After the call with Dupe ended, Abby packed up her stuff and left Josh's place. Her lunch date with Mike was 2 pm, checking the time on her phone, she saw the time was past one already, she and Dupe had chatted for quite some time. Now she barely had enough time left to shower and get ready before Mike arrived to pick her up.
She entered her parent's living room and saw the whole family sitting at the dining table, about to have lunch.
"There she is..."
"Birthday girl..."
"Sleepyhead..."
"You are just in time for lunch."
They all said at once, smiling when they saw her walked inside. Julianna pulled out a chair for her. "Here baby, sit... I was just about to come to wake you. Did you have a good rest?"
"Yes mom, thank you..."
Abby stood beside the chair her mom pulled out for her with a bright smile on her face. This was her family, and she loves them dearly...
"Good afternoon, Bensons; daddy, maami, Wura, and big bro. I wish bro Matthew and Mark were here... I just want to say thank you all for making my 20th birthday a memorable one, I appreciate your collective efforts and I love you all. Thank you!" She finished and they all responded to her by cheering... "We love you too."
She went around the table and gave each person a peck on their cheeks, starting from Julianna who was the nearest to her.
"Love you Wura mi... Love you so much Maami... Love you Dad... And love you my dearest brother," she said with the loudest kissing smack on Josh's cheek"
She sat down at the table, her eyes twinkling at the sight of one of her favorite dishes, Chinese basmati fried rice with fried turkey displayed on the dining table in front of her.
"Oh heavens! Are we still celebrating my birthday?" Abby joked and they all laughed merrily.
"Yeah, sort of..." Julianna said and scooped some rice into her plate.
"That's enough mom," Abby stopped Julianna from putting her usual portion of food for her. "I'm having lunch with Mike by 2 pm, and I don't want to eat too much now, otherwise where would I put the lunch Mike wants to feed me?"
"Is he your boyfriend? This Mike... He was the young man following you around yesterday wasn't he?" Her dad suddenly asked.
"He is not my boyfriend dad, we are just good friends, nothing more."
"Just friends you say? Hmmm... Watching that young man followed you around yesterday... I'm not so sure about that. Tade said with doubts looking towards Abby who almost had her face buried in her plate of food.
"I'm not lying to you dad. Or don't you think I would know if he was my boyfriend?"
"Sweetie of course I trust you. It's this Mike I'm not sure about because it doesn't look to me like you both are thinking in the same direction. Just be careful and make sure he didn't get any wrong ideas, alright?"
"Yes daddy" Abby smiled thinking that was the end of the interview until he hit her with another question.
"So what about your boyfriend?"
'Gosh, dad! What's with the boyfriend questions today?' Abby thought with frustration as she glanced towards Josh, her facial expression pleading for him to bail her out.
But Josh just shrugged slightly in return, thinking... 'No sis. I'm not butting head with the old fox. You are on your own on this one, sorry!'
"What!? Why are you both looking at each other? I just asked a simple question." Tade said innocently looking at Josh and Abby. "What's wrong with what I asked?"
"Daddy, I don't have a boyfriend yet... I thought you've always wanted me to finish school and all..." Abby replied to her dad with the puppy eyes she's always had reserved for only him to get him to stop asking her awkward questions.
"Or is it that you think I'm old enough to date now? Was that why you were asking?" She added the last question because she wanted him to tell her it was okay, that she could do whatever she wanted. She didn't want to hide her relationship with Tunde from her dad if everything works out between them.
Even though Tade never outrightly said Abby couldn't have a boyfriend, everybody just sorts of knew his view on the idea from how he had always been overprotective of her.
He rejected every admission letter from universities outside Lagos, wouldn't even allow her to stay in the hostel except during exam periods, and his favorite line of advice was...
'Your studies should be your top priority right now, every other thing should come after you graduate.'
'What does every other thing means if not boys?' Abby thought 'otherwise why would he always frowned and stopped me from going over to Josh's house whenever any of his friends visited?'
There was now silence at the table, except for the clatter of cutleries on plates. They all pretended to be focused on their food like they weren't listening in on the father and daughter conversation. But the fact was, they all wanted to know how he would talk his way out of this one.
"Is there anyone, in particular, asking you out right now?" Tade enquired.
'Trust the old sly fox to answer a question with another question.' Josh thought and nearly laughed out loud, causing him to choke on the rice he was about to swallow. Julianna who was sitting to his right quickly grabbed a glass of water and handed it over to him.
"Be careful will you!" Shade said, patting him on his back.
"Better mind your food so you don't end up choking yourself to death," Tade said flippantly towards Josh.
He knew they all wanted to hear him say it's okay for Abby to start dating...
'Even if they asked him directly, he would still maintain his stand. She would be done with school by twenty-one so what's the rush?' He thought to himself. 'No Lagos boy would use and dump my daughter as long as I live. After school, then comes marriage. Not boyfriend but marriage.
"No one in particular that I like right now" Abby grudgingly answered her dad's question, she was a little disappointed by his trick.
"Okay sweetie" He gave her a warm and loving smile. "Aren't you going to eat your turkey? You've barely touched it and you love turkey so much.
"Actually I've had enough. I'll just be on my way because I'm already running late." Abby said and quickly stood up, picked up her half-eaten food, and went to the kitchen to wash her plate before he asked her for something silly like Mikes's address or phone number.