AYANDA: Another Chance At Love

Chapter 4

I arrive in Newcastle(KZN) at around 4h30 in the morning. I grab my luggage and walk in, I find Sis Mandisa, the house help in the kitchen cleaning up. Now if you've ever been to Newcastle you'd know that it's not a posh neighborhood but I'm telling you the Mabaso house looks like it was cut out of a top billing magazine and placed right in the center of Newcastle.

"sawubona sisi" she greets me with a warm and welcoming smile, I return the smile before responding, she helps me with my luggage and leads me to what used to be Muzi's room that's before he moved, well him and i usually used this room whenever we came by.

It has an ensuite so I freshen up, slip into a free flowing comfy dress and my push-in slippers. Now ideally, after a long drive from one province to the next, one would rather sleep, but then again I'm a Makoti here, so I need to get started on my Makoti duties. I walk to the kitchen and assist sis Mandisa with preparing breakfast while we chat about random topics, well it started with us talking about the weather, I think that's how every conversation starts lately,then she started telling me about the love of her life.

The way her face lights up when she talks about her partner, her smile, how she mentions his name, oh God how I wish I could experience that. I mean you can clearly tell that she's in love and she's with someone that treats her right.

At 7h30 while we are about to prepare the table, the 2 love birds walk in. My mother in law and her husband are so in love, they are the reason why I refuse to give up on my relationship with Muzi, I believe if they could love each other so much in their old age then one day Muzi and I will fix things and love each other for a lifetime. "Makot'wam" my mother in law walks to me and squeezes me into one of her warm hugs. "maGumede" that's bab'Mabaso with his everso stern voice greeting me "baba, ma, niyaphila?" they both smile and respond, we chat for a while before they head to their room.

Mandisa helps me with setting the table, Andiswa(Muzi's only sister) walks down the stairs and literally screams when she sees me, she's such a sweetheart. She practically sprints to give me a tight squeezing hug. "Sisi! When did you get here? Why didn't you tell me that you're coming? I would've woken up earlier!" one thing about the Women in the mabaso family is that they're gorgeous, she took after her mother, she's light skinned and hairy, a beautiful combination. I smile" Haibo ndiswa aren't you supposed to be studying or something?" I tease, she chuckles and playfully hits my arm," Uphi uBhuti? Is he asleep? " she asks, yoh did I mention how inquisitive Andiswa is?

" he's away on business" a male voice from behind me saves me because clearly I couldn't think of a lie in slipseconds, I turn to look at this person who just saved me from Andiswa's unending questions. It's Nkosinathi, Muzi's younger brother, the lawyer. He walks towards us and offers me a hug, "awu mfazi ka bhuti(my brothers wife)" I chuckle he smiles, but then the hug is so awkward because he's shirtless, I don't understand why men think it's okay to walk around shirtless in a house full of women.

"when did you get here? Actually how did you get here?" he asks as he takes a seat, Andiswa disappeared to the kitchen I think. I pull a chair for myself "I drove...", "where is he?" he asks with a concerned look "I don't know" my voice breaks a bit when I Say that, he notices this and tries to comfort me but I walk off to the nearest bathroom, I seriously need to stop breaking down in front of everyone, it's messy and some people won't stand for this.

I wipe my face and when I walk out everyone is sitting around the table, we say grace and we dig in. While eating there's conversations flying around the table but I'm just caught up in my own little bubble, he should've been here, I know these people through him, why isn't he here with us? Why...

I'm disturbed from my thoughts by Nkosinathi, "Aya, what's your take on this?" and I give him a blank stare, I don't even know what they're talking about, "huh..." that's all I manage to utter and the whole table blusts out in laughter, I guess that was his way of bringing back to the present, "you're clearly miles away, I guess someone had to do it" Andiswa says while grabbing another slice of toast, I look over at Nkosinathi and he looks at me with concern again, I look away and eat my food.

After breakfast I head upstairs to get some rest since Sis Mandisa is cleaning up the house, as I'm about to doze off, my mother in law walks in with a tray in her hands, It has 2 tea cups and a teapot, she's such a tea lover, "I don't know if it's old age creeping in or you just love your tea" I say while sitting up, she chuckles "I'll smack you" she sits on the chair while I sit up on the bed. She pours us both a cup, "it's green tea, to help you relax and it also helps with reducing stress"

"thank you" I take a sip of the bitter tasting green tea. "so I wanted us to talk about what I said over the phone... " I nod, she stands and locks the door, okay this seems serious. "I think I know the course and root of your marital problems, Muzi wants a child, he's not getting any younger and so he's feeling pressured to have a child now that he is married" trust mothers to always side with their ungrateful sons. "he has a problem, I think he's the one who is unable to bare children" I look at her shocked, she nodds "before you, he had a stable girlfriend, they were planning to get married but his father adviced him to wait until the girl falls pregnant before he could marry her so that we are certain that she can grow the family name"

This just made me realise that I actually don't know much about my husband, he has never spoken to me about his past. "they were together for 8 years Aya, but they still failed to bear children, the girl finally left him because he stuck to his father's advice of not marrying her so the girl got tired, a year later she got married to someone else, she has kids now, clearly she wasn't the problem" okay I'm shocked, "so could this be the reason why I couldn't carry my baby to full term? Because he has firtelity issues?" oh my word I said that out loud.

She still looks calm, she nodds, I sigh "do you still want to save this marriage?" she looks at me as if she's reading my current emotion. I mean I love Muzi, he's the only man I've ever been with both sexually and in terms of a relationship so I desperately want this to work, but how?...

"yes Ma" she's sighs in relief as if she was holding her breathe, "so you'd do anything for this to work?" I nodd.

"I want you to understand that this is normal in the Zulu culture, it has been done for the longest time and has saved many marriages..." I'm hopeful, she pulls my hand into hers after placing her cup of tear on the dressing table.

"usually when there's marital problems due to barrenness or infertility, the brother of the groom or the sister of the wife steps in to help the couple, in a sense that, one of the grooms brothers will impregnate the bride without the knowledge of the groom, he'll be happy to find out that his wife finally bared him a child, since the child will still be a Mabaso, DNA of the child will be his so the child is still technically his, Muzi has 2 brothers whom I know would do anything to help their own blood"

I'm shocked by her suggestion, I pull my hands out of hers...