AYANDA: Another Chance At Love

Chapter 52

*Saturday*
I've been up since 6am, well technically I barely slept, by up I mean I've been out of bed since 6. It's busy here today, dad will be buried next Saturday for the convinience of his former colleagues as they would like to do the normal police send off.

My mother seems to master the art of masking her pain, she seems to be handling this much better than I thought, but it stresses me that when all of this is over and everyone leaves, that's when it'll really hit her.

Lusanda and Mbali are also here with us now, they also seem to be handling this quite well, me on the other hand? I'm finding it hard to come to terms with the new reality.

Yesterday was Nathi's birthday, instead of me sending him a gift, he came here bearing flowers for me and all sorts of sweets and snacks for wami, apparently he also left a "peace-offering" which according to my aunt (dad's older sister) was a bit too much.

He's been really supportive, maMabaso also called to inform me that they'll fly to joburg on Friday. I am in the kitchen preparing green tea for myself hoping that it'll help me relax and potentially get some sleep. My aunt walks in "Awusho ke, umdliseni loyamfana?" yep, that's aunt Getty for you, I just chuckle in an attempt to brush it off "ngempela iyasebenza imithi yakho, I heard that he's even getting divorced" now I know Getty well enough to know that she's simply just poking me and wants my reaction and at this point I'm not about to give in.

"Weeeh Getty, leave my daughter alone, uma unenkinga bhekana nam uyeke ingane yam..." my mum speaks, I guess she heard the conversation that went on, without even waiting for Getty to respond, she walks off.

I grab my cup of tea then walk back to my bedroom, there's 3 of my cousins who are sleeping on the floor in my room and I must say it's a little uncomfortable having to share my space but then I don't have much of a choice. I get back into my blankets and enjoy my tea while paging through social media.

A whatsapp notification comes in "you're up early..." it's from Nathi, I guess he noticed that I was online. "more like I barely slept, why are you up so early anyway?" almost immediately after sending the text my phone starts ringing. "mntungwa..." I pick up, I know for sure he's smiling from the other end. "mama, how are you feeling?" I sigh "well that's a dumb question to ask, can I come and see you guys?" he speaks.

"yeah you can, at what time?" I ask, "now..." this man must really be losing it, it's almost 7am in the morning and I haven't even taken a bath "I haven't taken a bath futhi ingane yakho isalele" he chuckles, "well I expected an excuse, how about you take a bath now, then as soon as she's up you'll let me know, I really miss my 2 favourite girls" I can't help but smile, I agree then we chat for sometime before I cut the call.

After finishing my tea, I decide to go and take a quick shower in my mother's ensuite, after that I walk back to my room, today's outfit is the usual, a tight fitting pencil skirt, a baggy tank top and a doek to match the top, with my slippers, it's warm today, clearly spring is just around the corner.

I decide to prepare porridge for my princess drama queen so that when she wakes up she can find her food ready, my cousins are up and chatting up a storm so she'll definitely be up any minute from now. I make white maize meal porridge for her then while I was about to iron her clothes in my sisters room, my cousin brings her to me, she's crying for God knows what. I hush her then carry her on my back as I iron her clothes, then tidy up my room, bathe her and fed her.

Nathi arrives at 10h30 and honestly I need time away from this house, I informed Thembi that I'm going outside to Nathi then left, Wami was a little less restless now.

"sanbona" he's leaning on his car, I give him a hug but this man doesn't even care about me, in fact even owami turned against me as soon as she saw Nathi, this here is a bond that I can never compete with even if I tried.

I walk to the passangers seat while the two love birds take the driver's seat. "happy belated birthday old man" he laughs, "ever seen such a handsome old man?" I smile, well he's right, Nathi is certainly aging like fine wine "touche!" we laugh, "don't you wanna go for a drive?" I nod, this little girl protests when she has to come and sit on my lap so I have no choice but to drive. Nathi hasn't returned my car and has the nerve to show up in one of his own cars! Men are shocking beings I tell you.

I start driving and honestly I'm just looking for a McDonald's drive through, we are chatting here and there while he's taking pictures of literally everything. I decide to drive to the Glen because Nathi didn't want to have McDonald's for breakfast, I mean I'm not even dressed for a sit in breakfast, neither is he. He's wearing black sweatshorts and a grey hoodie with the Adidas adilette.

We walk into the mall and princess drama queen wants to go into a trolley and yes you've guessed it, Nathi doesn't even protest it, he gives her exactly what she wants. Now we're walking around with an empty trolley because of this girl.

"manje Nathi sizohamba with a trolley that has nothing in it?" because honestly this isn't on "Asambe ke, help me get a few things at Woolworths so that the trolley can be filled with 'things'" I shoot him a look, but my attempt to intimidate him didn't really work.

An hour later we are walking out of the mall with a trolley full of unnecessary clothes for Owami and a few things that he thought would look good on me, he also bought me more flowers, we had our breakfast and I'm honestly exhausted but I needed this break.

We finally arrive at home, Owami is asleep so Nathi walks me in while he is carrying the princess and I'm carrying all the shopping bags, we walk into my room and my cousins are there chatting. Unalo is basically drooling over Nathi who pays no attention to them.

I clear my throat as a way of signaling them to excuse us, they walk out eventually. "thank you so much for today, it was a much needed break" he pulls me into his arms, "anything for my woman" he plants a kiss on my forehead, "I should get going now, I'll call you okay?" I pull away from his embrace and nod, he plants a wet kiss on my lips "Ngiyakthanda magumede, Uze ungakukhohlwa lokho" this man truly holds my heart, "nam Ngiyakthanda mntungwa"

We walk out, he greets the elders in my parents room including my mother and my older sister before I walk him out...