Episode one

One.

There are people in the world whose lives has already being planned out for them by their beloved parents even before they were born. Tasha Theodore happens to be part of those lucky few. Her parents, Mr. And Mrs. Theodore were billionaire's who has several beverage companies in different part of the world. Before they became that rich, Mrs. Theodore did not conceive quickly and this made every one to think that she was barren which was likely not true because many test and doctor's appointment had proved otherwise. She was told so many times that she was fertile and there was nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with her re-productory system.

Now, one would automatically think Mr. Theodore was the cause of it but that too was just not it. Mr. Theodore had also sorted for medical attention, he did several tests and visited different hospitals with his wife and was told on different occasions and many times that he was also alright and there was nothing with him. The couple's were only adviced to eat healthy and not over stress themselves.

Hence, since the couple's got married when they were both young and has lived up to ten years together without a child, this rose up a lot of questions from people as every thing did not look clear in the eyes of others and some even started to think that the Theodore's were lying about their fertility just so people would not talk about it in the city where they were from, where they lived, where they had grown up together from and where their business blossomed first. That city was called, 'Fire city."

But of course, people can be unpredictable some times and people can not just control how others think, feel or react to things so, rumours did spread any ways and people began to talk about the Theodore's more than the way they minded their daily businesses and their lives. Harsh things were said about Mrs. Theodore even more and Mr. Theodore just could not continue to watch, listen to hurtful words mostly directed to his wife and let those things get to him or her. For the sake of both husband and wife's mental health they had to think of some thing to do that would help them both.

That was when the Theodore's made a decision. They felt fire city was a cruel place and if they by any means conceive a child eventually, they did not want him or her to grow up in such a small city as fire city and so, they fled to another city which was not far from the previous city they had lived.

Mr. And Mrs. Theodore's love for each other was unconditional so they did not give up on each other. They kept trying and trying and so many times, Mr. Theodore would remind his wife that he loves her all the same and that it is not totally her fault and that they were both in this together.

They decided to spend more time together than they were previously doing because they were mostly apart due to the kind of company they run. Mrs. Theodore had to manage one of the companies in Colombia and Mr. Theodore had to manage the one located at the city they currently lived. Now, spending enough time together, enabled them to track Mrs. Theodore's menstrual cycle and the period which she was ovulating just to see if a miracle would happen some day.

They kept hoping and did not at once lost hope. They in no time, also adopted Mr. Theodore's cousin by name Octavia who was a year old at the time just so Mrs. Theodore would feel what it is like to have a child before she has one of her own. She loved Octavia, took care of her and treated her as if she was her own child. Octavia was a biracial child born by an European father and an African mother and so she was dark in complexion compared to a pale skinned Mrs. Theodore. This made it easier for people to know that Octavia was not Mrs. Theodore biological child and still people around the city they had moved in to also gossiped about it but it was not as much as it would have been if it were to be that they still lived in fire city. Octavia's mother would come visit the Theodore's from time to time just so that she could spend some quality time with her biological daughter and that was the agreement between both families so no one had a problem with it and was totally fine with the way things were going in the family.

Then, in one of those occasions that Octavia's mother came to visit, she noticed that Mrs. Theodore was adding weight and was growing weak. Her suspicion grew when she noticed that Mrs. Theodore throws up in her ensuite most of the times when she was around and she decided that that day, she was going to ask Mrs. Theodore what the problem was as she was no longer okay watching her sister in-law in a condition like that.

Mrs. Theodore walked down the stairs feeling tired when she has literally done nothing but sleep all day in her room. One of the maids had come to tell her that Octavia's mother was waiting for her in the living room and she had decided to go join her there even if she was not carrying Octavia along with her. The baby had just eaten and had fallen asleep in the process so she did not want to disturb her sleep. She was going to explain that to Octavia's mother who goes by the name, Mrs. Patra Baker.

"Hi Patra, how are you doing?" Mrs. Theodore greeted her friend with a smile on her face when she saw her sitting patiently on one of the couch waiting for her.

Patra stood up from where she was sitting down and with a smile on her face, she walked towards her friend and gave her a hug.

"Frances," Patra started also calling Mrs. Theodore by her name and not by her husband's name, "I am fine as you can see. What about you? How are you doing and how is Octavia? Where is she?" She asked, immediately noticing that Mrs. Theodore had not come down the stairs with her child.

"Octavia is fine. She just finished eating and fell asleep in the process. You do know how she is. So she is up in my bedroom and I did not think it would be fair to worry her sleep and so I did not bring her downstairs but you can go up any time and see her if you want to and also before I forget, i am fine," Mrs. Theodore said and then paused as she felt a sharp pain on the side of her head. She raised her hand to the spot and pressed it in a vain effort to massage the area that hurts so that the pain would go away but it did not.

Mrs. Baker at that moment cared only about her friend and sister in law as she knows too well that she was going to see her daughter before she leaves. She was not intending to leave until Octavia wakes up. She had bought her some toys and wanted to hand it over to her by herself. But for the main time, she took her friend by her hand and led her to one of the couch in order for her to rest her head. As they both headed towards the couch, she said finally decided to speak to her friend concerning what was bothering her, "I do not share the same thoughts with you Frances. You look sick but at the same time, you are adding weight and I have noticed you throwing up most of the time that I am around. Are you sure you are not pregnant?"

Mrs. Theodore halted her steps in shock that Mrs. Baker would even think of such.

"Oh come on now, Patra. I have not being able to conceive for like almost twelve years now what makes you think I would get pregnant now? Please let us talk about something else okay?" Mrs. Theodore tried to wave the topic off because talking about child bearing was not her favourite topic to talk about but then, Mrs. Baker would not have it.

"Frances, do not tell me that you have lost hope about conceiving already. You should remember that the doctors said there is nothing wrong with you and so, it is totally possible for you to get pregnant. You have to listen to me. I have being observing you more lately. You have the signs of early pregnancy and I trust my guts so much Frances. My instincts do not lie." Mrs. Baker said with all seriousness.

Mrs. Theodore rolled her eyes and laughed in mockery of her friend, "so what are these pregnancy signs you speak of?" She asked her.

Mrs. Baker heaved a sigh as she knew immediately that it was going to be tough to convince her friend that she was pregnant.

"Can you not see the signs? You have grown thicker than you originally was. Your breasts are larger now and you throw up a lot and you get frequent headaches too." Mrs. Baker told her.

"First of all, there are no frequent headaches as you call it. Two, of course my breast will grow larger because I am getting thicker which is also due to the fact that I eat a lot these days and I have enough rest than normal. Remember I told you that I took a break from going to work?" Mrs. Theodore asked her, "Three, you told me that when you had Octavia you did not vomit as much as I am doing and you remained a petite lady till date. So?"

Mrs. Baker rolled her eyes at Frances ignorance at some thing as simple as this and some thing she was expected to know.

"I do not mean any offence but I do want to ask you this question; has being childless for almost twelve years also affected your brain? Because you are supposed to know these things and I am not supposed to be the one trying to tell you. Stop trying to live in denial Frances. I do know and can see it in your eyes that you see reasons with me but you are trying hard to not see it and live in self denial. Why?" Mrs. Baker asked her.

Mrs. Theodore had already sat down on the couch while Mrs. Baker stood in front of her as she paced from one place to another.

"Now you need to know that just because I did not throw up as much when I conceived Octavia and I did not become thicker does not mean you won't. We both have different body systems girl so you do not expect my pregnancy experience to be exactly the same as yours obviously. Secondly, I did eat and rest a lot when I was pregnant too." Mrs. Baker told her.

"But Patra, my husband has being away for like three weeks now or so. So even if I am pregnant, how is that even possible and who would I say is responsible for it?" Mrs. Theodore asked her friend.

"Oh my good lord have mercy on you Frances and please stop acting like a lost teenager who got drunk, had a one night stand, got pregnant and does not know who the father her of her baby is. We a know that if you are pregnant, it belongs to your husband because you are not even seeing any body else. It can be possible that you took in before he travelled. Have you by any chance thought of that?" Mrs. Baker asked her.

It was then it hit Mrs. Theodore that all what Mrs. Baker was saying could be the truth but she wondered how she had never thought of it in that way when she constantly throws up, eats a lot and eats weird combination of foods too. She was indeed adding more weight than usual so it was really possible even the doctors told her countless of times that she was not barren and that she was eventually going to take in.

Her face lit up in excitement as a sense of hope filled her heart, "So what do I do now, Patra?"