The week went by quickly, although not fast enough in Sara's opinion. It was another Saturday today, second week in February, and another opportunity to meet with her son. Right now, the jeep was heading towards the mansion, and despite herself, she was apprehensive. She figured her temporary situation would end faster than she would expect, as Lucas was being tight lipped on how long he planned on staying in Lagos. Apparently the house being on a five year lease didn't really mean he planned to honor it. Besides, she had spent the greater part of her first visit playing with her son than actually finding out about his life these past years. Not that she wasn't thrilled about a repeat performance, she wished to know if he would need a mother figure in his life or if her sudden appearance will be detrimental instead of benign.

Soon the car pulled into the mansion and she stepped out, before the door man could open the door for her. With her focus in mind, she walked through the double brass doors of the house and was ushered into the dining room where Lucas and Freddie, surprisingly, were having a late breakfast. Lucas was eating scrambled eggs with toast and a cup of coffee, while Freddie drank his cereal. Freddie saw her first and beamed, causing Lucas eyes to fly up to her face.

"Sara! You're here," called Freddie cheerfully.

"You're early. Eager, are we?" mocked the man, smirking at her.

She flashed the son a hearty smile and scowled at the father. "It's too late for breakfast. And I'm not early," she clarified.

Lucas angled his head at her response, dropping his cutleries. "It's my house, so I decide at what time I have breakfast," he stated, feeling smug.

"Sara, daddy woke up late today. He was snoring and talking in his sleep. So I had to go wake him up because I was hungry," Freddie explained in a matter of fact way.

Lucas looked away in shame as her brows lifted at the information. "You don't say?" She murmured, barely holding back her laugh.

He glanced at her direction, smacking his lips. "Despite that, the rule still applies."

She nodded, moving to go help Freddie climb down from his chair. He grinned at her, and then bundled off to the kitchen to go drop his cereal bowl. She sat on the recently vacated chair, while waiting for her son to return. She was in fact eager to start the day, already.

She turned her focus to him and quizzed. "You woke up late?" She found it hard to believe.

He glowered at her. "Alright. Have your fun at my expense," he intoned, trying to hide a smile flickering on his lips. "But I'll let you know, I'll have the last laugh."

She nodded, as a giggle escaped her lips. "He said you were snoring and talking. I know about the light snores, but should I be worried about you talking in your sleep?" She mocked, still laughing.

He shook his head dejectedly. "I'll admit that was not my finest moment. I'll blame it on the terrible week I've had. Production has started at the company and I'm worried we might not meet our May deadline. I have powerful investors counting on our delivery," he explained, standing up from his chair. Grabbing his plate, he marched off to the kitchen area, and Sara having nothing else to do followed him.

She had just entered the familiar environment that was the kitchen when the sight in front of her stopped her. Plates were lying carelessly on the floor at the left corner broken, the pan too and a few mugs. Water was slowly covering the entire floor and Sara turned to find the source. Freddie stood near the sink, holding his left palm in his right hand with a pained expression on his face. Then she saw why. A broken plate was left on the sink counter with a red stain on it. A gasp escaped her lips at the same minute as Lucas rushed to pick him up. Quickly and without a word, he marched out of the kitchen, pausing briefly to scowl at the maid who was just entering the kitchen tired and breathless, obviously from a run.

"This better be the last time I'll come in here and you're not around." Then he marched out.

Sara paused to watch the terrified expression on the maids face as it scrunched up into a frown. She was fighting hard not to cry. "I didn't do anything wrong. Why is he angry? I don't want to get fired."

She walked into the kitchen still in a daze until her eyes collided with the scene in front of her, and then at Sara. "Oh no. What happened here?"

Sara eyed her passively. "I should ask you that. A little boy was left unsupervised in this kitchen, somewhere you should have been present at but you weren't. Things could have gotten so much worse because of your carelessness. That time getting fired would be the least of your worries," she explained, turning to leave.

She knew it was not in her place to have scolded the poor girl but the situation could have gone so wrong so suddenly. Children within Freddie's age bracket were rarely left unsupervised as the chances of home accidents occurring were high. Juliet's ranting about Harmony was her knowledge.

Remembering her initial reason for being here, she quickly climbed the stairs instinctively guessing they would be in Freddie's room. So she headed there. She got to the slightly open door to see Lucas sitting on the bed with Freddie lying in bed. He was telling his son something.

"Don't worry, musketeer, very soon the pain will go away and you'll be as good as new. It's not a big thing. I had lots of cuts and bruises when I was your age because I was very naughty," he stated, causing a giggle to ripple out from Freddie's lips.

"Really?" He was incredulous.

He nodded, clasping his son's bandaged thumb. "Yeah. I got into a lot of trouble when I was little. And I fought everyday with your aunt Amanda. And then I'll get spanked after our fights because I was older and your grandma always believed I was the one at fault. Even when I wasn't," he recalled, bending to drop a kiss on his son's forehead.

"I love you, Freddie," he whispered fiercely.

"I love you too, daddy," Freddie reiterated beaming.

He stood up from the bed, pulling Freddie along with him. Turning to find Sara at the door, they both paused mid stride.

"I see it's not very serious. I was worried," she said, looking at Lucas who nodded at her comment.

"Yeah. Thankfully, it wasn't a deep cut. And I managed to stop the bleeding. Although I told a certain someone to lay off the house chores for now," he said, moving his gaze to his son who grinned back at him, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Striding out of the room, Lucas came to stand beside her at the door. "So, I'll leave you guys alone now. I'll probably be at the company all day so make sure to keep your attention on him at all times."

She nodded, looking into his eyes. He nodded, and with one last glance, he marched off towards the steps.

"Bye daddy!" Freddie called after his departing frame.

"Bye musketeer!" He yelled back. And mother and son were left to their devices for the day.

Once they were alone, she followed Freddie towards the playroom. With her focus in mind, she guided him towards the shelf that contained all his story books and comics. He was surprised by her action, but albeit ecstatic they were going to read books he liked. Soon, mother and son went to sit in the left corner of the room facing the window to read a book, with Freddie sitting comfortably in between her legs. He had chosen 'Tortoise and the drum of food'

"Once upon a time in the land of the animals, there was a famine..." She began, reading slowly to allow him follow the words. Then he placed his hand on the book, studying the drawing.

"This is a tortoise!" He exclaimed, quite pleased when she nodded in agreement.

She turned the page to continue reading. "All the animals were very hungry and didn't know what to do. Among them was the tortoise. He and his family were very hungry and because of that got weaker every day. His family was made up of him and his wife and his son." She sucked in a sharp breath as Freddie touched the page with the painting of the tortoise family, preventing her from turning the page. Sara could feel the sound of the cogs turning rapidly in her mind even before he opened his mouth.

"Do I have a family, Sara?" He asked, angling his head to look at her.

She studied his expression before replying. "What did your father tell you about that?" She knew why he had asked that question, but she was not at liberty to tell him yet.

He raised a hand to his chin, all in accordance with thinking deep and hard. "He says I have a family. He says he's my family and I am his family."

"Then your father is right, Freddie." She nodded, smiling at him. "Let's continue reading, shall we?"

He nodded vigorously at that and Sara flipped the page to continue reading. "One day, Tortoise told his wife that he was going away to another town to go look for food. He told his wife to wait for him to return. Then he took the last piece of yam in the house and left."

"Is he going away?" Freddie sounded like he was on the verge of tears, and Sara wasn't so certain about reading this book to him. She eyed his bicycle with trainers still in its ribbons kept by the side of the room.

"If it makes you so sad, we can stop reading and go ride your bicycle instead."

"No!" Was the vehement denial. "I want to continue reading. Daddy reads to me all the time but he doesn't read it how you do it. I like it when you read it, Sara." He beamed at her, looking into her eyes sincerely.

Sara held herself from breaking down in tears. He had no idea how touching his words were to her. If he wasn't her son, she'd still love him as much.

Expelling a ragged breath, she smiled before continuing. "On the way, he met an old man who was blind. Tortoise was very kind to the old man and gave the old man the piece of yam he had with him. The old man was very happy with tortoise so in return he gave him a drum and told him to beat the drum whenever he was hungry and all types of food will come out of it. He told tortoise to sing this song when he hit the drum." Then he stood up suddenly and rushed to his hand truck to pick up his toy drum and its sticks. As he hit the drum with his sticks, she sang.

"Igba nri na ofe. Pumputu, pumputu, Igba nri na ofe." They were grinning like fools when they were done singing. Then he ran to his former sitting position in between her legs to continue the story.

"Tortoise was very happy with the drum and thanked the old man. Then the old man warned tortoise to not let anyone else beat the drum, otherwise food will not come out. Tortoise went home very happy. When he got home in the night, he closed the door and in front of his wife and his son, Tortoise started beating the drum, singing the song the old man taught him.

"Soon, foods and drinks of many types filled the house. Tortoise and his family ate and ate until they were overfull. After eating, there were still a lot of food left behind. Tortoise and his family were very happy." She paused to find Freddie grinning from ear to ear at the picture and the imagination the words conjured.

"They will have bellyache if they eat too much. I have bellyache too when I eat too much but daddy makes it all better when he kisses my stomach," he stated, his eyes widened at the image.

She smiled adoringly at him. "I'm happy your daddy is always there for you. He really loves you a lot."

He nodded eagerly at her words. "I'm happy too."

Then they continued reading. "This was what Tortoise and his family did every day. In the night, they closed the doors when everyone was asleep, he beat the drum and sang the song and many types of foods filled their house. It was always more than they could finish. Very soon, other animals saw how fat tortoise and his family were and wanted to know the secret. So they told the king and he called tortoise to ask him."

She reached out to turn the page and like earlier, he paused her action. "What is a secret, Sara?" He asked, turning fully to look at her. A shadow of doubt crossed her features as she tried to imagine where his question was coming from.

"A secret is something you know that you don't want someone else to know about. Freddie, do you have a secret?" She asked him and saw him look away.

"Daddy has a secret. I heard aunt Amanda say to grandma that daddy should tell my mommy what happened on that night that made her to leave but grandma said it's daddy's secret," he explained, looking into her eyes. "Is a secret a bad thing, Sara?" he asked, sounding sad.

She shook her head in disagreement. He was too young to understand the dynamics of life yet, so she tried to assuage his fears. "No, secrets are not bad things. Your father's secret is not a bad thing... "

"Why won't he let my mommy know his secret so that she'll come back?" He asked suddenly, cutting into her words. She watched a tear trail down along his cheeks and her heart broke at his pain. Obviously, his curiosity about his mother was yet to be satisfied by his father. She needed to tread carefully here.

"What did your daddy tell you about your mommy?" She asked, crossing and uncrossing her fingers, in hope of positive reply.

"He said he made mommy very angry and sad with him so she had to go to a faraway land. He said she'll come back when she's no longer sad. But that's not true. It's a year and she's not back. Is she still angry with daddy? She should not be. He's really nice to me and he makes me very happy," he said, as a matter of fact.

Unable to take it anymore, she reached out and pulled him into a hug. Pouring all her love into it, she whispered. "Your mommy is very sorry that she's not here with you. She wants you to know she loves you a whole lot. And that she'll be back very soon. You'll see."

It wasn't until a small hand wiped across her face did she realize she had been crying. She smiled through her tears, before reaching out to wipe it away.

"She'll no longer be sad with daddy when she comes back, right?" He asked, hope shimmering in his eyes, an exact replica of the man himself.

Sara couldn't lie to him. He deserved so much more but she swore to try even it was for her son's sake. Sniffing, she nodded. "Yes. She'll no longer be sad at him."

He grinned at her response, obviously appeased by her answers. "Let's continue reading, Sara," he insisted and Sara was more than eager to oblige.

"Tortoise told the king about the drum of food and the king said Tortoise was very selfish for not sharing with all the other animals. The king told Tortoise that it was always good to share what he had with others. So Tortoise agreed."

"I know that's why I share my sweets and candies with Harmony. She likes them a lot," he said proudly and Sara beamed at him. He was adorable.

"He called the animals to his house and said he was going to have a party. They all came, with their wives and their sons and their daughters. The king came too, wearing his crown and carrying his chair. When everyone had sat down, Tortoise stood up and began to beat the drum singing the song the old man taught him.

"Soon, many types of food were everywhere. The animals had never seen so much food all in one place. Everyone ate and ate and ate until they could not eat anymore. Their belly were too big and it made them sleepy. So they all slept in Tortoise house. When they woke up in the morning, Tortoise was seating in the King's chair and was wearing the kings' crown. He was now king."

Mother and son gasped at the twist in the story. This was a coup!

But Freddie had a gentler approach to the issue. "Tortoise is a bad man! He should not take other people's things."

Sara nodded, smiling at the good manners his father had instilled in him. For once, she was glad he had grown up with his father. "Yes, you're right. He is a bad man."

The story was continued, however. "Tortoise said he was now their king and he would rule them all. Because he was the only one who could give them food, all the animals agreed. Tortoise had his chair built very high so he could see every animal because he was very short. In the evening he beat the drum, singing the song the old man taught him and then food will come out."

"He's mean!" Yelled the little boy, scowling at the painting of tortoise in his high chair.

Sara nodded. "I agree, completely." The tortoise was the perfect description of Lucas that night of the party.

"One day in the evening, Tortoise was too lazy to climb down from his high chair to beat the drum, so he told his son to beat the drum for him. He had forgotten the old man's warning. The son beat the drum and sang the song the old man had taught him. But no food came out. He beat the drum again and sang the song again, but there was no food. All the animals were hungry now and were making a noise. Tortoise climbed down from his high chair and came to beat the drum. In anger, he beat the drum too hard and sang too loudly. The drum broke and instead of food, masquerades jumped out of the drum, holding long canes in their hands. They were angry."

Freddie gasped, hiding into her embrace. She chuckled at his action before flipping the page.

"They flogged Tortoise and his wife and his son. The crown fell off from Tortoise head as he ran. All the animals ran away, the king took his chair and his crown and ran away too. It was a very sad day in the animal kingdom. Tortoise came home in pain but his wife and his son were still crying because of the flogging. Tortoise learnt a valuable lesson that day. What do you think it was?"

Sara asked him, as she reached the end of the book. The folklore was popular when she had been growing up and was pleasantly surprised to find someone had written it down for children's literature. She was very much impressed.

He thought hard about it before replying, "We should not be mean."

Sara hid her chuckle behind a smile. Even as Freddie stood up to go return the book on the shelf, she couldn't help wondering if Lucas needed to sit down and have the story read to him. He was sure to learn one or two valuable lessons about hospitality.

What do you think, readers? (Winks)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uh, the feels to this chapter😩😄

This chapter is dedicated to Giggles302 for being such a wonderful friend and an amazing writer. Her books made me go through so much feelings in a short space of time. Check it out and see.

Fact 1: This chapter was hard for me to write because I was trying to connect mother-son bond with my favorite folklore. (I think it's pretty obvious😏), and I hope we've made a progress with the bonding.

Fact 2: I really tried to not make this chapter long but turning a folklore into a grammar reading for ages 4-6 is actually harder than it looks. No wonder children's books go through such scrutiny. 😥😩

Commenting and voting are as usual appreciated.

Thank you😍😘