Bed of Roses (Episode 9 - Episode Finale)

Actual Present Day

"Honey, hurryyyy. We'll be late..." He checked his watch for the third time. 'Women would always be women', he said to himself as he thought of how long ago his wife had begun dressing up and she was still not fully dressed.

"I'm coming... One more minute, I promise" She stepped out of the room and responded loudly enough for him to hear her down the stairs.

He took the remote and began searching through the channels for anything that would distract him from checking the time. Nothing seemed interesting enough to watch.

She used her lips to hold the bobby pins while parting and twisting her hair into a desired style before holding the twists at different angles with the bobby pins. She heard him ascend the stairs and tried to hurry her hair styling to no avail. She rushed to the closet, picked a white purse and a white sandal to match and then hurried out to meet her time-conscious husband standing at the door with an obviously exhausted face.

"I'm sorry hon... I'm done now..." She tried her puppy-eyes stunt and hoped it would work on him.

"Should we cancel, call them to say we can't make it again?" He eventually said after standing for a few minutes. He was actually tired and he could use the day-off should she agree to make that call.

"Haba. Cancel ke? I'm ready." She pushed him gently away from the door, told him to go start the car while she tried to shut the doors and windows.

"2 minutes and I won't go anywhere again..." He said as he began making his way down the stairs.

"Muaahhhh... Love you too" she said playfully as she rushed back him to take her perfume.

"Adesewa,  you sef" she laughed at herself as she eventually descended the stairs with tons of things in her hands, including her purse, sandal, perfume and a small makeup purse.  She rushed into the vehicle and off they went.

They made a few stops at Maryland to pick some edibles they had ordered. Kunle did not wait for Sewa's psychedelic move of calling the caterer once they arrived at the pick-up address. He hurried out of the car, and assisted with the many trays and jars to be placed inside the car. They said their thank-yous before making their way to the next pick-up point.

"Olori to the dazzle..." She shouted at the top of their voice once she sighted them in the black Lexus RX350 that parked beside her.

Sewa jumped out of the car to give her a big hug.

"You don't look bad either..." she admired her pretty pink dress for a while before sighting.
Kunle laughed on as he watched the ladies play catch up for a few minutes before hooting to remind them that the event was not happening on the road. He raised his hand to show his left wrist and tapped his wristwatch. The ladies got the message and ran into the car.

"But this ride na dieeee" She pressed the leather seats with her hands, looked around the car and said into Sewa's ears. Sewa laughed out loud and repeated what she said to her husband.

"Thanks ma'am." Kunle said politely with a smile on his face.

"Chai. Tush Mr. Smith of all time. It's good to see you guys again. It's been what? 7 months... " she began a new conversation.

Sewa soon joined the conversation, while she completed her makeup and 'hair arrangement'. Kunle had a good time laughing and teasing the ladies on the length of time it takes them to get ready. The laughter-filled conversation continued till they arrived at their destination.

***
"Yes, make a right turn, first house by your left... Black gate... Exactly..." He paused to pick the TV remote and began tuning to a sports channel.

"No, not all..." He laughed a little.

"Okay. See you soon." Once the caller ended the call, he resumed his former position - quiet conversations with the guests in his sitting room that comprised of his work colleagues, her friends, and a few people from church.

"It's almost time..." He laughed but tried not to laugh out loud.

****

"Goooaaalllllllll... Yes! Yes!"

She shifted in bed. It was the second time in less than a minute that the noise from the sitting room would disturb her sleep. It was gradually becoming a habit of her husband and his friends to watch the game in their house. She had no right to complain anyway, she wouldn't have it any other way. She was grateful that he was home more often since she got pregnant!

"Pregnant!" It struck her.
She tried to feel the other side of the bed with her right hand while she used her left her hand to feel her tummy.
She jumped up immediately, looked around her for a moment and then shifted her gaze to the bedside table to search for her wristwatch. She covered her mouth with her hands once she saw the time was 11.55am. She hurried out of bed and searched for her diary. She was about browsing through the diary when she heard the door open slightly. She paused and looked intently at the door in fear. She felt a drop of sweat trickle down her chest. It was only then she realised she had been sweating.

She picked her pillow subconsciously and embraced it, while she fixed her gaze on the door in preparation for whoever was at the door. The noise that woke her up suddenly seemed to have faded, no discussions, no voices, just someone trying to open the door of her bedroom. She waited a few seconds without anyone entering the room. She soon got tired of staring and went back to her diary. She hurried through the events of the previous days as she wiped away sweat from her forehead.

They tiptoed in when she wasn't looking and began scattering the rose petals on every part of the floor. One of them let out a small laugh that made Fikayo turn in a hurry.

"Chi... Olori..." She was short of words.

"Surpriseeeee!!!!" The ladies jumped on the bed and scattered the pink rose petals all over their heavily pregnant friend.

Fikayo's mouth was opened for a few minutes. She looked at them in shock and tried to figure it all out. Chioma laughed continuously as she took pictures of Fikayo's expression.
Sewa hugged her friend for a bit before helping her up from the bed and pushing her towards the bathroom.

"It worked?!" Bosun came into the room after his wife was already in the bathroom to ask for the next line of action.

"Of course it did. Now, go..." Sewa let out a satisfactory laugh before pushing him away from the door.

It had taken them almost a month or two to put together a perfect surprise baby shower for her dear friend, Fikayo. She had been so supportive after the entire Tade incidence, especially with helping her get over the endless obsession to find Tade just so the law could deal with him for causing grievous bodily harm to her husband. Her husband who sustained the injury had tried without any success to stop her from the ridiculous search and employment of a private investigator. Fikayo also contacted everyone she knew at various law enforcement agencies to search for him. She had warned her to stop adding salt to injury by diverting too much attention to Tade's search, especially since all efforts had proved abortive. Instead, she was to let bygone be bygone, do everything in her power to win her husband's trust again and keep her family together.

Fikayo also heeded her own advise by opening up on anything that she thought was capable of resurfacing in the near future. The incidence impacted her home for the better; she stopped nagging about Bosun's supposed cold christian life and turned around her prayer points. In no time, Bosun came around, began to join her at devotions and figured out a way to swap shifts on Sundays.

"Come out. We have to hurry. Everyone is waiting for you..." Sewa called out as she placed her ears on the door of the bathroom.

Fikayo couldn't find the words, she was weak from inside. She stood up from the edge of the bath she had been sitting on, opened the door and asked Sewa to step into the bathroom.
The bewildered Sewa walked in carefully, held Fikayo's hands and asked gently...
"Are you alright?"

"I think. Everything... This... What is going on?... I..." Fikayo still couldn't put the words together. She looked at Sewa and waited for some reaction that matched the events of the past few months. Sewa helped her friend gently out of the bathroom, rushed to the kitchen to get her a glass of water and sat still with her till she was able to relay the entire nightmare she just had.

***
Sewa wiped Fikayo's face with a damp towel for the third time. She patted her on the back for a bit before bending right in front of Fikayo.

"We shall see no evil in Jesus name..." She started.

Fikayo responded with a loud 'Amen'.

Sewa went on to pray for her unborn god-daughter and for Fikayo, rebuking every orchestration of the enemy  and recurrence of every affliction crafted in Tade's form.

She hurried her friend back into the bathroom while she rushed out to keep tabs on the invited guests that were yet to show up. She heaved a sigh of relief once she was outside the bedroom before joining the others to execute the baby shower.
She was pleased with herself and super excited for Fikayo. In no time, her husband who doubled as the DJ began his work while Sewa went back to dress her friend up and usher out to meet her guests.

***
Fikayo could not stop the tears that rolled down as she sighted all her friends from church, few work colleagues; Chioma, Chioma's baby-daddy and her daughter; Keffi, Bosun's friends and most of all, her own mum and sisters. She searched and found her husband in the midst of the crowd, hugged him tight and whispered a soft 'thank you'. It was time to party - a well deserved celebration with friends and loved ones.

She remembered to whisper a 'thank you God for this gift' before settling in the special seat reserved for her. God had answered her prayers; she was going to be a mother and her daughter would be no bastard!

***THE END!!!***

***Bed of Roses by Faith Tunde-Yara OLATUNBOSUN

***Photo Credit: black-metisses.com

***Big thanks to everyone for reading this sequel through till the very end. I'm hopeful (and at the same time, scared... lol) that you all would love the way it ended.😷

Thanks for your many comments on various social media platforms, and random words of encouragement when I voiced out on my overwhelming schedules and numerous deadlines. I appreciate every single one of you! Bigger thanks, kisses and hugs to those who try relentlessly to post comments on the blog to no avail. I'm also hoping blogger does not stress my readers so much in the coming year. Let's stick together till I get a website running, shall we? I love you guys so much. Thanks for making my 2016 super exciting. I had fun creating characters and events that you could connect with. Have an amazing 2017. 😘 

Cheers.

Faith.