#WTF Chapter 2

Read chapter 1 here.

Some years ago…

Jojo entered Edem’s house.

“Hello?”

He entered the kitchen and found it empty. He went to the living room and found Serwa balled up in a fetal position on the floor.

“Hey…are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Serwa sniffed. Jojo offered his hand to help her up. When she didn’t take it, he held her arm and pulled her up. She fell into his arms, leaning completely on him. Jojo held her while another wave of sobs took over Serwa. When the sobbing subsided, he drew her back from him so he could look at her.

“What happened? Is Edem okay?”
She shook her head and cried some more.

“Please tell me, what happened to Edem? Is he in a hospital?”
“He can’t make babies, Jo.”
“What do you mean? I know my bro and he has no problem doing the do.”
“I’m not saying he’s impotent, far from that. It’s low.”
“Low what, sperm count?” She nodded.

Jojo was lost for words. He did a quick check on the girls they had been with back in the day. Although he had had a paternity scare from a couple of the women he had hooked up with, Edem had never faced that dilemma. Could this be the reason why?

“Jojo? Are you listening to me?”
“Your breaking news just got me thinking. How did you find out? You two went for a test? He had mentioned that you have been nagging him about it for a while now, but he wasn’t going to budge. How did you convince him to go?”
“I didn’t.”

Jojo raised a brow. “What did you do?”

“What I had to do,” Serwa replied with a shrug.

“Then how sure are you that the results are correct?”
“What do you mean? I went to a credible facility. They wouldn’t give me false results.”
“People make mistakes, Serwaa.”
“And they wouldn’t have if he had come with me. I took what they needed and they did it.”
“Ask them to verify again. It wouldn’t hurt for them to do a retest, right?”

“I did ask them and they said they had already done that.”
“Okay, would you mind going to another facility just to be sure?” Jojo pressed.

“It is the most credible facility for these tests, Jo! I understand your hesitation to believe what I’m saying but it’s the ugly truth.”
“Okay, okay…we are going to figure this out. It’s not the end of the world. There are other options to consider…”

“I want to carry my own baby, Jo! I’ve dreamed of this all my life and this is not going to stop me.” She was hysterical now.

Jojo hugged her again to calm her down. It took some minutes for her breathing to get normal.

“Everything is going to be okay,” he said reassuringly.

“You’re not eating,” Jojo said. There was an untouched plate of spicy chicken wings and kelewele on the table between them.

“I told you to order in.”
“You need to get out of the house for some fresh air. Getting cooped up in the house with Edem not being around and brooding over the results isn’t exactly helpful.”

Serwa sipped on her cocktail.

“So how are you planning on breaking the news to Edem?” Jojo asked, picking up his glass of Long Island iced tea.
“I’m not.”

“What?” he said, his hand freezing mid-air with the glass.

“I cannot.”

“Why not? He should know.”
“It would break him, Jo. You know how he is.”
“But you can’t keep something like this from him. He needs to know so he can get the needed help.”
“It might as well be the end of my marriage because things would never be the same again.”
“Yeah but I don’t think it would necessarily end your marriage. Edem loves you, Serwa and together, you too can beat this.”
“I don’t know.” She picked up a chicken wing and bit into it.

“Whoa, spicy,” she said, licking her fingers. Jojo joined in.

“Just the way you like it.”

Edem’s phone beeped. He swiped up the screen and Jojo’s face appeared.

“Hey bro.”
“Hey.”

“How is it going?”
“Not easy, bro. You know how it goes. Your end?”
“Managing.”
“Couldn’t reach wifey today. Did you hear from her?”
“Yeah…went to check in on her today.”
“Oh okay and how was she?”
“A bit out of sorts.”
“Did she say why?”

“Not really. I’m guessing she’s just missing you.”
Edem chuckled. “Yeah, I miss her too.”
“When are you coming back again?”
“In ten days. Why, missing me too?”
“Don’t be silly. The sooner you get here, the sooner I get off babysitting duty.”
“Oh come on, I know you enjoy doing it. You like Serwa.”
“Yeah, I do; she’s a sweetheart but I need time with my own babe, you know.”
“I thought you were babe-less at the moment.”
“How can I get myself one when I’m on wife-sitting duty, bro?”

Edem laughed. “I hear you, bro. I’ll relieve you soon.”
“Alright; let me leave you. You can try reaching her again. Perhaps she will pick up,” Jojo said.

“Sure, thanks. Will do that. Thanks for being there, bro. I appreciate that.”
“Don’t mention it. Alright, bye.”

The line dropped. Edem sighed as he Facetimed his wife. Her face appeared on the screen at the third ring. She was lying in bed.

“Hey babe.”
“Hey sweetie. How are you doing? Tried reaching you earlier but couldn’t. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m better now. Jo came around so I’m good now.”
“Yeah great. He mentioned it. What was wrong before though?”
“Mood swings, I guess.”
“I see…is work stressing you out or you’re just missing me?”
“Both?”
“I miss you too, honey,” Edem said, blowing her a kiss. Serwa giggled.

“I wish you were back already. Miss you beside me.”
“Miss you more than you know. If you’re feeling cold, maybe you should put off the AC.”
“You seem to forget how terribly hot it is over here.”

“You just don’t like putting it off.”
“Yeah, you got me,” Serwa said, yawning.

“Let me leave you to sleep since you’re tired. We’ll chat in the morning, alright?”
“Yeah sure, love you, Ed.”
“Love you, babe. Goodnight.”
“Night night,” Serwa said and blew him a kiss. She ended the call.

Tears filled her eyes. Oh, how she longed to bear Edem’s children. Why did fate have to be this cruel? Of all the irresponsible men out there messing around who did not deserve the capacity to produce children, why did her sweet, loving, one-of-a-kind husband have to suffer this fate? She had to save her marriage. No matter what.

Read chapter 3 here.

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