I Never Left You

31. Getting dirty

Wednesday came sooner than we expected, every body was almost here. Elsa, Clinton, Shawn, Grey, Rachel and Stella from our course. Leah and Austin are dressing in matching jeans and white Tshirts and boots. Brad, Kevin, Risha, Aggie who are Ray's friends are here too. As soon as we are done with introductions and ready to start, someone I am not sure I know joins us too. She's putting on pink sneakers, a dress jumpsuit and a denim jacket. To complete her smart look, she has a camera around her neck.
"Greetings everyone, my name is Jenna Alexa, am a mass communication student and am always interested in events for a good cause, so when I heard about this I decided to come and support you guys." she explains
"We appreciate that part but what I don't get is why carry a camera instead of a garden tool" I say trying to be as polite as I can.
"To be honest I didn't know what to expect so came as I am, but if u don't mind I can take a few pics such that we create an awareness for your project. I have very many followers and you never know who would come up to support this place. " Jenna elaborates
"I think she has a point," Ray says behind me.
"You think so, I don't want us to pose as those wealthy lunatics that carry evidence around showing off to society how they have helped the poor." I state out my worry.
"We understand that Az but we came here as volunteers not to show off. So to get more help we could use her idea" Grey says.
"OK then, welcome to the team Jenna.feel free to use anything your comfortable with" I shake hands with her. We split into three groups of fives and get to work right away. Most of the older kids are at school at the moment.
The  digging and soil preparation were done yesterday with the help of the kids, The orphanage is built in a rectangular building so we made use of the veranda and backyard land careful not to encroach the compound where the kids play from. They are more excited to meet students from the University.  Most of the orphans here are less than 12 years, but they are friendly and lovely. my favorite is Claire she's six but too inquisitive for her age. she has her yellow teddy bear that never leaves her side.
Being autumn, we decided to plant vegetables first rich in vitamins A and C calcium and folic acid, emphasizing those that will withstand the winter. It would be best if the children can have a balanced diet added to their daily protein and carbohydrates meal. The vegetables will range from carrots, the Aldelaide variety since it is fast maturing, broad beans and peas, these make a very delicious soup and the plant tips are best eaten when wilted with a little butter. Spinach, asparagus and Pak Choic will soon be added along the way.
When we're done planting we put a safe fence around the gardens to protect it from the naughty kids. True to her word, Jenna has been taking pics as we dug so we pose for one last pic to conclude our hard work. I notice that along the way she got closer to Kevin. I wishpered it to Ray who hadn't been paying attention to them.
"Looks like my buddy got himself a harvest at the end of the planting" we laugh loudly that everybody turns to see what could be our source of happiness. We quickly comflauge our laughter. I move to separate the garden tools we came with from school and the ones at the orphanage. Kevin breaks the awkwardness in the atmosphere by treating everyone to lunch. We jump at the excitement since the past four hours left us drained.
Sadly Stella, Rachel Clinton and Shawn have a class in the afternoon so they leave earlier and turn down Kevin's invitation. Ray helps me take the tools to the store. On our way back we me Mr. Moosby and he thanks us for the job well done and the huge turn up. I guess he must have met with the team already. I introduce Ray to him and he's excited to finally meet my saviour during the kidnap. "So your the superhero to our goddess here". Mr Moosby greets Ray.
"I only did my best sir" Ray replies firmly.
"Am glad to see you did. I don't know what we would do without her" Mr Moosby praises me. We cut his speech short claiming were delaying the others. Ray promises to see him again.
Kevin took us to a restaurant that he owns, Ray later informs me that he has shares here. Leah's equally shocked face meets mine when a waitress asks Kevin "what can I get you boss and your friends". These young men surely know how to invest. The Pine is a simple yet elegant restaurant. It has seats and tables that accommodate everyone from singles to couples and large crowds like us. We seated on a round table that resembles a dinning table at a random house. We order simple drinks since most of us have work and classes after here. We drink as we get to introduce and know ourselves.
Leah is seated next to Austin , Me besides Ray, Kevin with Jenna, Renny and Aggie together while the rest seem to seated randomly. Except for Austin, the rest of us are all university students. We talk about challenges and fun of being a student while Austin tells us what to expect when working and why he chose business instead of earning a college degree first. Leah uses this opportunity to invite everyone to her house warming party to which we all agree to attend. By the time we're done stuffing our stomachs, we already know something about everyone. For instance Grey once rolled in black ants so his girlfriend could get to forgive him. Brad is the shyest of us all and he talked less. Elsa was dared to give a little a lap dance to the guy he despised most. Jenna loves to travel and do photography, she claims if a day goes by when she hasn't snapped anything, she could fall sick. Leah tell them about her baking and I confess about my fear for caterpillars and love for butterflies. we even create a group chat in order to keep up and always meet up once in a while. Am so glad we got to do this, late alone to have a big turn up.
I ride back with Ray and since we intentionally skipped our afternoon lectures, we bypass a mall to shop stuff for Christa's room. Ray is more than excited about having her daughter stay with him. Am equally happy but my happiness can't match his excitement. We had drafted a list of everything were going to need but Ray seems to have forgotten about that. He wants to carry the whole store to her room. I had to explain to him that Christa has already out grown some of the toys like the squeakers and shakers. Being conservationists I had to also remind him not to carry a lot of plastic to our home. "It may look cute and colorful but remember it takes more than 500 years to decompose" I kept reminding him. So we would substitute the ducks and dolls for furry animals and teddy bears. That's how we ended up reducing the load we took home.
The room was already painted baby pink and sky blue so all we had to do was waste the whole evening decorating it. Having put the baby coat, toys and mats and everything in order we shower and rest abit. At different intervals still. Ray and I have agreed to living together but we have come to terms on being intimate. I don't know what we're waiting for but non of us has really initiated it or were both trying to restrain ourselves.
I get up later and prepare supper for us. Ray is playing a video game in the living room so I join him as the potatoes boil. A few minutes we eat our chicken in broccoli soup and potatoes with Irish. Any body passing by might think we look like an old couple that has stayed in love for long. We chat as we eat. Mostly Ray asks about my life when I was pregnant, if I had any financial challenges. She respected Leah when she had that she waited for me till I gave birth so we could come to university together. Today he asks on how she was when she was crawling. It's sad that he missed all those stages of his daughter. We finish our dinner and he does the dishes. An so glad he understood that I dislike washing dishes and promised to wash them all his life. I grab the handouts for the classes we missed today.
When he joins me in the living room, he frowns his face claiming he thought we were going to continue with the game. He accuses me of being a home tutor. I threaten to increase my fees is he adds anything. Defeated he sits in the chair and gets to his notes. Looks like I dosed off while pretending to read cause when I wake up I find myself in bed. To make matters worse my legs are tangled with Rays' and my shirt slipped abit up revealing my undies. Good thing Ray is still asleep. I check the time and it's still 4am so I cover myself properly and resume my sleep.