Chapter 35: THE PARENTS' PLANS
Mr. Richards arrived in the afternoon around 2:07 pm very exhausted and hungry so he requested for food and water the very moment he got home. Amelia served her father with water and an apple juice before she went to the kitchen to bring his food to him. When she placed the serving tray on the table, he smiled and playfully said to her "Ame, the aroma of your jollof rice will cause your enemy to fall in love with you so that he can have a taste of it. The aroma has even made me full." She smiled at him and said, "Daddy, this jollof rice is not my hand writing o. Can't you smell the aroma is different from how mine is? Have you so soon forgotten the signature (aroma) of my jollof rice? This was prepared by Phyllis specially for you. She even took her time to grill the fish for you and you'll love the salad as much as you love the jollof rice. She's really a great cook. Denzel must really be enjoying himself.
Mr. Richards really enjoyed the meal and ate more than he was supposed to eat. The truth was, Phyllis was a better cook than his wife and daughter but he dared not say it. Amelia had to stop her father from eating when she realized he had eaten enough. He asked for the whereabouts of Denzel and Phyllis and Amelia told him they had gone to visit Phyllis' parents so that they would check on them and show their granddaughter to them as well. Mrs. Richards joined them on the dinning table and told them that she had a proposal for both of them. They were all eager to know what it was so they all gave their attention to her.
" Can we organize a wedding for Denzel and Phyllis on the day of Beryl's christening?" She asked.
They were both happy for her proposal so they supported it. She then told them that, they would need to go to seek for Phyllis' hands in marriage from her parents since that was their culture. They couldn't get them married if her parents don't agree to it so they agreed to go to Phyllis' parents house the next morning. They all also agreed to keep their decision a secret from both of them so that they would enjoy their surprise.
The Richards went to see Phyllis' parents the next day right after breakfast. They told Denzel and Phyllis that they were going to visit one of their friends who had been hospitalized and they therefore should stay back and take care of the house. Mr. Richards requested Phyllis to prepare banks and okro stew for his lunch because he enjoyed her jollof rice the previous day. She agreed to preparing it for him but she asked for permission from Mrs. Richards who agreed to it. They just needed to keep them busy so that they wouldn't go to her parents house that day.They just wanted to protect their secret.
The Richards passed by the Jones' house to have a discussion on Denzel and Phyllis' wedding because culturally, they were the ones who were supposed to go to seek for Phyllis' hand in marriage from her family. When they told the Jones about their plans, they Mrs Jones supported them but Mr. Jones asked Mr. Jones
" have you had a talk with both of them to know if they both have agreed on settling down and if they do, is it because of Beryl or because they both are ready to spend their lives together because they love each other and are willing to help build a home together. It's not that I am being difficult but I don't want them to use the baby as an excuse to settle down, that's not a good foundation for a good marriage." He heaved a heavy sign after he finished talking. Mr. Richards smiled and said to him
" I had a talk with both of them separately a day before yesterday and they both told me they were ready to settle down not because of the baby but because they're in love with each other and are ready to build a home together and that's why my family had decided to support them to but we know we couldn't do that without you as his parents, that's why we are here.
Mr. Jones thanked him for thinking about the welfare of his son and for taking care of him since he started working with his company. (He still had no idea that Mr. Richards was Denzel's biological father) He then went inside his bedroom with his wife so that they could dress appropriately to go to Phyllis' parents house with the Richards. He knelt beside his bed and bent down to pick a bottle of schnapps and picked a white envelope on his study table to put some amount of money in it because that's how the Ashanti's in Ghana requests for the hands of women for marriage from their parents.
Mr. Richards sat in the driver's seat and opened the front passenger seat for Mr. Jones so that the three women would sit at the back seat. That was to show respect to Mr. Jones and his wife understood that. Mr. Jones showed the bottle of schnapps and the envelope of money to Mr. Richards and told him, that it was customary right for him, Mr. Jones as the father of Denzel to present those items to Phyllis' family to ask for Phyllis' hand for marriage from her parents and therefore Mr. Richards, though the initiator of the idea should allow him to do that. Mr. Richards smiled and nodded his head in agreement. The women were also having a deep conversation with at the back. Mrs Richards had so much admiration for Mrs. Jones for raising Denzel as her own child without anyone ever suspecting otherwise.
Phyllis' mother served them with water and juice since it was customary for you to serve visitors water before you could ask for the purpose of their visitation. Mr. Mensah, Phyllis' father asked them the purpose of their visitation and Mr. Jones told them everything they had discussed before coming there. Mr and Mrs. Mensah were very happy to hear that, Mr. Richards had already asked them if they were willing to settle down and was it also excited them that, they were planning a surprise wedding for them. He asked to be excused with his wife so that they would discuss their conversation. Mrs Mensah was all smiles and as soon as they went inside, she told her husband to accept the schnapps and money because she agrees to Denzel marrying their daughter.
The Mensahs went back to the balcony where the visitors were seated and Mr. Mensah took the schnapps and the white envelope from Mr. Jones. Mr. Richards proposed that, they'll take turns to counsel Denzel and Phyllis after the wedding because they would need counselling on marriage and thankfully they have these great men and women to counsel them. He also proposed that they fix both the traditional and white wedding on the same day as the baby's christening since they could use the people there as witnesses for the marriage ceremony and he's so sure that, those are the people they would want to witness their marriage ceremony.
The Jones and Mensahs agreed that, the Richards organise both the traditional and white wedding but then it was agreed that the christening and traditional marriage is done in the Mensah's house since that is what the custom demanded. They also agreed to be communicating to each other so that, the Richards would be able to organize the program perfectly well. They also chose the Golden Tulip Hotel for the white wedding and reception. Mrs. Mensah told the Richards to use royal blue, gold and white as the wedding colours since that's what her daughter had always wanted to use as her decoration colours. Mr. Richards thanked all of them and they dropped the Jones at their house before going back home.
As soon as they got home, Mr. Richards went to the washroom and then came back to the dining table because he saw that Phyllis had laid the table. "Oh my God", he exclaimed as he opened the plate that contained the okro stew. The stew was slimy as he liked with crab, snail, lobster, salmon and mutton and oh, it tasted great as well. Mrs. Richards and Amelia joined him with Denzel and Phyllis since they were waiting for them so that they would eat together. They discussed the christening and asked Mrs. Richards to help them plan and organise it since she was good in event planning. She thanked them for the honour and privilege of organising the christening. She was also happy since it would help them to easily prepare for their traditional and white wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Richards seized the opportunity to counsel them on marriage and how to make it work. They spoke extensively on their plans for the next five years because to him, they should both have a vision which they're willing to accomplish together. They both thanked Mr. and Mrs Richards and later left the baby in the care of Mrs. Richards so that they could go out with Amelia for window shopping and to have fun since it had been a while they went out for fun so they were excused.
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