Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, any resemblance to actual events is a merely coincidence.
All rights reserved, including the rights of reproduction in whole or parts.
©GABRIEL ODIGIRI, 2021

THE SURROGATE EPISODE ONE BY GABRIEL ODIGIRI

Ebisemi’s heart sank into her stomach as the Judge cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses, eyes on the papers in her hands. She couldn’t breathe. Seem like her air flow got suddenly restricted. This had been the longest day of her life. She had barely closed her eyes since last night, thinking about this moment. This very moment that had threatened to end her womanhood. The Judge coughed and her heart skipped. A sharp piercing pain lingered in there like someone shot an arrow straight for her heart. She couldn’t breathe but gasping for breath wasn’t an option. She would want to fall face flat on the concrete, throwing the whole court room in a scare and then lose all of her breathe, so she wouldn’t have to witness the verdict of the Judge. Something to help her escape this torture. But it wasn’t happening, the Judge’s lips had started to move but she couldn’t hear anything. This was it. She had become deaf. This was how she would be saved from the torture but then Seun turned to her.

“Honey…” He whispered but she doesn’t respond.

“Honey…” He called again but she doesn’t look at him. Her eyes are focused on the Judge. This plump woman with a scar covering half of her jaw.

“Honey…” He tapped her and her sense of hearing suddenly returned.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Ebisemi nodded and looked around the room, everyone were seated except her and Seun. She turned to the Judge, she had stopped talking to focus on her.

Ebisemi waved her hand apologetically and sat on the bench with Seun. He grabbed her right hand and her palms were suddenly soaked in his sweat.

“Having heard both sides during the course of this trial and analyzed evidence brought before the court, I have come to a verdict…”
Ebisemi turned to her right and caught the eyes of a woman at the end of the room. Those brown familiar eyes she had come to loathe and then she started to quiz herself, what was it that she saw in her to make her think she was a reflection of herself? That was the mistake and today was the prize she would pay for it.
“Without sentiments or prejudice, I hereby grant custody of Miss Daisy Afolarin to…”
Ebisemi shut her eyes, like they would make the court room disappear.

Ten years ago on this same day, Ebisemi and Seun went to visit a fertility doctor named DR. PRAJU. They have heard tales about her. Her many degrees. Harvard. MIT. All the IVY leagues. Masters. PHD. Professional courses. And the many miracles from one time barren couples. At first they confused her for Indian but she quickly corrected them that she was Pakistan. A small lady in an oversized Lab coat. She should be in her fifties. She always had a smile on her face when she talked. Maybe it was just a thing of hers talking to couples who had lost hopes of bringing their own offspring into the world.

She exhaled, having skimmed through the past records of Ebisemi but with that warm smile still etched on her face.
“ Have you tried surrogacy?”
Ebisemi and Seun shared a look. They have lost count the number of times people have asked them this.
“No…” Seun answered for them.
“Why?”
Seun was unsure if he should answer this cause it was Ebisemi’s call. It wasn’t like she hadn’t nursed the idea but the thought of some strange woman carrying her child had always discouraged her.
“Is there no other way?” Ebisemi asked like she wasn’t suppose to answer the why question by Dr. Praju.

Dr. Praju reached for her hand on the table but Ebisemi quickly pulled her hands away. Some strange woman touching her hand across the table wasn’t some form of comfort to her.
Dr. Praju reclined on her chair and purred: “Sure, I am not the best fertility doctor around here for no reason. You will come in once a week and we will undergo the treatment for six months and see where that takes us.”
“Okay…” Ebisemi smiled but without a stray tears in her eyes.

Two months already gone and Ebisemi can’t even get herself out of the bed sometimes. The medications. The drugs, it does something to her that drained her strength. Definitely not what she bargained for but with it was the prize she would have to pay for motherhood.
Today was Seun’s parents forty years anniversary but she couldn’t get herself up. Seun who was already dressed sat next to her on the bed.
“I don’t have to go you know…”
“That would give your mother another reason to hate me more.”
“You are unwell, what if something bad happen to you?”
“I would be fine Seun… Go…”
Seun kissed her forehead and then stood from the bed. He looked down at her. All these years this man’s love had stayed strong. Sometimes she feels like she doesn’t deserve it.
“I won't be long, uhm…”
“Enjoy the party Seun…”
Seun exit the room. She remained on the bed, till she heard the front door slam, then she stood and pulled from the bed and crossed to check herself in the dresser’s mirror. She squeezed her breasts. They should be fuller by now. Why weren’t they bulging? She should be nauseous or something. It had been two months. Why was nothing happening? But then it all came to her, if she was actually pregnant she would see all those. She sat back on the bed and she thought of Seun. What manner of man stays with a barren woman for seven years but have not complained for once? What manner of man?
She lay back on the bed and covered herself in the duvet. She had pretended to be sick to avoid going to Seun’s parent’s party. Wasn’t she tired of been repeatedly mocked at gatherings like this. She closed her eyes and said a small prayer in her mind.
“Oh God, please give me a child and put my enemies to shame.”
Seun’s family lived in Maitama. Him and Ebisemi stayed at the outskirt of the city to avoid family members stumbling into their home as they please. He cared about Ebisemi’s mental health and wouldn’t want family members coming to make matters worse for them. He loved that woman so much and wished he could tell her the reason why they are barren. He so wished…

TO BE CONT’D
Gabriel Odigiri is a Nigerian writer, script writer and story teller.
For more of his stories like his page on Facebook: Gabriel Odigiri
https://m.facebook.com/Gabriel-Odigiri-108202648100800/?ref=bookmarks

Watch out for episode 2

Fingers crossed