Chapter 13

JUNE

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

It has been a couple of days. Well, really a few since we all learned we are sisters and that the President of the United States is our biological father. Holy hell. My mind is still blown when I say it.

The day before yesterday, I called Hailie and told her May and I needed to speak with her and the president. I asked if we could meet at her house. Of course, she was curious and asked a few questions, but I didn't feel safe speaking over the phone, so she relented.

My other sisters—wow, I have sisters…arrived last night, and we had a good old-fashioned slumber party at my place. Seeing them all again, but this time as my own flesh and blood, was surreal and exciting. We stayed up all night talking, exchanging stories, video chatting with Junie, who couldn't make it, and eating junk food. Yeah, we had a great time.

Now, here we are, all walking up to Hailie's door, and none of us are saying anything. I ring the bell, and she opens it immediately as if she were at the door waiting. "Oh my. Who are all of these lovely ladies?" she asks, letting us in.

"Hailie, these are my sisters." She looks taken aback, as I expected, because everyone knows I was an only child. I can see the questions in her head, but she doesn't ask; she simply leads us into her living room.

"Well, here he is. Do you mind telling us what is going on?" I look toward him, and his eyes look confused for a moment until he takes in all of us. His eyes soften but also get wide as it hits him.

"Are you sure?" he asks, looking at me and them.

"Yes. We are all sure." May says. January is behind me, crying like a baby, thanks to how far along she is in her pregnancy.

"My God you are all so beautiful. I can see a little of her in each of you." February grips my arm, trying to reach for strength, but the thing is, I am just as rocked as they are. "I can't believe it worked," he says, standing and walking over to us. Hailie is getting visibly irritated she is not in on what is happening.

"Will someone tell me what the heck is going on?" she demands, hand on hip. He turns toward her and grabs her hand. He looks at her sheepishly, unsure how to tell her, but this is definitely his to tell.

"These are my daughters." She gasps and damn near falls to the couch, it's almost as if she's passed out, but she manages to stay awake.

"What did you just say?" He sits beside her and rubs her cheek.

"These are my daughters, love. My biological daughters. God, I never thought I would get to meet you all." He once again looks at all of us and motions for us to sit. "Will you please sit and let me look at each of you? Can you tell me your names?" We nod and smile at each other because we know we will go in order.

"My name is January, and I was the first to look for you."

"Nice to meet you, January. I see you're going to make me a grandpa." She giggles and rubs her belly.

"Yes. My husband is a retired soldier. He is currently back home."

"Well, thank him for his service."

"I will."

"I am February. I looked for you next."

"Nice to meet you, February. Seems you are also having a baby."

"I am." She cradles her belly.

We each go down the line introducing ourselves, and with each introduction, Hailie begins to pale more and more. "Armstrong, please tell me what is going on."

He turns to her, grabs both of her hands, and looks her in the eyes. "When I came back and you were gone, I felt like I would never love again. I was leaving to enlist, but I also didn't want my Mom's legacy to die with my heart. So, I went to a sperm bank, gave a sample and told them they could only use it twelve times. My one request that each parent got in a letter was to name their child after one of the months in honor of my mother. I never thought it would work, but I also left them with one clue and the information that I was going to enlist. I never thought they would look for me, although I hoped they would." He then turns to us. "I hope all of you had good lives." We all nod in unison.

"I don't think... Daughters! You have daughters? This... This is too much. I have to go." Hailie gets up, grabs her bag, and walks out, which makes all of us feel bad because this is her house, after all. I can see the look of sadness on his face, but I also get that he just got this amazing news, and he wants to soak it all in, so I decided to help him out.

"Listen, this has been a shock for all of us, and we have had a few days to let it soak in. Why don't we all take a break and reconvene in a day or three? My sisters are staying through the weekend, so let's say dinner in two days?" We all stand, and he follows suit.

"That would be amazing. I want to know everything about all of you and find out how you want to proceed. Hailie will be in touch with the details." I can see him battling with something, and then I see when he finally decides.

Walking up to each of us, he wraps his arms around us and kisses us each on the cheek. "What was that for?" April asks, near tears.

"For bringing such wonder to my life. You are all miracles that I will forever be grateful for and so would my mother." Wiping tears from our eyes, we walk out. Once we are on the sidewalk, March, forever the smartass, deadpans us.

"Well, that happened." We all burst into giggles. I am so glad I don't have to do this alone.