Family Ties

New Roles 3

Aunt Khanyi finally came back after some ten minutes and took her seat. My dad held her hand and looked at her in an "are you okay" look. She nodded her head. I look at her and she was avoiding me. She didn't look at me the way she has been the whole night. She just stole looks at me here and there and quickly looked away when I was gonna look at her. It was like that for the rest of the night.

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The night was over now and Bayanda and Kea had left. Andiswa and I were washing the dishes now. "Your dad today bruh." Andiswa says then I laugh. "Ey check. It was the same with your mom." I shrug my shoulders. "Nah, but your dad's questions were more intense." She says. "But Kea handled them very well. She came prepared." I say then she smiles and nods her head. "I'm really proud of her. If it was me I would've left." She says then I laugh. "Real. The one where he asked about sneaky links and one night stands. I wouldn't take that." I say. "Thank you though for trying." She says then I nod my head.

"Yeah. You welcome." I say. "But hearing you speak about Bayanda like that was cute. I don't think anyone expected it." She says. "Seemed like you were referring to someone else though." She says then I look at her. "The way you said those things. It's like you had tried with someone, but they didn't give you what Bayanda gave you." She says. "Was talking about Bayanda." I shrug my shoulders. "Okay. But that was nice. Even my mom needed air." She says then I laugh. I don't reply to that statement.

We finally finish. "Well, imma call it a night. Goodnight." She says then I nod my head. "Sleep well." I say then she leaves and goes upstairs. I go get my phone from the sitting room. Since we were sitting there after dinner, I never took it. I saw aunt Khanyi sitting there with the TV on, but the volume was low. I sighed then went to sit down next to her. "Wanna talk?" I ask then she looks at me. "Sure." She says putting her phone down. "Where's dad?" I ask. "Conference call." She says. "Let's go talk in my room." I say then stand up. She looks at me. "We'll just talk. I just don't want anyone to hear us." I say then she sighs and stands up. She follows behind me as we go up to my room. I open the door for her then she gets in and I look around and see there is no one. I get inside and close the door behind me and lock it.

"Lemme just take these off." I say referring to my clothes. She nods her head then I go to my closet. I undress then fold the clothes and put them on top of the sofa. I put on my boxers and a tank top. I slip on my slippers then get out of the closet. I go sit on my bed. "Come sit here." I say since she was sitting on my couch. She took off her shoes and sat across me on the bed. "How do you feel?" I ask looking at her. "I don't know. It's sort of a bitter sweet feeling. Hearing you talk about her like that. After everything that happened between us at that... I don't know." She says looking at me.

"But you said it. Communication killed us. We just couldn't speak to each other properly... If it weren't for that, maybe that could've been you." I say. "You really feel like I don't respect you?" She asks. "You never spoke to me like you were gonna take me seriously in a relationship. You spoke to me like I was a kid, like you would boss me around. I knew that wasn't gonna work, because I wouldn't take that." I say. She comes closer to me but still sitting across from me. "I want you to know that I did respect you. Sims I wanted a relationship with you. Obviously I would respect you. Maybe I didn't show it, and I'm sorry about that. I know where we stand right now, but I still promise to respect you." She says. I hold her hands and look down at them then back at her. "I appreciate that. And I'll also learn to speak to you properly." I say then she smiles and chuckles.

"I'm glad you know yourself." She says then I laugh. "Come here." I say pulling her to me. She sits on my lap facing me then I wrap my arms around her waist and hers go over my shoulder and around my neck. I lean back on the pillows as I relax. I also feel her settle and relax. She trails her fingers on my head and I felt myself relax and close my eyes. We stay like this for a while. I don't know, but maybe this is the closure she needed. We didn't have much to talk about, but having her in my arms for the last time, and innocently so, is nice.

Maybe not that innocent. I know Bayanda wouldn't want to see me like this with another woman and I also know my father wouldn't wanna see her like this with someone else, but for us and to us, it's innocent.

Eventually she moved away from the hug but was still on top of me. "Thank you." She says then I nod my head. "Anytime." I say. I think we've been in that position for almost forty five minutes. "Let me go." She says then I nod my head. She gets off me and off the bed. She puts on her shoes then leaves my room. This is a new beginning for us. A new reality. Oh well, an old reality... But after a messy beginning. I smile as I think about it. This shit is crazy man.

I get off the bed and remove the pillows to prepare for sleep. I go to the bathroom when I'm done and brush my teeth. I use the toilet then wash my hands and go back to the room. As I'm about to switch off the lights my door opens. My dad appears behind it then gets in. "What happened to knocking?" I ask. "Come let's talk." He says going to sit on my couch. I sigh then do as I'm told.

"I want us to finish yesterday's conversation." He says then I nod my head. "I just got off the phone with her parents asking to marry their daughter and they agreed." He says. "Wow okay." I say smiling. Man can lie, cause how did he convince her he is on a conference call. "I want to propose in a month. I just need time to plan the proposal and how it's gonna go and all that. But I need your help with all that." He says then I nod my head. "I'm gonna start house hunting also during this month. I want my wedding gift to her to be her own home, well, our home." He says then I nod my head. "Okay." I say.

"Now where do you come in. You will find out how she would want her dream proposal to be. You and Andiswa will do that for me." He says. "Okay." I nod my head. "Lastly, you two are also gonna help me house hunt. I know Andiswa would know her mother's style. You will just be there to criticise what you don't like as always." He says then I laugh. "I'm not that bad." I say. "Sims, don't let me remind you." He says then I laugh. "We can agree to disagree." I say then he laughs.

"Cool. So this is happening." He says with a smile. "Yeah. I'm happy for you." I say then he stands up. He stretches his hand to me. I stand up then take it. We shake hands then hug. "Thank you kid." He says patting my back. We move away then he goes to my door. "Goodnight." He says. "Night." I say then he gets out. I switch off the lights and go to bed. I switch on my bedside lamp then video call Bayanda.