MY YEARS WITHOUT YOU

Part 74- In my arms

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°~ Amara's POV °~

I still found it hard to believe that I was holding him in my arms.

This thing came out from me? I kept asking myself smiling cheek to cheek at intervals at the realization that it was all real.

I had known it would be a boy, the scan told me so.
But even though it said my baby was in perfect shape, I still remained scared of the slight possibilities that the scan could be wrong.

But all my doubts were cleared now as I held the little creature in my arms.
He was so little and fragile all wrapped up in a shawl.

I watched him as he slept , eyes closed and fingers tightly closed in a fist.

It was a  beautiful sight I had longed to see.

Though little, he had thick hair on his head and his eyebrows too.

Much as I failed to admit, he looked like Damilare even though I couldn't completely tell.

I watched him ,waiting for his eyes to open up, so I can have him look at me and tell him I'm his mum.
He seemed aware of his environment but was too scared to open his eyes.

"Ah, my grandson" mum shouted out when she came in, dancing as much as her aging waist could let her.
She danced from the Ward entrance right in and other ladies around smiled at her.

They must have become used to seeing such as most of the patients were either pregnant or had a newborn in hand.

She got to my bed and I could see how deep her smile was.

"Congratulations" she said as she rubbed my forehead gently.

"Congratulations " Tolani said just after her.

I looked at them and smiled again, this time there was laughter and tears of joy afterwards.

Mum moved over to the women in the ward pouring powder in their palms which was customary when a new child was born.

If Damilare was close, he'd have been baptized with chalk and gone white by now.

But then, he's probably somewhere, unaware that his child's been brought into the world.

"He's still sleeping?" Tolani asked as she came closer looking at the baby.

"Yeah, it hasn't been long since they brought him in" I replied smiling as she touched his chin slightly.

"Hope you've told him how long you remained in labour even after making us rush here like flash" she said looking at me.

I laughed at that.

"Seriously, 13 long hours" Tolani said frustrated.

"I was thinking once we'd arrive, they would take you into that room and then you push the baby out".

"I was shocked when the Nurse said your contractions had only just started" she said as she described the labour ordeals.

"Take a walk and try deep breaths" she mimicked the nurse while I laughed.

"Walking around at that point was hell" I added.

"I couldn't relate, you didn't even want us coming close at some point" she commented.

"I promise I didn't know what I was doing, I was only seeing pain." I laughed.

"Your mum was calm though"

"As expected, she's had many births so she knows it all. This is just my first" I said as I looked at my son.

" My heart flew when they finally said 'she's fully dilated" Tolani described.

She wasn't ready to stop talking as she described the labour ordeals.

"It was all worth the risk after all " she said slowly, reaching for my hand.

I nodded in agreement as I remembered how very scared I was when I had found out I was pregnant.

Mum walked towards us.
She didn't look tired from all the dancing and singing.

She looked at me from where she stood and smiled deeply.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" She asked.

I smiled before I answered.

"I know you might say it's not masculine, but the name I have speaks alot about how I feel" I said looking at her.

They both stared at me in suspense.

"It's Chi-nyelu" I said with a smile.

My mum smiled back and nodded in agreement.

"And what does that mean ?" asked tolani who was Yoruba.

"It means God gave" I said looking at her as she smiled at the interpretation.

Soon my mum was down on her knees , her eyes and words filled with gratitude to God .
Her hands raised towards heaven as she praised and thanked him with Tola joining in at points she understood.

I looked from her to my newborn and as I watched him sleep, all the pain I had ever felt before him vanished.

And all I could see was him.

•~.                   •~.                        •~.                  •~.                   

Three days later, we left for home.

Ola and Oge dropped by to visit after mum had told them.

It was joy and joy alone.

It didn't matter to me that they both had kids that were very much older than mine , with Ola having a 15 year old son.

All that mattered to me was that I had a child , one that came out of me.

I was ready to give my all for him to pay back for the happiness he had brought into my life.

How a little thing could just come into your life that had previously gone sore and add spice to it.

I didn't bother about how I was going to pull it off , but I knew I wanted to about give him the best life he deserved even if it meant doing it all alone.

This was how strong my will was until 3 months later , sometime in May.

Who can guess what happened next?🤔