Under the Crimson Sunset (a Nigerian Romance story)

Dave hid his nervousness beneath his smile as he prostrated to greet Nancy's mother. Nancy already knew he was nervous. Right from the car, she held his hand tightly, assuring him that her mother doesn't bite. When he rose from his prostration, Nancy's Mom hugged him.

"You're welcome to my abode." She released him and offered him a seat. The hug helped lighten his anxiety a bit. The real remedy would be after the questioning phase. As a Nigerian man, hoping to marry a fellow Nigerian woman, he must be ready to series of questions from his fiancé's mother because that'll determine if he'd get his girl completely or partially. Dave braced himself for the enquiries.

"So, Mom, you've been expecting me to bring Dave home. I hereby present to you, the love of my life, the one who my heart beat for, Dave Wilson."

Nancy's Mom, Mrs. Obinna, smiled at Dave. "Welcome, once again. How was the journey down here?"

"It was smooth, Ma." He awkwardly rubbed his knee cap. Nancy patted his hand to remain cool. The was a slight silence, as if the whole room was waiting for him to speak.

"Nancy, won't you prepare meal for your fiance?"

"Aw, Mom, I'm hungry as well. I thought you've prepared breakfast..." She whined.

"Very funny. I'd prepare breakfast for a grown up woman like you. C'mon go into the kitchen the prepare breakfast. Prepare mine too." She smiled.

Nancy whined a little bit more before she stood up. She kissed Dave's cheek before waltzing to the kitchen. When she was gone, Mrs. Obinna readjusted herself on her seat. She cleared her throat. Dave already knew she wanted Nancy to excuse them and here comes the inquiries.

"Dave," she started. "I need your undivided attention." Dave focused her sight on her face, ready for what's to come.

"Yes, Ma."

"Ever since my husband died, I've been raising my daughter alone. She has no siblings. Raising her alone was like a ticking bomb because I was always scared that if she dies, aside from going insane, I'd be alone. My family didn't like the fact that I married another tribe. My husband's family accepted me, but when my husband died, I was accused of his death. It was a tough moment for me and Nancy. Dave, look into my eyes and tell me if you genuinely love my daughter or not? Not just only you, will your family accept her both in your presence and absence?"

Dave, without hesitation, began. "Ma, your daughter has an amazing soul that I'd never trade for anything. I'm immensely enchanted my everything about her. As for my family, I'd not even introduced her when they've already accepted her."

He canceled out the fact that his parents hadn't met her. But that'd not be an issue. He had called his dad and he gave his consent. He'd introduce her to his mother whenever she was herself. Mrs. Obinna smiled at the response. Dave hadn't told Nancy about his mother's predicament, he promised to do so later.

"Dave, Nancy is my one and only, nothing must happen to her."

"Ma, I promise, nothing will happen to her."

"Don't promise. Promise can be an assurance, it can be a chain as well. It'll bind your heart when it wants to let go. Just ensure she's among your priorities, once you achieve that, she'll always be in your heart."

Nancy appeared at the kitchen entrance. "Mom, where do you keep your spices?"

"It's inside a small container on the kitchen slab." She turned around to her.

"I've checked, it's not there."

"Oh, then check the cupboard."

Nancy turned and went to the kitchen. Midway, she winked and smiled at Dave was was mesmerized by her beauty, as always. His heart skipped a beat at her wink. He'd never let her go. Never.

Mrs. Obinna turned to him. "So, what's your occupation?"

He came back to reality. "I studied Medicine in Chicago. I thought I was going to do my Medical Residency over there, but as it is now, I'll do it here in Nigeria. I learnt there are amazing Hospitals here."

"Hmm, that's great. I wish you success."

"Thank you, Ma."

Since Mrs. Obinna already knew about his past as told by Nancy, she didn't ask him about himself. As she was thinking of what else to say, she heard a knock.

"Come in."

The door opened and Wumi poked her head in, checking if she was home.

"Ah, Wumi. Welcome dear."

Wumi smiled when she saw her. She finally came inside, dragging few polythene bags with her. "hi, sweet mother."

She dropped the bags few inches away from the chair and hopped towards where she sat. She hugged her. "I've missed you, Mummy."

"You were here yesterday, Wumi."

"Nevertheless, I missed you."

"Thanks, love. You're not always far from me, unlike someone I know." She looked towards the direction of the kitchen. Wumi wasn't aware of Dave's presence. She hadn't seen him in flesh and blood, just in pictures. Nancy, hearing a familiar voice, rushed out of the kitchen. She awwed loudly when she saw Wumi. They hugged each other tightly.

"Gurlllll, why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Baby gurl, not only you own your mother. Also, I didn't know I'd meet you here. I came to visit your mother."

Nancy looked at her mother, feigning a disappointed look.

"Muuuuummmyyyy, so, both of you are plotting something behind me, abi?" Her Mom and Wumi laughed. Wumi, now noticing the presence of another person in the room, nugded Nancy's elbow. With her eyes, she signaled towards Dave and mouthed, "is that him?". Nancy smiled and nodded, then she cleared her throat.

"Let me introduce you both. Dave, this is my best friend, Wumi. Wumi, this is the love of my life, Dave."

Dave, smiling gently, stood up, and approached Wumi, who was already approaching him. They shook hands for a while and they both went back to their positions. Wumi, poked Nancy, about to whine. Nancy already knew Wumi would display her childishness, she quickly grabbed her.

"Mom, I'll borrow Wumi now. I need assistance in the kitchen". She dragged her without waiting for response. She quickly closed the kitchen door, knowing they'd gossip and Wumi would do hers loudly.

In the kitchen, Wumi squealed loudly, as predicted. Nancy hoped they won't hear in the sitting room. She watched Wumi wriggled on a spot happily.

"He's damn cute!"

Nancy smiled. "I told you he is."

"I mean, he was cute in picture, but in reality, he's an angel!" She squealed again.

Nancy smiled and continued with her cooking. She checked where her mother described to her for the spice and she found it. Wumi held her shoulder from behind,

"Nancy, I commend you for your choice. I know you chose right, but right can go wrong sometimes. When that happens, I want you to know I'm here for you." Nancy turned and hugged her.

"Okay, now I need gist. Tell me, has anything happened?"

Confused, Nancy asked, "happened, like?"

Wumi rolled her eyes. "C'mon babe. You know what I mean."

"I don't know it, baby girl."

"You've been dating for over six months, don't tell me nothing has happened between you both."

Nancy, now catching on her question, laughed, "Wumi, what kind of creature are you? Well, to answer your question, nothing has happened."

"Huh? Like nothing nothing? Or like nothing?"

"Everything nothing."

"I know y'all have kissed. But, cuddle, massage, foreplay, all those stuffs."

Nancy looked at her and smiled at how serious she looked. She shook her head. She contemplated telling her about the other day with Dave. Probably Wumi could help but she didn't want to let her know she was still untouched.

"Wow. Both of you are quite calm. I mean, the second month I started dating Akin, we started having intimate moments. It's fine if you both don't want to rush it. Not everyone wants to."

Nancy gave her a shocking look. "How come I've never heard of this from you?"

"Have you forgotten that we were apart for years? And when we reconciled, we had other issues to discuss."

Nancy nodded. "But, if you've started being intimate with a man, won't you get pregnant?"

Wumi burst into laughter at her question. "You sound like a teenager who's scared of having sex. Baby girl, there are different methods in avoiding pregnancy while having sex..."

"Yeah, like termination." She cut in.

"Hell no! Eww. I'd never stoop so low to that method. That's the deadliest because you're putting your life on the line. There are other safe methods, that's all I know."

"Which method do you use?"

"C.D"

"C.D? As in, the playing cassette?"

"What a novice you are!" She laughed again. "It called Condom. I abbreviated it to C.D. I thought you said you've read articles about these stuff online. Why are you inquiring me about it?"

Even if she did read it online, she needed to know if them worked in reality and she could only get that from someone who's familiar with such. Also, what she experienced with Dave, she hadn't gotten explanation yet. At once, she faced Wumi and narrated everything to her. Wumi listened with keen interest. When she said she was untouched, Wumi shone her eyes in disbelief and later smiled at her.

"I'm proud of you for being untouched for over two decades. I got defiled last year by Steve. Sometimes, I regret it, sometimes I don't. However, what you experienced is due to the sexual arousal in your body and something called clit stimulation."

"I understand the sexual arousal aspect. But clit stimulation?"

"You might want to turn off the gas because this might take a while."

"Ok." She turned off the gas, Wumi moved closer to her so they could talk in whispers. Her Mom and Dave mustn't hear them.

"In a woman's vagina, there are outer parts and inner parts. The outer parts consist of the labia majora, labia minora, the clit..."

"I know those ones."

"Ok. Now, the clit has its own pleasure such that when touched for a period of time, depending on the lady, it gives a burst of pleasure that'll be felt in every fibre of your body. Now, there's a spot called G-spot which is inside the vaginal wall. That one also has effects like the clit but unless you have sex, you can't feel that. You felt like that because, as you said, you were straddling Dave. The clit is quite sensitive, such that even if you're in space suit, once it feels contact, you'll feel it. That's the explanation I can give."

Nancy listened attentively. She finally understood what she felt.

"But, according to your explanation, you've not reached the peak."

"Peak?"

"Yes. You only felt it and stopped, you've not felt it in every aspect of your body. It's called climax. The pleasure would heightened in such a way that your eyes won't see clearly again, and then it'll drop like hiking down a valley. Then you'll feel at ease."

"Really?"

"So, what I'll say is, don't have sex until you're joined together. Anything can happen and you both might not get to be tied together. If you have sex with him before then and you both get separated, you'll miss him like you're about to go mad. It happened to me once, but Steve came back to apologize. We had reconcilation sex."

"Reconcilation sex? What's that again? Do y'all have names for sex?"

Wumi slapped her forehead, "girl, you've gat a lot to learn. Just ensure you're certain of Dave before going intimate with him. There are other things you'd discover when you both are together. Babe, trust me when I say having sex with the one you love is the most beautiful thing in the world."

At once, the door was flung opened and Mrs. Obinna caught them whispering, "Really?! And I'm here waiting for my meal. What are you both whispering about?"

Wumi and Nancy scurried around the kitchen, searching for nothing in particular, stammering, "no, Mom. I was...we were...Wumi, where's the fork?"

"Oh, yes, fork. I found the spatula. The spice I mean."

Till they finished cooking, Nancy was thinking about the explanation. She wondered if she could bear the burning desires and urges now. When she gets to the bridge, she'll cross it.