Chapter Twelve

Congratulations to Starboy on new album release, Made In Lagos!

Tell me, what's your favourite track- Faith Oluremi

"Ayonitemi!" She heard Yemisi screamed in excitement and she jumped up.

Yemisi's Temmie is back! Aminat thought aloud as her heart skipping beats at the thought of seeing Ayo.

What would she say first? Would she give him a handshake or hug him? How would she even stand up to him? She suddenly started feeling feverish with the torture her nervousness was giving her.

"Aminat!" Yemisi called and she dashed out.

"Ma!" She answered she was came into view with to the two women.

"This is Ayo's wife, Temmie" Yemisi dashed a sweet smile to her daughter.

"Wow! Oh my God! Nice to meet you my wife" she grinned from ear to ear, pulling her for a hug like her other sister and Aminat's cheeks burned hot.

She pulled back and left her left arm on Aminat's shoulder. A girl Aminat haven't seen since she saw Temmie drew a big box along with them.

"When did you hear from Ayo last?" Yemisi started and Temmie sighed, slamming her right palm on her face.

"I don't even call each other. We're just in Lagos together for fun!" Temmie laughed weakly and her hissed, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Ayoola gets in touch with better than I do" Temmie rolled her eyes.

"And she lives farther!" Yemisi scolded and Temmie stuck her tongue out.

"Ayo is not a kid anymore, so why are you this worried mum?! He's an international man for crying out loud" she raised her head and rolled  her eyes again.

"Why shouldn't I be worried? I'm a mother!" Yemisi pouted and Temmie rose her lashes at her drowsily.

"Ayoola and I?"

"I love you two beyond your knowledge but I'm just worried.."

"You don't have to worry unnecessarily anymore since.. What's your name?" Temmie stopped at Aminat.

"Aminat" she answered quietly.

"Yes! Since Aminat will always be available now" she winked at her mum and gave her a tight smile.

"He's even in the States" she added and settled on one of the arm chairs while the young girl that came with her led the bag to her room.

"When's he going to come home? Is he not coming again?!" Yemisi protested and her daughter sighed lazily.

"He'll surely come! Ayoola told me he'll be returning today. Probably by tomorrow, he'd be here" Temmie explained and Aminat's heart kept missing beats.

"So.. Anything I can mouth?" Temmie laughed and Aminat rose to the kitchen.

"Wow" Temmie who was obviously startled at Aminat's sense of gesture jaw dropped, following an awkward laugh.

"What's that?" A confused Yemisi asked.

"Nothing!" She clasped her hands.

The next day, towards dusk, a black Cherokee Jeep which Aminat recognised to be Ayoola's car drove in to the compound. Temmie was at the front of the building, reading a magazine. She had forced Aminat to come with her and start telling her moonlight stories with the young girl having zero clue of what to say.

"Ohhh! Ayoola is here" Temmie confirmed and Aminat kept missing heartbeats at the thought of Ayo coming.

At that moment, she already stepped out of the car and a little girl of five years limbed out with joy, running to Temmie. Temmie grabbed when she was a feet away and threw her up and caught three times before sitting her on her waist.

"Iya Abuja, how was your journey?" Temmie grinned and Ayoola gave a short hiss and reached for Aminat's seat.

"It was just tiresome! I'd have taken a flight if I knew  it was going to be like this"

"Mum?"

"Asleep"

"She misses her little boy badly" Ayoola laughed and Temmie admitted with a smile.

"And she's so worried about him, someone who isn't even worried about himself!"

"What do you expect? A whole heir of the family" Ayoola pouted and they made another laugh noise.

"What are you sitting here, discussing about" Yemisi's sleepy and aggressive broke the laughter and Ayoola quickly went on her knees to greet  her mother.

Nobody would see such moments and won't be jealous of Yemisi. Despite their growing wealth, they're respectful  and down to earth. They don't even joke with their manners whenever they're with their mother. She haven't seen Ayo addressing his mother before, but she was sure he's isn't going to so humble as his two sisters.

He has money. Blood fucking money for a young lad like him.

Yemisi raised Ayoola up with a gesture and Aminat got her a chair to sit on.

"Bless you my daughter" she smiled at her daughter in law and she returned the smile disappearing into the thin air.

°°°°°°

Ayoola's homecoming unveiled the two sisters plan for their sister in law. They kept asking her questions about herself and Aminat tried her best to give them what is suitable.

"Your age?" Ayoola asked, stopped typing on her phone as if she sending the information to someone else.

"T.. Twenty" Aminat shuttered and the women wowed.

"Your IG handle?" Temmie popped in from her other side but Yemisi protested.

"Don't tell him!"

"We won't"

"We're just trying to know for ourselves"

They lied to chill their mother's fear before turning back to Ayo's wife.  But it was  Aminat that got more relieved.

"@Minah_Kareem"

"What a nice name" they hummed to themselves.

"Please is Ayo still coming today!" Yemisi seemed to have been loosing her patience.

"He should. I'll give him a call later today" Ayoola cooled.

"Have you taken your drugs?" Temmie changed the topic.

"When my son is not home as promised" Yemisi insisted and her two daughters sighed.

"He'd. I promise. Have you taken your drugs?" Temmie insisted as well and Yemisi went mute.

"No" she snapped in a grumpy tone.

Aminat was awed at Yemisi's treatment by her two daughters. They kept pampering and suiting her as if she was a baby. She felt challenged and guilty why she hadn't pampered her mother like that as well. Rich or not, she envied the two women caring attitude towards their mother.

"Grandma!" Angela's voice ranged in the air and Yemisi left the kitchen for her granddaughter.

"You're shy?" Temmie shot at Aminat unexpectedly.

"N-No!" She shuttered and Ayoola giggled.

"Our brother doesn't like shy girls. So make sure you format any shyness scraps on your face" Temmie pointed a pen at her and she nodded with a sweet smile.

"Hello" Ayoola answered a call and Temmie stopped.

"Call her yourself and tell her you're not coming home again" Ayoola said and her sister frowned immediately. Then Ayoola puts the call on loud speaker.

"She'd be angry and you know, I'm just trying to avoid trouble!" His voice boomed out of the phone and Aminat felt chills on her system hearing his tiny, female like voice again.

She felt a bit relieved that he'd be postponing his coming home again. She wasn't ready to face him yet.

The way her breath always seize whenever she hears his name awe her herself. She happily wondered how their home would be expecting while cleaning the dishes.

Ayoola and Temmie, who have been looking at how Aminat was smiling to herself, threw glances and gestures to herself before waking her from her day dream.

"Hello!" Ayoola waved at her face and she her mouth went dry in shock.

"She's longing to see her man, that's why" Temmie kept taunting her while her cheeks couldn't help.

"Awwn! Don't worry. He'll be here tomorrow morning" Ayoola added, flinging her hair to the left to get her hair off her face.

"Why!" They heard Yemisi's groan from the sitting room and they erupted into a loud, devilish seeming laugh.

"Okay"

That sounded like she had reluctantly accepted his plea.

"Make sure you get to be the first person I see when I wake up tomorrow morning" she sound a note of warning and the two women could imagine him nodding obediently.

"I never knew mum could crave to see Ayo like this" Temmie clasped her hands together in awe.

"Me too" Ayoola laughed touching her nose.

Aminat kept mute while preparing dinner for the family. She only talks when she's been asked to. Even to some questions they ask themselves that she had answers to.

Yemisi turned off the generator, refueled it and turned  it on again before going to meet the three women at the kitchen. Aminat felt so happy deep down being in the midst of a happy family with so much love.

She couldn't explain how the humming sound of the generator in the night made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

Yemisi watched Aminat serve the food while the two women get them to the dining table. She prayed her fear should not come true when Ayo comes with a solid gaze on his wife.

She sighted a bag of oranges that Aminat had got from her farm she went to do sneak peek or a goodbye visit to at the early hours of that day.

She felt like she'd miss the farm but it was actually a regret of her farm products that'd be harvested by another person who doesn't have a clue of how she laboured for the farm initially.

"My son loves oranges!" Yemisi squealed and Temmie along with Fashola giggled and rolled their eyes. Aminat smiled and continued her work, praying silently that he doesn't change his thought about coming home again.

She bit her lip, trying to contain the funny part she was missing a person she never saw before.

After the meal, Yemisi went to bed straight. That was usual, she doesn't stay awake till ten. Anything around eight to nine, Mrs Fashola is back to her bed. Temmie and Ayoola went to bed at ten. Aminat was the only one left to the sitting room.

She wasn't  just in the sitting room for watching movie only. She kept watching the clock tick till twelve in the next day.

"My husband is coming today!" She confidently muttered to herself, being sure of the fact that she was the only person awake.

She stood up and started rehearsing how she'd behave when she sees him. Probably shout?

"No!" She declined the thought.

She'd be so shy even though she was warned not to. Imagining the fact that they'd go back to his place together, Aminat slumped on one of the  arm chairs and slept off dreaming about him.