When my brother’s best friend asked me to marry him, I thought it was going to be a beautiful love story.

I never knew it was going to come with two overprotective brothers who still believed I was five years old.

I’m the only girl in my family, with two elder brothers.

And till today, I still don’t understand why these people refuse to accept that I have grown up.

According to them, I’m still their little baby.

Jidenna had been my brothers’ best friend for years.

He was always coming to the house, but because I was mostly away in school, we hardly crossed paths.

Then one holiday, I came home.

The moment he saw me, everything changed.

My brothers were talking to him, but the poor guy wasn’t hearing a single word.

His eyes were glued to me.

My eldest brother snapped his fingers and said,

Jidenna! That direction you’re looking… there’s no road there. Remove your eyes from my sister.

Everybody laughed.

Including Jidenna.

But that was where our story started.

I still don’t know how he got my number.

Till today, I believe he stole it from my brother’s phone.

He texted me.

We became friends.

A few weeks later, he said something that caught me completely off guard.

He said,

“I’ve seen my wife.”

I looked behind me to be sure he wasn’t talking to another lady.

He smiled and said,

I’m talking about you.

I laughed.

“How can you meet someone and already know she’s your wife?”

He simply said,

When you know… you know.

Then he asked me to marry him.

Not to be his girlfriend.

Not to test the relationship.

Marriage.

The only problem was that he wanted us to court for sometime but to keep it quiet for a while before telling my brothers.

I immediately refused.

“I don’t do secret relationships. If your intentions are genuine, my brothers must know.”

When he realized I wasn’t changing my mind, he agreed.

That evening, I told my brothers.

“Someone wants to marry me“ I said with smiles.

You needed to see how my brother’s stopped watching the television as they turned to give me this side bombastic side eyes.

Like, you can’t be getting married. You’re a small girl kind of eyes.

Since they were giving me this off vibe, I decided to go straight to the point.

“The person asking to marry me is Jidenna.”

The room became unusually quiet.

My immediate elder brother first screamed “Obara Jesus” before he asked,

“Do you like him?”

I smiled.

Yes.

Before I could say another word, my eldest brother exploded.

“You this small girl, what do you know about marriage?”

I almost laughed.

“Bro… I’ll be 25 this year.”

He looked at me and said,

“Who told you you’re 25?”

I was confused.

“Excuse me… was I not the one that grew up?”

He continued,

When did you become 25? You’re still our little sister.

Then he pointed at me.

Forget anything called relationship and focus on your life.

According to him, Jidenna was still the stubborn young man they knew years ago that was also a play boy back in the days in the schools.

He will break your heart.

“He will distract your future.”

“He is not marrying you.”

At that point, I honestly thought they were just being jealous.

The next day, someone knocked on our gate.

It was Jidenna.

Before I could even step outside, my brother blocked my way like a security officer protecting national treasure.

My eldest brother stormed outside.

“Jidenna! Didn’t I warn you not to come here again?”

Jidenna smiled.

“Why are you talking as if your sister is fifteen? She’s a grown woman.”

My brother fired back immediately.

“Who told you she’s grown? Were you there when she was born? We changed her diapers.”

Without missing a beat, Jidenna replied,

“If both of you had gotten married on time, maybe you would have remembered your own ages… and remembered your sister’s age too.”

I nearly burst into laughter.

After much drama, my brothers finally agreed to hear him out.

They sat him down like he was attending a police interrogation.

“What exactly are your intentions?”

“Hope it’s not chop and clean mouth?”

“We know the kind of life you lived in university.”

“If you play games with our sister…”

“We’ll personally escort you to the ancestors.”

Poor Jidenna kept answering question after question.

Then he finally looked at them and said,

“I know my past wasn’t perfect, but people change. Don’t judge the man I am today by the boy I used to be.”

The room suddenly became quiet.

Then he said something I’ll never forget.

“I’m not here to date your sister.”

“I’m here to marry her.”

That statement changed everything.

Slowly, my brothers gave us their blessing.

We courted for just two months.

Then we got married.

Looking back today…

Saying yes to Jidenna remains one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Marriage with him has been peaceful, beautiful and full of laughter.

The funniest part happened after we welcomed our first baby.

During the naming ceremony, my brothers looked at Jidenna and said,

“Guy… you’re now a complete man. You don pass us.”

Jidenna laughed and replied,

“I don pass una since. I don marry. I don get pikin. Una still dey do fine boy. Na why till today una never gree accept say una sister don grow.”

Everybody burst into laughter.

Even my brothers couldn’t argue.

Today, they no longer call themselves “bro.”

Now it’s always,

“Our in-law.”

“Our in-law.”

“Our in-law.”

Life has a beautiful way of changing people’s titles.

Sometimes, the person everyone is trying to protect you from ends up becoming the person God prepared to protect you for life.

Moral 1:

If your intentions are genuine, don’t waste people’s time. Be clear, be honest, and pursue love with purpose.

Moral 2:

Don’t judge people only by who they used to be. Growth is real, and sometimes the best husbands come from people whose past doesn’t look perfect.

Now tell me…

Are you an only daughter with elder brothers?

Do they also behave as if you’re still five years old, or is it only my brothers that refused to update my age?

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