King

Silence threatened to choke us, we waited, hearts pounding with fear written all over our faces as the doctor examined Uti. I took her hand between mine, caressing her knuckles with my thumb. He adjusted his stethoscope and I shared a look with Tomiwa. The others were beside him, leaning on the door like they needed the support. I needed support too from all of these. Why did she leave the house? Most importantly, how did she leave without the tracker detecting her movement.

A sigh from the doctor's direction snapped my head back to him. He smiled. "She's fine."

My breath lodged in my throat, relief stopped me from speaking and I nodded. Someone's hand descended on my shoulder, I looked up to see Uche with a small smile plastered on his lips. They took turns patting my back in silent support, I shut my eyes with a sigh and the doctor laughed. He would not understand.

The equipment he came with disappeared into his briefcase, I pulled the duvet up to Uti's chin and pecked her forehead. She muffled something in her sleep and a smile tugged at my lips. This woman would be the death of me. Tracing her collarbone, a cough from behind caused me to raise my head to the doctor standing a foot away from me. 

"I think your wife is pregnant but she has to come to the hospital to confirm," he said, tucking the briefcase under his armpit. 

The room grew graveyard silent. The guys shared looks. I forgot I was supposed to reply him and simply stared. His lips moved but I couldn't make out his words. I could see him. His shining scalp with thick black hair covering his jaw but I heard nothing. Then it started, the bizarre rhythm of my heart. The gallop and pounding coming from my chest.

Uti was pregnant. It wasn't confirmed yet a smile spread to my lips. Baby mama could be pregnant! We would have another baby.

"Thanks doc, we will come for a test," I told him in a voice that sounded strange. He waved us off and left. Tomiwa, Uche and Junior took a seat on the couch. Junior ran his fingers through his hair, Tomiwa and Uche put up a blank expression I didn't care to decipher. I had more important things to worry about. Wifey could be pregnant for mini-me. A chuckle slipped from me. A baby.

"If it turns out she's pregnant, what next?"

It was Tomiwa who voiced the question, I bit back a retort and shrugged. Ever the most logical one. If it turned out to be true, we would do what all normal family expecting a baby would do. We would be happy. I placed a hand on Uti's stomach, it was too flat.

Would our baby survive in there? What if the baby suffocated inside that tiny place? I shot to my feet, Uti had been skipping meals and I didn't want to force her. I should have. What if the baby already died from starvation?

I pinched the bridge of my nose, my shoulders trembled. We couldn't lose another baby, I would not survive this. Casting a wary look at Uti, I positioned my ear on her stomach and waited for a sound to show the baby was for real. Anything. How did this even work? At what point would the baby move?

"King."

"King!"

"Yes," I snapped. My eyes narrowed at Uche, he frowned but kept mute. I threw my hands up in frustration, he should speak now or forever hold his peace. "What? What is it?"

His mouth opened, his gaze lowered to the bed and he straightened up on the couch. I followed his gaze to Uti, she was awake.

Warmth spread through my chest at the grey eyes brewing with confusion, I helped her into a sitting position and the air thickened with awkwardness. She ducked when my head dipped to claim her mouth in a kiss. I settled for a peck and murmured a reply to the guys as they filed out of the room after muttering barely audible greetings to Uti.

Bunch of cowards, they couldn't even stay to help me figure out my crime. I turned to Uti, she looked away. Why was she ignoring me?

I should be mad. Oh, I was. She went to Umoh's house without informing me. What if she had gotten killed or they chose to press charges? I stifled a sigh. We would get to that later. As soon as she turned those pretty grey eyes back to me. I traced the outline of her stiff jaw, she tensed but focused her gaze on the window while my knuckles brushed her cheek. Stubborn woman.

"Uti," I called out. She stiffened but her gaze never returned to me. There was nothing of interest in the place her eyes were glued too and I had so much to say to her. Words that were too heavy for my mouth to bear but needed to be said. "Wifey, look at me."

And she did. She levelled me with an unkind glare. I whispered, "Why did you go there?"

Hiding her hands under the duvet to prevent me from touching her, she said, "You knew." I had troubles breathing at the look that crept into her eyes. The hate evident in them scorched my soul so I looked down, focused on the flowers on the blue bedsheet. "You knew he killed my baby." Her voice cracked, I refused to meet her gaze. "So why did I go there?" She clicked her tongue. "Why did I go there?"

"Wifey." My eyes slowly lifted to her face and my heart constricted. There was so much pain etched on her features and I wanted to take some, if not all of it away. She didn't deserve any of these. None of us did. "Uti."

"Don't touch me."

My hands dropped to the bed, I nodded. I could do that, I could keep my hands to myself. She pulled her knees to her chin, wrapped an arm around legs like she was protecting herself from me and it stung. I maintained the gap between us, nails deep into my palms to stop from reaching for her.

"I was going to tell you."

She hid her face in her palms, her voice was muffled when she said, "Yeah, that's what you always say. You were never going to tell me, the same way you never told me about him being a cheat. You are such a liar, King."

Time stood still, I took a deep breath to gather my thoughts. I was many things but a liar and we both knew that. "Utianle, I was going to tell you but something came up." She rolled her eyes, the dismissal struck a chord. "He was my son too, you know?"

"He was your son too?" She shook her head in disbelief. Maybe I should have chosen my words carefully but there were no lies in my statement. Emma was our son. Uti shot out of the bed, I did the same, standing in front of her to prevent her from doing something crazy. I didn't know this woman anymore. Her fingers poked my chest. "What do you know about being a father?" Wow, Uti. Wow. A dagger would have been nicer, straight to my heart. At least I could handle the physical pain. "Where were you when I carried him? For nine long months, Mr King Daniels."

"Balls deep in another female, Uti. Fucking a random woman." I sighed. "Are you happy now?" Pain flashed in her eyes but I was too hurt to care. "You went to his house with a gun!" I touched my index finger to my temple and screamed, "Are you insane? How could you do that? What if you had gotten killed?"

"Who says I want to live?"

Her voice broke. A sob caught in my throat. She didn't mean that. I tried to touch her but it seemed like there was an invisible barrier between us. My hands lowered to my sides.

"Not even for me? For Esther?" I whispered. She closed her eyes. I took a step forward. I had to remember her words were influenced by grief. My Uti would never say such a thing to me. Drawing her close, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Uti, it's me and you against the problem, not you against me."

Our gazes met, I looped my other arm around her waist. "Then let me go. Please."

Go where? Why wasn't she getting it? She got out of that stinky prison by sheer luck and she wants me to let her go? Never. My arms tightened around her waist, I braced myself for whatever would come next. I didn't care, she was not going anywhere. Not now that she could be pregnant. Even if she wasn't, I still wouldn't let her leave the house.

"No."

"No?" Her grey eyes shimmered with tears that never fell, I forced myself to remember I was doing this for her safety. She squirmed out of my embrace and my heart ached at the loss of contact. "No?" Unable to reply, I cleared my throat and her gaze hardened.

"This is all your fault." Shaking her head, she swiped the back of her hand against her eyes. "You are the problem, King. You put the party into his head, you did this." Each word left a hole in my heart, I shook my head in hopes she would stop talking but it was of no use. She fired on. "You killed my baby."

Something inside of me cracked on hearing that sentence. I looked up to meet her lips penetrating into mine and my lips curved into a painful smile. This wasn't grief talking anymore. This was her. This was my Uti. She believed what she was saying. I grimaced with a nod. I had to leave, the faster I got out of here, the better for her. For both of us.

We lost a child—our child and now it was my fault? What happened to the mad man behind the wheels? The bastard she dated.

"Where do you think you are going?" Uti screamed at my retreating figure. I halted in front of the door, my hand dropped from the knob and I slowly turned to face her. Words threatened to spill from me and I pressed my index finger to my lips. I could understand, I had to. She needed a scapegoat and I was available. She bridged the distance, that cold look sitting comfortably in her eyes. "You should never have invited him for that party."

My back met the door and a smirk crossed her lips. I didn't think twice before saying, "You should never have dated a psycho."

Her expression crashed, I would have cared, I would have been bothered but she was out for blood. Her sole mission was to hurt me so I didn't let those sad eyes get to me. If she believed I killed Emma, what other insane thoughts could possibly be running through her head? I was tired. Enough with being the bigger person. The stronger one.

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you too," I said.

We stood in silence, seconds rolled into minutes, maybe hours without any of us saying a word. I pushed away from the door, she inched backwards. Okay, she still didn't want me touching her. As much as it hurt, it was better than having her hurl words at me.

"Uti. Wifey," I called out to her. She paused, her head tilted to the side as if to inspect me like she was seeing me for the first time. "I am sorry." I couldn't be certain what I was apologising for but I needed to get the words out. A look at the bed, where I sat while the doctor examined her and I said, "You might be pregnant." Her eyes rounded to my face, the initial excitement I felt when the doctor announced it faded. "It's not confirmed."

Uti took another step away from me. Biting her lower lip, she replied, "I don't want to carry your baby. I don't want another child, I want Emma. I want my son back. My baby."

"He's gone," I muttered in the most placating voice I could muster. On some days, I struggled to accept he was dead and buried.

Gone.

A foreign emotion crawled into her eyes, her lips trembled. "He's gone because of you. You killed him." I didn't but that felt like the worst thing to say so I remained mute and shoved my hands into my pocket. I would gladly take all the insults if it would make her feel better about his death. "Baby killer."

One.

Two.

Ten seconds passed, she didn't take those words back. Maybe I lied, I couldn't take the insults and accusations, not when she said them with so much conviction. Umoh killed her son, not me. My gaze travelled the length of her skinny frame, I offered her a smile that didn't reach my eyes and exited the room.

Baby killer.

Her voice echoed in my head, I blindly took a turn by the left and crashed to a stop when I saw Tomiwa. The look on his face answered my query, there was no need for pretence.

"How much did you hear?"

Crossing his arms on his chest, he replied, "Enough." My hands disappeared into my pockets, I didn't know what I was waiting for. Maybe his usual dose of wisdom or anything that could explain her attitude. First, she purchased a gun, now, she was accusing me of being the killer. "I'm sure she didn't mean any of that. Grief can make us crazy."

Crazy enough for her to do stupid things like try to escape the room, I twisted the key in the hole and pulled it out. Tomiwa arched a brow and I burst out in mirthless laughter, swiping at the invisible dirt below my eyes.

"She's err... She's very angry." The angriest I had ever seen her. He squeezed my shoulder, I didn't know for sure when I dragged him into an embrace. "She's hurting and there's nothing I can do to help, Tomiwa," I muttered into his shirt. "I didn't kill her baby, I swear."

Tomiwa patted my back, uncapping the lid on my emotions and tears trickled out of my eyes. I cried into his chest like a pussy. He didn't say a word. He didn't tell me to get it together, he didn't utter any of those remarks about being strong and how death was to be expected. He just let me be and I let it all out.

Another moment of silence passed before I recovered, I dabbed at my eyes with the hem of my shirt in a futile attempt at wiping all trace of my tears. He still didn't comment but I had troubles meeting his eyes. I cried in front of him, not just that, he held me while I cried like a baby. In a way, I was glad it was him. Junior would never let me hear the end of it. That guy never missed his chances.

Speaking of Junior, I asked, "Where are they?" He pointed a finger in the direction of the parlour and I excused myself to freshen up. I couldn't go in there with puffy eyes.

He nodded his understanding, I made my way into the guest room Uti had camped for a while. My reflection stared back at me in the mirror, it could be my imagination but I had aged in minutes, lost a few kilogrammes too. I finished my business, used her towel to wipe my face and held onto it for a little while longer to get the scent of the Uti I was familiar with. That vicious woman locked in my room had to go, I wanted my calm Uti back.

The television drowned the sound of my footsteps, they didn't notice me come in until I plopped into an empty sofa. Junior turned down the volume, Esther who was by his side stood to join me and I beamed at her. She sat so close to me there was no space between us and I took it to mean she wanted me to carry her. And I did. Junior snorted, my frown eased up when I noticed his nose.

"Sorry, bro."

Junior relaxed his weight on the couch. "No worries, you can punch me anytime, anyday."

"No, you cannot," Uche and Tomiwa chorused and Junior rolled his eyes like the big baby he was. They smacked the back of his head without warning and he howled.

I laughed, my first genuine laughter in a long time and Junior increased the volume at the new song that filtered from the television. I wouldn't be punching anybody anytime soon. I was done with that shit. Esther tugged on my beards, I almost looked away from those eyes that reminded me of her mother's.

"Uncle Jayjay can make akara," she muttered. Oh, we were back to nicknames. We looked to the guys to be sure they couldn't hear us but their eyes were glued to the screen and I didn't feel so alone anymore. She pouted. I smiled. "Uncle Kiki, can you make akara?"

When a kid makes a request, it was of utmost importance to reply in the positive, especially if the kid was Esther and she was staring at you with rapt attention like your reply would change her world. I sat up, my hand rubbed her knee and she giggled.

"I don't know how to make akara," I started in a small voice, "but I can make you laugh."

She never got a chance to ask how because I attacked her sides. I tickled her until she was wheezing with laughter and the only thing that mattered in that moment was her.