The Necklace

CHAPTER FIVE

" Adrienne," Olivia spoke," come sit next to me" I just smiled and as I was walking toward her, eyes were following me, not like the creepy kind but inquisitive, eyes or curious perhaps but they were following my every move . Now I walk to the table, pulling the chair out and mind you very much ,l ever so graceful sat down. (Hi five to you mom) I thought. Okay listen, before you answer their question's wake up and be alert your meeting the children now. I spoke to myself.
"These are the children you must teach"said Olivia. I looked at them and they looked so composed ,well me, I'm glad for that, I thought, so nice to see such beautiful behaved children "
" I'll start from the the firstborn then move up to the baby," she started, so first it's, Marco 14, Enrico 12, the twins are Zach and Xavier 5, now these pretty ladies are Emelia 12, Bianca 10 and Grace 5 And this is Luka 14 ,and last but not least another set of twins Mica and Misha also 5.
( O,o,genadetjie tog,) Adrienne spoke in her mind.
Wow, um ,yes , Adrienne responded, brother's and sisters,wow ,yes okay.
Everyone erupted into fits of laughter, because of her astonished face. Adrienne just gave a shy chuckle because she was caught aghast. "We are not all related," explained Marco," Emilia, Grace, Luka and Bianca are my father's friend's children,and Misha and Mica are my aunt's children, we all grew up together 'so we are basically a family."
" Okay ,yes , okie dokie, now I understand. For a moment I thought I must look after ten children" and she just chuckled.
Luka looks at her and says " but you must look after us and teach us English you are a teacher after all.
" O, my" said Adrienne I am a teacher yes, I am, so
my dears it will be a pleasure to teach you English ".
" Can ,we eat now I'm really hungry?
Emmanuel " Olivia spoke sternly," Dad , uncle' ! The children shouted and laughed at the same time.
" Let's eat , " nanna the food please, "said Olivia.
Nanna brought the food in it was a spaghetti dish and with it a garlic bread,and it looked so good.
" I'm coming now" she said I've got something special prepared for our guest. " When she returned she had a traditional Bobotie dish in her hands and placed it in front of Adrienne.( Fantasties, Nanna, hm, dit ruik lekker so ek weet dit sal sommer lekker proe) and started to dish for her .As she was eating she moaned at how good it was and nanna was over the moon." I knew you would like it , Adrienne, I made two different ones and I let the staff taste first because I wanted it to be perfect".
"Nanna, this Bobotie,is very good I love it thank you"
" Now pass the ,what,s the name, to me I also want to taste from it " said Emmanuel ,then everyone spoke,"we also want" please 'nanna,we also want to taste from the Bobotie.
" Don't worry I've made enough for everyone , there is another bowl I'll bring it now, " said nanna and went to the kitchen.
" Adrienne, what language did you speak, " ask Mica because I like it ,can you learn me also ?" Mica ,you must ask, can you teach me also please. That's the proper way." And it would be an honor sir .Mica beamed at his cousins and said" I'm gonna learn how to speak African."
" Mica the correct term is Afrikaans you will learn Afrikaans ,"says Adrienne.
" Mambo, jumbo," says Bianca " I m so gonna learn also, that when I go to school and that Patrice and her snobby friend's give me attitude, I'll speak to them African and they won't understand me and cannot tell on me ,oh I'm so excited,"she squeeled.
" We also gonna learn " said the twins and the teachers is going to be so confuse" ,ha,ha they laughed.
"This is not good, we are, going to get a lot of trouble, from them ,Olivia especially if they are going to use it in school, "said Emmanuel. " My dear cooed Olivia,let's cross that bridge when we get there okay love." Okay my beloved wife,and blushed ever so slightly.
" Adrienne, I forgot to ask you , you are a qualified English teacher and still you opted to be our children's au pair? Yes ,that's what I also would like to know " said Emmanuel .
" Just as I was about to answer, in came Olivia's dad.
The children was so excited to see their grandpa that they ran out to meet him. It seems that Olivia was also a daddy's girl because she almost ran the children over shouting" daddy."
" I laughed at the commotion and Emmanuel said" to think after all these years I would be use to it now but when my father in law comes to visit, I'm invincible." And he walked out to greet his in law.
I just stood there chuckling to myself because I am a daddy's girl also and we can't help ourselves it's in our d.n.a.
" Come , grandpa the children said," we want you to meet our au pair." Ah, so she's here,he said" " Yes said Marco, and she is going to teach us African." "Excuse me, what did you just say." Ask grandpa
I stretched my hand out to him and said "I'm going to teach them my native tongue sir ,and its Afrikaans ".
He looked at me as if he's seen a ghost ." I'm hallucinating, he said ," I looked at him confused because he was behaving strangely.I was about to say my name when he called me ". Petal." I'm sorry sir, but my name is Adrienne, my grandma's name is Petal, but wait, how do you know that name and why did you just called me Petal." He looked shocked at me and asked is your grandma's name Petal?In nodded my head and then he asked a strange question, tell me child is your grandma still alive. I looked at him, and asked if I my be so bold to ask why? " Please answer me child ," " Yes , sir she is
Very much alive. I looked at him confused but he had a big smile on his face, which I did not like , yes I didn't like it at all.

Words, in italics are Afrikaans
( Genadetjie, tog, means :oh my goodness)
(Fantasties, Nanna hm ,dit ruik lekker so ek weet dit sal sommer lekker proe, means : The food smells good so I know it will taste fantastic also).