‘Is there anything wrong in marrying our housemaid?’ (2)

 A week later, I and my siblings decided to have dinner at the same restaurant where I proposed to Claudia and I got the shock of my life. As we entered the restaurant, we saw Claudia kissing a young man at a corner. I was shocked to my bone marrow. On sighting us, she whispered something into his ears, picked up her purse and they left immediately.

“It is over Derex, please forget about Claudia. She does not deserve your love,” said Paul my elder brother. I could neither eat nor drink as I kept seeing the flash of how Claudia was kissing another man. Although it was a hard and painful decision to make nevertheless I made up my mind to forget about Claudia and move on with my life. I informed my parents about the latest development and my decision when I got home. Then my mother said, “I am sure that was the young man I saw her with the other day. My son no woman is worth the trouble,” she added.

A few months later, I discovered that I had started developing interest in Shaki. I liked her intensely each passing day and I had to open up to her. She was shocked when I told her that I have fallen in love with her. Shaki started avoiding me but I told her she had nowhere to run to as she would soon become my wife. One day, she said to me, “Brother Derex, I want only God’s will to be done in my life.” To assure her that I was serious about marrying her, I informed my parents about my decision.

The day I informed my parents that I was in love with Shaki and would want her to be my wife, my mother flared up. “Derex, you must have gone out of your mind. You want to marry our house help? What did you see in her? Her tribal marks alone should scare you, “she stressed. “The fact that she is our house help does not make her less a woman. She is a nice woman and she has all the qualities I want in a wife, so what else am I looking for? And talking about her tribal marks, that is even one of the things I love about her,” I revealed. This made my mother even angrier and she started cursing the day she brought Shaki into our home. My father just asked me to have a rethink and I assured him there was nothing to think about as my mind was made up.

Some days later, I bought her some gifts to show my appreciation and thank her for how she took care of me when I was sick. She simply said thank you but I begged her for a hug and before we knew it, we ended up in the bed. I had no regret making love to Shaki because I had come to love her so much.

Weeks later, Shaki woke up vomiting and this surprised everyone especially my mother. “What is wrong with you Shaki?” she asked. “Madam I woke up and started vomiting. Maybe it is because of the beans I ate last night,” she assured. Not convinced enough, my mother took Shaki to the hospital and after some test was conducted, it was discovered that she was pregnant. “Who is responsible for this pregnancy?” My mother angrily asked. “It is brother Derex,” Shaki revealed. “I know it is not my son, so if you don’t tell me the truth, I will beat you and send you out of my house,” she threatened. Then I said, “Mum, if Shaki says the pregnancy is mine, then, it is mine. I believe her,” I stressed. This made my mother really angry. “Derex, how could you disgrace the family in this manner?” she asked. “Mother, I only followed my heart and Shaki is the woman I want to marry,” I said.

My mother started maltreating Shaki which did not go down well with my father and me so I threatened to move out of the house with her but my mother pleaded that she would change her attitude towards her and she truly did. She accepted Shaki and started treating her as if she were her daughter and this made everyone happy. However, whenever I bring up the issue of marriage, my mother seems not to be too happy about it. Anyway, Shaki gave birth to a bouncing baby boy and this made me love her even more.

She is pregnant with my second child and my mother is still reluctant about us getting married. She kept talking about the difference in our social status and I promised her I will send Shaki to further her education so that she will fit into our class but she is still obstinate. The truth is that Shaki has added so much value to my life, aside that, I believe she is my missing rib and I love her so much. Honestly, is there anything wrong with marrying our house help?