can we pls get more of harper and the boys growing up?! her playing hockey too, or what is was like growing up surrounded by older boys? just some ideas :)
Dinner at the Hughes house was rarely quiet tonight was no different. Jack was talking about practice, Quinn was talking about a game, Luke was trying to tell everyone about something that happened at school, but somehow the conversation had already turned back to hockey.
“And then Coach said my skating was getting better,” Quinn said.
Jack nodded. “You need to work on your edges more.”
“I can help you tomorrow.”
Harper sat quietly at the other end of the table, She pushed a piece of food around her plate.
“Dad, can we go early tomorrow?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, if you get your homework done tonight.”
“And I’ve got practice after school,” Quinn added.
“Remember your gear,” Jim said.
Harper’s fork scraped against her plate.
Still nobody looked at her.
“What did you do today, Harp?” Ellen suddenly asked.
Harper looked up, Everyone else was still talking.
Ellen smiled distractedly.
And then the conversation moved straight back to hockey, Harper’s eyes filled with tears.
She stared down at her plate.
She didn’t want to cry at the table, She didn’t want anyone to see. But she’d been feeling it for weeks, every dinner, every car ride, every weekend.
She loved her brothers, She loved watching them play. But sometimes she wanted someone to ask about her.
What she’d done at school.
Instead, it felt like she was just sitting there.
Harper quietly pushed her chair back.
Everyone looked over for a second.
She ran upstairs before anyone could say anything else.
Her bedroom door slammed shut.
Harper crawled onto her bed and finally let herself cry.
Downstairs, the boys had already started talking again.
At least, nobody at first.
Ellen eventually knocked.
Ellen opened the door slightly.
Harper pulled her blanket over her head.
Ellen quietly closed the door.
The boys didn’t try either.
By bedtime, Harper still hadn’t spoken to anyone.
The next morning wasn’t much better.
She got ready for school without saying a word.
She walked straight past him.
Luke watched her carefully.
He didn’t understand what was wrong.
But he knew she was upset.
At school, he caught up with her before class.
She stopped but didn’t turn around.
Luke shoved his hands into his pockets.
She finally looked at him.
“Because nobody cares about me.”
“You only care about hockey.”
Luke didn’t know what to say.
Then quietly said, “I care about you too.”
Luke stood there for a moment before heading to his own classroom.
After school, Harper expected Ellen to pick her up.
Instead, Jim’s car pulled up
Jim looked at her in the mirror.
He could tell immediately.
They drove to her favourite ice cream shop.
Jim let her pick whatever she wanted.
Then they went to the park.
They played on the swings.
Jim pushed her so high that she screamed.
For the first time in two days, she really laughed.
Afterwards, they sat on a bench eating ice cream.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?”
Harper stared at her melting ice cream.
“They only ever talk about hockey.”
“They don’t ask me anything.”
“They talk about Quinn’s games and Jack’s practice and Luke’s skating and I just…”
“I feel like nobody cares what I do.”
“I don’t even hate hockey.”
“I just don’t want it to be everything.”
He put an arm around her.
“Hockey is something your brothers love. It’s important to them. But that doesn’t mean it’s more important than you.”
“What if I don’t want to play hockey?”
“Then you don’t play hockey.”
“What if I want to do something completely different?”
“Then we’ll figure it out.”
“What if I want to dance?”
“Then I’ll take you to dance.”
“What if I want to paint?”
“What if I want to be a teacher?”
“I’ll be the first person cheering for you.”
“You never have to become something just because your brothers are good at it.”
She rested her head against his shoulder.
“Hockey isn’t everything?”
He kissed the top of her head.
“And neither are your brothers.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.”
She was quiet for a moment.
Then she whispered, “Am I important?”
Jim immediately turned toward her.
“You are my daughter. You are your own person. And whatever you choose to do with your life, I’m going to be there.”
“Even if I don’t play hockey?”
She leaned into him again.
And for the rest of the afternoon, there was no hockey.
The next morning, Harper came downstairs expecting things to be awkward.
She still wasn’t completely ready to talk to everyone.
But something was different.
She walked into the kitchen and stopped.
There was a plate sitting on the counter.
Beside it was a little note.
Jack was sitting at the table, pretending to be completely interested in his cereal.
Harper picked up the note.
Jim, sitting nearby, raised an eyebrow.
Harper smiled despite herself.
Jack went back to his cereal.
Later that morning, Quinn knocked on her bedroom door.
Quinn walked in holding something behind his back.
He revealed a little notebook.
Some were actually pretty good.
There were pictures of Harper, the family dog, the lake, their house, and even a ridiculous drawing of Jack falling over on the ice.
“You made Jack look so stupid.”
At the bottom of the last page he’d written:
“You remembered all these?”
Her eyes went a little watery.
That afternoon, Luke came running into her room.
She followed him downstairs.
Luke had dragged a blanket onto the grass beside the lake.
There were snacks everywhere.
A colouring book was sitting in the middle.
And next to it was a little box of beads.
“You said you like doing stuff outside, so we’re doing stuff outside.”
“Jack helped me find the beads.”
From inside the house, Jack yelled:
“I DIDN’T HELP THAT MUCH!”
“I don’t want you to be sad anymore.”
He held out a bracelet he’d already made.
“It’s got your initials.”
The tiny bracelet had H spelled across it.
She immediately hugged him.
That evening, the four siblings sat together on the dock.
No one was talking about hockey.
Jack was helping Harper skip stones.
Quinn was braiding her hair because she’d asked him to.
Luke was attempting to teach her how to tie fishing knots, despite not actually knowing how himself.
“You guys are being weird.”
“Because you’re being nice.”
Luke added, “And we’ll talk about other stuff.”
“Yeah, but I’m your brother.”
Quinn nudged Harper gently.
“And we’re listening now.”
Harper looked at the three of them.
For the first time in a while, she didn’t feel like the little sister who happened to live in a house full of hockey players.
She just felt like Harper.
And that was more than enough.
