CHAPTER 72
NALEDI MOLETSANE

5 MONTHS LATER
It’s the eve of my daughters birthday and my
mother and Manana decided to host a family
dinner because Basetsana and Vhutshilo are
headed to Venda tomorrow for the weekend.
Her paternal grandparents begged Maswabi to
afford them the opportunity to celebrate the
big 10 with her. It was only fair, I mean Bassie
always celebrates her birthdays with us. It
has only been a joint affair once and it was
awkward as hell because of how my mother
treated the Muofhe’s back then.
I’ve been crying now and again, I cannot
believe that my girl is 10 years old, where did
time go? I remember her being the size of a
loaf of bread and now she’s as tall as me. I
cannot imagine what my life would have been
like without this angel of mine. I was so
young when I had her but God always had a
plan, he knew I’d grow and find my purpose
through her. I know for a fact that the
almighty loves me because he saw me worthy
to mother such a perfect human being.
We are all sitting around the lounge. I’m on
the same couch as my husband and we are
holding hands. Ours has been blissful, I don’t
regret marrying this guy. My family and
Bassie are now team Shlobo, they realized
that he’s genuine and that he loves me more
than anything in this world. My mother now
walks around bragging about her son in-law
to anyone that cares to listen. Her earlier
complaints of us moving in the speed of light
and me being attracted to older men are out
the window.
Manana? Well she’s not on my camp anymore.
It’s all about Shlobo now, he is called at least
twice a week to be asked if I’m taking good
care of him. I never thought this day would
come but I’m happy they all have a great
relationship with this man that’s been
treating me like the only girl in the world.
Manana is sitting on the single couch and my
mother is next to her on her wheelchair.
Bassie and her father are on the rug, legs
crossed. Vhutshilo is taking a video of his
daughter as she opens her presents. He must
remember to send it to me. Him and I are at a
better place now, I don’t think we will ever be
close again though. Kat was right, Vhutshilo
is still in-love with me. He admitted it to me
the day before my lobola last year December.
He came here, once again, under the influence
to beg me not to marry Shlobo. He insisted
that I was making the biggest mistake of my
life, that I was his soul mate and him mine.
Manana managed to calm him down and take
him to bed, the next morning I went into the
bedroom he was in and we spoke. I told him
I’ll always love and care about him but made
it clear that we could never be. That part of
our relationship ended a long time ago and
now I’m with Shlobo till my dying day. It was
hard for him to hear me say all of that but he
had no choice but to understand. He got up
and left and I only heard from him two
months later. During that time he only
communicated with my parents and his
daughter. I was ignored like the plague.
Bassie gasps in shock, “Oh my God,” Shlobo
and I are smiling like cheshire cats, happy to
see that her present shocked her.
“Really mommy?” I nod vigorously.
“Yes, my love,” she comes running to us and
hugs us, we return it.
“Thank you so much mommy, thank you so
much Malome,” Shlobo kisses her forehead.
“It’s a pleasure princess,” she goes back to
pick up her gift. It’s three tickets in an
envelope, we are taking her to a classical
music concert in Cape Town. I never thought
my daughter would fall in-love with such
matured music, I mean Basetsana never paid
attention to the radio or music channels.
Everytime I played music in the car she’d ask
that I turn down the volume.
So, imagine my shock when the year began
and she started listening to classic fm
everyday and asked us to find her a cello
teacher. She’s been taking lessons three times
a week since then and she is obsessed, it’s all
she talks about now. I am happy that she’s
found something she’s so passionate about at
an early age.
“What did they get you?” my mother asks and
Bassie tells them, all excited.
“When is it happening?” Manana asks.
“September,” I answer.
“We had to get them as soon as the ticket
sales opened. I heard they sell like fat cakes. I
honestly never knew that classical music was
so popular in the country,” Shlobo adds.
“My baby has an ear for good music,” I
compliment and Bassie blushes. It’s not my
cup of tea but as a mother I need to show my
support and interest in the things she loves.
“Phew! Would you look at the time. Baby girl, I
think you should cut your cake so we can
leave. We have an early morning drive
tomorrow,” Vhutshilo says and Bassie gets on
her feet and runs to the dinning table where
her cello shaped cake is. I don’t think he’s
happy with the gift we gave Bassie, not
because it’s not thoughtful but because it
came from us and it will just be us 3 going.
Vhutshilo has to understand that there are
some things Shlobo and I will do with Bassie
alone. That doesn’t mean my husband is
trying to replace him.
.
.
.
“Babe, I think we should hit the road too,” I
say, walking in the lounge after washing the
dishes. I just want to get to our place and
make love, my sexual appetite is back after 3
days of disappearing. I don’t know what
caused it but I’m glad my husband was
understanding and taking it easy with me.
“Sit down, Nyeleti,” bathong!
Why is she serious all of a sudden, she was
just laughing with Maswabi and Shlobo a
second again.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, darting between
the three of them but the other two is as
confused as I am.
“Must you two always be in a hurry?” she
asks, sounding defeated.
“Manana it’s after 10pm, it’s been a long day.
I’m tired and I know Shlobo is beat too,” she
rolls her eyes. She had one two many glasses
of scotch hence the little attitude.
“I didn’t want to tell you but you drank three
glasses of wine this evening,” yes, I didn’t feel
like alcohol tonight. I haven’t been feeling like
myself much these days but why was she
counting?
“That’s wrong because?” Manana heaves a sigh
and steals a glance at Maswabi.
“Dzuni, what’s wrong?” I’m nervous now.
“Uhm, Nyeleti. You need to stop drinking and
start taking care of yourself. Bassie’s dream
of being a big sister has come true,”
She explains and I gasp in shock.
“Yoh! Naledi. Where are you two rushing to?
Will you both ever take your time?” it comes
out in a whisper from the minister.
“We… Uhm… We didn’t plan for this,” my
mother smacks her lips.
“Wait, Manana what are you saying? Naledi is
pregnant?” my husband asks with a grin
plastered across his face.
“Yes, clap for yourself Usian Bolt,” Maswabi
answers and I press my lips into a thin line,
suppressing my laughter.
“But how, how can you tell?” Shlobo asks.
“I know her body,” I mentally roll my eyes.
A walking ultrasound, this woman.
“You two will kill a person with your speed.
We’ve been trying to get used to having a
Zulu in our family and you just had to choke
us with another one,” Shlobo fails to hold
himself, he chuckles. This one is obviously
proud of himself. I still can’t believe this
whole thing.
.
.
.
I’m sitting on the bed in my oversized
pyjamas. I’m waiting for Shlobo to come back
home with the pregnancy tests. He rushed to
the pharmacy as soon as they opened. We are
both nervous but he’s also excited at the
same time. Last night he kept on touching my
stomach and laughing while shaking his head.
I’ll fully believe Manana once the stick comes
back with two pink lines.
If I am pregnant then I’m glad it happened
when everyone knew and supported our
marriage. Maswabi was going to freak out
had it happened before now, two kids out of
wedlock, she once made it clear that a second
child must come after marriage. Last night
she was kind of shocked and defeated but I
woke up to a text from her, she was thanking
me for growing her family. She expressed how
excited she is to welcome this new life. I got
teary because I never thought our relationship
would get to such a healthy spot.
“Babe, I’m back,” my husband shouts,
approaching our bedroom. I close my eyes,
heart thumping in my chest. This is the
moment of truth.
“Here you go,” he hands me the plastic from
clicks and I rush to our adjoining bathroom
and pee on the sticks. I’m crossing fingers, not
sure what result I’m hoping for.
The door opens as I pull up my pants, he just
couldn’t wait. He settles on the edge of the
tub and watches his phone, I assume he is
keeping time.
“It said on the box that the results will show
in 15 minutes,” there’s a twinkle in his eyes
and suddenly I know for sure that I’m crossing
fingers that it comes back positive. I want to
give him this baby, Njabulo, that’s the name
he always says our first born will have. He’s
automatically thinking it will be a boy and I
do too, I fear another girl will be extra
dramatic.
“It’s time,” he says and I nod.
“You look,” my stomach is in knots.
“The first room the interior designer will have
to work on at the new house is the nursery.
My son is coming soon,” both my hands
involuntarily move to my mouth and tears
burn my eyes. Oh. My. God!
I’m going to be a mommy again at 26 years
old.
Shlobo kneels down infront of me and kisses
my stomach. He’s crying, I can only imagine
how happy he is. This baby is the first fruit of
his loins, the blood of his blood and the flesh
of his flesh. I know he loves Bassie and
Nhlangano, even though they haven’t spoken
since last year, but this is different. This baby
is from him, by him, for him and no one else.
“I knew from the day I laid my eyes on you in
that elevator that my life will never be the
same again. I love you so much, Nkanyezi
yami. God, you’ve brought so much happiness,
love, peace and light into my life. Believe me
when I say that everything before you didn’t
make sense.” what do I say to that? I just kiss
his bald head and cry more.