How To Love

chapter thirty-four

A/N
Congratulations Bokke!💃🏾

It was March, which meant, on the 12th, it would mark 19 years since Thuso's mother passed away.

In my mind, I thought a lot about how the past few months have always been heavy on us individually and as a couple and it made me wonder when we'd have a break.

A big part of me just wanted to go away, far from all these worries and into some blissful ignorance bubble that would keep Thuso and I from getting hurt.

Although it has been almost two decades, Thuso confessed that he still found it hard to live during this time of the year and that he usually slipped into a depressive state. Which was why I had made it my mission to make sure he stayed above water.

Today was Friday and I was waiting for him at home. I sent all our workers, except the security guard to their homes for the weekend, wanting to have the house all to ourselves.

The massage I had been meaning to give him on Valentine's Day was finally going to happen. I had everything set up, from the collapsible foot spa machine I bought at game, foot oil to pour in the water so that he can soak his feet and soften the skin, a foot moisturising cream to put overnight for dry skin, silicon heel socks to wear after the massage, pedicure tool to remove calluses and corns, moisturising socks, exfoliating cleanser, and my nail kit, basically everything I could get to make this a soothing experience.

He arrived back home right on time, looking so tired and worn out that my heart ached. The sight of me at the door had his eyes widening in shock before they settled back to normal size and a small smile fell on his lips.

"Hi baby," he said, hand snaking around my waist as he pulled me closer for a kiss. I returned the small smile, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Hi my love, how was your day?" I asked as I helped him take off his jacket.

"It was tiring, I can really use a vacation," he said as he shook his arms out of the jacket. I hummed, feeling him deeply with that statement. Thankfully, it was towards the end of the term so I'd be getting two weeks off soon.

"I feel you on that. But right now, I've got the next best thing planned for the night, a relaxing evening ahead of you, what do you say to that?" I knew he was tired but the fact that he attempted to smile through it all gave me all the motivation to continue.

"I say bring it on! Thank you baby," he said as I took a hold of his hand and pulled him with me to the stairs. Unlike most of our dinners, which we had in the dining room, tonight we were going to have it in the living room, relaxing while watching something good-feely to wind down.

"You're welcome. You can go upstairs to change and freshen up while I dish up for us," I said.

"Sounds good." And then he was hopping up two stairs at a time and I watched him until he reached the top landing before heading to the kitchen to dish up.

I had made chicken Marengo using a recipe I found on TikTok, I had a taste while cooking and it was banging! I paired off that dish with white cheddar Mac and cheese, a recipe my mother loved to make when I was younger and wasn't in a good mood. I also made a three cheese meatball lasagna, tweaking the recipe I found online to my own liking. And then to finish off, I made cheesecake from scratch, everybody knows that baking is where my heart is.

I placed each casserole for every dish I made on the table in the living room, including the wine I was chilling in a bucket of ice alongside a bottle of bubbly for me because I was feeling like something frizzy.

Opening Netflix, I pick a movie that I've researched on called Kandasamy's, The Baby. It's feel-good, comedy drama, heartfelt and everything I thought we needed to get through the night.