A Short Story: Tears on Tamuno's crib

"I'm deeply sorry Mr Phillips, we couldn't save both of them..."

That Tuesday morning was not usual, he could sense deep in his guts but he just attributed it to fatherhood jitters.

Seun was driving through Lagos traffic whilst deep in thought, his mind was in turmoil. He was worried about his heavily pregnant wife Sarah who was home all alone after their househelp suddenly left with no trace of how they could find her.

It was their first child on its way after seven years of marriage and both parents were excited for the arrival of their baby. They never bothered to undergo a scan to determine the sex of the baby as Sarah insisted to wait until the baby was born, a full surprise she'd say.

 

Seun shook his head in admiration as he remembered how strong and patient his beloved wife had been all through their waiting period and eventual pregnancy. He was ecstatic, he couldn't wait to hold his baby after a long wait.

They already had a name for the baby, a full closet of unisex clothes and toys, baby formulas in cartons, a ready-made nursery, just name it. Everything a baby needed to be comfortable and well pampered was already made available...

He couldn't concentrate at work still, it was almost 12noon and he had a meeting by 1pm.

"I need to get my act together if I want to impress these foreign investors." He thought to himself. Once it was 12:45pm he made his way to the boardroom, put his cellphones on airplane mode and left them with his assistant.

12:30pm: The Phillips Residence

Sarah was craving for noodles, it was unusual for her to eat noodles but like they say most pregnant women eat things they won't eat normally during the gestation period.

She was already on the stairs when she remembered she left her phone on the bedside table and she decided to go for it. She picked it up and went inside the kitchen. Unknown to her, one of the kitchen pipes was leaking and she slipped suddenly with the plate filled with steaming noodles...

3:15pm

Seun was impressed with the way the meeting went, his assistant handed him his phones and immediately he put it on general, he got a call from the hospital that his wife was already in the theatre. He was speechless and he tried getting more information from the caller but the line went off. The way he ran out of the office building into his car left his colleagues wondering what happened. He arrived at the hospital in record time and made his way to the theatre waiting room. After several hours of surgery, the doctor came out bearing the worst news ever.

"I'm deeply sorry Mr Phillips we couldn't save both of them, we had to save your wife... We lost the baby."

That was almost a month ago, Sarah told him she tried his line numerous times but it never went through. She has since lost herself grieving for their dead baby. It was a baby boy, their Tamuno was born still.

He stared at the crib that was meant for their baby and wept bitterly, only if he never went to the office that day, only if he had paid attention to his instincts, only if the pipes weren't leaking... He could only wish, for their beloved child was already six feet deep.

Written by Adekunbi Bello

Bello Adekunbi "Kunbella" is an effervescent soul, bookish and loves watching classical movies. If she's not writing, taking long strolls on the beach or dancing, her head will definitely be buried in a book. Catch her on Instagram @kunbi_bello, Twitter @adekunbi_bello or Google #kunbellawrites

from pulse.ng - Nigeria's entertainment & lifestyle platform online