Utianle

Emma's eyes danced with happiness as Esther helped him with the last of his shirt's button, leaving him to tuck it into his maroon coloured shorts. Esther was dressed in matching colours but her outfit was a gown that had her school's white badge sewn to the breast pocket.

They seemed to be in a world of their own with their eyes communicating their inner thoughts. I felt like a nosy stranger with my back propped against the wall, a lazy smile plastered on my lips and eyes watching their every move.

"We will use Bolt today," I interjected, suddenly feeling left out of their private jokes.

Esther's giggling stopped and she left the parlour, returning shortly with a bowl of pap and a plate of Akara while Emma took a seat on the couch, having already eaten.

"What's Bolt?" He asked with his brows furrowed and his lips in a pout. His socked foot was halfway into his shoe when he stumped it on the ground, struggling with it for a few more seconds before raising his leg up in Esther's direction.

Her spoonful of pap froze midair and she peered pleadingly at me to assist him. The smile on Emma's face died as I edged closer to him and I staggered slightly, feeling a dull pain like the quick removal of a blunt knife from my chest at his crumbled expression.

Kneeling down in front of him with his foot in my arms, I muttered solemnly, "Bolt is a car service."

As if to verify the authenticity of my statement, he cast another glance at Esther. Their growing dependency on each other should have warmed my heart, instead, it scared me, leaving me with a deep fear of being unwanted by my own children.

"Yes. They will take you wherever you want to go," Esther added, smiling reassuringly at me as if she could hear my thoughts.

"They will take us to school?" His eyes lighted up when Esther nodded and the smile on his cheeks broadened; he never liked the public bus but it was cheaper. "You will follow us?"

My fingers automatically went to his cheeks, caressing it gently; I wanted to preserve the smile on his face. "Yes."

His arms immediately went around my neck, providing calmness to the storm I never knew raged inside of me. Unexplainable joy filled me at his action and it tripled when Esther's arms also wrapped around us in a group hug. I was overcome with the strong urge to remain in this position, a hunger for more intimate moments like this.

I knew what I had to do: persuade Vincent to let me resume by 9 am, stop working on Saturdays and refuse to bring clients clothes home. Then, I could make the journey with them to their school every morning, spend the weekend listening to them ramble about their classmates while assisting with their homework.

The moment was broken when the low battery tone of my phone pierced the silence and the power supply went off, casting the room into semidarkness.

Tentatively, I broke off from the hug, walking towards the socket where my phone had been plugged. The 10% beside the red battery icon glared at me mockingly, rapidly decreasing until it was just 1%. Afraid to disappoint them, I skipped over to the Bolt app, my shoulders sagging in defeat when the apple that looked like someone had taken a careless bite out of it appeared on the now blank screen.

When I turned to face them, their hands were intertwined, lunch boxes at their feet, eagerly waiting for the promised ride.

"We will use Bolt another time," I murmured, twiddling my fingers nervously. The fleeting look of disappointment in their eyes made me want to scream, to ask them to blame my stupid phone for refusing to charge even though I had it plugged overnight.

"You will follow us?" Emma asked.

My head moved up and down of its own accord; the gap-toothed smile he offered me made everything feel okay again.

* * *

"Emmanuel!" The high-pitched voice caused me to clutch Emma's hand tight, pushing him out of sight of the little girl that was running towards us with remarkable speed. Esther had disappeared to catch up with her friends, leaving me with the arduous task of convincing Emma that I would come back for them after school hours.

When the young girl reached where we were standing behind a navy blue Sienna, she smiled sheepishly at me while trying to take a peek at my back. One foot stuck out in front of the other and her tiny fingers pulled at the hem of her hijab until Emma stepped out to stand beside her, their faces beaming.

Her lips moved close to his ear, "is this your mummy?" It was meant to be a whisper but I heard it loud and clear.

"No, she's my sister." That was what I had drummed into their ears for a long time, an anthem they had learnt to believe. However, hearing him say it out confidently hit me like a big slap on my face and I wondered what his response would have been if asked about his mother.

"Good morn-"

"Samia. I have told you to stop running off like that." My unspoken worries died down at the sound of that voice, the one I had hoped never to hear again.

Chills crept up my spine and I pulled down the hoodie of my long-sleeved cardigan over my scalp, scrambling away from Samia who was smiling mischievously at an approaching King.

"You are lucky you are my favourite goddaughter," he continued when he got closer, oblivious to Emma's presence. His tailored suit stretched as he scooped Samia into his arms and I gestured subtly for Emma to come with me but he shook his head.

"I'm your only goddaughter," Samia responded, jutting out her lower lip. She hit him once on his shoulder and then pouted; gone was the shy girl who stood beside Emma a few minutes ago.

"And my favourite," he reiterated, sticking his tongue out at her; an action she gladly reciprocated.

"Sister Uti," Emma suddenly shouted, probably afraid that I had left without notice. King's bickering with Samia stopped and he looked around for the first time since his arrival, a smile replacing the frown on his lips when his gaze landed on Emma.

Grudgingly, I pushed myself away from my hiding spot, chewing on my lips when King's brows rose briefly in surprise.

"Fancy seeing you here?" I offered as a way of greeting, feeling uncomfortable with the way his eyes lingered on my lips like he was trying to commit it to memory. Annoyed at Emma for calling me out, I pinched the back of his neck, feigning shock when he yelped.

My eyes darted briefly between King and the girl in his arms, they exuded a father-daughter aura that made me wish for things from a long time ago. He must have misinterpreted the longing in my eyes because he quickly did the introductions.

"This is Samia, my goddaughter," he laid emphasis on the last word as if afraid it might scare me off. "I'm doing school runs on behalf of her father," he added when I continued staring at him.

Samia whispered into his ears and he dropped her to her feet. When she stretched out her hands to him, he retrieved packets of peanuts from his pocket with a scowl on his face. There were three packets so she broke them apart, handed two to Emma and kept the last one for herself.

"Uncle Kiki will buy your own, you hear?" She directed at me.

Uncle Kiki?

I didn't know when I erupted in laughter, the deepening scowl on King's face encouraging me to laugh harder.

"Samia," King drawled, embarrassment written all over his features, "don't you want to show Laura the drawings you made?"

That caught her interest quickly, she grabbed Emma's arms and was just about to leave when King stopped them. "Samia?"

She huffed, her pink lips puckered and she murmured, "I promise to be a good girl." When he didn't give the go-ahead for her to leave, she added, "no fighting in class." The last statement left me wondering what this cute girl in hijab must have done.

King balled his left hand into a fist and she did the same with hers before they collided in a fist bump. I didn't know what prompted him to do it but when he pushed his fist in Emma's direction, pure happiness radiated on my baby's face as his small fist connected with King's.

"So . . ." He was the first one to break the quiet after they had runoff. With his expensive suit, he looked out of place in the compound of pupils but still managed to retain that air of gentle superiority.

My stomach rumbled and I cleared my throat noisily to disguise the sound. After making the kids breakfast, my appetite had disappeared but now, the hunger was back with a vengeance.

"Uncle Kiki," I shoved my hands into the pocket of my jumpsuit, letting down my hoodie to allow the morning breeze caress my scalp and hopefully distract me from the ongoing war in my belly.

He grunted, obviously displeased by the reminder of that nickname. "How many minutes until you have to go to Vincent's?"

A quick glimpse at my wristwatch showed it was past the time I was supposed to be at the Fashion Hub. "30. Why?"

"I also have 30 minutes." Why was he telling me this? "We could grab a quick breakfast."

Okay. Maybe I wasn't the only one who heard my stomach noises.

I hesitated with my reply, his statement seeming weightier the longer I thought of it. All week I had forced myself not to think of his strong arms around my waist or the wrinkles of concern that appeared on his forehead each time I folded into myself at the painful squeeze of my insides.

But now, the object of my wistfulness was here and yes felt like the right word to say, at the same time, that thought made me feel like I was cheating on Umoh. The anticipation in his eyes unsettled me, worsened by the image of Emma when they fist-bumped; this wasn't going to end well.

*****

Media: Esther and Emma.

Fun fact: The girl's name is also Esther and she's a math genius.

Don't get mad at my inconsistent updates, I really do try my best but sometimes life has its own schedule which is (most times) different from mine and I don't want to be forced to upload just because, so bear with me, inugo? Plus this chapter was long too ;)

Okay ... So, what do you think about the new cover? I prefer the old one though but for copyright reasons, here we are.