Too Precious Episode 31

TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 31

PB gave birth to a bouncing baby boy and named Treasure. To her, he was priceless. He was worth the sacrifice she had made. He was worth the wait. He was a gorgeous baby.

Her mother and grandmother fought to attend to him. PB watched them fuss over him. Her grandfather wept when he beheld his great-grandson on a video call. You wouldn’t believe he had other grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Allen was present for his birth. PB had refused the s€× of the baby to be disclosed to them. She found out she was having a son when she got to America to have the child. Allen found out after she had had the baby. Allen was elated. “At last I have a son”

“Are you telling your parents?” PB asked.

“I will tell them when I get back. My father especially will be happy I have given him a son”

“What will his surname be? Okoli or Adeoye? We need to agree on this”

“Let him have my surname, please. He is my first son. I prayed you would have a girl but then it’s a boy”

“He will bear Adeoye-Okoli since we aren’t married. I will give you that honour”

“Why combine two surnames? Call him your grandfather’s name as his middle name and Okoli as his surname. It will be an interesting combination”

“Treasure Rotimi Okoli. I like it. Once your family accepts him, then we will go ahead with the name. If not, I will change the surname to Adeoye”

“Deal. They will accept him. Thank you”

When Allen went back to Nigeria, PB received calls from Hope and Collins. She knew he had informed them and they were looking for opportunities to either scold her or congratulate her. She wasn’t interested in either.

Her grandfather called her and appealed to her to pick their calls as they were not out to fight her but rather to congratulate her and share in her joy. She agreed to pick their calls.

Hope called first. “When did this conception happen? I am not buying the wh0le artificial insemination story. Congratulations my dear; now you have proved to the world you are not barren as Biodun had declared. I am so happy for you and Allen. What’s the next step now?”

“Next step? There is no next step. Allen is in love with someone else and I have what I have always wanted, a child. There is no next step”

“Your children shouldn’t behave like this. How can he have s€× with you and be in love with another woman? This is so wrong….”

“No. Who told you we had s€×? He has always been with Olivia and I see him as a brother. He helped me fulfil my heart desire of having a child; that’s all. Don’t read more into this and build castles in the air. I have no such feelings towards Allen and he has no such feelings for me. That’s all it is”

Hope was silent for some time. Then she said, “I won’t intrude. Both of you know what you are doing. I want Precious back in this family and if I have you instead, it is still better than none.

“You have me. Apart from having your daughter’s children, I have had Allen’s first son. What more do you want? I am your daughter and I will always be”

Hope ended the call with a “Thank you” in-between sobs.

Engineer Collins called her. She picked the call. “I can see you want to remain relevant in my family. You brought the disruption in my family by first making Precious disobey me and then scattered Allen and Adaeze marriage. Now, I can see you want to come into the family by force.”

“Good afternoon sir. And thank you for calling”

“I haven’t finished. Allen says the child is his; I believe him. We don’t throw away children in our family even though born out of wedlock. Allen has a son now. We want to play an active part in his life”

“Who are the ‘we’?”

“My wife and I. Since he is half Allen’s, he should spend half of his time with us”

“He is my son. He spends time with whom his father and I agree to release him. I don’t owe you anything. Work it out with Allen. This child is mine and I won’t be releasing him to someone who has no regard for his mother. You can never be left alone with my son.”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Who called me to accuse me of disintegrating his family? The family you abandoned to live in hotels with young girls. Precious never wanted to disappoint you but you put her life on the line when you wanted her to marry a brutal woman beater. Adaeze left Allen because she wasn’t the right fit. You didn’t know your son enough to know the kind of woman that is right for him. Thankfully, he has found one who suits him perfectly. Elvis had said it from the beginning he wasn’t marrying a Nigerian; I caused that too? As you are pointing at me, four fingers are pointing back at you. I am not interested in this conversation with you anymore. Goodbye.”

PB was furious when she ended the call. It was always some else’s fault, never his. He never took the blame for anything. He believed, as a man, he had a right to philander and still be respected and honoured by his family. For how long did he expect it to last? PY ran away to be with the man she loved. Allen agreed to his demands and then what happened?

As PB was deep in thoughts, her phone rang again. This time it was Allen. She picked up. “Hey, he pissed you off, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I told him he did. He had no right to do that. I stood with what you said, he can’t see Treasure since he has no respect for you. I told him, I helped you have this baby you desired and therefore you call the shots. He was speechless. Don’t take what he says seriously”

“Thanks for having my back”

“I will always have your back; we are a family”

“Your mum didn’t believe we had the conception artificially”

“She should believe what she wants to, I told both of them what we agreed. It’s none of their business.”

“Thank you, Allen”

“I should be thanking you. My mum is so happy.”

I asked Salim to be the godfather of my son. He was a Catholic but answered his Muslim name around family. Olivia, who I met for the first at the christening, was the godmother. My grandparents, my mother and her lover were present. So also, were Allen’s mother and lover. His father was absent. All our children were present.

Life went on perfectly.

A week after celebrating Treasure’s first birthday, something terrible happened.

Chief Adeoye fell in the bathtub and was unconscious. He was alone in the room when it happened, so no one knew. He had an important meeting with his lawyers that morning. It was persistent calls from the office to his phone and then to his driver’s phone that alerted the house.

His door was bulletproof and wasn’t easy to be broken into. PB had to get a welder to help remove the door from the frame. She stopped her grandmother and others from entering the room with her when the door was opened.

PB was scared. He didn’t answer his calls. It was very unlike him. Her fear was he had died in his sleep and didn’t want her grandmother to witness that. When she didn’t see him in the room, she rushed into the bathroom and met him on the floor. She covered his uncladness with a blanket and asked some of the guys to help carry him into the bedroom.

She immediately called the hospital for an ambulance to be brought to the residence to pick him up. She had prepared herself for the worse. She believed she felt a pulse but she didn’t want to keep her hopes up.

She called her uncles who also rushed down and got there when the ambulance arrived. They were the ones who helped make him decent for transport.

Her grandmother was inconsolable. PB understood how she felt because she had put up a brave front but truly, she was dying in,side. She couldn’t believe what she witnessed and she prayed last night wouldn’t be the last time she would speak to her grandfather.

At the hospital, he was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Her uncles made the necessary payment. PB was a stack of nerves. She was so frightened. What would life be like without her grandfather? This was the only man who showed her unconditional love from the time she was born.

Chief had gifted Treasure a house in his name for his first birthday without anyone’s knowledge and asked her to keep it a secret too. Apart from the house he gave PB for her wedding, he had also given her another house. She refused to take the house but he left the doc-ments with her. He told her he was preparing her for the worst. “These people that pretend to love you will show you their true colours when push comes to shove. I want to share my properties as much as I can so that war won’t break out at my demise.”

War almost began to brew. PB’s uncles locked up her grandfather’s room. PB had taken his briefcase, various files, phones and laptop because she felt they were the most valuable things there. Luckily, she handed them over to her grandmother for safekeeping.

Her uncles searched for those items and when they didn’t see them, they accused PB of stealing them. Before she could explain, they threatened her. Over his phones and laptop?

Her grandmother was there. She said to them, “Are you asking for his phones and laptop? I have them. I gave them to his lawyer. Nobody knows what will happen here and I don’t want sensitive items lying around. They are best with the lawyer until he wakes up.”

PB looked at her grandmother and then turned to look at them sternly. They apologized and obviously, they were unhappy with the lawyer having those items.

“I think the lawyer should also have the key to the room” grandmother added.

“We are holding on to the key” uncle Ope replied to her.

“If that’s the case the place will be properly safeguarded”. She made some calls to ensure that was done.

When we got home that night, grandma sent the steward to buy four new padlocks. She had constructed a burglary proof gate in front of Chief’s door. She locked the gate to grandfather’s room with those padlocks so no one would gain entrance to the room.

Hello friends.

My mother will be 70 on the 30th of November. I will like to mark her birthday by doing something for my fans.

I lost my father eight years ago. His death took a toll on my mother; they were very close. She is blessed to be with her children and grandchildren. She is my only surviving parent; therefore, I want to celebrate this milestone.

For my dear fans, I will sell my book IT’S MY DECISION for N1500 on the 30th of November, 2021. After the 30th, it’s back to its original price.

If you are in similar locations, we can waybill to one person while others pick up from the main person.

Thank you.

Tbc