Tate followed behind her, clearly not a part of the plan but holding two big-ass gift bags with “WELCOME LITTLE ONES” scrawled across the front in glitter. “I told her to wait,” he mumbled.
“Look at ‘em,” Narri said, inching closer. “Look at these little princesses!” She clutched her chest, then fanned her eyes. “They are so beautiful, Bine.”
“Shit, I helped,” Adair inserted, making them laugh.
“Boy, hush. You did the easy part. She the one who almost split in two.”
“Literally,” Pam agreed.
Tate stepped up beside Narri and gently set the gift bags on the little table near the window. He didn’t say much, but the way he looked at the twins said enough. He and Narri had just welcomed another son a few months prior, so this feeling was all too familiar, and he was happy for his best friend to receive this blessing again. Twice over.
Narri moved to the bed, hands already stretching out toward the other baby.
“Wash your hands,” Pam called without even looking up and Narri hit the sink immediately.
“Clean as a whistle,” she showed them her hands. “Now give me my goddaughter.”
Adair reached down and lifted the second baby then placed her into Narri’s arms, adjusting her blanket with a gentleness that still surprised even him.
Narri’s whole face changed. All the attitude melted into a softness that only ever showed up when she was holding someone small.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “You got lips. You got these little curls peeking already. You look like you been here before.”
Sabine chuckled. “That’s the one who came out looking dead at the nurse like,who told y’all to take me out?”
“She gon’ be a trip,” Narri said, rocking gently. “I can feel it.” The baby shifted in her arms and let out the tiniest whimper before settling again. “Y’all really did that,” Narri whispered then she looked up, eyes full and shining. “I’m proud of you, Bine. Of both of y’all. I mean it.”
Tate stepped closer, looking between the girls. “Damn near identical,” he said quietly. “But they got their own little vibe. You can tell.”
“Right,” Adair agreed.
Pam glanced over from the rocking chair, still gently bouncing the baby in her arms. “So,” she said, eyes bright with curiosity, “what we callin’ them?”
The room quieted again.
Sabine and Adair looked at each other. That soft, wordless moment between people who already knew the answer but had been waiting to say it out loud.
They hadn’t rushed it.
They wanted to see their faces first.
Feel it in their chest.
Let the names come with the weight they deserved.
Sabine turned her head toward the baby in Narri’s arms, her eyes softened. “She came first. Screamed loud, like she was clearing space for herself but she calmed quick. Like she knew what she came here to do.”
“That’s Rayne,” Adair declared his baby girl.
The room stilled.
Even the babies seemed to shift quieter in their blankets.
Rayne.
The name echoed and settled.
Pam gasped. Narri clutched the baby a little closer. Even Tate blinked hard and looked away.