“Namesake?” Twitch poked her head around Tox's imposing frame.
“Namesake,” Nathan confirmed. “Twitch, we’d like you to meet our daughter. Charlotte.”
Twitch walked over to the pink bundle and gently pinched the baby's bootied foot. “You named her after me?”
Emily covered Twitch's hand. “Is that okay? We know you don’t like to be called Charlotte, but we love you, and we love the name.”
Twitch beamed through her tears. “Of course it's okay. I’m… well, I’m speechless.” She ran a gentle hand over the pink cap of the now sleeping baby. “Hi, baby Charlotte.”
“And you’ll be her godmother?” Emily asked.
“I’ll change all of her grades to As.” Twitch laughed.
Nathan stepped up to the bedside. “What makes you think her grades won’t be As to begin with?”
Steady stepped into the room, Ren followed. “Is there some sort of holiday today? I can’t quite remember.” Plucking the mistletoe from among the string of candy canes, Steady dangled it above his head. Bouncing his eyebrows up and down, he offered, “What do you say, Calliope? Spread a little Christmas cheer.”
Tox growled. “Brother, I will lay you out.”
“No?” Steady turned his attention to Emily. “What about you, Em? You up for a little smoochin’?”
“Brother, I will instruct Tox to lay you out.” Nathan didn’t bother looking up from his phone.
“So, no swingers in the group then. Noted.” Steady walked over to examine the menagerie under the tree. “Any word from Cam?”
Nathan answered, “Just that he's with Evan. And he sounded very happy about it.”
Steady bobbed his head. “Good.” He beamed at the group and did his best Tiny Tim. “God bless us, everyone.”
Nathan clapped once. “All right, I’m kicking everyone out. Maggie and Uncle Charlie are watching the boys, and Herc is picking up my mother at the airport in the morning. This is our nap window.”
Miles appeared at the door with a cardboard tray of coffees, passed one to Nathan and one to his brother, then joined the goodbye hugs as the men shuffled out. Twitch stood from the bed.
“I love little Charlotte, Emily. Thank you.”
Emily squeezed her friend's hand. “We love you. And it doesn’t hurt that you have a great name.”
Twitch stared at her sneakers. “And it isn’t that I don’t like my name. I do like it. It's just… Charlotte is different from Twitch, you know?”
Emily waited for her friend to look up. “You happen to be speaking to an expert on that subject. So yes, I do know.”
Twitch laughed, “Right. I sort of have an alternate identity too, I guess. But mine isn’t secret like yours was.”
Nathan sat on the other side of the bed and gently lifted the baby from his wife's arms. He settled Charlotte into her bassinet with a kiss and returned his attention to his wife. He pressed his lips to the back of Emily's hand and tucked the covers around her as he spoke. “We love Twitch, and we love Charlotte. As long as you’re happy, we’re happy.”
Twitch stood with a sad smile and promised to return the next day.
Emily snuggled into her pillow and spoke to her husband. “Do you think she and Finn will ever work things out?”
Nathan expelled a weary sigh. “I honestly don’t know. He's never going to be the man he was. I guess the question that remains is what kind of a man will he turn out to be?”
“I hope it's a man who can love Twitch the way she deserves. That's my Christmas wish.”
He kissed her forehead and lay down beside her. “We already got our Christmas wish.”
Emily yawned. “Maybe we’ll get two this year.”
Nathan kissed his wife. “I’ll tell you what I told Cam last week. Sometimes these things work out in unexpected ways.”