If you haven’t read the first part of this story, here’s the link. Kindly read it before starting this one.

It was hard for me to move on knowing all the plans I had with her. My mother was the most traumatized. She accused me of using her and leaving her. So, one day I called her on the phone and gave the phone to my mother. They talked for several minutes. My mother was turning into my PR, trying to beg Efua to come back to me. I could hear my mother talking but I couldn’t hear Efua’s side of the conversation for obvious reasons. When it looked like my mother was going too deep, I took the phone from her. I told her, “Do you know she’s pregnant for another man?” That was when my mother gave up the chase.

I moved on and started looking for every opportunity to build my life and make money so the next woman who comes into my life will find me ready. And then I met her one day with a heavy pregnancy. We talked for a few minutes and went our separate ways but I couldn’t get my mind off the pregnancy. “Is it not recently that we broke up? How could she be this heavily pregnant?” I went on Google and wrote, “Stages of pregnancy in women.” I looked at the photos and looked at the sizes of their bumps. The one closer to Efua’s bump was a six-month-old bump. I told myself, “No, I could be involved with this pregnancy.”

I called her. She spoke slowly and confidently. I said, “Efua, we are no longer together so you can tell me anything and you won’t lose a thing. We broke up not long ago. This pregnancy looks like something that was there before we broke up. Tell me the truth.” She raised her voice for the first time. She got defensive; “What are you trying to tell me? Are you in the right frame of mind? Do you want to cause trouble between me and Ebo? Who sent you? If you see a pregnancy that is yours will you see it?” She lost her cool and gave me all the insults she could think of. I told her, “Then it means you never left that guy. You were with him all the time that you were telling me he was your ex.” Her answer was, “Whatever.”

I started hating her from that day. If I had an iota of love within my heart for her, that day, everything vanished. I felt cheated on, betrayed, and made useless by a woman I gave my all to. It was like pressing the restart button of my heartbreak so I could start all over again. Nothing lasts forever. Our joy, our failures, our disappointment in life, the good, the bad. They all have a way of ending so we can go ahead and chase after new things. I healed and even stopped thinking about her.

I was having a conversation with my mother one day and she asked me, “Eiii, that your girlfriend, do you hear from her?” Then she came back to mind. I started thinking about the last time I saw her and how heavy she was. I told my mom, “By this time she had given birth. I’m very sure because the last time I saw her, she was very heavy.” My mom joked, “Your wife has given birth and you won’t go and look for her?” I responded, Whose wife? I don’t even know her.”

Our conscience has a way of pricking us to act. When I left the presence of my mother, I thought of her. I did the maths all over again. I didn’t conclude that the baby was mine. I concluded that women are to be feared if my own Efua could get pregnant for another man while she was with me. Every now and then she crossed my mind but I didn’t make any move to check up on her. One morning, the urge got intense so I picked up the phone and called. She asked, “Who is this?” Before I will say anything, she said, “Please I’m busy. I will call you later.” She dropped the line and never called.

February 11th, 2022, I remember the date very well because it is my new girlfriend’s birthday. I was in her house that evening, putting one and one together to celebrate her birthday when a call came through. I looked at the screen of the phone and it was Efua calling. “What? Why is she calling me at this time of the day? What does she want from me?” I picked up the phone; “Hello, who is this?” I was just giving her words back to her. She responded, “This is Efua. Don’t you know my voice again?” I responded, “Oh Efua. Now I know it’s you. How are you and what did I do to deserve this call?” She asked, “Are you free? Can we talk?” I looked at the face of my girlfriend and said, “It’s quite busy where I am. Can we talk tomorrow?”

I was with my girlfriend but my mind was all over the place, thinking, worrying, predicting what it was that Efua wanted to talk about. “Is the baby mine? Her boyfriend has left her again and she’s calling to make up with me? Or she wants money?” I left my girlfriend’s place early so I can go home and talk to Efua. It was around 11pm when I called her. She picked. “Hello, Fletcher. Thank God you called. I thought you were never going to call.” I said, “Ok, I’ve called. What is the problem.” She said, “I need you to come over and see something for yourself. You won’t believe it if I tell you. You need to see it to believe it.”

Early the following morning, I went to her house. I met her mother there and another man I never met while we were dating. It was her mother who offered me a seat and called the other man to come and join us. I knew it was a serious issue and the only serious issue I could think of was the baby being mine. Her mother started talking; “Errrm, I think my daughter made a mistake somewhere when you both were together. You got angry and you left because she didn’t talk to you the way a woman should have spoken to her man. It’s the reason you got angry and it’s the reason she also told you that the pregnancy wasn’t yours. She spoke out of anger but the truth never stays hidden forever. The child is indeed yours. So, we called you here today to apologize and introduce you to your son.”

I screamed, “My son? How could he be my son? No, that can’t be true.” Efua’s mother went for the baby and brought him to me. She said, “Look at him very well. Just look deep into his eyes and tell me he doesn’t resemble you.” I looked at him and the only thing that came to mind was the photo of me when I was a baby. The baby is a replica of my childhood.” Her mother said, “You don’t even need to do a test. He’s your photocopy complete.” I asked her, “Where’s Efua?” She said, “She’s so ashamed to meet you so she’s in the room.”

She came out and we were left alone. I said, “Now talk. What happened.” She said calmly, “There’s nothing else to say than what my mother told you.” I asked, “So is he aware of what you’re telling me? Does he know and does he accept that the baby is mine?” She answered, “He was the first person to raise concern. We sold the car and used some of the money to carry out the DNA test. I knew we were wasting money looking at the baby in question but we had to do it to clear all doubt.”

I walked out of the house without saying a word. The next person I went to was my mother. She said, “If the child is yours then you can’t do anything about it. You can hate the mother. You can hate the circumstances under which he was born but you can’t hate the child. He has your blood running through his veins. We’ll go to them, name and claim him. The child won’t suffer your problems.

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The next person I spoke to was my girlfriend, “Dear, the dynamics have changed. I told you about my ex, remember? The baby she was carrying is mine.” She opened her mouth and never shut it until I asked her to. She asked, “How come? Why now? What happened to her boyfriend?”

A day before the naming of the child, she called to tell me it was over; “I wanted to stay but looking at everything going on now, I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s not your fault, I understand but this new development changes everything. I’m sorry.” She didn’t even give me the chance to try and win her back. Her decision was absolute and final.

We did the naming ceremony and agreed on how we are going to take care of the child. Like my mother said, the child is mine regardless of the issues between me and his mother. I know that for a fact so I’ve raised barriers. I play my role without any emotional attachment. If she calls and it’s not about the kid, I hang up immediately. When I visit to see the baby, I go with someone from my family or go with my friends. I don’t want to be alone with her in a place like her home. She had cooked for me on several occasions but I don’t eat it. I came to see my child and not to eat.

It’s the barrier that keeps the relationship going. I don’t know what the future holds but whatever comes our way, we are not getting back together. There’s a bond between us now that we can never break but we won’t go beyond that. Never.

—Fletcher  

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