Saint Monduo Maternity Hospital
3:55 am
February 7th 2000
"Doctor!! nurse!!" a young man who looked to be in his late twenties shouted half-carrying, half-guiding a woman clutching her round belly, face grim from pain and holding her husband's hand.
The couple moved towards the reception desk and was intercepted halfway by two nurses.
The nurses helped the woman who released her husband's hand and was guided away under her husband's worried gaze.
The man known as Chikodi, a handsome dark-skinned man with black hair and eyes and simple clothes walked absent-mindedly around the waiting hall, face filled with worry.
Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours. Time seemed to extend infinitely and his anxiety grew every passing second.
He constantly suppressed the ever-growing urge to march into the delivery room and...and... He clutched his head from overthinking but still kept on moving to and fro.
"Hello, excuse me?"
Chikodi stopped looking left towards a group of airport seats and at a man who looked a bit similar in age but older.
The man was fair-skinned with black hair and light brown eyes.
"This is your first time, right?" he asked.
Chikodi couldn't help but nod.
"Come sit down first," he beckoned. Chikodi obliged walking over slowly to sit down beside the man.
"My name's Kelechi, "the man said, introducing himself, to which Chikodi nodded.
"And like you my wife is currently putting to bed right now so i deeply understand how you feel"he said.
"Why are you this calm then?"Chikodi asked.
"Well, I could say that it's because we already went through this once before and I'm not that scared, but that would be lying."
"It all boils down to one simple fact."
"Which is?"
"I trust my wife, "Kelechi said with his chest puffed out in pride and a warm smile on his face.
"Huh?"
"Yes it's that simple," he said, chuckling at Chikodi's confused expression.
"I trust my wife to come out tired yes but still fiery and vibrant just like she is and always will be well that and a bit of consideration of expenses is what is holding me back from breaking that d**n door down and taking my woman home pregnancy be d**ned" he said, slightly lifting his hand in a fist and making a mock threatening gesture.
"Count me in on that" Chikodi said, chuckling as he realised that Kelechi was just like him, nervous and a serious wreck but was still trying to calm him down, and surprisingly it worked.
The two men soon went into full blown laughter earning them weird looks from onlookers and sympathetic looks from the nurses due to professional reasons.
"I owe you a drink if...no after my wife's successful birth" Chikodi said gently patting Kelechi on his shoulder.
"Now that's the spirit" Kelechi said slapping his back gently.
"You hit like a girl" Chikodi said smiling at Kelechi's choked up expression.
"And here I am considering your back my newly made friend" he said shaking his head in mock embarrassment.
"No be only" Chikodi scoffed.
"Believe you me my good man I am quite capable" Kelechi replied with mock seriousness.
And so time passed as the two men got to know each other bonding in shared circumstances.
"Mr Egba! Please who's Mr Egba here?" a pretty looking nurse asked looking around at the waiting room.
"That would be me" Chikodi said standing up.
"Follow me please."
"Okay." He replied, following behind the nurse after acknowledging a thumbs up and smile from his new friend.
While moving, he asked the nurse on his wife's condition, anxiety clearly written all over his face.
"Worry not Mr Egba your wife's in good health and the baby even better."
"Thank goodness." He said feeling a slight relief not letting his guard down till he saw his wife and assessed her condition himself.
After walking two corridors they approached a door with the number 20 on it's surface in which the nurse opened.
"Obim!" Chikodi couldn't help but exclaim as he rushed towards his wife feeling all his anxiety wash away.
"Honey why the face? people might think that your'e the one who just went through labour." She said laughing weakly.
She then lifted her right hand a bit weakly but with purpose towards the cheek of the man she loves.
"I am still here my love so stop worrying okay?"
"It's my job to worry about you obim afterall you're worth all the trouble." Chikodi said smiling as he used his hands to hold her's against his cheek with love in his eyes.
The nurse watched all this from the door smiling gently before gently coughing to remind them of her presence.
"A heartfelt congratulations to you both on a wonderful and safe delivery." She said, still smiling.
After a few more words of congratulations and pleasantries the nurse left the couple, gently closing the door behind her.
The couple once again looked at each other with similar warmth and tenderness, the atmosphere gentle and calm.
"Waaaah!!" A sharp cry tore through the calm, instantly startling the newly made parents and pulling them out of their moment of love.
"Looks like someone isn't happy with the lack of attention," Chikodi said, laughing gently as he walked towards his child, who was placed in a small baby cradle.
"There there..." He said, eyes filled with warmth and caution as he cradled the small and fragile-looking bundle in his hands, making an almost comical yet endearing scene. which earned a chuckle from his wife.
"He looks just like you, obim with just a little of me at the brows and skin." Chikodi said, smiling gently while carrying the now silent baby towards his wife.
Chioma said nothing and didn't need to because just by looking at her eyes, Chikodi understood everything.
"He?" She asked, raising a brow with amusement that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Huh?" He said, sensing the atmosphere wasn't quite right before briefly remembering his not-so-subtle actions before carrying his son.
"In my defense, I felt that it was necessary..." He said both head and voice lowered as he gently handed their son over to the mother.
Chioma didn't say anything for a short moment before finally sighing in pure helplessness at her husband's antics.
Chikodi, sensing the passed danger, quickly leaned in and kissed her forehead, earning himself another sigh from his beautiful wife.
He then proceeded to tell his wife about his newly made friend, to which his wife listened in silence, only smiling at certain moments.
"He sounds like a very interesting man, so does his wife." Chioma finally said after her husband had finished speaking.
"And that I plan on doing. That is,after we're done here and you have rested enough,"Chikodi replied.
And with that settled Chikodi talked more with his wife for some minutes before noticing her fatigue, then took the baby back from her, placing him back in the cradle.
Before leaving the room he looked at his beautiful wife once more. She looked even more beautiful everyday,with her fair-skin and golden brown eyes which were now closed due to her being tired.
He then left her room to settle bills with the hospital.
Upon reaching the area for payment, he bumped into Kelechi and relayed the good news, to which Kelechi smiled, expressing congratulations and also sharing his own good news as well.
The two men were as happy people who had just gotten everything precious in the world, and indeed, they both did.
After everything was said and settled, the two men exchanged contact information and arranged a time to meet before finally separating.
Some days passed, and Chioma was ready to go home, and once she arrived, there was a small but warm welcome party to which Kelechi and his wife Chiamaka, a dark-skinned serious looking woman who was quite warm once one got to know her attended, and thus a friendship that would last decades bloomed.
After much calibration, indecision, and a suspicious meeting between two men followed by an unintended joke taken seriously, the baby's name was finally decided.
Kelechi Egba Emmanuel, and thus the story begins.