Athena
I woke up in a white room that had a huge AK symbol on it. This is the symbol of a hospital my dad owns alongside a business partner. Why am I here? I felt pangs of pain rush into my head. Shoot! I felt so heavy, I couldn't move.
"Thena, you are awake?" My mom called. She looked so pale and stressed. In all my 26-year life, I have never seen her like that. Her usual bright red lips had lost color.
I tried to sit up when I noticed my huge bump and a sharp pain piercing my lower belly. I yelped at the unexpected pain.
My mom pressed a button by the bed I was lying on to alert the doctor, and she rubbed my back to soothe my pain.
"What is going on, Mom?" I resisted the urge to yell. "Why am I in pain? Do I have kwashiorkor, or is there a being in me?"
"I will answer your questions right after your delivery, right now, Thena. I need to be strong and get through this." My mom patted my hair softly. The doctors and nurses flooded the room.
The nurses arranged the instruments they were going to use around me.
A young doctor came forward. She placed her stethoscope on my chest to feel my heartbeat.
"Move your feet, ma'am." She requested, and I raised my legs. She turned to look at the other doctors, and my action shocked them.
She withdrew to her former position.
"Miss Allen." The person who seemed like the head doctor called me. "Do you want to stay awake while we conduct your surgery or do we put you to sleep?"
"Hell, no." The pains I was feeling had subsided. "There is no way I am going under a knife or a knife is going through me doc and where the heck is the man that made me this way?"
My mom signaled for the doctor to move away. "I don't know what's up with you, Thena. Let's get through this with a c-section and discuss it after the surgery."
"We are doing things my way here, mom. Who impregnated me? That motherfucking Regan King? Why is he not here? Why am I doing this alone?" I yelled this time.
I am one of those rebellious kids. My siblings are so lucky. I am the first kid. They got to follow my path if they wanted to, but they didn't. Sad!
"I should ask you these questions, Athena. Why are you yelling at me? I will just call your father and tell him about your situation."
"Suit yourself, mom," I said nonchalantly, knowing I had offended her with my attitude, but I didn't care since she was here to impose whatever my dad's plan was on me.
My mom left the room to talk to my father outside. The lead doctor moved close to me and he muttered.
"Miss Allen, you do not have the strength to have this child without a c-section. We had to induce labor so you could wake up from your nine-month-long coma."
"I was asleep for nine months?" That's scary. How could I be in a coma for nine months? Jokes on him, though, who says I don’t have the strength.
"Yes, ma." He replied to me, thinking he had convinced me. "So, do we proceed with the surgery?"
"There is no way. I am having this baby normally. If you listen to anyone else here telling you to operate me, I will ruin you." I glared at him.
"I think we can wait till your husband is here." The lead doctor left with the other doctors, leaving the nurses to run some tests on me.
"What did he mean by my husband?" The nurse beside me gave a half-smile, and she continued with what she was doing.
***
A nurse took me out for a walk in the hospital garden. I needed to think about what was going on.
I refused to speak to my mom, so she remained in the VIP hospital I was in before. I felt some pains in my legs and my stomach again.
The nurse led me back to my room when I told her I was tired. We took the lift instead of the stairs this time.
I opened the door to my room and this pair of brown eyes met mine. I had never met this man before.
I came out of the room to check if I was in the right room. Sure I was.
I went in again. The brown-eyed man could not take his eyes off my stomach. Was he my baby's daddy? I hope so. At least my kid would not be ugly.
“Creed, this is Athena.” My mom introduced me to him. She is my mom. Why isn't she introducing him to me first?
He flashed a million-dollar smile at my mom. The universe should bless me with this handsome man. I could see through his eyes that he had been so respectful to my mom.
“Athena, this is your husband, the second son of the King’s family.” She introduced him, not taking her eyes off him. She might marry him herself at this point.
He is my husband and the father of my baby. The universe loved me but The Kings, that name rings a bell. He is Regan’s brother, that ugly hunch-looking animal.
Thank goodness Creed looked nothing like him. How come I knew nothing about him? I did some digging on the Kings.
“Athena.” A powerful voice called me, pulling me out of my thoughts. It was warm and inviting at the same time. I was left in the room with Creed.
“Yes, daddy.” I palmed my mouth after I heard myself. “Ahem, yeah.”
“We have a lot to talk about, I don’t know what you were after, having a baby for me but I am sure after you get to see who I am you’d regret you didn’t go to my brother as your father had planned.”
“I see you do not differ from your older brother. Your father didn’t raise you, boys, right?” He just provoked me. This two-faced man acted so cute in front of my mom and ruined my mood
He kept his cool, “I appreciate it if you don’t compare me to my brother or my father.”
“I don’t do what I am told to do.” I laid down roughly on my bed, forgetting I was pregnant. I groaned, and he rushed to me.
“Are you well?” He examined me, I felt something trickle down from my insides. “Gosh, Athena you are bleeding.” That was the last thing I heard him say before I closed my eyes.
CreedI did a little research on my wife after our parents married us together. The media popularly knew her as the Goddess of the streets. I bet she was deep in the streets to earn that name, but that's none of my business. I am only going to use her family's resources to get what I want. I arrived at the hospital as soon as my dad ordered me. I will forever detest him for all he has done to me. Three months ago "Your wife is six months pregnant," my assistant informed me in the quarters they locked in me, on my father's orders. "How is she pregnant? She has been pregnant since when? Is my father aware?" I looked away from my old laptop I picked up on the streets when I was in middle school. "The chairman has been aware since the doctors found out. Do you think it's yours?" He asked me. I am very close to my assistant, so we discuss personal things. "Yes," I squeezed the worn-out cargo pants I was wearing. For the past six months, memories of sex with my wife flooded my head.
Creed I rubbed my head in confusion. "Save both of them." I said at once. I couldn't afford to lose any of them. "We will begin right away. Please sign the documents at the reception. " I waited nervously outside the hospital room when I was done signing the documents. The fear of losing Athena when we don't even know each other makes me want to jump out of my skin. My family members don't even scare me this much, I also don't want the mini me. I could not set my head straight. Forty-five minutes later, the doctors came out of the ward. "Congratulations, Mr Kings. Your wife just gave birth to a girl. The surgery was a success, and we saved both your wife and your girl." I jumped in excitement, my heart leaped for joy. The doctor patted my back and left with the other doctors. I went to the ward, but the nurses and the cleaners were busy with the ward and Athena, so I went to my personal assistant's place. I hailed a cab going to Luke's place. The ride to his place was a
Athena The nurses told me that Creed had left after the surgery ended. I watched my baby sleep in her cot. So many name ideas came to my head. "I would just name her Ava," I said to myself. My parents came in alone with my siblings "Where are the twins?" I asked them as they were coming to me and Ava. "They went on a school trip." My mom replied to me. "That's the best way to greet your dad that you have not seen in months. Sarah, you keep indulging this girl." "Indulge, you say," I shot at him. I knew my mom would not reply to him. She was too submissive to my dad for my liking. "You are lucky you got impregnated by the King's second son. If it was another nameless bastard you had a baby for, I would have dealt with you mercilessly." "What age are we? You got to marry me off like you wanted. That's a win for you. This is the last time you will make me do what you want." "It's okay." My mom hugged me and cradled my head in her arms, then she whispered to me. "Don't argue w
Creed I lay on the cold floor of the basement, my father sent me in here. My older brother Reign broke the family frame and pinned it on me. My father's words scarred me. "Who knocked this down?" My father asked my older brother who was sitting in his office. I was peeping from the study where I was reading some books before my dad came in. My brother made eye contact with me and pointed at me. My father looked in my direction. "He broke the frame?" My older brother nodded in agreement. My father pulled my ears, dragging me out of his huge study into his office. "Why did you knock this over? Your stepmom said you have been acting strange so this is what you have been up to." I stared at him as I didn't understand what he meant, was my stepmom saying mean things to my Dad? "I can see you want to kill everyone here like you killed your birth mother." "No father." I stuttered. A slap landed on my face, I didn't even know where it came from. "Are you saying my son is lying aga
Athena “My parents are coming to see you tomorrow.” Creed broke the awkward silence between, I knew he had been watching me as I was breastfeeding Ava. I am so confused at the moment but I know it won’t take long before I have everything figured out. “Okay, is your mom coming too?” I toyed with the tips of my baby’s clothes, knowing he is an illegitimate son of his family makes it a little harsh to call that woman his mom. She wasn’t ashamed of treating him like a piece of dirt. “Yes, I need a favor from you about that.” He came close to me and he saw that Ava was sleeping. He took her from my arms and put her in her cot without waking her up. “Go on, make it short, I need to rest early incase Ava wakes up anytime from now.” I acted like I wasn’t really interested in what he was saying. I can’t be caught lacking. Never! “If they ask you to move into the family home with us, please refuse. I will find a way to buy a house. It might not be up to your standards but I will find a comf
CreedI thought about what she said for a minute, what was on her mind?“You heard what I said, didn’t you?” She brought me out of my thoughts.“Yes, I did. What do you mean by a stay at home dad? You want me to raise Ava alone?” I pointed at the baby cot that was open and I saw some movement in it.“Not alone. I will always be there for my daughter. She is my dearest and only family member I treasure. I don’t just like the idea of a nanny raising her.” She took a sip from the cup of tea that was beside her bed.“Why is going to be raised by a nanny? Are you going somewhere far?” I went to the cot, Ava was awake, and she was turning from one side of the cot to another. “She is awake already.” Athena dropped her cup of tea and jumped down from the bed to carry Ava out of the cot before I could even touch her.“My dear baby.” She cooed Ava. “Mama didn’t know you were awake already. I am sure you want some food.” She lifted her hospital gown, and I faced the other side quickly. I had n
Athena“Why can’t you work from home?” Creed asked me as he packed my shoes. I looked at the mess I made and I joined him in picking my things up. I took my underwear from the top of the chair before he saw it."I am a mom now. I need to be responsible now and stop throwing my stuff around. How can I teach my daughter well if I act like this?” I scolded myself mentally.“Were you talking to me?” Creed rose his head up. “What did you say?”“Did you hear me right? Or you now hallucinate?” I pretended like I said nothing and I packed my clothes upstairs. He followed me with my remaining stuff, and he was carrying Ava on his chest. He will make a good father. I observed the way he used one hand to pin her to his chest while he was picking stuff up earlier.I have to protect my daughter from letting what happened to me repeat itself on her. “Does your father have any plans to pick you into his business?” I asked him curiously, as I didn't have his name on the list of members of our partn
AthenaI jogged down the street. I went into my private studio that was at the dead end of the street. I had set this place up two years ago after I finished college because my dad didn’t want me to work in his company.He wanted a merger with the Kings, so my husband would take charge of his company. I left home to prove myself to him, so I started giving financial advice to businessmen and conglomerates. My fame soon rose amongst businessmen because I was saving many of them from taking steps that could jeopardize their companies.I trailed my hand on the large screen that was hanging above my desktop. I was planning my trip to Hawaii the last time I came here. I was making cool cash from my little work.My best friend and funds manager, Aubrey, helped me with payment of my bills so the electricity didn’t get cut off. I turned on the computer system and the Internet.I opened my email, and I had a lot of emails as I expected. I had a favorite client. I quickly typed his email addre
Third person It’s been five years since Luke lost his father. Things have been quite some, Athena had softened towards her father. She was now calm, and made more time for family but there was no doubt that she loved her work so much. Everyone was used to it. Luke’s IT company was now one of the biggest establishments that made a lot of revenues. The couple seemed to plan their life out with work and all. He preferred to work from home and she liked to go to the office. Carrying their second child in her arms, Athena screamed from the sitting room. “Honey, we are going to be late. I need to take Asher to the hospital then head to work after.” “I was brushing Ava’s hair.'' He came downstairs and he looked disappointed. “C’mom, you said you were not going to work till Asher was old enough to walk this time.” “It would have been cool if you had a little interest in business. I already have it hard managing our companies, having to stress about how it would fare in my absence scare
Third person. Luke arrived at his father’s residence instead of going home to clear the air with his wife. The place was rather quiet and he usually had anxiety that attacked him whenever he was going into the building wasn’t there. He didn’t know if his father made a wise decision by sending his stepmom away at his old age. Although there were caregivers to cater to him, they would never be like family. His stepmom wasn’t a saint and had done many evil things but every did deserve a second chance just like the one he was giving his father. If he had the chance to discuss with his father , he was going to mention a thing or two to convince him to let his stepmom back into the huge estate. Waves of feelings flowed through his system as he approached his father’s room, fear wasn’t one of them anymore. He had overcome his biggest problem, the fear of his father. The father left him right after he let go of the grudge he had ashaint him for how he got mistreated. He never had new clo
Third PersonAthena and Luke called each other everyday and never went a day without speaking without speaking to each other. He told her about the progress of his work and how fast things were going.He even assured her that they would be spending less than a year at the training center because the kids were learning so fast. He talked about how their tutor said they completed a two month course in a week and half.He asked his wife to give them a bonus on their usual salary, Athena also told him how work was going, she said her COOs are doing a great job. She told how she never has to go to work too early. She told him how Ava was going to start school soon and she was now called her mama. Athena has started attending Culinary school during the weekends because she is now less busy on weekends.She also worked part time at her mom’s bakery so she could learn to bake. She was determined to impress her husband with her cooking when he came back home. TWO MONTHS LATERAthena was sitt
Third Person “Sir, I don’t think it is the best idea to return home now, we are ending the classes next week, plus testing the AI, team C created and preparing the records we are presenting to the board of shareholder and partnership. We only have the team of service provider and database management on board.” Luke followed Creed closely. “That is enough and Luke I trust you can manage the testing and the records, just fax the analysis and summary to me. I will take it from there and I will be back as soon as I can return, please contact the pilot.” Creed said when he took his shirt off in the changing room and wore a new one. Lukke bowed and he left Creed to dress up. He contacted their pilot and asked him to get the plan ready as soon as possible. He also ordered a car service to Creed to the airport. Creed got on board and he was flown back home. The airport staff welcomed him warmly and provided a car for him to head home. Creed knew Luke had prepared all of that. He drove to
Third Person Athena woke up to her mom’s call, she had argued that she didn’t want to leave the house like her mom had requested but she had to give in. Her mom rambled about how the staff of the bakery were busy and how she didn’t want to leave Athena to strangers before telling her that she needed someone to do some minor grocery shopping. Then she sent the grocery list immediately Athena agreed. She dragged her body into the bathroom for a quick shower. She sat in front of her vanity mirror and took a deep breath. She had bags underneath her eyes from insomnia and crying. She had cried all night, and was unable to sleep, she was heartbroken. She never thought Creed would cheat on her. It must be the woman that seduced him or she fell for his charm, Nevertheless, Athena was so mad that he had been so cozy with the woman in the picture, she was older than him. She rubbed some cream on her body. She went to the wardrobe she had now extended to a closet to pick the clothes she wa
Third PersonAthena and Luke called each other everyday and never went a day without speaking without speaking to each other. He told her about the progress of his work and how fast things were going.He even assured her that they would be spending less than a year at the training center because the kids were learning so fast. He talked about how their tutor said they completed a two month course in a week and half.He asked his wife to give them a bonus on their usual salary, Athena also told him how work was going, she said her COOs are doing a great job. She told how she never has to go to work too early. She told him how Ava was going to start school soon and she was now called her mama. Athena has started attending Culinary school during the weekends because she is now less busy on weekends.She also worked part time at her mom’s bakery so she could learn to bake. She was determined to impress her husband with her cooking when he came back home. TWO MONTHS LATERAthena was sitt
Third person“Papa,” Ava put wet kisses on her father’s face. She always acted like she knew what was going on, she was acting like she knew that he was going to a far place. Athena helped Creed pack his traveling box. She packed every necessity, some gray shirts, skincare products, cotton underwear and his favorite junk food. She carried the traveling box to the lambo’s trunk while he made breakfast for them. She was feeling down because she was going to miss him and she was acting strong so she wouldn't cry.She couldn’t stop him from chasing his dreams. He had the right to especially when he didn’t have the time to chase his dreams immediately after got of college. She ate breakfast in silence, ignoring every talk he threw at her. Creed understood why she was being like that. He stopped throwing the talks at her and fed Ava her breakfast silent. He went to get dressed,Athena got dressed today and drove them down to the airport.“Are you not going to see your father before you le
Third personJethro dialed Athena’s number, and she picked it. It was facetime. The Kings were at The Allens estate for a brunch in celebration for the twins graduation so they stayed overnight on Sarah’s request.“Hello Mr. \jethro, what do we have here?” Athena asked as she surveyed the environment where Jethro was.“I am trying to pick a ring, I want to propose to Aubs.”“She is here with me, you should whisper if you don’t want her to hear you.” Athena pranked him.“Phew! He sighed. “She is at home, Mrs. King and I can see your husband behind you.” Athena burst into laughter. “I don’t think there is a specific ring I can ask you to pick.”“Do you think I should buy a gold, a silver, emerald, diamond or I just buy all and ask her to pick?” He was totally confused.“Well, I have never been proposed to, so I wouldn’t know but what I think you should get a diamond ring, every girl likes diamonds, don’t we?”“Is creed sleeping?” Jethro asked her and she looked to see what he was doing
Third personArtemis had anticipated her graduation so she could focus on her career without having her father on her neck. She majored in songwriting. School was fun for her as she was doing what she loved the most but the life outside school seemed to be appealing to her.She shared an apartment with her twin nerdy twin brother who loved to paint and was obsessed with pottery. The house they shared was filled with paintings of her. Apollo always said his sister was ugly to her face but found it very interesting to paint her every time.She spilled a cup of water on his face. “Wake up grumpy head, we are graduating today.” She yelled in his ear. Apollo got up from the bed and wore his glasses. He was pretty much used to his sister’s attitude.He stopped complaining when she told him it was a sign of love, he knew how he was getting back at her.He strode to the sitting room to pick up their car keys and Artemis followed him clueless. “I see you are quiet this morning? Did you dream o