Hellooooo my Lovliesss. The most anticipated chapter has arrived! Yayy!

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"Final patient, baby number seven of twelve, is now breathing better." Alhaji let his eyes shut of their own Accord, he was the most tired person on the universe but he knew he couldn't sleep, there was so much to be done. He had to fly to Kano at the earliest possible time to meet up with eleven am Wedding Fatiha and he was yet to leave Lagos as at two thirty in the morning.

He took off the sterile cap he had on his head and blew out a breath ad he followed the senior consultant doctor out of the sterile room. They'd been at it for over thirty two hours and were now all tired.

Alhaji bent to take off the sterile cover on his personalized Crocs and threw them all into the biodegradable medical waste bin that was bear the door. He removed the face mask and entire blue gown he wore over his scrubs.

"Dr Bindawa, thank you so much for doing this with us, we're so very grateful." Alhaji dumped everything into the red hot bin that was set up to burn everything they came out of the sterile ICU with.

He leaned over a sterile aluminum tap outside the room and washed his hands and face thoroughly, rinsing them only after a minute. Then he shook hands with the consultant who they'd labored day and night together to get the children breathing again.

"You really didn't have to do this with us, but we're thankful you did. Those children will be alive because of your help, thank you, sir." Alhaji tiredly shook his head in direction of the doctor who had made the mistake that caused grievous respiratory harm to twelve babies under three weeks old.

"How on earth did you make such a mistake?" He asked the younger man, He looked at the name on the badge and narrowed his eyes.

"It was honestly a mistake, but more a error on the part of the hospital authorities as they didn't test the drugs before giving it to the children." The senior consultant was the one who answered for the resident doctor.

"Even though, didn't he check on his patients? What sort of bedside manners do you have such that you didn't even check? Children were literally dying and you'd have just lost your license over your own negligence and the wickedness of another person!" Alhaji's voice raised at the end, he remembered how disappointed Nadia and everyone had felt when they heard he would not be at the Kamu, all because of the irresponsible doctor that stood before him and the head of Henny Penn in Nigeria.

"I will never do that again, never ever again. I took an oath and I'll forever live by it, I promise sir." Alhaji jerked his lips wryly, whether the resident doctor did well or not, Henny Penn would definitely get their deserts and he was only just beginning with them.

"Can I have an electronic log of the patient notes? We'll need it for what we're about to do." Alhaji informed them as they approached the door that held off the parents of the little babies. The consultant assured Alhaji that everything was ready and they would proceed as planned the next day.

Alhaji watched with interest as the resident doctor unlocked the heavy glass doors with a key and pushed them open while Alhaji and the rest of the team went through, the parents swarmed on them almost immediately, asking if their children were well. One woman, a widow had been said to have collapsed several times because there was no news of the children's survival.

Alhaji leaned on a wall and listened as the senior paediatric consultant doctor calmed the fears of the parents, explained what had happened, and told the parents how much longer the medical team would take before they could take their children to get discharged.

He saw a man sleeping, then he squinted his eyes to see Elijah in his dark blue suit while hugging a laptop bag to himself. Alhaji let out a quiet chuckle, he pushed himself up and went to look at his assistant. Elijah had situated himself on a padded bench, his eyes were covered with a sleeping mask that shielded his eyes from the harsh fluorescent bulbs.

Alhaji watched him for a while more, all the more listening to the conversation between the parents and the doctors. His attention was drawn when the senior paediatric consultant told the parents that the hospital was going to be suing Henny Penn and that they should get ready for the litigation.

Alhaji moved closer and greeted the parents just as the senior paediatric consultant finished his speech. "My name is Pharmacist Dr. Abdullah Bindawa. You might be wondering, how does this concern a mere pharmacist," The team of doctors laughed at the tag alhaji gave himself.

"The drug that Henny Penn mass produced and gave to your children to cure a mere childhood bronchitis, was first created by me." Most of the parents listening intently drew in sharp breaths and they began to murmur. Alhaji raised his hands and tried to calm them down.

"The recipe was mine first, the chemical formula for the syrup was made by me, but I noticed that Henny Penn about a month ago, bribed a member of my laboratory staff to steal the recipe, I instead took out a few important ingredients and allowed them to steal the fake recipe, with hopes that their chemists would find out, they didn't." The parents that had pulled themselves ready to fight suddenly cooled down, Alhaji watched as one mother's face relaxed.

"They mass produced a cough syrup that had not been tested, that is their first offense, their second offense is they knowingly brought it here and handed it to the management of the hospital free of charge, hoping to have a headstart with contracts. So, we'll need you to join us in this legal battle, I will be responsible for the legal fees, you don't have to worry about money." Alhaji blinked as he finished and one of the parents piped up and said they were lawyers.

"Good, please take my assistant's phone number," Alhaji had seen Elijah slowly wake up so he directed the parents to give Elijah their contacts. He turned to the doctors and shook their hands, he tapped the resident doctor on the back and turned to sit in a corner.

A few minutes later, Elijah excitedly returned to him, chewing on a minty gum, Alhaji stretched out his hand and took one when Elijah offered it, chewing it to relieve him of his sleepiness as he had a lot to do, a lot of prayers to offer, work had piled up waiting for him and he had to solve the problem of the litigation team on whether they should take the case to the international court or a court in Henny Penn's country of origin, the United Kingdom.

When they reached the doors that slide open as they passed it, Alhaji spied his Lagos Driver, Salau, who was excitedly greeting even before Alhaji reached the car, Elijah opened the back door and Alhaji stepped into the warm leather seats.

"Salau, Assalamualaikum, how are you doing?" Salau laughed before he greeted his boss in return, then he happily congratulated him on this wedding.

"Congratulations sir, may Allah bless the union with many children and long life, sir. And thanks sir, for that time, you helped me clear the school fees of my children. May Allah give you more obedient, pious children."

Alhaji chortled quietly at Salau's prayers but he said his Ameens quite seriously, after the whole greeting had died down, he looked out of the window as they drove out of the hospital. He was not so keen on Children as it was, but if Allah willed it, who was he to refuse? It would be one of the greatest miracles to be a parent for the third time.

It was around four am when they finally pulled into the private wing of the Murtala Muhammed international airport. It was dark out but there were lights everywhere as people milled about in the luxurious lounge waiting for their private flights.

Alhaji took a seat and waited, refusing to take a sip of the coffee that a server had placed in front of him as he arrived, coffee would impede on his sleep and he needed to sleep some more before his wedding. He pulled out his phone and went to the several messages that plagued his messaging app, several hundred variations of congratulations that there was possible.

Alhaji looked at the phone in his hand to ascertain if it was really his private phone, it was and it looked like it was no longer private. Alhaji picked a few that belonged to his friends and responded to them, searched for Maymunatu's message and scrolled through the pictures she sent him from the Kamu ceremony.

Elijah returned just as Alhaji was looking at the fifth picture of Maymunatu and his mother. He out away his phone and walked with Elijah to the boarding gate, he was told that the airplane was a little far away but the airport had provided transport to the plane so he sat in the back of a warm Maybach that shielded him from the frigid temperature.

Once they reached inside the plane, Alhaji's eyes caught the screen of the flight direction and saw it was going directly to Kano. He turned to Elijah with surprise in his eyes, Elijah stored hand luggages in the overhead bins, behaving as though he didn't see his boss.

"Elijah, are you not going home?" Elijah set the laptop back he was carrying on the table, pulled out the charger before shaking his head.

"Sir no oo, my wife is with my mother-in-law and will be till Sunday, I can't miss your wedding o." Alhaji smiled at the younger man, gratitude filling his heart at Elijah's devotion and hardwork.

"Thank you so much, you've been sleeping so badly these past few days on those benches, thank you for not getting tired." Elijah smiled and Said nothing, only sitting to buckle up.

*********

Alhaji got into the house at around six am, he had stopped to pray Subh at a mosque at the beginning of the street before driving into the house with the driver. Elijah had gone to sleep in an apartment meant for the house staff and was kept clean for use.

Alhaji sneaked in through the back door as he had met his uncles at the mosque, they didn't see him as he stealthily left. He didn't have the strength to talk to any of them so early, he needed to sleep to be alert.

He woke up to the sound of his door opening and he raised his head to see his mother come into the room, he was carrying a cup of what smelled like pineapple tea. Alhaji sat up and greeted his mother, hurriedly taking the cup from her.

"I thought you should sleep some more but you can sleep all you want once the bride has been conveyed, right now you need to shower, your uncles want to speak to you." Alhaji nodded and took a sip of the strong tea that woke him further. He rubbed his head with his warm hand and asked of Maymunatu.

"She's getting dressed, I've not seen a daughter as excited as that one. She says she's going with us to Katsina this morning though." Alhaji squeezed his eyes shut and groaned in surprise.

"Why? I thought you were conveying her here, then we'll move to Abuja on tomorrow morning. Wasn't that the plan?" Alhaji observed his mother as she looked away, making sure not to look at him.

"She has ordered you again right? And you listened? I will not take Nadia there, not on my watch. Why don't you ever fight for me? It's not as though she can kill you for saying you won't bring your own daughter in-law to Chiroma, but here we are, about to stress my new wife with a drive to Katsina, for my stepmother to see her!" Alhaji took a deep breath and set the saucer on the bedside drawer table, he didn't want to say anything more as it would be disrespectful.

"I-" He watched as his mother shut her eyes and opened them, "I wanted to make sure she doesn't start out her marriage fighting with them. They are out for everything you have, Muhammad thinks you took what belongs to him and as such owe him. I didn't want you to start your married life with trouble from inlaws."

Alhaji slowly climbed out of his bed, exhausted by the entire situation and went to his mother's side. He pulled her to himself and kisses the top of her embroidered cotton scarf covered head.

"This is the last time we're doing anything like this. You deserve all of this, you deserve for your daughter in law to be brought to you first, and that is what is going to happen." Alhaji watched as his tough mother blubber her worries in front of him, he raised a brow for her to know that she raised a man who could stand his own.

"Alright." He watched as she slowly left the room. The wedding wasn't until eleven am and the conveyance wouldn't be until about two pm, he really wanted to see who would fight his mother, he would take off his groom clothes and fight them in return.

From afar, his own family looked quite the happy one, with him funding his brother's 'entrepreneurial adventures' but from inside, it was the most dysfunctional anyone could have. With his crazy stepmother who assumed the role of a wicked father once his father passed on, to his elder brother becoming a pain in his behind that he had to sort every few months.

He didn't mind though, what he minded was how his step mother lorded the authority she didn't have over his mother. He would take this time to put a seal of caution on everyone. If anyone made live miserable for Nadia, he would not hesitate to do the same for them.

He opened the closet and saw this Babban Riga steamed and ironed, hanging from the higher handle of a wardrobe, he pulled it, and then turned around to take his shower.

About an hour later he stepped into the living room where all his friends were waiting, someone greeted him and he thankfully returned the greeting, going round till he greeted the rest of his ten friends that had been invited.

"Look at you waltzing down the stairs at ten am, you're not even ashamed. Where have you been all this while?" Alhaji shut his eyes, his hands still in the hands of his friend, Mustapha.

"I had work." He responded to his uncle who was visibly furious. He walked over to where they were seated, all four of his paternal and maternal uncles that attended the wedding. He greeted the one that was close to him in age gaily, then squatted to greet the rest respectfully.

"Is this how you want to do this marriage again? The last time,if my memory serves me well, your wife told us you never came home, you were always talking about experiments, don't go and pursue this one with your workaholic behavior. Rule your home fairly and with the rules of Allah. May Allah bless your union." Alhaji who was still squatting, regretted putting on his bespoke leather shoes.

"Yes sir, thank you. Ameen." They waved him off and he went to his friends, laughing at a joke that his friend of ten years, Alhaji Abba Bakura had made.

At the mosque, Alhaji watched as everyone who came with him slapped his back with excitement, then they settled down for the cleric to begin.

Alhaji took out his phone and copied the message he had written while he was on the plane to Kano for Nadia. He wanted to assure her that as long he was in his right senses and with the grace of his Lord, he would never cause her to regret the union.

The cleric talked about how he had to be fair to Nadia, about how he needed to anticipate her needs, poking on Alhaji's sore spot of his age, the cleric warned him to never use his age as deciding factor for anything. He was no longer just Abdullah, there was someone else he had to factor into all of his decisions.

A few minutes later, Alhaji rubbed his face as they pronounced them husband and wife. Someone outside the mosque shouted, "An daura auren Abdullah Bindawa da Nadia Muhammad Shinkafi." jolting Alhaji from the reverie he was in.