Redemption: (Dark Desires Book 3) (8 page)

“You mean the guy we went over
to meet with for Sunday lunch a few months back?”

“Yes, the very one.”

“I think he’s cool,” said
Mandla with a shrug wondering what had happened that had turned his usually
affable girlfriend against the dude. “When’s the wedding?”

“Today. And you’re coming
with.” Natasha walked into her bedroom to find an outfit for the ill-fated
occasion. She wanted to be supportive of Valerie, but when it came to Vladimir
and what he’d put her through, even if he was indirectly involved, she just couldn’t
find it in her to encourage her best friend’s relationship. Anybody who knew
the truth would feel the same way.

Had Valerie thought through
what she was doing by making a commitment of this magnitude to him legally? Her
mind raced a mile a minute as she rummaged around in her closet and debated on
what she should or shouldn't say at her best friend's wedding. The irony of the
situation would have been funny, considering the movie she had been watching a
few minutes ago, had there not been a rape in this fairy tale. Natasha shook
her head to rid any negative thoughts. She wouldn't ruin this day for Valerie.
Instead, she looked for something old, something new, something borrowed and
something blue. If he hurt her after this, all bets were off.

Their
wedding ceremony was a small, quick affair. At Valerie’s request, they had
found a priest who officiated over their union. The bureaucracy that followed
afterwards was more complicated. Since Vladimir was a Russian citizen marrying
a South African national, he had to complete a series of forms. Natasha and
Mandla signed the marriage register as the witnesses, and the couple was issued
their marriage certificate.  Vlad and Val were now man and wife.

Mandla,
the priest and the court official were the only people who had given him their
congratulations. As for Val’s best friend, well she hadn’t said much. He
considered it a blessing. When Valerie had told him that Natasha would be
present, he was convinced that she'd talk his angel out of the marriage. He was
grateful for the young woman’s compliance. Valerie was now irrevocably his.

Vladimir
took the vows he had said seriously. He would protect his wife till death
parted them. Knowing that this was probably not how she had imagined her
wedding day would turn out, he wanted to make the rest of the nuptials special
for her. He would take her on a honeymoon. They could go anywhere her heart
desired. One thing he did want to do was officially introduce her to his
brothers, Andrei and Raven. They would have a hard time believing he was a
married man unless they saw it for themselves.

In
bed that night, he wrapped his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss on her
forehead. “Where would you like to go for your honeymoon Mrs Branza?”

Mrs
Branza. That was her new surname. Valerie was no longer a Thusi. She felt
strange hearing him say it and the fact that she'd only learned her husband’s
surname earlier that day was a testament to all the other details of his life
that he kept hidden. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it."

“How
about we start in Romania? I want you to meet Raven and his family. Then we can
go to Russia. We have a home there, and you will meet my other brother, Andrei.
I must warn you that he’s a bit of an idiot. You met them on the plane when we
left Saudi, but that was not the best of times to get to know them.”

Shit!
She had completely forgotten the whole family aspect in their rush to the altar
followed by the admin at the courthouse. What would she tell her mother who
she'd promised to call every day? Today she had purposely turned off her cell.
There was no way she could leave the country without telling her friends and
mother. She would cause another worry-storm after what happened a few months
ago.

“Vlad,
I can't leave. I'm pregnant, and nobody other than Natasha knows I got married today.
I'm just not in the mood to reveal news of this magnitude to everyone and then
leave the country.”

Vlad
pulled back and looked at her. Did she plan to hide the fact that she was
married to him from the world? “You do plan on telling them that you are my
wife right?”

“Yes,
I do. But they aren’t happy about the decisions I’ve made so far. I want to
enjoy this moment and have a couple of days of peace before I start defending
my actions all over again.”

He
could understand Valerie's reasoning. Natasha, the most genial member in her
friendship circle, had been present as her maid of honour. However, it didn't escape
him that she wasn't celebrating their union. Vlad respected the young woman for
setting aside her feelings to support her friend when Val needed her the most.
If the shoe were on the other foot, then he would have stepped in and stopped
the show. Luckily it wasn’t. He wouldn’t take kindly to anyone that tried to
come between them now.

“Just
let them know that we are going for a two week holiday. They would understand
why you need a break from everything. You can keep in touch with them when
you’re there. Call them every day if you have to. All I’m asking for is to
introduce you as my wife to the little family that I do have and spend quality
time with you in a tension free zone.”

"That
sounds heavenly, but I can’t do that right now. I still have to attend my
therapy sessions, and I need to tell my mother in person. She'll be flying down
in a few weeks, and I know she is going to have a fit when she finds out. In
the meantime, I wanted to start working on the nursery and look at classes to
take in preparation for the twins. Once all of that is done, then we can talk
about our honeymoon.”

Vlad
turned on his back to stare at the ceiling and took a deep breath. Why did
everything have to be so complicated? She was his wife now. In his mind, no one
else factored into the equation other than him and Valerie. Taking her away
from everyone around her that thought she was making a mistake was starting to
look like the only resolution to their current problems.

 
When they were alone together, everything was
perfect. It was the outsiders that made their lives difficult. And her
children, he would learn to accept them in time. They were half Valerie, which
meant that they were also little angels – if he discounted the rapist-father
part of their DNA. He wasn't relying on the paternity test to prove him wrong.
Keyaan had been with her first which meant that they were very likely his.

He
wasn't a compromising man, but he was willing to make certain concessions for
the woman who was now his wife. She had gone through so much because of him
which meant that her happiness took precedence over his wishes. Maybe they
could go somewhere within the country for a few days, just to rekindle the
romance that had bloomed in his office after their mutually agreed on
abstinence.

No,
he wanted to take her somewhere she had never been. A place that was of
significance to him. Romania was where he was born, and Russia is where he
became the man he was today. The choice was between those two countries. Family
and friends were important to her, and Andrei and Raven were important to him.
He wanted to introduce them to her without any drama. They were the only other
people Vlad cared about besides her. However, he doubted she would willingly go
until she'd sat down and spoken to her mother.

Mrs
Thusi would be flying down to South Africa to see her daughter in a few weeks.
The idea came to him with that thought. They could stop over in Dubai and meet
her mother before flying over to Romania. It was a suitable compromise. He
needed to introduce himself to his mother in law and Valerie needed to tell her
that she was now his wife. After that was sorted out, they would be on their
merry way.

“Valerie,"
he turned to face her only to find that she had fallen asleep. He ran his
fingers across her cheek and looked at her. He still couldn't believe that she
had agreed to be his wife. "I would do anything for you, angel. I love
you," he declared. It was the first time that he had ever said the words.
They had come so naturally they rolled off his tongue without hesitation. He
would always put her first. Vlad could no longer imagine a life without her by
his side. If that was not the epitome of love, then he didn't know what was.

Thembi had gotten a call from
her daughter. Valerie was coming to see her. She didn’t know the why’s behind
this visit, but Val had said that she would explain once she got there.
She
better have a damn good explanation
she thought as she checked on her last
patient for the night. There was also the issue of her unplanned pregnancy and
her babies' father to discuss. Her daughter had been acting strangely for a few
months now, and she needed to get to the bottom of it. Everything in her gut
was telling her that something had happened to Valerie, and she was keeping it
a secret.

In times like these, Thembi
questioned whether she had made the right decision when she moved to Dubai for
work. Even though she made more money here than in South Africa, was that
reason enough to leave her only child back home? What other implicit costs came
with her job?

Valerie had been thoughtful
enough to ask Thembi, which days she had off, so as not to put her mother out
too much. When she landed and they reconnected after six long months, she would
get to the bottom of what was going on.

On Thursday afternoon, there
was a knock on the door. Thembi rushed to open it and found Valerie on the
other side.

“Hi mom,” said Val.

“Hi baby,” replied Thembi
before wrapping her up in a tight hug. She pulled back and placed her hands on
her daughter's face. She looked healthy enough - clear eyes, healthy skin and a
normal temperature despite the heat of the desert. She looked down at her
stomach which was rather flat for a woman expecting twins. “Are you eating
enough? This isn't the time to be on one for your crazy diets."

“Mama," Valerie whined.
She should have known that her mother would always treat her like a child even
though she was a fully grown woman who was about to be a mother herself. When
she was finally let in, they had a pleasant conversation that felt forced on
both sides. Taking a deep breath, Val gave a recap to the series of events that
had ended in her recent marriage, bar the kidnapping and subsequent rape. She
would talk about that when she was ready and today was not that day.

“You got married in a court?
You know better than that Valerie. What about our customs and traditions? We
haven’t even met his side of the family! Your father would not want this. He is
probably turning in his grave at the man who stole his baby girl without even
asking for her hand from the family,” said Thembi after listening to her
daughter recount the tales of her life since the last time they had spoken in
person.

Valerie squirmed in her seat.
The situation was far more complex than her mother knew. Thembi didn't
understand why she had done what she had done these past few months because she’d
left out a crucial detail that had acted as a catalyst in all of this. The last
thing she needed was her mother finding out and joining the we-hate-Vlad
brigade. She was content to let her think that they were disrespectful in
overlooking the necessary customs that preceded the modern day wedding.

The answer concerning meeting
Vlad’s family, well she wasn’t quite sure how much to reveal about the things
he had told her in confidence. He was a very private man who said very little
about his life and even less about his past. When she'd sought Macy's advice
after Vlad dropped the I-was-abandoned-by-my-parents bomb in an email, she was
careful not to reveal the specifics. Now that he was her husband, Val felt a
greater sense of loyalty to him that trumped everyone else.

“I think you should meet him,
mama. He's also in Dubai. It was his idea to come. He wants to introduce
himself to you.” She had sidestepped every single question her mother had
hurled in her direction. Hopefully, by meeting Vlad, she would calm down a bit.

“Oh now he wants to meet your
family,” said Thembi, who threw her hands up in defeat. “What was wrong with
waiting a few more months and doing things the right way? You know your uncles
will not accept this marriage until
lobala
has been paid - including
damages.”

“Those customs are a bit
outrageous mom,” said Valerie, who felt a tension headache throbbing in her
temple. 

Every culture had its form of
dowry and unlike the western culture where the woman brought assets into a
marriage, in the Zulu culture, the offering was given from to the groom's
family to the bride’s. In the past
lobola
was in the form of cows but
now that has changed, and the family usually asked for money that was the
equivalent of the livestock they would have received. Things tended to get out
of hand in the
lobola
negotiations seeing that there was no fixed Rand
value to a cow. And the additional payment of damages, formally known as
Ukuhlawulela
Umntwana,
because she had fallen pregnant out of wedlock, was yet another
hoop she had to jump through.

She would have to explain all
of this to Vlad, and if her mother refused to relent in following all of the
customs, then she would be forced to confess that he may not be the father and
why. Hopefully, that would free her from going through
Ukuhlawulela Umntwana
.

“Would you have said no if your
father had brought it up?”

Valerie hated when her mother
brought her late father into their arguments. She had always been a daddy’s
girl and even though her father was a traditional man, he had always been open
minded about her "new age thinking".

“I’m sure dad would have
listened to what I had to say about it and been understanding about why I would
object to certain things. We can’t continue with customs and traditions that
are irrelevant in this day and age. Things happen and as a woman I’m not going
to feel guilty about not doing things ‘the right way’. Why does our culture
shame women for dishonouring their families when they fall pregnant out of
wedlock? At the end of the day, they are the ones who have to raise those
children. All those aunts and uncles that have so much to say barely lift a
finger and it makes me sick. It needs to stop.”

“That wasn’t what I was
saying,” said Thembi softly, realising she had indirectly offended her
daughter.

“I know mom, but that's what
Ukuhlawulela
Umntwana
implies." Valerie got up fatigued from the flight she had
been too restless to sleep on and the discussion she was now having with her
mother. “I'm going back to the hotel to get a full night’s sleep. I’ll be back
tomorrow with Vlad. Please try to be the loving mother I know you to be.”

Thembi got up and gave her
daughter a parting hug. “I’ll see what I can do.
Ngiyakhuthanda mtwana wami
,”
I love you, my child.

“I love you too mom.”

Vlad was waiting downstairs for
Valerie. It was bad enough that they in a foreign country surrounded by people
he didn't know, now his wife was pregnant. She couldn't be as aggressive as
he'd taught her to be in an altercation. His overprotective urges rode him
harder than ever before. As soon as she exited the building, he was at her
side. "How did it go?" 

She shook her head in the
negative. He should have known based on how hesitant she was to come that
breaking the news to her mother wouldn’t be easy. He opened the door on the
passenger side of the rental car for her to climb in.

As they drove to their hotel,
he remained silent and let her gather her thoughts. If there was one thing he
had learnt, it was that she needed time to digest a situation before she spoke
about it. When she was ready, she would let him know. In the elevator, she
leant her head back against his chest. Val's upturned face, with long lashes
resting against her cheeks, reminded him of the first time they'd met. Back
then, he just wanted the hot body she would provide for the night. Things had
changed drastically since. He wanted to rid her of her demons and crush anybody
that hurt her - her happiness was his responsibility.

He placed a kiss on her
forehead. "Don't stress yourself. Whatever it is, we'll get through this.
The same way we get through everything."

Valerie looked into his
piercing, blue eyes and gave him a smile. She wished she had a fraction of the
don’t-care-fuck-you-too attitude he exuded around everyone. Why did it feel
like the whole world was against them? Why couldn't they just be happy? She had
been through so much and just wanted to live out the rest of her life in peace.
"I wish I didn't have to justify every single one of my actions to
everyone. I know they think that they're trying to help, but I'm not an idiot
or a child or an invalid.”

Once they inside their suite,
Valerie told him about what was said between her and her mother. She explained
the customs and traditions that he should expect if he agreed to humour Thembi.
Vladimir had grown up as an orphan on the streets. Sure, there were Romanian
traditions for marriages as well, but he had never had someone pressure him
into observing them. If Valerie wanted to go through the required ceremonies,
then he had no problem with it. At the end of the day, they would smooth things
over with her side of the family and reduce his wife’s stress levels.

He made a mental note -
tomorrow his manners would be impeccable. Women loved a gentleman. It may take
a while, but Thembi would see that he was devoted to her daughter. Vlad had
never met anyone's parents which meant that he was stepping out of his comfort
zone. He could be charming if it meant that he got what he wanted, and right
now, he wanted to make Valerie's mother happy because that would make his wife
happy.

Just remember to keep a cool
head no matter what is said.
That
was Vladimir's biggest worry - behaving like a deranged lunatic if anyone dared
to speak ill of his wife or their marriage.

*****

Sitting in Mrs Thusi’s small
lounge having a cup of tea with his wife and mother in law was… awkward. Other
than greeting her at the door, she hadn’t said anything to him. In fact, he was
sure that he was being ignored.
Like
mother like daughter
he smiled. Thembi was a striking woman with smooth,
deep brown skin and the same dark eyes his wife had inherited. If this was
Valerie in another twenty years, he had no complaints.

“Vlad, can you speak Zulu or
Xhosa?” Thembi asked. The shock of finding out that Valerie’s husband was white
quickly died down in her mind. It didn’t matter to her as long as his
intentions were well placed. Her daughter had never conformed to the norm. Her
last boyfriend had been Middle-Eastern, and her only worry back then was that
she would have to convert to a different religion if they did end up tying the
knot.

“No, I cant. I speak Ukrainian,
Romanian and Russian.”

"Valerie, how am I going
to talk to my grandchildren?"

“Mom, we both speak English and
so do you. Communication will not be a problem,” Valerie replied calmly.

“But they need to know their
roots,” Thembi said adamantly. She had taught Valerie both Zulu and Xhosa and
didn’t want the next generation to forget their mother’s culture.

“I’m sure we can compromise. I will
teach them Zulu and Vlad will teach them one of his languages,” said Valerie
trying to be diplomatic.

Thembi was not convinced, but
she dropped the subject for now. “Valerie, help me bring out the food,”
requested Thembi.

She followed her mother into the
kitchen, and that's when Thembi asked, "How old is he? I've noticed how
these old white men like to marry young black women.”

“He is eight years older than
me. If I remember correctly, that's the same age difference between you and
dad,” Val retorted giving her mother a knowing look.

Her mother ignored the dig and
busied herself setting the small coffee table in the lounge of her single
bedroom apartment. Val knew her mother was purposely putting Vlad through the
ringer. She smiled when she saw the
pap, chakalaka
and
steamed spinach
her mother had
prepared. If Thembi thought that she'd give Vlad a culture shock, then she was
mistaken. They had sampled these particular dishes when they went to Mzoli’s,
and she had prepared her rendition soon after they’d moved into the beach
house.

It seems that Vlad had also
caught on to Mrs Thusi’s antics. Thankfully, he enjoyed pap and the garnish mix
of fried onions and tomatoes. He dug in with a healthy appetite.

“I see where my wife got her
cooking skills from," he said in compliment to the meal.

“Valerie cooks?” Thembi asked
in shock.

“ On the rare occasion, she
ventures into the kitchen." He smiled at Valerie knowing her disdain of
the chore. 

“I can cook
certain
dishes mama. I just don’t like doing it.”

“And I don’t mind taking over
when she’s not up to it.”

“I see… a modern man huh? I
guess you don't honour any of your customs and traditions either."

"Sorry, my mom is usually
a very gracious host," Val said to Vlad and then looked at her mother
daring her to state otherwise.

“It’s alright. Mrs Thusi, if I
have offended you, I apologise. I have no problem following any of the
ceremonies we should have observed for the wedding if it makes both of you
happy.”