Chapter 87

Chapter 90
Harper

He left me breathless, like shaking legs, stars in my eyes and my heart jumping and flipping all over the place. Sex with Levy is out of this world! I am still recovering as I walk back across the street to my house where my sister will be waiting for us to go for my mother.

We still have half an hour before we need to leave. Levy said he would come with us and cancel all his plans. Sweet of him but you know, this is something that I have to do with my sister on our own. I’m an adult, a big girl now and all my life it seems, I have done big girl shit. Today is no different.

Of course, it would be good to have my man by my side to support me and place his arm around me. Only who would Taylor have? Exactly. I need to be there for her like I always was when it was just her and I against the world.

Besides, I know that Levy has some pretty important shit to sort out himself. We still need to talk about that, not today, however. It can wait. I trust Levy implicitly and when he is ready, he will tell me what on earth is going on.

Today is about my mother. It’s about Taylor, Momma and I. It’s about family – blood family. I let out a breath as I open the front door and enter. Taylor comes bouncing down the stairs.

“Oh, my you look pretty,” I tell her taking in the cream dress that hangs to her knees. She’s wearing tan tights and some cute as a darling, black suede ankle boot.

“Thanks. Do you think it’s too much? I want momma to be happy to come home and it is a special day.”

I go to my sister and pull her tightly into my chest and hug her. She actually hugs me back. “Whatever you wear will make her want to com home, Sis. She isn’t coming home clean for the clothes. It’s because she wants to be with us. Despite momma’s addictions and illness, she never stopped loving us.”

A lump forms in my throat. The insecurities that Taylor must be going through tears my heart in two. I wish she never had to go through all of this and that her life had been perfect. The whole mom, dad, dog in the back yard picture and a white picket fence too.

“What if she doesn’t want to be with us now, she’s clean? She might think having two kids is too much for her.”

Oh, my heart, it’s literally crying blood right now. I wipe a tear from her beautiful face and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You listen to me little sis, our momma loves her with her entire heart. She lost her way. Being clean will make her realize even more how much she wants her girls. You remember how she’d always dance with us when we were tiny.”

Taylor nods. “And how we’d bake cookies together,” she says in a low voice.

“Exactly. Now momma will know what she has missed out on and hold us even closer to her and in her heart. Please don’t think for a heartbeat that momma will not want us.”

Taylor nods, “okay,” she manages and wipes her face. “Drat, now I have to reapply my makeup.”

“No, you don’t. You look perfect. Nothing has smudged. You want to leave a bit earlier? I just need to dash up and get changed.” What I actually mean is rush in the shower hot off my heels. There is no way I am going to meet momma with Levy and my sex all over me.

“Yes, I am itching to see her. It’s been a whole month practically.”

“Okay, you go get your stuff together. I’m going to be about ten minutes and we can go.”

“Wait,” she says as I dash past her taking the steps two at a time. “Is Levy not coming after all?”

“No, I think this is something we should handle on our own. You, me and momma like it used to be.”

“But you’ve made up with him, right?”

I give her a reassuring nod of my head. “We’ve made up. You don’t need to have any worries about that honey. Now go get the rest of your stuff together. I will be very quick.”

As soon as I reach my bedroom, I strip naked in five seconds flat. Dash into the shower not even waiting for it to warm up. There are more important things this morning than a hot shower. Cold, I step out, reach for the white bath towel and rough dry myself.

As soon as I have myself in black skinny jeans, flat black pumps and a cream off the shoulder jumper that I have cinched in at the waist with a black belt; I am ready to head downstairs.

Taylor is waiting at the door with my car keys in her hand. “Thanks, I wondered what I had done with those. I still can’t believe I have a shiny new car.”

“You are spoilt by that man, Harper,” she tells me.

“Yeah, I guess I am. You will be one day too, trust me, Taylor. A fine man is going to sweep you off your feet and treat you like a princess.”

“Nah, I don’t want a boyfriend or a husband. Seeing what momma went through - that isn’t for me.”

“You may change your mind little sister,” I tell her. Kind of feeling sad that our family situation has made her decide that she doesn’t want a long-term relationship. She’s only just going to be sixteen, that my change. I hope so because Taylor does deserve eternal happiness. She deserves a guy who will make her happy and a family of her own one day.

We get in the car and I place the key in the ignition, turn it over and check there is nothing behind us. I notice Levy’s bike is not outside. He must have headed out to wherever he is going.

Taylor puts on some music and we listen to her playlist which is a whole mash of country, Swift and some other artists. It’s pretty upbeat. As I pull onto the highway she is singing to her favorite song and I am tapping my fingers on the steering wheel.

It feels good to feel this way, happy for a change. Momma is coming home and hopefully everything will feel normal.

“Are you ready?” I say as we head into the rehab center. Taylor nods and runs her hands down her dress.

At reception a sweet older woman greets us, she has faded blue eyes and crinkles on her skin. She is what I would assume a grandma would look like. My father’s parents have long passed away and I can’t even remember them. I was way too young. Taylor never got to meet them.

Momma’s parents have had nothing to do with my momma since forever. I don’t recall my grandmother on my mother’s side to be honest.  I hope that maybe my momma and her momma and poppa could reconcile once momma gets out and begins to mend bridges.

We announce ourselves to the lady who is called Jenna and she tells us to take a seat. Apparently, momma is going through the whole sign out process. God, I feel anxious right now. It’s like I am going to meet my mother for the very first time.

A set of double wood doors opens and a woman steps out. She has a smart coffee colored bob that hangs to her chin and looks elegant in straight navy denims, flat black pumps and a pink sweater with matching cardigan. I tilt my head and think; wow I would love her poise and elegance.

Another woman stands behind her in a tweed skirt suit, her red hair is pulled into a tight bun at the nape of her neck and her black rimmed glasses are pushed up on her head.

“Harper, Taylor, oh my. I am so happy to see you,” the elegant woman says breaking into tear placing her hand to her heart.

I take a proper look at her wondering how this classy woman knows our names and why she is crying. Taylor jumps up and runs towards her. “Momma, momma is that really you?”