Chapter Thirteen

She felt a slight pressure on her nose and staggered up immediately. Ayoola and Temmie kept taking advantage of their younger brother's wife nervousness.

"Take it easy, it's not him" Ayoola laughed and fell on one of the cozy armchairs lazily.

"And why are you expecting the love of your life so early like this" Ayoola teased Aminat again and she adjusted on her seat, protesting with mixture of blush and a weak frown.

"Just chill. He can't come from Lagos so early, does he want fly? Don't.." Temmie added but a voice from the entrance interrupted her.

"Says who" the long awaited guest stepped in, all styled in Dolce and Gabbana.

Aminat stole a glance of him, coming from the entrance. She immediately regretted ever spending the night in the sitting room. Sitting in the parlour, unprepared, just waking up!! That was the least position she wanted him to see her.

She swallowed three times, burying her face, begging her star not to let him notice her.  She stole a glance at him again and looked back immediately from him before he looks up from his phone. But she was in mixed feelings that he ignored her ;  happy, that she was safe from embarrassment, disappointed that he never cared that she was in the room.

Aminat's view of him seemed like he was being snapped with iPhone 6; a vivid look. But he never looked editing corrupted. He looked so perfect - his wife.

Seeing Aminat's level of nervousness and uncomfortableness, Ayoola rushed to her seat and dragged her out of the sitting room with her palm slip on slapping the tiles noisily. Ayo whose attention was  on her niece, could not help but took note of what Ayoola was up to whom she thought was her nanny with a frown. 

Ayoola bolt the door leading to the rooms against her sister in-law and leaned on it, laughing hard along with her sister. Ayo furrowed his brows and Temmie waved apologetically at him amidst hard laughs.

"Why did you drag your nanny like that?" Ayo asked and the women fell on another round of laughter again.

"Are you guys alright?" He laughed in confuses with them. Even Angela was dumbstruck with her mother's and aunt's sudden outburst.

"Nanny?! That's your wife! The woman you're married to, fool!"Ayoola suddenly spilled her rants on him.

Realizing the situation, Ayo slumped on the chair Aminat was seating before with Angela still in his arms, laughing hard.

"Oh mine! She looks so small and young to be married" he remarked with a frown.

"She's just five years younger" Temmie revealed and he shrugged.

"Pele" Ayoola smiled at his slight reaction.

"Where's mum?" He said, dropping Angela gently and slowly to let her continue her movie with the toys.

"She's inside" they chorused and rose up to the door.

Aminat who had been behind the door eavesdropping, dashed to her room hastily. 

Yemisi bent her door's handle lazily after saying her morning prayers, rubbing her palms against her lids. She had just wanted to stroll out and go back to bed and wait for her son's arrival.

Man proposes and God disposes they say, he appeared to her to her surprise. He walked a bit closer to her and prostrated on the floor, lying fully with all his body kissing the floor in total respect for his mother.  All these were being watched carefully by Aminat who was peeping from her room.

Ayo's action would melt the heart of  anybody who watched that. The tug of Aminat's lip went up, lighting the atmosphere.

They both went to the sitting room, tagging the two women along to the kitchen for morning's tea. When Aminat thought they had left the building for early morning sun, she stormed out to the sitting room making unnecessary noise that caught Yemisi's attention.

"Have you met your wife?" She heard Yemisi asking her son from the kitchen and her jaw dropped.

"Not really. No actually" was Ayo's reply.

"Aminat!" Yemisi called almost immediately and Aminat nearly cried at the fear of messing up with her shaky body.

"Aminat!!" She called again.

"Ma!" She screamed her nervousness out in reply.

"Won't you welcome your hubby" Ayoola added and she knew she was deliberately teasing her.

She slowly tiptoed to the kitchen and stopped midway. They were silent, waiting for the shy bride.

"Come in!" Yemisi ordered politely.

She walked in and their eyes hit each other. Or rather say his smile hit her heart so hard that it jumped. He sat on one of the cabinets with his right leg on it as well.  Temmie Immediately placed her hand on her chest.

"He doesn't bite, go closer" Yemisi smiled at nervousness and her son smirked at Aminat's weirdness.

Remembering what she had planned, Aminat walked faster to him but the smell of his expensive sweet fragrance stopped her.

Inferiority

Ayo patiently scanned the young lady in front of him at the same time waiting for her to talk. And Aminat stood before him too, waiting for him to go first.

"Or.. Should we excuse you guys?" Temmie winked and Aminat hustled for audacity to disagree by shaking her head continuously to Ayo's amusement.

Aminat could have jumped on him  and screamed when she saw a whole Chapman. But Yemisi's presence undermined her. Even his two sisters, they would tease her for life.

"Yeah" he objected and they left before she could tweet in protest.

"Hello" he waved and took her left hand and rubbed in his palms. Aminat wanted to sip her hand out with the electric chills he was sending to her system.

She swallowed hard and rubbed her forehead with her right, free hand. Ayo laughed and looked up to her with a smile. Is this him?! Aminat thought aloud and another question popped in; for real?!

"Yeah this him and this is true" he tried to comprehend what her mind must wandering about. And he guessed right like he always did.

A tear that Aminat was sure it wasn't a sob slid down her burning cheeks unconsciously. She quickly cleaned it when she felt it.

"It's okay.." He raised a hand on her trembling shoulder for a rub. Their closeness made Aminat to stick her tongue out like she had wanted to lick him. The sweet fragrance she was

"I'm Ayo. Ayo Daniel Fashola in full" he introduced.

"I know" she laughed before he joined.

"Yours?"

"Aminat. Aminat Olamide Abdulkareem in full" she copied his style and he chuckled.

"Aminat Olamide Fashola" he corrected and she sucked her lips and her dimples glorified her cheeks so much that he felt like he should touch them and he did.

After then, he raised her chin up and inquired about her age.

"Twenty" she said, her smile fading away while waiting for his reaction.

"Why did you stopped smiling, you think a twenty year old can't hold man down?" He teased and she bent her head sideways with a wide smile in which he commended her for her managed composure without screaming or scattering everywhere.

"I'm twenty five anyways" he said.

"I know that as well" she laughed but  he frowned and she stopped laughing.

"Stop telling me that you know, duh. I don't care whether you know or not. I want to start telling you about me all over again. I promise I'd find what you've never heard about me before" he protested and she nodded.

"So... What would you like to called, should I call you Olamide or I should call you baby? Honey? Sweetheart? Cupcake? Or wifey? Just tell me  how you want it" the sweetness in his voice made Aminat to pump her cheek out under torture of her palms being gently massaged by his.

"Anything. Anything that you just feel like. Even if it's my name" She simply answered with a smile.

"Don't tell me you're boring!" He noted with a frown and she shook her head as hard as she could to erase the the impression off his mind.

"Prove it"

"Like?"

"Stop hurting your cheeks all the time. Give me some naughty smirks instead sometimes" he winked and she tried not to blush but she failed.

"Again?!" He laughed and she looked behind them.

"You're such a beautiful young lady for a young lad like me" he touched her nose.

She was already drown with every perfect moment they could have on their first day of meeting! His touches,  his words, the smiles that made a butterfly fest in her tummy.. She never wanted a break.

"Let's go to the sitting room" he jumped from the cabinet and took her hand along with him.

"What's up!" Ayoola winked. He could see fear in his mother's eyes so  vivid.

He wondered why she was still scared when they had talk things over many times.

"Chapman!" Temmie hail teasingly after he ignored Ayoola's wink.

"What's up with these your hype?" He laughed suspiciously at the two women and Aminat tried to hide behind but he bursted her bubble and pulled her out.

"She's good. I'm good. We're good" he reached for his mum's glass of wine beside him and raised  it high up.

He slumped on one of the cozy armchairs and stretched his stiffened his body. He threw his legs up continuously and Yemisi got his message.

"You care to help your husband with his sneakers?" Yemisi tried to calm her fears.

Aminat nodded and the two women teased the new couple with laughter.

"Your new dad!" Yemisi joined and the laughed.

"Yeahh!"