Kalu was so successful in his business, in less than a month he had made so much profit that his shop was not enough to contain all the goods he had, so he rented a packing store there In the market to accommodate the excess goods.
Apart from some of his uncle's customers that he retained for himself he also noticed new dedicated ones that were always patronizing him.
He knew that the extraordinary power that was working around him was still responsible for those new customers.
His uncle and everyone around him was surprised at the pace his business boosted.
He went to purchase new stock more than twice every week whereas it took the most patronized seller among others in the market more than two weeks to purchase new stock.
Though it solely depended on the size of the business.
John was also due in the fashion designing work and was set free by his boss after he had acquired all he needed to be on his own.
He was among the best that graduated from his boss that period.
John learned a lot about dedication in whatever trade he plight from his relationship with Kalu and it helped him a great deal.
He was able to open his shop and was also doing well in the fashion designing business.
His relationship with John was still unscathed, and they had never given up on their Sunday outings and checking up on each other once in a while.
Though Rosaline had been included in their company.
John liked Rosaline though he respected the fact that she was his friend's girlfriend.
He had once told Kalu that Rosaline had a similar look with a girl he loved so much while he was growing up.
He was as pleased as John each time Rosaline was in their midst.
But Rosaline was not too comfortable with John spending time with them.
Most times, she wanted to be alone with Kalu. But Kalu couldn't break the early tradition of going out on Sundays with John it could lead to the erosion of the relationship.
John had been his only close friend and they had shared both good and bad times. Kalu had no reason of quitting the relationship now that they were both bosses of their own.
If there should be a crack on the relationship, Kalu never wanted it to be on his part.
On a particular Saturday Rosaline's mother had told her that she would be going for a meeting the next day which was Sunday.
Rosaline had been looking for an opportunity to be alone in the house with Kalu.
There hadn't been any intimacy between them since they have started dating apart from the kissing and cuddling which always took place by the side of the road at night each time she saw Kalu off or whenever they hanged out together.
She had been mature enough to understand that being in a relationship entailed more than that.
She was a in higher institution now and has seen how people in a relationship behaved towards each other from her friends and classmates.
Sometimes in the lecture halls when there was no lecturer the love birds would sit at every corner to showcase their fondness for each other and to let others know that there was no space in their relationship.
Rosaline had wanted her own love life to be that way.
All her friends in school had a boyfriend and it seemed she was the only one that was left out, though she told them she had a boyfriend they doubted her for they had not seen any guy with her.
From the way she dismissed even the most gorgeous guys in school some had begun to suspect if she was a lesbian.
Any girl that always kicked around with her fellow girls all the time was most time speculated to be into women.
She had not been bothered by any presumptions about herself.
She does not just tell them that she had a boyfriend but a fiancee.
Other girls wanted to hook up with as many boys as possible while still in the university, but Rosaline only desired Kalu and wanted to get married to him while still in school.
She had invited Kalu to her school many times even when she matriculated but Kalu was too busy in the market that he couldn't attend.
Though he apologized for his absence and Rosaline understood his reason for not coming.
But as the day went on, the need to introduce Kalu to her friends in school grew.
Even to parade with him before her secret admirers so that they would know that she had a boyfriend.
Even the married women in the school most times had their husbands visit them for people to know that they were already occupied.
Rosaline had made out time to visit Kalu at the shop with the joy that the mother wasn't going to be at home the next day which was Sunday.
By now all Kalu's neighbors had come to know that she was his girlfriend.
An introduction she fought so hard to achieve.
That Saturday, she hugged and kissed Kalu as soon as she stepped into the shop, not minding that there was a customer in the shop, a woman that was one of the new customers of Kalu.
She was so bold in telling Kalu why she had made out time to come to his shop to divulge the information to him.
"I know that you will surely like to come with John tomorrow, but I don't want you to come with him!" She demanded.
"Why don't you want me to come with him?" Kalu questioned.
"I just don't want you to come with him" she reiterated.
"I won't do that until you tell me the reason!" Kalu insisted.
"Please, don't come with him, I have a surprise for you tomorrow and I just want it to be between the both of us" she begged.
Kalu consented to her demand and she made him promise to keep to his words before she left the shop without informing him that she was going home.
She didn't waste time as she had normally done or waited to be offered anything.
Kalu was surprised not to see her again after some time for he thought that she wanted to ease herself and would come back.
As she had gone, Kalu kept wondering what surprise she could have for him.
On the next day, which was the Sunday
Kalu knew that he had to leave the house early if he were to avoid John.
He wanted to be successful in keeping his promise to Rosaline.
There was no way that John wouldn't come to look for him so that they could go out.
They had already planned to go to the beach on Friday with Rosaline for it had been long they have been to the beach.
And Kalu knew that no matter the excuse he would give to John, he would surely volunteer to go with him.
Or else if he remained at home and didn't go out at all.
He informed one of his uncle's servants, for he was still living in his uncle's house to tell John that he was sent on an emergency errand by his uncle in case he came to look for him which was certain.
Kalu left in the morning of that Sunday to Rosaline's house.
Since he was settled by his uncle, there were some fears he had succeeded in overcoming.
The fear of his uncle questioning him on where he was going each time he was going out while the uncle was at home, was one of the fears he had overcome.
Though there was sometimes that he was still questioned, such situations occurred only if he had first introduced his intention by telling his uncle that he wanted to go out especially on a far distance.
Abuchi made sure that Kalu got all the freedom he deserved though he was still under his roof.
The only freedom that Kalu was still skeptical about was the freedom of inviting Rosaline to the house.
Though he hadn't tried that, he was still not sure if his uncle would be happy about it.
When Kalu arrived at Rosaline's house, the mother was still at home. She had not yet gone for the proposed meeting.
Rosaline just resumed in the kitchen trying to get the lunch ready for it was just a few minutes before midday.
Rice had been the normal food on Sunday. Every household had adopted the practice of preparing rice on Sundays but the way and manner each house prepared theirs is up to them.
Rosaline was preparing coconut rice. She was taking her time to do it, for it was the first time she would be preparing it for Kalu.
She wasn't expecting Kalu to be around that early for he had not been that early before. She expected that she would be through with the cooking so that as soon as he arrived, he would come straight to the dining.
Now Kalu had to wait in the sitting room watching the television while waiting for her.
Rosaline's mother was seated with him and they discussed the recent development in the news.
Since Kalu discovered that Rosaline's mother always loved engaging him in the recent happenings around the country, he had always updated himself with the news to get prepared for the discussion each time he was to visit Rosaline at home.
Rosaline was praying in her heart in the kitchen while busy with the preparation of the food for her mother to leave the house.
She wanted to be alone in the house with Kalu, she wanted every discussion to be between the both of them.
And Kalu was wondering why she had said that he shouldn't bring John along, John would have made the discussion more lively.
Rosaline's mother on her part was so comfortable in her discussion with Kalu that she almost forgot that she had a meeting to attend.
It was as the discussion was extending to another topic, that Rosaline came out to remind her that it was already past 1 pm.
The mother quickly jumped out of her seat and went inside the room to get ready, she was almost late by then for the meeting was scheduled by 2 pm.
And she was not ready to pay the fine for late coming.
After Rosaline's mother had left the house, She invited Kalu to the kitchen.
"Please come and stay with me in the kitchen" Rosaline entreated.
Kalu knew that there was no one else in the house except the both of them so he had no fear of honoring the invitation.
As he walked into the kitchen, he started helping Rosaline in washing the dirty plates without being instructed.
"What is it that you wanted to show me?" Kalu asked as he washed the plates.
"Don't worry, don't be faster than your shadow, you will see everything in no time!" she smiled.
She came and held Kalu at the back as he was still washing.
She was rubbing his chest in romance as she held him tightly.
Kalu left the plate in his hand and veered around to face her in response to her touch.
They stared romantically at each other then locked lips in a kiss.
They were kissing and caressing each other and professing their love for each other there in the kitchen that they forgot that the rice was still on fire.
Rosaline had added all the ingredients and was just waiting for the rice to cook for a short time and for the water to dry before she could put it down.
Now they were lost in the kissing and cuddling that they were oblivious of the fact that the water in the rice had all dried, and the rice had started burning from the bottom on the fire.
They were so fierce in the exercise like it was the first time they were having a taste of each other's lips.
The point that they were the only ones at home, heightened their morale and they were gallivanting the whole kitchen and couldn't perceive the burning smell of the rice until It got more overwhelming.
"The rice is burning!" Rosaline uttered after their lips had unlocked.
And she broke away from Kalu's grip and rushed to the pot of rice on the cookstove.
The whole bottom of the rice had burnt up by then.
She had to turn the whole rice into another pot so that she could wash the burnt pot.
She didn't want the mother to notice that the rice which she had spent so much in preparing got burnt. That was one of the things the mother hated so much.
"What were you doing that made u forget that you had something on the fire?" that question would surely come from the mother if she ever knew that the rice got burnt.
And the fact that the mother already knew that Kalu was in the house with her would make her suspect that they made love to each other.
Kalu quickly finished up with the plates he was washing and helped her in washing the burnt pot as well.
Rosaline dished out the food for both of them and placed them on a tray. She suggested she took them to her room instead of the dining so that they could eat there.
"It's better we stay in my room so that I could show you what I have told you about when we are through." She carried the tray to her room while Kalu followed her without objection.
The burnt taste of the rice wasn't obvious. It would take one with an extreme sense of taste to notice that the rice was burnt.
Kalu disturbed Rosaline as they were eating to hint him at what she wanted to show him.
"Don't worry, I don't have to brief you about anything, you will see things by yourself when the time comes. Don't be in a hurry!" she insisted.
They fed each other romantically as they eat, before they could finish devouring the piece of chicken on the rice, they had started kissing and cuddling once again.
Not caring about the plates and the rice remnants that were scattered all over the floor.
Rosaline pulled off the silky blouse she was putting on and was now left with the red bra that enclosed her breast.
She helped Kalu also in taking off his shirt with the singlet all together and Kalu's upper body was completely bare.
After she had succeeded in rendering Kalu's upper body bare, she also took the red bra off so that they could make that direct body contact she desired without any hindrance.
As they proceeded in the act, Rosaline was gradually making progress.
She was losing Kalu's belt while their lips were still locked in a kiss, Kalu pulled off at once.
"What is it?" Rosaline frowned.
"What is it you said you wanted to show me?" Kalu asked as he zipped up his jeans.
"That's what I am showing you now, relax!" she tried to loosen Kalu's jeans once again but Kalu bluntly resisted her attempt this time.
Rosaline got furious about Kalu's resistance.
"What is the problem with you?" she straightened up and faced Kalu still on the bed.
"I am not ready for this now!" Kalu said in a mild voice.
"How do you mean by that? we have been dating for a long now and all we have got is just kissing and cuddling. We have not felt each other" her eyes got dimmed like she was about to cry. "don't you love me?" her voice got a bit cracked like she was choked.
Kalu was a bit confused at the question. They have been dating for years now and Rosaline knew quite well that he loved her, why was she acting like she wasn't sure of his love anymore.
"You know I love you and I can't stop loving you!" Kalu replied.
"If you love me as you claim, I don't see the reason you are resisting me now. There is no one at home is just the two of us!" she lowered her head in self-pity.
"I am not resisting you, just that I am not ready for this now," Kalu repeated.
"Then when would you be ready for it?" She picked up her bra that had managed to find itself on the floor.
"When I get married to you" Kalu answered.
"But you are not ready to get married to me soon. Or are we getting married soon?" She asked emphatically as she raised her face to him.
"I want to get married to you as soon as possible, don't worry I am still trying to work out some things. We will get married soon."
"it's okay, but even at that, we can still have sex, it doesn't prevent us from having sex, once we know we will still get married to each other" She contended.
"it's better we just wait till then," Kalu buttons back his shirt.
"Sex is inevitable in any relationship, it's a sign of commitment in a relationship" Rosaline reluctantly put on her bra.
"You are wrong about that, whoever has told you that, has not told you the right thing!" Kalu held her hand as they were seated in the bed facing each other.
As they were still in the argument, they heard the sound of the gate as it opened to Rosaline's mother.
Kalu glanced at his wristwatch and discovered that it was 6:30 pm already.
It was surprising to them how fast the time had gone.
And Kalu left the room immediately and went back to his seat in the sitting room while Rosaline tidied up the room quickly.
Rosaline's mother was surprised to still meet Kalu in the house as she got inside.
Kalu pretended he was carried away by the movie that was showing on the TV as he was still battling with his conscience.
The woman had to greet him first before his attention was turned to her and he stood up in welcoming her.
"Where is Rosaline?" She asked.
"She just left to her room" Kalu replied.
Rosaline was still in her room tidying up everywhere.
She packed the tray at a corner in her room, to take it to the kitchen later so that the mother wouldn't notice that they had dinned in her room instead of the dining room.
Rosaline walked out to the sitting room when she heard her mother mentioned her name.
Kalu waited for few minutes after Rosaline's mother had returned before announcing that he was leaving.
As Rosaline was seeing him off, to the bus stop, he discovered that she was not happy about what had taken place in the room between the both of them.
Her body chemistry was uttered back in the room and she had hoped Kalu would help in getting it back to normal, she had desired sex for so long but Kalu had refused to satisfy her appetite.
She refused to talk to Kalu as they walked to the bus stop even to hold his hand as they had normally done while walking down the street.
Kalu tried as much as he could to make her smile but all his effort hit the rock.
She just waved to him as he got into the taxi and turned back at once.
Kalu was seated at the back seat of the taxi, wondering what could have resulted in Rosaline's sudden demand for sex.
That was the first time Rosaline had demanded such from him.
"Is it that she is now being deceived by someone?" he questioned inwardly.
Kalu could remember those days at the beginning of their relationship when they had agreed not to defile themselves until they were wedded.
He had forgotten to remind her of that agreement while they were in the room, it just occurred to him as he was already in the taxi.
"I will surely come tomorrow to remind her of the agreement, it seemed she had forgotten" He concluded.
Clara was happy she had retrieved her sister's baby. At least she could be able to comfort herself for what she understood as the physical loss of her sister.
Alex was astonished at the reality of the baby. though everything about it remained a mystery to him.
There was no reason to doubt anything that Clara said concerning Rose anymore.
The baby was so beautiful and even as little as she was, she displayed a mature character.
Clara and Alex had forgotten to ask the woman on that day they collected the baby if she had given the baby any name.
So they decided to revisit the woman the next day to ask her if the baby had been given a name.
On the night before the day they had scheduled to visit the woman, Rose visited Clara in her dream and revealed the name of the baby to her.
Rose did that to save them the stress of revisiting the woman.
She told Clara that the name of the baby was Mary.
After Clara had woken from sleep, she told her husband about her encounter with Rose and what she had told her in her dream.
From that day they started calling the girl Mary.
The neighbors were surprised to see a baby with them, they were wondering how come they had a baby that was as big as that without their knowledge.
After some time Clara revealed to them that Mary was her sister's daughter, to set their minds at ease.
The neighbors didn't know the sister that Clara was talking about, though she had told the ones close to her that she had a sister but they had never seen the sister visited her for once.
"You didn't show us your sister when she brought the baby?" asked one of the neighbors who was also her friend when Clara told her that Mary was brought by her sister for them to help her take care of her.
"She came late at night and left early morning the next day, that was the reason" Clara lied.
Clara and Alex loved Mary so much and took her as their daughter.
They took good care of her and provided her with all she needed.
And Rose too was not far from her daughter, she was always there with them.
From the baby's reaction, it seemed that Rose was visible to her.
Sometimes she smiled all alone as if someone was tickling her.
And when she cried sometimes, she would stop by herself without anyone consoling her. As if an invisible hand had done that.
Clara went shopping for little Mary and purchased all kinds of baby wears and toys for her like a woman that just had her first issue.
The woman that had been taking care of her, didn't give them anything belonging to the baby.
"Does it mean that the baby had been putting on one cloth and doesn't have a change of cloth?" Alex had questioned after they had come back with the baby.
"Maybe, the woman had forgotten to give us the baby's bag of cloth" Clara presumed "remember we didn't wait after the baby was given to us."
"Then we should go back and ask her for the baby's belonging!" Alex proposed.
"There is no need for that, we will just get new clothing for the baby. I don't even like this one she is putting on" Clara referred to the yellow baby pant and shirt that little Mary was wearing.
Clara had to take a sick leave from her place of work to take care of little Mary.
There was no way she could take the baby to work, for it was not permissible to do that in the ministry she worked.
The sick leave was just for one week.
There was no way she could claim to have given birth to the baby so that she could be granted the normal six months maternal leave.
Everybody both in place of work and within the neighborhood knew that there was no time she was pregnant.
The only option for her was to look for a nanny to take care of the baby before the one-week sick leave expired or to take the baby to the mother so that she could be taking care of her while she went to work.
But the option of taking the baby to the mother would have been preferable If not that Alex wanted to go with her in presenting the baby to the mother so that he could help in convincing the mother that the baby was actually for Rose.
And the only time Alex would be free to make that visit to Clara's mother would be on weekend due to the nature of his job.
So Clara had to wait till the weekend so that they could go and present the baby to her mother.
She felt the baby came out from her very womb and never even wanted to leave her to the care of another woman.