š„ATTITUDE
MEETS
ARROGANCEš„
Ā©Fideh Mwangi
Final Episode
Jordan’s POV
I pressed my hands against the incubator glas-s trembling…The pain had unplea-sant warmth to it..The wait of holding my son in my arms was giving me a burning pain ..
Tears spilled down my face as I looked at him….It was a profound de-ep love never to be replaced…This is the greatest love one could ever feel…
He had a che-st lead on his che-st, a pulse oximetry on his f!nger, an IV on his hand and an oxygen hood placed over his head…Not for a moment did he cry, it seems he was strong as his mother…
“Son, I can’t wait to hold you in my arms…Your mother loves you so much too..Be strong for us my baby…We love you…”
Ciara’s POV
One week later
Ethan you are my sun, moon and all of my stars…Holding a baby in your arms is one of life’s greatest plea-sure…
I wanted to drink that moment…The moment with my son, Ethan Marcias….His looks were so perfect and his smile divine…
I can’t believe I carried him in my arms for nine months and he c@mĀ£ out looking like his father…He was the Minnie him…
His face glowed from a light within and his f!ngerscurled around my pinky f!nger holding it ti-ght…His smile was so sweet and filled me with sunshine that I never knew existed in the world…
He smiled as if he knew I nee-ded joy in the midst of my pain…I held him so ti-ght in my che-st never wanting to let go ..
“I love you my son….Always and forever…” I bur-sted into tears of joy…..
“He is handsome and adorable…I didn’t know being a father is the best feeling ever…” Jordan turns his glossy eyes to me in a voice that’s almost broken…
“Darling you should now feed baby Ethan and then have some rest…” My mother in-law requested and I smiled as I sli-pped my brĀ£@st out and into his mouth…
Finally after one week, I could finally feed him…All I did was pump milk for him but now I could feed him as I admire the masterpiece in my arms….
It felt amazing him feeding from me…A s-en-se of strength and love washes over you…As he fed, we looked into each other’s eyes and in that gaze I saw purity, love given and love received….
“How is my grandson doing????” My mother asked the moment she got into the ward…She has really given me support…For the past one week she held my hand when I thought I couldn’t do it and was always there when I nee-d her…
Alice surprisingly always c@mĀ£ to visit after her shifts and it seems our relationsh!pis getting better and better…
Well my dad has called me twice since I got admitted and that’s a milestone in our relationsh!p…
“She is fine Mama…” I beamed as I stro-ked his tiny hair…
“I am glad he is finally out of NICU….He looks like his father…So handsome…” My mother commented and we all just laughed…
After I was done brea-stfeeding him, my mother and mother in-law took him in their arms and begun singing praise songs….
“How are you feeling my queen???” Jordan took my hand in his…
“He is so handsome…I just want to hold him forever…” Tears streamed down my cheeks..
“He is so tiny…I am scared that he might sl!pfrom my hands…Your love is my weakness and also my strength…Thanks for not leaving me…” I could see he was fighting his tears…
Here is another one…My love,my life and my add!Ƨtion…Without him, I don’t know if I could have survived this…I love you Jordan Marcias…
“Where would I have gone without you????I will always be by your side…” I stuttered….
“Thank you…” He k!$$Ā£d me on the forehead and sat beside me as we watched the two women dance and sing in joy…
****
Jordan’s POV
Wow, i have never seen a mother as selfish as my wife. I literally had to beg her before she allowed me to go downstairs with my son, and Jason and Ariana who was also holding their son.
As we headed downstairs, Jaxon begun talking to the two baby boys…
“Troy and Ethan Marcias promise never to fight over a girl or love the same girl…Okay???”
“Like seriously????” I chuckled…
“You remembered what happened with Ciara, I don’t want our sons to ever have to go throu-gh that…Just warning them…”He shrugged…
“They will have their mothers to soothe them…Because in that love triangle madness,Ciara was the one who got hurt the most…” Ariana commented…
I didn’t like talking about the love triangle, it was like a torture to my ears…
“What about me???I had to live with the fact she married me and loved Jaxon…” I could anger bubbling inside me…
“You brou-ght it upon yourself…If only you didn’t f0rƧĀ£ her to marry you…” Jaxon unburied the memories I have long wished to forget…
“Guys, that’s enough…It’s all in the past now…” Ariana ordered….
When we got into the living room, a familiar man was laughing and chatting with my mother…
As we moved closer, I realised it was Ciara’s dad…Mr Kimani….
Her mother had been here for a week ensuring she is well fed and I was grateful but seeing her dad was shocking….
“Hey Mr Kimani???” I outstretched my hand the moment I approached him…
He stared at my hand for a while before shaking it…It seems he is still furious with me…
“Where is my grandson???”
My grandson??? I thought you disowned my wife…But how can I blame you being a father is the greatest love…
“Here he is…” Ariana handed him the baby and there was this glow in his face….
“Hello grandson???? It’s grandpa….” His eyes were glossy with tears….
“He is so tiny, I am afraid he might sli-p…” For the first time I have seen this man smiling…So he actually knows how to smile…
“Look, he smiled at me….” He showed us excitedly acting like a boy with his favourite toy…
“Everything your grandpa has belongs to you. I don’t have a son so you will be my son…” He retorted…
So it’s decided, he has become his favourite grandson but he is the only grandchild so far…
“So how is Kims??? I hope you are feeding her well…” He raised his eyebrows at his wife…
“Yes Wa Kimani….Right now she is resting…”
“Okay…”
There was light at the end of the tunnel…At least he was worried about her…
“Here…” He hands me the baby….I took him into my arms and nuzzled his sweet smelling head…
He had this gaze that showed the nee-d to be loved forever…
“Mr Kimani can we talk in my office for a while????” I asked and he threw me this daggering stare…
“Okay…”
I begun walking and he was right behind me…
When we walked into the office there was this tension in the air…I don’t know if I was scared or tensed…
“What do you want???” He raised his voice…
“Here is a token of my apology…” I handed him a brown envelope with confidence…
“What is this???”
“Open it….” I shoved my hands in my pockets…
The moment he re-ad it, I saw a glow in his face and something that looked like a smile….
“I know you have always wished to own the land beside yours.There is the title deed, the land is now yours. it’s a token of apology for marrying your daughter in the worst possible way…” I tried to sound as apologetic as I could…
“It doesn’t change anything until you perform the rites of a tradition wedding and pay her dowry…Till then in my eyes she is not your wife…” He cussed out but at least he seemed a little bit happy…
“So do you accept it???”
“At least my daughter didn’t marry a fool…You are a smart man and we can try and be civil but till you pay her dowry, I am not your father in-law…”
“Thank you…” I smiled but he then had a straight face on,”I will go see my daughter…”
The nerve of this man…He slammed the door on his way out…
Attitude meets Arrogance – Episode 58
Ciara’s POV
Finally the D-day was here…I was excited that Jordan gets to finally perform the rites required but I was also anxious…He is unfamiliar with our traditions, what if he messes up??? Dear God,help that stubborn man to do things right…
Since I am a Kikuyu, dowry payment takes place in the bride’s to be home and it’s called Ruracio…Three things will happen during my Ruracio since I got married in the weirdest way..
First and foremost is Kumenya mucii which is getting to know the bride’s home…Secondly is Kuhanda Ithigi which entails planting a br@nch of tree and finally dowry payment…
After I was done getting re-ady, I walked out of my room and found Ethan slee-ping soundly in my mother’s arms in the living room..
“Mama, you must be tired…I will take him now and put him to be-d…” I beamed only for my mom to roll her eyes at her…
“So he is lying on tĀ©p of thorns on my head??? Who said I am tired??? Do you think I can’t take care of my grandson???” She thun-dered, “Go check if everything is going on as per your wish…”
“Okay, you didn’t have to speak rudely…” I lifted my hands up in surrender…
The women were busy cooking while the young men were roasting meat…Dad and the elders were in the room inside his office talking about God knows what…
“Ciara, they have arrived….”Alice ran towards me excitedly…
“So fast???” I stammered…
“Yeah…they are honking so loud…It seems your husband should be re-ady to fined as many times as possible.. Doesn’t he know they should sing????” Alice shook her head…
I hope all goes well sister or else we gonna have a long day…” I could feel my palms been sweaty alre-ady…
Jordan’s POV
On arrival, we got the gate closed…What the hell!!!! Did they forget that we were coming???
“Bro, what the hell???? Did they forget we were coming???” Jaxon said between closed teeth…
“Jaxon, we are supposed to sing…” Sebastian ru-bbe-d the back of his nĀ£Ā¢k awkwardly…
“Why did you not tell us earlier???” I scolded him..
“I thought Ciara told you…”
“She didn’t…What should we sing Rnb, Jazz, soul music???” I was sure my eyes were wi-de open…
“This is madness….It can’t be that serious…” Jaxon shrugged and begun honking so ha-rd …
“Jaxon, stĀ©p it.
. ” Sebastian yelled at Jaxon who was now all over his face…He tried pushing him away but all in vain…
“Let’s see if they won’t open now…” Jaxon felt so proud of himself as he got back to his seat..
“Congratulations fool, you have given them a gate pas-s to fine us..” Sebastian sl@pped the steering wheel and honk accidentally…
I brou-ght Sebastian with me to give me support as a friend and to also guide me on what to do…But it seems like he failed at that task…
“So what else don’t we know????” I yelled at him…
Before he could reply, a old man c@mĀ£ out of the gate and stood infront of the car…
“Hope you have alot of cash on you Marcias because you are about to be fined…” Sebastian smiled before getting out of the car…
Jaxon and I followed suit and luckily in that moment Mason and the rest of the family arrived…
“Can we get in now????” Jaxon asked…
“Fifty thousand shillings as fine…You are supposed to sing not honk…” He said with a straight face…
“That’s stealing from us.We nee-d our lawyer..” Jaxon tried the advocate stunt on the man but he wasn’t moved…
“Money or you go back to where you c@mĀ£ from…” The old man outstretched his hand…
I took one envelope with one hundred thousand from the car and handed it to Sebastian…Before he could even count it, the man snatched it from him…
“I will take all of it…One for wasting my time and second because of this big mouth…” He turned around and got inside the gate…
What kind of traditions are these???? We are alre-ady messing up even before we begin…Ciara will definitely kill me if she finds out about this…
“What happened???” Mum asked the moment they approached us…
“Fine, honking happened…” I replied dryly…My hands shoved in my pockets…
“But you would have waited for us…I have come with some Kikuyu friends who will help us sing…plea-se don’t mess this up or Ciara’s family will be mad…” I could s-en-se disappointment in mom’s tone…
My mom, granny and her friends begun singing these Kikuyu songs as the rest of us just stared at them..At least Sebastian was able to l-ips ync once in a while….
The moment the gate was opened, all the men wore their sunglas-ses and we walked in like our moves had been choreogra-phed…It was like we owned the place…
The moment we stepped inside the gate, everyone looked at us with awe in their mouths…They seems shocked or is it surprised maybe astonished to see their In-laws…The Marcias don’t pla-y..
But why wouldn’t they be surprised??? As the husband to their daughter I had worn a stylish two piece…A kitenge printed jacket that matched my love’s dress, black pair of trou-sers with the same kitenge decorations and black loafers…
My side kicks didn’t disappoint, two piece tuxedo with Ankara loafers…The Marcias women had worn stylish kitenge decorated bodice and luxurious black silk dress…
The women welcomed us with songs and dances but my eyes were looking around for the most beautiful woman in the compound, my wife..
I was losing all hope of finally admiring the masterpiece of a woman when the women brou-ght her to the front line cheering her name…She was so beautiful….A bohemian mermaid dress nicely decorated with kitenge prints portrayed her curves perfectly….
I wanted to walk to her and hvg her when Sebastian held my hand…
“Do you want to be fined again???”
“I don’t care….Just look at her so beautiful…. I just want to hold and k!ssher…I haven’t seen her or my son for a week…”
“Calm down Jordan or we will mess up again…” Mason warned….
Even before I was done admiring my wife, she was taken away….
The Marcias women were taken to God knows where as some old serious men approached us…
“Follow us…” One of the stated….
We were walked into the garden where I was to plant a br@nch of tree….
“What kind of tradition is this??? Are you a ritualist???” Jaxon thought he whispered….
“Twenty thousand fine for not respecting our traditions…”One of the old men ordered….
“Why, I was just asking a question.Is this even legal????..” Jaxon with his advocate stunt again…
“Fifty thousand…”The old man beside him outstretched his hand…
“I will get it in the car…”Mason retorted….
“You gonna have a long day Mr Marcias…” Max commented…
I was so angry at Jaxon, why was he behaving like a douche bag???
After that was settled, we were led into this room full of serious men…Mr Kimani didn’t even show us any teeth..
The one who fined us at the gate stood up,”Jambo my fellow elders??? As we all know that these are what are required by us: one fattened ram, 99 he-goats , a heifer, beer from honey as a sign of respect and thirty cows but since that is not what they agreed on, where is our ten million???” He raised his eyebrows at us…
“Here is eleven million…one million is as a token of apology for not following the right protocol…” I stood up and handed over the cheque…
“Wa Kimani do you accept this????” He asked Mr Kimani who nodded, arms folded on his che-st…
“Okay, we accept…But he has to pay a one hundred thousand fine for being noisy…” He pointed at Jaxon…
“Can’t you forgive him???” Max tried to defend him only to be fined with fifty thousand too…
Jaxon was about to say something when I pinched his arm….
After negotiation, we walked out and found women singing and girls lined up covered in lesos…Before I could ask what’s going on, I was pu-ll-ed Infront of the girls…
I looked around for back up from my side kicks but they were alre-ady seated on the tent…
“Do you think you can identify your wife???” A woman who looked to be in her mid 50s asked..
” Yes she is my wife…” I said confidently….
“Okay search for her….”
Honestly I didn’t know where to start…They were all the same height, size and wore the same colour of lesos….Sweet heavens I nee-d a miracle…
I wish dad was here to experience this with me…I scratched my head nervously trying to think of what to do when my phone pinged with a message…
It was from an unknown number revea-ling to me that Ciara was the third one from the left…Thanks love you are the best…
I pretended to be looking around confused before I walked to her and uncovered her confidently…
“Here is my wife…” I screamed excitedly and cheers filled the air…
Without caring about the rules, I looked de-ep into her eyes feeling a s-en-se of belonging…I wra-pped my arms around her ti-ghtly when I was tapped on the shoulder…
“Fifty thousand for hvgging our daughter without permission….” The old man who did the negotiation fined me but it was worth it…
I reached out my hand to her but she sl@pped it…
” Hold her hand, another fifty thousand…” The old man warned and both of us drew our hands away like they were on fire…
Finally both families bec@mĀ£ one as we ate and had fun….It was a big feast where I got to taste all traditional foods that granny always talked about….
After we were done with the introductions and gifting between families,Ciara sat on a stool and the women surrounded her singing…
She was given a weaving basket, calabash and rope…Her mother was given blankets and be-dsheets and her two sisters handkerchiefs…Where was she going to ever use those items???She rarely steps in the kitchen….
A honey was given to Mr Kimani to make muratina beer….
Finally the ceremony was over and I could hold my son….
“My love I missed you….” I said to my wife, taking my son from her arms…The moment I held him, he smiled….
“How much have you been fined???” I tell her I have missed her and that’s her reply…
“Almost half a million…Jaxon was acting like a jĀ£rk…” I tried defending myself…
Before she could reply, Mr Kimani walked to us…
“Kims, thank you for bringing my self respect and dignity back..Everyone is talking about my rich son….I have forgiven you..Jordan, my son plea-se take care of my daughter…She finally belongs to you…” He took my hand and Ciara’s hand and intertwined them…
“Ethan my boy, you are blessed…” He tried taking him from me but he refused and held my jacket so ti-ght…He had missed his daddy..
“Thank you Mr Kimani and see you soon for the Itara….We would have loved to stay for the after p@rty but we nee-d to head back…” Mom smiled…
“Thank you Mrs Marcias for ma-king this day a success, journey mas-ses back home…” Mr Kimani smiled and walked away…
“You guys should hurry up or you will be late for your flight???”Mason took Ethan from my arms….
“What flight???” Ciara asked surprisingly….
“Your honeymoon…” Mom replied softly…
“But Ethan, I don’t think I carried enough clothes for him…” Ciara cried out….
“He is not going…Mom will take care of him…” I smiled at her but she just gave me a blank look…
“Can we talk in pri-vate???” Even before I could say anything she dragged me aside…
“Are you mad Jordan??? You know I have never left Ethan alone before…Why do you want to give me a heart attack????” She begun scolding me…
“Darling,” I cu-mpped her face,” If anything happens before the two weeks are over we will fly back….Trust our family love…”
“Two weeks is a long time to stay away from my son…” She cried out….
“You have to be a mother and a wife…And this time I am pleading you be the wife…He is alre-ady one year and two months, he is a big boy….” I tried convincing her which was like filling water in a basket….
“Fine but I will be calling to check up on him after every one hour…Wait, what will I wear????” She asked…
“Jane and Sophie alre-ady took care of that…” I wiggled my eyebrows, “Even your red lingerie…”
“Ulalala!!!!” She sma-cked my arm, “n@Ć»ghty boy…”
We intertwined our hands and walked back to the rest ..
“She said yes…” I said excitedly….
“plea-se I nee-d handbags and some jewellery when you get back…” Jane retorted…
“I nee-d you to have fun and forget Ethan for a moment…” Sophie smiled as her and Jane hvgged her.
Chloe and Ariana walked towards us supporting Jaxon who was drun!k…
“That muratina beer is sweet, you should all try it out…” He chuckled before pas-sing out on Ariana’s che-st…
What a waste???? For a moment I thought he didn’t want this day to go well for me but then I remembered he had been having issues with his manager…
“Mom don’t forget his vitamins, fruits at 2pm, some porridge at 4pm, he hates cats and loves his white ball alot, don’t let him cry too much, if anything happens plea-se call me..No sweets or anything sugary…” Ciara was freaking out but mum just looked at her with admiration…
“You are the best mom Ethan could have asked for…” That was all mom said after a million and one pages of instructions….
We said our goodbyes and headed to our cars…The rest headed to Nairobi as we took an Uber to the airport… Finally I will have my wife to myself…
The End!
***
After all the gro-an ing, we are at the end of the story.
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