Chapter 29

Unedited

"Who told you it wasn't enough"

"Hannah just gave your food to Adetoun right in our presence" 

"I told her to do discreetly" 

"Cause she wears invisible cloak!" He snapped and she laughed, "Why are you getting angry now?" 

"I'll eat something else, you can take my food" 

"No" she shook her head, "It's the price you pay for cooking the food, sometimes Mom cooks and doesn't even eat when unexpected visitors come so... Even we the children don't eat so... I can sit this one out" 

"What if I share my food with you?"

Dara folded her hands, "That will only make me look pathetic"

Pamilerin walked in removing a plate from the dish drainer rack , "Aunty Dara?" He called out and she flashed a smile at him, "Hey dear, what's up?"

"Let's go, the food will get cold" "Um.... That's what I'm discussing with your dad because it's complicated"  she gesticulated with her hands and he held her by the hands, "I'll share my food with you"

"What? Was it that obvious. Now I'm ashamed" "I've swallowed my spit more times than I can count. Let's go before Ade comes in with Kelvin" he dragged her out and Mimi flashed a smile at Adetoun then she whispered to her. 

"I think we've just found a Mom for our babies" she pulled back now facing Dara.

"You didn't have to do that" Mimi said and Dara shut her eyes in shame.  "It's nothing, now I'm embarrassed" she covered her face and Funsho laughed returning back to his seat.
 

Pamilerin poured his rice into her plate while the others followed suit. 

"Can we now eat in peace?"  Mimi asked exhaling, "Let's pray first" Dara clasped her hands together.

Chief's driver alighted at the police station and he got walking into it. After exchanging pleasantries with some of the men there, he requested to know of Derin was around. 

"She didn't come back after she left yesterday" one of them answered then he requested to speak to the Boss. 

"(Mo dupe wipe ọ jẹ ipe mi botileje nkọ tete ranṣẹ sí ọI'll have to thank you for seeing me on such a short notice)" Chief began sounding as modest as possible. "É mase ìyọnu, kò sí wahala. Ki lo gbe é débi? (Don't bother Sir, there's no problem. What brought you here?)" 

"Derin. I requested for something and yesterday it appeared as though she had a breakthrough to who is siphoning money from the company, she called me to tell me she was on her way and since then. I haven't heard from her"

"Are you saying.... But Chief we haven't checked her house" 

"Is that not where I'm coming from? She's not there. Why will her number be switched off?"

"You have a point Sir. We shall try our possible best to see to it that we find her" "Eh," Chief pulled his ears, "Don't do me mago mago oh, one minute I'll be out of here and you guys will push the whole case under the rug" he warned and the DPO laughed. 

"No Sir, you are not just anybody Sir. We'll take it up as soon as possible"

"Have you spoken to your cousin yet?" Dara asked Shade after doing the dishes, "I don't feel like" "You should give it a try" she patted her on the back then Shade made way into her room letting out a loud sigh then she put a call through to Winny. 

"Hello" she picked up and Shade rolled her eyes. "I'm still angry at you, I'm just being a caring cousin" "Who should be angry with who? You slapped me! You know that I always say stupid things most times, yet you slapped me" she cried.

"Sometimes your brain needs reset" 

"Mom slapped me too and you slapped me, how many slaps do I deserve?"

"Of a hundred slap can make you humble Winny, I'll recommend" "Shade!" Winny's whined and she laughed. "I'm serious, you're rude, why will you say such a thing about my Dad, your uncle"

"I say stupid things all the time!" 

"I say stupid things all the time!" Shade mimicked, "Where are you?" "I don't even know, I left the house"  "Ask your driver!" 

"I didn't go with the driver. I snuck out, Dad had abortion plans for me today and I wasn't so sure of it so I left. The man has left me a hundred missed calls. I don't know what to do?" 

"Where can I meet you?" 

While Dara and Funsho  played with the kids in their playroom, Adetoun and Mimi called him out. "I never saw you to be a wimp" "Why?" "You like a girl for real and you dare to call her just a friend? Seriously Funsho" she added. 

"What Mimi is trying to say is that.... What have you been waiting for? How long have you known her?" 

"Almost a year, this year's Easter will make it a year" 

"And you've been what? Watching a good woman slip from afar?" 

"I was undergoing treatment okay? I couldn't bring her into such a life even though I was in love with her?" 

"What about now? Funsho you're better than you were. She's the perfect person to be a Mom to our children. They love her and they don't even play or talk with me the way they do with her. I'm jealous but I'm relaxed, you know why? Cause I know whenever I leave, they'll be in safe hands"

"Exactly" Mimi agreed, "She's better than that bitch Cecee"  "Way better" Adetoun agreed, "I already told you, if you end up getting married to OmoToyosi or CeCee, I'll take my kids away"

"It's Dara or no other"

"Dara or no other" 

Funsho chuckled, "CeCee's old news. I haven't even heard from Toyo in a while,  I love Dara, she's the only woman I want to be with" "Better then" Mimi rubbed his cheeks, "Why haven't you shoot your shot then?" "She was engaged until Thursday night" 

"You had better shoot your shot, a girl is most vulnerable when she's heartbroken, dude, use this opportunity well" 

"I can't do that" 

"Shut up!" Mimi and Adetoun yelled. "What's he saying sef? Remember, it's Dara or no one!"

"So what do you Ladies want me to do?" 

"Shoot your shot!" They both yelled and he groaned in exasperation. Then his phone rang, he brought out his phone from his pocket while walking towards the playroom then he answered the call.  "Hello Thomas" "Is Winny there?" "Is she supposed to be here?" 

"No. She's not at the house and I've been trying to get to her. She's not picking up her calls either" "Maybe she's just being emotional because of the pregnancy" 

"Today we're supposed to get rid of it"

"Don't even think of it Thomas" 

"She's a secondary school girl for crying out loud. I have University plans for her" "Being pregnant is not going to stop it" 

"It will delay it! Funsho you don't understand, maybe when Shade gets pregnant, you will" 

"Hey! Slow down, have you asked her what she wants?" 

"What does Winny know?" 

"So you're just going to help her make that choice? Are you going to as well help her take out your own grandchild from her womb? Come on Thomas!" "I'll ask Shade then, maybe she'll have a better idea where she is" he replied ending the call.

Funsho scoffed then he returned back to the playroom with a funny look on his face and Dara chuckled. "Are you in trouble?" She asked and he shook his head, "The coercive ability of women" he scoffed taking his seat. 

"Aunty Dara, as I was saying jhoor. The mother of the boy came to sue the teacher for pinching her son" Ade explained and Kelvin laughed. "Is that one beating? Do you know how they always beat someone, come to my school and see" 

"Daddy always beat us oh, he has koboko in his room" Ade laughed and Dara raised a brow at Funsho. "He's not joking, when you're a single father raising two boys, you need extra hands" 

"Extra koboko"  Ade replied and everyone laughed. Suddenly a foul smell filled the room and Funsho turned his head at Ade. "Who farted?" He asked now staring at Pamilerin. 

"I thought it was even my nose" Dara replied, "I didn't do it" Pamilerin answered raising his hands, "It's not me oh" Kelvin answered and Sewa laughed clapping her hands. 

"Maybe it's Sewa's poo" Dara tugged at her diapers then she pulled her nose close, "Sewa said she's not the one" 

"Someone better confess before I bring out my Koboko" 

"Maybe I'm the one" Dara answered and Funsho gazed at her, "I was just joking! I have self respect. Why don't we do this the old-school way?" Dara rubbed her palm against each other. 
"Who mess," she pointed at Kelvin and Pamilerin"  "Tolotolo mess, teacher say na tolo, tolo say na teacher, na you jaga jaga na you mess" she pointed at Funsho and he laughed. "See! Daddy you're the one!" Ade climbed on Funsho. 

"It's Ade!" Pamilerin jumped on the bed pulling his leg, "Let's smell his bumbum" 

"I'm one step ahead" Funsho pressed his nose on his buttocks while Ade laughed till the point of weakness. "I'm not the one jare! It's Kelvin"

"Don't even call my name oh, messy messy! Look at how he's laughing" 

Adetoun and Mimi walked in. "Hello children, why don't we all leave the house for a bit and maybe get ice cream? And get some for Aunty Dara too?" "We're still talking to Aunty Dara" Ade answered and Pamilerin pinched him. 

"Let's go" He whispered and they all left the room while Hannah carried Sewa away. 

"Mommy why do you guys want us to leave Daddy and Aunty Dara alone?" "Because they're affiliated duh?" Pamilerin answered. "What's affiliated?" 

"Like each other"

Ade shook his head, "You could have just that." "We just want them to talk adult talk" "What do adults talk about?" He asked then he laughed to himself. 

"They don't talk right? They kiss" he answered making kissy noises, Adetoun gasped and Mimi laughed. "Boys will always be boys!" 

Kelvin shoved him with his shoulder, "It's only kiss that you know, messy messy" he teased and Ade laughed. "I wasn't the one jhoor" 

"Why didn't you show up yesterday at the gym?"

"You already know why? How did you find out about me and Efe"

"I met your sister at the therapy clinic yesterday and she told me" "That big mouth!" Dara scoffed then she chuckled, "So you told the kids, why?" 

"I didn'r want them to stress you. I wanted them to fill in the gap for me, when I can't make you laugh, at least, they'll there. I just didn't expect them to say it in front of you" he slapped his forehead and she laughed. 

"It's okay. I really don't regret coming. It's been great, at least we're alone and..... I'm free to ask my question. Back to my question" 

Funsho laughed, "What was the question again?" "You said you had Pamilerin and co intentionally, how is it possible when you're not married to the parents?" 

"I paid" 

"What? Paid?" 

"I've always wanted children, a very large family. I knew I couldn't bring myself down to stay with a woman before of my.. ... so I paid to have Pamilerin and Ade. I felt like I needed another child, a girl this time so I paid to have my beautiful girl, sewa" 

"Was that why you're divorced?" 

"Nope. Toyo and I had irreconcilable differences" he replied, "Since I'm letting it all out, I want to clear your doubts. We.... Shade wasn't in the plan, Toyosi didn't want children. She tried aborting it but I stopped her." He stopped, "And......?" 

"I really don't want to paint Toyo black. I still haven't told Shade, it'll break her heart. She has this image of her mother... She doesn't know...... Toyo got pregnant again after Shade. This time she aborted it, so I filed for divorce. What's the essence of being married when my wife doesn't want kids?" Fusho scoffed, "I did things I wasn't proud of that year, I drank, I won't deny that I'm attractive and I usually get advances from the ladies. With Toyo out of the way, it became something else and I loved it. I'll have to admit that I did.  I went into overdrive and I couldn't come out of it, as much as my subconscious wanted to start something serious, I couldn't bring myself to doing it cause I'll only hurt the lady so I decided to pay to have kids. I paid Adetoun then i paid Mirabel. I knew I had a problem and I tried helping myself, I was receiving advances that I couldn't resist, sex became a drive I couldn't satisfy. Among the psychologist was Cecee" he paused then he chuckled faintly.

"She didn't think I needed help, she thought I was okay the way I was. It was good with her, we......" He stalled and she held his hands, "It's okay" 

"It was..... We had it everywhere, wherever you can think of, for a moment of euphoria, I was like, where has she been all my life? For the first time I didn't do multiple women, it was just her. I thought I had fallen in love"

"Why didn't you have kids with her?" 

"She was just like Toyo, she didn't want to ruin her shape. It wasn't until Easter day i realized, there was nothing loving about what was happening. I was still chained, still bounded, I felt guilty and....." 

"You repented?" 

"I did"

"Because of the reason for Easter? Or the sermon?" 

"For a whole of reasons, because for you" he confessed and she wondered why, "When you sang that day. Something changed in me, I wanted to be a different person, a different man so I took therapy again" 

Dara placed her hand on her chest. "I can't believe I won a soul and I just got to find out this year." She commented and he chuckled, "What if I still feel like filth?"  "Don't" she moved closer  to him, "Don't feel less, don't ever feel less! You're not Filth, that day you gave your life to Christ? God took the filth away. Funsho it's going to be alright, all these things, will pass away."

"Thank you" 

"You're welcome" she replied taking her hands off but he wished it could remain there. "How did you meet Adetoun and Mimi? Was it a random selection something or ...." 

Funsho laughed,  "Adetoun was my friend, a close friend, those times were the wild days. She agreed to the terms but she's pregnant and getting married and doesn't even know how to begin to tell the children." "Cause they'll definitely bombard her with questions"  "Yes. I met Mirabel at the gym, one of the craziest person I've ever met. She walked into my office one day and told me she wanted sex, she doesn't really need marriage and I told her I wanted a baby girl and I was willing to pay for it" 

Dara laughed, "Seriously?" "Yes." "Did she agree?" "No way! She left, then she showed up two months later and accepted the deal. We ran all test and poof, Sewa came forth" Funsho chuckled, "I'm not proud of the fact that my babies are going to end up having siblings from other fathers. It was my love for children, or maybe I should have waited"

"Then I wouldn't have met Shade, Pamilerin, Ade and my sweet sweet Sewa. She's so beautiful and now I know where she got it from." "From me shey?" Funsho asked and she poked his nose, "Who dash you fine?"  She asked and they both laughed then she lets out a long sigh.

"Thank God I came here"

"I'm sorry about what happened to you" he apologized and Dara shrugged, "I returned the ring yesterday and I .....Bad things usually happen to me, I guess I'm used to it. Story of my life"

"Don't say so" 

"I'm serious Funsho, I have never had one successful relationship, they always want sex, or they feel like I'm not too good for them or I'm too holy for them, or I'm not too pretty"

"Dara you're the prettiest woman I've ever met" Funsho confessed and Dara scoffed in disbelief. "That's a lie, you just said prettiest instead of one of the prettiest. Mimi and Adetoun are much more prettier, and they have curves too" 

"Who cares about that?"

"Men do! All men do! Whether you guys like it or not, it's the curves that matters, the curves attracts you not the intellect or spoken words" her eyes became cloudy and Funsho kept on shaking his head. "It's always the big boobs or the big buttocks and the figure eight. Well newsflash, I don't have it so they can all drown in the Pacific ocean!" She cried.

"Well they can all drown cause I don't need it" 

"That's a lie, all men wants the curves"

"I don't! I fell in love with you the first day I swear you. You were wearing the ugliest looking robe ever and my heart raced for you, even after you took off the robe and I saw your real shape. Guess what Dara, you weren't curvy but you took my every breath away" 

"What?" Dara asked and he scoffed, "There goes my confession, my hidden secret. Apart from Jesus Christ, you're the other person who made me repent of my old ways"

"How?" 

"I don't know, the bad boy in me wanted to approach you after service that day but I felt dirty all of the sudden. Like I shouldn't taint you with my filth. That was how I felt that was why I went for therapy, maybe..... Just maybe, when I get better I can be good enough for you." he continued then he laughed to himself. 

"Then we started meeting through coincidence and my feelings grew. I know this is all too much to take so I'm going to let you take it all in" 

"How is it possible? I'm not even as pretty as the four women in your life" 

"You're not Dara," he nudged her chin up, "You're prettier, in soul and spirit, you're just amazing, the nicest woman I've ever met, when men see you and don't see curves, I see curves in all the right places" 

"The first day at the gym, you said there was no point working out"

"There was no point because you're perfect the way you are, you were just putting yourself through unnecessary stress. That was what I meant, I know it sounded rude, maybe I was seeking your attention" he confessed biting his bottom lip, then he leaned his face close to hers for a kiss then he paused as though waiting for some permission or rejection from her.

Dara sat still holding his gaze and as his mouth closed the gap between them so also did she part her lips welcoming the kiss. 

Surprisingly for her, she found herself kissing him back with just as much enthusiasm. Funsho wrapped his hands across her waist and she squivered at his touch. 

"Please stop" she pulled back, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for this.... I don't even know how it happened."

Funsho stood up  now feeling guilty, "I'm sorry" he apologized, "I am too but i have to go" "What about Kelvin?" "I guess I'll come later" "Dara you don't have to go. I promise not to do anything stupid" 

"I'm sorry. You're right, this is all too much for me"

"I'll have Okon, drop Kelvin off" 

"Thank you!" She answered leaving and Funsho sat in bed feeling guilty about what had just happened.

"This is just great! If this is what I get for shooting my shot, I shouldn't have shot anything! Shit!" He rubbed his forehead in regrets despite the joy that consumed him  from kissing her lips. 

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