Chapter Twenty Three

A few minutes later, Princess ran into the house ahead of Christopher and the others. "Mommy!!!" She shouted so loud that it could wake a dead person up. "Good morning mom!" She said as she ran straight into Rose's opened arms.

"Good morning my baby, how are you?" Rose asked.

"I am doing great mom. This house is so cool and guess what?" Princess said as she pulled out of the hug.

"What? Just tell me. You know I am not good at guessing!" Rose said with a smile playing on her lips.

"Well, daddy has dogs in this house and one of them is a female. She is so big! There is even a swimming pool at the back and, there is also a swing in the garden. The dog just gave birth to her children and daddy said I could take one and it'll be mine. Isn't that cool?" She said in one breath.

"Wow, you seem to have done your research around the house. That's great." Rose said. She noticed that Christopher and the others had gotten to them so, she said, "why don't you allow mommy to greet these people who came with your dad?"

"Ok mom," Princess said and sat down quietly beside Rose.

Christopher and everyone who came inside had been quietly watching the duo as they talked. They didn't want to interrupt them and besides, they all felt that the mother and daughter together looks too good and cute. When Rose asked Princess to sit, Christopher took the initiative to introduce the people he came in with. "So, I decided to come in with just a few of the workers. This here is my cook, MRS Rita" he said and pointed to a woman who should be about 40 years old. She is fair in completion and could be categorized as medium size.

She had on a gentle smile and a motherly smile on her face and greeted. "Good morning ma'am. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Good morning. It's nice to meet you too. I hope you'll take good care of us just like the way you have been doing with Christopher!" Rose said.

"It will be a pleasure to work with you, ma'am. Your daughter has been singing your praise and, she is so lovely." Mrs. Rita said with a smile.

"This are, Blessing and Ene. They are the cleaners." Christopher said and pointed at two young ladies who are probably in their early twenties. They should be of the same age as Rose.

The one named Blessing is taller than Ene but they are both dark-skinned and they had smiles on their faces. "Good morning ma." They both greeted.

"Good morning!" Rose answered.

"This is the gateman Usman and the gardener Audu," Christopher said and pointed at two men.

"Good morning madam, I swear, you too fine." The one named Usman said to Rose.

"Thank you, Usman."

"Good morning. Welcome to the family." The one named Audu said.

"Thank you Audu," Rose answered.

"These are the some of the guards who are on duty now, Bala, Uche, Johnson, John, Philip, and Ugo. You'll get to meet the others as time goes on." Christopher said as he introduced the others who walked in with him.

"Good morning ma." They all greeted.

"Good morning," Rose answered.

"This is Rose and you all should give her the respect you will give to me. She is the boss lady of the house and whatever she says, goes." Christopher addressed them. "Do you have anything to say to them?" He asked Rose.

"No," Rose answered.

"Ok. You can all go back to what you were doing. Audu and Mrs. Rita, you two please stay behind." Christopher dismissed them. The others walked out leaving the cook and Gardner behind. "Rose, Audu, and Mrs. Rita are the closest people to me. Do you remember my nanny that I told you about?" Christopher asked and Rose nodded her head. "Well, before she died, she told me about Mrs. Rita and Audu. They have all worked for my family since the time of my mother. I looked for them immediately I got my own house and they agreed to work here with me." Christopher said.

"Stop saying it like that child, we could have come to look for you even if you didn't seek us out. Your mother was a great boss. God rest her soul and it pained us all when she passed away. Working here is like repaying the good things she did for us while she was alive." Mrs. Rita said and Audu nodded his head to support what she said.

"Well, I hope you will love my child and wife the same way you both love me," Christopher said and sat down.

"It's nice to meet you two once again," Rose said.

"It's nice to meet you too ma'am, it's even nicer to know that this man here, has good eyes for good things." Mrs. Rita said.

"Oh, please. Don't call me ma'am. Call me Rose. Ma'am, or madam, or ma, makes me feel old. Please call me Rose." She said.

"No problem Rose. Welcome to the family. My trees and flowers are calling out to me. I'll see you around. And you too Princess. See you around." Audu said and walked out of the house.

"I'll take my leave also. I have something that I am doing inside my room." Mrs. Rita said.

"Ok. Thank you once again for receiving me warmly." Rose said.

"Ok. Oh, before I forget, what would you like to have for lunch?" Mrs. Rita asked.

"Nothing in particular. Just make whatever you feel like making." Rose said.

"Ok," Mrs. Rita answered and walked out as well.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Christopher asked when they were alone.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" Rose replied.

"I know!! I know!!" Princess who has been quiet all the while said.

"Hahaha, what do you know?" Christopher laughed at her and asked.

"We could go to the mall or we could just walk around and explore. What do you say, mom?" Princess said and looked at her mom eagerly.

"Well, we could do that but I don't think it's a good idea," Rose said and looked at Princess.

"Why isn't it a good idea?" Princess asked.

Rose looked at Christopher like she was trying to tell him something and said, "it's not a good idea because I don't want to go out. How about your dad goes out and gets us some ice cream and we have a picnic in the garden you were talking about and we'll use the opportunity to choose a dog for you. How about that?" Rose said.

Princess was easily convinced so, she jumped up happily and said, "yay!! That's better mom. I can't wait to play with them. Let's go now." She said and pulled Rose up.

"Ok. Don't rush. We'll go there in a few minutes." Rose said. "Chris, what do you think?"

"What can I think when the queen and Princess want to turn me into their errand boy? Your wish is my command." Christopher said.

"Daddy is so cute!!" Princess said after Chris finished talking.

Rose laughed at that statement at said, "yes! Your daddy is very cute. What a cute man."

"Are you having fun?" Christopher asked pretending to be angry.

"What? I just agreed that you are cute. Besides, I wasn't the one who called you cute. Your daughter did." Rose said but from her tone, one could still detect her laughter.

"Princess, you shouldn't call me cute. Guys are handsome, not cute. You use the word cute for a female." Christopher said to Princess.

"No, dad! You are very cute. Mom says that to me all the time and I know she says that when I do something to make her laugh." Princess defended herself.

"So Mr cutie, can you please go out and get us some ice cream?" Rose asked.

"Whatever! I'll go but please don't call me cutie." Christopher said.

"Oh, but I thought someone said they'll take any name as long as it comes from my mouth. What changed cutie?" Rose taunted.

"Oh," Christopher said scratching his neck. "Fine. Call me whatever you like but please, don't call me that in front of my Friend. If he hears you calling me cutie then, that name will stick." Christopher pleaded.

"I'll have to think about that. When am I meeting this your friend?" Rose asked.

"Am sure you'll get to meet him today. He will be here any moment from now." Christopher answered.

"Ok. Run along now and don't keep us waiting." Rose said and shooed him away.

"Yes ma'am." He said and saluted. "I'll be back with ice cream for the ladies in a jiffy." He said as he left the house.

After he left, Rose looked at Princess and they both burst into fits of laughter together. When they finished laughing Rose said, "what's funny?"

"You and daddy are. You two are funny and it's good to see you so happy mom..." Princess said.

"Awnn, my baby is so wise now. A little birdie told me that, my baby made my breakfast." Rose said and pinched Princess's cheeks.

"Who is the little birdie?" Princess asked.

"Who do you think told me?" Rose asked her.

"It could be no other person except my dad. We made it together." Princess said without thinking and continued, "how was it. Did you enjoy it?" She asked her mom eagerly.

"How can I not enjoy it when it was prepared with so much love. It's was great and I enjoyed it very much." Rose said and pulled her into a hug. "I love you, baby!"

"I love you too mom!" Princess said and hugged Rose back with her small hands.

"So, who wants to go dog hunting?"

"Me!! Me!! Me!!" Princess shouted excitedly.

"Well, lead the way then," Rose said and Princess happily led the way to the back of the house.

While they were talking, they didn't notice someone who was watching them with hatred. The person watching them had so much hate in her eyes that one would think Rose had offended the other party. After Rose and Princess walked out of the house, the person walked into the sitting room and said, "nonsense. Because you have a child think you have won abi? Just enjoy it while it lasts. Rubbish." The person watching said and brought out her phone to make a call. The call was connected after a few minutes and the person said, "Good morning madam Cindy."

"What is it?" Cindy said from the other end of the line said with displeasure.

"Haba madam. I have something you need to know and it's very serious!" The person who called said.

"What is it. Please be fast. I don't have time to waste. I have warned you several times never to call me unless it's very important." Cindy said.

"Well, this is very important ooo. You know what to do in order to get this information." The person said.

"Fine. How much?" Cindy asked.

"Now you are talking. Five hundred thousand naira!" The person who called said.

"Mtcheew," Cindy hissed. "That's too much. 250 thousand! That's what I can give you."

"Make it 300 and we have a deal."

"Fine." Cindy agreed. "This better be worth my money. Should I send it in to your account or to the other one?" Cindy asked.

"Send it to the other one. Once I get the alert, I'll tell you why I called."

A few seconds later. A ding was heard. The caller looked at the phone and smiled then said, "that's why I like you madam Cindy. You too sure. Correct person!"

"Please, go straight to the point. What do you have for me?" Cindy asked.

"Well, oga is back, and guess what?"

"What!!" Cindy shouted over the phone.

"He came back with a woman and child and he said, the woman is his wife while the child is his daughter. They look happy together tho..." The caller said.

"What do you mean by that?? He can't get married to anybody but me!!!" Cindy shouted over the phone.

"Well, you can come and see for yourself if you don't believe me!!" The caller said and ended the call. "Nonsense. Rich and foolish spoilt brat. I'll just use you to destroy this useless thing that they call Rose and when you get rid of her, ha, I'll get rid of you too. Christopher Allen is mine!!" The caller said and laughed before walking away.