“Oh, okay.” I nervously snicker, then bring my eyes back to Jess and stare. “I’m just…” I study her electric blue eyes, though they’re shadowed under exhaustion. Her skin is a little splotchy, and her hair a mess, but Kane watches her like she’s his every thought, and that makes her flawless. “Wow. I mean, you had babies, Jess. Two of them at once.”
She grins. “I kinda did.”
“Are you well? Healthy? Everyone is okay?”
“I’m not okay,” Kane drawls. “I saw the inside of my wife’s guts today. Swear, I nearly passed out.”
Jess playfully laughs, only to stop it in an instant and grunt. “No laughing.”
“Sorry, baby.” Kane pushes up to press a kiss to her cheek. “I love you so much.”
“Love you too.”
“You saw the inside of her stomach? She had a cesarean?”
“Mmm. I was hoping to have them out my… ya know,” Jess answers. “We waited for my water to break and for labor to start, but shit got scary pretty fast.”
“We adapted,” Kane adds. “Sometimes shit happens, and we have to adapt. An hour after we walked in here, I became a daddy to twin girls. I think I’m kinda in shock still.”
I swipe a tear from the top of my cheek and laugh. “Twin girls. That’s so precious.” I cast a glance across the bed and stop on Laine. Both babies are covered in matching blankets and hats with pretty bows on top. “They’re identical? How will you tell them apart?”
“Not quite identical,” Luc chuckles. Slowly, with a feather soft touch while his girlfriend sits on the arm of his chair just the same as Angelo sits on Laine’s, he peels the baby’s hat away to reveal snow white hair. Then I look to Laine as she does the same, only to reveal jet black. “We have one Bishop and one Lenaghan.”
“Oh my gosh. They’re so perfect.”
I stop caring about being shy once the hats come off. I move around to the other side of the bed and lean over Luc’s bundle first. She has thick lips that poke out and pout in the most beautiful way. One of her hands protrudes from the blanket and shows tiny, wrinkled fingertips, and fingernails that are a little long. Her nose is a little flat, and her chin-rolls touch her chest.
“She’s so beautiful, guys.”
I move along to study the next baby. Almost exactly the same, but a little smaller. She has the pouty lips, the same chin fat, the same wrinkled hand, but with the Bishop hair.
“That one is Chicken,” Kane snickers. “And the blonde is Nugget. Because we’re all about the Nug Life now.”
“Stop it,” Jess whispers. I hear the smile in her voice, but know she’s being careful not to laugh. “The blonde is Luna. The darker one is Rosalie.”
“Rose for short,” Kane adds. “My Luna and Rose. Now I have three girls, and nobody’s life is as good as mine.”
“Do you wanna hold one?” Jay Bishop stands in the back corner with his Sophia, and watches on with a kind of awe in his eyes. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him this quiet. I didn’t realize he knew how to be. “Lenaghans won’t share. I asked a billion times, but they said not yet.”
“They’ll share withyou,” Soph adds. “Because they’ll want to be polite. So if you say yes, Jay will get to hold one too.”
Jay eagerly nods.
“Okay.” Laughing, I drop my handbag to the floor and stop in front of Luc as Jay darts to Laine.
It’s like transferring explosives, but I end up with a blonde baby in my arms, while Jay gets Rosalie. Then we both sit, but not before Jay shoves his chair close to mine so the arms touch. He sits down beside me with a goofy grin, and leaning in close, he makes the top of Rose’s head touch the end of Luna’s blanket.
“I feel like they have to touch,” he murmurs. “They just grew in the same stomach. They’re not ready to be apart.”
Not bitter about being replaced, Laine moves to Jess’ side of the bed and grabs her sister’s hand. She proves Jay’s point and makes it so the twins touch.
“I just can’t believe they’re really here.” I stare in amazement. “They’re so beautiful and amazing.”
Mitch awkwardly clears his throat, pulling my attention away from Chicken. Or Nugget. I forget which is which. He’s still at the door, with his eyes almost staring at the floor.
“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry. Everyone, this is my big brother, Mitchell. Mitchell, this is everyone. I did Kane and Jess’ wedding yesterday.”
“Hey.” Kane reaches out with a closed fist, but he doesn’t move away from Jess in the least. He’s attached to her until he decides he’s not. “Nice to meetcha.”