Episode 9



Oi! Come off that rail this instant Tim, Susan called to Tim her son to come off the stair rail he was playing on. They had a play date at Lucy's house with Michael and Michelle. Both mums worked on setting up these dates on the weekend using it as an opportunity to catch up and spend time together.



Kids it's time for lunch Lucy called from the kitchen, she'd been working on getting lunch ready while Susan kept her eye on the kids. Few minutes later they were all seated to eat, the kids were much older now so eating at the table was no longer an issue. Tim was the oldest being six years, and his sister was three years old, the twins were both 4 years old. An hour later they were done with and the kids settled down to do some school exercise. Susan and Lucy chatted together while they kept an eye on them.



How has your week been? Lucy asked sipping a glass a juice



Oh! Great the kids have been a handful, and Liam being out of town made things difficult for me especially at nights with Tim. She said



How So? Lucy asked



It's quite funny really. Liam has this special dance routine he does for Tim just before he goes off to sleep, and now the poor boy has gotten hooked with it, he won't sleep without it. I had to learn to do it you know. You needed to have seen me yesterday night, I'm sure I looked like a clown, but my son was not satisfied he kept telling me where I got it wrong, I can't count the number of times he made me do it all over before he dosed off eventually. I'm so not looking forward to tonight can't believe I encouraged Liam to start this little charade. She spoke indignantly.


Lucy was sure she'd cracked a rib as she kept laughing and laughing at Susan's complaint. Oh stop complaining at least you've got your Liam home with you to help with the kids. I bet if you left Liam with the kids he would handle them properly, but I can't afford to leave Matt with the kids, God it would be a disaster. Can you imagine Matt giving the kids a bath or reading them a bed time story. Lucy joking retorted.

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Now it was Susan's turn to Laugh. Yeah! I see what you mean she said in between laughing



By the way is he in town? Susan asked



No! he's gone again, not even sure when he's coming back, I find that it's best if I don't accept the date he says he should be back as given, so when he calls and says that plans have changed I wouldn't be bothered. She said this looking at the kids wondering how they must feel about their father's constant absence. Their grand dad, Liam and a few non related uncles in church served as a substitute but still it wasn't the real thing. Her heart ached for her son who she knew adored his father a lot and kept bothering her about when his dad was coming home and if he was going to get him his current favorite toy...



Susan grew quiet, listening to her friend's words and watching her thoughts play around on her face. She wasn't sure really but she sensed that all wasn't right with her marriage, but how Lucy managed to put on brave face marveled her, because she knew most women would have called it a day a long time ago. Lucy, Lucy



Yeah oh! Sorry did you call me. Lucy answered snapping out of her reverie.



I was wondering if I could move our next play date till the upper week, we've decided to have the dinner party next Saturday.



That's great, wow I can't wait for that, I look forward to your party every year. Remember last year's dress theme



Yeah! And the Thompsons came as beauty and the beast, Ha! Ha! Ha!



I remember that one, Lucy said laughing harder too. They looked so...



So weird right! Susan finished



Yes! Everyone kept trying to say offer some nice compliments but kept struggling for words



Yes! And then you said they looked fine.



I remember thinking to myself there and there, Fine what does that mean.

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That was quite a night, Susan said wiping her eyes that had gotten wet with the laughter



Oh! I 've decided this time around for everyone to come dressed formally. Ladies in their dinner gowns and Men in their Black suit and tie, much simpler that way. Don't you think? She asked Lucy



You little imp, you've gone and order a sexy little number for yourself haven't you? Lucy accused jokingly



No! I have not, alright you got me, I found this beautiful gown and I couldn't resist buying it, except I didn't have any event to wear it too, so I thought to myself why not wear it to this year's dinner party? Better still get all the guests to come dressed formally so I don't look like an overdressed host, so voila! That's the plan



You smart lady, I think it's a great idea too, can't wait to go through my closet for the perfect dress.



Now Lucy remember it's just a dinner so don't go bringing out the big guns Susan teased



Aw! Are you scared of a little competition my dear?



Of course not! Susan retorted even though she was Lucy had a knack for making a simple dress look like an expensive number, and she admired her style a lot.



Lucy looked at the time, it was almost time for Choir practice at church, and they were both choristers. Quickly they stood up to get the kids ready



The Choir rehearsal was quick and on time, Kevin the choir director liked to start and end on time. He was a man of integrity and his word was his bond. After it ended Lucy ran into Ibi as she hurriedly went in search for Susan, as they'd dropped the kids off with Alice who had an appointment later that evening. They exchanged pleasantries asked about their spouses and said their goodbyes.


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Lucy had soon adjusted to the estranged relationship that had developed between Matt and Ibi, she and Abby had gotten together to discuss their thoughts on it and they both had no idea what was going on. Ibi at least obviously bore no malice towards his friend, always asking after him, sending his regards, praying for him and greeting him whenever they met in town, since Matt had stubbornly refused to come to Church again. Matt on the other hand took the immature high handed road, refusing to offer a hand of peace towards his friend.



It was almost like Lucy's concerns for Matt grew with every year they stayed married. Her kids were the only source of joy for her, they filled her days and nights with their childish demands and needs that took her mind off the greater issues in her marriage.



Sighting Susan she waved at her hurriedly aware of the time going by. She waited as Susan caught up to meet her, quickly rounding up her discussions with a member of the choir. Lucy smiled at her and together they walked out of the church, Lucy was glad to focus her mind on other things.



At 3am in the morning the pastor's eyes jerked open, his spirit alert as he quickly got off the bed careful not to wake up his wife. Reaching for his bible he went into his quiet room, ready to commune with his God. He knelt down and started to pray, he could feel The Spirit nudging him to pray for his members, he began to pray earnestly for them individually, as many names he could remember asking the Lord for specific areas to direct his prayers. The door behind him opened and Abby joined him, kneeling next to him, she too began to pray, speaking in tongues and asking for mercy.



Instantly he knew she was in the spirit with him, they held hands together as they began to pray earnestly for the church and for God's children. This wasn't the first time they'd had to do this but this was different, The Spirit was nudging them to pray for strength to bear losses for their members and for the church. Ibi was then led to the book of 2kings 22 where a judgment was passed in heaven on a King of Judah. They both read the scripture and became suddenly afraid asking God for mercy, against any judgment that had been passed on any of his flock, they prayed and prayed till the early hours of morning and just before they rounded up, Ibi had a confirmation in his spirit that it was about Matt and Lucy.



And God remembered Lucy.


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That same night...



Lucy woke up with a start, it was 3am in the morning, she listened for the sound of the kids crying but heard nothing. Instantly she became spiritually alert, she reached for her bible, remembering she'd being reading the book of first Samuel chapter 1 the story of Hannah and how God remembered her after her many years of barrenness suddenly she felt the urge to pray using that scripture particularly dwelling on verse 19 in The message version . Unsure of how to begin she started to speak in tongues asking the Holy Spirit to help her. She became overwhelmed by emotions she couldn't recognize, it was more like a feeling of love mixed with pain but it felt so overwhelming to her that a sob escaped from her, instantly she went on her knees and started to cry to God to have mercy, she thought maybe something was wrong with Matt.



She started to pray harder speaking in tongues thinking of all her loved ones, this wasn't the first time she'd done this she was a member of the group called the prayer champions in church so praying was one of her gifts by God's grace. She kept praying till the early hours of 5am, felt the peace of God overwhelm her and just as she was about to share the grace, she saw a face in her spirit mind, it was Logan's.



Logan arrived at the Aberdeen airport at 3am on the beautiful morning of the 30th of September; his flight had been a direct one from the states. He cleared through customs in thirty minutes, went to collect his bags, and to look for Naomi, since she'd cleared customs ahead of him. Waving to him from afar, she came up to him pushing a trolley and shaking her head 'there you are what took you so long?' she asked



Guess seeing an American with a British passport got them flustered he replied smiling. Looking down he said, 'I see you have all our luggage, mentally wondering why women always had to over pack, they were just here for 4 weeks and she had to go and pack 3 boxes filled with God knows what!



I know what you're thinking but we've had this conversation before and we won't have it again. Naomi spoke up hand on hip and waving her finger at him.



Logan raised up his hands in a goodwill gesture 'Okay then my dear let's go. I'm sure Liam and Susan are both waiting for us outside'.



Their travel had been an unplanned one, it was a last minute decision for him. Staying away from Aberdeen was a lifelong decision he'd been determined to keep, since there was nothing but painful memories down there for him. Ever since he arrived in the States he'd quickly got settled, running the business and also trying to rebuild and renew his social contacts. He'd located a bible believing church to attend and soon found himself with so many friends that he never had time to think about Lucy. He tried to be what she had been to him, to his new female friends, the one good thing he'd learned from their time together. It had helped him to become the man he was today, A better one.



His main reason for coming to Aberdeen was due to this new him, Naomi his friend was going through a heartbreak now because Shane her husband had cheated on her, and had left her to be with his mistress. Devastated and hurt, she'd turned to him for comfort, and after months of holding her hands and offering words of comfort, he suddenly decided to take her away from those hurtful memories and bring her down to Scotland, hoping that maybe a change of Location for her might force Shane to go through a change of perspective regarding the wife of his youth.



Walking hurriedly, they got out in to the arrival lounge where Liam and Susan were already waiting, waving at them the minute they were spotted. By now the time was around four thirtyish, he was surprised to see the kids were with them too. Everyone talked excitedly at once, kissing and hugging, he introduced Naomi and bending down he greeted little Tim who was six years and already a big boy. He stretched out his hand to greet him, he'd spoken to he and his sister on the phone but this was the first time he'd met them ever since Susan had Tim. His three year old sister Julie was asleep in her car seat.


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Phi001:
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general111:
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Hi there little man, he greeted sweeping him up in the air and putting him down again.
Giggling Tim said Hi Uncle Logan.
How are you? He continued
I’m fine, the boy replied in his tiny voice. Looking so shy as if the ground would open up and swallow him. Logan decided that was enough for now, he would have to make sure he spent quality time with his nephew, so he would learn to relax with him.

Reading his thoughts, Liam said to him don’t worry mate, just give him time, he’s usually like that with everyone he meets for the first time. Moving towards the exit the men and the little boy went ahead, while Susan and Naomi came up behind, mentally assessing each other.

The trip wasn’t that long, for Liam had moved his family to Dyce, which was close to the airport, so they were just few minutes away from home. Even though it was still dark Logan tried to look through the window and visualize Aberdeen again, wondering how he could have stayed away for so long. Then remembering he pushed her out of his mind, even as he did that he knew it was just a waste of time. For six years now he’d come to the realization that there was no woman out there for him, and the only one he wanted was married. Looking at Naomi he smiled, she was a good woman and she deserved a faithful husband one who would put her first, he prayed God would make that possible for her.

They arrived home safely, dragging their luggage in, Liam had also commented on the amount of boxes and smiling at each other they’d both laughed out loud. Susan guessing the reason for the laughter joined in and said
Don’t worry Naomi, I’m on your side on this one. A woman needs her effects around her all the time especially when you have to come all the way across the ocean, you cannot afford to forget anything. She declared
Nay! I disagree Liam cut in If you dinna want to forgit anything at least bring one of it not three kinds of it.
Everyone burst out laughing again, this time around none of the women had no retort for they knew he was right.

The small chat had relaxed everyone and after another brief chit-chat, they removed to their respective bedrooms to catch some last minute sleep, thankfully it was a Saturday, so they could sleep in as much as they wanted.


Lucy struggled through the weekend moving in auto pilot and now it was Monday she’d dropped the kids at school and was on her way to work taking her time to drive slowly, for her thoughts were really occupied. Six years!


She thought she’d gotten him out of her mind and now everywhere she looked she saw him, which was impossible since she had it on good authority from Susan, he was in the States. They were practically family buddies now, Liam was the one who had helped her to move her beauty makeover business into a bigger space, negotiating the mortgage and all for her, his business too had grown over the years and they now had a solicitors department, to add to their estate agencies. Her business too had expanded to include new services apart from hair makeovers, face makeovers, using major make-up brands for all skin types also she ran a monthly make up school carving out a niche for herself in the industry. Right now she was working on launching her own hair beauty products which would be the only products used for all her clients, who she knew trusted her instincts and would surely patronize her thereby spreading the word around but she was hoping to rise above the saloon brand success myth and go global with it, using a very good public relations agency and promotional ideas that are bound to succeed especially around this time of the year.


But all that was still in the works, she still had to convince the banks to shell out some funds for her, and she also needed a good business partner to come in to partnership with her. She hadn’t discussed it yet with Matt though, not completely sure why. Maybe it was because for the past six years, he’d been nothing to her but a face constantly in and out of her life as he pleased. Even the kids barely knew him, whenever he was home he only wanted to play with them when they were smiling and cute, whenever they got upset or became too excited and playful, he would grab his keys and walk out living her to deal with it muttering something about the noise not been good for his state of mind as if they were not his kids!


That got her so angry at first, until she realized, there was no point wasting her emotions feeling anything for him since he wasn’t really there for her to vent it on, besides she needed to be free when she had to commune with God, it just didn’t make sense being angry with a man, who barely acknowledged her existence. Even in bed, he never wanted to touch her, he came in and just dozed off. He would reach for her later in the night for a cuddle now and then, and sometimes she got this feeling he thought she was someone else. She never really wanted to think about it, but the question was begging itself to be asked because the fact was a man like Matt couldn’t understand the ethics of celibacy especially not this long, we are talking almost six years now! Since they’d had sex so if Matt wasn’t sleeping with her who was he sleeping with? No! She couldn’t bear going down that road yet, feelings wise, she wasn’t sure what she felt any longer.


Few years ago, she’d gone to Ibi, curious about what Matt had come to discuss with him that Sunday. He hadn’t come until late at night, and there was a funny smell about him, that kind of bothered her.


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The following Sunday after that meeting Ibi had come up to ask her about Matt, and why he wasn’t in church. She herself was confused, for he’d woken up that morning gotten dressed and breezed out saying he wasn’t going to church and that she could keep the Jeep for the day as he would take the jag. Confused she’d gotten the kids ready and drove to church in a haze, and now Ibi was asking her where he was? Looking bewildered she’d told she honestly didn’t know, feeling embarrassed as she said so. Pulling her aside, he asked her if everything was okay, she replied yes!

Everything was fine, at least from her point of view. He’d looked at her closely and asked again, how this week had been for them? She’d replied, it had been a good week. The kids were growing up and were a handful but the grannies were a big help to her, so she always had time to herself, to relax and ease the stress off. He asked after Matt she told him he was okay and for some reason she mentioned his late nights return which had become a thing of habit with him lately, and he often used the excuse of being busy which for the sake of their marriage she tried to believe.


She said all this to Ibi, leaving the part about her not believing Matt out, and to her amazement he was instantly upset. He tried to say something, but stopped himself, and then giving her a sympathetic look he asked her to tell Matt to call me when he got home.


With that he walked away. Later that night she’d given Matt the message when he got home earlier than usual probably out of guilt, and he’d muttered something about pastors who don’t mind their businesses and went back to watching his sky TV. More curious than ever she’d gone to the church office during her lunch the next day to see Ibi hoping he would have a slot in his schedule for her. He’d told her he wasn’t surprised when the church administrator had called him to see if he could see her that day. Welcoming her into the office, he sat her down on the sofa just by the corner away from his desk. Sitting opposite her, he asked why she’d come to see him.


Well Ibi she began feeling a bit self conscious as she adjusted herself, ‘I don’t know what to say, but yesterday when I spoke to you, I kind of got this feeling that you were fishing for some information from me. And when I told Matt that you’d asked him to call you, his reaction bothered me mostly because of your friendship which precedes any other relationship you have with him, besides you could have called him on his mobile without asking me to deliver a message to him. All these things bother me on so many levels, and I know that as my pastor, she continued looking at directly, you wouldn’t lie to me. You’d rather not tell me the truth than lie to me and I’m really hoping you would tell me the truth. Please Ibi what’s going on with Matt, he came to see you last Sunday right?


Ibi nodding his head to answer her question, perspiration gathering under his arms.

He must have said something to you so please tell me what’s going on please? Lucy pleaded
Sighing, he stared back at her, and then quoted a scripture ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivered them from it all…’ remember Lucy the Bible says ‘for it is by the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed’.

Also the same bible says that those ‘who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…’ ‘…for the Lord is a God of judgement and blessed are all they that wait for him’.

Wondering why the pastor was saying all this, she looked at him more confused the scriptures barely registering; being a student of the bible she knew he was paraphrasing Psalm 34 vs 19, Lamentations 3 vs 22, Isiah 40 vs 31 and Isiah 30 vs 18.


The pastor continued ‘you need to be strong Lucy, you have a great and tedious journey ahead of you, you cannot afford to be weary, remember what God kept saying to Moses and Joshua through the old testament
Nodding her head. She replied as it came to her mind in a flash, she said it out loud ‘ …be strong and be of good courage…’


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