“Well, not too much action,” I warned, hand on my swollen belly. “Not trying to bring on labor early now are we?”
“I guess not,” he stated. “Still, there’s a whole lot of other ways I can love you down,” he asaid, kissing me firmly and pulling me into him. Arms around me, he held me and we stood against the backdrop of the expansive blanket of purple orange sky.
“I’ve longed to hold you again, and here we are. I’m a wanted man, but I’m free here with you. Let’s enjoy every moment. Let’s try to make it last. There’s gotta be a way for something so meant to be to last.”
“I truly hope so,” I said, longing for more moments with him to last forever.
“Let’s not worry about tomorrow,” he insisted. “Let’s focus on today. Me, you, our babies, something beautiful this way comes.”
EPILOGUE
I woke to a sudden start that night. Daniel stirred next to me in his sleep. I gazed at him for a moment, filled with so much love and desire for him. I wasn’t sure how long this would last, but we wanted to make it last for a lifetime. Still, I wondered after David and hoped he would find happiness.
My mobile phone buzzed several times on the bedside table. I checked the time. 1.20 am. A message had just come through on WhatsApp, from David.
Call me when you can. I’m in Livingstone.
My heart sunk. He was but a few hours away. He’d be crushed to see me back with Daniel, so soon.
Call me please. I know you’re with him now but no matter. Call me. It’s urgent.
I hesitated for a moment, considering the fact that he knew Daniel and I were together again, yet he still wanted me to call.
I dialed his number and he picked up on the first ring. He spoke first. “Teme.”
Hearing him say my name sent shivers down my spine. The effect he still had on me. If any two people were meant to be from the start, it was he and I. Only circumstance wouldn’t permit.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he confessed. “I should’ve come with you and the kids in the first place, but pride got the better of me,” he claimed. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”
I sighed loud enough for him to hear. “David, you don’t need to ask for forgiveness. You’ve been through a lot with me, I’m hardly in a position to dictate how you should behave.”
“Okay. As long as I’m alright with you. That’s all that matters to me right now. How are you?” he asked. “How are the babies, and our kids?”
“I’m okay,” I replied. Our kids. He still thought of Adalia and Josiah as his own. “We’re all fine.”
“Teme, before I tell you what I have to say, I need your forgiveness for breaking a promise to you.” My heart sunk. More lies?
“David, whatever you’ve done, I’ll forgive you. I forgive you,” I told him.
“Okay. You know my mate Lionel? Dr. Edwards?”
“Yep, I remember him.” No longer distant, they’d grown close. As I came to find out, Daniel also held him in high regard.
“Well, he helped me gain access to the CVS sample results.”
I had to sit down to brace myself.
“I promised I would wait ‘til after they were born, but I just had to know now,” he admitted.
“David!”
“Teme, I’m sorry. I know, I promised. But things change. Now that I know, it’s all become clear to me what has to be done.”
“David, you had no right!” I exclaimed.
“On the contrary Teme, I had every right.”
My phone buzzed again as another message came through.
“I’ve just sent you a copy of the results,” he said. “I wanted to wait until I saw you, face to face, but his being there with you now made me finding out all the more urgent.”
Daniel will be disappointed.
“Something’s gotta give, and this time, it won’t be me and my love for you,” David said, determined.
“So, the results are final?” I asked. It was clear from the way he was talking that the babies were his.
“As accurate as they can be,” he replied. “One baby is mine, one baby is his.”
“What?” I asked, gobsmacked.
“Yes, you heard me. One of the babies is yours and mine, one is yours and his.”
“David, that’s not possible.”
“Oh, but it is. It’s rare, but not impossible,” he claimed.
I felt like crying. How did things get so complicated?
“Teme,” David asked, “You okay?”
“Not really,” I told him, for want of something better to say.
“I love you Teme, I always will.”
“David, I never stopped loving you. I just feel you shouldn’t be settling for crumbs. You deserve more than I can give you. Now with one of the babies being yours…”
“Teme, I have nothing else apart from you. Ministry is ministry, but you’re my everything,” he professed.
“David…”
“I’ll even be your second husband,” he said, in a desperate tone that surprised me. “Modicum, morals aside, I’ll risk eternal damnation just to be with you.”
“Come back to bed,” Daniel sleepily called out in the background, making me jump.
“I have to go, David,” I whispered into the phone.
“Okay,” he said. “Take care of yourself, take care of our kids,” he added. “I’ll be here in Livingstone, on mission, for another few weeks. I’ll get to you as soon as I can,” he promised. “I’ll be seeing you shortly.”
Immediately our phone conversation ended, I opened the message he’d sent me with the DNA results. There was no doubt that the babies were from two different fathers. Daniel Brennan and David Davenport.
“Bring your beautiful body back over here,” Daniel insisted, startling me while I was in the process of reading the results. I didn’t know how to tell him. “What are you doing out of bed at this time anyway?” he asked.
“David called,” I told him, sliding back into bed.
“And?” he asked, rubbing his eyes in an effort to wake up.
“He’s gone and accessed the DNA results.”
“And?”
I swallowed hard before replying, “One of the babies is yours, one is his.”
He shook his sleepy head in response. “What?”
“Only one of the babies is yours.”
“Like, how is that even possible?” he asked.
“It’s rare, but apparently, it does happen. Two separate eggs, two separate…”
“Spare me the science,” he said curtly. “I don’t care what the results say. I’m not letting go of you again.”
“Neither is David.”
“Here we go,” he said, suddenly bolting up and out of bed, completely naked. He stood there in front of me, tall, bronzed, his body perfectly crafted, looking more like a mythical god than the Daniel I once knew, who was so insecure and so afraid of losing me. This Daniel wasn’t afraid of losing, he was ready to win. “Show me the messages,” he ordered.
I handed him my phone, notwithstanding the fact that he would see the other messages David had sent.
Scrolling through the messages, he laughed haughtily. “Second husband? He’s dreaming. I’m not giving you up, and he’s not going to have a piece of you. I appreciate your right to choose. But I’m your husband. Always will be your husband.” Handing the phone back to me, he announced, “I’m not going to stop him from seeing his child, but if he doesn’t back off, c’est la guerre. All’s fair in love and war.”
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