Chapter 14
Harmony sat comfortably in the rocking chair in the NICU, carefully holding Lyra.
Across from her, Melody was doing the same thing with Ariya.
Two weeks ago, both girls had looked so tiny and fragile that Harmony was scared to even touch them.
Now they were bigger, stronger, and finally starting to look less like premature babies and more like the little divas they were.
"Excuse me, can I ask you something?" Harmony stopped one of the nurses and asked.
"Of course."
"How are they doing?"
"They're doing amazing," she smiled.
"Really?"
"Honestly, they've improved so much over the last two weeks that the doctors have already started discussing discharge plans."
"Discharge?" Harmony's eyes widened.
"Yes, we're hoping sometime next week if everything continues going the way it has been."
"For real?" Melody smiled.
"Yes! Both babies are eating on their own, they're maintaining their body temperature without assistance, and they're steadily gaining weight. Those are all things we look for before sending premature babies home."
Ever since Lyric went into labor early, it felt like the entire family had been holding their breath. Every day they stopped by the hospital. Every day they called for updates. Every day they prayed that the twins would continue getting stronger.
The girls finished feeding the twins while talking quietly back and forth. By the time the bottles were empty, both babies had drifted off to sleep. Harmony and Melody carefully stood and placed them back inside their beds before spending another few minutes staring at them through the glass.
"They so little," Harmony said.
"Not for long. Give Lyric a month and them babies gon’ be chunky," Melody replied.
After making sure both girls were settled, they left the NICU and headed down the hallway toward Lyric's room.
When they walked inside, she was sitting up in bed finishing the White Castle they had brought her earlier.
"Damn, you still eating?" Harmony pointed at the food.
"Mind your business."
The sisters laughed before taking seats around the room. After a few minutes of conversation, Lyric let out a sigh and leaned back against her pillows.
"I'm so mad we gon’ be spending our first Christmas in this damn hospital."
"It's okay, y'all should be home for New Year's," Harmony smiled.
"Yeah, I hope so."
Before anybody could say anything else, the room door opened, and Vonte stepped inside.
"Yeah, and that's my cue to go." Melody stood up.
"I'm with you when you right, sis, because we still supposed to jump his bitch ass." Harmony followed behind.
Both sisters made their way toward the door while staring Vonte up and down. Harmony couldn't lie; a small part of her still wanted to punch him every time she looked at him. If Lyric hadn't forgiven him, she definitely would've helped Melody make his life miserable.
"Love you, sister," Harmony said.
"Love y'all too."
"We'll be back later," Melody added.
After saying their goodbyes, they stepped out into the hallway and headed toward the elevators. Once the doors closed, Melody looked over at Harmony.
"So, where you headed?"
"Legend and Skyy want me to stop by."
"Oh, do they?" Melody grinned.
"Girl, shut up."
“I'm just saying."
"They said they got my Christmas gifts and wanted me to come get them tonight since they leaving tomorrow."
"Going where?"
"Detroit. Skyy's parents live out there, and they spending Christmas with her family. They asked me if I wanted to go, but I said, hell no.”
“Damn Queen Latifah, why you ain’t wanna meet your girlfriend family?”
Harmony burst out laughing as they headed toward the parking garage; she couldn't help but smile to herself. Her life had become a lot more complicated over the last few months, but for the first time, she wasn't running from it.
Once they reached their vehicles, they exchanged one last goodbye before climbing into their separate cars and heading in opposite directions.
After starting the engine, Harmony connected her phone to Bluetooth and turned on Latto's new album. Nearly an hour later, she finally pulled up in front of Legend and Skyy's house. She climbed out of the car and made her way up the steps.
A few seconds after she rang the bell, the door swung open.
"There go my girlfriend," Skyy sang.
"Hey, boo."
The two greeted each other with a kiss before Harmony stepped inside. The house smelled like cinnamon, vanilla, and whatever candle Skyy had burning.
“Where Legend at?"
"Upstairs in the office, on a business call."
"That man always working." Harmony shook her head.
"Who you telling? “Sky giggled.
The two women walked into the kitchen while continuing their conversation.
"I really wish you was going with us to Detroit.”
"I would've if my nieces hadn't been born."
"Aw yeah! How the little divas doing?"
"They good. I literally just came from the hospital, and the nurses said the doctors talking about sending them home next week."
"See, I told you they was fighters."
The conversation died instantly when Harmony noticed movement coming from the staircase. She turned her head and froze as Legend made his way downstairs with a large Chanel shopping bag hanging from his hand.
"Merry Christmas, baby."
Before Harmony could respond, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her in, and kissed her. When he finally pulled back, he held the Chanel bag out toward her.
"Merry Christmas."
"Legend..."
"Open it."
The grin on his face told her he had been waiting all day for this moment. Meanwhile, Skyy stood nearby smiling just as hard.
Harmony finally reached inside the shopping bag and pulled out the purse. The second she saw the classic Chanel jumbo alligator bag, her eyes widened.
"Oh shit!” Harmony exclaimed.
She rushed over and threw her arms around Legend. She squeezed him tightly before letting go and turning toward Skyy
"I love y’all so bad! Thank you!”
“We love you too, baby girl, Merry Christmas!” Legend smirked.
"You're welcome, girlfriend." Skyy hugged her back, but before letting her go, she whispered in Harmony’s ear.
"Look inside the bag.”
"What?"
"Just look in the purse."
Confused, she opened the Chanel bag and reached inside.
Her fingers moved around until they brushed against something hard.
A second later, she pulled it out and stared at it while trying to process what she was looking at.
Her eyes immediately shifted to Legend, then to Skyy, before dropping back down to the Mercedes-Benz key fob.
"What the fuck? I know y'all lying." Harmony jumped up and down.
"Nah, go look." Legend replied, nodding toward the garage door.
Without another word, Harmony took off running. She nearly slipped trying to reach the garage entrance and had to catch herself against the wall. Once she recovered, she reached for the door, pulled it open, and flipped on the light.
Parked in the middle of the garage was a brand-new Mercedes-Benz SUV with a huge red Christmas bow sitting on top of it. For one of the few times in her life, Harmony was completely speechless.