Harper & Lee Plus Three

Unreal

"Mommy! Mommy!"

    I opened up my eyes and looked around the dark hospital room. There was some light coming through the blinds.

    "Mommy!"

    I saw Ella looking at me. I groaned and got up slowly out of the chair they had me sleeping in and went over.

    "Yes Ella, what is it? Are you okay?" I whispered.

    "I'm hungry," she said.

    "Just go back to sleep. You're going to wake up Zozo and Lukas."

    "But I want food!"

    "I'll see what I can do," I said.

    I tip-toed out of the room, walking past Zophia on one side and Lukas on the other, who were both fast asleep. I looked down the hall and flagged down a nurse.

    "Yes?" she asked.

    "Hi. I need breakfast for my kids."

    "Breakfast will be served at seven. We'll come around and bring it right to you."

    "What time is it now?"

    "Six."

    "But my daughter is saying she's hungry."

    "Hmm. I'll see what I can do. Just hold tight. I'll get her something," she said, giving me a wink.

    "Good. Thanks."

    I went back into the room and texted Lee, who was at Oak Falls General. The three kids and I were at Hope Children's, all the way on the other side of the city.

    How are you? I asked.

    Sore.

    U sure you can come pick us up?

    Yeah. It's just a few broken bones. Never killed anybody.

    Ok. Just rest. I'll let you know when we're getting discharged.

    "Mommy! Mommy!" Ella whispered.

    "What Ella?" I whispered back.

    "My food?"

    "A nurse said she's getting something. Just wait. You need to be patient."

    "What's patient?"

    "It means someone who is very good at waiting. They don't keep asking for things."

    I heard a knock on the door. The nurse from before came in with a blue package in her hands.

    "I hope this will hold her over until then," she said. "I snagged them from the vending machine in the staff lounge." 

    I walked over and took the package. It was a pack of strawberry Pop Tarts.

    "OMG this is perfect. Thank you so much."

    "You're welcome," she said, closing the door.

    I walked back over to Ella and sat on the bed. "Look Ella! It's your favorite!"

    She gasped. "Strawberry?"

    "Uh-huh."

    "Gimme!" she said, holding out her hands.

    "Let me open them for you. And don't sit up so fast. You need to be careful with your head, missy. You have a concussion, remember."

    "Okay Mommy," she said. "Car-cussion."

    "No, con-cussion."

    "No, it's car-cussion."

"Oh? Is it because you got hurt in the car?"

"Uh...yeah!" 

    I rolled my eyes and handed her the Pop Tarts, which she started breaking into pieces and eating. I got up and looked over at Lukas, who was sleeping on his side and being supported by pillows. He had to sleep like that for a few weeks due to his three cracked ribs. The multiple sets of stitches he got on his face would be removed next week.

    I turned around and looked at Zophia, who was sleeping in her neck brace. Because of her getting Whiplash, she had a lot of resting to do too. We all did.

    I went into my purse and took out the ultrasound pictures from last night. I was so out of it that I didn't fully understand what was going on. I took a deep breath and looked at my babies. That's right: babies.

Only it wasn't triplets this time.

I put the two ultrasound pictures together on top of my lap. All those little blob-shaped babies didn't fit in just one picture. That's because there were six.

I was pregnant with sextuplets.

On our fertility pills, we knew there was a forty percent chance of twins, twenty percent for triplets, ten percent for quadruplets, and one percent for quintuplets. The odds for sextuplets were like a point something of a percent, but here I was: four weeks pregnant with sextuplets.

I was nineteen years old and expecting six babies. I was going to have nine kids. I didn't know how I should react. I was feeling everything at the same time. It felt like this whole thing was a dream. It was as if I didn't wake up from that nice nap I took before we got the kids ready to go. I was hoping I was still asleep on the couch, pregnant with one baby, without a concussion for me, broken bones for Lee, and several injuries for my three kids.

I knew I wasn't supposed to be looking at my phone with my concussion, but I was so bored in this dark hospital room. I took it out anyway and did something I almost never do: check my email.

To my surprise, there was a new email from Detective Swan. My stomach dropped. I opened it.

Hi Harper,

There's been an unexpected change in the Traci Camo trial. Please call me as soon as you get this, no matter the time. I'll answer.