Chapter 18

I'll be here," Brenda told Malcolm.

"No you can come along" Reina urged her.

"Come, let's go" Malcolm added, she nervously stood up and followed them back into the hospital.

*BRENDA*

"I'm going to leave and I'll never come back, and if I come back, it's for my daughter, I'm going to take her away from you", she pointed a finger at him and with her high pitch tone, she continued to talk. Malcolm was tired of her and so he had told her to leave and never come back.

Adrianna had locked herself in her room for almost an hour, her parent's voices were loud, it's always these arguments and she was beginning to get tired of it.

Removing her headphones she angrily went downstairs. She stood beside the dining room listening to every conversation clearly.

Her father had told her mother to leave. Her heart sank, she was just a high schooler. She saw her furious mother going about, packing her stuff. As soon as she was done packing, she was about to leave but turned back, she hugged her daughter tightly, tears formed in her eyes.

"Baby, I promised I'd come back for you, I promise"

Adrianna had looked at her mother and told her not to come back for her and went back to her room angrily. Brenda said nothing and left the.

She had arrived in Tyson's house late evening, he had tried to talk to her but she refused to talk to him so he gave her space, leaving her to calm down from whatever she had gone through.

The next morning, she awoke after the aroma of lasagna had filled her nose and hit her hard, she had gone downstairs to find Tyson was the one cooking and not Eva the maid. She smiled sheepishly at him and went over to kiss him.

"Good morning baby" he greeted.

"Good morning, she replied yawning.

"Someone really slept well" he teased her

"Yeah I did, after what happened yesterday, I really needed it," she said

"You wanna talk about it," he asked, leaving what he was doing, he knew she was married and had Adrianna but they seemed to be in love, he wanted her for himself but he was going to be patient about it, he didn't advise her to do anything irrational, but he was guessing she must have packed out from the other place considering how much she had packed in yesterday.

"He sent me out, told me never to come back again, that if I loved you more than him I should live with you, he finally let me go," she said sadly.

"What about your Daughter?"

She doesn't want me too" she was upset though but she'll get over it, I'd call to be checking in on her and meet her somewhere close. She stated.

"I'm so sorry," Tyson said

"Its fine, fate has its own ways of doing things," she said.

*****

Ten months later

Whenever she wants to talk to her daughter she would always call her on the phone, but today she needed to talk to her face to face. she would show up at the school.

The drive to her daughter's school was worth the stress, she was just a month pregnant, she wouldn't mention it to her, she feared what would happen. She entered the school and head straight to the principal office, after asking about her daughter performance, she requested to see and take her home.

Adrianna had hurriedly gone down to the principal office, she threw her arms around her mother, hugging her tight.

They'd drove to the restaurant after she had shopped for clothes and makeup and changed into normal clothes folding her school uniform in her bag.

"I miss you mom"

"I miss you too my love, every day," she reached out and touched her face.

"If you miss me every day then why did you leave," Adrianna asked her, tears forming in her eface

"Fate has a way of doing things, it's inevitable, I found love somewhere else," she said "I wished I could explain better but I want you to know that I'll always love you and nothing will come between us not even Tyson if you want to see me, just call me up and I'd show up" "okay"? She nodded her head.

"Okay mom," Adrianna said.

The day had gone by so fast, she had dropped her daughter at her father's house and left.

Adrianna never knew she was pregnant she felt that if she knew it would break her and she wasn't ready to lose her daughter, she thought about aborting the baby, but she couldn't do it, Brenda knew she cannot do it. So she was going to keep it away from her daughter, she would continue to see her before it starts getting obvious she was pregnant.

*****

One year and three months.

Adrianna wait up, I can explain. She ran after her.

"Why didn't you tell me, why, I hate you" her daughter bellowed angrily.

"At least let her explain" Tyson begged for her to calm down.

"I don't want to know anything, I'm done with you, don't ever call me again, I hate you," she said and left.

Brenda had wept bitterly. She was devastated but she soon got over it. She stooped calling her daughter after few days and decided they both had to go on with their lives, she debated on whether to call Malcolm but refrained from doing so, he wouldn't pick up and besides, he blocked her number so she didn't bother.

She had lived happily and even though sometimes she thinks about Adrianna and Malcolm there was nothing she could do. She always dismissed the thought tho, mere looking at Asher, he reminded her so much of Adrianna, it seems as though she had given birth to Adrianna again. Her daughter looked so much like her, she felt as if God had blessed her with Mini Adrianna.

Tyson was a good husband to her and she was thankful for him, although they both have their flaws he was the best she could have asked for, another Malcolm she had always thought but she would never say it out.

****

Ten years and six months later.

Brenda sat in front of her porch, holding a mug of coffee. Her heart was heavy. Asher just turned eleven and she was worried that what if she dies tomorrow.

Cancer can never be really calculated. She was thinking hard, if there was anybody to take care of Asher, it would be Adrianna, she couldn't take Asher to Tyson's family.

They hated her, even though they claimed to love Asher, she couldn't take him to them.

Why did Tyson have to die? She questioned no one in particular. Brenda had made up her mind to go back to Malcolm and Adrianna and begged them on behalf of Asher and to straighten things out. She decided she was going to go back to where they lived.

The next day, she left the house and also Asher with the Maid. On getting to Malcolm house, the house reminded her of so much, she shrugged it off and knocked on the door, but the neighbor had told her they left for Albany and had given her Malcolm number.

She sat in her car and dialed the number, Malcolm had picked up on the second ring.

"Do not hang up please" she begged.

He recognized her voice instantly

"Brenda" he had called her name.

"Yeah, it's me". the conversation was brief after explaining to her what happened to their daughter and she went to the hospital to meet them. He didn't even fight with her or questioned her presence until now. She was happy she told him everything.

He didn't even know she had a child. Adrianna never told him she wondered what else she hadn't told him.