Today’s the day… Are you excited? Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Harper reached down to give her baby bump a gentle rub. Papa’s gonna be so happy…

She had been working up to this moment for the past several weeks, of course. She knew knew her mood swings and weight gain couldn’t be going unnoticed — especially with the way she’d blown up like a balloon over the past week. But it was her doctor appointment earlier that day that had finally convinced her.

She’d gone in for some bloodwork that afternoon — DNA screening, to make sure everything was alright with the baby. And, to her surprise, the nurse informed her that they’d be able to use her blood to determine the baby’s gender. “We’ll call you in about a week with the results,” he’d told her.

And that was when she decided — she was sick of going through all these milestones without Erik. She wanted him by her side when she got the call. She didn’t want to hide or pretend anymore. Everything was getting so much better, thanks to her Oma’s money. There was no reason to keep the secret any longer, was there? I’m ready.

Harper was itching to head home right away and finally share her big news with Erik, but she’d promised her parents she’d stop by their place that afternoon. Apparently a package had been delivered to her old address by mistake, and they wanted her to come pick it up. Part of her had wanted to refuse, but the Rosebrook mansion wasn’t too out of the way on her drive home. Plus, Harper found her curiosity getting the better of her.

What could it be? She wondered as she pulled over in front of her parents’ house. Birthday gift, maybe?

As usual, Tomato greeted her the moment she walked through the door. But, for a minute or two at least, her parents were nowhere to be found.

“Harper?” Her father’s deep voice finally called from the living room.

“Yup, I’m here Papa.” She approached the sound immediately, crossing over the threshold to find her parents and grandmother sitting on the couch. Not one of them smiled at the sight of her.

Harper’s stomach sank immediately. Oh God. What now?! She said nothing as she glanced around the living room for a moment or two. But just as she feared, there was no package to be found. Fuck…

Zayne spoke again, his voice firm. “Harper, sit down.”

Every instinct she had told her to run back to her car and head home… But something made her do as he asked. Harper tried her best to fake a smile as she sank down on the couch beside him. “Hey, Papa.” She said softly, failing to keep her voice calm. “What’s up?”

Now that she was sitting so close to them, Harper finally noticed the twin trails of tears rolling down her mother’s cheeks. Hope said nothing. She simply stared at her. On the chair across from them, Jocelyne was just as silent.

“‘What’s up’?” Her father’s tone was almost mocking. “Why don’t you ask your Oma that question, huh?”

Harper could almost feel the color draining from her cheeks. Fuck. They know. Fuck! Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She remained silent as she turned her gaze toward her grandmother.

“Harper, honey…” Jocelyne’s voice shook slightly. “How could you do this?”

Her throat was so dry, it almost burned when she opened her mouth to speak. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She muttered weakly.

“God damn it!” Zayne’s cry was so loud and sudden, Harper literally jumped at the sound. “Cut the shit, Harper! No more lies!”

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a slow, deep breath. There was no use in denying it any more, was there? But she had to make them understand… It was their fault she had to do this. They didn’t give her a choice!

“Fine.” Harper said at last. “It’s true, okay? I took your money, Oma.”

Jocelyne said nothing. But at last, Hope seemed to find her voice. “What the hell has gotten into you?!” Though her tears still sparkled in her eyes, she sounded just as angry as her husband. “How could you do this?!”

Harper ignored her mother, never taking her eyes off Jocelyne. “Look, I know I should have told you, Oma. But I never would have done it if I didn’t need it.” She explained almost desperately. “And it’s not like you needed all that money anyway, right?”

Jocelyne shook her head. “That’s not the point… You stole from me, Harper! You lied to me. You…” The old woman appeared almost overcome as she dropped her face into her wrinkled hands.

“I didn’t have a choice!” Harper insisted. Her heart was racing so fast, it was almost hard to breathe. It felt as though a thousand-pound weight were being slowly lowered onto her chest. “I needed money! I needed help! And you wouldn’t give it to me. None of you would!”

“Stop it!” Zayne’s voice nearly shook the room. “Just stop! I’ve had enough. How can you sit there and make all these goddamn excuses? How can you look us in the eye and try to blame us for this?!”

Harper couldn’t quite be sure if her body was literally shaking, or if it just felt that way. But her father’s words had suddenly sent a white-hot rage rushing through her. “I dunno, Papa — how can YOU sit there and be such a fucking hypocrite?!”

“Excuse me?!”

“You heard me! What about when I was a little kid, huh? Every fucking time I did something bad or I fucked up, what did you and mom do?!” Harper wasn’t even quite sure where these words were coming from. How long had she been holding them inside? How long had she been waiting to say them? “You blamed my teachers. Or my asthma. Or my hearing aid. You can’t lecture me about all my ‘goddamn excuses’ when that’s exactly what you did for me!” Her voice was practically a hiss.

“As long as I was your ‘perfect little pumpkin’, it was okay to make excuses for me and blame everybody else for my problems! It was okay to bend over backwards to try and help me! But as soon as you realized I’m not as perfect as you think, you really changed your fucking tune, didn’t you?!”

“Now wait just a goddamn minute! Your mother and I –”

“I’ve made some shitty choices, okay?! I’ve fucked up! I’m not perfect! But I’m still your daughter! And instead of helping me like you used to, all you’re doing is making things worse! You’re turning your back on me again and again and again!” Harper shrieked. “What’s next, Papa? Calling the cops so they can throw me in jail? Well go ahead! Do it! I fucking dare you! You’ve already ruined my life enough, what’s one more blow, huh?!”

“Harper!” Hope rose to her feet just as her daughter had. “Now that’s enough. You will not speak to your father and I that way!”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t start talking to me like I’m a little kid again, mom. You can’t have it both ways! Pick one!”

“Shut up!” Her father practically leapt from the couch. “This ends now, Harper! We’ve let this go on long enough. You. Need. Help.” Zayne’s voice was firm, but pained. ” Christ, what’s it going to take for you to listen? This is killing your mother and I. It’s killing your Oma too. We can’t stand seeing you like this… You’re a criminal, Harper! A criminal who’s throwing her life away on some goddamn junkie!”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. But you know what? Too bad! This is who I am, Papa… Whether you like it or not!” Harper cried.

Jocelyne finally spoke again. “You’re wrong. This isn’t who you are. And you know it, sweetie.” She reached up for a moment, wiping a few tears from her eyes. “Please. Listen to your parents. Let us help you.”

“Why can’t you guys get it? This is my life!” Harper shook her head. “Sure, I’ve gotta a lot of shit to deal with… But it’s my shit. Let me do it the way I want to!”

“Fine.” Her father agreed. “Then you can do it with your money too. And unless you really do want us calling the police, you’ll give half of your paycheck to your Oma every week until you’ve payed her back every single cent you stole.”

“You can’t do that! I’m already gonna be broke enough as it is! I need that money, Papa! It’s not fair!”

“No, you wanna know what’s not fair?!” Zayne shot back. For a moment, there was something wild and almost frightening behind his eyes. It was like he had become unhinged. “That your mother and I dreamed of having a child for so long. That we loved you fully and unconditionally for your whole life. That we gave you so much. That your Oma gave you so much… And this is what we get in return.” He gestured vaguely in her direction as he spoke. “This is the daughter we end up with.”

Harper’s eyes widened. How the fuck can he even say that?! “Really?! Well fine. If you’re that disappointed in how I turned out, maybe you and mom would have been happier if I was the one who died.”

“WHAT?!”

“You still have that stupid fucking shrine in your bedroom, don’t you? To your perfect little Levi who never got the chance to turn into a fuckup like me… Well you know what? Maybe you’re right. Maybe it would have been better if I’d died.” Her eyes narrowed. “He’s the lucky one. He never got to know what it was like having to grow up with parents like you.”

Harper closed her eyes, but stood her ground, waiting for the sharp burning of her father’s palm against her cheek.

But it never came.

She watched as he lowered his trembling hand back to his side. Zayne’s breath came in heavy puffs and gasps, and his entire chest heaved with each one. It was a few moments before he was finally able to speak.

“You ungrateful little bitch.” He managed to gasp. Zayne had never called her that before. Ever. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

“Gladly.” Harper spat over the sounds of her mother and grandmother’s sobs.

She headed straight for the door without looking back.

—————————————————

Hey guys! Let me interrupt all this over-the-top drama for a schedule announcement haha

The once-a-week schedule I had before Christmas was too infrequent, but I also am still busy, so I’m not ready to commit to going back to my twice-a-week schedule just yet. So as a sort of compromise, I’m going to do a weird “chapter-every-five-days” schedule for a few weeks. So, for example, the chapter before this one was posted last Tuesday. The next one will be this Friday. The one after that will be next Wednesday, etc.

Hoping this won’t last too long! As always, I’ll update you guys when I switch things up again (hopefully going back to twice a week!). Thank you all for reading ❤