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Everett grips my hand even tighter. “Lemon…” His voice cracks, and I swear I see a tear slip down his cheek.
Noah doesn’t even bother wiping his away. He’s too busy looking at our son like he just hung the moon.
“Not done yet,” Dr. Barnette announces. “Let’s get baby number two out.”
Oh, right. Another one.
I groan. “Can’t they take a cab?”
The room chuckles, but I don’t have time to quip because another contraction rolls through me, and before I know it, Dr. Barnette is holding up another tiny, squirming miracle.
Another burst of cheers fills the room.
“You did it, Lemon.” Everett kisses my forehead and his lips linger as Noah rubs my arm.
“You’re incredible, Lot,” Noah says with a sigh. “They’re incredible.”
I’m about to pass out when the nurse approaches, handing me two perfectly swaddled bundles—one with a gold ribbon around his wrist, the other with silver.
A few hours later and the room is twice as packed with friends and family.
Mom, Lainey, Meg, Charlie, and Keelie are all huddled around me, cooing over the twins.
Evie, Ava, Olivia, and Lyla Nell are perched on the bed, and even Carlotta and Mayor Nash have found their way in, along with Eliza, Meghan, and Wiley.
“They’re darling,” Mom coos, cradling the older one. “Twin boys! Can you believe it?”
The nurse labeled them with ribbons, but the truth is, I can already tell them apart. Same shock of dark hair and same serious blue eyes, but the older one has a dimple on his right cheek, the younger on his left. Their chins, their eyebrows both have tiny differences that might change over time, or maybe not at all.
“What are their names?” Lainey asks, practically vibrating with impatience. “Don’t keep us in suspense, Lot. We’ve waited nine months to meet them.”
I glance up at Everett and shrug. “Looks like push came to shove, and we still don’t have our names shored up.”
“How about Thing One and Thing Two?” Carlotta suggests with a smirk. “Or Thunder and Lightning? Peanut Butter and Jelly?YipandYap?”
“Let’s not set them up for a lifetime of therapy before they’re even a day old,” Noah counters.
Evie raises a hand. “How about naming one after Dad and one after Uncle Noah?” she proposes. “I mean, he’s going to be their dad anyway.”
Noah grins. “Noahisa pretty great name.”
Everett growls, and it’s a sound that would make lesser men take a step back.
“How about using their middle names so there’s not so much confusion?” Mom interjects rather diplomatically. “Corbin Noah Baxter and Everett Essex Baxter?”
Lemon-Baxter, I mentally correct, but I’m too exhausted to say that part out loud at the moment.
“Essex would be a better fit for the first name,” Eliza suggests with the confidence of someone who’s never been wrong about anything. And, of course, she would suggest it. She thought it was a good idea the first time around, too.
Keelie coos at the boys. “Okay, so the older twin is Essex Everett Baxter, and Corbin Noah Baxter for the second cutie pie.”
Mom lands the older babe into my arms once again, and Lyla Nell edges closer to them from the corner of the bed with a bout of curiosity overcoming her initial shyness.
“Look at your brand-new baby brothers,” Evie tells her. “That’s Essex, and that’s Corbin. Do you like those names?”
Lyla Nell nods, and the room erupts in a quiet cheer.
“Ozzy and Co-bean,” she’s quick to announce while clapping up a storm.