Clueless Love

I can’t believe today is the day, the day I have been waiting for. Today is the day Ismail and I get married. We came back to Nigeria for a month for the wedding. Technically, we are married as we had our traditional marriage back home in Nigeria, yesterday. Our traditional wedding was so beautiful, and I was so filled with joy yesterday. Ismail and I looked the best of the best, we both looked gorgeous.

I wore my tribal attire for the wedding. My tribe or my native language is Idoma. We have a particulate color combination that represents my tribe. It is black and red, and it is worn for special occasions like weddings, Idoma meetings and burials. I wore a white lace blouse and a black and red wrapper with beading appliqué. My head tie and shawl were of the same Idoma attire I tied around my waist. The jewelry I wore was a white three-row African beads necklace and white African beads earrings. I wore diamond crisscross strap, block heel, sandals. Ismail wore a burgundy kaftan and babariga to go with my outfit. It took place at night, and it was a memorable night. I can’t wait to see what today holds.

I woke up today feeling like any bride would feel, super excited to get married. Right now, I am currently getting ready for my wedding reception while my wedding Fatiha is going on for the males. Early this morning, my father, uncles, brothers, Ismail, Ismail’s father, his uncles, and his brother and any other male relatives are with an Imam. They will pray and join Ismail and me in holy matrimony. So, in the next few minutes, Ismail and I will be married. I am so happy. I can’t wait for my brother to call me when it’s over.

I am getting my hair done when Fatima and Emma walk into the room. They were meant to be here earlier, but they are just arriving now.

“Oh my God, who is this fine lady, looking all sweet, sexy, and beautiful? Umit, is this you? I don’t think it’s you,” Fatima teases while walking into the room.

“No, no, no I don’t think this is Umit, she is too fine to be Umit,” Emma agrees.

“The two of you are not serious! You guys are trying to make me happy, so I won’t complain about the fact you’re late,” I say smiling while shaking my head.

“It’s not my fault we are late. Fatima is the reason we are only arriving now,” Emma says.

“Emma, how is it my fault? It’s this little one inside me that wanted to eat chicken. I could not refuse my baby,” Fatima grins, placing her hands on her tummy. Fatima is two months pregnant. She and Udar can’t wait for the baby to come. I am so happy for them. They have been through a lot and deserve all the happiness life can offer.

“So, now you are blaming it all on your innocent baby because she can’t talk,” Emma responds.

“Who told you she is a girl and not a boy.”

“You are just trying to change the subject because you know you also wanted to eat chicken,” Emma and Fatima are about to continue their bickering when I cut in.

“Wait, so instead of me complaining to the two of you, that you guys are late, you are arguing whether it is Fatima’s or her unborn baby—who can’t defend him or herself—fault?” I comment, laughing at the whole situation.

“Yes,” both of them answer.

“Wow, you guys are really saying yes.”

“Yes,” they say again.

“And let’s not forget you guys are late for your hair and makeup for my wedding,” I state. I don’t get a ‘Yes’ again, but I get something even better…

“We are sorry, Umit, we never meant to be late,” they apologize and crush me into a hug.

“You know it’s because I am pregnant, and the baby really wanted chicken. I am very sorry,” Fatima says squeezing the life out of me.

“Yes, and because I also got lost while driving, you know I don’t know the way around this Abuja like you do. I am very sorry,” Emma says also squeezing me tightly.

“It’s fine. I know you guys would never come late intentionally and can you guys stop hugging me. I don’t think I can breathe anymore.”

“Sorry,” they say letting go of me.

“Thank you,” Fatima says.

“Yeah, thank you for forgiving us. We love you,” Emma says.

“It’s fine and can you guys believe I am getting married today, like today!” I say smiling excitedly.

“What I can’t believe is the fact that it’s Ismail you are getting married to. It’s still a shocker that you are marrying Ismail,” Fatima says.

“Yeah, it is. Because even I still can’t believe I fell in love with Ismail,” I say thinking back to how this probably would have never happened if Ismail hadn’t moved in with my sister’s family or had been my boss. Things do always happen for a reason.

“You shouldn’t be surprised. Fatima said it would happen, you just never took her serious,” Emma giggles.

“Yeah, it’s true, Emma. I can remember telling Umit that they would end up together, and she said never. But now see where they are today,” Fatima says.

“Yeah, that’s true. I can remember saying never, as if you had suggested I should drink poison, but now I want to be his wife more than anything,” I say chuckling at my behavior when she said it to me before.

“That’s why I told you never to say never,” Fatima smirks.

“I should have listened to you then,” I say smiling.

“Yeah, you should have. I am so happy you are marrying Ismail because he is the love of your life, and I know he loves you too,” Fatima says smiling.

“Me too, I am so happy for you,” Emma agrees.

“Thank you, and I couldn’t be happier myself,” I tell them.

I am officially married! Ismail called hours ago and told me they were done with the wedding Fatiha. I am so happy to finally be called Mrs. Uthman. I am almost done getting ready for the reception. I pray Dhuhr (Afternoon) prayer before putting on my makeup. I made sure to thank Allah for all the wonderful things he has done for me so far, like getting married today. I am more than grateful to Allah for that.

I am done with my hair and makeup. My head tie for the wedding reception is white raw silk. My makeup is natural to go with my wedding gown. My jewelry is a marquise jewel vine with a single teardrop diamond jewel accent. I am wearing ivory satin heels, peep toe, ankle strap, back bow sandals. My wedding gown is a long-sleeved white dress in embroidered lace, featuring an off-white overskirt and colored mosaic embroideries. I am not wearing any accessories on my hand because I already have henna drawings all over. So, my hands are looking nice already. I had my henna drawn a day before the traditional wedding.

Once I have finished dressing, I walk out of the room to meet Ismail downstairs. We are going to the reception together. I walk downstairs to see Ismail looking as handsome as ever, in his white kaftan and babariga which has a little blue detail in the middle of the babariga. Ismail looks so handsome today, and the fact that I can stare at his face for as long as I want is making me happy right now.

“You look beautiful, my queen,” Ismail says, staring deep into my eyes and I can tell from his eyes that I mean the world to him. He takes me by surprise and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into a deep passionate kiss. My heart skips a beat. I can feel butterflies all over my belly. This is the first time I am kissing Ismail, and I must say it feels amazing. And I won’t lie, I have longed for the day I could finally kiss him. I wish I could kiss him all day long, but we must get to the reception. We pull apart both breathing hard.

“How I have longed to do that all day,” Ismail says, smiling with his forehead resting against mine.

“Me too. I wish we could do that all day, but we need to get going before we are late to our own wedding,” I smile, the brightest smile I have ever smiled in my life. I am so filled with joy and happiness today.

“Let’s get going then,” Ismail says, taking my hands in his. It feels so amazing to have Ismail’s hands holding mine, how I have longed for this too.

“Thank you for the compliment earlier. You also look dashing and as handsome as ever,” I say smiling, loving the warm feeling his hands are giving me.

“Thank you, and shall we?” Ismail asks linking our arms.

“Yes, let’s go right after I clean this lipstick off your lips,” I say smiling taking a tissue from my clutch to wipe off my lipstick that stained Ismail’s lips when kissing me.

“Or I could kiss you back to put it back on your lips,” Ismail says, with a lustful glint in his eyes.

“No, because if we do that, we won’t…” But I am cut off by Ismail kissing me, which brings a big smile to my face.

“I love kissing you,” Ismail says, after pulling apart.

“Me too, but we really have to get going or we will be late,” I say still wiping my lipstick from his lips. I am sure all my lipstick has probably transferred to his lips.

“Alright, fine let’s go,” Ismail finally agrees but not before leaving a soft peck on my lips.

We are at the reception venue. Ismail and I are waiting for our cue to go in. Right now, my family members are the ones dancing into the hall. Ismail and I will be danced in with the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. The colors we used for our wedding are white, purple, and pink. The groomsmen are all wearing white kaftans. The bridesmaids are wearing purple. My family members are wearing pink. The pink my cousins and young aunties are wearing is a lighter shade, and a different Ankara material from the one the older aunties, my mom’s friends, and my dads’ friends’ wives are wearing. Ismail’s and my mom are dressed different from everyone else, because they are the mothers of the day and must stand out and look their very best. My mom is wearing a pink lace Nigerian traditional wrapper around her waist and blouse, while Ismail’s mom is wearing a white lace wrapper and blouse. We told Ismail’s mom she does not have to dress like a Nigerian, but she insisted she would like to. She might not be Nigerian, but that does not change the fact that she looks beautiful in Nigerian wedding attire. Ismail’s family are not Nigerians, so they did not go all out with their Aso Ebi. They mostly wore white, but all in all, everyone looks good today.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

The MC gives a cue for the groomsmen and the bridesmaids to begin their dance in. The bridesmaids are my friends from secondary school and Fatima and Emma. Once they all take their seat, it is Ismail and my turn to dance in. The MC gives a cue for Ismail and me to dance in. I personally requested the song playing. The DJ is playing Ada by Flavour, one of the best Nigerian wedding songs. I am not dancing too much because my groom can’t dance to the song playing. We dance all the way in until we get to the stage. We dance a little more before going to our seats. While dancing, the typical thing that happens in every Nigerian wedding begins. Ismail and I are showered with money. I look around to see my father and his friends spraying money on us. I can also see Ismail’s uncles and relatives spraying Euros as well. The money sprayed at the wedding goes to the bride. We dance a little more before we finally walk to our seats.

Our wedding is happening in a blur. We have done a lot so far. Ismail and I danced with our family members. We decided to play American songs to cater to everyone. We had a lot of entertaining performances. Wizkid also performed at our wedding, it was amazing seeing him perform. Wizkid is one of Nigerian’s top artists, so having him at our wedding was wonderful. It was practically a private concert. While we are sitting down, I remember I have been meaning to ask Ismail, something.

“Baby,” I say, taking his warm big manly hands in mine. They make my heart feel warm.

“Yes, my love,” Ismail replies, giving my hand a warm squeeze.

“I wanted to ask… do you remember the time you called me your wife. Did you ever think this day would come?” I ask curious to know if Ismail ever saw a future for us together. I won’t lie. I never imagined it would happen in a million years, but it did, and I am more than happy it did.

“I remember, and that day I said ‘not yet’ during the unexpected dinner with everyone. I did not mean it. I was only saying that to annoy you. When I said it might be a sign, when we were going to Greece, I meant it. I meant it because that was the time I started having feelings for you, my dear. I didn’t even know I loved you until I watched you almost die in Iceland. That’s when I realized I actually liked you and wanted to have a future together. So, my dear wife, your dear husband has had feelings for you for a very long time.”

“Awww, I don’t even know what to say,” I tell him smiling, but a little shocked at his words, as I had no idea that was when he started having feelings for me. I am truly blessed by Allah to have an amazing man like Ismail as my husband, Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah).

“You don’t have to say anything, my love. All that matters now is that you love me back, and you are my wife,” Ismail smiles while staring deep into my eyes with so much love in his gaze. I stare back into his eyes with the same love. We stop gazing into each other’s eyes when the MC says it’s time for our opening dance.

We walk to the center of the dance floor and Ismail puts his arms around my waist, while I wind my arms around his neck. I feel so comfortable in Ismail’s arms right now. They bring so much warmth to my heart. The song that plays is not the song we chose for our slow dance. Ismail must have changed it knowing how much I love this song. The song playing is African Queen by 2Face. Tears of joy and happiness form in my eyes when Ismail sings the chorus into my ears.

And you are my African Queen, the girl of my dreams

You take me where I have never been.

You make my heart go ding-a-ling-a-ling, oh ahh.

You are my African Queen, the girl of my dreams.

And you remind me of a thing.

And that is My African beauty

“Umit my love, why are you crying?” Ismail asks, wiping my tears with his fingers.

“Because your voice is so beautiful,” I say smiling while I try to stop myself from crying more. Ismail does not say anything but smiles and sings the last verse of the song,

So black, so beautiful

I love you, I love you, I love you,

munyemo, I love you, I love you; I love you,

munyemo, I love you, I love you,

Ooohh yeah, my African Queen,

I love you, I love you

“I love you too,” I say while Ismail smiles and pulls me into a passionate kiss. I kiss him back with a big smile on my face. Today is the happiest day of my life. I will forever remember today.

I am more than happy with the way things turned out in our lives. I finally have the man of my dreams in my arms right now. Fatima is pregnant, and they can’t wait for the baby to come. Emma and Austin plan to get married next year. Everything in our lives is going beautifully. We know we will face other challenges in the future, but for now, it’s going well so Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah). With Allah beside you, things do always turn out for the better.