MONDAY

5:45 am in the morning, and in the comfort of the master bedroom in the Dolphyne residence, Larissa was already up and about, preparing for court while Daniel remained relaxed on the bed, having begun his annual leave. There was a lot of work she had to get done before taking the rest of the week off after Wednesday to prepare for the big day ahead.

“Man, what a week it’s gonna be.”

Seated at the left side of the bed and facing the dressing mirror while dressing up, Larissa turned to her husband, who remained sprawled out on the bed. She nodded and smiled at him. “Uh-huh. An awesome week, no doubt!”

“It feels like it was only yesterday she brought him to the house for me to give the boy some world-class ‘lion’s den’ treatment. Now look at them. Ready to become husband and wife. Hmmm, wow. Life,” Daniel said.

Larissa rolled her eyes at the mention of that incident. “Hm! You and that lion’s den nonsense, eh? Oh no no no.”

“Lion’s den nonsense, but you and Diamond and Serwaah were happily following with rapt attention as it unfolded, abi?”

Larissa laughed. “I won’t lie, though, that was funny. You really terrified the boy out of his skin and suddenly sprung the friendly dad move on him. Ei, Daniel Kwadwo Dolphyne!”

Daniel smirked. “That’s me, baby. And it was so much fun. I still dunno how I kept that straight face throughout; I honestly thought I’d end up laughing out loud and spoiling the whole move. But praise be to God, I stayed on point. I deserve an Academy Award for that, you know!”

Larissa rolled her eyes again. “Whatever, young man. Whatever.”

“Me diɛɛ, it was Serwaah laughing that was even funny for me. If that girl knows what I’ve planned for her boyfriend…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, Danny. You’ve meant some poor young man like somtin. I know paa.” Larissa shook her head in amusement. “But, you know, with Diamond leaving the nest, it’s only a matter of time until it starts to empty up. Coz Danny, like joke like joke, our kids are growing old!”

Daniel nodded as he sat up. “Hmm. Yeah, they are. Look at the twins mpo. Those two adorable little beings are now teenagers.”

“Yeah. Teenagers slowly influencing their daddy’s music tastes.”

Daniel laughed out loud. “I like it, though. That Asake guy is pretty solid, you gotta admit.

“Uh, really?”

“Babe, don’t let your hatred for his annoying grills blind you. He’s really good. But yeah, give it a couple more years and we’ll have all of them out of the house. Honestly, babe, time flies so fast.”

“Yes it does. But it’s been such a privilege and a blessing watching all of them grow before our eyes. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“Neither would I, Lari, neither would I. From the late nights where I’d have to get them to sleep while you studied, to all those family trips, to breaking up those fights between the twins and Toby and Diamond… chale, it’s been one hell of a crazy ride, but it’s been totally worth it. I’m so proud to be the father of those kids, and even prouder that I had them with you.”

“Uh-huh. All a part of the long haul, right?”

Daniel smiled as he moved to kiss his wife on the shoulder. “All a part of the long haul. And God knows I’d do it all over again with you if I had to.”

***

“Okay! Kwame, let’s put the Malta Guinness packs in the truck. I think it’s better to put them in their back seat than ours.”

“Alright, Oscar!”

Afternoon had arrived, and Oscar and Kwame were at a depot of one major beverage company. Clayton was paying for the drinks, so the boys were moving with the driver to get the goods and take them back to the house for safekeeping.

After placing the packs in the back seat of the truck, they walked to their car and waited for the guys loading the truck to complete their job. Then Oscar’s phone rang.

He looked at the caller ID, smiled, and showed it to Kwame. “Madam Melbourne calls.”

“Haha, the Australian madam that,” Kwame laughed.

Oscar answered. “Why hello, Miss Adelaide. Hope everything’s good with ya, lassie!”

His attempt to speak like an Australian had his girlfriend in stitches. “Herh, Oscar, behave yourself!”

He snickered. “How are you doing, honey?”

“Oh, I’m doing good, by God’s grace. I should be asleep by now, but it’s just one of those days where a sista’s got to get some reading done.”

“Oh chale! This Master’s journey is not for the faint of heart kraaa oh.”

“Not at all! No be small studying for here. It’s almost 1:30 back in Ghana, right? It’s 2:30 am here, so you can see how I make wild for here.”

“Chaleeeeee! It’s not easy. But you’ve made it through one year already. You’ll definitely complete this hurdle successfully.”

“Amen, darling. Eventually that Master’s is gonna be mine in Jesus’ name! So anyways, how’re the preparations going?”

“Chale, we’re hard at work oo. I’m even at a depot with Kwame, getting some drinks for the event.”

“Awww, that’s awesome. Hmm, the way I’ve missed out on weddings since I left for Australia, eh. It’s paining me roff. Patrick and Diamond’s Smooth Wrapz partner getting married… now I’m missing Diamond’s own. Ah well…”

“Oh, don’t worry, don’t worry. All is well. Abi you’ll come and meet more. Baby dedications, more weddings… you’ve not missed out totally.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Besides,” Oscar added, lowering his voice, “the old man has started giving me hints that I should do the needful when you come back, so…you know…”

Adelaide laughed. “Eiii, Mr. Dolphyne is not playing! He wants to empty the nest quickly, eh?”

“As quickly as possible ooo. But chale, 3 years is enough time to know what I want, so I get him. Anyways, lemme give the phone to Kwame, na the way he’s staring at me, I don’t like it.”

As he handed the phone to Kwame, who had a very mischievous grin on his face, took it and immediately greeted, “Hi, future Mrs. Dolphyne!”

Oscar shook his head. Trust Kwame to prod him where he hated it.

But would you expect Kwame to cut it? Not even if you gave him two million dollars.

“Hey, Mr. Benson! What’s up?”

“Oh, all is well, chale. You still haven’t met Darlene Zschech yet?”

“No ooo. But I will. By fire by force!”

Aysh, that’s right! Anyways, we’re good and we’re preparing for Diamond’s big day, and as I’m waiting for the big day, please be reminded that as soon as you come, I’m putting myself together for Dolphyne wedding number 2. No slacking!”

Adelaide laughed. “Oh, we will get there eventually. For now diɛɛ, I need to complete this course, then we’ll see what the Lord will do.”

“Oh, well noted, well noted. I’m just letting you know in advance that the dettying that will take place, eh. Lord have mercy on your souls! Groom and bride will have their share. Me for Oscar, and Aki for you.”

Adelaide sighed over the phone as Kwame snickered and Oscar shook his head. “Lord have mercy ampa! I know she’ll happily do it too, that troublesome little human being.”

***

Evening had arrived, and in Diamond’s room, Larissa was seated next to her daughter, engaging her in a conversation most personal, nobody else could be around. Not even Daniel.

The Dolphyne matriarch was giving her daughter a deep, never-told-before history of her experiences of being a wife, and along the way, had dropped some info on how she had employed certain bedroom styles to satisfy her husband during certain dry periods of their married life.

“Oh my God!” Diamond gasped as Larissa smirked at the reaction to her last statement. “So this is what you’ve been doing to my beloved Daddy? Wow, no wonder he chooses you over me.”

Of course, there could never be a mother-daughter talk between these two without Diamond saying something to provoke her mother.

Larissa crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Baby, judges deal with murderers. They don’t become murderers. So don’t turn me into one.”

Diamond laughed out loud. Oh, the joys of taunting Larissa!

“And I know you’re gonna be trying out all these rival jokes till the weekend. But I hope you know you’ll need your eyes to look at Edem this weekend. Don’t provoke me to scratch them out.”

Diamond continued to laugh. Boy, she was sure gonna miss those jokes!

Then her expression went serious. “But on the real, Maa, this is pretty… uncut and raw, if I gotta be honest.”

“Yep, and it’s necessary. Girl, you have no idea how essential this stuff is. Now that you’re moving into that new realm, you need to have ideas about these things, because they can mess up your marriage if you let them. What worked in my favour in addition to the new skills was the fact that your daddy was open about the presence of the other lady. I mean, we were having a dry patch and all, but he remained true to his promise to always be honest about another lady coming into his sights, and that’s what got me to utilize those techniques. Ha, within the week, he cut her off, sharp!

“You see, inasmuch as it’s essential that Edem has discipline and the fear of the Lord in him to fight those temptations, I’m definitely a believer in the fact that you need to make sure that when you get on top of that son of Adam, he’ll be fantasizing about you for the rest of the week. He’s got his role to play alright, but you have yours too. I’ve carried mine out and it’s worked for me, and I couldn’t be gladder. I just pray that Edem has the level of self-control and fear of God your daddy has.”

Diamond nodded. “True. The fear of God…”

“Very essential. Like I’m saying, do your part, by all means, but pray that he continues to fear God. Coz that kind of man? They’ll remember that cheating is a slap in God’s face before their wife’s face, so even if you never find out, they know who they’re accounting to at the end of the day, so they won’t do it.”

As Diamond nodded, reflecting on those words and making mental notes to make Edem’s fear of God a regular prayer topic, they suddenly heard from outside the door: Dem never see me comin’ (joor-joor, joor-joor)
Hmm-mm, comin’, Mo gbe wan ni “is coming”

The voices of Daniel, Anasah, and Serwaah singing along to Fireboy’s ‘Bandana’, with Anasah gleefully distorting the adlibs that came with that part of the chorus.

Diamond snickered. “The twins have really influenced Daddy to like this song, haven’t they?”

Larissa shook her head. “Those two little human beings, eh. I’ll have time for them. Anyways, speaking of songs and stuff, we have a little rehearsal of our own, abi?”

“Oh yes, yes! You’ve even reminded me. Lemme just get my phone… okay! Let’s start it now!”

Ooooh, Diamond and Larissa have a surprise dance for the wedding! Should be nice. Good to see Oscar and Adelaide are still together, too…