25 The Perfect Plan

Nabila did not explain Jamal's reaction the first time she suggested they try for a baby. She no longer argued with him and he had moved back into the Master bedroom. She was determined to have a child and would do that by any means necessary. Nabila needed something from her sister's office so the next day she insisted they bring Rabi along for lunch. Surprisingly Amaka was hesitant and proceeded to act uncomfortably towards her sister the rest of the afternoon. Even when Rabi complained of missing materials and kits from her store room, Amaka offered bland sympathy. Nabila excused herself when they dropped Rabi off at the fertility centre

"Amaka is everything alright?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Amaka asked Rabi back

"You seem a little annoyed"

"Really? Do you recommend I rent a hotel room in The Hilton to cool off?"

Rabi did not know what to say and was sure she was making connections where they needn't be any. "Hotels are not only for that. People go there for lots of reasons." She responded slowly. Could Amaka know? No, it wasn't possible. She was jumping to conclusions.

Amaka did not know what to think but she knew the sight of Jamal and Rabi in the hotel lobby made her uncomfortable. She was there for the 24hour pharmacy as a cold had kept Chiamaka awake all night. With two drowsy 6 year olds in the car she saw her friend's husband and his sister in law stroll out of the Hilton reception and towards their cars. Amaka did not care what century they lived in, there is nothing else that a grown man and woman had to do in the reception of a hotel lobby at that hour. However Amaka never jumped to conclusions giving everyone and anyone she came across the benefit of doubt. Always. It was the mantra she lived by. Amaka trusted her belief in humanity and reigned in her imagination.

She had planned to mention it to Nabila anyway but on hearing that she and Jamal planned to start a family it was clear that whatever was going on was clearly over. As long as it ended well, no one need find out. Never interfere in a marriage no matter the capacity, Rabi knew that. She was a 28year old woman not a child and she had protected her sister Nabila all their life. She would never hurt her. The weekend brought Jay and his offer of lunch, Amaka listened to him. He seemed happy, happier than she had seen him in almost a year. Nabila was close to ecstatic so Amaka decided to swallow her tongue praising God that the age old rule of men returning to their wives held true for her friend. And now they wished to start a family.

All's well that ends well.

It had now been two months since Jamal first turned down Nabila. Two months since she cried herself to sleep. Two months since she decided that she deserved a baby giving what she put up with. Two months since it stopped to matter what the hell Jamal did because she had a plan. Nabila had never been more focused and determined in her life. She read up on conception and followed the rules to the letter. She varied her diet and consumed fish and whole grains. Her water intake was spot on the recommended 2L. She started to exercise; cycling for 20minutes a day. Most importantly she cut the stress in her life. She remained polite but never stressed anyone or herself. Jamal was free to do as he pleased and her mother became white noise. Instead Nabila immersed her free time into landscaping. Gardening helped her relax and drawing out plans for seed dispersal actually made her happy. She had an irrigation sprinkler system installed and dug the earth herself. If it did not look right the first time; she had a go at it again till her shoulders ached. Wore out her gardening gloves, shopped for seeds, built an arsenal of shovels and spades and borrowed tips from Babayaro, her mother's gardener.

The gift of flowers is one of the few she was blessed with and at her talented finger tips: geraniums, freesia, chrysanthemums, carnations, and ambrosias sprang up bringing to life what she imagined Frances Burnett's Secret Garden to resemble. Watching them bloom prevented her obsessing about getting pregnant; she would have driven herself mad with a single fixation that powerful. The flowers although diligently planted to receive much light were cleverly mapped out across squidgy lines on the grass so they looked like they sprung up by accident. Everywhere was coloured with something in bloom. Nabila had never been more proud of herself.

Amaka dropped her off and Nabila wished she could confide in her, but it would be too soon. Any sooner and it might jinx her luck. Nabila had previously stolen a fertility monitor and temperature chart from her sister's office; she had listened with a solemn face to Rabi's frustration as she complained over lunch about thievery but her determination to get pregnant left no room for guilt. As she kept Amaka and Rabi waiting for her return she stole her final ingredient: some tablets to knock Jamal out. Tonight was the perfect night to conceive. Tonight was the day before her ovulation. Tonight her cervical mucus was thin and clear, she checked. Tonight she was going to drug her husband and coax him to ejaculate into her.

Jamal returned from work and followed his routine: inhaled his late lunch then went out, returning past midnight. Nabila greeted, followed him upstairs and lay down to sleep shutting her eyes. When she heard his breathing measured and slow she stood and lowered the air conditioner to make sure his sperm got really cool. It was better that way. She then waited for an hour. At the perfect time right when goose bumps began to appear on his arms Nabila watched him stir awake. Then drift back almost unconsciously; she had spiked his aromatic tea before he went to bed. Too tired to do more than accept the cold, he lay zoned out. Nabila undressed and climbed atop her husband. She slid his penis out of his pyjama trousers and began to massage it. As he got aroused Nabila listened to her husband make noises she had forgotten could come out of him. His now erect penis throbbed warm in her hands.. She guided his penis into her and began to gyrate atop him, praying for just one of the little bastards to fertilise her egg. Nabila hated the method of this but wanted the results too badly

"Bee Bee" Jamal mumbled

"Yes its Nabsy"

"Bee Bee"

After ejaculation Nabila stealthily rolled off him and lay on her back with her knees to her chest and feet in the air. She maintained that position for longer than was necessary; praying non-stop. Eventually she got up and cleaned Jamal with a cloth wipe, she tucked him back in, increased the temperature of the air conditioner and went to sleep with a smile on her face.