"The right traditions only bring joy to the faces of people "were Obi's thoughts as she watched the elderly women singing and dancing in circles in the compound.

They held each other's waists and stomped their feet on the ground as they sang their traditional songs. It was a thing of joy that all the ladies who were of age to marry, had gotten grooms to be. Obi had seen with her own eyes that their grooms to be were real as most villagers still spread the rumors of such being untrue.

Obi's eyes fell on Chukwuemeka her son who ran into the circle with his brother. The women shooed the boys but they were hesitant to leave and so Obi got to them and pulled them away.

She went into mma's hut with the boys and prepared Achara tea. She had heard that mma was unwell and decided it was best if they kept the old woman company.

The boys were subjected to drinking Achara tea and were about to throw a fit before she begged mma to handle them with stories the way she handled Chukwudi.

Obi hoped it would ground her boys but a part of her felt the boys could probably handle the words from the old woman's mouth especially if her children didn't struggle with paying attention. Old age did not affect mma's narrative prowess.

It gave justice to the proverb "Agadi nwanyị a dịghị aka nkà n'egwu ọma agba" An old woman never ages doing what she knows best

Tobe and Chukwudi had been busy with preparations bringing guards of palm wine to be used for the wedding, dry meat anụ ọkpọ, kolanut ọjị and afufa garden egg. Most of the items were for the elders and aged men who would be attending the wedding. Prior to that Chukwudi had gone with Obi's father for the customary introduction at Chioma's place. This time he was only helping out his cousins

The compound was buzzy, old women, young women and men, youths wandering up and down helping out in whatever way they deemed fit.

This was one collective way of supporting each other in the community. No one did bear a burden of celebratory preparations on their own.

Dee Ọgbọ had also been busy, news was that he bought cows to be slaughtered just for the sake of the marriages holding in the compound. It was his way of Thanking God for bringing good fortune to their home after the series of unfortunate deaths they had faced.

Tobe scoured the compound in search of his sister and when he finally saw her, he pulled her aside before relaying a good news to her.

"Tobe chere, chere o, they made you gịnị? You've become what?" Obi asked still puzzled

"Sister no! They didn't make me anything. You need small exposure kwanu" Tobe replied laughing, earning him a slap on the head.

"I got a mail from school, let me show you the mail."

Obi read through the message and screamed. She was so excited that she ran into mma's hut to explain things to the old woman which she did not understand.

"Mma Tobe is the best graduating student! My brother is the best graduating student!"

Obi's sons screamed out of excitement with little knowledge of what their mother was also saying meant.

Obi called Ifenna and Oluebube and showed them what Tobe gave her and they were also thrilled. But deep down they knew the implication of Tobe's progress, it meant he had raised the bar a bit higher for them. And they already started imagining the hounding that would ensue if they didn't perform exceptionally like their brother.

"We are killing a goat for this boy, I am so proud of you nwanne m" Obi's eyes grew misty as she reached out and held her brother's face.

Tobe gave his sister a side hug because of her belly before proceeding to finish what he started with Chukwudi. Obi learnt that Chukwudi also made promises to Tobe and couldn't wait to share the good news with Chioma.

Her children were about to slip out of the hut before she caught them and sent them back to mma.

"Bbia Obi, isi Tobe gburu ewu? Onye nyekwara nụ ya ego?" Did you say Tobe bought a goat? Who gave him money?

Obi tried so many times to explain to mma what they had been screaming about, but it seemed she was just hesitant to understand.

Mma complained of feeling dizzy and Obi had to withdraw her children, she placed them under her sister ifenna's care while she proceeded to mma nkem's house to offer support.

The old women teased her with her pregnancy and called her amusing names. "Nwanyị afọ ukwu, ehi dị ime, nwanyị loro ihe tọrọ ya na afo"

A woman with pot belly, pregnant cow, a woman that swallowed what got stuck in her belly*

Obi laughed at their teases before making enquiries about the progress of their preparation.

The women spoke about the mugging that had been going on in the village. Thankfully they did not blame Akubueze, instead the women spoke quite highly of him, claiming that he had been able to curb it a little but there was still much work to be done.

"We want to set up a vigilante that will take care of these irresponsible boys. Kama ha ga agba mbọ kpara ego, ha nọrọ na ezuzu(instead of them to work hard and make money, they are busy misbehaving"

"Do they use weapons?" Obi enquired suddenly concerned for her siblings

"No, they just snatch things from people and run. We should all be careful and learn to move in groups, they only attack vulnerable people"

"Obi kwanu?" A deep baritone enquired

Obi heard her name and made her way to the front of the house. It had been her cousin Chukwudi asking after her.

She was in a maternity gown that she felt was quite transparent and had to cover the bulk of her body with a wrapper.

"Kee kwanu ebe ịnọ? Where have you been? You didn't even come out at all. You just like staying indoors, it is not good for the baby ọ" Chukwudi reprimanded

"I've been moving around the compound Chukwudi. I've just not had the strength to move further than that"

"Ngwanu, come let's go out. The two of us will spend time together." Chukwudi declared securing  Obi's hand under his armpit.

"Let me change first"

"Mba, come let's go. The next thing is for you to hide"

Obi laughed and finally gave in to Chukwudi's request

"I knew you could not refuse me, better enjoy me now that I'm still single before Chioma will make me unavailable" Chukwudi confidently stated earning him a laughter

"Chioma shares everything with me, nothing will happen"
The pair left the compound and progressed to the road that led across the church. They discussed a lot about
their childhood while Chukwudi picked fruits along the way.

Obi walked a distance after teasing him of being a rich man who stole from the village.

"It is meant for everyone, nobody owns this udara fruit."

Obi claimed Chukwudi was embarrassing her. "You that made Akubueze steal mazi Ogbonna's guava"

"He did not steal, he bought them!" Obi retorted

"So you didn't even hear the news. Nchi took his boys and they raided the man's compound to get you those guava because he was owing Akubueze"

Obi laughed so hard and held her waist. She felt a sharp contraction and grabbed Chukwudi's hand while groaning. Terrified Chukwudi led her to a palm tree trunk that had fallen close to the road.

"O gịnị?"

Obi inhaled deeply and the pain receded before she spoke. "They are just contractions, nothing serious. I've been getting  them for the past one week."

"I shouldn't have brought  you  here "

"Mba o, it is good. I need to exercise my body, so it is a good thing"

Chukwudi helped Obi up and they continued with their walk while they ate the udara fruit he obtained from the road.

Chioma arrived the house almost immediately Chukwudi and Obi left. She met Obi's siblings outside the house with her children and asked after her friend.

"She went out with dee Chukwudi, they'll soon come back" Ifenna replied.

Chioma took the children and Obi's siblings into their house and began to speak to them. "Let all of us just fix this thing once and for all. We all know what Benjamin's will read, don't we?"

They all nodded including the little boys who seemed clueless but nodded because others did too.

"I don't know what is wrong with both Obiefune and Obi, but I want them to be together" Chioma declared

"Tobe stop staring at me like I am speaking French, you all know that they've always been in love with each other since we were kids. They even have a tree in the bush with their names carved on it!"

"So mummy is the girl he was in love with?" Chukwuebuka questioned

"Yes, I don't know who told you but that is the truth" Chioma affirmed

"But sister chi, if they don't want to be with each other, don't you think we should just let them be?I mean they haven't made any move yet" Oluebube hinted  earning her a glare from Chioma that clamped her lips shut

"The two of them want to be together. I was really banking on this charity thing and all of a sudden they called off the strike!"

"Aunty what's charity? " Chukwuemeka enquired with a quizzical look

"They are those poor people that would have taken your inheritance"

"Mummy said it is good to give to the poor" Chikwuebuka stated

"it is good to give to the poor,we'll look into poverty and inheritance later biko nu. Obiefune is coming back today and we need a plan to get them to confess their love for each other."

"How are we going to do that?" Tobe asked

"By locking them together inside Obiefune's room. They always end up kissing each other after confrontations so it will be good. One way or another the truth will slip from their lips"

"what if doesn't?" Tobe asked

"Stop being pessimistic, we won't let them out until they declare their love for each other"

Chioma turned to see her nephews making strange faces.

"What is wrong with these two?" She enquired from Oluebube

"You just said brother Obiefune kisses their mom, they are disgusted" Oluebube finished with a smile

"Disgust gịnị? They better get used to it. Their former uncle Aka their new daddy, uncle daddy Obiefune has been chewing  their mother's lips right from their  teenage years, if I remember correctly. Besides how do they think they were conceived?"

"Mummy said we came from heaven" The boys retorted still very much uncomfortable

"Yes you did, and I was conceived by the power of the holy spirit. This will take place in our house so we need to come up with a good plan to lure her to our house and nobody should disclose Obiefune's arrival to her inugo!" All the heads in the room nodded before they came out of the house. Tobe and his sisters went away while Chioma was led by the boys to a guava tree and they pleaded that she gets one for them.

Obiefune's car broke down on the road and he had to continue his journey on foot. Unfortunately there had not been any motorcyclist around much to his dismay. It felt strange that none of the Okada men were working, it seemed as if the village was deserted. Obiefune had in his hand his briefcase filled with his manuscript which he had been tirelessly working on. His sister had threatened to fly to Lagos and eviscerate his precious manuscripts if he didn't come back that day.

Obiefune had planned on arriving few days before the wedding because he was not ready to face Obiukwu again, knowing fully well that things weren't too good between them. He tried his best to forget about her over the months, but the mule refused to leave his heart.

Obiefune shook his head as thought of her filled his mind and he continued on his journey. He had barely made it the church, before a young man appeared from nowhere and snatched his briefcase from him. His thoughts had made him lessen his grip on the material and the thief was just in time to punish for his mistake. Obiefune pursued the young man regardless of the distance he had put before him, determined to get his manuscript back.

"Obi, I need to go back to the house. Ifenna just called me, Chioma got stuck on a guava tree" Chukwudi declared out of the blues after he took what seemed to be like an urgent call.

"Stuck on a tree kwa? How?"

"I don't know, Tobe just called me. They are trying to get her down, I don't know if I should go or not?" Chukwudi uttered in a confused yet concerned manner.

"Chukwudi don't worry about me, just help her down biko, before something happens to your bride to be" Obi patted Chukwudi's shoulder and he thanked her before running off to get Chioma. Obi could tell just how much Chukwudi cared for Chioma with how concerned he looked.

Obi got to her feet relieved from the pain she had felt and decided to stretch her legs a bit. Chukwudi called out to Obi and she turned but couldn't make out what he was saying. After several attempts of listening and failing to decipher his words waved at him. Chukwudi thought she had heard his statement and progressed to safe his bride to be. He had instructed her to stay put before he returns.

Obi exhaled deeply before turning to continue with her walk. A boy speedily ran past Obi followed by another male that she did not see clearly. The speed with which they ran past her made her lose balance and it was a miracle that she landed on her hand, very close to a heap of grass. She turned to see if she could  identify the people who almost caused her a disastrous accident but she did not.

When she finally got up, she decided to pay a visit to the place that was special to her. She dove into the bush and moved through a short cut that led her to the place even  quicker than she expected. It was a path that also led to the stream which she could always hear while she trekked to school when she was younger.
Obi caught a glimpse of the stream, the green water plants that had created a covering over the water body and the  chirping from different birds  entertained her on her way. She had learnt of those plants in secondary school, they were hydrophytes.

Obiefune finally caught up with the boy and tackled him to the ground, retrieving his briefcase before the young man scrambled off. They were very close to Obi's compound and Obiefune decided to drop by especially because of mma before proceeding to his own house. He thought of going back to apologize to the lady that he almost pushed to the ground but assumed that she had already gone

He met Chukwudi scolding his sister for a reason he waited for them to explain to him. Tobe and the children greeted him and he hugged his sons. After he saw the girls he enquired of Obi and Chukwudi explained what happened to him.

"I left Obiukwu there alone, I don't understand why Chioma would just act like a child. There are young men here willing to get guavas for her and she decides to climb. What If she fell from that tree? How much is guava? "

Obiefune understood how Chukwudi felt, he was speaking like a man in love.

" Where exactly did you leave her? " Obiefune enquired

After Chukwudi explained things, it dawned on Obiefune that the person he almost clashed with must have been the same as Obiukwu. Terrified he ran out of the compound in search of Obiukwu, when he got to the spot, he did not see her but saw her necklace instead. Obiefune grabbed the necklace ran back to the compound and explained things to them before they all decided to search for Obiukwu.

"Why didn't you stop to help her?" Chioma yelled

"I was chasing a boy with my manuscript"

"manuscript! Obiefune better use your brain and figure out where she could be. You are always running into the poor girl and the annoying thing is that you never! Stop to help. Better find her o, else I will burn both you and your manuscript ".

Obiefune was disconcerted because he knew the condition Obi was in and if anything happened to Benjamin's unborn child he wouldn't forgive himself.

Obiefune thought of one last place to go and quickly ran out of the compound to check at his last resort.

Obi stared at the trunk that was reduced to nothing. The earthy smell hit her nostrils and she enjoyed the fragrance. There were more mushrooms than before and more grasses than she expected. Was it that students didn't pay any heed to farming anymore? She moved closer to the tree and ran her hand across the surface, feeling the rough places where their names were inscribed. The memories made there  filled her head once more and she smiled

it's not about the skirt, people are easily drawn to good things and you are a good thing"

" For a girl with a boy's name, you've found quite a suitable name for her. Iheoma, good thing

Obi's mind dwelled on the way their names appeared on the old tree. Their names were encased in a love shape.
Are you talking about this?"

"For a girl with a boy's name, you are just too dumb!"

"Don't you see that you're jealous of yourself! I called you a good thing the last time we sat here together. I actually thought this tree to be special and I didn't want to draw attention to you since you were still in school. So I wrote Iheoma instead so that people wouldn't assume it was the two of us"

Obiefune had always been that selfless, thinking of her own welfare before his. He didn't even care about his reputation what mattered was hers.

His voice kept resounding in her head and she shut her eyes, remembering how exactly his voice sounded

"Obi, you'd have to do better"

Obi had only one wish in her heart at that moment, a chance to show Obiefune that she could do better. She was so lost in thoughts that she didn't hear the leaves rustle. She only heard
what sounded like Obiefune's voice but she knew better, it was her imagination playing with her. She opened her eyes and turned from the tree to affirm that she was imagining things and she saw him standing in front of her panting like a cheetah.

He called her name for the second time, probably to affirm that she was really the one "Iheoma"

Obi's heart lept with Joy and she closed the distance between them and threw her hands around him.

"You came, you came"

"Yes I did, he slowly untangled her hands and bent down to gulp enough air. I came... I was so scared... I thought.... Well you're fine and I am not" he declared chuckling

"Why won't I be fine?"

"I thought something happened to you, I thought I ran into you"

Obi smiled at him before rubbing his back to ease his breathing.

"What are you doing here alone? It is not safe. Come let's go home, they are.. "

"I don't want to go yet, biko" Obi interrupted as she walked back to the tree
Obiefune got the message she was trying to pass across but was hesitant to admit it. He didn't want to be disappointed again for misinterpreting things
"Obi we both know there's no reason to stay here. It's of no use"

Obi shook her head "mba, there's a reason, it is called fate..... Obiefune I withdrew from the will contest" Obi declared with a smile hoping it would send a message across

"So? Obi there's really no need for you to do that, besides I am with another person" Obiefune declared coldly. This time he wasn't going to put himself out there for her to hurt. If Obi was implying anything with her previous statement she had to make things clear

The hurt was evident in Obi's eyes as he stated the words. Her smile died down and she appeared gloomy

"I know but honestly I don't care, it doesn't matter to me" She replied to Obiefune's surprise. But who was she talking about?

"I know you're with Alison but Obiefune I know deep down that she's not who you're meant to be with"

"And you are?" Obiefune retorted

Obi thought deeply before nodding "Yes"

Obiefune scoffed "What makes you think so?"

"Well because I am so tired of lying to myself, to the universe to my heart" Obi was on the verge of tears Obiefune could see, but he couldn't let sympathy get in the way. The both of them had to finalize things

"What are you lying about? Honestly Obi I am so sick and tired of being pushed around. I want to be happy and I don't think my happiness lies with you"

"Obiefune please just listen to me, I am not good at making decisions for myself. I am the most confused person when it comes to things about my own happiness. I can make decisions for people, my siblings, my children so long as it makes them happy. I used to think that their happiness is my happiness quite to an extent it is true. But I have come to realize that you are my happiness. You, Obiefune no one else "

" Are you saying this because of Benjamin's will? "

" No! Please believe me this is not about anyone else. It is about me. Obiefune you have to be believe me. My feelings for you they've been there all along. They were here years ago when we had our first real talk under this tree, they were there when you took care of me when I was sick. They were there when we shared our first kiss on this spot. "She gestured at the position"

"They were there when we made love, they were there on our road trip. They were there while I was married to Benjamin which was why I couldn't get rid of all those books you gave me. They were there when you came back, when you kissed me, when we slept together. When we fought, they were there, when we danced to felix Navidad "Obi chuckled" They were there when we almost...."Obi inhaled deeply remembering what she was accused of" That was why I pushed you away, I wanted more and you thought it was something else... It wasn't lust"

Obiefune moved closer to where she stood and held her hand

" So what was it? What exactly do you feel for me? " He tried as much to hide his excitement as she mentioned having kept all his book gifts after so many years. It meant she hadn't forgotten him for once, still he had to hear what she felt for him.

Obi stared deep into his eyes, inhaled deeply and began to speak" It is lo... ahhhh! "
She couldn't finish her statement but let out a groan instead.

Obiefune held her closely to him and noticed how she grabbed his hand strongly.

" Obi ọ gịnị? " he asked with trepidation in his eyes

Obi inhaled and exhaled deeply, blowing out air from her mouth and shaking her head

" con.. Con tractions"

"Obi please let's go home, I need to get you help"

"No, no no! It's fine. It's normal.... they are just contractions. I am due in two weeks, it's just normal, I just need to relax, it'll pass"

"It doesn't seem normal to me, you are sweating! And you are panting. And your face is turning red"

"It is fine" Obi declared between gritted teeth. "Besides I am not leaving before I tell you exactly how I feel" Obi left Obiefune's body and placed her hand on the tree bending to face the ground and grunting

"I was telling you that I lo.... Ahhhhh!, I am in ahhhh! Mmmmm, whew!" Obi shook her head and bit her lips before she burst into a hysterical laughter. Obiefune was confused, he didn't know what to do.

"Obi just breathe ịnụ"

"I am brea... Ahhhhh thing, Do you think I am not breathing!" She yelled feeling exasperated

"Obi jiri nwayọọ nnu, of course you are breathing " Obiefune paced around the bush rambling. " I'll just carry you, we'll go to the clinic. I knew something had happened, I was so stupid. How could I not have gone back to save you? Why did I keep running like an idiot? What am I going to say? ... "He rambled on while she grew suddenly quiet.

" Obiefune shut up! Just.. Just listen " Obi declared causing his mouth to clamp shut. Obi felt liquid slip past her inner thighs and her face paled with shock as sudden realization hit her.

Obi managed to take in deep breaths, sitting slowly on the ground with her legs spread wide open.

" Obiefune I have to tell you two things" She spoke raising two of her fingers

"Obiefune moved closer to where she sat and held her hand" He was terrified because he could see lines of pain etched on her face.

"I love you, I do love you, I am in love with you. I have always been, I'll always be and...."

Obiefune's face brightened "Obi I love you too, I mean I understand if you love Benjamin more than you love me. But it doesn't mean anything, I love Benjamin too, I have always loved you, always. And between Alison and I...." Obiefune interrupted

Obi groaned before shushing him with her hand.

" You.. You Mmmmm, you didn't let me finish."
Obiefune kept quiet and gestured that she continues

" Obiefune do not panic. "
He nodded and she finally opened up to him

"My water just broke"

************************************

A/N:Wow!

Something just happened right now!

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