Honeymoon And Secrets

Stepping off a flight after two years abroad, Tari surprises Rhoda at her front door, and the reunion quickly becomes an outing with her close friend Ify, full of shopping and meals in which Tari keeps repeating how beautiful Rhoda is in person. The warmth dims that evening when he expects her to stay at his newly ready house, but she makes an excuse about finishing a client's wig; later, she admits to Ify that she has been celibate for six years and dreads Tari's reaction to refusing sex before marriage. Tari eventually learns the truth, and after an initial hurt outburst that sends her away, he returns to say he will wait, proposes during her birthday celebration, and marries her. On the honeymoon, they are intimate for the first time, and Rhoda is genuinely happy, but she notices that Tari reaches for a condom every single time. Back home, she shares that observation with Ify, who bluntly warns that the habit could point to HIV or infidelity. Tari overhears that conversation, and a heated confrontation follows in which he declares he does not want children; Rhoda feels deceived, packs a suitcase, and lands at Ify's house, only for Ify to insist that running away solves nothing and to send her back. The couple exists in a cold, distant quiet until Tari breaks down and confesses the memory that haunts him: years earlier, while caring for his four-year-old daughter Kamsi, he stepped away for a phone call and the girl drowned in the pool behind the house. Tari tells Rhoda that his ex-wife and family blamed him, and he swore never to take responsibility for a child again. Rather than let that guilt stand, Rhoda holds him, insisting he is not a murderer but a human being who made a terrible mistake, and she slowly helps him see that one tragic accident does not have to control their future. Weeks later, at Tari's birthday party, Rhoda hands him a gift box containing a pair of baby shoes and announces they are expecting. Tari is overjoyed.