The Other Brother

My mother is in-between her legs instructing her on how to breathe. I can't have my mother looking at my food.
“Mama. You can't look at her.”
“Do you want Ten to be out or not?"
I chuck. Okay, so now my baby is Ten. I kneel next to my wife and hold her hand. She is cursing and screaming her lungs out.
“Get it out!” She begs.
It is difficult, but at times, I have had the supernatural clarity of realization that I cannot do everything for everyone all the time and that, sometimes, the best thing that I can do is be present and supportive. It's difficult to fight my natural urge to jump in and take over, to get something done quickly.
“I want you to give it your all and push for the best. I can see the head.”
She has been seeing the baby's head for the past fifteen minutes. I don’t trust her birthing skills, but I trust her grand parental skills.
“Can’t you pull the baby out?" I mean, I am sure there could be a way. "I think we should take her to the hospital."
“You are a waste of breath. Just shut up.” She opens my wife's legs even wider. I want to see but she is preventing me to. She finally gives her all and gives the final push. Something splashes on the floor and my mother catches the baby before it could even slip on the floor. I gasped in shock. Tiny cries. How am I feeling? Confused, scared and tired. It’s a feeling of utter emotional chaos; exhilaration, anxiety, happiness, exhaustion, and pride. I don't know which one comes first or in what order. But they are all in the list of my emotions. She cuts the umbilical cord first then wipes her clean and wraps the baby with the towel. She hands me the baby.
“What must I do with it?” I ask.
“Hold her. You need to bond with your child. You will have an unbreakable bond. Your father held you the minute you were taken out of me and your bond is magnificent.” She tells me. I waste no time and stretch my hands out.
I am proud of myself for not instantly breaking this child. Look at me… been holding her for a full minute and she is still not broken. Now two minutes… Now three… I am a proud father.
This woman my hero. Words cannot describe the wonder of watching your children come into the world and the heartache of seeing your lovely wife endure such difficulty. It’s heart-breaking in every way! She is so much stronger than I am and I just admire her so much. She was worried that after all that mayhem and blood and, yes, poop, and the harsh reality of what childbirth is, that I would not feel the same about her.
"Thank you for giving me such a great gift. You have made my life complete. I love you." I assure her. She should take the doubts out of the window. I'm complete with her. What else can a man want.
"I'm trying my best."
She is not trying her best. She is the best of the best. We wait for the ambulance to arrive. The baby looks healthy and strong. I just pray there are no complications down there.
"It takes how long to have sex after giving birth?"
Her eyes stumble in shock.
"What? I'm just asking." I shrug my shoulders.

KHANYISILE

I don't know what a cheating husband is, but I think I'm experiencing one. Two fucken full days and he is not here! Whenever I think if this my blood boils. If he wanted to pull out he should have told me and me not going awol on me. Another thing Thabi has been giving me some weird vibes. Maybe it's me being in her father's house. Or maybe I'm taking much of her space.
"Are you okay?" I should be asking her not the other way around.
"I should be asking you. Are you okay? Have you heard from your husband?"
I shake my head no. "He will come around when he wants to. I'm not going to force him down my throat. I tried that for five years’ and it still didn't work."
I take a deep breath.
"What it he doesn't come back?"
"What do you mean by your question?"
She smiles nervously. "Forget I said anything." I just stare at her confused. "Where's your phone?"
I point it out on top of the bed.
"I just need it for a second." She tells me before grabbing my phone and walk out. Okay, that was wired but I pay no mind to it.

I need some sun. Only God knows what Thabi is doing on my phone. I find my father watching news. He quickly switches off the television and smiles. Why are these people acting weird towards me? They are giving me some vibe.
"Why did you switch the news off?" I ask. I wouldn't mind watching. I sit besides him.
"How are you doing?" I'm confused.
"I'm fine. What's wrong with you and your daughter?"
His laugh is not the laugh I know. Something is definitely up and I need to find what it is.
"Nothing. I want to stay in the house until the wedding has passed. No social media and television. You should practice doing wifely duties."
"Huh?"
"Khanyi. Khanyisa is burning!"
I stand up and rush to the bedroom
I will attend to my father later on. She is sleeping peacefully but yet her temperature is on sky rocket.
"I will take her to the doctor." I say already picking her up.
"No! I mean I will take her."
"Thabi. Do you have something to tell me?" I'm sick and tired of this.
"What! No."
She blows air. She picks Khanyisa and rushes out of the room. She closes the door and I hear the bedroom key click. Did she?
I rush to the door. It's locked. I bang the door. "Thabi! Open this door before I break it down."
"It's better this way. Trust me." She says. I here footsteps fading. The windows have burglars. I peep through the smalls spaces of the burglar. I see Manqoba driving out. When did he get here? My father is something else. Now I'm certain that there is something going on and it's something huge. I sit on the bed. I feel emotional. For the first time I miss Mkhuseli. I'm not okay. I take deep breath. I feel sleep clouding over. I trying opening my eyes but something pushes me to lay down. I want Khanyisa to find me wide awake.

"Mntanami." Says a soothing voice I'm familiar with. I turn around and find a beautiful woman staring at me.
"You again." I'm shocked but relieved at the same time.
"You need to be strong." She places her hand on my chest. She smiles. The other brother needs you." She let's go of my chest and smiles.
"You did your part. All is left is to be you."
"Who is the other brother you keep referring to?" I ask.
"You will soon find out." Behind her I see Mkhuseli. I smile. He waves at me.
"You made me happy. It's time for you to be happy too."
I just stare at him.
"Let's go home."
I grab his hand. There is no warmth in it. it's so cold."
"I am home." He looks around.
"I mean our home." I try pulling him but his hands slips.
"You still live here." He points his heart and leaves immediately.
"Mkhuseli!" He keeps walking with his head bowed down.
I wake up panting. I was only dreaming. I look the watch on the wall. It's afternoon. Something is moving around. I scan my eyes around. It's my wedding picture. It forcefully falls on the floor hitting the tiles. The glass scatters. I scream in horror. The door clicks open
My father comes in running. He doesn't ask questions. He looks at the picture on the floor.
"This doesn't look good at all. The ancestors have been angered." He sits on my bed and covers his face with his