Page 76 of Safe at Home

Carter laughed, “Nah, I’ll just buy my nieces pretty things and make me their favorite uncle.”

“Do my granddaughters have names yet?” my mom asked as she came over and gave me a huge hug.

“Well, as you all know, Baby A will be Hazel. We think we have a name picked out for our other little angel, but when you meet the girls, we can let you know for sure.” I told everyone how they were more than welcome to look through the nursery windows to watch the girls get their first baths and check ups. I had to laugh as most of our family and friends stayed and watched in awe. I took lots of pictures that I knew Molly would want to see. I took pictures of not only the babies but also of people’s reactions as they watched them.

“So which one is Hazel?” Hayden asked as he stepped over to congratulate me.

“I have no idea,” I said with a laugh. “I know they aren’t identical twins, but with both of them having red hair, they really do look a lot alike.”

“You know, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen from Full House are fraternal and not identical,” Penelope said.

“No way!” Cooper exclaimed. “They look so much alike!”

“I know, right?” Penelope said as she smiled at Cooper. I don’t think she realized that she was smiling at him and suddenly walked away to talk to Meadow and Emma. I had no idea what had happened between the two of them, but I knew my buddy had better decide what he wanted. Dating a single mom would take a lot of effort on his part, and apparently, he had some making up to do.

“How’s Molly doing?” Dominic asked as he came over to me. “Is she okay after having surgery?”

“I think she’s just fine. I know she’s more tired than anything. She’s also very relieved the babies are here and healthy.”

Dominic nodded, “I’m glad. I can’t believe I have two nieces.”

“Tell me about it, man,” I said and gave him a hug. “I have two daughters.”

“I think we’re going to head out to the hotel,” Mom said as she came over to us. “We’ll be back in the morning. I think I saw a baby clothing store when we were on our way here. I need to pick out some girly outfits.”

“I love that, thanks, Mom,” I said. “Molly will love that.”

“Are you still going to have them come home in baseball outfits?” Hayden asked me.

“I don’t see why not. But if anyone sees any newborn headbands with bows on them that will match my Storm or Raptors jersey, I know Molly would love that. I think we’ll have one girl wear a Storm jersey and one wear a Raptors jersey.”

“We will find what you need!” Meadow said.

“And if we can’t, we’ll make it,” Emma added.

“I think we will definitely need a girls trip to that baby clothing store the minute they open up,” Penelope said.

“Oh, I like that idea,” my dad said. “Us guys will figure out something to do.”

“I second that idea,” Dominic agreed. “I’d rather not shop.”

“Neither Molly or I are big on the color pink, so if you guys can find outfits in yellow and purple that would be awesome. I think that is one way we are going to be able to tell them apart. Hazel will wear yellow items, and her sister will wear purple.”

I thanked everyone again and hugged them all goodbye.

By the time I got back in the room, they were bringing our girls back in. The nurse was helping Molly feed baby Hazel, in the yellow blanket. I picked up the baby in the purple blanket and began rocking her back and forth. As I looked at her little nose that matched my wife’s, I knew Molly had picked out a good name for her.

During the night, Molly woke up several times to feed the girls. Each time, I would burp or hold the baby that she wasn’t feeding. I loved our teamwork, and even though we were both exhausted, we were definitely on a natural high. It felt like we had only been asleep for minutes when we heard a knock on the door. I looked out the window and saw the sun was shining. We had made it through our first night as parents.

We heard a familiar voice say, “Can I come in?”

“Olivia! Hi!” Molly greeted her. “Is your shift really this early?”

“No, I came in early to check on you guys and see if TBN has an actual name yet,” she said. “Oh, look at you feeding her! How is it going?”

“It’s challenging for sure, but I love it,” Molly explained. “We’re all getting the hang of it.”

I looked over at my wife, who gave me a head nod along with a smile. I got up and picked up the baby in the purple blanket from her hospital bassinet. I took her over and gently placed her in Nurse Olivia’s arms.

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