SARÉ by Olowojesiku Deborah Iyanu
Episode 7
My mom was the one taking care of my baby, my duty was just to breastfeed her and change her diapers sometimes. I was discharged from the hospital five days later despite the excruciating pain in my private part. Papa’s heart broke each time I groaned in pain, he tried to be caring but Heaven knows his care didn’t move me one bit.
On the eighth day, my baby was christened Oreoluwa, a name Papa chose for her. Well, I managed to name her Grace after my mom’s insistence that I must give her a name. Papa surprised me by staying with us for two weeks to help care for the baby. When OreOluwa wasn’t with my mom or brother, she would be with Papa. He so much doted on her which sometimes infuriated me but then, I guess God had blessed Ore with a loving and caring father since her mother seemed not to care about her.
OreOluwa was mostly in Papa’s room at night, most nights, I heard him praying for her. He would lay his hands on her and pray with everything in him. What I failed to realize was that he was destroying every evil foundation that may tend to fight her in the future, he was securing her future through prayers and then hid her life and destiny in the blood of Jesus. If my parent had understood that, my life would have taken a different path but then, who am I to blame them? They were ignorant.
Papa was to leave after two weeks was completed. Before leaving, Papa came into my room and knelt before him pleading me to show his baby some affection. Papa’s kind is rare, he is down-to-earth and well-behaved. He will still be apologizing even when he is right. I made him realize that what he was asking was too much for me but I would try because the baby was innocent. He was happy to hear me say that and then went on to pray that God would work on me.
After Papa left, I treated Ore with so much disdain, that that there was a day I pinched and asked why she didn’t die in the womb. The little child cried so much, if she could talk, she would have asked for her father. Ore was six months old when I told my mom I wanted to go back to school, my mom looked at me and asked if I wasn’t possessed because my attitude towards Ore was something she couldn’t explain. Everyone around loves her so much except me.
By the time Ore clocked nine months, I had graduated from Catering school, with my Dad’s connection, I had started getting orders from people and was making my own money. Papa came around when Ore clocked ten months. He was so happy to see his daughter who had started to walk, he noticed she was closer to my mom but was distant from me, and and he noticed she became afraid whenever I come closer to her. He tried to speak sense into me but I refused to listen, for the first time, Papa called me a wicked mother and I retaliated with a slap. He threatened to take her away from me when she clocked two but I care less.
After her first birthday, I went back to school. That year, my course mates who we got admission at the same time were preparing to graduate. It pained me but I was glad to be back to school. I put Ore and everything that concerns her behind me ready to make something out of my messed life. I focused on my studies and business, I was determined to make my father proud by coming out with a first-class and also having a successful career in the catering world.
After her second birthday, Papa who saw that Ore was starved of my love took her away, my mom was pained but there was nothing she could do because I was in total support of Papa’s decision. While Ore was with her father, I never called to ask about her wellbeing, I believed she would be fine since Papa was a father every child needs.
I stayed through to my determination and I graduated with a first class in Business Administration. After my one year of service, I decided to set up my catering school since I had lots of clients, this I was able to achieve with the help of my parent. All through this period, I had no clue as to how my daughter was fairing, Papa was the one always calling to tell me how she was doing. My mom tried to make me bond with my daughter but I was just too busy with making a name for myself. God helped me and in less than a year, I was among one of the best caterers in the city of Lagos. People were paying heavily to access me, I can tell that I had done so well for myself.
By the time I clocked twenty-six, Mom began to talk me into going into a relationship but I wasn’t just interested in any. Gideon, my former pastor’s son, and I met again after almost ten years and became friends, he was interested in settling down with me but I turned him down. First, he wasn’t a man of God, second, his parent wouldn’t let him marry a single mother and to think of his dad’s actions years ago was still fresh in my memory. I made him realize that nothing could happen between us after which I cut off from him.
My mom who felt I needed deliverance invited me to her church for a deliverance service. As I got into the church, my eyes met with that of the young pastor ministering and at that instant, I lost it. I told myself I had met the man of my dreams.
To be continued
