Chapter 4: Mother and Son

I took a deep breath.

After calming down, my worry for my children only grew.

Who knows how Morayo would raise them?

Thinking about this, I told Ngozi, "Go and ask the tutor to bring the Second Young Master here."

I sat in the gazebo, waiting for Dayo.

The evening breeze carried the smell of cooking fires from the boys’ quarters, but my mind was far away. In less than fifteen minutes, Dayo arrived.

He had two small braids in his hair, his cheeks still round with baby fat, but his features already looked a bit like Tunde.

But his face didn’t look happy at all.

Ngozi had to remind him, "Second Young Master, this is your birth mother."

He lowered his head and called out reluctantly, "Mummy."

I looked at him quietly, tears slowly gathering in my eyes.

When I left, he was just a baby wrapped in cloth.

Now, he had grown so tall.

With trembling hands, I reached out to touch his cheek.

He pulled away from my touch.

I took back my hand, not feeling offended. "All these years, how have your father and Mama Morayo treated you?"

He replied, "Daddy is busy with work and hardly has time for me. But Mama Morayo treats me well, remembers what I like, prepares food for me every day, and even personally hired my tutor."

When he mentioned Morayo, his eyes lit up.

My heart ached.

But at least, Morayo hadn’t mistreated him.

I forced a smile.

He looked up at me. "But Mummy, why did you come back?"

The smile on my face froze.

He didn’t notice, and continued, "What about Mama Morayo? What’s she supposed to do now?"

I held back my emotions and answered calmly, "She’s your father’s wife; that won’t change."

He pressed on, "And you, Mummy?"

I said, "I’ve also remarried. But I’ve always missed you and Bola. This time, I came to ask you—"

Before I could finish, Dayo looked at me in shock and quickly interrupted, "Remarried?"

I nodded.

He was angry, his eyes wide.

"You left for years, Mummy. People say your name don spoil. Who go marry you now? And if someone did, how could he accept me as his stepson?"

Tunde was right.

Dayo no longer recognized me.

He felt completely distant from me.

I stared at him, searching his face.

"Who taught you to talk like this?"

He just pressed his lips together, silent.

I already knew the answer, my heart heavy with disappointment.

"Now that I’ve come back and can teach you myself, it’s time to change your tutor."

Dayo frowned.

"Since Mummy has remarried, how can you interfere in the Tunde family’s matters?"

After a few words, I saw he had been misled.

Now he was stubborn and difficult.

But thinking that I’d never raised him myself, my heart softened a bit, and I took off the beaded pendant from my waist for him.

The small pendant, a keepsake from my own mother, glimmered faintly in the dusk light. "If you regret this in the future, come and find me. As your birth mother, I’ll help you once, but there’ll be conditions."

Dayo hesitated for a long time, but finally took it.

His fingers lingered on the beads, but his eyes no longer found me—like stranger wey waka enter compound.