Page 14 of Making June Mine

“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.

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

OWEN

TWO DAYS LATER

June and her sisters are meeting with the president at Camp David in a few days, but tonight, we are having dinner with my family.

We decide to walk from my place to my parents. Hand in hand, we walk down the street.

“I’m not used to being around so many people in such a setting.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“In a non-work setting. I’m not used to peopling like this.”

“Ah. Well, your family just expanded. Use this as an opportunity to learn how to be around people like this.”

I did make sure to warn my mom, a huggy person, to let June come to her, but as soon as we walk in the door, I knew that fell on deaf ears as she sweeps June into her arms for a huge hug. June is unsure what to do at first, but then wraps her arms around Mom.

“Hi, June. We’re so glad you could join us tonight.”

“Thank you for having me.”

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