Table of Contents | Read Next Chapter
EPISODE ONE
IREMIDE FAMAKINWA
By the time the jeep turns into the compound, Iremide can no longer feel her feet.
She exhales a long, shaky breath, her fingers trembling against the stubborn strap of her silver heel. With a final, desperate tug, the heel comes off. She drops the pair onto the passenger seat. They land with a heavy thud right next to Uchenna, but he doesn’t even blink, his knuckles white against the leather wheel, a quiet, triumphant smile tugging at his lips.
Iremide slides her feet into the rubber slippers she sneaked into his car weeks ago. The relief is instant, cooling the burning soles of her feet.
Golden evening sunlight cuts across the dashboard, catching the faint dust on the windscreen.
Mrs Okoye.
The words taste sweet and new in her mind. Last week, he was a fiancé. Two months ago, just the boyfriend she met during a home tutoring. He is a man who calculates every kobo. Yet, this past month, he spent money like water.
She glances out the window as the jeep rolls to a stop in front of the four-bedroom bungalow. The paint is fresh, smelling of wet plaster and modern estate promises.
“I can’t wait anymore, baby,” Uchenna had whispered a month ago, sliding a diamond onto her finger in a high-end hotel suite while an acoustic singer he hired performed in the background.
A month to plan a Lagos wedding.
Mama Shade had nearly fainted, screaming that thirty days wasn’t enough to print cards or order the premium aso-ebi for her endless list of friends. But Uchenna simply made the huge transfers. He paid the traditional handlers, satisfied the alaga demands with crisp five-hundred-naira notes, and bought out a venue large enough to hold the three hundred people who eventually showed up from her mother’s side. Half of them didn’t even know her name; they just came for the party rice and the gossip.
“Baby, we are home.”
Uchenna’s voice breaks the silence, deep and grounding. He cuts the engine.
Iremide shifts in her seat, her short white reception dress tightening around her hips. “Thank you for everything,” she says softly. Her gaze lingers on his profile - the sharp line of his jaw, the faint dark circles under his eyes from a week of running between the registry, the traditional ceremony, and the church.
“Thank you for agreeing to forever with me, Mrs. Okoye.” He turns to her, his eyes warm, searching her face.
“Let’s go inside.” She reaches for the door handle.
“Baby, wait—” Uchenna is already stepping out of his side. “Let me get that for you.”
“We are both exhausted, Uche.” Iremide steps out anyway, the warm evening air catching her bare shoulders.
She catches his hand halfway across the hood, her smaller fingers wrapping around his palm. “My brain is fried.”
Uchenna looks toward the back of the jeep, his shoulders dropping slightly. “What about the gifts in the boot?”
“Tomorrow.” She pulls him gently toward the front door. “The world won’t end if they stay in the car.”
The living room smells of vanilla oil and new fabric. The interior decorator actually delivered. Iremide stops on the marble wood, taking in the cream L-shaped couch and the clean, open line leading into the kitchen. It is exactly what she wanted. Simple. Calming.
Before she can take another step, Uchenna’s hands find her waist. He pulls her backward against his chest. His chest rises and falls against her shoulder blades, a steady sound.
“Lord, we thank you for a new beginning,” he murmurs into her hair, his breath warm against her scalp. His grip tightens just a fraction. “We commit this home into your hands. Be the head of this union. Help us navigate this just as you commanded.”
Iremide lets out a soft giggle, her shoulders relaxing against him. “Amen. After all the prayers today?”
“A man can never pray too much for his sanity.” Uchenna turns her around in his arms. His gaze drops, anchoring instantly onto her lips. The playful tone in his voice disappears, replaced by a sudden, focused quiet.
Iremide’s throat goes dry.
“Baby, I want to kiss you properly,” he whispers, his thumbs tracing the side of her waist. “We didn’t get to do it right in church. Pastor Mike was watching too closely.”
She forces a small, bright smile and tiptoes, aiming a quick, chaste kiss at his cheek. “There.”
Uchenna lets out a low chuckle, his grip locking her in place so she can’t step back. “We are married now, baby. No more cheek greetings. I want us to explore more than that tonight.”
Her heart does a sudden, inconsistent flip. She loops her arms around his neck, trying to hide the tremor in her fingers. “You waited seven whole months. Why the sudden rush?”
“Rush?” He stares lovingly at her. “I’m not rushing. You are my wife.”
“Alright, alright.” Iremide shuts her eyes tight, compressing her lips into a straight, defensive line, waiting.
A beat passes. Then, Uchenna laughs - a genuine, rumbling sound against her chest. “Is my baby nervous?”
She opens one eye, glaring at him without any real heat. “I’m not.”
“You are.” He leans down, his forehead resting against hers. “I know you.”
“Just do the kiss, please,” she mutters, closing her eye again. “I need to sleep.”
“No,” Uchenna says softly, his hand sliding up to cup her jaw. “I don’t want half-attention. I need you to want it, too.”
Iremide opens both eyes, the intensity in his gaze making her stomach flutter. “I do want it. I am just genuinely exhausted, Heartbeat.”
He nods, but he doesn’t back away. Slowly, his head tilts. When his lips finally touch hers, the soft, hesitant friction sends a shock straight down her spine. It’s different from the quick, stolen cheek kisses on her mother’s veranda. There is weight behind this one, one she had never experienced. The months of boundaries and strict rules melt into the pressure of his mouth.
“Uche…” The name escapes her lips as a faint breath.
Uchenna takes the invitation, deepening the kiss, his hand sliding down her spine. His fingers find the small metal tab at the top of her dress. The sharp click of the zipper moving down an inch echoes in the quiet room.
Iremide pulls back, her hands flat against his chest, her cheeks burning hot. “Uche, wait. Are you undressing me already?”
Uchenna pauses, his eyes dark, glittering with something she has never seen in him before. “Can’t I?”
She tries to keep her voice light, playful, though her pulse is racing. “Did you marry me for this?”
“Yes.” He doesn’t hesitate. A small, honest smile touches his lips, but his eyes remain fixed on hers. “Because I was losing my mind, baby. Every time you wore those casual short at your parents’ place or showed up for dinner in a nice gown, the boundaries were barely holding. I’ve shown my love in every single way possible this year - except intimacy. Now I want to love you fully… not just a husband in name.”
“Uchenna!” She hides her face in his chest, her voice muffled against his shirt. “I’ve never heard you talk like this since the day I met you. It’s scandalous.”
“It’s true,” he corrects, his chest shaking with laughter.
Iremide looks up, swallowing hard. She takes a slow breath, trying to read the fierce expression in his eyes. “Okay, husband. Can your grand plans wait until tomorrow? I am actually falling asleep on my feet.”
Uchenna tilts his head, his fingers still resting on the half-lowered zipper, seemingly weighing his options.
“Uche, look at me,” she whispers, her voice dropping its playful edge. “I’ve never done this before. And right now, your eyes are making me think you want to eat me alive. Don’t make me pack my bags and run back to Mama Shade’s house.”
He stares at her for a long second, then his face softens. He lets out a defeated, gentle laugh and releases his grip on her waist, smoothing down the fabric of her dress. “I will be gentle, baby. I promise.”
“You better be,” she says, taking a step back toward the hallway, her slippers clicking quietly against the floor. “Because you’re acting like a stranger tonight.”
Uchenna raises his hands in mock surrender, shooing her away. “Go and sleep before I change my mind.”
“Thank you, Heartbeat.” Iremide drops into a quick, dramatic curtsy, her smile breaking out full and bright as she turns and disappears into the bedroom.
UCHENNA OKOYE
The master bedroom clicks shut after Iremide leaves, leaving the living room suddenly quiet. Uchenna stands by the cream couch, watching the empty hallway. The slow, heavy drag of her footsteps tells him everything. He rubs the back of his neck, where a knot of tension has been tightening since the beginning of the week.
She is spent. Entirely spent.
He counts the madness of the last seven days on his fingers. The bridal showers with faces he barely recognized, the endless dress fittings, the dry air of the registry court, the layers of makeup, the spa appointments - it was a whirlwind that almost pulled them under.
A small, dry chuckle escapes him. Maybe Mama Shade was right. Maybe one month was too tight. If not for her, Shade, and the event planner working like a small army, the whole thing would have collapsed.
Uchenna rolls his shoulders, pulling his car keys from his pocket. He steps back out into the cool night air. The compound is still, a sharp contrast to the bass from the reception loudspeakers that is still ringing in his ears.
He approaches the jeep. He is tired, yes, but as he unlocks the doors, a quiet wave of relief washes over him. He is married. Iremide is inside, wearing his name.
When he first brought a Yoruba girl home, his people had looked at him with raised eyebrows and cautious questions. But Iremide’s fierce, loud energy is impossible to resist. She doesn’t know how to keep quiet, and she doesn’t know how to hide her flaws. He loves her exactly for that.
He opens the back door, grabs three large, wrapped wedding boxes, and loops two gift bags over his pinky finger.
God did it. The phrase repeats in his chest.
Five years ago, a night like this would have looked very different. Before Christ broke into his life, Uchenna knew the other side of intimacy. He knew the messy, hollow rhythm of relationships that started in clubs and ended in regrets.
He had an ugly past, one he spent years praying through, anchoring himself to a new foundation. Then he walked into his elder sister’s parlor to watch his nephew, and there she was. A home tutor with a laugh that filled the entire house. It took two weeks of talking, praying, and testing her spirit before he even asked her to be his girlfriend.
He carries the first load inside, drops the boxes carefully by the kitchen island, and heads back out for the boot.
The boundaries they set were strict. Iron-clad. No visits to his bachelor apartment. Every date happened in public or under the watchful eyes of her family on her mother’s veranda. They didn’t even allow themselves a proper kiss.
Until the wall started to crack.
Uchenna lifts the heaviest box from the boot and slams the door shut with his elbow. A memory flashes so vividly he can almost smell her perfume. It was that Friday night dinner at the Eko hotels and suites. Iremide had worn a purple flared gown, her braids woven into a tight, neat bun that exposed the long line of her neck. He remembered staring at her across the table, his chest aching with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.
Later, in the front seat of this jeep, the silence between them had grown heavy, thick with a sudden heat. He had leaned in, his eyes locked on her lips, his breathing shifting into short, shallow rasps. He was going to break the rule. He was going to kiss her.
But Iremide, with that loud, disruptive grace of hers, had snapped the tension. She cracked a joke, laughed over the steering wheel, and brought him back to reality.
That was the exact moment he knew he had to buy the ring. He was sure about her. They shared the same values, the same vision, the same counseling classes. But he also knew his own flesh. If he didn’t make her his wife quickly, he would tear down every boundary he had spent five years building with God. He wasn’t going back to the old Uchenna. Not after coming this far.
He steps back into the living room, letting the heavy front door click into place. He sets the final load of gifts down on the floor, the glossy wrapping paper catching the soft overhead light.
The house is quiet now, save for the faint sound of the refrigerator.
This is day one of forever. Uchenna looks toward the dark hallway leading to their bedroom. He takes a deep, grounding breath, his chest expanding as he makes a silent vow to the empty room.
He will make this worth it for her. Through the sickness, the health, the lean accounts, or the overflowing wealth - they are locked in.
He smiles, rubbing his palms together, and walks toward the bedroom to check on his wife.
Welcome to the first episode of The marriage diaries, what do we think about Uchenna and Iremide?
Please subscribe and comment and restack 🤩🤩
Uchenna, your blood dey hot, calm downnnn
This book looks promising! I like it already