The gynaecologist stops extremely close to his face, Dylan wants to take a step back but his legs fail him. He stands with an unease, firmly planting his feet into the ground so that when he gets with the bad news, he remains standing.

‘Mr Tembo, congratulations your wife and boys are stable, for now. They are in a really critical stage as you will appreciate considering the premature delivery. Mrs Tembo is still under anesthesia and we expect it to wear off in an hour. We are monitoring them for anything that may need immediate attention.

I suggest you go home and bring back a change of clothes for your wife and the stuff you had set aside for your kids. Get some rest and then we can give you a detailed medical report on all patients ’. With that he turns on his heels and takes gigantic steps in the opposite direction.

Dylan is left standing, one arm around Kupakwashe, with no one to ask if he can see either his wife or kids, he clearly knows he is not ready to. Especially with the panic rising inside of him at the realization that his kids do not have a single piece of clothing.  He looks at Kupa, she is fixated on some invisible object on the wall, biting her nails. Dylan has never seen her bite her always shortly clipped and clean nails.

‘Let’s go home.’ He squeezes her on the shoulders as they head out. They get home and both just collapse into their individual beds, grateful for a rest but harboring feelings of anxiety that threaten to steal the few hours of sleep afforded to them.

In the morning, Dylan does not need to ask to know Kupakwashe will not be going to school. She looks like someone who has been crying, he doesn’t think to ask as he makes a cup of strong coffee, all the while thinking of Tanya.

He sets about to pack Tanya’s clothes, pulling out one of the suitcases Tanya keeps in the closets. He is surprised to feel it’s weight that suggests there is something inside. Curious he lays it on the floor and opens it. Inside there is a lot of new born baby necessities. He is stunned, this is confirmation that Tanya knew about her pregnancy. In anger he closes the suitcase and gets up. He has a boiling need to know why she would keep this to herself. He kicks another suitcase packed near the mirrored door. It’s heavy and he knows, instinctively that it’s more baby clothes. He takes out all the bags, his curiosity proving more urgent than anger.

As he opens the third suitcase, he notices it is labeled ‘hospital’. He cannot help smiling, admiring how Tanya is always thoughtful, even if in this case it was in secret.

2 hours later, they are back in the hospital, Tanya is awake now. Her parents are in the tiny room, her father seated in a corner chair while her mother is inspecting every inch of the room, passing comments that are irritating Dylan.

‘Babies just need their mother, can you ask that girl to bring them so they can breast feed? I have given birth, some things don’t need degrees to work out’.

No one engages her in her quest to prove the doctors don’t know what they’re doing. Dylan just wants them to leave so he can talk to his wife. There is a foreboding fear that the kids might after not be his. Why wouldn’t a wife want to share the joy of expecting with her husband?

‘Baba’, Tanya’s voice is weak , she is in pain. ‘May I please have time to speak to my husband.’

‘Of course’. Tanya’s father gets up and firmly grabs his wife’s arm to lead her outside before she can protest. There is an coldness in the room with the 2 left alone.