Mrs. Ufuoma moved back to her parents’ house which was occupied by her father alone since her mum was late and her younger siblings’ abroad schooling. While she was there she tried hard to figure out what went wrong in her marriage. Before they started having kids they were great together, even when she had her first son a replica of Alex, their love only increased.
Then came the second child Nelly, a beautiful girl that had her dad’s eyes and lips. Tega came last. It was a surprise that all her children looked more like their dad than their mum. She became so engrossed with taking care of the kids while Alex who was now a judge was always busy at the office. If things changed she thought it was as a result of the new responsibilities that came with his new position and her taking care of the kids. For that was when she started noticing changes. She couldn’t even recall the last time they made love. He always came home late tired facing the wall the moment he got into bed. Anytime she tried to cuddle him he always gave her the “not now and I’m tired” speech. She didn’t think much about it until things got worse. No more kisses before leaving for the office, or that I’ve missed you look when he returns home from the office. No more husband and wife conversation or those night he took her out for a romantic dinner leaving the kids with the neighbors At first she tried to act as if everything was fine but she couldn’t fool herself that things was fine in her marriage.
She took the bull by the horn by confronting him. He had no concrete reason for his behavior so with tears in her eyes she asked him if he still loves her. Her heart broke into a thousand pieces when he didn’t say anything but rather avoided her eyes and that was what made her run into the bedroom to pack some of her things. Still thinking he would stop her before she walk out the door he didn’t which caused such pains in her heart she thought she was going to die. What had happened? She had no idea. She hoped being alone from him will make him miss her. For three days she didn’t hear from him. She spent those days locked up in her room crying her heart out. He finally called the fourth day to ask after her health and that the kids wanted to say hi. She had tears in her eyes when they all said they were missing her and when she’s coming home. She missed her kids so much, this was the first time she had ever been away from them. Yes she missed them still she wished her husband had also said he missed her and she should come home immediately but instead she felt his coldness even from the phone line. She cried herself to sleep again that night.
A week later after missing the kids like crazy she decided to pay them a surprise visit. She almost fainted when she saw a lady cooking in her kitchen half naked. Ufuoma had always been a shy soft spoken person not quick to anger so she didn’t confront her instead she went back into the sitting room to ask the identity of the stranger in her kitchen. The kids didn’t even know her name. They called her aunty or daddy’s friend. And just when she was about to get a better explanation from the half-naked woman in her kitchen, the sitting room door opened and in walked her husband.
Alex was shocked to see her, it was written all over his face and he had the guts to ask her what she was doing here. To say she was shocked was an understatement of the century. This was her home. This had been her home for almost 12 years. They built this place together. She decorated the place. Shopped for everything in the house, had two of her kids here and there he was asking her what she was doing here like she didn’t belong here. What was going on? She told him she wanted to talk to him privately in their bedroom. Without a second glance at him she went in. She almost went crazy with rage when she saw female cloths and cosmetics all over the room. Her room!!! Her matrimony room!!! I must be dreaming she thought to herself. When Alex walked in she turned towards him with eyes blazing red
“Alex what the fuck is going on“
She have not called him that name for more than a decade now. It was either my D ( my darling) or sweetie.
“Please keep your voice down and stop with the f word already, the kids can hear you’
“I don’t fucking care. Just tell me what is going on. I leave for about a week and the next thing you have a woman up in my kitchen with her things everywhere in my room.”
“You left on your own I never asked you to. What do you think I’m made up of? Log?“
She couldn’t believe her husband was telling her this. Despite what had been happening she never thought for a minute that her husband was cheating on her. It was too disgusting to even think of. She was a nice wonderful woman who married a wonderful man. Or was she wrong? She thought bad things happened to only bad people. People who deserved it. She didn’t deserve this. Or was she just too naive to see what the real world was like? Her legs couldn’t hold her no more so she sat on the bed. Alex also sat down.
“Alex I don’t understand. This is not us. This is not you. I can’t believe you just said that to me. To me your wife“
Alex was silent with his head clasped in his hands.
“Are you in love with her? Is this what all this is about? Is she the reason you’ve been acting strange? The reason you’ve refused to touch me for months now?”
His silence spoke more volumes than word he would have uttered. She stood up from the bed, looked down at him with tears running down her cheek
“I’m so confused right now. I don’t understand you no more. In short I don’t even know the man I married. I’m going back to my father’s house and I’m taking the kids with me“
She walked out the door headed to her children’s room. Packed enough cloths that will last them for a week and drove back to her father’s house. A week later she still found it hard to digest what was happening to her. She spent most of the time in her room crying. Her dad wanted to go over to Alex place to give him a piece of his mind but she begged him not to. Her dad was the complete opposite of her. He was capable of shooting Alex if he saw him with that woman.
After about a week of wallowing in self-pity, an old friend of hers came to see her. She had not seen Susan since she got married. She heard that after high school she had traveled to the state to further her education. She wasn’t ready to entertain any company but since its Susan her best friend back in school she was only too glad to have her over. After the pleasantries she told Susan about what she was going through and wasn’t sure if she should ask for a divorce and start a new life. She didn’t know Susan was now a marriage counselor till she told her. The first question Susan asked her was if she still loved her husband. Ufuoma replied that she did. The second question was if she wanted to get her husband back. She hesitated at first. She had never loved any other man apart from her husband and wasn’t sure she could ever love someone else if she decides to divorce him so she replied yes and that was how Susan took her through this exercise of getting back her husband.
First she registered her in a gym and within one month she was back to weighing 65 pounds. Susan advised her to pump her breast which she did making it firm, round and full like she had never breast fed a child before. Susan took her shopping, gave her a makeover. She didn’t even recognize herself when she looked in the mirror. She never knew she could be this beautiful. After that she told her to call her husband asking her to come see her that she wanted a divorce. That day she wore a bum short and a sexy top that showed enough cleavage of her new gotten breast. She guessed he was happy she finally wanted divorce so he could go ahead and probably get married to that bitch she saw in her house the last time she was there but rather Alex was shocked when he saw her, the new her. At first he didn’t even know she was the one lying down on the sofa reading a novel. She even wore a blue contact lens. He thought she was a relation he had not yet seen before or had seen in the past but forgotten about. When he found out she was his wife he was shocked and amazed. To cut a long story short they came back together after he begged her with tears running down his face to forgive him. Now their sex life is even better than what it was.
With my story I didn’t have to spell it out to mama Bomboy what she had to do. All she needs was a makeover and her husband will return back to her arms. She thanked me and was gone the next morning before I left for work. When I got to work, I saw a familiar facing sitting at the reception hall crying. I went over to her to ask what the problem was. When the girl raised up her face to look at me I realized the reason I thought the face was familiar. It was Patience. Remember Patience! She was the first patient I saw on my first day at work. She was that prostitute who had come in for an abortion. She told me amidst tears that she was pregnant again…..
