CHAPTER 38

Maxwell's mother Mrs. George

arrived at the hospital a few hours

later. She was very angry that her

son ran out of his own wedding

because of some child which they

are not even sure belongs to them.

When she got to the hospital, she

saw Max and the lady who came

to drag him sitting on a bench not

talking to each other and looking

in different directions. Seeing

them in that state gave her some

peace as it is obvious that the two

of them and not very close so

there's still hope for her son to

go back and marry his fiance

whom he left standing at the altar.

Mrs. George walked up to them

and behaved like that lady beside

her son was Invisible as she started

talking to her son. "Max, why did

you run out of your own wedding

leaving Chioma alone at the altar

for a child that you are not even

sure belongs to you? Do you

know the kind of shame that you

have brought to our family on

this day? I can't believe that you

have the mind to have sex with a

little girl. Do you know that you

can be sued for that and you will

end up in jail?" Max raised his

head and looked at his mum and

she said "Mum, I am stressed

enough already so can you stop

with the questions which I don't

have answers to? I just donated

my blood to my daughter and I

feel weak. I just need some

minutes of peace please if you

don't mind." 

Since Max's mother pretended that

Shulamite was not there, Shulamite

also pretended not to see Max's

mother. He took a deep sigh when

he noticed the animosity between

the two women. He turned to his

mother and said "mum aren't you

too old for this? Can you put away

your sentiments for your friend's

daughter and just say hello to

Shulamite at least? She never

came to me all these years to talk

about the child because she never

wanted me to know. She wanted

to live her life in peace with her

daughter which you and I know

that I only came to know about

her existence through a twist of

fate. I will really appreciate it if

the two of you can put away your

differences and stop being hostile

towards each other." After speaking

to the two women, Max's mum

raised her nose in the air giving

Shulamite an air of superiority.

She turned to her son again and

asked him "have you seen the girl?

Do you even know her name? Hearing

how weird her mother's name

sounds, I am very sure that they

would have found another weird

name for the girl. I hope you still

know that child or no child, Chioma

still loves you the same. I came

here so that I can speak to the

doctor about transferring the girl

to our family hospital as she will

get better medical care there and

also, we can do a DNA test to

ascertain if the child is really yours

or someone else's." 

Shulamite has been quiet all this

while and watching Mrs. George act

out her drama but what the woman

just said upset her a lot so she

decided not to be quiet anymore

as she spoke to no one in particular

and said "I dare anyone who will

want to take my daughter away

from me. It seems they have a

death wish already. Anyone who

wants to take my daughter away

from me will have to do that over

my dead body." 

Mrs. George heard what Shulamite

said as she started examining her

nails and saying "whoever wants

to die had better start dying now

because if I discover that I have

a grandchild outside, I am taking

that child with me right away for

no relative of mine will be allowed

to sleep outside. I will never let my

girl grandchild get pregnant in her

childhood like some people whose

parents could not bring up in the

right way." 

Shulamite stood from where she

was sitting as she put her phone

which never rang to her ear and

began to talk like she was making

a phone call. She spoke into the

phone saying "hey girlfriend, do

you remember the arrogant woman

who thinks she owns the world?

Well, I have her exchanging words

with me already. After all, she has

nothing better to do except interfere

in her son's life and threaten to take

other people's children away from

them because she owns an orphanage." 

Max got tired of the two of them

acting like children as he stood and

said "can the two of you just shut

it, please? If Shulamite is acting

up because she is young what

about your mum? Are you a little

girl? I begged you that I needed a

few minutes of peace but what

did you do? You began to insult

her indirectly. What are the two of

you dragging? Are you married to

the same husband or is one of you

owing the other money? Rachel is

in there resting and I am also weak

so the last thing that both of us

need, is the two of you acting up

like teenage girls here." After

speaking, he walked away from

his mother and Shulamite who

were acting like children.

Mrs. George doesn't really have

any hate for Shulamite. She just

dislikes the fact that Shulamite

came and ruined her son's wedding

which they've taken months to plan

and right now, her favorite

goddaughter is at home devastated

and crying. Mrs. George has

always wished for a grandchild and

she can't wait to see her son's

acclaimed daughter. After seeing

her son very angry, she decided to

act mature and stopped getting

on Shulamite's nerves.

Mrs. George walked up to where

her son was standing and held his

hands begging him to find a place

to sit so that he won't fall. They got

a seat and sat before she started

asking her son some questions

about what Shulamite said at the

chapel. "How did you manage to

steal the Innocence of a little girl?

Didn't you know that she was just

thirteen years old?" Max could not

look into his mother's eyes and

give her the answers to her

questions, so he put his head down

and said "she looked like she was

sixteen years old and she was also

hanging out with those other girls

in my class. They come by The Book

Club every afternoon and that was

how we became close. I asked her

age and she told me that it is rude

to ask a girl her age so I gave up

on that. It was after it happened

that she told me that she was

thirteen years old. I refused to

believe it when she told me that

Qbecause she never looked that

age. I thought that she was joking

and I was hoping that she will come

the next day and tell me that it was

only a joke but it wasn't a joke and

I couldn't tell anybody about it. I

loved her so we decided to keep it

a secret and I promised her that I

will never leave her and that when

she grows older,  we can be

together openly and do whatever

we want to do without going

against the law or having people

criticize us. We kept hanging out

innocently and after a month, I

stopped seeing her at the book club

and when I asked around, I was

told that they had relocated and

nobody knew where they relocated

to. A few years ago, I saw a

magazine and I saw her there in

the magazine. She had become

a model and even when she talked

about her childhood, she never

mentioned me so I decided to let

it be because it seemed that she

had moved on. I felt like an idiot

after reading that article because

I was still holding on to our promise

and waiting for her but she forgot

all about me. when I look back at

it now, I realize that she never

forgot about me because she had

my face with her every day. Mum,

you need to see Rachel. she is the

female version of me. I felt very bad

when I saw that girl. I felt that I

was selfish in getting married to

someone else while my daughter

was elsewhere without a father.

I've been asking myself how

Shulamite was able to cope with

being pregnant at such a young

age. I asked her if she would have

let me know that we had a child

together if Rachel had not needed

my blood and she told me that

she would have never told me

anything about the existence of

the child if not for this Twist of Fate.

So mum, please I am begging you,

don't make things any more difficult

for me than they already are. I have

not faced her parents yet because I

don't know what they will say about

the boy who got their daughter

pregnant at such a young age.

When you see her parents, please

do not bring in that air of superiority

which you carry around with you

everywhere because it's not going

to help our situation here."

Mrs. George put her chin on her

palms while seated and listening

to her son tell her the story of how

he ended up having a child which

neither of them knew about. She

looked at everything happening

now and realized that she has failed

as a mother. It seemed like she

cared more about herself than she

ever cared about her son. She felt

that if she had been healthily involved

in her son's life, he would have told

her something of this magnitude but

he never told her anything because

he never trusted her to handle the

situation properly. She placed her

hand on her son's back and said "I

am sorry that I have never truly been

there for you as a mother should. I

promise you that I will be nice to

your daughter's grandparents when

they get here. Since Shulamite had

a daughter that early and also

became a model, was she able to

further her education?" Max smiled

at his mother's question because it

beats his imagination how his

mother could be thinking about

someone's education at a time

like this. "Mum, she graduated last

year with a bachelor's degree in

business administration." 

 While mother and son were having

their conversation Shulamite's

parents arrived at the hospital to

check on their granddaughter.

They walked into the ward and

saw mother and daughter having

a discussion. They heard their

granddaughter asking her mother

if she really brought her father to

the hospital or it was a dream.

When Shulamite's parents saw

that the two were immersed in

their conversation, they decided

not to interrupt and just wait outside.

Shulamite smiled and said to her

daughter "last night while you

were unconscious, I promised

you that if we couldn't get a

compatible blood donor for you,

I will bring your father down here

and that was exactly what I did.

You weren't dreaming. Your father

really came to donate his blood

to you and he's still outside waiting

for you to wake up." Rachel looked

very happy but suddenly became

sad again as she asked her mother

"all these years my father never

cared about me so why is he here

now?" Her mother smiled sadly

before replying her "I am sorry

baby, it was all my fault. Your

father never knew of your

existence because I never told

him. I want you to know that your

father loves you very much and

that's the reason he is here. Do

you know that your father was

getting married to someone else

today? When I ran into the church

and told him about you and that

you were in the hospital, he ran

out of the church without reciting

his wedding vows and came down

here to save you." Rachel was very

pleased to hear that and she asked

her mother if she could see her father.

Shulamite came outside the ward

and walked up to where Max and

his mother were seated. Immediately

they saw her coming, they both

stood and quickly walked up to

meet her halfway. She told Max

that Rachel was awake and she

wants to see him so they all

walked into the ward and when

Mrs. George saw the girl, she was

amazed at the resemblance that

the girl bears to her son. Rachel

is just as her son described. She

is the female version of Max.

Standing in front of his daughter

Max didn't know what to say to

her. He just stood in front of her

smiling and decided to introduce

himself by saying "hello beautiful,

my name is Maxwell and I can see

that you and I really look like."

Rachel giggled after hearing what

her father has just said and she

said "you and I do not just look

alike. I also have your blood flowing

in my veins because you gave that

to me in the morning and my

mummy also says that you are

my father." Max almost shed tears

hearing his daughter's voice as

he held onto her hands and said

"yes I am your father and since I

have found you, I will never leave

you alone again. I just met you

today, but I love you so much

already that I think I can't live

without you." Max couldn't take

his eyes off the little girl on the

bed as it seems to him that if he

blinks, she might just disappear.

Rachel looked towards the woman

standing close to Max who she

did not know and the woman

smiled at her and said "hello

Rachel, I am your father's mother

and that makes me your

grandmother." This moment was

too beautiful for Mrs. George to

be left out so she decided to

quickly introduce herself to her

granddaughter and make her know

that she is also her grandmother.

Rachel smiled at her new grandmother

and father and said "I am very

happy that I now have more family

members." 

 Rachel held on to her father and

her mother's hands and smiled at

them. "I always pray every night

that God should give me a father

like other children so that my

mother can come back home. I

told God that if he brings my

mummy and my daddy back to me,

I will be nice to the neighbor's cat,

Molly. Now I am very happy that

I have my mummy and daddy like

other children." When the adults

heard Rachel's promise to God,

they all laughed, and right then,

a doctor walked in and told them

not to stress the child as she

needs to rest.

Mrs. George did not know how

and when she fell in love with the

little girl as she was still smiling

when she stepped out.