S’bu woke up with a bad headache but the pain in his heart was much worse. He had planned his whole future around Thandi. All this time he thought they were on the same page. How could he be so wrong? Even now, he could not imagine being with anyone else but her. He wondered if Thandi had future plans that didn’t include him. If she had someone else she would rather be with. All this thinking made his headache worse. He took painkillers and slept until midday. He got to work in the afternoon in a foul mood and wondered why his subordinates were staring and whispering behind his back. He got his answer when he got to his office and saw the newspaper article. The headline was ‘Power couple breaks up’ , under those words was a photo of him and Thandi. He cursed out loud and smashed a glass that was on his desk against the wall, breaking it into tiny pieces. He drank too much last night and ended up posting details about his breakup on social media, now it was breaking news on

Thandi had left the city and switched off her phone to avoid the parade by S’bu and his friends. She had initially planned to stay away for few days and go back to serve her 30 days notice at JC. However, she felt a lump on her left breast when she was taking a shower and decided to have it checked. She had checked her breasts for lumps every month and screened for breast cancer every year ever since her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her heart was pounding by the time she got to the hospital. This was her worst nightmare, with her family history she was sure that it was cancer. In the hospital she was assessed by the Doctor, her blood was  taken and was asked to come back the following day for her results and have her breast scanned. She went back to the hotel terrified. After extending her stay with the receptionist she went straight to her room and couldn’t help imagining the worst. She came here to clear her mind and

When Thandi was alone, she went through everything in her head. So much had happened in just a month. Few days ago she was sure that it was over between her and S’bu and was making plans to move on with her life. A lot of girls hated her and she always believed that it was because he was hooking up with them. She had long made peace with the fact that no matter how much she loved him, there was no way she was ever going to be tied to an unfaithful man for the rest of her life. She was shocked to learn that they have been married for almost three years and he had been faithful to her since. On a normal day, she would have been angry with him for keeping the truth from her, but she almost died and was grateful to be alive. When he walked in to see her today, she realised how much she had missed him, how stupid their fight was and how much she longed for his touch. The next few days she started feeling like herself again and Doctor

Thandi was feeling less emotional, gained her strength and weight everyday. Her breast became fuller and her skin was glowing. S’bu found his wife irresistible and became worried that he won’t be able to restrain himself and feared hurt his baby. He had initially thought Thandi would stop him but he soon found out that while some women wanted nothing to do with their husbands during pregnancy, some became more attracted to them and Thandi was in the later group. He decided that is was safer if they slept in different bedrooms. When they went to see Dr Dube again, their baby was now twenty weeks and growing well. S’bu couldn’t believe it when she  told them that making love would not hurt the baby in any way. That was an old myth that unfortunately most people still believed. As long as Thandi was comfortable and willing they were free to love each other.

Thandi arrived at her village very tired. She was greeted by her family and neighbours who were so excited about her wedding and could not stop ululating. This was what she loved about village life, the whole village celebrated your success because they all played a part in raising you. Everyday married women came to advise her on how to be a good daughter-in-law and how to respect and take care of her husband. She thought some advices were outdated and made her more like a slave than a wife but she appreciated the intent and knew that it came from the right place. These women were like Mothers to her and they wanted her to have a good marriage. A day before the wedding was the bridal gift day. Her whole village came in numbers to give her gifts for her new home as that was their custom. Some gifts were small, others big but Thandi was very humbled by the generosity. They all knew that her husband was rich and didn’t need anythi