Chapter 1.

Omolara Imran was so damn tired of everything. Life just seemed to be a repeat of the previous day. Nothing exciting ever happens, not to her and not around her. She'd gotten so tired that death doesn't even seem to scare her anymore, not since her cousin died last year. Lara is most definitely not suicidal, she just wouldn't mind if someone took a gun to her head.

Lara is brave enough to admit that it's her fault she's so tired, having trust issues does that to someone. She's so scared to trust, she became an introvert, made only a single friend (who she's sure she doesn't deserve), no boyfriend, no crushes all of her twenty-three years on earth and no hope of finding 'the one' anytime in the future, she hasn't even had her first kiss.

She understood that she'd never find 'the one' if she's locked up in her room all day long, life wasn't so nice, but she couldn't even bring herself to care, too much work. So, she's settled into her potentially, most definitely, spinsterhood and is contemplating adoption. A virgin couldn't possibly go to a sperm bank unless she wanted the baby to take her virginity on its way out, no can do. Besides, pregnancy before marriage is a definite way to disappoint her Nigerian parents regardless of the fact that she's known no man intimately.

There are a few things she enjoyed though, her job as a Design Engineer, cats and babies. Which is why she instantly came out of her stupor on hearing the wail of a baby. She was in a hurry to get back home from work to feed her dear cat, Kitten, and she wouldn't have stopped if it weren't for the fact that the sound was coming from a dump-site by the side of the road. Lara had always been emphatic, so much so that people's moods directly affects hers. And that's why she couldn't resist checking on a baby crying in a dump-site, regardless of the presence of a parent or not.

It took a little while and a lot of gagging before Lara finally found the new born baby, uterus fluid and all, under a pile of trash. Lara was so horrified at the sight, she froze and forgot to breathe. Fortunately for the baby, its wail snapped her out of it and she immediately called upon the little knowledge of First-Aid she knew. It was obvious the baby's airways were clear, Lara took off her blazer and wrapped the baby safely in it.

With a burst of speed she forgot she possessed, she ran and hailed a cab. Thankfully, her best friend, Dupe, was a paediatric doctor and was working at a nearby hospital. Lara called ahead and informed Dupe of the situation on hand, all the while the little baby tried its best to rid her of her hearing.

Lara was too busy soothing the baby, she didn't take note of the irritated and disgusted look on the driver and passenger's faces. If she had, she wouldn't have cared either way. At the emergency entrance of the hospital, Lara paid her fare, alighted and was immediately met by Dupe and a few nurses. They took the baby from her arms and then began the waiting game.

The next three hours were torture to Lara, she'd worried about anything and everything. She wondered if she'd done enough to help the baby, chewed on her nails as she thought of Kitten hungry at home, went on to cussing out the parents of the baby, then she prayed for the health of the baby and the cycle repeats. By the time Dupe came back into the waiting room for her, Lara had chewed her nails to the cuticle. So much for letting it grow out.

"I am not supposed to let you go in to see the baby, but you're my best friend and I know you'd worry yourself to death otherwise." Dupe shot her a friendly but tired smile.

"Dupe, you're the best!" Lara shot up from the seat "Lead the way."

As they walked, Dupe brought her up to speed about the health of the baby boy. Asides from an unusually high temperature, he seems perfectly healthy. Hearing that, the weight that had been bearing on Lara's chest loosened. At the neonatal unit, Dupe advised Lara to wash her hands and don a surgical gown.

"I can only give you ten minutes with the baby, anything more and I could get fired." Lara snorted.

"As if your dad's going to fire his best doctor." At Dupe's bland look, Lara had to concede. "Okay, babe. Fine, fifteen minutes."

"Really Lara, really?"

With a groan and an eye roll, Lara said. "Okay, okay. Ten minutes, and only because I love you and I'm eager to see the baby."

"Wait, before we enter, you need to know he's not stopped crying since you brought him in, so we had to separate him from the other babies."

"What?! Why not? Is something wrong with him?"

"We don't know what's wrong but his scans showed that he's healthy, but we're scared he's going to make himself sick."

"Can't you give him something to make him sleep?"

"It's not advisable but that's what we'll have to do if he doesn't stop." Dupe sighed. "Brace yourself, that baby has a great pair of lungs on him."

"Don't I know it?"

As they entered the room, Lara was hit with a blast of cries that broke her heart and made her teary. Dupe led Lara to the bassinet and at first, she didn't know what she was looking at.

"This is the bundle I brought in?" Lara was stunned speechless.

"Yes, he's beautiful, isn't he?" Lara looked at Dupe incredulously but immediately turned her gaze back to the infant in the bassinet.

"Beautiful? He's the most spectacular baby I'd ever laid my eyes on!" Lara was in awe, nobody should be that beautiful.

The baby had a beautiful head of black curls, she didn't even know babies could have that much hair, silky looking skin and the most beautiful features, even though they were scrunched up in pain. However, what really took the cake was the shade of his eyes. His eyes were out of this world, it was, God! Words could not do enough justice to them, but Lara thought they looked like a mixture of honey brown and amber but with swirls of silver and gold. It was mesmerizing and hands down the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"Can I hold him? I really want to hold him."

"Sure, but you have only three minutes left."

"Already?" Lara didn't want to waste any of that time and immediately picked up the squirming bundle. As she placed him in the crook of her arms and rocked him side to side, his cries immediately started to subside until all was left were soft hiccups.

Dupe gasped. "How did you do that?"

"I thought you said he hasn't stopped crying. Are you sure you're a real doctor?" Lara joked then laughed as she took in Dupe's shocked face. "Close your mouth."

The baby's hiccups had now disappeared and his beautiful eyes were trained on Lara's face. Lara wasn't sure but she thought that those eyes seemed far too intelligent to be a new-born's.

"Hello, I am Lara." Lara cooed. "You just wanted some loving, didn't you? Don't worry, all is forgiven, sometimes I want some loving too."

"Babe, let me go call a nurse, just sit in that rocking chair. I'll be back soon." Dupe called as she hastily left the unit.

Lara shook her head at her bestie's antics and spoke to the bundle in her arms, "She's a nutcase, isn't she? But that just means we'll have more time with each other." Lara took Dupe's advice and went to sit in the rocking chair by the side of the bassinet. "Did you know that you're a really handsome boy? I already pity the girls."

As Lara continued to speak and rock in the chair, the baby closed his eyes and settled. As he slept, Lara couldn't help but touch his little fingers. His skin was as soft as she thought. As she went to touch his little feet, he gripped her pinkie with his tiny hands in a grip so tight she wondered if he would grow up to be a boxer.

A few minutes later, Dupe returned with a nurse, who smiled at Lara as she took the baby from her arms. Almost at once, Ife Mi (as she had begun calling the baby), opened his eyes and gave an ear splitting wail of distress. The nurse tried her best to soothe him, but he continued to cry until Lara took him from the nurse's arms.

"Okay, Ife Mi, why are you crying? They can also give you a lot of loving." Lara cooed as she bounced the baby in her arms. "Dupe, why don't you give it a try."

Immediately he left her hands, Ife Mi, began to cry so loud Lara's ears began to ring. Dupe handed over the baby back to Lara and the same result as before occurred.

For the first time since she entered, the nurse spoke. "He thinks you're his mother."

On hearing that, Lara felt, for the first time in a long time, a jolt of happiness. "You think so?"

Dupe immediately shot Lara a sharp look. "Nurse Funke, please go and call my father."

As the nurse left, Dupe immediately started to glare at Lara. "What? Stop looking at me like that."

"No."

"No, what? I didn't do anything wrong."

"No, you're not going to do what I think you want to do!"

"Keep your voice down, he's just begun to sleep." Lara scolded her friend. "And what do you think I want to do?"

"You want to adopt him, I won't let you." Dupe folded her arms over her chest and glared down her nose at Lara.

"That's not your choice, but what made you think that?"

Dupe put up one finger in Lara's face, "One, you've given him a name,"

"It's an endearment" Lara interrupted.

"Shut up," two fingers "Two, I can see the way you look at him," three fingers "Three, you're my best friend, I know you."

Lara rolled her eyes, "You don't know me well enough if you say you think I want to adopt him. I will adopt him"

"Ya'Allah!" Dupe groaned and put a hand to her face. "You know what, put the baby down and let's take this outside."

Lara did as Dupe suggested, the baby squirmed for a few seconds before he settled into his bassinet.

Once outside, Lara glared at her best friend. "What? What is your deal with me adopting him, huh?"

"What is my deal?! Have you forgotten what country you're living in? You're a 23-year old, unmarried Muslim female, how do you think people will look at you?"

Lara raised her eyebrow. "Like I'm the mother of a beautiful boy?"

Dupe groaned, "Goodness, don't behave ignorant!"

"I'm not behaving anything, you know more than anyone that I don't give a shit what people think!"

"God, Lara! Have you thought of your family's reaction?"

"My siblings will support me 100%, my mom will begrudgingly support me and I don't care about my father or extended family's opinion. But if they like me at all, they'd come to accept my choice, as should you." Dupe sighed.

"What if he's possessed? You saw his eyes."

"Subhana'Allah! Did you really just say that?! Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?!" Lara shouted in anger. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but you never even asked why I wanted to adopt so much. Have I ever done anything without reason?" Lara couldn't quite mask the hurt in her voice.

"Lara,"

"Shut it, I'll tell you even though you didn't ask." Lara took a deep calming breath. "I've felt hollow for so long, I don't even know how to feel anything else. Every day is a test to see how long I can pretend to feel and how many people I can fool into thinking I'm normal. I've become so good, my own best friend didn't even hear my silent cries for help."

"Lara,"

"Shut up and listen because I'll only say this once." Lara knew her voice had begun to shake with sadness, but for once, she'll let someone else see the pain and misery. "At first, I was passionate about a lot of things, but over the years, I've just been forcing myself to care. I forced myself to love my job, forced myself to be excited about my graduation, your marriage, birthdays, everything!"

Lara cleared her throat. "Until, I saw him at that site. For the first time in a long time, I felt fear. I felt something! I thought he was going to die and I felt scared. Then, I entered that room and held him in my arms," Lara could hear the awe in her voice, but she didn't care that Dupe would think her crazy, she's her best friend. "And I felt like…giddy with love, like I just found an oasis after years of thirst in the desert. I felt my heart…swell. You must think I'm crazy, but I already love him. And no matter what it takes, he'll become mine."

Lara looked up then and saw the tears shimmering in Dupe's eyes. "I'm sorry, don't cry."

"Oh Lara," Dupe pulled Lara into her arms, "I am sorry, I didn't know."

"Shh, no one did." Dupe hugged her tightly.

"But I'm your best-friend, I should have known. I'm so sorry." Dupe continued to cry and apologize.

"Hey, it's okay. I just wanted you to understand why I need to adopt him. From the bottom of my heart, I feel that he belongs to me. My son."

Dupe sniffled and pulled out of the hug, "You'll need to buy a lot of things if you want to keep him. Babies cost a lot of money and time. And I could convince Dayo to help hasten the adoption process."

Lara smiled, "I love you. I'm sure your hubby doesn't need any convincing to do anything for you."

"What's the fun in that?" Dupe gave a mischievous smirk. "I love you too. Let's go, Dad is probably wondering where I ran off to after requesting to see him."