Chapter 3 - Giant

Chapter 3: Giant

Jason snored softly; maybe it was because of the stress of leaving his country and starting a new life in another at a moment notice. He was tired and he went to bed early.

The room Naya showed him after making him eat something he couldn't pronounce in the dining hall with everyone else. And he was grateful, Naya didn't force him to eat on the same table as the childre. The room was really small by Jason's standard even though Naya described it as the VIP room.

He should really explain to her the meaning of Boss but he was tired and he slept off before his body even hit the bed.

Jason's dream was peaceful. Jason heard a giggle and felt something touch his left foot. Maybe he dreamt about it but he opened his eyes anyway.

His eyes slowly swept through the sparsely furnished room but there was nothing there. Jason closed his eyes again. He was aware it was morning already but he was in no hurry to face his new reality or to start making plans to save his grandmother's orphanage and as far as he kept his door locked and his body was still on his little bed, his worries and responsibilities were a world away.

Giant!

Did I just imagine that? Jason asked himself as he wiped his face with his palm as if in so doing he could see clearly again.

For the second time, Jason swept the room again with his eyes. He noticed the weird looking statue that was on the table close to the door and Jason made a mental note to himself to remove the ugly looking thing from his room, there was no reason he should be scared to death by the garbage looking statue. Next, his eyes found the wardrobe or was it a wardrobe? It looked like it was about to fall apart into a million pieces. That will have to go too, Jason told himself.

Giant!

This time around, Jason was sure he didn't imagine it. Both the giggles and the word giant were coming behind him and it was too vivid to be his imagination.

"Come out at this moment"

Jason yelled at the invisible being behind his bed but no one came out.

Slowly he quietly pushed himself up towards the sound and peeked behind the wooden pillar that held his bed.

Two pair of brown eyes stared back at him. It took Jason a few seconds to adjust to reality because there was no way a toddler was hiding behind his bed. But after counting to ten and the toddler was still there, he accepted the inevitable.

"Who are you?"Jason asked with a wide eyed expression.

Slowly the little alien, came out of hiding and stared at him with fascinated look

"Are you a giant?" she asked amazed

Jason was very tall but he had never considered himself a giant.

"I don't think so but what do you think?"Jason asked. He was amused at his attempt to make a conversation with a two year old.

"I think you are a giant" the toddler said and giggled to herself and went behind the bed again to hide.

"Is someone missing a child?" Jason yelled

After Jason ransacked his bag to get a blue t-shirt to wear, he called out to the toddler behind his bed.

"Come on little girl, let's go find your mother"

Immediately Jason said that he wanted to shoot himself. If the little girl was inside an orphanage, it was probably because she had no parents.

"I am so sorry, that was a dumb thing to say" Jason apologized but the toddler couldn't care less, she was more occupied with the watch on the table.

Jason scooped her up and carried her outside in a hurry to hand her off to someone else before he breaks her.

Outside, on the other end of the passage, was Naya and she had a worried expression. She was wearing a red short and a brown singlet.

"Nolani...Nolani...Noni where are you?" Naya called out from her end.

Jason looked at the child he was holding and she was smiling.

"Please tell me you are not Nolani. She looks mad as hell" Jason said before he remembered he was holding a child and then he muttered sorry to the giggling child.

"I am Nolani" the child said even though what she said sounded more like Nonana.

After thinking maybe he could make a run for it after dropping the child on the floor, Jason hissed, almost hooted at the idea of running away from this woman with the voice of a teenager and she was his employee.

"I am going off on a limb here but I think the toddler I am holding is Nolani" Jason yelled, so Naya could hear him.

Naya raced towards Jason and snatched the child from him.

'"You can't go around picking up children, not when you are still a total stranger to them" Naya accused Jason.

"Okay wait, she was in my room, Okay? I didn't just pick her up...maybe I did but it's only because she wouldn't come out from behind the tiny bed, you made me sleep on" Jason defended himself and he was serious until he saw the snicker on Naya's face.

Naya was trying not to laugh.

"Your room is actually Noni's favorite spot for hide and seek" Naya told him.

"But you told me it was the VIP bedroom" Jason said alarmed.

"Yeah sure, let's keep calling it that buddy" Naya tapped Jason's shoulder like she would a ten year old boy and took off with Nolani.

"He is a giant" Nolani told Naya as she carrier her off.

"He is a grumpy giant, sweetie"

Weeks went by and Jason only saw Nolani a few more times until one evening.

Jason and Naya had a deal. Jason was allowed to sleep in her bed during the day when Naya was busy with the kids. The deal worked for both of them. Jason got a good soft bed all to himself and Naya in turn showed her gratitude for the vocational school he made possible by offering the said bed to him.

Even after months of staying in the same orphanage home, the duo still had a friendly stranger relationship. It was just the way Jason preferred it because the last time he got involved with an employee, he had to put a distance between them.

Naya kept the children in line during the day; made sure everyone went to school and did their home work in the evening. Jason mostly kept his distance from the children except for Nolani, who kept appearing at odd hours behind his bed.

Jason noticed that Naya took a special interest in Nolani, the way she took care of her almost seemed motherly.

Jason was just about to drift off to sleep when the door opened and Naya came inside holding Nolani. .

Nolani's body was filthy and her hands were muddy. She clung unto Naya's yellow dress leaving filth all over her dress but Naya paid no attention to the child's mayhem.

"Isn't she supposed to be in school?" Jason asked feeling reluctant to move away from the bed to give them privacy.

"Well, someone decided it was more fun to play with the mud than stay in class. I blame myself, I should have stopped home schooling her when she turned two and now she is spoilt" Naya smiled at the child.

Nolani's hand found Naya's face, smearing mud all over her face.

"Thanks Nolani. I really needed mud all over my face" Naya said with playful sarcasm that made the child giggle.

"Can you hold her while I clean my face?" Naya asked Jason

"But she is covered in…mud" Naya dropped the child on Jason's chest and made her way into her bathroom before Jason could finish his statement.

"What am I supposed to do with her?" Jason yelled

"Hmm I don't know…wipe her hands…oh God, the mud is on my hair too"

Jason looked at the child on his chest closely for the first time and her eyes were blue. He must be mistaken. It couldn't be true. A black child having blue eyes in Africa was as rare as finding a unicorn in your backyard. It reminded Jason of the story he heard when he was in Nigeria.

A man asked his wife and three daughters to leave his house. According to the story his three daughters all had green eyes and therefore were abominations. The story didn't shock Jason at all even though it made his stomach churn in repulsion.

Even though Jason hated dirt, he didn't make much fuss as Nolani wiped her dirty hands on the black shirt he was wearing. The child felt right at home lying on his chest and Jason made no attempt to dissuade her. Nolani started poking his eyes.

"Nolani, if your intention is to blind me then you are doing a good job but mind you, I have a billion dollar company to run and I need my eyes, young lady" Jason conversed with the toddler like he would an adult. The child yawned and left his eye alone. She was exhausted.

"Dada" she said and rested on Jason's chest drowsily.

"No, Nolani I am not Dada. My name is Jason" Jason shook the child gently to keep her awake. The last thing he wanted was for a child to call him father when he had no intention to stick around.

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McKenna could almost see the picture, Jason was painting. It was adorable.

"She knew you were going to be her father even before you did, didn't she?" McKenna asked him.

"I am blessed that way, you know. Most women in my life knew I was going to be something to them before I did. My mother took a look at me and instantly knew I was going to be her son, it didn't even matter that I was her husband's mistress son. She just adopted me. And you… you knew I was going to be your husband and you went ahead and married me without my consent…" McKenna gave him a little kick and laughed.

"Is Kara's father really after them? Is he really that crazy?"

"Yes. Naya had to escape to another continent to get away from Kane Brown" Jason felt his anger rise.

"Tell me everything" McKenna was curious.

"It started when I found a gun in Naya's bag…"