The nurse dimmed the lights and left them alone. Bree should be tired, but energy strummed along her veins and kept her lids wide-open. She stared into her husband’s face as he drank in the baby’s face in the crook of her arm.
Then switched his gaze to the baby in the other.
“Twins,” he breathed. “I still can’t believe it. The early ultrasound didn’t show this.”
Bree drew her finger along the downy face of her daughter. “The doctor said a twin hiding behind the other baby only happens in 1 percent of the cases. I guess God decided we needed a bonus.” She raised her gaze to Kade’s. “You have a son.”
“And a daughter.” He pressed a kiss on each downy head. “She’s got your eyes and hairline.”
“It’s too soon to tell,” she protested. But she saw it too. The tilt of their daughter’s eyes, the tiny widow’s peak along the hairline now hidden by the tiny cap. She inhaled the salty-sweet aroma a newborn carried for only a few weeks. “I want Davy. And Anu.”
“And Naomi?”
“Of course.” She wanted to show her children to the world. She watched Kade step to the door, but he didn’t have to go far. Everyone was waiting right outside in the hall.
“Mommy!” Davy barreled into the room.
When was the last time he’d called her mommy? She patted the mattress. “You have a brother and a sister, honey.”
“Both?” He stopped in his tracks, and his mouth formed an O. Then he gingerly clambered up beside Bree and stared at one baby, then the other. He reached out and his sister grasped his finger. “She likes me!” He beamed.
“Of course she does. You’re her big brother. You have to protect her. Teach her all the things she doesn’t know.”
Behind him, Anu had stopped as well. Her tender gaze lingered on Bree’s face, then moved to the infants in her arms. Tears sprang to her eyes and coursed down her cheeks. “Oh, kulta,” she breathed. “God has blessed us with two.”
“Come here, Grammy, and kiss those babies,” Kade said. “They smell so good. They’re still a little gooey, and they have sticky stuff in their eyes, but they’re beautiful. And so’s their mommy.” His gaze locked with Bree’s.
Naomi stepped into the room behind Anu. Her gaze took in both babies. “Girl, you never do anything halfway.” She wiped her eyes and approached the bed behind Anu, who was pressing kisses against the pudgy cheeks of the tiny girl in her arms.
Anu laid Bree’s daughter in Naomi’s arms, then lifted the baby boy. “Do we have names?”
“We had a name for each, just in case.” Neither of them had wanted to know the baby’s sex. “Her name is Hannah, after you, Anu. Ann is the variation of Hannah. And our son is Hunter. For Samson.”
Naomi rushed for the door. “I’m bringing Samson in. He needs to meet his new charges.”
“They won’t let you,” Bree called. But she was talking to the wind. She and Kade exchanged rueful glances. She watched Anu settle into a chair with both babies in her arms. Davy hung over his siblings with rapt attention.
She heard the click of Samson’s nails on the floor before she saw him. His broken leg had quickly healed and hadn’t left a trace of a limp. With the dog on his leash and wearing his search vest, Naomi came rushing in, her cheeks pink and her eyes sparkling.
She released him from his leash. “I had to do some talking, but turns out Samson found the receptionist’s grandson when he wandered off. Remember that, Bree? Samson is the star in this town. He gets special privileges.”
Samson’s dark, intelligent eyes went from Bree to the babies, who were still sleeping in Anu’s arms. He whined, then went to sniff one baby then the other before turning to stare at Bree as if to say, What have you done now? Then he curled at the foot of her bed. His gaze dared anyone to hurt his family.
Kade eased onto the mattress beside Bree. He slipped his arm under her head, and she curled up next to him. Anu brought the babies to them, and they parted enough to settle the tiny forms between them.
“Me too!” Davy climbed onto the bed on Bree’s other side.
She slipped her arm around him, then turned her gaze to lock with Kade’s. The intensity in his eyes warmed her, made her forget the pain still slowing her movements.
“We have a full house,” he whispered.
“And even fuller hearts,” she said, leaning over to kiss him.