🎶Nyema nketua nu ne ma me do wo ~ Efya

●Tara Afua Henrie●

"Ok, that's the last box," I sighed, getting back on my feet.

Areli stood with arms crossed, leaning against the wooden frame of my bedroom door. "I can't believe it took you a whole two weeks to finish unpacking."

"Hey, you can't blame me; I've been busy." I cracked my knuckles. "With the fair, rehearsals, and work on the album, unpacking was the last thing on my mind." Groaning, I raised my hands and stretched my body. 

Areli shrugged. "Well, I'm just saying, if I were you and someone had given me this luxurious penthouse," she said, dragging the last two words, "I would have settled down days ago so I could do nothing but sleep and lounge around in this palace." She lay down, spreading her arms wide on my bed.

"Yeah, and that's why you're not me." I laughed, then stepped out of the room to toss the carton box in the garbage. It was such a relief to finally be done unpacking. Now that everything was in its place, I wouldn't have to go digging through numerous boxes for one thing.

Areli waltzed into the living room, picking up the TV remote. "I wonder what's on. Probably sappy romance movies since it's Valentine's Day."

I strolled into the living room. Right before I could plop down on the sofa, a loud knock came through the front door. 

"Auntie T!"

"Oh, here she comes," I chuckled. The moment I pulled open the door, my little niece grabbed my legs in a hug. "Oh, Keke." I picked her up and laid a kiss on her cheek. "You have got to stop greeting me like that, or one day you're going to give me a heart attack."

She giggled, and then I set her down, and she ran out of my hands to join Areli in the living room. 

A few days ago, Nando asked if I could babysit Keke while he took Pam out for a romantic Valentine's date. He said they hadn't done anything special since Keke showed up in their lives, and he really wanted to surprise Pam this year. I knew how much Nando loved my sister, and it was because of that love that I decided to take care of their little daughter for the day.

"Morning, T."

"Hey, Nando." I hugged my brother-in-law, catching my sister behind him. Pam gave my suite an analytic glance, reminding me that she hadn't been here before. The day I moved my stuff in, it was Roberto and Nando I came with.

"Wow." Pam adjusted the collar of her red and white flowered dress. "Shaun pulled out all the stops, huh? I should be coming here more often."

"You're welcome anytime, sis." I wrapped my sister in a warm hug, enjoying her warmth and scent. I didn't realise how much I missed her until now. We definitely needed a day just for us.

"Ooo, Auntie T. Guess what? Guess what?" Keke appeared behind me, tugging me away from her mother.

"What? What is it?"

"I'm going to be a big sister!" She yelled with a broad smile.

"No way!" An equally huge smile found itself on my face. My eyes flickered up to meet Pam's. "You're pregnant?"

The corners of her lips tweaked up, and she nodded. That was when I noticed that her stomach looked slightly bigger in the dress she was wearing.

"Oh my God!" I caught my sister in another hug, a tighter one this time."That's wonderful, Pam. Congratulations!"

"Thank you." She patted my back.

"And you too, Nando." I turned in the direction of the kitchen, where Nando was busily guzzling down a bottle of water. He gave me a thumbs-up as a response.

"Have you told Mama yet?" I quizzed Pam.

"No. Not yet. She's been super busy with her church's retreat and all, so I decided to hold on till after the retreat on Friday."

"Oh, she's going to be so excited!" I wrapped my sister in another hug that had her chuckling.

When Pam was about to get married, Mama made her promise that she would let her see at least one of her grandkids before she passed away. Pam wasted no time in fulfilling that promise. A few months later, Mama was overwhelmed with joy as she saw her baby granddaughter for the first time. Hearing that she was about to have a second grandkid would definitely reopen the floodgate of tears of joy.

"It better be a boy in there." I pulled out of our embrace to poke her tummy.

Pam put a hand over that spot; a frown creased her forehead. "Why? What's wrong with another girl?"

"Really, Pam?" I folded my arms. "Come on, Nando has been surrounded by females his entire life. He grew up with his mum and six sisters; now he has a wife and a daughter. He needs a son so he can mentor him; then there'd be more Nandos around."

Pam's gaze flitted to her husband, holding as much love as the time they used to date. "Well, I can't argue with that."

"Ok!" Nando headed towards us, setting his squirming daughter down. "We should be leaving now. T, we brought Cora BunnyChunks and stuffed Keke's backpack with some colouring books, crayons, toys, and puzzles. She shouldn't be bothering you with anything."

A loud 'thunk' followed his sentence, and we turned to see Keke shaking all the contents of her backpack onto the centre table.

"...except creating a mess," Nando sighed.

I chuckled, "Don't worry guys, I'll take care of it. Now go have fun." I ushered them out. They hollered goodbyes over my shoulder, then left to enjoy themselves.

Areli headed over to the kitchen to find something to eat while Keke settled down on the carpet, already colouring away despite the mess on the table. I plopped down next to her, watching her shade Dora's hair brown. "So! Are you excited to have a new sibling?"

Her cheeks morphed into cute round balls. "Mmhmm. I want her to be a girl so we can be like you and Mama and I can take care of her and show her how to dance."

A laugh left my lips. "Aw, that's sweet."

"Hey, T," Areli called out as she joined us in the living room with a bag of Doritos. "Has Roberto sent you any weird texts this morning?"

"Um... I dunno. I don't have my phone on me." I pushed a hand into my pockets, finding them empty. "Why?"

She frowned at her phone. "He sent me a text a few minutes ago about some karaoke vale-"

A sudden bang on the door cut her short. 

"Guys, open up!" The muffled voice seeped past the painted wood, sounding very much like Roberto's.

Areli yanked the door open, and he stumbled in, carrying a big brown box.

"I hope there's chocolate in that." Areli shut the door behind him.

Roberto set the box down with a wide grin and said, "Oh no, my sweet Areli. The content of this box is ten times better than chocolate. I know we all decided to Netflix and chill today, but last night, I had this awesome idea - Karaoke Valentine!"

I lifted a curious eyebrow. "Karaoke Valentine?"

"Yes, Karaoke Valentine," Roberto repeated as he proceeded to take the machine out of the box and plug it into a socket.

"I don't get it. How is karaoke ten times better than chocolate?" Areli crossed her arms.

"Because it's the new and exciting way to celebrate Valentine's Day," came Roberto's reply. "Most people think that once you're single, Valentine's Day is terrible, but it isn't. This is the time to gather close friends and party it up! That's why I created Karaoke Valentine. We pretend to be celebrities for the day and sing songs until we pass out. Like this." 

He pushed on a pair of dark shades and tied a red bandana on his head. Turning on the machine, a rollicking tune blared out of the speakers. He grabbed the microphone and started singing out loud to Jacob Banks' Move With You.

We all gaped at him, too shocked to say anything. Keke had even stopped colouring and was staring at my friend like he was an alien from another planet. But Roberto didn't mind. He even tried twerking, which had all of us doubling over with laughter. Areli took out her phone and started recording the performance.

After the first song ended, Dance Monkey filled the room, and Keke and I joined Roberto in singing along and dancing. Meanwhile, Barney sat on the couch, still recording. Although Roberto's voice often went off-key, it didn't kill the mood. Keke gave us some freestyles, and we all cheered her on. Next up was Lizzo's Juice, and we all jumped around, yelling "Yaya eee!" whenever it came up. "Man's Not Hot hit the speakers next, but it turned out to be a comedy show because Roberto couldn't rap and filled the microphone with gibberish instead.

When I fell back into an armchair for a short rest, someone came knocking on the door. I stood up to answer it, leaving my friends and niece to continue messing around.

Pulling the door open, I came face to face with the biggest gift basket I'd ever seen. The delivery guy set it down before pulling out a clipboard and pen. "Hola, Sra. GuiTara. Entrega para ti."

"Oh." I took the clipboard, quickly scribbled down my signature, and thanked him. The basket was much heavier than it looked as I lugged it to the kitchen island.

"Holy cow!" Roberto exclaimed, entering the kitchen with Areli and Keke trailing behind him. "Tara, you definitely hit the Valentine's Day jackpot!" He pulled off his shades, eyes widening at the sheer size of the basket.

Keke climbed up onto the island to get a closer look at the teddy bear nestled inside. "Ooo, open it, Auntie T!"

"Ok, ok." I untied the ribbon holding the wrapping paper together. The paper crackled as I peeled it off, revealing a treasure trove of chocolatey goodies.

"Hohoho, and you got all the good stuff!" Roberto crowed, pulling out a chocolate bar. "Look, Hershey's!"

"And Kit Kat!" Areli marveled at the family-sized bar, her eyes wide.

Keke, however, was fixated on the white teddy bear clutching a bouquet of roses. I took the flowers and handed her the stuffed animal. She squealed with delight. "Now Cora BunnyChunks has a new friend!"

The roses smelled divine, but it was the white corner of an envelope tucked among them that caught my attention. I pulled it out, my name written in elegant cursive on the front.

Trying to suppress a smile, I slid my finger under the flap, pulling out a beautiful red and gold Valentine's Day card adorned with hearts and two bears sharing a kiss. I flipped the card open.

You mean the UNIVERSE to me

S.E.P

Simple words, but they hit me like a tidal wave, sending my heart into overdrive. I'd never felt anything this intense before. Not for Cudjoe. Not for anyone, really.

"So, care to tell us who it's from?" Roberto's voice interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to him. "On second thought, don't." He crossed his arms with a knowing smirk. "Judging from the smile on your face, I think I have a fair idea of who it is."

"So do I," Areli taunted before launching into a sing-song voice. "Shaun and Tara sitting in a tree."

"K-i-s-s-i-n-g!" Roberto and Keke continued.

"You guys are unbelievable." I playfully rolled my eyes while leaving the kitchen. Quickly, I headed to my room, grabbed my phone from the nightstand, and without hesitation, tapped on Shaun's number.

My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for him to pick up, but the call went to voicemail. Disappointment tugged at me, and I flopped down on the bed, staring at the screen. Just as I was about to give up, my phone buzzed.

Shaun: Sorry. Currently in some dumbass business meeting. Please brighten up my day by telling me you got the gift basket.

A smile tugged at my lips.

Me: Yes, I did. It's so lovely. Thank you 💋😍.

Shaun: 😁Oh don't thank me just yet.

My eyebrows knit together in curiosity.

Me: Hmm, what are you planning?

This time, his reply took a bit longer to come through.

Shaun: You'll soon find out 😈.

I rolled my eyes at the dramatic reply, but it couldn't stop the warmth that spread through my chest. It was corny, sure, but it was also so him. And I loved it. I loved every part of this. Us. And I couldn't wait to see him tonight. 

*****
Hi!

A quick drop-in here. So, I noticed that I've been using the name Arla and Areli interchangeably, and I just wanted to let you know that they both refer to the same character. Her name was Arla in the older version but I decided to change it to Areli in the rewrites and might have missed a few of them in the earlier published chapters.

I'm currently going through and making the necessary changes. In case you spot any "Arla" in any of the chapters, kindly draw my attention so I change it to Areli.

Gracias amigos!♥️