ATINUKE MI

My heart longs;

To hold my little girl in my hands.
To fit her perfectly into one hand while placing her feeder in her mouth with the other.

To say 'abutu butu papa ya' and watch her blurt out a giggle even though I have absolutely no idea of the sentence I said.

To watch her wrap her five tiny fingers around my index finger.
To watch her try to bite my thumb with her toothless gum while I feign a painful look like papa Lion does.

To wrap her firmly across my back with her mother's blue-coloured 'aso ofi' wrapper while I jokingly promise to undo the love portion that her mother had prepared for me.

To watch her attempt to lick every scoop of ice-cream in the mall, and also attempt to give out presents to every child in the orphanage home.

I long to see her rise, attempting to touch the top of her little crib and walk the length of her pink-painted nursery.

To see her little face recoil in disgust when I try to feed her her vegetables while she longs for her sugar-filled diet again.

To watch her try to beat daddy in a singing competition being held in front of mommy's makeup mirror.
All the while urging mommy to be quick in getting dressed so that we would not arrive late in church

To watch her throw a mini tantrum when the red-haired feeling of me pushes my button and forces me to put my foot down concerning an issue.
Then later, I long to walk gingerly to her room, enter with a sorry look on my face and a plate of jollof rice as a peace offering to cool her anger.

I long to take her on those walks to the park.
My left hand firmy steering the leash of my loyal doberman and pitbull;
My right hand gently nudging her stroller forward
My mouth humming Sinach's 'We are a chosen ge-ne-ra-tioon, called forth...' under my breath;
And my head, thinking of the best lingerie that would fit Iyawo at home in order to stoke the flames of love anew

To wake up in the morning, get down on both knees with one hand touching Iyawo and another touching the legs of my little girl
All the while dedicating them to the only one who can keep anyone.
All the while declaring that their paths would be much more smoother than yesterday's.

Beeni.
Atinuke omo mi.
Daddy longs to do all these.
But first, he must grind his butt off to establish something for you.
#BASHORUN

Okontas.com


Tí a bá wo dídùn ifọ̀n, àá họ ara dé egun / If a person gives in to guilty pleasure, they will lose themselves in it.