It's almost a month since Ciara decided to reside with her oldest uncle, Kent. He seems to be accommodating, just like he used to since when she was younger, Ciara knew she made the right choice of residing with him in the first place; that she barely had time to get drowned in her thoughts.
As she had expected, she was starting to let go of the thoughts of Ryan and was beginning to face and accept reality -the bright side of it. Well, with Derrick being clingy at most time, she had little or no space at all to think, her uncle was being of help too when he felt the need to.
Her protruding stomach was noticeable and Ciara always felt her heart swell in joy and, most times, in fear. The joy of becoming a mother soon was enough to sweep her off her feet and the fear, too, never ceased to resurface at times like that.
She was afraid with, so many thought running through her mind. It was her first time of experiencing motherhood, and she doubted if she will ever make it through -and if she does make it, she thought...
'Am I capable enough of giving the child the life that he or she deserves and desired...' She asked with in herself, desperately yearning for an answer-a positive answer, the type she wanted to hear. 'Can I ever be enough for my baby?'
She wondered if she would make it to the extent of being the best for her child. Considering the fact that she'll play the role of both parents for her child, she pondered on the thought of being enough to stand as a father figure as well.
She dreamt of a better living for her child, in a kind of world her child won't feel alone. She desired to be the hero for her child, making him or her forget the fact that he or she was raised without a father.
As she stares outside, standing behind the window in her room, her gaze was fixated on nothing, she was staring narrowly into the empty space. Several thoughts ran through her mind, with no answer for each of her thoughts.
Amongst her numerous thoughts, what Ciara desired the mostly was keeping her child safe. If she was unable to make it through the rest of her thoughts, she wants to keep her child safe -from the gnawing teeth of the unsafe world.
"Aunt Ciara..." Derrick called out with enthusiasm as he barged into Ciara's room, snapping her out of her daze. Derrick strode towards her, clasping her right palms in to the both of his as he shook her hand lightly. "Aunt Ciara, I'm all set now."
She stared down at his small size, her lips breaking into a small smile. "I've been waiting for you since forever, little Rick." She told him, her smile getting brighter and dominating over the poor expression she had on her face a while ago.
"Your wait is over now, Aunt." He uttered, reciprocating her contagious smile. "I'm here and all done, yeah. Can we go now, then?"
Ciara hesitated. "Butyou just..."
"Please, please." He pouted, cutting her off. "Let's go now, Aunt, I can't wait any longer."
Ciara laughed softly, her eyes sparkled in delight at Derrick. "Too much impatience for someone who came in running late." She said, releasing her palm from his flexible grip and picked him up instead. "Let's go..."
Derrick couldn't hide the excitement in him, as he squealed. "Yay! You are the best aunt ever."
"Yeah, yeah. I know right.
*******
It was almost dusk as the car drive slowly on the almost empty highway with very few cars driving by. The chatter had stopped after several minutes of it, slowly subsiding. Ciara took a quick glance behind and realized her chatterbox, Derrick, had just fallen into a deep slumber; just when she was starting to think if he'll ever stop talking.
She smiled unconsciously after heaving out a small sigh out of exhaustion. "Ah -finally..." She mumbled under breath. Ciara, with her left arm and the other firmly on the steering, wiped the beads of sweats that were starting to form on her forehead.
She swerved the car to the lane leading to her uncle's home, grateful that she was soon to reach their destination after a long day out with Derrick.
A day before, Derrick complained on being bored with staying home throughout each day with no outdoor fun. Uncle Kent had tried to talk him out, he insisted, which made Ciara to volunteer to take him out to catch enough fun.
Uncle Kent had told her not to stress herself, but she couldn't back on her words, not when she saw the smile on Derrick's face, uncle Kent was left with no choice than to let them be -since they both insisted.
She got to her uncle's home sooner and parked the car outside his house. Leaving whatever bags they had with them inside the car, as she mostly does, she went for Derrick in the car's passenger seat.
Derrick moaned softly and stirred in his sleep but did not wake as Ciara thought he would, she heaved a relief sigh for this as she walked into the compound, closing the wooden gate behind her.
Just when Ciara laid her hand on the door knob to push it open, she heard low voices from inside. She had wanted to ignore whatever voice it was and go in, her priority was laying Derrick down on his bed to have a peaceful rest, but her instinct kicked against it.
Reluctantly, she forced herself to listen to whatever talk it was all about. She knew how bad it was to eavesdrop on people's conversation, but she still let herself to it.
"一I'm telling you, Brandon, she has a profound interest in her parent's company. Dwayne is not ready to take over it since he has his own business he is managing, Ciara had promised herself to take it." She heard uncle Kent's hushed voice, she knew he was on a phone call.
Brandon...Brandon...Brandon. The name rang in her head continuously as she tried hard to pinpoint who it was, she was sure she had heard that name severally. And...yes, it was her other uncle, her father's immediate younger brother.
She remembered they used to be three siblings and, with her father, they completed four. She barely remembered their names except that of uncle Kent's because of how closed they were.
Whenever her uncles paid them a visit back then, they always ended up having a heated argument with her father and she wondered why they usually ended up quarrelling with one another-but after sometime, they all stopped coming except Uncle Kent.
"Itwas a huge mistake on our part, I had asked Ferdinand to wipe her off when he had the chance, but he hesitated, you can see the result now?" Her uncle's voice was vexed as she heard him speak.
'一wipe her off'? Who's her? Ciara pondered as she realized the meaning behind the wiping off stuff, fear settling on her heart as she felt it drop to the pit of her stomach...