"So what are you going to do now? Are you really going to leave?"

Olivia slowly turned to take one last look at Grace. For some reason, she needed to be sure that she was properly tucked in and wasn't feeling uncomfortable or in pain.

She was sleeping like a baby. As a matter of fact, Olivia couldn't imagine how Grace had taken all of what had happened in, more than she did. She had gone back to smiling in less than twenty minutes after she had been hit.

Olivia let out a weak sigh and turned around again, making sure to leave her phone firm on her ear so she didn't miss a word Amy said.

"I don't know Amy." She said. "That seems like the most reasonable choice right now. I think it's what's good for everyone, for Grace, and for Rafael. It's bad enough that everyone sees him as a bad son for going against his father, the last thing I want is putting him on a rough side with his mother as well. I don't want to do that to him."

"Well, have you guys talked about it? If you need to leave his house again, I think he should know about it."

"I would tell him, that's for a fact. Maybe when I've got somewhere?"

"Um, about that, do you have anywhere in mind? Kubwa? Dutse? Apo?"

Olivia rubbed her arm gently just to spread heat around it. It was suddenly very chilly in there or was it just the thought of leaving that made her that cold?

"Anywhere is fine, as long as it's breathable, and it's a good place for Grace to start over, far away from all of this, far away from anyone that might want to hurt her."

She could hear Amy's loud exhale from over the phone.

"You know Amy, all Grace has known all her life is pain and neglect by the people she has called family. She sees a light in everyone and has high hopes in everyone. I know she's a child and it's okay for children to be that way, but a part of me wishes she could learn to see that not everyone has her best interest at heart. I need her to understand how unfair and crazy the world is and yet, I hope she can get to live without holding on to any grudges from our past. I'd like to give my children a life only surrounded by all the love the world has to offer and to think that there was a point in Grace's life where she was deprived of all of that love, where she was constantly abused by Victoria and now, Sommadina, people who she believed were supposed to love and care for her, I don't want her to live like that Amy."

"Oh dear cousin, your story is honestly so sad and I really don't know how else I can help, even though I wanted to. The least I could do is send an Agent your way. He's really good at house hunting and real estate and he has his eyes and ears everywhere. I'm sure if you told him what kind of apartment you're looking for, he would be able to pull something up."

Olivia nodded. That was enough for her.
She didn't need anything else but the assurance that Amy had just given to her. She was going to be good on her own. She had worked for a while and had savings too. Enough to take care of her, Amy and the baby.

She placed a hand on her forehead and rubbed it lightly.

"Thank you Amy, I owe you one."

"Come on sis, you know it's nothing. Please send my love to my niece."

"I will. Bye."

Olivia hung up and slowly dropped her phone back on the bed. She placed her elbows on her thighs and placed her head in her hands for a short minute.

Not this time.
There was nothing to be sorry for herself for. She was done feeling pity for herself, and she wasn't going to give it a second thought.

She was silly to have thought that she could just come back into Rafael's life after everything that had happened and expected everyone to accept her immediately. She also knew that she was asking for too much if she chose to stay, even after knowing that her presence made Sommadina very uncomfortable.

Olivia raised her head and turned to the door the moment she heard a soft knock on it.

He didn't wait for an answer before he opened it slowly and peeped inside. Olivia adjusted her posture at the sight of him, and then got up the moment he entered into the room.

Rafael had his gaze on her, taking slow steps, scratching his thumb against his index finger as he made his way to her, not sure of what he was going to say the moment he got close enough.

He had rehearsed it, maybe over a thousand times, and a thousand more when he had gotten to her room but now that he was actually in it, he had no words to describe what he felt.

Guilt, shame, apologetical, concern. He could feel every single one of them as his eyes met Olivia's.

"Hey." He furrowed his brows.

"Hey." She said.

He took a minute, wondering what to say after that.

"I saw your lights were still on and thought I'd check to see how you and Grace were doing."

He took his gaze away from her, making sure it settled on Grace while Olivia slowly raised herself from the bed.

"How is she?"

Olivia shifted her gaze to Grace too.

"She's fine." She said after taking a deep breath to strengthen her courage. "Still sore in some areas but she'd be fine."

Rafael shut his eyes. He was ashamed, and he didn't know what to say. He was sure he had rehearsed for that part but it had become harder to say anything now that he was right there.

"Olivia." He returned his gaze to her. "I am terribly sorry for what mother did. It was an extremely wicked thing to do and it's even crazier knowing that that's not the kind of person she is. I honestly do not know what came over her but notwithstanding, what she did, it was wrong, and distasteful."

Olivia sighed.

"Rafael-"

"No please, let me apologize." He cut her off. He didn't want her to stop him. He exhaled.

"I just wanted you to know how sorry I am to you and to Grace for what happened. I know I can't take back what she did, but I'm going to make sure you and Grace both get the apology that you deserve from her, and also make sure what happened today never happens again-"

"It's a lot." Olivia blurted out, she couldn't wait for him to finish his statement. Olivia wasn't sure of what she wanted but an apology was the last thing on her mind. She couldn't even blame him for suggesting that? What would he have done? Sommadina had made it clear what her intentions were and she was also never leaving the house. Olivia knew she couldn't insist, it wasn't her house anyway and she had no rights to tell him what to do about it, but she also didn't want to pretend anymore that it was okay, that an apology was going to just take everything away.

"What?"

Olivia exhaled and took a step closer to him.

"It's a lot of promises you've made to me Rafael," she told him. "It's too much, that I'm worried that you might never get to keep them all. You're not to blame for any of this. It wasn't your fault. I'm as much as to blame for what happened too. I should have known what I signed up for the moment I chose to be back here. It's only natural for your mother to react that way, to be irritated and uncomfortable with having us around. It's bad enough that you have to fight your father everyday because of me, I don't want that to happen with your mother also."

"Olivia-"

"You don't need to make any promises to me anymore Rafael. You also don't have to worry about me or Grace anymore from now on. You just do what you need to do and we'd be fine on our own."

Rafael exhaled. He took a step to reach for her arm when she took a step back. She didn't want him touching her. She didn't want him trying to change her mind either. She didn't know what was going to happen if she let him close to her and that was certainly not the right time.

She pulled her arm away and shut her eyes.

"I'm getting really tired." She told him, taking another step back. "Can we just have this conversation another time?" She kept her eyes away from him. She couldn't bear to look at him either.

"Please." She added.

Rafael let out a tired exhale. He didn't know what to say or do and he knew that at that time, Olivia probably needed her space. He knew better than to push it. He nodded his head, he understood what she meant.

Without having to turn to him, Olivia could feel his presence slowly leave her. She could hear his footsteps as he approached the door and before she knew it, he walked outside slowly and closed it behind him.

Olivia found herself reaching for the bed slowly, hands on her chest to stop her racing heart, to stop her bleeding heart.

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Benita hummed the Angus Dei as she folded all the table clothes in a neat pile. She had finally found the time to resume her duties after making sure that she had played her part in resolving the conflict that had started earlier. She was relieved at how the house had become extremely quiet even after the day that they had. She only had a few more hours until midnight and she was going to join everyone else to retire for the day only after she had made sure that there were no chores left undone.

Her wrinkled hands caressed the smooth cotton as she laid it down on the neat pile and reached for yet another one, totally ignoring the ticking sounds the second hand of the wall clock made behind her.

It didn't matter how lost she was in her thoughts, she knew the exact minute Rafael walked into the kitchen and watched how he went straight to the refrigerator, keeping her eyes on him but not stopping for a second with what she was doing.

She could read him like a book even though he had his back facing her while he leaned to grab a bottle of water from the tall machine. She could tell he was stressed with the way he turned to the counter and dropped the bottle on it frustratedly, clenching on the edge of the counter with both hands, and burying his gaze on the flat surface. His breathing was loud and his sigh was even louder.

She could tell he had a lot on his mind, and for some reason, it was like she knew what it already was, what troubled him.

"Can't sleep?"

Rafael took a second before he stood straight and reached for the bottle of water. She watched him take the lid off and take a very long drink from it like he was trying to drown himself before he dropped it back on the table. He took another minute before he turned to her. Benita slowly dropped the cloth in her hands and gave him all her attention, especially when he folded his arms on his chest.

"What do I do Nanny?" he asked her, his voice trembling with every word. Benita slowly got up from the chair she was in and made her way to him while he adjusted his gaze with her movements.
"I thought I could do it, I thought I could take care of everyone at once, I thought that all I needed to do was show everyone who the real villain is. Right now, I feel like I'm being pulled in different directions, and fighting different wars even when it's all the same. How do I choose? How do I get to choose between my mother and the woman that I love? Why do I have to choose?"

Benita let out a weak exhale and raised her hand to his shoulder. She rubbed his shoulder gently.

"I thought it was every parent's dream to see their children happy. Why do my parents deliberately work so hard to rob me of mine? What exactly did I do so wrong?"

Benita shook her head,

"Nothing nna m,"

"Haven't they done enough? Have I not given everything that I have? I lost a family once, and I'm about to lose another family because of them. Until when does it end?" He pointed at himself.

"Until when do I deserve to be happy? Why do I have to pay for their sins?" He pointed at the door.
"Why does Olivia have to pay for their sins?"

Benita slowly pulled her hand down his arm until she wrapped them around his hands. She pushed herself closer to him and looked him right in the eye.

"Neither you nor Olivia did anything wrong my child." She told him. "It's the adults that are to blame."

Rafael sniffed.

"Oh my boy, I've known you since the day you were born. I have watched you grow into a fine young man. I watched you take your first steps, and say your first words. I changed every diaper, and tended to your wounds, and of all the wounds I ever saw on you, I have only recognized three of them that I am unable to treat on my own, and this is one of them. I do not know how to give you the answers to the questions you have asked, but I do know one thing," she raised her hand to his face and rested her fingers on the side of his face.

"I know that you are a good man, and a good son. I know that it takes a lot of strength, and goodness to fight the kind of battles that you have fought, and make the kind of choices that you have made. You have done nothing wrong, and have turned out to be the man that I had hoped that you become; a good man, and it doesn't matter what your mother says, or does, I'm sure she can see it too. You are fighting a fight that no one would ever dream of doing, and standing behind those that no one would fight for, even against your own family. What woman would want to leave a man like that? What woman would not want a good man like you? I'm sure Olivia sees what I see, and knows what I know because she is a good woman. And If you both are destined to be together, there's nothing, that anyone on earth can do to change that. ọ dịghị onye pụrụ ịkwụsị ihe Chineke doziri; no one can put an end to what God has ordained."

Rafael scoffed while Benita pointed at him, keeping a straight face.

"What would be, would be Chukwudalu, and no man can ever stop it."

Rafael let out a weak exhale as he looked at the woman in front of him with so much gratitude. He felt a lot better than he was when he had walked into the room and it was funny how the woman in front of him, who had not birthed him, knew so much about him, and always knew the right words to say to him.

More than thirty years and she had not changed at all. She always put him first and took care of him even above her own children. He wished Sommadina was everything she was and it pained him that there was only so much he could do for her. If he could give her the world, he knew that he could.

Rafael exhaled just as he felt her squeeze his arm gently.

"Cheer up my boy, and go get some rest. It's going to be a better day when you wake up."

Her smile was reassuring and for some reason, he believed her.

He had too, he needed to.
He wanted the storm to pass too.