I got married to my husband as a virgin, and many people knew this. In fact, it was the topic of the pastor’s sermon on the wedding day. He said if we needed anything from God, I could use that fact as a point of contact. We were very much in love. I knew very well that I loved my husband very much, like I was under some form of influence. But many people around us thought he loved me more because he did not hesitate to show it whenever we were with people.
We attended the same university as medical students, but he graduated a year ahead of me. From then on, through youth service, we were like inseparable twins. It was only during our youth service days that we were always separated for a few days every month. Though we had not done the official wedding, I was treated in his family like a full-fledged wife. So, when we were ready to get married, it was only ceremonial. We did the legal, religious and traditional marriage ceremonies to satisfy ourselves that we had not left any stone unturned. We had two children (boys) in quick succession.
I was particularly fond of my mother-in-law because I did not want anything to come in between my husband and me. Initially, she was friendly; she would tell me about an ailment she was worried about even before alerting her own son, who is also a medical doctor. I felt safe and went the extra mile to solidify this relationship.
After we got married, and started our own joint private practice, we also joined a family prayer group in church. We usually took midnight prayers round the four families that were members. Two families would stay together in one house and pray from 12am to 3am every last Saturday of the month unless we were not in town. The prayers helped a lot until the devil came into my home through the
backdoor.
Then I heard the noise of someone getting off the bed and struggling with things. It took another 10 minutes for someone to open the door, and it was my husband who did! The look on my face was enough to show him that I was about going crazy
My mother-in-law called one evening that she would be joining us for two months in Lagos to address a health challenge and to also see my husband for some family issues. I did not have any objection because we got along well, or so I thought. She, however, insisted, after she had studied things for the two months that she stayed, that it was wrong to allow another family (husband and wife) sleep in our house overnight once every month. She said she noticed some strange things the two times it happened.
At that time, our private practice had started booming. My husband had gone back for his Residency and, most times, I was left in charge of the hospital’s affairs. We had other doctors working with us, and soon expanded to a nearby property when it became so busy. Our prayer group almost became like a cult because whenever we said or wished anything for any member family, and we prayed fervently about it, it would come to pass. The others also prospered in their business. We referred people to each other’s business and God was extremely faithful.
However, shortly after my husband bagged his first fellowship in internal medicine, my mother-in-law suddenly changed. It was during the preparations for the wedding ceremony of my sister-in-law (my husband’s younger sister). I was told that while they were in a meeting on requirements, my husband noted that I would have to represent him at the meeting because I was the one who understood the language of ceremonies.
It did not get down well with those at the meeting, especially my mother-in-law, but my husband did not notice anything. At that time, I had also started my Residency towards my Paediatrics specialty. But I was in a teaching hospital outside Lagos and was preparing for my examination, which I was to sit for one week after that.
When I got back home after the exam, my husband told me all that happened and insisted that I should leave work for one week to attend to the pre-wedding activities. He said they were expecting me in their hometown that weekend to start discussions from where they stopped. I was angry that he actually brought me into the equation that way. I told him that he would have just come to tell me all they decided and I would have straightened things out myself without sitting for any meeting.
He did not agree with me, but I insisted that he had to follow me because I was not going to meet with his immediate family members alone. When we got there, I saw a totally different mother-in-law. I greeted her; she barely answered. Others too. Whenever I was asked to give my opinion on anything, and I opened my mouth to talk, she would shout at me and say that was not how they wanted it. So I kept quiet subsequently and nodded to all their
suggestions.
After the meeting, my mother-in-law said she was going to Lagos with us. It was a Friday. The next day was to be our usual prayer meeting in our house (the last Saturday of the month). On Friday night, we were all eating in the dining room, when my mother-in-law told my husband that she had some things to discuss with him far into the night, that he should not retire early. I felt it was a continuation of the discussions back in her place, so I did not even take it as anything serious.
At about 3am, I expected to see my husband beside me on the bed, when I woke up, but discovered he was not there. I went into the living room to see if he slept off there after their discussions, but was surprised to see nobody. I moved towards my mother-in-law’s room, and heard her snoring. I knocked and tried to open the door when there was no answer; it was locked. I checked every other room – the children’s room and the guest room – my husband was not there. So, I went back to my mother-in-law’s room and started knocking frantically.
Then I heard the noise of someone getting off the bed and struggling with things. It took another 10 minutes for someone to open the door, and it was my husband who did! The look on my face was enough to show him that I was about going crazy, but he dragged me to our room, and apologised that he slept off after their long discussion. But why mama’s room? He said she had told him that she did not want anyone to listen to their conversation.
The next night, our prayer night, I returned to my room to sleep because we finished early, at about 2am. The couple that had come to pray with us were in the room opposite my mother-in-law’s room. They also went in to sleep a bit before going to their house very early in the morning. That was when God revealed the biggest secret to us…
To be continued…
