On Damien's insistence, he was discharged less than three weeks after waking up from his three-month long coma. The doctor made him promise to come for regular checkups and speak up if he ever felt any odd symptoms. I hoped he would fulfill his promise this time because he almost never spoke up about how he felt, both physically and emotionally. The boys had face splitting grins as they waited outside for us with balloons and Welcome cards made by some of our church members after I announced Damien's discharge from the hospital. They were all waiting out there for us with warm smiles on their faces. "Welcome home." Celia said after she hugged me and gave Damien a handshake to introduce herself. "Thank you." Was his chill response. "My wife has said a lot about you." He said to her when the initial buzz had died down and Celia stayed back with the few close pals I had befriended during the last few months. Mia and Richie. We worked in the same department in church and they were alw
I was panicking. How could I possibly be pregnant? How far along could I have been before finding out? Wait, I went through my whole first trimester with no idea that I was expecting? No symptoms, nothing? This did not make any sense. "Irma relax." He exhaled. "Damien, I can't. How can this be happening right now? Of all times!" I exclaimed. His response was a blank stare. "What do we do now?" I asked him helplessly, like he could magically come up with a solution. "There's nothing we can do about it. I'm sure it's already a developing foetus." I brushed my palms over my face, disregarding dermatologists' advice against touching our faces with unwashed hands. "We'll be fine." He said. "Why is this happening to me?" I sobbed. "Ariana you're pregnant, not blind or crippled." "So you're disregarding how I feel because you're the one on a wheelchair?" I felt aggravated by his nonchalance. "That's not what I'm saying." "Then what exactly are you saying?" "I can't walk! I can't w
This was the exact church building I saw in that encounter. The realization sent a rush of excitement, fear and wonder coursing through me. "This is your church?" I asked Ariana as she set up my wheelchair while the boys ran ahead of Ma Rosa into the building. "Our church." She corrected me, grunting as she tried to get me out of the car. "Easy. I don't want you hurting the baby." I said cautiously. "I can do it. I'm just a little tired." She insisted, stepping back to catch her breath. I decided to push my way out of the car and ended up landing on the chair with a hard thud. I groaned at the pain and she rushed to my side. "Babe why did you do that?" She rubbed on my back while I writhed in the pain that soon dissipated. "I'm fine." I exhaled. "Are you sure?" her concern was obvious. "Yeah. Let's go." I said as I pushed myself forward. "Are you okay?" I asked when I turned back to see her walking slowly behind me. "Yeah, just a little gas." She giggled and I found myself ch
I received a message from Fiona that morning and though I initially did not want to respond, I could not resist congratulating her on her engagement. She apologized for not reaching out sooner and asked about Damien's health. In response, I told her everything was fine and I wished her the best of luck as she prepared for her wedding. When I told Damien about it, he simply nodded and muttered a half-hearted "Congrats to her." That was an understandable reaction as far as I was concerned. My bump was growing. I had had a few antenatal visits and the baby was doing just fine even with all the rigorous and tedious activities I had been doing, oblivious of its existence. "I think we're going to have another boy." I mused, trying to start a lighthearted conversation with Damien who had been bent over a book all day. "Hmm." He hummed absentmindedly. "Babe?" "Yes?" He still was not looking up. "I know things aren't really easy for us right now, but I want to ask you something." I
"What are you watching?" I asked, walking in on him with his eyes trained on the screen of his iPad. I had just left the kids to enjoy their cartoons just so I could catch a break. I hopped on the bed and leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at with utmost concentration. "News updates?" I asked, reading through the headline. "The online community is stirring up a storm concerning the situation of Damien Kingston and his beloved family who have given us reason to doubt that they are alright with absence of a trace of them on the media. America is asking for them to speak up on what has gone wrong." The anchor who had interviewed me once when a video of mine went viral a couple of years before, said. There was soon a blurred photo of me and the kids coming out of the grocery shop displayed on the screen. "This was Mrs Kingston's last sighting just a few weeks ago. She looks drained and tired. Surely the takeover of her husband's company was not a mutual agreement just
There was something in the air that day. As we clinked our glasses that morning and chatted away, I felt a shift. Something had changed, I did not know what but something was about to happen and for the sake of my sanity, I hoped it was something good. "Daddy!" Damon was in front of me the next minute, panting as usual after running around on the front lawn."Yeah buddy.""I wanna ask you something.""Okay...?""Why are you always sitting on this chair?""Oh," Ariana gasped. I signalled her to let me handle it. I could tell they had asked her this question before and she probably did not give them a satisfactory answer which was why they came to me directly."Daddy can't walk." I stated plainly."Why? Did you have an accident?" "Something like that." There was no need going into the details of the life-threatening neurological disaster that had occurred in my life."Is that why you were away for so long?""Yeah.""But mommy said you went on a trip." He turned to her with an accusato
It felt like a dream - too good to be true. But it was my reality, one too surreal to grasp. If I had ever at any point doubted the existence of the healing power of Jesus, this was more than enough proof that He was real and still capable of doing miracles just like in the days of old. "Jesus is real." I had heard him say repeatedly. He was still overwhelmed by the shock of walking on his own two feet again. But I was overjoyed. I had wept and screamed till my voice thinned out."Babe," I hugged him tight, standing in the middle of the living room as soon as we got home way past midnight. He crumbled to his knees in tears and I went down with him, giving glory to God, thanking Him for His mercy and grace. This was a man that was said would never walk again and just two months later. I repeat, just two months later! He was up on his feet. It did not make sense to the natural man why it was happening so fast but then God did not walk in our time zone. He never has, and never will. "
Injuries, cuts, pulls, pokes and all that could bring pain was all that came to Stella's mind. She wanted to inflict physical pain to at least dull the ache on the inside. If she could not be numb, maybe she could forget the pain by hurting herself or even ending her life. What was she living for? She had failed so woefully at life, she found her pretty face looking hideous whenever she passed by a mirror. All her life she had been trampled upon, been told she was just a dumb blonde and she had proved it right by the making the stupidest of decisions as the years went by. She was told that she was weak and not good enough for anything and once again, she had proved the naysayers right. Frail, lowly and mediocre, a weakling through and through, she despised herself. Months had gone by, she had failed her son again and here she was, unhappy with the life she had been deceived into wanting. She thought it was going to be fine. He said he was only going to take over Kingston Corp and ma