Destiny

Chapter twenty seven

Birth...the beginning of life, accompanied by a clear slate with an invisible destiny written onto it.

She stared at the mousy face of her nephew and wondered at the beauty that radiated from the little heart shaped face. A new creature, so pure and innocent, untainted, unscarred by the fireballs life throws at us and oblivious of the pains of this world. She silently made a prayer for life to be easy on her two day old nephew.

Family members have been coming in to see the baby. News of their dad's return had already made rounds and relatives who had either known him or had a faint memory of him, were eager to see what he has become.

Late in the evening, after the visitors have left. Ameena sat on the chair next to her sister's bed and played with the baby's delicate fingers.

"Are you happy?" Deejah asked as she came out of the bathroom and sat on the bed.

Ameena didn't need further explanation to understand what she meant.

"I don't know...I don't know how I feel about all this."

"Whatever it is, you know we have each other right?"

"Yeah, and mama and this little guy here." She said softly.

"I wonder if he was the one who asked the woman to stay back or she herself didn't want to come?"

"Maybe she weighs 500 pounds and can't fly anywhere at the moment." Ameena replied.

"That's plain mean."

They laughed and held their hands while they stared at the baby.

Deejah had given birth six hours after their dad's arrival. The shock of his sudden appearance had barely settled in when they had to rush her to the hospital.

The next day, he visited early before they were discharged. He came along with the mixed race boy and Deejah been soft hearted as she is, cried when she saw him.

"Good morning uh...sir." Ameena said feebly

"Good morning..." Deejah trailed off not knowing what to say

"Morning, how are you...doing."

Ameena mumbled something inaudible while Deejah answered fine.

And so,the most awkward greeting between an estranged father and his daughters took place.

He had cried when he held the baby and cried some more when he hugged her. Ameena had watched the show unfold like an outsider preferring to keep her distance by standing in the corner and pretendeding to be a statue.

The mixed race boy was also looking as if he wants to be anywhere but there. Until his father spoke to him,

"Rashad, come over and say hello to your nephew."

The boy took a few hesitant steps and stared at the baby.

Their dad couldn't bring himself to stare into the eyes of his girls. He had hurt, failed and betrayed them. They watched his every movement with hawk eyes, stealthily catching every move he or the boy made.

After some more awkward silence, they excused themselves and left.

"Uh...that went quite well, I guess."

"Yeah right." Deejah replied with a trace of sarcasm.

______________________________________

Later that evening, 'the boy' as everyone calls him, was feeling bored. He had been asked to wait here while his things were moved from the hotel to the house. His father had insisted that they both stayed at the hotel but his uncle managed to convince him to allow the boy stay here among his family.