Page 94 of Twins For My Bestie's Brother

Lily looks at me. “Thank you.”

“For what? I didn’t do anything,” I reply.

“No, no, you did so much more than you even know, Jackson.”

Elliot and Simone Roy are the talk of the town from the moment they’re born. Firstly, their parents are childhood friends turned lovers with a whirlwind courtship. Secondly, they are the first twins born in Cider Bay in a decade. And thirdly, they were born a year to the day of their mother’s ten-year high school reunion.

The last fact is more a fun fact for us and those who were in on the arrangement from the beginning. All of it almost too cosmic for words.

It all just lends to my belief from the beginning that Lily and I were inevitable.

Kayla is our first visitor. It only felt fair given her status as godmother to the twins, not to mention she’d cheered for Lily and me from the second I shared my feelings with her.

“Stop it. I can’t even look at you,” she says when she spots me in the chair beside Lily’s bed with Simone cradled in my arms. She fans her hands at her eyes. “You guys, come on, this isn’t fair.”

“Come on, Kay,” I encourage her to come closer.

Kayla seems to tiptoe toward me until she’s at the side of my chair. “Oh, my gosh . . . look at her. You did so good, Lil.”

“She did,” I affirm.

We spend a long while gazing into the face of my daughter who is stretching out her little legs, a foot emerging from her cocoon. I place my thumb against the bottom of her foot. Her toes curl around the tip of my finger, and I smile. “It’s amazing,” I say.

Kayla wraps her arm around me and kisses the top of my head. “I’m so proud of you. I’m so, so proud.”

Soon after, Sue and Darryl join us. Unlike Kayla, who is tentative and nervous to even interact, they want to hold their grandchildren as soon as possible.

“So big! They’re so big,” Sue says.

Lily, who has finally had some interest in eating, replies, “I know,” through a mouthful of Jell-O.

Sue and Darryl spend a long time trying to figure out who the twins take after more which Kayla referees as the one staunchly in the camp of, “They’re babies. They don’t look like anyone.”

While they’re occupied, I take a moment to call Wild Bloom to check in on everyone there. Lily worked up until the day before she went into labor officially, just as she promised. The only reason she stopped that last day was becauseIhad a panic attack over the confusion between real contractions and Braxton-Hicks, so she took off to humor me.

Now, here we are, just about two days later in the hospital with our twins. I deserve an, “I told you so,” but I would never, ever say it aloud.

In the time I’m on the phone, we get two more unexpected visitors: Danforth and Carina. We have a group text chat, the four of us, so they were abreast of when Lily went into labor and were some of the first to receive pictures of the twins in their hospital bassinets. I should have known they’d show up without warning. With flowers and balloons to boot.

“You didn’t put on makeup?” is the first question out of Carina’s mouth when she sees Lily. Her high-pitched voice sends Elliot into a startled sob which she apologizes for quietly before going to Lily’s side and giving her a hug. “I already hired a makeup artist for ours.”

It wasn’t long after Carina and Danforth joined us in Cider Bay that they found themselves pregnant, which was both a humongous celebration and a great relief. She’s not showing yet, but she talks about it nonstop. And who can blame her?

Danforth greets me with a handshake and a few slaps on the back. “You made it! No scarring I see.”

“No, but I still can’t feel my hand,” I say, shaking out my right hand that served as Lily’s stress ball.

“Don’t remind me,” Danforth says with a heavy sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. “While I have you, I wanted to ask you about—”

Carina appears at his side. “Honey, later. Babies, not business.”

Danforth’s ears turn red, and he smiles at me sheepishly. “Old habits die hard.”

Cider Bay has softened him. I see it every day. And while the plans for our adventure business are still in the works, I think Danforth is already seeing how family comes first around here.

Lily’s eyes find mine from the bed. She sits up straighter. I know that look. She needs me.

And I will run.

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