"You are very pregnant, Harper."
Harper Rayne Everson craves solitude and stability.
"I'm sorry Mr. Myles, not this time."
Lucien Roma Myles only wants one thing from life, a child.
What happens when their lives cross paths? Will they get along or...
"I swear if you don't put his hair up, I'm going to slaughter you, Covi." Kenya growled out.
"Nope. That's how we get ladies." Covi teased with a chuckle.
"Covi, I swear on your first born, I-"
"Your first born is my first born, beautiful." He interrupted. Kenya let out a frustrated groan while slapping the steering wheel.
"Goddammit!" She sighed. "Just put Koven's hair up before the party."
"Love you, Yaya." He sang, she grinned.
"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes. "See you later."
The call disconnected as she relaxed at a red light.
"I swear I'm single." She groaned while running her hand through her long curls.
"That rock on your finger sings otherwise." I teased, earning a playful shove.
"This," she wiggled her fingers, "is what they call an obligation of honesty." I gave her a look.
"He put this on my finger with the intentions of loving, cherishing, honoring, and obeying me. Part of honoring me is being honest with me." She explained. I sat in silence, wondering where she was going with this.
"His exact words were," she deepened her voice "ahem, 'Yaya, I know I've done wrong in the past, but I'm trying every day to do right by you. I'm giving you this ring as my promise to uphold the vows that we will one day exchange. I want nothing more than to have an everlasting, honest, and pure love with you. Do you want that with me?'" I cover my mouth as the cuteness took over.
"And then my dumbass said yes." She rolled her eyes, killing the mood. I laughed at her weak attempt of being annoyed.
"And would do it again if he asked." I teased.
"Damn right." She nodded. "Him during sweatpant season? Honey, I'd be crazy not to." She fanned herself as I chuckled.
"Why the fuck is this light so goddamn long?" She exclaimed. "What the fuck?"
---
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Kenya cooed at Luci as we walked through the party aisle. She was almost six months, I think. That's what her doctor told me, so that's what I'm going with. I never knew how or when to count it, especially when people communicate in weeks. Since she was able to sit up on her own, she was in the cart laughing at Kenya. She would never admit it, but I think she wants another baby.
I picked up a set of play microphones and showed them to Kenya. Her eyes lit up at the colorful plastic.
"Kove and Covi are going to love those." She gushed, snatching them out of my hands.
I grinned and cleared the shelf. We picked up some art supplies and more musical things. For originality, I made sure his things were a different color from the guests. Kenya did a final count as we stood in the checkout line.
"Mommy's gonna throw you a great party if she's doing this for Ko-bear." She cooed, making Luci jump and babble in her seat. I cringed at the sentence. I was hardly a mother. Guardian was pushing it. I hadn't even thought about being responsible for birthdays. Silently, I wondered if throwing birthday parties was in a woman's nature. If so, I'm clearly from Jupiter.
"I've been thinking about that." I lied, easily.
"What do you have in mind?" Kenya asked, tickling Luci.
"I'm not sure. I was thinking the aquarium. Nothing major." I suggested, off handedly. That was for more of my enjoyment. Luci wasn't going to remember anything about that day. She isn't even old enough to have friends.
"That sounds cool and really easy." Kenya nodded.
"Well not everyone can pull off Kova-po-looza." I teased. ----
Kids everywhere. Literally. You couldn't go to the bathroom without running into one. Koven's party was bigger than I could have imagined. I guess that's expected when your dad is a DJ and your mom is an ex pageant girl. They knew everyone.
And everyone knew Luci. She was in such a good mood that anyone who wanted to hold her, did. She even went as far as waving and clapping at people. A friendly child born from two blunt and unfriendly people, a miracle.
I watched from a slight distance. I let myself have one of the few moments of pride. Truthfully, I never wanted to become a mother, so seeing that I was capable of raising a healthy, friendly child was amazing. I felt myself tearing up and cursing the still young and naive me for ever thinking about letting Luci go. Even the slightly older, resentful me got a side eye.
I don't deserve someone so perfect.
____________________________________
Eva
"Babe, did you check the mail?" Ruger's voice rang out from the back of the apartment.
We moved in together soon after Harper ran away with Lucia. I had to give her back because I thought I had cervical cancer. I didn't want to take in a baby when I was potentially on my deathbed. Ruger begged me to keep her, I just couldn't. Lucien even asked me to keep her. He knew that once I handed her over, he would never get to see her again.
"Yeah, I got it!" I called back as I flipped through the assortment of envelopes. Random Christmas cards and photos littered through the stack of bills. One soft red envelope caught my eye at the bottom.
Caressing the lettering with my fingertips, I read the name in the corner. Harper Everson.
My breath hitched as I carefully pulled at the seal. The sounds from the ripping of paper magnified with my anticipation. I had only heard from her once and that was right before Halloween. She sent a letter describing Lucia's development and photos of her in a little leopard costume. The holiday card felt heavy in my hands. This was my first season without Harper. I was an emotional wreck, she seemed just fine. Each detail of the photo was slowly being committed to memory. They looked happy, Lucia grinned at the camera as Harper looked down at her.
Ruger's footsteps caused a panic. I quickly shoved the envelope into the desk drawer, pulling a few papers on top of it. My hip slammed the drawer shut as he appeared in the room.
"Ready to go?" He asked, nodding toward the door.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Just let me get a jacket." I stuttered out awkwardly.
