Broken

*13*

Mo got out of bed feeling bloated with a heartburn. She remembered that her gynecologist had told her not to take any meds that were not prescribed so she was stuck feeling this way for the next couple of hours. Thabile had left earlier in the day and Rea had followed suit which left her with the house all to herself.

As she was preparing herself some lunch, the doorbell rang and she answered only to see Thabile and Tebatso at her doorstep with some wrapped gifts.

"It's not my birthday," she quickly said as she smiled. "What are we celebrating?"

Thabile gently pushed her aside to let herself and Tebatso into the house. "I can't believe you didn't tell me! I thought I was your best friend!"

"Tell you what?" Mo said as she stared at Tebatso who shrugged in an 'I don't know anything' manner.

"Imagine my surprise when I get to the gyne and she asks me how your pregnancy is coming along! Bish!" Thabile was almost ready to burst with excitement. "Our first child! Congratulations! And welcome to the mom's club!"

Mo felt relieved. She thought Thabile wouldn't be so excited about the fact that she was carrying Rea's baby after what he had put her through but this was a nice surprise.

"Look!" Thabile said as she began to tear the paper off the gifts as Tebatso and Mo laughed. "We got our little one in there gifts! Baby clothes!" She held up and striped sky blue and white jumpsuit. "I can't wait for him or her to be here! Do you know the gender yet? Have you set appointments with the doctors? What kind of delivery do you want? Water or hospital or-"

"Don't overwhelm her," Tebatso gently laughed as he put his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. "Anyway, Mo, congratulations and we should go out to celebrate."

"Of course we are going out!" Thabile said with a broad smile. "We are having our first baby with Mo. Just remember that you are not allowed any alcoholic beverages."

Mo groaned.
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Thabile had left earlier from the fancy restaurant and she had tasked Tebatso with getting Mo home safe because it was getting late into the night. It had been a wonderful time with the couple for Mo and she was so happy at the end of the dinner that she was going to tell Rea the news. Whether he would be pleased or not was not any of her business because she could take care of the baby on her own if he didn't want it but at least she would have done her duty in informing him.

She was in high spirits as Tebatso came over to the passenger side and opened the door for her once he had pulled into her driveway.

She laughed. "I see chivalry isn't dead."

"Oh what can I say? I'm a gentleman like that." He helped her out of the car with a grin. "So..." Tebatso took out a small box from his pocket and looked at Mo. "I'm thinking of proposing to Thabile and I bought a ring."

Mo squealed with excitement as Tebatso opened the box to show her the ring. "Oh my goodness! She's gonna be so pleased. It's absolutely beautiful!"

"I don't know the size of her finger so I was wondering if you could just trick her into trying this on before I pay the full price for it just to make sure that it fits."

"We're the same size!" Mo said excitedly.

"Great! You should try it on!" Tebatso went down on one knee and looked up at Mo who was laughing warmly. "Let's just pretend you're Thabile. Here goes nothing. Thabile my love, will you please marry me?"

Mo jumped up and down happily, pretending to be an overjoyed Thabile. "Yes! Yes! I will marry you, oh Tebatso my love." Tebatso laughed as he fit the ring to Mo's finger. It was the perfect fit and Mo admired the ring with blushes. "Thabile is gonna be so happy!" she whispered in awe.

But Thabile's face was wet with tears as she turned her car around and drove back down the street. She couldn't believe that Tebatso and her best friend would do that to her especially when she was so ready to give everything to him. He proposed to her best frien and the bitch said yes! The baby she was carrying was probably even his! Those two lying and scheming rats! She screamed and cried as she drove away.

She drove straight to the high cost housing at Masowe 2 in Ha-Thetsane where she proceeded to park her car in the street and walked up the walk way to the big double Storey with its huge front oak doors. She rang the doorbell while she thought about how she had promised herself that she would never do what she was about to do right now but she didn't know any other way of dealing with her grief. He was like her drug-bad for her but leaving her begging for more.

The door was opened by a shirtless Rea who looked like he had been asleep. "Thabile?" he said groggily. "What are you doing here so late?"

"He's cheating on me! And he's getting married!" Thabile cried.

Rea pulled her into his arms while she sobbed and closed the door after letting her in. She looked so sad and hurt. Something tugged at his heart. "What happened?"

"I can't-I can't... " Thabile launched herself on him and kissed him passionately. He didn't question anything as she straddled him and began unbuttoning her blouse. His hands automatically did what they knew best and Thabile switched off the light, enveloping them in darkness.

When they had regained their energy, Rea turned to Thabile. "What happened? Why were you crying?" he asked her as he brushed through her weave with his fingers.

She was about to answer him when her phone rang and she answered without looking at the caller ID. It was Mo calling.

"Hey. I just wanted to thank you for tonight. It was great what you and Tebatso did for me. I was so sad that you had to leave so early but I arrived home safe. Thank you babe."

Thabile cursed inwardly. "I had fun too. Look, I'm so tired, can we talk tomorrow?"

"OK. Goodnight," Mo said cheerfully.

Thabile placed her phone on the side table then turned back to Rea who was staring at her with a smile. "You were saying?"

"I have something to tell you," Thabile said as she sat up. She looked at Rea. "Aphiwe...my daughter... Do you know her?"

"Yeah. Cute little thing. What with her?"

"um...remember the first time we did this? When Mo was away on that conference in Dubai...I fell pregnant that night."

Rea stared at her in confusion. "You mean to tell me that...that Aphiwe is mine?"

Thabile nodded and stood up. "I thought you should just know. Anyway, this was nice while it lasted and goodnight." She grabbed her clothes and put them on.

Rea was beyond shocked. And so was Mo on the other side of the phone which she had accidentally left switched on instead of dropping the call which was why she had heard everything.