Esther and Philip had lodged in a hotel miles away from the hospital. She was pacing around with the crying baby, trying to hush him. Philip was making the baby milk and making a mess out of it.
"Gently, Philip. Don't waste the whole milk"
"I am trying to be quick; the baby's cry is distracting me"
"What name would he bear? Let's stop calling him baby." The baby hushed immediately Esther said that and they both looked at it. Its eyes were closed and looked so innocent. "almost like he is waiting to hear what you would call him"
"Yeah, exactly. That silence is strange. I planned to name him Christian. He is going to serve God and abstain from anything fetish"
"yeah, things like the shrine the Yoruba ancestor made a covenant with"
Philip was done with the milk and gave it to Esther. Esther sat and started teaching the baby to suck from the feeding bottle. His phone rang.
He ran towards it immediately and said, "Hello"
After quietly listening to the other end, he started sulking. "The village people actually came and they have been looking for us"
"Daddy made a terrible decision"
"We would have to keep this baby in an orphanage home."
"No way!"
"They would find us soon and take my baby and I don't want that. We would keep him in an orphanage but ensure he's not put out for adoption. We would be going to visit him once in a while."
The baby started crying again.
"I think he can hear you," Esther said trying to hush him. "Hey, little Chris, we just have to do this, okay? To protect you, I promise to come visit with Daddy every two weeks"
The baby stopped crying and continued taking the milk given to him.
Philip shook his head and sank into the bed.
****