Trapped Inside the Family Box Read online

  Continuing to flick through clothes in the wardrobe, she asked, “How are the visitors, now that Mum is not home to welcome them?”

  “I used the escape door from the library.”

  Richie had walked the long corridor connecting the library with the family room of the north wing, a route reserved for emergencies.

  “Why?” She paused from pulling a blouse over her head.

  “It’s the first time our friends get to see us as parents. We must emerge as a family, the three of us,” he explained.

  Sophia’s dimples sank deeper. “That means I need to dress.” She lifted the blouse off her head and giggled as Richie tickled her exposed armpits. “Please stop. We’ll spend more time here and keep the visitors waiting,” she said amidst laughter.

  “They are our friends. Where else would they be hurrying off to?” he asked.

  “Can you imagine Monica and Christine away from the club on a Friday evening? Business would close for the day.”

  Richie chuckled, “Today will be different. I see them staying longer to admire you and the baby.”

  Her eyes darted from his face down to his feet. Even when Richie worked from home, he still dressed formally. Today, he was in black trousers and a white button-up shirt and he had rolled the sleeves up to the elbow. He would be out of place if the three women were dressed as usual, in the latest designer pieces.

  Sophia flipped through Richie’s side of the wardrobe and pulled out a gold and brown African print shirt. Turning to her side of the wardrobe, she pulled out a skirt and blouse of similar fabric and colours. She grinned, “How I wish we had matching clothes for the baby.”

  “Soon. Give yourself a few more years and we’ll have a line of kids, all dressed in uniform.” He smiled and winked at her.

  She stared and said, “You talk like babies are sold at a drive-through. You just pay and zoom out with a child in the back seat.” She watched as he unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his muscular chest.

  “I have a good idea of how tough the nine months, labour, and now, breastfeeding are.”

  Bare chested, he encircled his arms around her waist and pressed his face to the side of her neck. “I am proud and grateful to have you in my life. You are a strong woman.”

  Sophia wiped a tear from the side of her nose, balanced on her toes, and kissed him. “Thank you.” She’d recalled her ordeal in the labour ward.

  She picked up their clothes and stepped into the bedroom. “I will go wake the baby.”

  He held her hand, “What if we get ready first, go greet the visitors, then come for Sokoro when he wakes up?”

  She grinned, “You said three of us. I liked the picture. Let’s imprint it in the minds of our visitors.” She gave him the clothes she’d selected, slid on her blouse, and turned around for him to pull up the zipper for her. “Let’s arrive with the baby.”

  Sophia smoothed her blouse downwards to her skirt, designed tight at the hips before it flowed to just below her knees, making her look taller than her five-foot, seven inches. The blouse fell over the skirt at the waist to create the impression of a slimmer waistline, which she lacked, as her womb had not retracted. The embroidered collar extended halfway down to her breasts.

  Richie’s eyes followed her as she admired herself in the mirror near the bedroom door. He said, “That’s my beautiful wife, whatever time of day or month.”

  She made a face at him into the mirror, rolling her lips into a smooch and saw him wink back before he added, “The girl I prayed for, day and night, that God touch her to accept me.” He shuffled the few steps between them and smoothed a hand across her shoulders. “Are you ready to go?”

  “I wouldn’t know what to say if Monica proves true to her character,” Sophia said remembering an incident at the club when Monica and Christine first saw her pregnant. Teasing her, Monica had exclaimed that they had been highly active in bed.

  He lowered his eyes and made eye contact, “I trust you will have an appropriate response if Monnie goes that route. The language she understands best is a counter challenge.” He kissed her, held her hand, and they left the bedroom for the child’s nursery in the next room. Richie explained, “The best part is you have since become good friends with Monnie. Her wit at the club was her way to forge comradeship with you.”

  Monica’s family was the proprietor of a cargo and shipping business in Mombasa, though the family lived in Nairobi. Christine was a daughter of a politician/car-business owner in the city. Monica and Christine worked on and off at their family businesses, but Redempta worked as a full-time employee at her family business, Macharia Tours and Hotels — a chain of hotels in the country and beyond.

  Richie had literally grown up with Monica, attended the same kindergarten, and met at family gatherings. Of course, this was the reason he knew that Monica meant no harm. But he also knew that Sophia, having grown up in a rural village, was not familiar with the common jokes among kids from wealthy families, and she may have interpreted Monica’s words to have a different meaning.

  Sophia watched her baby sleeping in his cot. He had not changed his routine of sleeping during the day and staying awake in the night — a practice that bothered her, though Patience had explained the baby would change his sleeping pattern within two to three months.

  Sophia touched the baby’s forehead with the back of her hand and watched as he retracted his exposed hand into the blanket. She turned and saw Richie fetch the baby’s carrier — a padded oval-shaped bag made from cotton material with sponge-padding and sealed all around except for a wide opening at the top. He placed it on the baby’s dresser table just before Sophia lifted the baby and placed him in the carrier.

  They used the baby carrier whenever they brought him to a visitor. The thick padding helped protect the baby’s fragile body, in case the guest was unfamiliar with the proper way to support the back and neck of a newborn. Sophia lifted the baby and headed towards the door.

  Richie kissed the baby on the forehead, and then Sophia, before opening the door. The young family strode the long corridor of the north wing which was comprised of four bedrooms. Sophia led the way as they entered the adjoining family room and walked on, past the small and then larger dining rooms.

  Sophia and Richie were now side by side, visible to their visitors. They were the very picture Richie had envisioned, and Sophia had painted in her mind.

  Chapter 3

  It happened all at once. One could have assumed Monica, Christine, and Redempta had rehearsed. They rose, raising their glasses of juice as though some hidden machine had propped them out of their seats.

  A stranger would also have supposed they were auditioning for a fashion show, each striving to out-do the others in the now trending clothes. The women vied in height at five-foot-seven for Redempta and Monica, while Christine surpassed them at five-foot-eight.

  “Beautiful,” Christine said as she extended a hand to Richie who was busy motioning Sophia to a nearby seat. Sophia nodded a smiley greeting to the visitors before she sat.

  Instead of meeting the hand Christine extended in his direction in greeting, Richie pulled her into an embrace and smooched her on each cheek. “How have you been? Thank you for coming.” Next, he embraced Redempta, kissed her on the right and left cheek with similar words of welcome, and likewise reached for Monica.

  Pointing to Sophia’s direction, Richie said, “Meet my dear wife and our very first baby.”

  Monica sauntered across and reached Sophia. She kissed her on the cheek and said, “Congratulations again. It’s so different talking with you on the phone and meeting the real you after the ordeal.”

  Sophia chuckled and turned to receive pecks from Christine and Redempta who had arrived by her side.

  “Thank you for coming to visit with us,” Sophia said, looking from one to the next.

  “Is it okay if I touch him?” Redempta smoothed the back of her hand on the baby’s cheeks.

  Sophia nodded while saying, “The doctor keeps reminding us that visitors should wash their hands before they hold the baby. Do you know the reason?”

  Monica chuckled, “No way I can know about babies when all I have are older brothers and a sister.” She went to the dining room, washed her hands, and walked back as Redempta and Christine arrived at the sink.

  Richie gazed at Monica until she reached her chair. “Monnie, thank you again. We appreciate the good gesture of you coming to welcome our baby.” He turned to face Redempta and Christine as they sat down on the long sofa which ran across one side of the living room wall. “Your visit will make the baby grow faster, knowing there are many lovely faces around.”

  There was laughter from all of them.

  Monica lowered herself to a squat near Sophia and addressed the baby, “Baby, grow up fast. We are eager to introduce you to the clubs so you can fascinate girls as your father did.”

  Richie flicked his fingers into a sound. “That will be more entertaining if the girls are your daughters. You have about eighteen months if they are to be the right age for our son.”

  While they laughed, Sophia walked around the glass coffee table, reached Christine, and said, “Make yourself comfortable to hold the baby.”

  Christine held her hands out and received the baby while she called, “Monnie, please open the side pocket of my handbag, and give me the addressed envelope.”

  “Doing that will make your hands dirty, to hold the beibi,” Monica joked.

  “It is not proper to hold the baby without giving them a gift,” Christine explained. “Imagine the day he becomes my son-in-law, only to be told I never respected tradition when we first met,” she said as she cuddled the baby closer to her chest.

  “Christine,” Richie
called. “remember you have the baby in your hands and you’re laughing that loud, and…” He stopped talking and watched as the baby’s eyelids flipped open and closed, open and closed before he let out a sharp cry which startled everyone except Sophia who said, “He woke up, which means he likes you.”

  Monica passed the envelope to Christine. “The baby is telling you there was something you had promised to give him.”

  Christine took the envelope and waved it near the baby’s face, “Here, young man, a small gift from your auntie. No, from your future mother-in-law.”

  Monica stood and took the baby from Christine. “Come. Don’t get attached to Christine. She does not want little cuties like you.”

  “Shhy,” Redempta shushed. “We are here to help babysit, not to introduce club issues.”

  Sophia glanced at Richie and back to the baby. “Sokoro, you are loved. A card from Christine, another card from Monica, and now Redempta’s gift being pushed into your small hand.” Sophia extended a hand and received the three envelopes, which she opened.

  After a long pause while she read the handwritten messages, she said, “Thank you for the very touching words.” She gave the first card to Richie and read the second one and exclaimed, “Wooi, thank you for the gift cards; gives me a reason to visit Watoto R Us.”

  It had been a while, months, since Sophia was at the renowned baby store. She had visited three times in October to window-shop. But before she could write a shopping list for the baby, one Friday evening, she arrived home to find a team from the store had come in with a vanload of baby items and transformed Richie’s childhood bedroom into a perfect nursery. She had then spent the month of December visiting the room to familiarize with and learn the correct uses of the different items.

  “Nice messages,” Richie said as his eyes darted from Redempta to Christine and Monica. “Please give us a chance to bring you such beautiful cards by making babies of your own.”

  “Making our own babies will take long,” Monica said while looking at Sophia before she turned her attention to Richie. “Perhaps not too long, seeing how fast you guys did it.” She chuckled, “We saw you three times at the club, then you got married. Saw you twice, then you were pregnant. Now we see you holding a baby, a real human.”

  When the laughter subsided, Sophia said, “Thanks Monica for the well wishes. We have no reason not to have more babies, soon.”

  Richie clapped his hands into a sound, startling the baby awake. “Sorry son,” he said as he placed his right hand on his chest, near the heart. “I have nothing to add. My wife has represented my thoughts well.” He kissed Sophia before walking over to Redempta and receiving the baby. “To celebrate, come to the dining table.” Richie had heard the ‘ndeee’ bell which was used to alert family members whenever a meal was ready on the table.

  He placed the baby on Sophia’s lap, left for the family room, and returned carrying the baby’s car carrier which he placed on a nearby sofa. It had become a recent addition to the dining room whenever Sophia needed to eat. He lifted the baby out of the cloth-padded carrier and placed him into the more convenient car one, aware at least three pairs of eyes were staring.

  “People learn fast. Who would guess that Richie would ever be so fatherly, parentally, if that word exists?” Monica asked.

  Satisfied the baby was lying well, Richie hoisted himself up to his full six-foot, one-inch frame, and made eye contact with Monica. “Ask my wife what else am good—” He paused and zipped a finger across his mouth, indicating to the rest to stop talking before he called out, “Hello Mum, welcome back. We have important guests in the house.”

  Patience, who had entered the house through the kitchen and was now approaching the dining room, waved, “Hello Monnie, Tina, and Red. Welcome. Nice to see you.” He patted their shoulders, from one to the next.

  They each acknowledged the greeting by waving back.

  Patience reached the side of the sleeping baby, bent, and kissed him on the forehead. “Let’s hope he wakes up before the visitors leave.” She chuckled, “He has this habit of sleeping through a visit and wakes up after the visitors leave. He sleeps better when there’s noise around him.”

  Patience cast her eyes back to the group at the dining table, “Enjoy one another’s company. I will join you after a short while. She walked away, towards her bedroom on the west side of the living room, past a long corridor where an office and their suite were located.

  “No offence meant if you don’t find us,” Christine raised her voice for Patience to hear. She added, “It’s Friday.”

  Chapter 4

  Six weeks since Sophia’s delivery, Patience accompanied her to her doctor for a postnatal review. Upon their return home, they sat at the dining table for evening tea while the baby slept nearby in a portable crib.

  “The doctor was interested to know if I am still breastfeeding,” Sophia broke the ensuing silence. “Are there mothers who stop so early, less than two months?”

  “It depends on one’s circumstances, or choice. You can breastfeed as long as you want,” Patience answered.

  Sophia rubbed her hands together, smiled and said, “The doctor said if I had stopped breastfeeding, then I would need a family planning method.” She lifted her cup of hot chocolate closer to her mouth but did not sip. Instead, she asked, “Is it not fantastic that one gets a natural protection from pregnancy, by just breastfeeding? Another of nature’s wonders.”

  “Mmhhh.” Patience agreed before she asked, “How are your siblings. Have you talked with them of late?”

  Sophia realized Patience did not wish to engage in a topic that she should reserve for her friends, not her mother-in-law. She said, “They are fine — back to school for the new school year. Joy still works with the construction company, now as a full-time employee. Silas is in third year of university, and Kevin is a freshman at university. I reminded our two younger brothers, Charlie and Babu, to study hard. Then, they can come to the city for their university education.”

  “They can come visit during their April school holidays.”

  “It will take a lot of convincing for our parents to permit that. Dad believes the boys will not work hard at school if they get used to city life.”

  Patience laughed as she refilled her teacup from a flask.

  Seeing how focused Patience was, Sophia moved closer to the baby and touched his forehead. “Time to wake up. Otherwise, you won’t have any sleep during the night.”

  “Does he still wake up during the night?”

  “Not much, but I check on him many times. The only problem is Richie wakes up whenever I do.”

  “Fatherhood. That should be okay, so he doesn’t think childcare is easy,” Patience said, smiling.

  Sophia appeared concerned, “He needs to sleep through the night since he goes to work.”

  “The baby will soon fall into a routine. Is the milk enough or should we introduce him to porridge?”

  Sophia supported her breasts with one hand and shook them. “He gets enough. Sometimes I imagine he wakes up because he is alone in the nursery.”

  “Really?”

  “I read somewhere that babies can sense when they are alone. I will bring him to our room when we move to our house.”

  “Stay here until he’s two years; more so if you plan to return to work in January.”

  Sophia laughed. “After two years, he will be three and going to Kindergarten.”

  “That would still be okay. Just stay.”

  Sophia noticed Patience was not happy that they were thinking of moving. She smiled at her mother-in-law, “Mum, you have spoiled us, especially me. I have not managed a house for my family. We will still visit, and we’ll come for sleep-overs on some days.”

  Sophia wished she could tell Patience that she was willing to stay on, but Richie wanted them to move. To her, living with Patience would enable her to return to work without worry. She could go to work knowing her child was cared for by his grandmother. She could even go on international travel as part of her role as a personal assistant to Michael, Richie’s eldest brother.

  Toying with the handle of her cup, she said, “We will bring the baby for an overnight stay on some weekends.”