𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲'𝘀 𝗣.𝗢.𝗩
Like it has been the past four years I'd watch the sun rise and the sun go down behind the horizon, and throughout the day I'd be busy either at the dog pound or at the old age home or meeting with the other surrogates for a little chat and drinks which were always boring if you ask me, if the topic wasn't about their mothers then it's their fathers or the sisters or even worse their brothers. Buntu (Nobuntu) is the one who brings the gossip, Maegan is the serious one,Kate is the crazy one and oh not to forget Erin the love sick puppy of the group and also the fake Cupid of the group...I chose to rather chill with them instead of the others mainly because they are not snobs they're cool,calm and collected not to forget that they are not fake plus they have morals the only thing that makes us different is that I don't have a family and I Changed my name . I love Buntu's confidence, she doesn't let people treat her like sh*t all because she's African she stands up for herself, she's unique in every way and she's Strong;All she wants is to be happy. Meagan being miss serious she's always serious and always lectures us about being serious and she hides her emotions well around others but when she's around me she tries to talk about her life but we get interrupted. Kathryn (Kate ) she's a man Hunter,drinks like her life depends on it but when she's Pregnant we make sure that she doesn't touch alcohol. She's a party animal and her mood is always on high pitch, she's a sucker for dangerous situations. Erin thinks love is the 'it' thing in life while we constantly tell her that love is not everything but her being Cupid in the group she never listens.
I don't get why people these days don't understand that love doesn't exist. These days love is just a word with no meaning. Erin wants to stop being a Surrogate as soon as she's done with her degree and she wants to find a job, buy a house and a car then star dating hopefully get married to the guy and start a family. At the moment I'm to the agency house, there's a place where we can sit,chat and dine I'm meeting with the girls. "Hey guys" I greeted taking a seat next to Buntu , "you're on time?! now that's a first" Kate says taking a sip on her smoothie " Hai wena shut it, Hello Jane how are you today girl" Buntu says with her always happy tone "hey" Maegan and Erin say almost at the same time "Maegan can we talk after this group chat thingie we always have " I say "Buntu has news" says Kate rolling her eyes "doesn't she always" Erin says to Kate "well this time it's not small gossip or a rumour... remember Annabelle? the one who has a six years history with the agency?(we all nod curious)Well ladies mantombazane (meaning girls) Maureen found out about her studying to be a private investigator and she had an argument with Ann and Ann decided to resign then two weeks later, guess what she found on her door step yesterday?" Buntu says "a kinky gift or a bottle of champagne?" Kate says all giddy and we all look at her like she has grown horns but Kate bursts out laughing at god knows a serious moment "or maybe she found Maureen with a lawyer to tell her About a lawsuit" suggests Maegan in her boring serious tone. " or she found herself a hot new boyfriend " Cupid Erin say smiling "or she found a dead man on her door step" I say bored " No, you're all wrong she found all the six kids she surrogated with the couple's and they were returning the kids and Maureen was there with them smiling like she won the lottery" She says almost whispering, to say we were shocked would be an understatement. We were defeated to how low Maureen could step, isn't that impossible or illegal ? " so if I decided to quit being her surrogate she'd give me back all my four eggs or should I say kids?" Kate asks all kittish ,how I wish I could shut her up sometimes " isn't that illegal or impossible? how could the law allow that? or the couples? if it were me I'd she her till she's left with one pair of undies and the bra she's wearing and till she's as bald as they come" I say exasperated by Maureen's nerve. We continue chatting about Anne's situation.
"Maegan can you please come to my house later today?" Maegan nods hesitantly and gives a small smile. The problem with me is that I always try to read a person and today when I saw Maegan I knew she needed someone to talk to and I'm always there to listen and my dear Maegan knows . I just don't want her to turn into a replica of my inner soul. " so guys one must have a powerful family backing her from people like Maureen and Mrs Smith" Buntu says sounding sad? "who is this Smith person? who has ever seen her?" Maegan asks " Family is the most important group of people in your life" Erin states and I flinch at the word 'family' what is that? maybe I'm Asking this question because my 'family' was nowhere near to the definition of family, being told how to talk,eat,sit walk,smile,wear or react to certain things was one of the things I had to live with for twenty four years and watching my twin doing as she wants if I had something she didn't I had to give it up to her, be it friends or snacks or even boyfriends but when my 'family' ordered me to give up my fiance I knew that it was the last straw and I definitely had to go , I knew that the place named Barcelona was never meant for me I had leave and by leaving I mean leave everything even if it meant leaving the love of my life now I live with the fact that my fiance married my twin sister oh how nefarious she was and our mother was much more nefarious but my father was the worst father in the world and not to mention that stupid idiot I had as a brother who always doing what he's told to do even if he doesn't wanna do it.
It was yet another cold, silent evening in my house when I heard a knock on the door and figured it was Maegan, and indeed it was her so I let her in and we went to my small living area. "so... what did you want to talk about?" Maegan asks casually breaking the silence, " well, today I noticed that you looked like you needed someone to talk to, you do know that you can talk to me or the other girls, right?" I say calmly trying not to stress Maegan. "It's my father" she whispers and I almost not catch that part but I did, " your father? what about him?" I ask hoping it's not it is, hoping Maegan isn't like I was, she can't " it started when I was fourteen, when everybody was asleep he'd go to my bedroom and play with my privates while I'm asleep and I'd wake up catching him in the act and when he's finished with the touching he'd tell me not to tell anyone about it because they'd be jealous of me, all because he loves me more and I did exactly as told because he's my father and at the age of eighteen he...he" Maegan bursts into tears and I'm just shaking my head as my worst fear of someone else having experienced what I went through was coming true, somebody else was hurt the same as me by someone they trusted, their father " he forced himself on me and this continued for two more years and when I got fed up I told my family " she pauses to sneak out a bitter laugh " and my mother didn't even believe me, she just insulted me so much it hurt more than being molested by my own father, and now a year ago I found out that she actually knew all along about everything my father was doing but kept quiet because she was apparently scared of what he'd do" Maegan finishes, leaving me in tears " oh Maegan " I bring her in for a hug, "Maegan why don't you report him?" I ask "Because Jane, he's my father" she starts sobbing hard as hug her tightly " I can relate Mag, look you can stay here with me for as long as you want, just to stay away from him" I say wiping away her tears " you can relate? how?" Maegan suddenly perks up " I've been there, I've had my father do adult stuff to me," I say pushing back my tears " Maegan come live with me, get out of that house and get away from that man before you get hurt more than you already are, promise me you'll come here with your bags tonight " I state with a strict tone in my voice. " I can't come with everything they'll stop me, can I come with maybe five outfits?" I nod, because I don't care how many clothes she's able to carry as long as she's away from that dude then I'm okay.
It's been weeks since Maegan moved in with ne, it was hard at first. I was used to the silence and the comfort of being alone and she was also finding it hard staying with a person like me, a woman that has a strange habit of waking up in the middle of the night and check if all doors are locked and there's no one yet who has found out who she really is and then drinks milk and start eating. It's my daily routine, started off as paranoia until it became a habit.
The following day I get a call from my boss telling me to go in today as I've got a new job, someone wants a surrogate and since it's my job I had to go I'm no matter how much I didn't want to.