A Mother's Struggle

Chapter 34

"I baked muffins." I say.

Mavis clears her throat so loud that it's so obvious that it's fake.

"I mean, we baked muffins but hey I did like seventy five comma eight two percent of the work." I say as I take the wine from his hand.

"Right, if you mean seventy five comma eight two percent of lazying around, then you are correct." Mavis mocks me.

"I thought we made a deal."

"Burpees!" She says.

"You two are crazy." Chris says before walking to the lounge. He loosens his blue tie, and I childishly picture this in slow-motion. To complete this whole thing, we need a fan and longer hair. It's so cool when this happens in the movies, when they make it seem like the wind is blowing in the person's direction and the whole thing is slowed down. At least the two romantic movies I watched had that whole scene and it was perfect, too perfect. Not having tv, made me miss out on a lot of things.

I glare at Mavis before I direct Chris to the set table. The kids come running down the stairs saying the aroma woke them up.
Oh gosh!

Mavis eats with us too. Chris and the children tell us how the muffins are so delicious. They sure are good, the best muffins I have ever had. I never knew that blueberry was this good. Mavis pours juice for Lesedi and Naledi and Chris and I have the "sparkling" wine. I am glad yesterday's mood is all over, although I am pretty bummed out that I was not the one that made him feel better. So I guess I just lost the one point that I thought I scored.

Everybody seems to be enjoying the muffins. Next time, I'm going to make them myself, without Mavis' help. It can't be that hard, I learnt a few things from Mavis. She is good at what she does, which makes me question her occupation. It was probably not her dream to work for some rich handsome guy, judging from her great cooking skills, I bet she wanted to be a chef of some sort. Life is just...life I guess. Life will ironically mock you sometimes. You grow up having huge dreams and it gives you the exact opposite of what you wanted. You get the life you never anticipated. Life and its surprises. What did the people that achieved their dreams do so that life can favor them?

I do not blame anybody for my misfortunes, I'm thinking about good people like Mavis, who seems to have a pure heart. Why would she waste her skills cooking for a person that was able to get to the top while she couldn't? It just crossed my mind that she also likes watching that cooking show, what is it called again? Oh yea, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and the other one of baking, the name keeps slipping my mind. I just remember that it's a whole big family baking cakes that are the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen. Doesn't it sting her that somebody else is living her dream, was it her dream? Probably though, she is so good in the kitchen.

Chris receives a call and stands up to go answer it while we laugh and talk about each other's days. Well, we were mostly listening to Lesedi and Naledi.

"Can I have more muffins?" Lesedi asks.
I think I'm also getting more, these are very good. If I could get an endless supply of these, I'd be very happy. I hear Chris laughing from the kitchen, I wonder who called.

...

I'm here, lying with my prince on his bed. I am lying on his chest and I can hear his heart beat. It's a perfect rhythm, almost like I am the reason it beats. We are not saying anything, silence and calmness cover the whole bedroom. I like peace. His left hand wraps around my waist and the other one is caressing on the pillow above his head. I am closing my eyes, hoping that this moment does not come to an end. I feel safe and secure. I still cannot get over how soft and big this bed is.

"Baby, a friend of mine invited us for a double date with his fiancé. Well, he is planning on proposing tomorrow." He breaks the silence.

"That is awesome, I'd love to go." I tell him.

That makes me think, is he planning on marrying me someday? He said that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me but does he believe in marriages, did he ever want to make me his wife or I am just going to be his girlfriend forever? Maybe he does not plan on marrying anyone. Well, I would love to get married. I've always wanted to get married, to someone who appreciates and loves me. And if he wants to, I would love to get married to this man, the man whose heartbeat fills my stomach with butterflies. Colorful butterflies, the ones you see just in Spring. They are so rare in South Africa, I think it's because of the climate change and global warming.

"So it's a surprise to his girlfriend, which makes it more exciting right?" He gushes.

"Totally," I agree.

That is so cute.
This whole thing is starting to make me tingle with excitement. I have no idea what I am going to wear though.
Are we going to wear matching outfits like the rich couples in movies? Does he expect that?

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow." He tells me.

"And you're only telling me now?"

"Hey, I was not in the mood yesterday plus I kept forgetting. He told me last week Wednesday."

"Whatever, I do not know what to wear though." I tell him.

He tells me that it happens at night, we will leave home at 18:00, so I have the whole day to pick an outfit. He is not really helping here.

The quietness is back. It's peaceful and it feels great but I really have to go to bed.
I yawn so that he can tell me to go to bed if I want to. I mean he may be enjoying this as much as I am and leaving him might be a little rude.

He does not say anything, instead, he moves the hand that was caressing the pillow and touches my hand with it. He starts caressing on my hand and immediately kisses my forehead, twice, and tells me that he loves me.
Yeah I know you do but I really need to go to sleep now, and I love you too, I want to say.

I yawn again, louder this time but he still isn't triggered.

"Honey, I am very tired. I'm going to bed." I finally get the courage to say.

"But you are in bed." He tells me and kisses my forehead once again.

"Really funny Chris. My own bed." I say.

"Well, I was also thinking..." He pauses.
Oh no, he is not asking me to move in now is he?

"You could move into the main bedroom."
Yes he did. I am speechless. Honestly, I do not think I am ready to sleep on the same bed as him.

I could think of millions of reasons as to why I should not sleep on the same bed as him.
One, he smells nice. Two, I feel safe around him. Three, I love the sound of his heartbeat. Four, this bed is comfortably soft. Five, he's a peaceful sleeper and six he...
Wait, I've been mentioning all the good things about moving in here. Okay let me try again, I am mentioning all the reasons I should not move into the main bedroom. One, yea I got nothing.
I guess I should move in.

"I'll move in on Monday." I say.

"Today?" He says.

"Sunday," I try to negotiate.

"Today." He still stands on his word.

"Tomorrow?" My voice is softer and I move my face to look at him.

"Fine. Goodnight." He pouts.

"You look cute when you're mad." I tease him.

"Whatever." He shares a laugh with me.

What did I do to deserve such love?