Steve sat on the couch in Aziza’s ward his eyes red from crying, his whole body shaking. She hadn’t woken up since they found her in the factory three hours ago but the attending doctor expected her wake up as soon at the sedation she was given by her abductors weighed off. A part of him wished she could stay unconscious longer, hours or even day then maybe he would be ready to talk to her. Nothing in this world ever prepared him for this.
Seeing her turn on the bed he stood up quickly and rushed to her bedside and held her hand.
Opening her eyes, their eyes met. Steve, she called his name weakly.
I’m here babe, he responded squeezing her hand and watched her drifting back to sleep only to open her eyes again few minutes later.
Our baby, she win
Baby Unity’s gruesome end shocked the people of Asherway with condolences pouring in for Steve and Aziza from different social groups and organisations.Steve spent all his time in the hospital with Aziza who thankfully was drowsy most of the time due to the strong pain injections she was receiving. She would ask about their baby whenever she woke up. He would lie or change the subject until she drifted off to sleep again but soon he will have to tell her the truth.In a resort 500 kilometres away from Palmville, the president, the leader of opposition party, defence and police ministers met for a secret meeting. The atmosphere in the room tense with accusations flying around.“The plan was clear and simple. Get the fiancé and the baby, use them to get Steve to drop out of the election
Jack’s sudden death did not arouse any suspicions from the authorities but Jake Reed was certain that it was murder. Jack had always lived an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle but he was completely fine and as cocky as he has always been when he left the secrete meeting they had the day before. Initially he was worried that Steve and Aziza had discovered the truth and this was revenge which meant he would be next but he found out from his spies that Steve’s investigation had hit a dead end and he had not left the hospital because Aziza was still admitted recovering from the operation. He was also informed that she was yet to be informed about her child’s death, this excluded her and her supporters as suspects. On top of his list of suspects remained the two other people who were in the secrete meeting with him but he couldn’t just accuse the president of the country and the defence minister of a crime he had no evidence of but it was clear to him that if they were ruthless enough to kil
“Az, please talk to me” Steve pleaded, his heart breaking. He had rushed back as soon as the hospital informed him what happened. After collapsing in neonatal unit, she had woken up and demanded one of the nurses to show her the gruesome video of her baby’s end. After that she had completely lost it and became hysterical until the doctor sedated her. Now she was awake but staring blankly at Steve. Steve didn’t know it yet but this was the end of the road for them. From now on she will not emotionally connect with him anymore. They were on two separate journeys now. He will be the president of Asherway and she had no doubt that he was the right candidate for the job but she will not be his first lady. Steve had all the right people around him she was certain that he will be fine without her. Her journey now would be to avenge her baby even if that led to her grave. A day passed and Aziza had not said a word. Even when John, Jay and Jerome came and tried their
The following day the people of Asherway woke up to the news that Aziza and Steve have parted ways. Justakid the journalist shared a video of Aziza explaining her reasons for breaking things off with Steve. The video ended with a message urging people to support Steve as he was the best candidate for the country. While the country was still processing the news with some disappointed that Aziza will not be their first lady after all, the police department employees received an email with a sexy girl in a revealing outfit. It was a departmental policy not to open any advertisements attachments on the work computer but it was too tempting to ignore. As a result, few employees secretly opened the attachment, giving the sender a back door to the whole system. Aziza was disappointed at how easy it was for her to gain control of the police department. “No wonder criminals are roaming free, the department is just useless” she thought to herself. She was even more disappointed wh
Two months later Steve still had no clue about Aziza’s whereabouts but dead bodies were pilling up on daily basis, putting her on top of the most wanted list by the police and military. He was still a mess from loosing Aziza and his child. Fortunately for him he did not have to go out often even to campaign as his victory was guaranteed.On the other side, the president, defence minister and acting police minister met for the third time that week. They were all under tremendous amount of pressure from the public who demanded transparency on the investigation of murders of fifteen officers police officers and twenty two decorated military officers that happened in one month.“Sir I suggest that we give them the name” Timothy the acting police minister suggested. He was starting to regret accepting the position. Not only were they under pressure for the mur
In a secluded house at the west street of Palmville, Harry laid lazily shirtless on a couch. He has been more busy in the past two months than he had been in the past five years since he became the president’s assassin. It seemed the president was really tying all the loose ends before stepping down. He was not bothered though because that meant more money for him but he needed to be careful in case he decided to get rid of him as well. Luckily for him, the president had no idea what he looked like nor the sound of his voice. He made sure that worked alone, all his clients knew absolutely nothing about him, all his orders always came via email with payment upfront. That was how he could do the job and still live a normal family life with his wife and kids who had no clue what he actually did for a living. Thinking about his family, he made a note to call them that evening and explain that his business trip was taking longer than
In Aziza’s house, Beverly waisted no time and made her move on Steve on that night. Steve was already in the bedroom laying down to sleep when she knocked. Walking to the door he came across Beverly on a sexy lingerie, an image that once drove him crazy. With her smooth skin, full breast, perfect waist and her long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders, Beverly was the definition of a sex appeal.“What is it Beverly?” he asked, standing at the door blocking it with no intentions of letting her in. He remembered it like it was yesterday when she cheated on him with his best friend and how she shamelessly seduced him to bed when he was drunk and came back claiming false pregnancy. While he felt obligated to protect her, he had no intentions of ever getting involved with her no matter what happens with him and Aziza.Beverly swallowed her saliva, realisin
“Sir I…I..can’t find any evidence that your emails and that of the late defence minister have been hacked” Lewis the IT specialist stuttered, knowing that was not the answer the president wanted. He had done his job meticulously looking at the president and defence minister’s devices but came back with nothing. A day ago the military delta wing was wiped out with an order that supposedly came from the president. An email signed by both the president and the defence minister approving the strike on the delta wing of the military was then leaked to the media.“I am telling you that someone hacked my email. If you don’t know how to do your job, find me someone who can” the president responded angrily. His life had turned upside down overnight, the only persons who could have been able to exonerate him was his late friend he was accuse
Four years later Aziza watched the youth flooding in her house to celebrate her firstborn’s twenty first birthday. She could not help noticing the diversity and how happy and in harmony they all were in their different skins. Standing at the balcony, she watched everyone and took in the scenery. Her own twenty first birthday was marked with bruises, scars and hatred for the other race that wiped out her family and hunting her down. How everything was so different now. If anyone told her that one day she would host youths of different races, know each one of them personally and truly love and care about them like her own children, she would have had that person assessed for a mental illness. She smiled when she saw John, Joy and Steve’s parents basking in the sun and chatting happily. All four of them were so old now, they were the best parents she was granted after loosing her biological ones. They will all hold a very dear place in her heart. She laughed when she saw a group of tee
Twelve years later, Steve and Aziza finally got a chance to retire from politics and parliament. Even though Steve was no longer the president of Asherway, his ideals and the processes he worked very hard to develop were still in place and kept the country going. He did not achieve a non racial world as he had hoped but he spoke so loudly and widely against racism and got the rest of the world to listen, to acknowledge and work towards non racial societies. There were still isolated racial incidences around the world, some even in Asherway but there were more people speaking out against it than those condoning or making excuses for it. Happy and content that he gave the country and the world his best, Steve could finally be a full time husband and father. As if compensating for the time he spent away from them, the spoiled his children rotten but Lucy Unity Marlone was the most doted of all the children. Even though seventeen years later, Steve still could not forget how his little
In Asherway Presidential office, Steve pulled his wife to his arms and looked down at her “Aziza Gray Marlone, what did you do to President Clive?”he asked charmingly.Aziza looked away, avoiding his infatuating emerald eyes “Nothing,”she said softly.“Are you keeping secrets from me now?” he asked, sulking knowing she could not keep anything from him.“He came to hold you ransom with his secret nuclear weapon, I hijacked it” Aziza blurted out. She just could not keep secrets from Steve even when she tried.“What?” Steve asked, shocked. “No wonder Clive was so terrified,” he added.“He had no interest in non racial world Steve,&rdq
At the Asherway National Assembly, Aziza sat next to Steve and his Vice President with President Clive and his wife across them. At this point both Steve and his Vice President were so angry, they were ready to tear President Clive apart but Aziza had other plans. Her hand remained on Steve’s knee, keeping him seated. President Clive had asked her a question she was very glad to answer “I’m glad you asked me that, President Clive because I have asked myself that very question many times before” she said “You see it’s not about war alone, it can be anything. A racial incident for instance, which side would Steve take? which one would I take? and where would that leave our children?” she added.“That’s what I’m talking about. I am right, am I not?” President Clive beamed.“It depends on what stage of my
The Asherway airport was buzzing with activity, national and international journalists were there to capture the moment two very different Presidents with completely different ideologies meet. Everyone was curious to know how President Clive, a known racist would be received in Asherway, a country known to be very intolerant to racists with a President calling for a non racial world. At exactly 11 o’clock, President Clive’s presidential plane arrived at Asherway. He disembarked with his expected all white staff, something journalists did not forget to point out. Steve and Aziza were captured approaching the group.“President Clive, welcome to Asherway” Steve said shaking Clive’s hand before moving to shake his wife. Aziza followed behind Steve and offered her hand but it remained in the air, none of them willing to shake her hand. The journalists went crazy capturing the moment. Steve shook his hea
In the Marlone house, Aziza stood at the door watching her children play outside with a thankful heart and gratitude. Lorraine, Mike and Nick turned out to be a handful from the day they came out of the hospital and now three years later, they had too much energy for her to keep up with. Each day she noticed how each one of them was different, their unique ways of doing things and how they all thrived at creating chaos around the house. Lorraine was the tinniest of the triplets but pulled all the strings. She influenced her brothers on which games they played, got to choose the toys first and always got her way, especially with Steve. It did not help that she had Aziza’s eyes, Lorraine had her father around her little finger, Steve just could not reprimand Lucy no matter what she did. Mike and Nick on the other side were behaving like typical twins, even when following Lorraine they did it together. Mike was the least talkative but Aziza found to be the most stubborn while Nic
Christmas eve marked Four days of Aziza in the intensive care unit. She had not improved but had not deteriorated either. Steve remained by his wife’s side more hopeful than before that Aziza will pull through. Speaking to a lot of people restored his hopes. Not hearing bad news from the doctors was also reassuring except he did not know that they counselled his family behind his back. Everyday he moved from his wife to his children with lots of energy and cheerful heart until a call from his deputy President shuttered every hope he had. His deputy happened to be in Steve’s office when John and Steve’s father called the secretary asking him to forward them the policies and protocols should the First Lady or the president be no more. Out of concern the deputy had called Steve to check on Aziza’s condition, unintentionally revealing Steve’s worse nightmare. He did not need to ask John or his father what they were up to, he knew exactly what they were tryi
In the hospital neonatal unit, Dr Smith finished checking the triplets out. “Congratulations Mr President, your babies are healthy and ready to go home” she beamed. She loved seeing healthy babies.“Thanks Doc, is it fine if they stay here longer. Their mother is..” Steve explained but could not complete his sentence. Just speaking about Aziza made him emotional.“Certainly, Sir” Dr Smith responded sympathetic. “The First Lady is a warrior with the whole country vouching for her, she will make it” she added. She aught not give hope she had no control over but could not help herself. Steve and Aziza’s story was well known, like Shake Spear’s Romeo and Juliet. She could only hope that their end is not as tragic, especially with now four children to raise.&ldqu
Nine months later, Aziza groaned in pain as contractions ripped through her, each wave more severe than the one before. Steve helplessly rubbed her back while the midwife’s and Dr Hail got ready for the unexpected delivery. She should have known better but everything had gone smoothly the whole nine months, they had put their guts down, took a chance to visit Steve’s parents out of town but then her water broke two hours away from their hospital. She was meant to have a cesarean section because of her previous one and the multiple babies she was carrying. Her operation was booked for the following week but it seemed the little ones decided to come earlier. Now fully dilated, no room for any pain medication, the hospital team had no choice but deliver the babies the natural route.“I can’t hold on anymore” Aziza screamed, already dreanched in sweat as her pelvic bones shifted to make way for the new