I'm so sorry for the delay. I'm currently working on a new book that I'd hopefully be dropping on Thursday. The entire preparation has been really stressful and time-consuming so please bear with me.

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(Noah's POV)

Four years and a couple of months later

"Hey, look over there. Its mummy" I pointed at Ijeoma who walking across the front stage

My two-year-old son peered at the stage for a second before he was able to recognize his mother. He bounced excitedly on my lap while he pointed at her. "Mummy!!"

Zozo on the other hand just stared fixedly at the stage, clapping her hands because everyone else around her was. Before Ijeoma was called unto the stage to receive her testimonial Zozo was bored out of her mind and was at the brink of falling asleep.

Ijeoma's sister who was positioned beside Zozo released a loud whistle as she clapped excitedly for her sister. Ijeoma's entire family was in attendance for her convocation ceremony along with some of her work colleagues and we took up an entire row.

It was actually nice of her work colleagues to show up for graduation after she casually mentioned it to them. It had been a really long time since she actually saw them.

After the wedding when Ijeoma started school, she tried juggling schoolwork and her actual work which worked out for a short while but Nigerian Universities being unimaginably stressful, the workload began to overwhelm her.

Her boss was considerate to shorten her workdays just so she didn't have to turn up every day to work. The downside was the reduction of her usual salary due to the reduced number of days. Ijeoma didn't really care about the reduction, she just wanted to still retain a spot in the company.

That idea went down the drain when we found out she was pregnant with our son, Chizaram which meant God answered me. Ijeoma revealed that the reason for the name was as a result of a wish she internally bored in her heart. She wanted our child to be a boy, as a replacement for the one she initially lost, and once the gender was revealed she immediately announced she had the perfect name for him.

Juggling school and pregnancy wasn't exactly a walk in the park for her. Luckily, her pregnancy was comparatively an easy one if not she would've had to defer her admission until she gave birth. The real work started after she had him because she had to be with him basically every second.

There were so many classes she missed out on and few tests but with the help of some younger friends she made, she was able to catch up on school work and assignments.

I can't help being extremely proud of her because no matter how much I tried to help out, there were so many things I couldn't help her do even if I wanted to. She was able to balance being a new mom and student and did well enough to be graduating right now.

She had a bright smile on her face as she received her testimonial and as she returned to the seats reserved for the graduands.

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Ijeoma's POV

I came out of the crowded and stuffy hall into a more crowded school environment. The convocation ceremony had now ended and everyone was trying to either find their family or had found them and were taking pictures.

The whole place was swamped with commercial photographers and snack vendors. If you were wearing a graduation robe, the likelihood to be stopped by a photographer for pictures was 99.9%. I scanned my surrounding for any signs of my family as I moved amongst the crowd.

"I.J!!"

I caught sight of a figure waving in the crowd and that figure turned out to be my sister, Kamsi. She was standing together with my parents and Zozo while Zaram was being carried by my father. Noah was nowhere in sight. I quickened my pace over to them.

"Congratulations," Kamsi said giving me a side hug.

"Thank you" I replied with a wide smile

"Yes. Congratulations, my dear. You've done really well" My father said

"Thank you"

"We are so proud of you" My mother added

"Thank you"

"Where's Noah?" I asked as I looked around for him.

"He went to re-park the car. Someone wanted to move out and he was blocking the car" Kamsi replied

"Oh okay," I said

"You're really sweating" my mother pointed out as she reached into her purse and pulled out a white handkerchief. Before I could take it from her, she had already proceeded to wipe my face not as gently as I would've preferred.

"Mummy, wait" I held her hand away from my face and then collected the handkerchief. "You're going wipe off my make-up"

She chuckled. "Sorry"

I shifted my attention to Zozo. "Zozo, are you tired?"

She nodded

"Eyah. Don't worry, we'll soon go home, okay?" I said. "We'll just take a few pictures and we'll go home"

"Okay" she nodded

"Do you want anything? Ice cream? Snacks?" I asked in order to pacify her

"Ice cream," she said

"Okay. Zaram, what about you?" I turned to a widely attentive Zaram.

"Yes" he nodded eagerly

"Kamsi, please help me get them the ice-cream while we wait" I said

"Sure" she looked down at Zozo. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Yes" Zozo nodded and they walked away in search of an ice-cream cart.

"I.J!!" I heard a voice call out my name

I turned around to see Nkechi, Chioma, Chinonso, and Emeka walking over to us.

"Wow. I didn't know you guys were coming" I stated surprised

"How could we miss your graduation? It's not possible now" Nkechi said grinning

"Congratulations" they all took turns in giving me a hug

"Thank you guys so much" I said

"You're welcome" Chinonso replied with a wave of her hand

Something shiny caught my eye with the movement and I quickly grasped her hand in mine. A silver engagement ring nestled on her finger.

"You're engaged" I gasped

She giggled like a schoolgirl and nodded. Chinonso was more or less the 'hard guy' in the group. If I was to guess who'd be engaged first, I would've said Nkechi.

"Congratulations," I said. "Wow. We really have a lot to catch up on"

"Right" Chioma concurred

"Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. The parking space is really tight" Noah appeared from behind me

"No problem" my mother said

"Hey, congratulations again" he said to me

"Thank you, again" I replied with a smile

Kamsi returned with Zozo who was now licking a chocolate supreme ice cream.

"Okay. Since we're all here, let's take some pictures" I announced

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We wish we could be there but it wasn't possible" Adaobi said

"It's fine" I replied

I was in the kitchen on a video call with Noah's family. They were all in the same place with the exception of Jeremiah so they took turns in talking to me. I spoke with his mom and dad first, then with Hosea, and lastly the two girls. Adaobi and Chinelo.

"I'm hoping to come around by Christmas if my work schedule allows it" Adaobi said

"Yeah, me too" Chinelo seconded

"That's cool" Noah popped his head into the view of the camera

"Great" Chinelo said. "Oh and Noah—"

I handed the phone to Noah and headed back into the living room. There was a little graduation party going on in the living room so I wanted to make sure everybody was alright. I was about heading for a litter of empty cans of malt on one of the stools when the bell rang.

I changed my direction to the front door and as I pulled it open, I was faced with Jeremiah. He had a small black travel bag strapped across his shoulder.

"Surprise!!" he said with a cheeky smile

"Oh my God! Wow!!" I said absolutely surprised

He chuckled and engulfed me in a hug. "Congratulations"

"Thank you" I laughed

"Come in, come in" I ushered him into the house and closed the door gently behind me.

"Does Noah know you were coming?" I asked

"Nah" he said. "It's a surprise for both of you"

"Wow. Let's go find him then" I said

"Okay"

"He's on the phone with your sisters" I said as we walked to the kitchen where I had left Noah. "Do they know you're here?"

"Yeah, they do" he replied

"Wow. And they didn't give me any clue that you were arriving"

"That's why it's a surprise" he replied playfully in a duh tone.

"True"

Once we walked into the kitchen, Noah looked up from the phone and his eyes widened with disbelief. "What the.."

"Surprise bro" Jeremiah said smiling from his eyes

"What are you doing here? Wow" he said as he approached his brother and gave him a brotherly hug.

"Thought I'd come and spend time with my brother and my favorite sister-in-law" Jeremiah said

Noah raised his eyebrow questioningly at him.

"What? You mean I can't choose to spend time with you guys. You wound me" Jeremiah said as he dramatically placed his hand over his chest.

Noah's brows rose even higher.

"Fine. I'll be spending the weekend with you guys and then I'll head over to Lagos for reasons best known to me" he divulged his plans

"Okay" Noah said. "Come, I'll show you to the room you'll be staying in"

"You're not even a little bit curious as to what I'll be doing in Lagos" Jeremiah asked

"Nope" Noah said walking out of the kitchen

Jeremiah turned to me. "I don't know how you deal with him. So boring"

I chuckled as he walked after Noah.

I headed back into the living room to see my colleagues off. Nkechi had given me a sign that they would be leaving soon while I was walking Jeremiah to the kitchen.

"Thank you guys so much for coming. I really appreciate it" I announced

"You're welcome" Emeka said

"Oh, my bolt ride is here" Chioma announced, lifting her phone to show us an incoming call

"I'll walk you to the door"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later

My friends had all gone home and my parents and sister had returned to the hotel they were lodged in. Up until today, my parents were never comfortable staying the night in our house and no matter how much I cajoled them, they never budged.

I had taken off my graduation gown and changed into more comfortable house wear. I was now taking of my make-up in front of my dressing table. Noah walked into the room and embraced me from behind.

I chuckled. "What?"

"Nothing" he murmured against my neck

"Okayyy" I drawled out and continued wiping with my facial cleanser.

"So, what's the next step?" Noah said standing up straight

"What next step?"

"I mean, you're done with school now. What's next? Is there anything you want to start? Business-wise?" he said

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I got a call from Mr. Emenike and he said I still have a spot in the company and I'm welcome to come back if I wanted to" I said

"Really?"

"Yeah" I replied. "As for starting a business, I think I would put that on a hold because, to be honest, I don't have any business ideas"

"I think I'm going to work under the company for a while and learn the key things I need to know. If I happen to develop an interest in something then I guess I'll be knowledgeable enough to do whatever that would be" I reasoned

"Okay" he nodded. "I'll support you with whatever you choose to do"

"I know" I replied with a subtle smile

"I'll head down and get dinner started" he announced and headed for the door

"I'll join you in a second" I called after him

"We both know you're not going to help" he threw back as he walked out

"I know. I'll enjoy watching you" I muttered to myself with a smirk.

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I genuinely hope you guys enjoyed this book. I know I messed up with the delayed updates which I'll try to curb in my upcoming books.

Also, I'll be dropping the bonus chapter tomorrow

Thank you guys so much for joining me on this literary journey. Please don't forget to smash the VOTE button and also SHARE this story with your friends, family, and basically anyone you can share it wiith.