Sipho

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was up with a breeze of cooling air. Thandi and Amahle were picking flowers in the garden when Thandi felt a sharp pain on her tummy.

“It’s the baby, isn’t? he is coming”Amahle said excited.

“Doctor Dube said I will feel some pains. Some times it is false labour, we will go to the hospital if it happens again”Thandi explained.

Few minutes later she felt a more severe pain. She crouched down holding her tummy, then she felt and saw the water going down her legs. “I’m in labour, go tell your Dad” Thandi said panicking.

Amahle dropped the flowers she had on her hands and ran to the house. “My brother is coming now”she shouted when she got into the house.

“What?”S’bu asked. He could not make out clearly what his daughter was saying. Amahle was breathless from running and excited at the same time.

“The water broke and Mom has pains. My brother is coming now!”Amahle shouted again. S’bu got out and ran to the garden. He saw his wife at a distance crouching down in pain. He ran as fast as he could towards her. “Hang in there baby”he said, picking her up and rushing back towards the house. Amahle was already waiting for them outside carrying Thandi and the baby’s bag.

“Doctor Dube is two hour away in Hope hospital but she said you must breathe when the pain comes and she will get to Fountain hospital as soon as she can. Uncle Menzi said he will meet us at the hospital. I have the bags here and I have sent Grany and Grandpa J, Grany D and Antie Mandy messages that you are in labour” Amahle said excited.

“Thank you sweetheart, you are the best” Thandi said lovingly,suppressing the pain on her tummy.

Menzi registered Thandi, booked a private ward and informed the midwives that she would be coming. Thandi was wheeled to maternity ward as soon as she arrived at Fountain hospital. S’bu, Menzi and Amahle waited outside while the midwives were assessing Thandi. Sister Duma was the midwife allocated to Thandi. She came out to inform them that Thandi was indeed in labour. “Doctor Dube has informed me that she is on her way. Mr Jobe is allowed to be inside with his wife through the whole process”she said.

“I am staying with Mom through the whole process too”Amahle said.

“Sweetheart you are too young to be in maternity ward”S’bu said.

“No, I am not. I have taken online lessons on how to take care of Mom during labour and I have a written permission to be with her from the hospital CEO” Amahle said showing her Dad the letter.

“Amahle, how did you even get hold of the hospital CEO?”S’bu asked amazed at his daughter’s dedication.

“I got his email address from his daughter at school”she said proudly.

“Let’s go in then”S’bu said conceding.

Inside Thandi’s ward, Amahle opened the baby’s bag and took out a small machine.

“What is that?”S’bu asked.

“It’s a labour TENS machine, it will help Mom with the pain”Amahle said.

Thandi laughed looking at Sbu’s expression. “I told you that she was smarter and matured for her age and you said I am biased”she said.

Every time Thandi had pains, S’bu would hold her hand and Amahle would move the TENS machine on her back to relieve the pain. Thandi was so grateful to have both of them by her side. ,Doctor Dube arrived to assess Thandi and was happy with both the Mother and the baby. Thandi’s contractions and the pains were becoming worse each time but there was nothing anyone could do. It was decided early in the pregnancy that she will not have any epidural to relieve her pain during labour because she previously reacted badly to the anaesthetic drugs and the Doctors did not want to take any chances. Hours passed, Thandi was now groaning in pain with sweat dripping from her forehead. S’bu felt so helpless watching her like that, all he could do was hold her hand and pray for their son to come soon. Just when Thandi thought she felt the worse pain there ever was, she started feeling like her insides were tearing up and her hip bones were shifting. She screamed so loud unable to hold it anymore. Sister Duma and Doctor Dube heard her scream and came rushing to her bed. “The head is coming, bring the trolley”Doctor Dube shouted after checking on Thandi.

Sister Duma rushed with the trolley, Thandi was told to push and before she knew it, her baby was born. S’bu was given scissors to cut the baby’s cord, separating the baby from the Mother. “Welcome to Earth, Sithole, Jobe, Phumela phandle ngoba kufudumele” S’bu sang his clan names proudly welcoming his son. “You shall be called Sipho, the gift” he added.

“Congratulations Mr and Mrs Dube, your son is perfect”Doctor Dube giving baby Sipho to Thandi to start feeding him. “Congratulations to you too big sister Amahle” she added.

“Thank you, If I don’t become a Quantum physicist like my Mom, I will be a Doctor like you”Amahle said proudly.

Thandi laughed, there was never a dull moment with Amahle.

“If you ever decide to become a Doctor, I will be there to guide you”Doctor Dube said kindly.

“I will take Sipho away now to give Thandi time to rest. It has been a long day for her, you should all let her rest now”Sister Duma suggested.

S’bu and Amahle left Thandi who was already dozing off and promised to come back in the morning. Baby Sipho was few hours old and already one of the most talked about baby on social media. S’bu had posted a photo of him on his social media account. The Jobe youth, his friends and cousins posted baby Sipho on their accounts welcoming him. He attracted a lot of attention because he was the future heir to the Jobe empire and JC was now the top company in the country. He was also a product of Thandi, a renowned Quantum physicist and S’bu, the best businessman there ever was.