Harper was still in my room getting dressed when I heard the elevator doors ding and slide open. I started walking toward the doors when my sister stepped into view with her suitcase in tow. She was only here for the weekend, but Giana never traveled lightly.
Her face lit up when she saw me and she ran over, jumping up to give me a hug. She was only two years younger than me, but the size difference was definitely noticeable. Giana stood just below my shoulder and I lifted her up into the air in silence.
As I set her back on her feet, she took a step back and her eyes pierced mine. “Is she here?” she signed as she attempted to look around me
“Jesus, G. You can’t even pretend like you’re happy to see your brother?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head as a smile blossomed across her lips. “I’ve known you my whole life. I’m excited to meet the woman who has finally stolen my brother’s heart.”
I smiled back at my sister as I felt the depth of her words. She had heard enough about Harper and as soon as she had a free weekend, she was practically begging me to come visit. We usually tried to get together whenever we could, but both of our schedules had been so busy lately, neither of us were at fault.
Harper was nervous as hell to meet my sister. It was a big thing for both of us and she talked about it all night. She was relatively quiet this morning and I didn’t press the issue. Instead, I tried to just make the day easier for her to try and help with her anxiety.
“She is getting changed, but wait out here while I go check on her,” I signed back to G.
She nodded. “I’ll go make myself at home with Ballsy in the guest room.”
Giana pushed past me and just as she was stepping into the hallway, Harper came out of my room. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail, her face free of makeup. She was wearing a coral-colored sweater and a pair of black leggings. Her eyes widened for a moment as she was standing face to face with my sister and I watched her expression grow soft. Her eyes were warm as she smiled.
Giana lifted her hand to wave and I watched Harper do the same as she softly said hi and introduced herself. She knew G wasn’t able to hear the words she spoke, but she could read her lips.
Harper looked over to me and back at Giana who was now turning around to look at me. “Tell her to come with me while I unpack my things.”
I swallowed hard and shook my head. I was suddenly self-conscious of the massive ball of tape I had stored away in my guest room that Harper didn’t know about. “She doesn’t know about Ballsy.”
Giana’s eyes widened. “Are you seriously going to be weird about it now?” She huffed and waved for Harper while pulling out a notepad from her purse. She wrote something on it and showed it to Harper. Harper glanced back at me with a smile before she followed my sister down the hall.
I lingered for a moment, not sure if I should follow after them or not. Harper told me she didn’t really know ASL which wasn’t unusual for most people. Unless you had someone who had hearing difficulties in your life or had a passion for the language, many people didn’t know how to communicate using it.
Giana had adjusted through life by carrying around a small notebook or using her phone to get messages across to people who couldn’t communicate with her via sign language. A part of me wanted to go in and see what they were talking about. G wasn’t overbearing, but I had a feeling she would be asking Harper as many questions as she could get out.
And then there was Ballsy. I wasn’t necessarily ashamed of him by any means. I just wasn’t sure if Harper would understand his significance or if she would think I was completely fucking weird and something was seriously wrong with me.
Which I supposed could be debatable.
I moved into the living room and sat down on the couch, kicking my feet up as I turned on the TV and flipped to ESPN. There was a talk show on and I just let it take my attention instead of worrying about my sister and my girl in the other room. I stared at the screen and it wasn’t long before they were coming down the hall.
G had a smirk on her face and she walked past the living room and into the kitchen instead of talking to me. Harper came in and sat down on the couch beside me. I slung my arm around the tops of her shoulders.
“So, I’m supposed to ask you about that ball of tape you keep in your guest room.”
I knew this was coming.
“Yeah, that’s Ballsy,” I said with a shrug of indifference.
Harper angled her head to the side with a smile. “It has a name?”
A chuckle rumbled in my chest as the nervousness I previously felt quickly dissipated. “Yep. When I was a kid, I used to leave balls of tape all over the place. My mom would get so annoyed as she collected them and when she gave them to me, I started to build a bigger ball by combining them all.”
I watched Harper’s expression transform. There was nothing but warmth and softness in her gaze as she waited for me to continue.
“It became a tradition. Every season, I would start a new ball of tape and collect it the entire season.” I paused as the memory of my mother drifted into my mind. “My mom was the one who came up with the name Ballsy. I have no idea where, but it stuck. And then we’ve had multiple generations of Ballsy since then.”
Harper smiled. “I love it. I mean, sure, it’s not like everyone has a massive ball of tape sitting in their guest room… but I like it. It’s a part of you and who you are.”
I stared at her for a moment in disbelief. “You’re really not weirded out by it? I mean, it is like a good luck kind of thing in a way.”
“I don’t judge you for Ballsy,” she said with a soft laughter and it was like music to my ears. “It’s actually rather impressive and I love the symbolism behind it.”
I pulled her close to me as I pressed my lips to her forehead. “Have I told you that I love you?”
“You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
I smiled as I rested my cheek against the top of her head. “Well, you had better get used to it because I don’t plan on ever stopping.”
G stepped out into the room and cleared her throat, gaining both of our attention. I turned around to look at her, watching the smile forming on her lip as she saw the two of us sitting there together.
“Did you tell her about Ballsy?” she signed to me as she walked up around the couch to sit with us.
I rolled my eyes at her. “Yes, I told her about Ballsy,” I said out loud while signing to my sister. Harper looked over at the two of us. I didn’t want her to feel left out while Giana and I were signing back and forth with one another.
Giana moved to sit on the adjacent side of the sectional couch. She turned her direction toward Harper and began to sign as I spoke the words out loud to her. “So, Harper, tell me all about your photography. Nico has told me a little, but not enough.”
Harper smiled as she looked between the two of us. Her eyes landed on Giana’s and she spoke out loud explaining to her about being a sports photographer and her plans for the future. I didn’t need to sign for Giana as she read Harper’s lips, and watching the interaction between the two of them felt like my heart was melting into a fucking puddle.
What the hell was she doing to me?
I watched G struggle in life with the way people treated her when they found out she was deaf. It was like there was a disconnect with some people and they viewed her as if she were flawed. They didn’t know how to properly communicate with her. Instead of speaking to her normally, the way Harper was, they would speak loudly and slowly as if she were stupid and couldn’t follow them.
It was sad to watch but I knew it just annoyed Giana more than anything. She wasn’t one to let those kinds of people and their ignorance deter her in life. Giana signed to me to relay the message to Harper since Harper wasn’t as skilled at reading lips like my sister was.
“That’s so interesting,” I told Harper for Giana. “I never really knew how intense taking pictures of a sport could be. It sounds like you’re really building something with the different clientele outside of sports.”
Harper was watching Giana mouth the words as she signed them to me and it was almost as if I weren’t even there. I was simply just the voice translating. Harper didn’t once look at me like it was the two of us talking. Her focus was solely on Giana.
She smiled again. “I’m really hoping I can get something going so I can quit sports, honestly.”
I glanced over at her. “You want to quit completely?”
Harper looked over to me now with a shy smile as she nodded. “I told you it wasn’t where my heart was and I’ve decided it would be best if I left it behind completely.” She paused for a moment as something glimmered in her eyes. “The sooner the better, wouldn’t you agree?”
My tongue darted out as I wet my lips. “Definitely sooner. As soon as possible, actually.”
Harper laughed softly. “Well, I can’t do that yet. I need to get more established and finish out the rest of the season.”
She had told me already that she didn’t want her entire career to be in sports photography, but I didn’t realize she meant she wanted to leave it completely. The thought and the possibility had a rush of adrenaline racing through my veins. If she didn’t work for the team any longer, then we were free to fully explore this deepening connection between us.
“So, we just have to get through the rest of the season and then I can make you mine?”
Harper’s blue eyes shimmered. “Officially, you mean.”
“That’s right,” I murmured as I pulled her close and ignored the sound of my sister clearing her throat. “You’re already mine.”
