Harper & Lee Plus Three

They're Here!

Lee put his arms around me as we looked at our triplet nursery. The walls were painted green. The three cribs barely fit, but we got them in there. Two of the cribs had the brown owl sheets we got from the shower, but the middle crib had pink owl sheets for our little girl. The three swings were ready to go on the back wall. I took a few more pictures for my social media.

"You ready to go?" Lee asked.

"Yup. Please get these things out of me," I said, holding my huge belly. "Etsy!"

She opened her door and yawned. "Hey. Merry Christmas Eve Eve...at five in the morning."

"We're off to the hospital!" Lee said, holding my go-bag.

"Good luck. I'll be there at noon," she said.

"You don't have to get there that early. They said I'll still feel groggy for at least an hour after my C-section," I said.

"But I want to be the first one there! Auntie Etsy has to be the first to meet them!" she said.

"You will be. Don't worry," I said.

"Okay. See you bitches later!" she said, closing the door.

We went downstairs, leaving our house for the last time as two teenagers without kids. Lee put my bag in the old car he bought from his brother, and then drove me to Oak Falls General Hospital. He dropped me off out front and I waited for him inside, then went to check in.

A nurse brought me to a private room where I got changed into a hospital gown and had a bunch of monitors put on me. Now we just had to wait. I watched that new vampire show Castle of Shadows on my laptop until Doctor Andrews came in.

"Hey! How are we doing today?" she asked.

I was so into the show that I didn't realize she came in. I took my earbud out.

"Good!" I said, smiling.

"Great! We're going to get the OR prepped and then it'll be time for you both to meet your three babies!" she said. "A nurse will be in to give you our first injection so you're numb for when we do the C-section."

"Okay, thanks," Lee said. When Doctor Andrews left, he gave me a kiss on the lips. I kissed him back. "I'm so ready to grow our family with you, babe."

"Me too," I said.

A nurse came in a little while later. She had me go on my side and curl up so she could give me a shot in the back. I winced and held Lee's hand so hard that I thought I was going to break it.

I laid on my back again and watched more Castle of Shadows until I couldn't move my legs or feel my toes anymore. A few nurses came in and started getting everything ready. They had Lee change into scrubs for the OR. I laughed and took a ton of embarrassing pictures of him. He did the same when they put a cap over my hair.

"Okay, here we go!" said one of the nurses as she undid the brakes on my bed.

They wheeled me down the hallway and into the operating room, where a shit ton of people were waiting. I could see three of the little baby hospital cribs on the other side of the room. This was it. This was really it.

I'd never had surgery before, but I wasn't even nervous. I just wanted to be able to walk without waddling and not have my back and feet hurting all the time. But still, I kept holding Lee's hand tighter and tighter.

All the nurses lifted me up from the bed and onto the operating table. Two of them put a screen up so I couldn't see them cutting me open. Other nurses put even more monitors on my chest.

"You doing okay, Harper?" Doctor Andrews asked.

"Yeah!" I said.

"Good. We're already getting close to pulling out your first baby here!" she said.

Lee kept holding my hand. He leaned down and kissed me again. I felt a tugging sensation in my belly, and then we heard crying.

"And here's your first one! A little boy!" Doctor Andrews said, holding up a wailing, dirty baby. "What's his name?"

"Lukas Skylar Covington!" said Lee.

I giggled. I told Lee he could name the boy if I could name the other two babies. He wanted the name Luke Skye (like Luke Skywalker), but we compromised.

"Okay, say bye to baby Lukas for now!" said Doctor Andrews.

She handed him off to another nurse, who cleaned him up and put him on my chest. He was still kinda gross, but I loved every bit of him. He had a full head of curly hair.

"Next baby! A little girl!" Doctor Andrews said, right as she started to cry. She held her up over the curtain. "What's her name?"

"Noella!" I said.

We chose Noella for a girl, since it was so similar to "Noel." They were going to be born right before Christmas. It just made sense, okay?

"Perfect! That's beautiful," she said, handing her off to another nurse. "Are you ready to find out about the mystery baby?"

"Yes!" Lee and I said at the same time.

"And it looks like...." I heard crying and she held up our last beautiful baby. "It's a girl!"

"Yay! I knew it!" I said.

"What's this little lady's name?" Doctor Amanda asked.

"Zophia," I said. "Z-o-p-h-i-a."

Zophia. Take Sophia, take Zoey, and put 'em together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Pretty, cute, and unique: just like I wanted.

I was handed Noella and then Zophia. The girls had such beautiful, bright blue eyes. I stared at my three gorgeous kids. They were finally here. Lee was already taking a ton of pictures.

"Stop! I don't have any makeup on!" I said.

"You look beautiful. Don't worry," he said, taking another picture.

I had to give my three kids back to a nurse a few minutes later. They sewed me up and brought me back to the other hospital room. They told me someone was going to be up soon with lunch for Lee and I.

Once we were settled in and I could start to move my toes, three nurses came in, each wheeling a baby. They lined the three cribs, each with their name on it, along the side of my hospital bed. Lukas, Noella, and Zophia all looked sleepy.

"So I'm going to make their birth certificates. I just need to know their full names," said one of the nurses.

I pointed to my first girl. "She's Noella Claire Covington."

"And this is Lukas Skylar Covington," Lee said, picking up Lukas.

"And the third is Zophia Hazel Covington," I said. I wanted to make sure I found a way to incorporate all the names of the girls in my family.

"Great. I'll get these all taken care of," the nurse said, leaving the room.

Lee and I stood together, looking at our three perfect kids. Our lives were so amazing.