By Mami Kamami
It wasn’t everyday you got invited to Edith’s house. It was even rare to get invited there for a meal. The joke around our home was that she could sell her cooker and utensils at their original price because she never used them anyway.
Edith, Patty’s sister, was the progressive woman of the family and that didn’t always come with positive things. We had lost count of how many degrees and high profile jobs she had had or the number of countries she had travelled to. But we did not fail to remind her that traditional families played an important role, or that at some age, a woman starts longing for a husband and children. At one point a woman wants to settle down to a family.
Edith was 38. We were still waiting for that bug to bite.
"What do you think we have done to warrant this high honour?" I asked Patty as we drove to his sister’s apartment.
"Edith just realised she was growing into an old lonely woman and discovered she had relatives she needed to treat well," Patty answered.
"You are so mean. May be there is a man, after all," I hoped.
I suppose a woman’s instinct is always right. Edith did want to introduce us to her newfound love. It was more like sounding him off with us first — the liberal couple — before she could take him to the rest of the family. If we okayed him, then he would probably pass for the rest.
Meeting the husband
I didn’t know how we were supposed to be civil about the balding, potbellied geezer making soup in her kitchen.
After the introductions, I was dying to pull her aside to get the whole story. Finally, I got her behind the locked doors of her bedroom.
"So?" she asked me.
"So? That? Honestly? Why, Edith? How old is he?"
"Sixty two?"
"And he is married, isn’t he?"
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"Yes he is," she said that with a lot of pride in her voice. "I thought it was you who advised me over Christmas to become a second wife?"
"No, that was your sister Janet. You are crazy. How does his wife feel about your little arrangement?"
"It’s not her call. He loves me and I love him. Besides we are having a baby."
"Oh Edith. You didn’t just pull that card on us. A baby! People stopped marrying ages ago because of babies. Besides, when did you start wanting children?"
"People grow up Grace. And then you realise that a family isn’t such a bad idea, especially if they can put up with your insane schedules. Chris is good to me. And he wants this baby as much as I do."
Mixed feeling
I couldn’t believe the sparkle in her eye. Edith having a baby? That was worth a celebration, alright.
I tried very hard to get the offending thought of some abandoned wife and her three children out of my mind and to be happy for sis-in-law. It was hard because with every moment, I kept thinking: "That could have been me."
"I don’t know Edith. I think you are being selfish again, as you have always been, thinking about what favours you alone."
"Just be happy for me Grace," she said heading out of the room. "It’s not perfect but I love it just the same."
Well, it was her call.