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The person was moving so silently like a cat after a mouse. Lillian wished she had kept her mouth shut at the supermarket. She wished she had… The bathroom door flew open. Lillian gave a loud scream as she directed the hot water at the intruder with her eyes closed.
"Surprise! …Jesus Christ! Lillian?!"
Lillian opened her eyes and swallowed. Louisa was drenched. Lillian started to laugh.
"It is not funny, Lillian."
"I am sorry. I thought you were a burglar." Louisa took one of the dry towels and started dabbing herself with it. Lillian made to help her but Louisa brushed her hand away.
"What are you doing here? Are you not supposed to be in Baltimore? What of mummy?" Louisa eyed Lillian briefly before she replied. She was in town for a conference and wanted to surprise her twin sister.
"I guess I should make reservations now before I come so as not to be attacked with a maze the next time I come here." Lillian apologized again for what happened and they both went downstairs with Lillian trailing behind with her clothes in her hands.
Louisa was Lillian’s only sister. She was married to Kojo, a computer scientist from Ghana who naturalized when they all came out of the university. Louisa had waited for Lillian to find the right person so after Gerald proposed she married Kojo. The sisters’ weddings were done a week after the other. There was nothing physically different between the two sisters when you look at them. They were so identical that there dad sometimes mistook one for the other. The sisters were always up to their neck in twin mischief when they were still young. But they both had different characters. Louisa was the gentle and shy one. And funny enough she was the most liked. She loved mathematics and studied it at the university while Lillian adored anything that had to do with words thus her work as the chief editor of a fashion magazine. Louisa put the kettle to boil and looked steadily at Lillian as she got dressed right there in the kitchen.
"How are you, Lillian?" Lillian paused in between putting her left leg into her pajama trouser and shrugged. She finished dressing and sat on the counter in front of Louisa.
"What are you up to these days? How is that crazy friend of yours?" Lillian laughed. Louisa had a dislike for Bunmi. They were always at each other’s throats whenever they had to meet. Bunmi though Louisa was a proud Miss-goody-two-shoes. Louisa felt Bunmi was a barbarian loud mouth.
"She is doing okay. She and her loud mouth had helped me out of a lot of tight situations, you know. You may not like her but for my sake, endure her," Lillian pleaded.
"She is such a blabber mouth. I wonder what her life is about. She needs deliverance, you know."
"We all do. We all should re-dedicate our life to Christ every day, so don’t even go there," Lillian said in defense of her friend.
"They say people that bear that name of hers in Nigeria are as quiet as a mouse but hers is a different case," Louisa replied and Lillian smiled as she got up to get the tea cups. She placed the cups on the counter and waited for Louisa to make the tea. She asked after their mum. Louisa said she was okay and that their mother had told her to tell Lillian that she should come over soon. Lillian’s phone started ringing. It was Larry.
"Hello Larry. Did you get home okay…yes, I did…Louisa is here…will do…thanks again for a great night…bye." Louisa rolled her eyes. Lillian smiled.
"It is not what you think, Louisa."
"What do you think I think, Lillian? Is that Larry…Larry?"
"Yes it is the same Larry. He is coming back on track and I am helping him take one day at a time, pastor is helping too. He truly needs Jesus in his life." Louisa nodded as she sipped her tea with a sly grin on her face; Lillian shook her head and smacked Louisa lightly on the shoulder. Louisa never bothered about boys. She was too busy with being born-again and university stuff to have time to go on dates. She was a pretty born-again nerd unlike her sister who was just a party-freak church-goer. Lillian was always the life of every party they went back in school. She was always the one to chair one group or the other, she even ran for the president once but she lost to cunning, cheerleading red head named Cindy that had beaten her to it. When Louisa brought Kojo to her as her boy friend, Lillian had laughed out so loud that he felt embarrassed not knowing that she was just surprised that Louisa could actually have found someone to call a boyfriend. Louisa had said he was the one she received. Lillian thought it was a joke but they went along well.
"I have good news to share with you. I have not told anyone, not even Kojo." Oh-oh. She is pregnant.
"I am pregnant" I thought so.
"Congratulations Louisa. How long gone are you?" Louisa put up two fingers.
"Are you two weeks or two months gone?" Louisa said she was two months pregnant. Lillian was happy for her. They had always joked about who would have the first child. Louisa would tease Lillian with it as she always had a boy hanging around. She would say that at the rate Lillian was going, she would be the first one to be a mother.
"I just want you to be the first to know and if you are okay with me taking your place," Louisa said and smiled. Lillian hugged her. They remained like that for a few minutes. They had been through a lot together. There were tough times and there were good times. They loved each other and that was all that mattered.
"I am happy for you. I am so proud of Kojo. He has been a good son-in-law to mummy in spite of her hesitation in the beginning. He is a good man and I am sure he will be elated to hear this news." Louisa smiled and got up. She bid Lillian good night. She said she had to sleep early so she could wake up early for her conference. She yawned and went up the stairs. Lillian sat at the counter and silently sipped her tea. Louisa was pregnant. That was wonderful news to end a wonderful day. She called Bunmi and told her. She screamed.
"Is she there?" Bunmi asked.
"No, she has gone to bed and I do not think she would want to know I told you."
"That is rubbish and you know it. You know, she knows that you can’t keep anything from me. She doesn’t like me but I am going to like her baby," Bunmi said at the other end.
"I know and I am sure you will," Lillian replied. Bunmi loved kids.
"I have to go. One of our interns is not around so I might have to do this piece myself. Good night Lil," Bunmi said.
"Are you in the office?" Lillian asked.
"Not even if there is a gorgeous white cream there. I am home. Bye," Bunmi said finally and hung up. Lillian rinsed the cups and switched off the lights in the house. She sat on the couch and switched on the television. She stared blankly at the screen but her mind was way outside the house out there on the streets roaming for a place that will bring her peace. She took the Bible by the sofa and opened to the book of Psalms. Her mind couldn’t retain anything from there either. There were some shooting going on in the movie so Lillian turned it to another station. There was nothing interesting going on so she turned the television off. She sat deeper into the couch and closed her eyes. She was happy for her sister.
They had always wanted a baby unlike Lillian and Gerald who wanted to have fun first before they started a new family. Tears gathered in Lillian’s eyes as she thought of her dead husband. He had left her a lot. She was rich courtesy of him but nobody knew how much she was worth and she liked it that way. When Gerald died, she changed. For months after his death, Lillian suffered depression and was always moody and always looking unkempt. Lillian loved her husband to a fault. Louisa had her reservations when she brought the guy home but when they all got to know him, they too fell in love with him.
The floorboard creaked upstairs and Lillian opened her eyes briefly. She wondered why she was on edge. The incident at the supermarket had ended with a statement at the police station. Bunmi had brought her home and had reassured her that the duo thieves were out of the state by then. Lillian still felt uneasy but she knew it might actually and truly be unnecessary. She closed her eyes again. "Tomorrow will come and everything will become new again."
Tomorrow always comes with a new thing and she hoped that that particular tomorrow would be for her. She was living a good life. Nothing could really go wrong. Christ was with her, His grace was abundant in her. The night sounds came into the sitting room. The dogs were barking. There were cars moving on the street. Lillian liked the night. It was her favorite time of the day. It was the time to reflect and plan as you let all your worries wait another day. Lillian lay down on the couch. She curled up and slept.
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