"Calm down, everything will be alright, dear." My mum reassured me for the umpteenth time that day, but would it be annoying if I said I wasn't exactly feeling sure. "Say me well to Ademide and his parents, okay."

  "Alright, Mum, bye." I dropped the phone immediately. I was done with the call, staring out of the car at the beautiful house before me.

  "Come on, babe, you don't have to be nervous. They absolutely love you and have been waiting to meet you for ages now."

  I turned sideways to look at Ademide, who was still seated at the driver's seat, waiting for me to get my nervous party over with so we could go in.

  You might have guessed what was going on, and I'm sure you guessed right! It's Friday, the day I'm to meet with Ademide's parents. They just came into Ibadan not quite long and had asked Ademide to bring me over without even asking to meet him first. And I haven't been able to calm myself even though I've spoken to them on the phone times without number before.

  "There's really nothing to worry about, you know," Ademide added gently.

  "You say that because they are your parents. For me, it's a big deal." I explained.

   "I wasn't so nervous when I met your mum though," Ademide snickered under his breath, but I definitely heard him mocking me.

  "That's because you met her as Samuel's friend and mentor, not my boyfriend," I retorted, defending myself.

   "Oh, you think so," he said in awe. "Haven't you ever wondered how I approached her with the idea that I wanted to woo you."

  I mimicked a barfing sound at the way he said the word 'woo.' "I'm not interested in how you and my mum negotiated my sales and price."

  Ademide chuckled. "What?" He shook his head, laughing harder. "If you must know it wasn't easy facing your mum and telling her about my intention towards you, I thought she was going to throw me out of her shop that instant and chase me out of her house."

  "That is exactly what she should have done," I interjected.

  "The point I'm trying to make here is that although it might seem scary, but we've gotta do what we gotta do," Ademide said, sounding and looking actually wise. All I have to do is place his glasses on his face. If I can find it and tint his hair white, then he would look like a very wise old man.

  I inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "Okay, let's do this."

  "Perfect."

Ademide immediately hopped out of his car while I took my time before opening the car door and stepping out of it. I picked up my weekend bag, and looked up at the house before me, the house that I hadn't really taken much look at the last time I was here because I was brought in while unconscious, and left angrily. I wondered if this was the one Ademide once told me he bought at Ibadan.

  "Yeah, it is," Ademide said from beside me as though reading my mind.

  "How did you..."

  "I could see the question on your face." He smiled. "What do you think?"

  "It's nice," I answered truthfully. It was a nice house. It looked just like a typical rich person's house would look, big, well structured, and all that. This made me wonder how rich my boyfriend really was.

  "It's a pity I put it up for sale," Ademide said in a sad tone.

  "You did? Why?" I turned to look at him. If I could remember clearly, the reason he bought the house in the first place was because I had said I wanted to stay at Ibadan after my education. If he was selling the house again, what could that mean?

  Ademide shrugged. "Just for some reasons. Come on, let's go in."

   I tried to take my mind off this and instead focus on the task at hand, I didn't want to dwell on the doubts in my mind anymore and just focus on working things out with Ademide. I was meeting with my boyfriend's parent for the first time, and I needed to impress them. That seemed like a bigger issue than Ademide selling a house. I slipped my arm into Ademide's curved one and followed him into the house, my heart beating wildly in my chest. He led me into the house, which surprisingly looked a lot more beautiful than the outside.

  It didn't take too long as we entered into the house before an older woman who looked to be around her late thirties came bursting into the sitting room, a gorgeous smile on her face. She was dressed in a simple knee-length blue gown and had black long braids styled into a high bun on her head. The make up on her face was minimal but nonetheless pretty and seemed to fit her pretty well, I figured she had to be Ademide's aunt because I knew he didn't have an elder sister since he was the first child.

   "Oh my God, it's you!" The woman exclaimed, stopping in front of me and staring at me in awe.

  "Good afternoon, Ma," I greeted, making to kneel before she stopped me.

  "It's really you! It's your voice!" The woman said, pulling me into a big hug, not knowing what to do. I hugged her back. When she finally released me from the bone crushing hug, she stared between I and Ademide. "I'm so happy to finally meet you. Every time we talk on the phone, I always wonder when we'd get to finally meet."

  "We talk on the phone?" I asked stupidly. Although her voice did sound familiar, I don't remember talking to her on the phone.

  "Of course, don't you know me?" She asked, looking taken aback. I felt really bad for not having any recognition of her. The only woman I can remember talking to from Ademide's family was his mother, unless she was his mother. "I'm Ade's mother, we happen to chat a lot on the phone, don't you recognize my voice?"

  "What?" I asked, my mouth agape. "I'm sorry Ma, I thought you'd be his aunt or sister, you don't look..."

  "I know, right?" she cut me off. "I don't blame you, I've heard that my looks can sometimes be deceiving." Ademide's mum smiled wider, then pulled me by the arm towards a couch. "Come on, have a sit. We have so much to talk about. Ademide, don't just stand there and gawk at us. Go call your father."

  I looked up to see Ademide stare at his mum in confusion for a little while, then look at me before heading off towards the door his mum came out from.

  "Do you have any idea what is eating him up?" His mum asked, looking concerned.

  "I don't know. I'm actually surprised because he wasn't this way before we came in," I explained.

  "Whatever I just hopes he talks, he really makes me worried even more than his sister who is quite rebellious." Ademide's mum sighed before she replacing the worried look on her face with a very happy one. "I've looked forward to meeting you so much, I wanted to meet the girl that was crazy enough to fall for that clueless son of mine."

  I laughed. "He really is clueless."

She scoffed. "You don't have to tell me, I know that first hand. I'm his mother and I'm married to a man who is just like him."

  "It must be very tough for you having to deal with them both," I said, finding the woman more and more interesting by the minute.

  "You don't say. Oh, here they come," Ademide's mum said, looking toward the direction Ademide disappeared off to.

  I looked up too, only to see two Ademide's coming towards us. One looked very confused, while the other looked and breathed pure charisma. I ignored the confused one and focused on the one who was definitely Ademide's father, Mr Femi Adeshina. He looked just like Ademide, the only difference being that he had slight grey hairs on his head and beards. But everything else was the same, from the way they walked to the way they smiled.

   "Mary, is it," Ademide's father said once he got closer to where we were seated. I got up and greeted him, and just like his wife, he stopped me halfway and gave me a hug instead. "It's nice to finally see you in person."

  "Same here, sir," I said.

  "Son," Ademide's father called with a tint of pride in his voice as he sat opposite I and his wife. "You have great eyes. She's very beautiful, almost as beautiful as my wife here."

  I nearly said aww before cautioning myself. "Thank you, sir."

  "But not as beautiful, I must say," the man added a smile on his face. "I must say I got the most beautiful woman in the world for a wife."

  I actually wouldn't disagree with him, Ademide's mum was indeed beautiful, I can see why Ademide looks just like those Greek and Roman gods. Who wouldn't look like Adonis if the person had gods and goddesses of beauty for parents?

  "No, I strongly disagree with that," Ademide suddenly said after standing in one position without saying anything for a while.
 
  His father shook his head with a tsk of his tongue. "You wouldn't know if only you could see her face."

  It was then I realized how sad and painful this must be for them all as a family. I looked at all of their faces before settling on Ademide, who still had a confused expression on his face, I wanted to go over to where he was and just hug him. I really can't imagine living without being able to recognize people faces, especially family. At that moment, I wish I could curse whatever the stupid disorder. Why did it have to be Ademide? And why would there be...

   "I can see your faces," Ademide said quietly.

  What he said didn't register with any of us at first until minutes later. My eyes went wide as I watched Ademide finally take a seat, still looking confused, but now he wasn't the only one looking confused. Everyone of us was.

  "What did you say?" His mum asked.

   "I said I can recognize your faces. Is something wrong with me?" Ademide asked, looking utterly worried. "I could recognize you the moment I came in, Mum. I was at first confused as to who you were, but I knew it was you. Then the same thing happened with Dad. But the thing is, while I was driving here, I still couldn't recognize people's faces."

  "You really can recognize our faces now?" Ademide's mum asked, standing up to go seat beside her son with tear filled eyes.

  "Yes, and y-you're about to cry," he said, his voice breaking a little. "Don't, I hate seeing Mary cry, I don't think I'd like to see it on your face either."

  My heart melted as I heard what he said, I knew it was the truth, Ademide doesn't lie.

  The next hour was filled with Ademide's parents asking him to describe just what he saw on their faces, and I must say it was cute to watch. I felt really happy for them, having a child who couldn't recognize you by your face since the day he was born wasn't really a thing of joy.

  After all the games, the four of us made our way to the kitchen to cook because Ademide's mum made it compulsory for all of us. She called it family bonding time. It felt nice to be included even if I wasn't their family. I and Ademide's mum were busy with the cooking while Ademide and his dad sat in front of a laptop, working and discussing work. Men! And if you must know, they both had glasses on, making them look like twins.

   "You boys had better close that laptop before I fry it for you," Ademide's mum threatened, and she looked totally serious.

  "Just give us a little more time, honey," Ademide's dad said.

   "What are you working on, though?" I asked out of curiosity.

  "Just things that has to do with your husband company's launch next month," Ademide's father said, winking at me.

  It didn't take long before I added two and two and figured out that he was referring to Ademide as my husband. With heated cheeks, I looked at Ademide, who looked shifty where he was seated. I tapped the table in front of him and said, "You didn't tell me anything about that."

  "He didn't?" Ademide's mum asked in surprise, arranging plates on the rack. "He will be launching his automobile company as an affiliate of his father's enterprise."

  "Wait," I said, trying to organize my thoughts along with the things I had just heard. His father owned an enterprise, well he did tell me his father was a businessman. But Ademide launched an automobile company, as in a company that made cars. "So he is launching an automo..."

  "Yes, he has been on it for some time now," Ademide's father said, staring at his son proudly. "If you remember, that was the reason he was at Lagos that time. He was meeting up with investors. You should have heard the news, though, Nelvo cars."

  "Nelvo cars?" I asked in shock. "As in the Nelvo company that produces almost anything?"

  "Yes, that Nelvo, my dear." Ademide's father said, smiling, while his son looked like he'd rather be anywhere else at the moment.

  "Femi," Ademide's mum called in a cautious tone. She was definitely trying to tell her husband not to continue talking and leave the discussion for I and Ademide, but the man didn't seem to catch that.

It was then that my brain started doing the calculations on its own. "Wait! You're Femi Adeshina."

  "Yes, you know that already, why ask?" Ademide's father said.

  "As in Femi Adeshina, the richest man in Nigeria, second richest in Africa. The one whose company produces almost anything. The one whose son will be launching an automobile company soon," I ranted out, not wanting to believe everything. It was hard to accept. The fact that my boyfriend Ademide was that son was even harder to comprehend.

  "Yes, dear," the man answered, then turned to his son. "How come she doesn't know any of this?"

  "We just haven't gotten to discuss it yet," Ademide said in a quite shaky voice.

  "I-I need to use the restroom," I said and immediately excused myself from their presence. Everything was really too much for me to take in. This has made me realize just how little I knew about my boyfriend.

  I ran upstairs and went into Ademide's room. I fell across the bed immediately. I got in. It didn't take long before I heard the door sounding behind me and footsteps coming towards me.

   "Mary, I can actually explain..."

  "Why you didn't tell me," I completed on his behalf, still lying face flat on his bed.

  "I'm sorry."

  I've been hearing a lot of I'm sorry from him lately, and it was getting frustrating. "You did tell me who your father was, but you never said he was the Femi Adeshina."

  "I thought you'd figure it out, and I actually didn't want you to see me as some spoilt brat." I heard him say, sounding really vulnerable. Why does he have to know how to call my attention.

  I sat up on the bed and looked up at him. He really did look like some spoilt brat with the puppy eyes he was giving. "You really are the most annoying human in the world."

  "I know," he agreed willingly.

   "Gosh! You're giving me a headache!" I exclaimed, glaring at him.

  "I'll get you painkillers," he said and immediately ran out of the room before I could even tell him I wasn't serious.

  Like seriously! What kind of guy am I actually dating? Why would...

My inner ranting was cut off with the ringing of a phone. I turned towards the sound to see Ademide's phone on his side stool, and the caller ID blaring on the screen was Vera!

  I moved towards the phone and picked it up, answering the call. "Hello."

Phew!

We just keep on unraveling new things about Ademide every day.

  Who do you think this Vera lady is?

See ya guys later.

MARY ADEN.