WHAT IF GOD WAS DEAD?

Emergence

"She is beautiful" Daniel said as he held the little child in his hand, tears forming in his eyes. Lauretta obviously exhausted from just giving birth could only manage a smile as he mumbled some inaudible words to the sleeping baby. She could still remember how much Daniel had wanted a daughter even from their relationship days. "I will dance with her", " I will sing together with her", "We will play football together" were some of the words you could hear from him anytime she was together with him. His texts wasn't left out of this craving as he would always include it sometimes in his morning or night text to her. Finally being able to give the love of her life what he has always wanted brought joy to her soul as well. Those sincere smiles on the already soft crying eyes of Daniel spoke a lot to her as she soon found herself crying too. Daniel noticing the gentle sobs of lauretta moved closer to her, she simply turned her face to the wall and cried out her lingering sobs. It was a moment of intense feelings in the delivery ward two of the reputable and standard KINGS HEALTHCARE FAMILY  as the two hearts were filled with memories tha came alive at the birth of a third soul that they formed together. The little child unaware and not caring what was going on slept on, she obviously know that she wasn't aware of what the hostile woed had in stock for her so she had to get enough rest in order to face the word and its hostility

Daniel and Lauretta have been in love since their teenage age, a lot of circumstances surrounded their meeting ranging from the opposite personality they possess to the fact that they were from strict christian families that gave no room for any form of youthful exurberance. Their early days were always kept in the dark from the public only there true and trusted friends were aware of their love, these friends didn't even number up to four. "Emmm, hi please can you direct me to where I can get some hot water?" were the first words that Daniel said to Lauretta the first time they met.Unknown to Daniel,  she had always had a hidden for the once tagged bad boy because of how he was and behaved in church. Even the other youths in their denomination worship centre was against her fondness for him even though most times he didn't give her attention and was always on his own. It was the international yearly event that made her have the chance to get a talking time with him, that morning she was just trying to clear her mind and he was in search for hot liquid. "Please forgive me for disturbing you, it's just that my friend is kind of slacky with his preparation and I need to get some hot water for us to take our morning breakfast, I can't wait for him or the worms in my belly would definitely cause an uproar" He said adding some form of humor hoping to help the stammering and uncomfortable lady who was now finding it difficult to put her words together. "Put yourself together Lauretta, do you want to disgrace yourself in front of him at you two first meeting, get your acts own this crazy girl" she shouted at herself in her mind as she was now trembling a little. "Emmm, I actually check the other side where the cafeteria was located before but I heard it has been moved so that is the reason why it looks as if I don't know my way around but truth be told, it's been quite a while that I came around here, I think it has been up to two years plus" Daniel said as they walked to the new site of the event's cafeteria hoping to break the ice that was visibly noticed after she agreed to walk with him to the place because she had one or two things to buy as well from the place. "Yes I noticed it too, it seems you traveled because I haven't been noticing your presence in our regional meetings for some time" Lauretta said keeping her gaze on the ground trying as much as possible not to give him any form of eye contact. "Dear Lord, please help me endure this awkward stroll till I get to where I can.get the hot water for me and Victor, I must break that dude head for making me go through all these just for his lack to get prepared on time. If he was here, I won't have to walk with this awkward girl. Please Lord help me get there with my cool" He stressed out in his mind as the tension between them got heavier. " I know you must be wondering why I am this way with you concerning how I have been behaving since we started strolling, I know you must be feeling uncomfortable with the way I have been acting, I am so sorry , I'm not much of a talker and partially a shy one at that too" She said as she finally looked up to look at him for the first time since they started walking together. Daniel swallowed hard, was she reading her mind or what, how was she able to know what he was saying inside his mind. Forcing a hard smile and returning the look, he played the no you are wrong card look his face, "why would you say that, I mean how many people especially guys get to be helped sincerely by a lady, a beautiful one at that?" He replied cleverly adding a little form of flattery to his words, his move worked as Lauretta blushed and gave him the most beautiful smile he had not seen for a while now. " She isn't that bad though, guess I judge her by the awkwardness cover when I was actually the one making her uncomfortable" He thought as he maintained his smile to to Lauretta who was now maintaining a steady look at him as their chats now started to let off some steams as the two youngsters happily went in search of the cafeteria

"Wait a minute, where are you two coming from? and were you not in the event centre" the angry voice of Lauretta's mom greeted the duo of Daniel and Lauretta as they were seen coming back from an unknown location together "Lauretta where are you coming from?" She continued shifting from Daniel and now focusing on.her daughter. Daniel immediately stepped in, immediately accepting the blame even though Lauretta was the whole cause of this shortcoming, he had walked out angrily after seeing something on her phone when he took it to check some of the pictures she just took, all his friends pleas to stop him and make him stay was not working out as he just wanted to go somewhere and rest his troubled mind. Lauretta wasn't going to let this little slip make her lose the relationship that she had been trying to salvage for a while now considering how long she had been apart from Daniel. "please stop and listen Daniel, it's not what you think, I can explain, she said as she ran amidst the fast walking pace she had to put up in order to keep up with the hurrying away Daniel" "Go back and stop following him" he replied amd shouted at her each time he looked bavk and saw her trailing him. Lauretta wasn't ready to give slowing down or backing off a thought as she continued to follow him until he stopped due to how heavily her breathing was becoming as she kept calling him. "He is just a friend, I am not dating him" she said as ahe blocked every move of he made to walk away again. The two finally made up and slowly walked back to the wedding event they both came to attend before Lauretta's mom met them on the way. "Stay away from my daughter" she had warned after threatening to take dire actions if she ever saw them together again. All of Daniel's protests and explanations that nothing happened between them all fell on deaf ears ad Lauretta walked away angrily while the two were still slugging it out. That marked the official beginning of their relationship's bumpy rides as not only was Lauretta Dad made aware of this but also Daniel ever strict parents were dragged into it thereby putting more cracks on the already breaking love, Lauretta went back to stay with her aunt while Daniel was forced to relocate to where his disciplinarian of a dad stayed once again keeping the two lovers away from each other again. Their relationship was no relegated to mere phone calls and text messages until fate smiled again at their love by reuniting them as Daniel got admitted to Rejoice school after he reapplied for college after having issues with his schooling four years ago

The road to their marriage was made of the biggest of every imaginable ups and down from the lack of communication to the doubts, insecurity, misunderstandings and sometimes pride. There was lashing outs, snubbing, sidelinings and even jealous provoking acts from both parties but they surprisingly held on and crossed the finish line together. Even when the parents of the two lovers tried to stand in the way once again, the resiliant power of their love brushed them aside as both parties had to accept the union and even freely and willingly give their blessings as the two showed beyond every reasonable doubt that they were truly made for each other. In school, Lauretta was a level ahead of Daniel but that never made her disrespect him for once. Daniel chased his dreams of becoming a writer with the establishment of his childhood dreams project THEATRE OF EMOTIONS, a project that dealt with the catering of the younger generation emotions through music, writings, catering, arts and three other aspects, coming from the ashes of a terrible past, his present life was like an ecdysis as he was able to emerge as a fully transformed being of accomplishments and feats racking personality. Lauretta wasn't left out as she was a reputable name in the academic world as well as the fashion scene, the two practically drew strength from each other as they stood tall in their worlds. Their wedding ceremony was more of a concert as men and women from all walks of life were in attendance. Getting the first kiss on their wedding night, Lauretta knew she has made the right choice as Daniel looked deep into her eyes before planting the deepest of kiss on her lips after whispering "I love you" to her ear. The marriage had the favour of fruitfulness as she took in just a month after they got married. A pregnancy that was properly carried by not only Lauretta but also Daniel as his mind was never at peace but had his wife and unborn child always on it. You can imagine the look on his face when the scan showed that the child was a girl, he couldn't wait to have his little angel in his hands always praying and looking forward to her emergence on earth. He practically almost got into an acvident as he drove like a mad man to his brother's hospital when he got news that his wife had gone into labour. The joy he felt when he heard the silence of Lauretta painful groans and his daughter's cries was simply immeasurable. He knelt down outside the doors and cried before the doctor walked up to him to announce the good news

Daniel turned Lauretta to face him.and planted a deep kiss on her quivering lips before holding her and planting another one on her forehead. "Thank you for making me happy" he said calmly as the little girl resumed crying in the cot where she was laid in by her dad