Arriving at Mimi’s school, I found her and some girls gathered around in a circle. I turned up the music so that I would get their attention. I wanted to make my baby the envy of the township; girls were crazy about boyfriends with cars. When she saw it was me, she was puzzled at first. But then she said goodbye to her friends and approached the car. I was out of the car in no time to give her the chocolate box that I had bought. I could read envy written all over her friends’ faces.

“Hey love. I still feel the need to say sorry for all the heartbreak and pain that I caused you,” I said planting a kiss on her forehead and handing her the chocolates.

I could tell she wanted to say something, but decided against it. Instead she gave me a very tender kiss.

“I love you, babe,” she said with her soft voice.

“I love you more my love. Now, I’d love to take you somewhere. That is, if you don’t mind.”

“I see you are full of surprises today,” she responded, revealing her dazzling smile.

She looked very puzzled when we parked by the surgery, just opposite the plaza.

“Okay babe, now I’m confused. What are we doing here?”

“We are here for our baby’s very first scan.”

“Oh my God babe! Why didn’t you tell me? Oh god. I…are you sure?” she asked, her eyes shining with tears.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my whole life. Come let’s go…before I change my mind.”

I got out of the car and then opened the passenger door for her. We walked hand in hand into the surgery. Mimi couldn’t stop giggling and whispering in my ears. We took a seat on one of the patient’s benches, waiting for our turn to consult with the doctor. Just then, I saw her, my worst nightmare come true.

Hazel, that witch of hook-up, was looking at us with so much hatred and evil in her eyes that I swore she would kill us with her stare. She sat a few chairs away from our bench and I could see tears shining in her eyes. I told myself that she meant nothing to me; what she and I had was a thing of the past. She needed to move on with her life and stop being so bitter. I was not going to entertain her evil looks, nor was I going to let a special day with my love be ruined by her. So I sat there, ignoring her evil gaze, whispering sweet nothings into my baby’s ear. I told her that maybe we could catch a movie afterward and she glowed with glee at the thought. It was such a relief when Hazel disappeared through the surgery doors. I was surprised at how mature she had been. I mean, the Hazel I know would have created drama from the moment we walked in.

When it was our turn to see the receptionist to explain the reason for our visit, Hazel went past us with a bag of medicine in her hand. As I paid for the consultation, she stopped and grabbed Mimi by the hem of her skirt and said, “I don’t know what you gave him, but you are lucky he chose to take you to the doctor, while some of us have to go for baby scans alone.”

I pushed her away from my baby. I was more pissed by the kinds of things she was saying than her grabbing Mimi. “Hey, hey! I told you a long time ago. I know nothing about that thing you call your baby, and don’t you ever grab my baby like that in public. You hear me?” I shouted.

“I wonder if your Sugar Mama even knows you are here,” she responded spitefully.

“And I wonder if your baby daddy knows you keep accusing other people of making you pregnant. Go look for your baby daddy and stop being such a nuisance. Babe let’s go. Don’t let desperate people like her get to you. I don’t know why other people are so bitter.”

Once in the consultation room, I could sense a little tension between Mimi and I. I felt like crying. I desperately needed this day to be very special for her. I needed her to know that I loved her no matter what. I needed her to know that she was my one and only. Why did Hazel have to appear out of the blue and ruin it for us? But once the baby, our baby, appeared on the screen, Mimi started smiling, laughing, and crying all at the same time.

The doctor said she was just five weeks pregnant. There wasn’t much to see, but the little heartbeat was very strong and we couldn’t help but melt at the sound of it. The doctor showered me with praises for being such a responsible father at my age. She warned me not to stress Mimi and gave her some vitamins to take home. Even after the Hazel drama we still walked hand in hand to the car. And that’s when she decided to give me a piece of her mind.

“Ke gore wena o nagana gore ke setlaela ne, you must really think I’m a fool neh?”

“Babe please, I’m sorry…”

“Okay, what are you apologising for? Tell me what you are apologising for then if you are not taking me for a fool?” she spat in my face.

“Mimi, Hazel is just jealous. Can’t you see that?”

“Oh? And this car?” she asked, ready to open the door.

“I think I made myself clear about the Julia matter,” I said.

“Oh you did…right. Does that mean you have to pick me up in her car? Hmm? I’m asking you Thapelo, so answer me dammit!”

“No, okay. I’m sorry. All I wanted was to spoil you love. Can’t you see that?”

“Take me home Thapelo. I said take me home, NOW!”

I drove off alright, but I wasn’t going to take her home…not yet. I didn’t care if she strangled me. I planned to make the day special for her and that was exactly what I was going to do.

As we left the doctor’s office, I turned to head into town rather than taking Mimi to her place. Once she realised where we were headed, she started going off on me, but I didn’t let her yelling bother me. I just turned up the music and kept my head high, as if she wasn’t shouting at me at the top of her lungs. In the end, she got tired and kept quiet.

I parked at the mall, very pleased with myself, knowing that even after all we’d been through today we would both look back to this day and laugh it off.

“So…we are here love,” I said.

“I told you to take me home,” she shouted at me.

“But I told you that I wanted to make this day special…and I meant it.”

“Well it’s not special. Take me the hell home! You know what, never mind. I’ll just take a taxi, ‘cause this car makes me sick anyway.”

Mimi just didn’t seem to get it. I was going to make her see how much I loved her…no matter what.

***

Tell us what you think: Thapelo seems to keep messing things up with Mimi over and over again. Do you think he’ll be able to sweet-talk himself out of this mess again?