24/09/2025
The Balloon Pregnancy
Favour had once been pregnant for real, but unfortunately, she suffered a miscarriage. She was heartbroken, but what scared her the most was telling her husband, Maxy, the truth. Maxy had been showering her with so much love and excitement since the pregnancy news, giving her money for antenatal visits and baby shopping. Favour didn’t want to disappoint him, so she came up with a strange idea — a balloon.
Every morning, she would secretly inflate a yellow balloon, tuck it under her gown, and walk around the compound with her hand on her belly, pretending to be heavy with child. To Maxy, she was still his glowing pregnant wife, but to the neighbors, something felt off.
There was one particular female neighbor who had noticed everything. She saw how the “pregnancy” never moved, never changed size, and sometimes even deflated a little when Favour forgot to hide well. She tried several times to warn Maxy, but Maxy, blinded by love and excitement, always waved her off.
“Stop gossiping about my wife!” he would say. “Not everybody is happy when good things happen to others.”
One hot afternoon, Maxy and Favour dragged out chairs and decided to nap outside in the compound. The sun was high, the breeze was gentle, and soon they both fell into a deep sleep. That was when the neighbor saw her chance.
She tiptoed to where Favour was lying, gently reached under her gown, and carefully pulled out the yellow balloon. Quietly laughing to herself, she moved over to Maxy and slipped the balloon under his shirt.
Just as she was adjusting it, Maxy woke up. Shocked, he jumped up and shouted, “Ah-ah! What nonsense is this? Don’t you ever try that rubbish with me again!”
The commotion woke Favour. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, confused. “What’s going on here?” she asked.
Maxy, still angry, explained, “Your friend here just put balloon inside my stomach. Can you imagine?!”
As Maxy raised his shirt to pull the balloon out, Favour’s eyes widened in horror. She quickly grabbed the balloon from him and hugged it to herself protectively.
That was the moment Maxy froze. He looked from the balloon to his wife’s stomach and back again. Something wasn’t adding up. “Favour… why are you holding that balloon like that? Where is your pregnancy?”
The neighbor folded her arms triumphantly. “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you since! Your wife has been deceiving you. That pregnancy is fake. She’s been using balloon to collect your antenatal money.”
Maxy’s heart sank. His mouth went dry as the reality hit him. He turned slowly to Favour. “Is this true?”
Tears rolled down Favour’s cheeks as she stammered, “Maxy… please, forgive me. I didn’t want to lose you. I thought if I told you about the miscarriage, you would stop caring for me. I just wanted things to remain the same.”
But Maxy was shattered. Betrayal burned deeper than the miscarriage itself. The woman he trusted, the one he loved, had lied to his face for months. His voice shook with pain as he said, “Pack your things, Favour. Leave my house today. If you can lie about a pregnancy, then what else can you lie about?”
The neighbor shook her head sadly as Favour fell to her knees begging. But Maxy had already made up his mind. The balloon that once symbolized a fake pregnancy now floated lifelessly on the floor — a reminder of trust broken beyond repair.
