“Never again,” Jeremy muttered to himself, his eyes on the road as he made his way back to Accra. “Never again will I let those two bloody idiots around me. Ahh! What nonsense!”

The words of Kenzy still playing back in his mind, Jeremy was still as livid as could be. For guys who knew how much he cherished his family, their reaction to his monumental error was unacceptable. How could they act like this was nothing to be upset about?

“Always being stupid, that Kenzy guy,” he continued. “Never knows how to be serious. The fact that I walk in and burst into tears isn’t enough for you to actually sit up and show some seriousness. Ah! And as for Enoch, cowardice nkoaa! He knows something is wrong, but he won’t say it. Every day, choosing quiet and fake peace over everything else. Typical!”

Breathing in and out, he continued. “It’s partly their fault in the first place! I told them I wasn’t in the mood to go to the club last night. They literally dragged me out the door with them. Then they gave me some extra shots. All in the name of letting me have a good time. Toxic bastards! Ugh, if I had known things would go south like this, I never would have hooked up with them to go to Ada in the first place! Mtcheww!”

Having let all that out, his mood grew somber. The radio off, he continued to drive in silence.

Then he shook his head sadly. “At the end of it all, though, it’s my fault. They never told me to follow her home and take her clothes off. That was me. All me. Oh, God, I’ve messed up. I’ve messed up so bad. Please forgive me. This is the stupidest mistake I’ve ever made…”

His penitent prayer was interrupted by an incoming call. He looked and sighed.

It was his wife, Aurelia.

He answered. “Babe?”

“Honey!”

“Yeah, Aurie. What’s up?”

“Oh, I’m at the Accra Mall with the boys and Kevin and Maggie.”

“Oh yeah, yeah, you mentioned you’d be meeting them. Cool, cool.”

“What’s up? Just checking on you.”

Jeremy swallowed hard. “Yeah. So, uh… I was about to tell you this, but… I’m on my way back to Accra. A little change in schedule came up, so I had to leave Ada. I should be back within about an hour.”

“Oh, uh, I see. Anything wrong?”

Jeremy took a deep breath. “Oh, nah. I just thought I’d get home and join my family.”

“You sure? That Kenzy friend of yours didn’t annoy you, did he?”

Oh, honey, you have no idea.

He laughed. “Oh, nah. Not this time, at least.”

“Okay ooo. As for that guy, abi I’ve told you, he still doesn’t seem very mature. Everything in this life is a joke to him.”

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s one really annoying thing about him. But don’t worry, nothing’s wrong. I just want to be near you. I miss you.”

“Awwww, you know I miss you too. Come home quickly, okay?”

“As fast as I can, babe. I’ll give you a flash when I get to the mall.

“Alright, my love. See you soon.”

Ending the call, he sighed. It still hurt so bad that a woman as amazing as her now had a husband who had cheated. “God, forgive me,” he continued to plead. “Don’t let this destroy my marriage. You know Aurelia means the world to me…”

***

About an hour and a half later, he was at the Accra Mall. Parking in his usual spot, he took his phone and flashed Aurelia. He then proceeded to walk to the Shoprite entrance.

Arriving there, two young boys bearing a resemblance to him stepped out of the entrance.

Nine year old Marcel and seven year old Terry. His two sons.

“Daddyyyyy!!” they yelled enthusiastically.

“My boys!” he responded with as much zeal, hugging them tightly. “How’ve you been? I hope you weren’t giving your mother any problems while I was away.”

The two young ones shook their heads fervently.

“Good, good, that’s what I like to hear. Where’s she, by the way?”

Marcel turned and pointed. “She’s coming with Uncle Kevin and Auntie Maggie.”

Jeremy looked. Sure enough, they were coming.

Kevin and Margaret Annor. A couple Aurelia had known since university. Unlike her and Jeremy, who met after university and got married about a year later, they had been together since their final year in secondary school. A prime example of teenage sweethearts.

And in between them, was her.

The love of his life.

Mrs. Aurelia Provencal.

One of the biggest women you’d see around town, with a six-foot frame that made her stand out from everyone else. Bespectacled and usually adorned with a mischievous-looking smile that was just her natural smile, she was one fair maiden to look upon. She was well-endowed, too, particularly in the lower part of her frame. As a result of her giant frame and hard-to-ignore curves, Jeremy nicknamed her ‘Lac Baby’ to insinuate that she had been fed a lot of the Lactogen milk as a baby. She found it annoying, but that was one of Jeremy’s favourite things: to annoy her.

“Jeremy! Long time no see!” Kevin greeted, stretching out his hand. Jeremy duly reached out and shook it.

“Long time oo, Kevin. Hope all is well.”

“Hey, Jeremy!” Margaret addressed him.

“Hey, Maggie! Good to see you!” he replied, giving her a quick hug.

A few seconds of small talk followed, then they left him to face his wife.

They looked into each other’s eyes and smiled. Ten years of marriage, and they could not be happier.

“Hey my love,” he greeted, kissing her on the cheek.

“Hey you,” she replied, smiling at him. “How you doing?”

He snickered at the Joey Tribbiani flavour she tinged her greeting with. “I’m good, baby. So glad to be back where I belong.”

“I’m glad you’re back, too. At least you got me to return to. I’m sure Kenzy and Enoch are just going to party all night over there.”

Jeremy laughed. “You know them. They weren’t very happy that I was leaving, but chale, I told them I need to be with you and the boys.”

“That’s all. They can go and get drunk and do all the foolishness they want. You belong with me. You know how much sleeping in bed alone sucks.”

He snickered. “I know, right? Never wanna get used to that.”

“Not at all. Let’s go.”

Her arm around his shoulder, they began to walk towards the car park. He then gave her a light spank on the butt.

She turned sharply to him. “Jeremy! We’re in public!”

He grinned. “I know. That’s why I like doing it. Gotta let the world know it’s all mine. All that giant, juicy thickness is mine.”

Aurelia shook her head. “You’re just one dirty man.”

“And you are my Lac baby.”

“Goweyu.”

***

Later that night, in the comfort and sanctity of their bedroom in their three-bedroom house, Jeremy and Aurelia went about their nightly routine. Jeremy was brushing his teeth in front of the bathroom mirror while Aurelia was already tucked in, reading a book.

Once he was done, Jeremy immediately pranced into the bedroom and hopped into bed. Aurelia then looked up from her book and stared at Jeremy as he took his singlet off. “You know, Jerry, I’d like to talk to you about something,” she said, that familiar mischievous-looking smile playing on her lips.

That smile extinguished any tint of panic that threatened to rise up in his gut. He turned to face her. “Sure. What’s on your mind, baby?” he asked.

Aurelia put the book down. “Well,” she began, “I was thinking that…  we have two rambunctious boys tearing through the house, and I couldn’t be more grateful for them, despite their stubbornness. But, I was thinking maybe it’s time we… consider trying for a girl.”

Jeremy chuckled. “A girl, eh? Are you sure you can handle the estrogen invasion?”

Aurelia laughed, playfully slapping him on the stomach. “Oh, please, Jerry! I grew up with three sisters. If anyone can handle it, it’s definitely me.”

“Ajei! That hurt, wai!” Jeremy grinned. Then he shrugged. “Alright, alright. You know I won’t turn down anything that includes making you call upon the name of the Lord.”

Aurelia rolled her eyes. “Oh my goodness, Jeremy! You can never pass up the chance to say something naughty, can you?”

Jeremy gave her a wide grin. “When it has something to do with that body of yours? Not a chance, babe.”

Aurelia shook her head. “Bad man. You’re just a bad man.”

Jeremy laughed. Then he nodded. “But on a more serious note, I’m okay with it. We’re very stable financially, we have our own place. I can get a maid to help out once the baby arrives. And I can’t lie, I’d love to have a baby girl myself.”

Aurelia held his hands excitedly. “So we’re on the same page?”

He nodded. “Same page. Let’s try out for a girl. But just know this, if we end up with another boy, you’ll be heavily outnumbered in this house.”

Aurelia rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. “Massa! Don’t jinx it. It’s gonna be a girl. End of story.”

Jeremy raised his hands in surrender. “If you say so, my queen. Well, let’s get to it, then.”

“Ummm, what?”

“The process, let’s start the pro-“

Jeremy cut himself short as something important came to mind. He then slowly retreated. “Wait, never mind. Let’s just wait.”

Aurelia rolled her eyes. “You and your dramatics when my period comes. As if you don’t spend the rest of the month tearing me apart every chance you get. Please, relax. When the Red Sea has parted, we can do the needful.”

Jeremy forced a laugh and nodded, doing his best to hide the uncomfortable grimace that wanted to show up on his face.

The truth was, he was now glad the period was ongoing. Because that gave him time to do something extremely important. Something that was absolutely necessary in light of what had happened.

I need to do an STD test.

Well, that’s important. And that’s a pretty cute couple there. No wonder Jeremy feels so terrible…