Holding On

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

As I had imagined the few days that Lulu was with us, visiting her brother, were filled with nothing but drama. Apparently, Siya had told her about our blips on the Friday that we drove down to Port Elizabeth. The ever so dramatic Lulu decided to take the first flight out of Johannesburg and come and witness first-hand how being an aunt would be like to her nephews. Yes, she is also of the notion that the twins are boys. I tried to reason with them that I'm having a boy and a girl, but she and Siya were adamant they know what we're expecting. I got tired of the back and forth and decided that we'll all just have to wait until I give birth to see who was right in determining the sexes of the babies. Now, to say the duo babied me throughout the course of that week would be an understatement. It literally felt like I was suffocating. If it wasn't Lulu persisting to watch me as I bathed, it was Siya wanting to walk me to the bathroom. It got to a point where I even felt like they were going to feed me. I had to sit them down and ask them to tone it down a bit because they were really overdoing it with the whole 'bed rest' thing. Of course, they defended themselves by saying that they were just doing what they thought was best, not only for me but for the babies as well. I appreciated their concern and willingness to assist and be there for me but the degree in which they went about it was really too much. I was suffocating. Anyway, they ended up easing up on being all up in my face all the time though they didn't ease up on the staying in bed instruction. The minute I'd think of stepping out of the room to go rest in another or on the couch, just to see a different space and breathe different air, they'd send me right back to Siya's bed. I begged, sulked, cried, even used my babies as leverage to try and get my way, and get them to allow me to lay on the couch, or on Lulu's bed but they did not budge. To say it was the longest week of my life, would again be an understatement of the year.

I went back home the following Sunday, home being my apartment; Siya drove me back. A few weeks later I summoned all the courage I had and went home to inform MaDlamini of my pregnancy. I obviously had moral support, Anga though I had to beg him to come back home that weekend as I was sure that MaDlamini was going to either disown me, yell at me just like she did with uInga or she was just going to let me be and say nothing and we all know how silent treatment from your parent is the worst type of punishment. The bugger obviously played hard to get at first because he claimed that he was still wrapping his head around my relationship but in the end, he ended up agreeing.

When the day eventually came, my mom saw right through me even before I uttered a single word. I guess it's true what they say about older people being the OG's of seeing pregnant women. At first, she seemed to not believe it and asked that I confirm her suspicions and to say she was disappointed when I confirmed them as true, would be another euphemism. Her disappointment greatly stemmed from how she'd hoped that I was going to lead my sibling by example; get married then only start building a family. But unfortunately for her, this was the reality of things. Of course, she knew that I wasn't going to struggle with my babies as I'm financially capable, but that was beside the point. Her fear was how difficult it could be for me to get a husband who'd have no nodus in welcoming a child that was not his own into his home, this is if of course my relationship with the baby's father did not pan out. I knew she was right, but I had hope that it would never boil down to that. Marriage was really not a big deal for me so long as Siya continued to love and support me and our babies, then I was content with the state of our relationship. Of course, she asked who the father of my child was. She thought I was having one baby and boy did she not lose her mind when she found out that I was expecting twins? Yho! (Wow) The dramatic Zandile came alive, let me tell you. She said, "Waqonda Nono awuzuvulela amathanga akho endodeni ekwazi ukukumithisa qha kodwa uzovulela indoda ezokukumithisa AMAWELE? Amawele Nomzamo?" (You thought you'd not only spread your thighs to a man who'd impregnate you, but to a man who'd impregnate you with TWINS? Twins) She carried on saying how unfearful I was and when she eventually wrapped her head around me expecting twins, she started bombarding me with questions regarding the twins' father, "Who's he?", "Where does he live?", "What does he do for a living?", "Is he married?", "Does he have other children?", "Does he know about the pregnancy?" Ndithi intloko yam yayishushu. (My head was spinning) Throughout the interrogation Anga had kept quiet and detached from the entire thing but this part of the interrogation brought a glimmer to his eyes. I guess he was excited to see MaDlamini's reaction to the realisation of who my baby daddy was. When I eventually spilled the beans about who fathers my children, my ears were left ringing from how loud she screamed. "Nomzamo, I hope awuthethi ngala tshomi kaAnga," was what she said after she recovered from her shock. (I hope you're not referring to Anga's friend) Obviously I was, but instead of responding to her question/statement I restored to hanging my head on my shoulders. To say she was gobsmacked at my non-verbal response would yet again be another understatement. She kept murmuring "Nomzamo awuzoyiki izinto," followed by one clap of her hands after uttering these words. (You're not afraid of things) Anga was obviously marvelling at my demise but I didn't care, he was not going to catch me wallowing.