“Selena, I would like to make it to the hospital in one piece, please!” Samiyah shouted.

Selena hit a corner hard, causing the car to skid, kicking up asphalt. The motion sent the car into a tilting rock as the vehicle adjusted to the sharp turn.

“Selena!” Eden yelled in the back seat with Samiyah.

“What do you want me to do? She’s going to have that baby in the back seat!” Selena hissed.

“She’s not going to have this baby at all if you don’t slow down,” Phoebe said with her hands clutched to the passenger-side door.

“That door isn’t going to save you if the car flips over,” Selena said, chuckling.

“That is so not funny,” Phoebe retorted.

Selena laughed harder, her guffaw going into a rambunctious howl. Tears crept from the corner of her espresso brown refined eyes, and Selena swiped her black shoulder-length hair off her shoulder just as she hit another corner. Phoebe gripped the door handle even tighter, her eyes bulging as she held on for dear life. In the backseat, Samiyah panted, inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. The pain in her abdomen was like a constant beat of drums the way it battered against her.

“How is this funny!?” Eden asked sharply. Eden turned to glance out the back window. “Jasmine is nowhere in sight. You’ve lost her and the others with your reckless driving. Do you even have a license?”

Selena’s laughter died down, but a smile still leered on her face. She tossed a glance in the rearview mirror at Eden.

“To answer your first question, this is so funny because your twin is up here scared shitless. The horror on her face is deathly comical. I could fall over laughing, but then we would really be in trouble.”

Eden snorted. “And now we’re not?”

“No, we aren’t. I’m a professional race car driver. I came in first place in three different competitions in high school. You should check my credentials.”

“Damn your credentials,” Phoebe shouted, causing Selena to howl even louder. Fresh tears populated in her eyes, and Selena tried with all her might to focus on the road. “High school hardly counts as professional anyway,” Phoebe added.

“Okay,” Selena said. She made a show of straightening in her seat and properly wheeling the vehicle. “We’ll be at the hospital in thirty seconds, how’s she doing back there?”

Eden glanced down at a panting Samiyah who was splayed across the back seat with her head in Eden’s lap and her legs cocked open as if the baby was on his or her way.

“How are you doing, Samiyah, talk to me,” Eden said.

“Woo, woo, woo,” Samiyah breathed, not bothering to speak for fear that she would mess up the meditation she currently had going on.

“I think she’s okay, she’s got it under control. Samiyah, blink once for yes and twice for no.”

Selena guffawed just as Samiyah screeched. “Aaaaaaah!” A searing pain ricocheted through her, and Samiyah’s eyes rolled as she felt delirious.

“It’s okay, we’ll be at the hospital in—”

“We’re here!” Phoebe yelled as Selena sailed into the emergency room’s underpass, right in front of the entrance.

Selena threw the car in park and hopped out, running around the vehicle into the hospital. The four-inch heels she wore didn’t slow her down as the double doors opened, allowing her inside. “We need help. There’s a pregnant woman outside, and she’s gone into labor!”

Everyone turned their attention to her, and the lady behind the registration desk grabbed her desk phone and dialed a number. An overhead intercom sounded, and the woman’s voice rang through.

“Code Rapid Response, emergency room entrance.”

The woman slammed the phone down and exited the safety of her office. She was an older Caucasian woman with light gray eyes and a head full of gray curly strands. Another set of double doors to Selena’s right flew open, and a full staff consisting of doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and lab techs jogged toward the entrance wheeling a patient bed.

“Where,” one of the doctors asked.

“This way!” Selena said, turning to jog back out to the car where Phoebe and Eden stood, coaxing and taking deep breaths with Samiyah as if they were helping her with her laboring.

“We’ll take it from here, ma’am,” the same doctor said.

Phoebe moved out of the staff’s way, and Eden joined her as they all watched them check Samiyah before removing her. With a joint effort, the staff lifted Samiyah onto the bed and surrounded the moving platform as they rolled her back inside followed by Selena, Phoebe, and Eden. The ladies jogged just as fast as the medical staff with the trail of Phoebe’s gown swishing across the floor. When they made it to the delivery ward, the staff entered a room, and a nurse stopped the group as she turned to them.

“I’m Nurse Staples,” she said, “I’ll be on your friend’s team to help her deliver this baby. What’s your friend’s name?”

“Samiyah Rose!” Phoebe shouted.

The nurse’s brows bunch suddenly. “Hmmm, that name sounds familiar.”

Eden let out a laden breath. They didn’t have time to talk about why the nurse probably knew Samiyah’s name. She would find out later that Samiyah was married to a celebrity boxer when Jonas came flying through the hospital.

“Anyway,” the nurse said. “We’ll take good care of her. If you’d like, only one of you can come in. Usually that’s the father.”

“Well, he’s not here, so I’ll stand in for him until he gets here,” Phoebe interjected.

“Ma’am!” a heavy voice behind them pulled their attention as all four pairs of eyes turned to the two police officers trotting toward them.

“Yes, sir?” The nurse questioned.

The officers glanced at Phoebe. “Are you Phoebe Alexandria Rose?”

Selena and Eden frowned as Phoebe answered, “Yes.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us.”

“For what?” The three girls said in tune.

“Theft,” the other officer said matter of factly.

“Bullshit,” Selena hissed.

“I’ve never stolen a thing in my life!” Phoebe said.

“Yeah, and this is harassment. Do you know who our father is? He’ll have your badge,” Eden snapped her fingers, “within seconds for mistaking us for thieves.”

The second officer glanced at Eden, and his eyes leered at her in thought. Just then he turned and sent the back of his hand flying against his partner’s shoulder. “They’re the Rose triplets,” he said, smiling, suddenly star struck.

The first officer also smiled as recognition set in. The second officer held out his hand to Phoebe. “Congratulations on your nuptials.”

Phoebe hesitated before shaking the officer’s hand.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Unfortunately, we still have to take you in.”

The girls all looked aghast, and Eden sank her hands into her hips.

“I’m sorry I have to go,” the nurse said. “I’ll return in a minute.” She left their sides to trail into the delivery room.

“Did you pay for the dress, ma’am,” the first officer asked.

Phoebe’s cheeks reddened as it dawned on her that she hadn’t officially purchased the gown.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Selena spat. “Do you really think she’s going to steal this dress!? Our friend just went into labor, we were at the bridal shop, the owner knows we left in a hurry to get her to the hospital. Phoebe doesn’t need to steal this damn dress. She could buy this whole city if she wanted to!”

Eden puckered her lips and nodded, agreeing with Selena’s retort.

“I don’t doubt it,” the first officer said, “but again, we still have to take you in because the owner called us. We’re sorry, ladies. I’m sure you can have her out before she’s officially booked.”

The first officer reached to grab Phoebe’s arms, twisting them behind her back.

“Hey!” Phoebe shouted.

“Get your hands off of her!” Selena and Eden chimed as they reached to protest the officer’s arrest.

The officer took his handcuffs out and Selena grabbed one of Phoebe’s arms to pull her away from the officer while Eden did the same on the other side. They struggled and tussled before Selena instinctively sent a hand pushing into the middle of the officer’s chest as to say back off.

The second officer grabbed Selena and pulled her hands behind her back.

“Hey!” Selena shouted. “What are you doing!”

“You’re under arrest for assault on a police officer.”

“What!?” They all shrieked.

Just then the double doors opened, and Phoebe and Eden’s third doppelganger sailed through the door with Claudia, Octavia, Santana, Carla, and the rest of their crew, which consisted of friends and extended family members. There was still no sign of Jonas or any of the men.

“What’s going on here!?” Jasmine shouted, coming to the side of her sisters.

“Ma’am,” an officer said, getting frustrated. “Your sisters and friend are under arrest.” The first officer glanced at his partner. “We may need to call for backup.”

“Whoa, nobody’s calling backup,” Claudia said right behind Jasmine. “What happened?”

“They’re arresting Phoebe because the owner of the bridal shop said she stole this freakin’ dress. Can you believe it!?” Eden shouted, continuing to wiggle and tussle with the officer retaining her.

The women’s eyes all widened in shock.

“That’s ridiculous!” Claudia shouted.

“We know, that’s what we’re trying to tell them, but they won’t listen!” Selena hissed.

“Wait,” Jasmine said, “surely we can work this out. I can call the owner right now and pay for the dress over the phone.”

“You’re free to do so,” the officer said, “but we still have to take her in.”

The group all gasped.

“Why?” Jasmine and Claudia chorused.

“Because we were called. Somebody’s got to go.”

Frustration seeped into their bones.

“What about Selena and Eden, why are you detaining them?”

“For assault,” Selena said, rolling her eyes. “I barely even touched him.”

The officers didn’t say another word; instead, they moved with purpose through the group of women. The first officer had one grip on Selena’s arm and another grip on Eden’s arm. The women trailed the officer as all three of the girls were handcuffed and taken outside to the police cruiser.

Jasmine and Claudia whipped out their phones, calling their own set of backup while the rest of the women looked on in shocked horror.

“All right!” Selena shouted as one officer attempted to force her head down into the back seat.

“You don’t have to do all that,” Jasmine quipped. So many times, she’d tried to tell her sisters that the system was set up to destroy them. But they always suggested she was over exaggerating. Jasmine was mad as hell now. The audacity of their claims was just downright ludicrous, and she’d have Al Sharpton on the phone in no time.

Side by side, Phoebe, Selena, and Eden sat in the back seat, shoulder to shoulder, cuffed and buckled down. They all peered at the rest of their bridal party as the cruiser drove away to the downtown precinct.