*

Haroun's first step of deception is to deceive his parents by pretending to turn over a new leaf. He visits them everyday bearing gifts, he has suddenly turned into an obedient doting child , he does things without being asked .

"Mama am really sorry for all the wrongs I have done, I have realised my mistakes and come to know that you're the most important people in my life " with head docked low Haroun apologised to his mother .

" Hmm " his mother smiled. The type of smile only her knows the meaning of.

After cajoling his mom into saying she has forgiven him which in reality she did not, he left to meet his father in the office and repeated the same process with his father .

He was so happy that for the first time in forever he bought provisions and grocery for his family, his wives were surprised as to his sudden change of attitude. They are gold diggers hence the situation they find themselves in , he showered each of them with lots of money and love before marriage. But all that changed after their first night with him as man and wife. Two of them were lucky to be treated with kindness for half of a year . He only has two kids with his first wife and the rest did not last long to bear him a child .

He detest the idea of being a father, to him it's an added responsibility he is not ready to partake. His two sons can count the times he ever look at them with kindness nor talk to them . Their grandfather Alhaji Sani takes care of their education ,clothing and all necessities. They seldom stay at home except on holidays to see their Mother who looks 50years older than her real age.

" What's the occasion maigida" the 9th wife asked out of curiosity knowing that there must be a reason behind the heap of provisions.

" Mtsww what sort of nonesense is this ? What kind of uncouth wife are you ? Instead of you to welcome me back in a sweet manner you are asking me useless questions !" He glowered at her looking at her with disgust.

He went into his room with a hiss. The other wives exchanged looks and laughed at the 9th wife .

" What makes you ask him? Now see what you've caused? " his first wife said , following him into the room since it's her duty .

He didn't even spare her a glance , she knows not to say a word , she helped him remove his clothes and switched on the water heater for him before going to bring in his lunch .

She met the other three wives gossiping about the provisions, with a sad small smile she went into the kitchen. He always have a sumptuous meal to come home to but none of them is entitled to eat half as good as what he usually takes,that is not allowed except if you're a new bride.

" I have found another beautiful lady, and I want to marry her as soon as possible " Haroun stated while drying his body with a towel.

" All the best " was all she could say, she is used to all these so it wasn't new to her .It baffles her on how he leads his life like an animal, she could not blame his parents because they are good people. She use to wonder whether he is not Alhaji Sani's biological son but she cannot argue the fact because Haroun is a carbon copy of his father ,even their voice sounds the same .

**

Khadijah was cleaning the house when Ummie passed her phone to her .Without checking the caller ID she put the phone to her ears .

" Assalamu alaikum D how are you this beautiful Saturday ?" Mommy's high pitched and excited voice came through .

" Wa'alaikissalam Aunty D love, how are you and my baby ?" D enquired mirroring Mommy's excitement.

" Fine Alhamdulillah we are just missing you here and daddy is in kano, he will come after Asr to bring you here, I know it's an impromptu decision but you just have to come ,see you later " Mommy said and cut the call giving D no room to argue .

Turning to Ummie ,Khadijah smiled at her and passed  the broom to her.

" Go and get ready dear, let me pack some spices for you to take " Ummie said giving her a reassuring smile.

It is not that she don't want to visit Aunty D but it's so sudden and now that she is waiting for admission she don't want to be far from home.

' and I don't want him to know that am at his father's house!' She mentally stated shaking out the thoughts she continue packing hers and the twins clothes .

She was ready by the time daddy arrived, she bid Baba and Ummie goodbye ,feeling emotional as if it's her first time leaving home.

" May Allah be with you, my regards to everyone there " Baba said waving D off .

" In shaa Allah Baba, do take Care of yourselves I will miss you "

Daddy being a very nice and kind man made the journey interesting for her, he kept playing with the twins, asking her questions and telling her stories from the past .When they made a stop at Kaduna to pray maghrib, he bought a lot of goodies for them .

It was already late when they reached Alhaji Yousouf's mansion. The twins were sleeping .Mommy and  Afreen ran out to welcome them. It was a long time since D travelled to Abuja so she was so tired .

" Mamie !!!" Afreen squealed happily .

" My baby !!" D called out while daddy turned to look at the duo with a smile, he has been hearing a lot  about the love between Afreen and D  it is his first time of witnessing such raw affection.

" This is not the first time you're treating me like am invisible " Mommy said with a pout,holding Ihsan in her arms .

" Kai mommy, you're so impatient, I wanna say hi to my baby before saying hi to you.  You know that I have missed her a lot " D said with a chuckle, taking Afreen and hugging her to her chest .

" Hope you brought something for me Mamie ?" Afreen asked and D shook her head in a positive way .

After some pleasantries were exchanged , Afreen's nanny tucked the twins in bed and D was served dinner. Afreen didn't go to bed until D was ready to retire and she insisted on sleeping beside her Mamie .D gladly obliged

The next morning being a Sunday, D dressed Afreen for her Islamic school before going back to bed . The little angel came back  after 10am shouting D's name, she met the twins playing with mommy and she welcomed them with a hug since she wasn't able to do that the other night .

" Jaddatie where is Mamie ?" She asked mommy  dropping her small school bag on the floor .

" I will tell you where she is only If you carry your bag to your room, change your school uniform into your normal clothes "

" Okay Jaddatie, right away" the little girl ran off her room, almost tripping only to see D waiting for her with a top and trouser for her to change into.

" Mamie , how are you ?" Afreen asked trying to wear her trouser.

" I am fine habibty, how was school, which surah did your mu'allim taught you today ?"

" we revised juz'u wahid today Mamie, and we all can recite it off head,I will recite for you later" she replied with enthusiasm as D tucked her dress into her jeans .

They ascended the stairs hand in hand, Ilham being a jealous girl came and held her mother's other free hand seeking for attention.

" You have to bear with your momma Ilhamy, she sees and hear nothing except this little brat " Mommy said giving both D and Afreen a playful glare .

As they were talking about everything and nothing D's phone rang and from the ringtone she knows that it is Zee , she excused herself to answer the call knowing that she will get an earful for not telling Zee she is travelling only leaving her a message on WhatsApp .

" Don't even try to explain yourself, I understand, what I don't understand is how you will miss my engagement day " Zee said with a sad voice.

" Subhanallah, am really sorry Zee Zee habibty, I didn't know it's today "

" It was my fault, I admit. Wanted to surprise you by telling you to come home today not knowing that mommy will summon you to her kingdom ,the nerve of that old woman " Zee said with a small laugh

" Nidai ba ruwana, I will tell Mommy what you just said, anyway I know ummie will be there to represent me in welcoming our in laws, Mabrook dearie, may Allah continue to bless your relationship and may we live long to witness the day you will finally complete half of your deen "

They talked about the preparations and Zee's friends that were invited since it is not a big affair just close relations and friends.

" Am sad I won't be part of your big day.  I am sorry Besty. I will make it up to you in shaa Allah " D finally said before they bid each other goodbye Zee promising to fill D later on what happened .

" Yes , they arrived yesterday night with daddy, okay let me give them the phone to talk to you " Mommy said putting her phone to Ihsan's ears .

" Say hi to uncle  Kaybee"

Ihsan made some blabbering before passing the phone to Ilham who did the same but her words are more comprehensible than that of Ihsan .

" Hello Abba !" Afreen shouted the moment Ilham passed her the phone .

" Yes they are here and I am so happy Abba! Mamie is here and I even slept with her, we will go to the park together, get ice cream, she will help me with my assignments and we will play hide and seek just like we used to in kano. Please Abba tell Mamie to stay here and never go back to Ummie's house " Her voice was chirpy and loud at first but towards the end it became sad and pleading .

She spoke with her dad for a while telling him stories about her friends and school. Not wanting Afreen to pass her the phone D left the living room to the kitchen in the guise of getting water to drink .

The day went smoothly with the kids playing around the house while D and Mommy kept gisting . It was after Asr that mommy asked D to rearrange her wardrobe if she is well rested .

Khadijah was engrossed in neatly stacking mommy's clothes in the wardrobe when a photograph fell on the ground. She picked it and saw that it was a picture of a very happy looking Kaybee and Nihal. Probably on their wedding day, they look so good and happy together.  What has  gone wrong between the two ? She wondered .She kept staring at the picture for a long  while until mommy came into the room and met her .

" I kept wondering the same thing too my dear " Mommy's voice brought her out of reverie .

" You mean to say that you don't know what happened between them too ?" D asked incredulously.

" Yes dear, he started telling me about it but we did not get a chance to finish the story and am giving him some space until he is ready to open up to me "

" Subhanallah, whatever it is I know that  it must have hurt him real bad " Retorted D with a sigh .

Mommy told her about how hard kaybee took the divorce , how Nihal abandoned Afreen and never for once look for her, how it took him years to go back to the States because going there reminds him of her .

" I thought only women suffer in the hands of men not knowing that even men suffer in the hands of women, but why don't you make  him take another wife so that he will be close to his daughter?" D suggested .

Mommy smiled " but who do you think can take very good Care of Afreen? Remember that even her mother the woman whom he loved with the whole of his heart abandoned their child. He has lost hope and trust in women , we should pray that Allah will give him a woman that will open up his heart again and make him love again "

" In shaa Allah " with that mommy left the room while D continued what she was doing before she saw the picture .

She kept thinking of a thousand possible things that might be the reason why kaybee divorce his wife .She dreamt of him that night and when she woke up in the middle of the night to offer her tahajjud she kept thinking of him and she prayed for him in her sujood, asking Allah to ease his pain and give him a pious wife that will make him forget his pain .

The weeks passed in a blur and whenever Kaybee called D finds an excuse of not talking to him .

Kaybee on the other hand has been feeling uneasy and guilty since the day he came to know that Khadijah is in Abuja , all the feelings he locked away at the recess of his mind fought their way back to the surface . She is everywhere once again, everything reminds him of her and he almost booked a ticket to Nigeria if not because of a contract his Company gave him to oversee.

Nihal has been bugging him on and off , she will be at his office and home asking for forgiveness and shedding crocodile tears ,never for once has he spared her a second glance but that did not deter her. She will then spend days sometimes weeks without coming then she will reappear again .

I am really sorry sis ,please forgive me for everything .

Kaybee subconsciously typed the message for D but came to his senses before he could press send . The reason why he can't reach out to her is unknown to him, he missed her smile, her company, her laughter and most especially her delicious delicacies.

°•°

Crappy chapter after a long wait ,I know .
Please do forgive Me.  I have been busy throughout the week and had a small accident which made my right big thumb swell hence the reason why I can't type well + I was occupied re-watching my favorite Indian series Strange love .

Anyways manage this please .

Thanks for your readership .