Harper & Lee Plus Three

The Packed Penthouse

It felt so unreal to have our whole family together on Christmas, especially since it was the babies' first. We didn't really get them anything, since they were still too little to enjoy stuff anyway. We helped them open small things like the hairbows for the girls and hats for the boys. They couldn't really tug on the paper, but they loved it nonetheless.

    Lee even went through the trouble of getting matching Christmas pyjamas for us and the nine kids. I made sure to have Sophia take pictures of us all together to share on my social media.

    I took some pictures of the triplets opening their presents. Ella was screaming at the top of her lungs when she unwrapped the new Baby Yoda doll that could walk on it's own. We got Zozo a few new Barbies and a big fire truck toy for Lukas. The triplets were happy. The babies...not so much.

    With all the commotion, there was a lot of screaming and crying. John, who wanted to dress up as Santa for the kids, kinda made things ten times worse. As soon as he walked in and said, "Ho ho ho!" all six babies were crying. They ended up calming down just enough to let me put them on his lap for pictures, but poor Wren had a blowout that leaked through her pyjamas and onto the Santa costume.

    "Welp, there goes our deposit," John said, handing her over to Lee so she could get changed.

    "I'm so sorry, John," I said.

    "She's a baby. It's no one's fault," he said.

    "Hey, you need to open your presents too, Harper," Sophia said, shoving a box towards me.

    "I've got nine kids. I'm kinda busy," I said.

    "That's why we're here to help. Come on, just relax when you have the chance!" Sophia said.

    I sighed, handed a baby over to her, and sat down next to the Christmas tree. There were only a few presents left: the ones just for me. I ripped them all open. I got a new laptop, Beats by Dre, and the slippers I really wanted.

    "Thanks guys! These are gr—" I felt my phone vibrating in my back pocket. I pulled it out and saw the number on the screen. "Gotta take this. Be right back."

    I rushed upstairs and to a quiet part of the penthouse, then answered the call.

    This is a monitored phone call from: Claire Collinsworth...at the Oak County Correctional Center.

    I followed the prompts on the screen and heard a crackling sound. There was a lot of noise in her pod today.

    "Harper? Can you hear me?" she asked.

    "Yeah. Of course I can hear you, Mom," I said.

    "That's good. Everyone's on edge because of the holiday. Christmas is no fun in jail, let me tell you."

    "I bet. Did they do anything for you guys? Like get you a tree or presents?"

    "Ha! Presents? This is jail, hun. We don't do that here," she said. "Lee called. He said he was going to Memphis. Is he there?"

    "Uh huh. With all the kids, too!"

    "Aww. I can't wait to see them soon," she said.

    "Only a few years left," I said.

    "Few months."

    I almost dropped my phone. "What? Months?"

    "My attorney did a great job. There was a stabbing here in my pod last week. One girl is still in the hospital. It happened where the camera had a blind spot. They didn't see it, but I did. I'm no snitch, but...I need to get outta here and be with all my grandbabies. We worked out a deal. I told them who it was and they shortened my sentence. I get out in six months."

    "Wow...I seriously can't believe it," I said, trying to catch my breath. I was just feeling so many emotions at the same time. "But...I don't know if Zozo will be done with her treatment by then. We may still be here in Memphis."

    "Aww...well, it's alright. I'll be living in a halfway house and all that. I'll be okay."

    "I hope so. I'm counting on you to stay clean this time."

    "I've been clean the whole time I'm in here, and it ain't easy. I'll stay clean out there. Got no need for ice when I got a whole lotta babies to help out with."

    "Yeah. I bet Sophia would love that. They've already started rolling over and I can tell that they're gonna be crawling everywhere soon," I said.

    You have one minute left.

    "Well Harper, it looks like—"

    "Wait, Mom!" She stayed quiet. "You're gonna be okay in there, right? I know bad things happen to snitches in jail."

    "I know...that's why I asked them to put me in the hole."

    "What? You're in isolation all by yourself?" I said.

    "I'm alright. I promise. I'm here because I asked, not because I'm in trouble. I still can have books and phone calls, just can't see my girlfriends."

    You have thirty seconds left.

    "Okay. Bye, Mom. Love you."

    "Love ya too, hun."

    I hung up the phone, went back down the stairs, and skipped into the living room.

    "Hey, someone's happy!" Hazel said, looking up from her phone.

    "Hell yes I'm happy! My mom is getting released in only six more months!" I said.

    "Oh...uh...that's great, Harper," Sophia said, her voice getting quieter.

    "I know it's sooner than we thought, but she's on the right track. I swear," I said.

    "Well I think it'll be great. I'll do what I can to help out," Lee said, putting his arms around me and giving me a kiss.

    I hugged him and looked around at all my kids. This was literally the best Christmas of my whole life.