Marriage announcement; The Da-Silvas

Mama Silver arrived home very tired! Staying cooped up in a car and driving inside Lagos traffic wasn't easy, especially at this stage of her life. Even though she just wanted to take her bath and go straight to bed, she needed to discuss the new development which is Emma's marriage to Leo with the girls.

The door to her mansion swung automatically opened when she was at the gate and she drove inside. Mama Silver's driver came out of his quarters when he heard her familiar car horn and rushed forward to meet her.

"Welcome ma!..." He greeted "Hope the journey wasn't too stressful?" He asked again when his boss got out of her car to stretch her now stiff muscles

"It was very stressful... But since t's not everywhere you can drive me to then I have no choice." She said and handed the car key for him to park the car properly before walking towards her main door.

"Ma!..." The driver called and Mama Silver stopped and turned back.

"I was just wondering if Miss Lade would be staying the night... I don't know if I should park her car properly too or I should leave it here till when she's ready to leave."

"You can park it properly, she's staying the night... Good night Niyi."

"Good night ma!" The driver said and hurried to do his last duty for the night.

'Abby is still here too, I see!' Mama Silver thought and walked through the living room towards the stairs. She could hear all their laughter from the foot of the stairs. Emma's voice rang out clear and strong.

'It certainly doesn't sound like the voice of someone who just got strangled to death! I guess she also has the power to heal herself too...' Mama Silver thought and walked dejectedly away from the stairs, back to the living room.

She sat on the sofa with a sigh, thinking about how she was going to have the conversation about Emma's newly acquired powers with her. The problem weighed on her mind. It was what kept her company all through the heavy traffic, on her way home.

Even though Oracle told her he trusted Emma to handle the powers as they manifest, Mama Silver couldn't bear to let her granddaughter discovered and wonder in the dark by herself just like she did during her days when she discovered she has the supernatural power of the water element.

Power is good, but it has intoxicated the best of hearts and brought out the monsters in them, totally erasing their values for humanity. No man is wise enough nor good enough to be trusted with the kind of unlimited power that Emma now carries inside her. Mama Silver knew Emma might be destroyed by these powers unless she does something to help her cope with it

Oracle only said they cannot do anything to help the children work out their differences and love each other. He did not say she cannot do anything to help her granddaughter make the monstrous burden she carries with her lighter.

After much consideration, Mama Silver now knows how to go about handling the situation. She stood up and walked back towards the stairs, feeling lighter within herself.

"Lade, I'm sorry... From what I'm seeing here, Ifa is not an English word. Abby laughed and looked up from the dictionary she held on her lap

"It doesn't matter! It's still a word, isn't it? A word that has been used by almost all the English and non-English speaking countries in the world, so it's allowed.

"I won't allow it!... Ifa is only well known among the Yorubas. Only a handful of people have heard about it even in Nigeria, the eastern and northern part of Nigeria for example and less than a handful knows about it all over the world." Emma said firmly towards her sister

"What do you mean you won't allow it? On which research are you basing your statistics on?" Omolade equally replied Emma in a firm voice.

Abby was laughing seriously, watching the two sisters argue back and forth while playing scrabble was really fun to watch. Since they were both very stubborn, Abby was eager to know who would give up for who.

"Lade this is not fair! It is cheating and you know it..."

"It is not cheating! You are the one who wants to cheat and I just wish grandma was here to help clear your doubts since she knows a lot about the word."

"Help clear what doubts?..." Mama Silver asked with a smile on her face as she entered their private living room up the stairs

"Grandma you're back!"

"Welcome grandma!"

"Welcome, ma!"

The three girls all greeted Mama Silver with smiles on their faces. Emma and Omolade were sitting on the floor with a game of scrabble on a small coffee table between them while Abby who was holding a dictionary sat on the sofa with her legs tucked under her.

"They are arguing about a word. Lade spelled Ifa as a word while Emma said it's not a real English word since they are not playing a Yoruba scrabble..."

"Well..." Mama Silver said with a smile on her face and sat down on the nearest chair next to her "Ifa is a real word..."

Hearing what her grandma said, and without allowing her to finish her sentences, Omolade jumped up from where she was sitting... "I told you it wasn't cheating, didn't I! It was a real word, thank God grandma came on time! I won the game, I won!..."

"Calm down Lade, you did not allow me to finish my sentence," Mama Silver said towards her animated oldest granddaughter.

"Did you hear that? Clam down and allow her to finish her sentence before you declare yourself the winner!" Emma interjected.

"Ifa is a real word that was founded by Orunmila in Ile-Ife, the city that is the source of the Yorubas. The word is well known and popularly used especially by traditional worshipers and ifa followers all over the world"

"Can you now see that we are both rights in our own ways? This game is a draw!" Emma declared and immediately started packing up the tiles to Omolade's utmost shock and Mama Silver and Abby's amusement.

Omolade gasped... ", Emmanuella Ayinke Da-Silva, you are a cheat! I clearly won this round too!"

Emma just shrugged her shoulders and stuck her tongue out at her sister. "¹Agbaya! How many times do you want to beat your sister in one night?" She shamelessly asked Omolade with a straight face and they all busted out laughing.

Seeing how Emma and Omolade were friendly and happy with each other, Mama Silver was happy about how things turned out between both her granddaughters. She was glad she forced Omolade into making the first move and she thank God her grandchildren were obedient, unlike their parents who couldn't follow and obey simple instruction

Omolade walked towards her grandmother and sat on her lap. "Grandma are you ready to eat right now?... Should I go set the table for your dinner or would you rather have your bath first?... Abby cooked and she's a very good cook believe me"

"Firstly, Lade you cannot still be sitting on my lap at my age so please get up..." Mama Silver said and Omolade immediately got up.

"Awwwn... Would you rather I give you a massage then?" Emma asked coming to stand in front of her Mama Silver

"That would be nice but I need to shower first... About food... I'm not really hungry, but I'll certainly eat one of Abby's grilled fish and a cup of cocoa thank you!" Mama Silver said and smiled towards Abby who was staring back at Mama Silver with an awe-struck look on her face.

"Grandma... How did you know about the fish? I don't understand but you just came in now"

"I told you once about my hair, didn't I?... It's how I got to know about stuff..." Mama Silver said and got up. "Let me go take a shower first before eating, then we can all talk."

When Mama Silver was done eating, she left the dining room and joined the girls who were watching a soap opera on the television.

"Can we talk now or we should wait till after the drama?..." Mama Silver asked when she saw the way they concentrated on the drama

"Yeah, we can talk now and record this to watch later," Lade said and pressed some buttons on the remote before. she switched off the television.

¹A bad elderly person. Example: An elder who beats younger one's unnecessarily