"Bianca & Kelli's Shared Pregnancy"
"Bianca & Kelli's Shared Pregnancy"
The Village of Honeycomb
1981-1982
Bianca Franklin-Wallace and Kelli Banks-DeVille were already deeply connected as co-parents: Eric Jr., Bianca, Kelli, and Ryan became co-parents to one another's children, beginning with Angela's birth. Rachael was born November 9, 1981, and Nina March 31, 1982, with both girls surrounded by both parental households and OG CQREW.
In 1981, Bianca and Kelli were pregnant at the same time with their daughter: Bianca's first, Kelli's
* Bianca was carrying Rachael Lee Wallace, born November 9, 1981.
* Kelli was carrying Nina Simone DeVille, born March 31, 1982.
* Their daughters were born four months and 22 days apart.
* This means the women shared approximately the final four months of Bianca's pregnancy with the first four months of Kelli's pregnancy.
Rachael and Nina were sisters before either one of them was born.
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🌸 SPRING 1981 — Bianca Becomes Pregnant With Rachael
Bianca becomes pregnant with her fourth child, Rachael Lee.
At this point, Kelli has Angela as a newborn.
So for part of 1981, the household dynamic is essentially:
Bianca: pregnant mother of three
Kelli: new mother with a newborn
Then Bianca's pregnancy progresses while Angela grows.
This gives Angela and Rachael something else that will matter later:
Angela is already waiting for her little sisters before Rachael and Nina are born.
⸻
🌱 Mid-1981 — Kelli Becomes Pregnant Again
Kelli and Ryan were already raising Angela, who was born March 13, 1981.
While Angela was still an infant, Kelli became pregnant again.
Bianca was already an experienced mother, having raised Eric III, Michael, and Sage before Rachael's pregnancy. Her relationship with Kelli means Kelli didn't experience the pregnancy as something she had to navigate alone.
Bianca became the person Kelli can ask the questions she doesn't necessarily want to ask anybody else.
And because Bianca is pregnant too earlier that year, the relationship changes from:
experienced mother → younger mother
into:
two mothers going through pregnancy together.
⸻
☀️ SUMMER 1981 — THE PREGNANCIES OVERLAP
By summer, both Bianca and Kelli are pregnant.
They are now experiencing pregnancy simultaneously while raising the children already in their lives.
Their husbands/partners—Eric Jr. and Ryan—are part of the same interconnected parental structure.
The four adults aren't operating as two completely separate families.
They're already building the co-parenting system that will define the girls' childhoods.
The family doesn't necessarily make some grand announcement every time something happens.
It's simply:
"Bianca's pregnant."
"Kelli's pregnant."
"Two babies are coming."
And everyone knows those babies are coming into the same extended family.
⸻
👶 SUMMER 1981 — TWO BABIES, TWO MOTHERS, ONE FAMILY
Bianca and Kelli compared their pregnancies.
Not competitively.
Not as a "who has it worse?" thing.
More like:
"You feeling the baby yet?"
"Yep."
"Where?"
"Right here."
And the other woman puts her hand against her belly.
Then:
"Yours moving?"
That kind of intimate, mundane sisterhood.
The kind of memory children later hear about:
"Your mamas were pregnant together."
⸻
🐝 LATE SUMMER 1981 — THE FAMILY STARTS TALKING ABOUT THE BABIES AS SISTERS
Honeycomb's family structure isn't defined solely by biology. Rachael and Nina are already being discussed collectively.
Not:
Bianca's baby.
and
Kelli's baby.
But:
the girls.
Rachael is coming.
Nina is coming.
Angela is already here.
And the adults understand that these children are going to grow up together.
⸻
🍂 SEPTEMBER 1981 — BIANCA AND KELLI ARE STILL PREGNANT
On September 21, 1981, Tanya James gives birth to Meeka.
Kelli is still pregnant with Nina.
Bianca is still pregnant with Rachael.
So the larger Honeycomb family is simultaneously dealing with:
* baby Angela
* pregnant Kelli
* pregnant Bianca
* soon-to-be-born Rachael
* newborn Meeka
That makes the fall of 1981 an especially significant period for the next generation.
⸻
🍁 OCTOBER 1981 — THE FINAL WEEKS
Bianca is getting close.
Kelli still has several months to go.
This creates a funny little family contrast:
Bianca: "I'm ready for this baby to come out."
Kelli: "Girl, I got months left."
Kelli watched Bianca go through the final stretch while knowing that her own pregnancy is continuing.
And Bianca left Kelli with the inevitable:
"Just wait."
Because she knew Kelli would eventually be the one saying it to somebody else.
⸻
💛 NOVEMBER 9, 1981 — RACHAEL IS BORN
Monday, November 9, 1981
Bianca gives birth to Rachael Lee Wallace.
The birth is witnessed by the interconnected family: Eric Jr., Bianca's parents Lee and Michael, Eric Jr.'s parents Rachael Sage and Eric Sr., Rachael's older siblings Eric III, MJ and SAW, co-parents Kelli and Ryan, and OG CQREW.
Kelli is still pregnant when Rachael is born.
So Kelli didn't merely hear that Bianca had her baby.
Kelli was there.
She is pregnant with the baby who will eventually become Rachael's younger sister.
That makes Rachael's birth the first time Kelli meets the child she has been waiting alongside Bianca to meet.
⸻
🍼 NOVEMBER 1981–MARCH 1982 — THE ROLES REVERSE
Now the pregnancy dynamic changes.
Bianca has:
newborn Rachael.
Kelli has:
a growing pregnancy with Nina.
Bianca became the one with the newborn.
Kelli became the one still carrying.
And the women continued helping each other.
Bianca now has fresh experience with a newborn while Kelli is preparing for another baby.
Meanwhile, Rachael and Angela are growing into their sister relationship.
And Nina is literally growing inside Kelli.
⸻
❄️ WINTER 1981–82 — "NINA IS NEXT"
By this point, everybody knows:
Rachael came first.
Nina is next.
Rachael is still tiny when the family begins preparing for Nina's arrival.
This creates another beautiful recurring memory:
Rachael was the baby everybody was holding while they were waiting for Nina.
⸻
🌷 MARCH 31, 1982 — NINA IS BORN
Wednesday, March 31, 1982
Kelli gives birth to Nina Simone DeVille.
Ryan is there, along with Angela, Bianca and Eric Jr., the other children, Curtis and Carla, and OG CQREW.
And now the circle is complete.
Bianca had Rachael.
Kelli had Nina.
The two pregnancies that overlapped in 1981 have produced two sisters who will grow up essentially side by side.
Bianca and Kelli were pregnant together in 1981—Bianca carrying Rachael and Kelli carrying Nina. Rachael was born November 9, 1981, while Kelli was still pregnant with Nina. Four months and 22 days later, Nina was born March 31, 1982. The two mothers experienced pregnancy together, supported one another through childbirth and early motherhood, and their daughters entered the same interconnected co-parenting family less than five months apart.
Rachael's first homecoming happened while Nina was still inside Kelli with Angela already at home. Of the 1981 pregnancies, Rachael literally arrived first, while her future little sister was already on the way. ❤️
