THE HAUNTED CHILD

Mrs. Ronin, a woman in her late thirties drove herself on the less busy street full of dried and dead acacia leaves.

The road was so quiet except for the chirping of birds and the glowing bright morning sun that shone on the street. Everyone seemed to be busy or gone for the days work.

She turned on the player to one of her favorite songs, drunk love as she nodded with a smile to the beat of the song. She was more in love with the beats of songs than their wordings.

She was so carried away that she didn't notice she almost passed her house. She drove back and entered into her compound, parked her car and got out.

She opened the back door and picked some leather bags and carried them in with her handbag from the front seat.

She pressed the doorbell but there was no response so she pushed the door and entered as it was open.

She dropped the bags in the kitchen and sat on one of the couches in the living room as she pulled off her shoes and poured herself water into a glass cup from a container from she took from the fridge in the kitchen. She arranged her hair and laid on the couch hand and soon fell asleep.

Twenty minutes after she had slept, a car drove in, it was her husband, Ronin Martins who was in his early forties.

He wanted pressing the doorbell when he noticed the door was slightly opened so he pushed and entered, carefully locking the door behind him.

He met his wife, Mary already sleeping. He went and sat closer to her, putting her legs on his as he patted her hair gently. He was about kissing her when she woke up.

They smiled at each other and he gave her a peck on her cheek and asked her how her day went. She was tired and was feeling dizzy so she decided to get some rest before her husband came in.

She asked him how his day went too and he told her it was fine only that he was worried about her. He then asked her for the test results as to why she had been ill for the past two days but she told him not until they had eaten.

He went into the kitchen and served them some snacks and drinks. He then asked her about it but she told him to calm down and they should finish eating. She was just smiling as he ate hungrily.

Then she asked him to pass her bag for her as it was closer to him and he did just that. She brought out a file and removed some papers and passed it back to him. He was wondering what it was.

She asked him to go through it as he kept asking her what it was all about. He couldn't believe his eyes, he looked at her, shocked and surprised. She nodded to him with beaming smiles all over her face and said yes.

"I'm pregnant honey, four weeks pregnant."

He couldn't believe it, he jumped up and carried her. He hugged her as they both laughed. He then sat her down gently and knelt beside her, touching and feeling her belly. He then put his head on her stomach, talking to his unborn child.

They spent their day chatting aloud and laughing as they cracked jokes. They played a Korean movie, death bell by title.

K- dramas were what his wife loved so much and since the day they got married, he bought many CDs for her. He left her watching as he went into the kitchen to prepare something for lunch and same for dinner.

He didn't want to stress her going to the dining so he made the dining in the living room as he dragged the center table towards her and placed the tray of food and drinks for the both of them. They playfully fed each other as they had always done since they got married.

It was getting dark as night fell. Ronin helped his wife to bed after she had eaten and showered. He treated her like a queen even though he always gave her that treatment but made it more special because of her pregnancy.

She was more fragile than an egg to him. The lights were switched off in the bedroom. They both stared at the ceiling as they were deep in thoughts.

He turned and noticed his wife was also lost in her own thoughts. He asked her what was wrong and she told him she couldn't believe she's pregnant.

He smiled and told her she's not pregnant, her mood changed, she asked him what he meant and he repeated his statement, then putting his left hand on her belly, he said, "we're pregnant."

She laughed at his statement after a long breath of relieve. She asked him why he made such statement, she was the one carrying the pregnancy not him as she kept laughing.

He told her she may be carrying their baby in her womb, but he's carrying both her and their child in his heart.

He spoke so much to her that made her fell in love with him even more. They joked together for some minutes before she finally fell asleep.

Ronin just stared at the ceiling in the room. He wasn't too sleepy. He recalled how they had suffered all sort of humiliations from family and friends and people that barely knew them because his wife was unable to conceive.

He thanked God for keeping them to see that faithful day and moment, for his wife's pregnant stage.

He remembered what his wife passed through, how his mother kept threatening to throw her out and bring in a new woman for her son if she didn't conceive, all what she went through. She's been through a lot but he thanked God for the miracle.