” he said.

We were all gathered around the table waiting for the baked chicken in the oven to be ready but Tunmise and her encyclopedia reading self was such an introvert that she preferred to always stay by herself and read instead. Every time he refers to her as my daughter, a little piece of my heart broke but then I remember what the consequences would be if I told him and then broken piece of my heart finds its way back.

Fola came back without her and quickly added “she’s not in her room mum, she might be riding her bike outside so I’ll check.”
I was so tired, it was Friday and it meant I could sleep in tomorrow since there are no soccer practices or anything planned for tomorrow. Before I could even gather all my thoughts concerning my to do list for the next day I heard Fola scream, “Mummy, come now, its Tumise.”