Harper & Lee Plus Three

A Wedding Bombshell

I sat at my dining room table with Etsy, trying to make up my mind on a centerpiece. We'd been looking through pinterest for hours and still couldn't figure anything out. There were only two months left until the wedding and we seriously needed to get going on making these centerpieces.

    "Girl, we gotta do this one!" Etsy said, pointing to a super tall centerpiece that looked like a cross between a bird and a palm tree.

    "Hell no! How many times do I have to tell you: no feathers or anything tropical! I'm getting married in February!"

    The front door opened. Lee walked in. I heard the triplet's school bus pull away. Almost a year had passed since Lee proposed to me at Disney. The triplets were about to turn five and having lots of fun in kindergarten.

    The sextuplets were talking up a storm at two and a half. A few of them needed speech therapy, but it got them back on track. We wanted to wait on starting them in the early pre-k program, so they'd start going next fall.

    "How about this one?" Etsy asked.

    "Nah. That's too boring. It's just a black box with white flowers. There's no bling!" I said.

    "Trust me, there will be bling when I'm done with it," Etsy said.

    "I actually like this one," I said, pointing to a centerpiece that fit my exact style of the wedding.

    "Perfect!" Etsy said, saving the picture. She got her purse and swung it over her shoulder. "Well I gotta go. I'll see you later at the final fitting, bestie!"

    I giggled. "See ya later, Etsy."

    She left and I went into the living room to hang out with the sextuplets. They were busy playing with all their toys. Hawk was on the ride-on car, so I pushed him back and forth.

    "Faster, Mommy! Faster!" he said.

    "Any faster and you'll run into the wall!" I said.

    I was about to push Hawk again when my phone started ringing. I went over to the couch to look at it. Hazel's name was on the screen. Weird. She should be in the middle of work. I picked it up.

    "Hey," I said.

    "Hey. I need a favor," Hazel said.

    "Okay, sure," I said.

    "I...can I come over to your place before we go to the final dress fitting? I need to talk to you. It's important." Her voice was really shaky.

    "You okay?" I asked.

    "Uh...you'll find out."

    "Okay. Just come over at noon."

    "Great. Thanks. Bye."

    She hung up in a rush. What is her problem now? I literally have two months until my wedding. I can't deal with this.

    I made lunch for the sextuplets and put together a sandwich for myself. They ate their food without making too much of a mess. I seriously couldn't believe how grown-up they were. They could even take their dishes to the sink like the triplets did at their age.

The doorbell rang and I let Hazel in. I put on some coffee and got it in a mug for her. After I poured my coffee, I realized that Hazel didn't take any of hers.

"What's up?" I asked.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked.

"You show up at my place in the middle of the day and now you don't want coffee? What happened?" I sat down across from her. "Hazel, seriously."

"Look...I came to tell you that I need to be out of the bridal party."

"What? My main bridal party is literally you and Etsy!" I said.

I didn't want a big bridal party. Too much drama. I also kinda didn't really have any friends my age. I had nine kids. Do I look like I've got time for a bunch of friends?

"I-I know. I'm just too embarrassed."

"Embarrassed about what?"

"By the time of the wedding...I don't know if I'll fit into the dress." She unzipped her jacket and stood up. I gasped. She had a little baby bump. "I didn't know how to tell you."

"What do you mean? We're literally sisters. We've known each other for like eight years now."

"I know but like, this is my second baby out of wedlock. My second baby with a guy that I'm not even with." She sat down and sighed. "I was dead-set on getting an abortion again but I just feel like I can't do it a second time."

"But can you raise it though? No offense but you have two roommates because you don't make a lot of money at the animal shelter. Is there even a spot to put a crib in your little apartment?"

"No. There's not. And..." Her voice cracked as she started to cry. "I found out yesterday that Jace, the guy I slept with, went out to Vegas and crashed a car with a couple prostitutes in it. Killed one of them. He's in jail out there. Even if he wanted to be in her life, he couldn't. At least he doesn't know about it."

"Wait...her?" I asked.

"Uh-huh," she said, a small smile forming on her face. "It's a girl. I'm seventeen weeks. It's getting too late to get an abortion. And now that I know it's a little girl...I...I can't. I can't take care of her and I can't abort her either. The thing is, I'm just so scared to put her up for adoption because I know it's harder for black babies to get adopted. I mean, she'll be mixed because Jace is blonde like you but—"

"I know she'll find a great family. I'll help you the best I can."

"You see...that's the thing...I know you said the last time we hung out that you missed having a baby around and—"

I gasped. "You want us to take her?"

"I think it would be the best thing for her. She'd grow up with brothers and sisters who all look like her. You have this perfect big house. I can see her wherever I want to. I'll still be in her life. Come on, Harper. What do you say?"

I was starting to cry myself. "Yes. A million times, yes! Of course we'll take her."

"You don't need to ask Lee first?"

"He'll be on board with it the second I tell him, I'm sure."

"Wow. Thank you so much," she said, hugging me.

"Now let's chill out before we go to the fitting," I said.

"What? You still want me and my pregnant belly in the bridal party? What if there's not enough time to get my dress changed to maternity one?" Hazel asked.

"Psh. Girlfriend, I'm on MTV. I have connections like you wouldn't even believe. Just wait until we get you a dress. It'll look incredible on you, and our little miss," I said.

Hazel put her hands on her bump. "She's kicking. Do you want to feel?"

"Yeah. Of course!" I said.

I put my hand and felt the soft patting of my little girl's tiny feet. I wiped away a tear. Ten kids. We were going to have ten kids, and we were going to be a family of twelve.

***

Harper and Lee are officially going to have ten kids! What do you think they should name their baby girl?