Chapter 4. Unexpectedly a Mother

"It's bathy time! It's bathy time la la la la la!" 

That had become a routine song for Marissa to sing for the baby whenever she was bathing him and he seemed to love it as he would just gurgle at her, kicking up a fuss with his legs in the water, and most time he would just give a toothless grin as he smacked his lips whenever Marissa poured water over his little face.

She supposed she was just lucky as most babies she had seen and known don't take well to bath time but little Emma just loved the whole routine, in fact when it comes to a lot of things about the baby when she stopped to take a breather and thought about it? She was mostly lucky. 

Emmanuel was a happy baby who smiled for the first time way earlier than most babies and most of the time, he was content to play and do his thing provided he was not wet and fed. The first three months were the trickiest time of all as Marissa was struggling to get the hang of the great change that had come over her life all the while she was mourning her friend. It was a trying time indeed. 

Her neighbours who knew the story about Evelyn did try to help her out with the baby most of the time and there was this particular woman who was a nursing mother. Oh, that woman was a wealth of knowledge and a fountain of patience as well, she was always so patient in explaining things to her and never cross with her at all, not even when Marissa ran to her the other day during the night when Emmanuel developed a fever.

"Oh that was a terrible day," she thought as she carried Emma from the basin she had fashioned as a bath for him.

"The baby is growing so fast," she thought as she could remember that when she first got the basin, he was so small in it that she was even scared the very first day she bathed him alone without the help of the nurse that was assigned to her at the hospital and now his legs were almost touching the other end of the basin.

"I need to get you a real baby bath soon, don't you think?" She said to the baby who blinked up at her and gurgled some more"Of course, you think so" She blew on his stomach and he giggled, or at least she believed that was the sound he made whenever she did that.

She just loved this routine they had come to develop every morning. Emmanuel was an early user and most times he would wake up around 3 am, that is; if he wasn't fussy during the night and just slept back. Once he was up by 3 am or so, he refused to sleep back most of the time so Marissa would use that time to feed him while she dozed or at least rest her eyes more before the hectic day started. Oh yeah, she breastfed him. How that started was not funny though she could look back on those months now and smile.

The doctor and nurse had to forcibly take the baby from her that bleak afternoon that her friend "departed" as she liked to think of it. Marissa was wailing so much like she would die herself as she clung to the baby who was wailing right along with her probably because of his first meal which he was rudely denied or because he could sense grief in the air as well. It sure was not a pretty sight. The nurses tried to calm Marissa down but she would have none of it, and when they tried to take the baby from her? Well, let's just say she sure did not take it well.

Oh yeah, the nurses could testify to that as they were unlikely to forget that day anytime soon. She was growing more hysterical while holding on to the baby as if her life depended on it. At the end of the day, the doctor had to give her something to relax so she didn't end up with a mental breakdown, she grew drowsy and that was when the nurses were able to get the baby from her to feed. Then she slept. 

For hours, she slept and slept and slept some more like she was subconsciously unwilling to wake up and face a new reality. And when she did wake she was confused at first but then she remembered and she asked for the baby. A nurse took her to the room where newborns were kept. The panic hit again when she saw mothers playing with their newborns, some of them with their partners, some of them alone. 

She couldn't help but think that one of those happy, glowing mothers should have been Evelyn but she firmly shelved that thought because it was just too painful for her to even think about it at that moment. So she looked down at the baby in his assigned crib and tears filled her eyes as she could see so much of Evelyn in the child. The forehead, the tilt of the noise just like Evelyn made most people ask the latter of her origins and those eyes.

"Evelyn did stamp herself on this child, trust her not to do anything halfway" she smiled sadly

"Oh, what am I to do with you, dear one? How are we to make the best of this situation that you and I found ourselves in?" She asked rhetorically

"I do not know what to do" she whispered" But you are stuck with me now, champion, I guess we'll just have to make the best of this, we sure will, I believe you will teach me a lot just as I would teach you as well but one way or the other darling, you and I would thrive and your….your mother would be proud" she sniffled

"How I wished Evelyn had a relative that I know of, but it's all good, my sweet I am your relative now" she asserted.

Evelyn had lived all her life as far as she could remember in an orphanage where the loving but inattentive mammy had been the only mother figure she had known all her life. When Marissa had asked her if she knew anything about her real parents and if she would want to find them one day. Evelyn had just shrugged and said that the moment she turned eighteen, Mammy had given her a folder that summed up all the details that had to do with Evelyn and how she came to stay at the orphanage. 

It had been a brisk morning that day and Mammy had been on her morning walk; something she liked to do most times before the kids woke up. She had just passed the entrance when she heard a little cry from a bundle placed very close to the entrance and on closer inspection, she realized it was a baby. Mammy did say that when she heard a rustle up ahead and she lifted her head, she saw a woman hurrying away with a cloak covering her face and features. 

On closer look, when she lifted the baby from the box, a white paper floated down from her shawl on which was printed "Evelyn Maduka" in bold letters. There was also a purse filled with cash in the box. Evelyn told her that "Mammy gave her that same purse with some money to take care of herself six months later when she declared her intention to leave the orphanage.

Marissa remembered asking Evelyn if she wanted to look for her biological parents since they still wanted a link to her since they gave her a name and all. Evelyn was so adamant though and professed that if they do not want her enough to keep her with them then she couldn't be bothered to go looking for them now, one thing Evelyn had always hated and feared even though she wouldn't directly say it was people leaving her and it was the reason why Muktar's betrayal hit her so hard. Just when she thought she had things going well for her, it all went downhill.

Marissa sighed and started when she realized that the baby had been awake when she was going down memory lane. The baby looked so beautiful to her as he looked up at her curiously with Evelyn's eyes.

She smiled and held his hand " Hey there handsome, and how are you doing? Oh you are so cute, who is the cutest baby in the world? You are" she teared up " I believe your momma is looking at you right now because you are all someone needed to be happy, I love you already darling, it's not even a debate and I sure will do my best by you. You and me, sweetheart, it will be you and me from now on and we are going to have the best of times together,won't we?" 

She wiped the tears she didn't realize were already trickling down her face. She reached into the crib and carried the baby up. "Let's go see the doctor and make.." She gulped as she got overwhelmed by her emotions again " And make arrangements for your momma and you, darling, there is no putting it off" she said as she carried him out of the room to go look for the doctor.