She smiles again. She’s always happy whenever she’s around me. I make her happy.
Ever since we’ve met, I’ve always called her “mummy.” Isn’t she mummy? She cares for me, just like my mother. She does things, she is not obligated to. She scolds me when necessary, and serves as a rim behind me, to do what is right.
“Kenneth,” she calls me out of my thought. “Yes love,” I answered immediately. I didn’t want her to ask me about my deep thoughts. No. I don’t lie to her. I’m glad she didn’t notice.
“I saw your Nephew, yesterday. Junior is his name, right? The boy looks so much like you.”
I belched aloud at the statement. I just have to keep up my pretense.
“Yes,” I replied. “He’s my nephew of course.”
“I wonder who our first child will take after. If it’s a boy, you but if she’s a girl, me”.
“What if either of them takes after me,” I winked, trying to keep up with the moment.
I reach for her lips and kiss her slowly. She kisses me back. I try not to touch her in sensitive places. We have not had sex since we began our relationship, a year and half ago. We don’t intend to, though she sings of how much she’ll enjoy it, in marriage. We’ve made it a goal. We disengage our lips. She looks at me and smiles.
“I love you, very much,” I said.
Those words took a lifetime to say. I feel it’s dishonest. If I tell her the secret, it’s going to ruin her love for me. She’ll get hurt. I don’t want her to.
“Back to our talk, before you interrupted me with your sweet lips. Well, I don’t mind if my kids take after you. You are a handsome young man, you know.”
That is it. She thinks about me first. She’s never selfish. She just wants me to be happy. I’m not going to hold back the truth from her anymore.
”Mummy, I have something to tell you. It’s something I have been keeping away from you.”
“You have a secret?”
“I won’t lie to you anymore. I just have to tell you. I…. I…. I… “I begin to startle.
She moves closer and kisses me lightly on the forehead, “it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. I broke your trust.”
I didn’t know when I started shedding tears. She becomes scared. She has never seen me cry before.”
“Kenneth, come on. You don’t have to go through all this. You don’t have to tell me, if it hurts so much. Whatever you might have done, must have been a mista……”
“I’m impotent”. I cut her short. “I can have erection and can make love to a woman, but I am sterile. I just have to let you know. I don’t want our marriage to be filled with regrets. I prefer to let you know.”
She begins to sob quietly. Then it increases. She gasps, breathing loudly. I try to hug her but she pushes me aside.
“Kenneth, why? Why did you deceive me for so long? You are a cheat and a liar. We talked about kids, dreams, yet, you never told me.”
“If I had told you earlier, you would have left, who would want to stay without kids in marriage, Sheryl.”
“I can’t remain with you now either. Bye Kenneth”. She storms out of the room in tears.
“Mummy, please wait. Sheryl, Sheryl… ”
…
I feel a hand shaking me vigorously. It’s my wife. I’ve been dreaming.
“Honey, why were you screaming my name in tears, in your sleep? Bad dream?”
I rub her cheek, gently and kiss her forehead.
“Mummy, how can I ever repay your love and loyalty? You stood by me, though you knew what was in store”.
She smiles sheepishly.
“My dear, I saw there was nowhere else to go. You had the best qualities. You stood by me despite my trials, and you helped me bear my problems. Men like you are scarce.”
“How do you know that? You have only dated me.”
“Kenneth, I don’t want to find out. I’m content with y… ”
She couldn’t finish the statement because of the noise from the kitchen. We both jump and run towards the kitchen only to find our two kids trying to prepare breakfast.
Wait… Did I say kids? ‘But Kenneth is sterile’ is what’s on your mind, right now. I guessed right. How come we have kids? Well, it’s a mystery we can’t explain either…
