She was so enamored of her perfect little wonder, she barely registered the passing-the-placenta part of the process.

Xavier was equally in awe, and the look on his face as he held their baby for the first time was yet another high.

At some point during their hazy first hours of parenthood, they learned Undine had gone into labor. She and Luke were down the hall.

Labor, delivery, and aftercare rooms were all one at the medical center, and Xavier spent the night in a large reclining chair next to her bed while she slept—or, at least, tried to sleep—with their daughter in her arms.

The next day, they learned Undine also had a girl in the wee hours of the morning. Their daughters’ birthdays were just a day apart.

Jae arrived with George to meet the baby at the start of visiting hours. They’d requested these two men be the first guests for a reason. Audrey was sitting up in the bed holding the baby when George entered the room, a wooden seal carved and painted in the Coast Salish style in his hands. “For the baby’s room.”

“Oh, George, that’s beautiful. Thank you so much.”

Xavier took the carving, freeing George’s hands.

“Do you want to hold her?” Audrey asked the elder.

“I’m a bit out of practice when it comes to babies. Never had any of my own kids. Just nieces and nephews.”

She placed her daughter in his hands, and he held her out, his large palm supporting her head, her swaddled body resting on the length of his arm. “Well, aren’t you a little beauty,” he whispered in the softest, cooiest voice she’d ever heard him use. His gaze flicked from Audrey’s to Xavier’s. “What’s her name?”

Xavier squeezed her hand as she said, “Georgina Jae Rivera.”

Both men looked up sharply, and George said, “Georgina?”

At the same time, Jae said, “Jae?”

“Yes. Because she wouldn’t be here if not for either of you.”

“Luke is gonna be pissed,” Jae quipped.

“He’s got his own daughter to name now,” Xavier said with a laugh.

George pulled Georgina to cradle her against his chest. “Georgina Jae,” he murmured, and she could swear she saw a tear in his eye. He looked up. “I’m honored.”

Jae reached for the baby. “My turn, old man.” He took the sleeping baby and held her against his chest and whispered, “Someday, I’m going to tell you all the ways your dad got in trouble when he was a kid.”

“Crap,” Xavier muttered. “Sorry, Aud, we’re doomed. Maybe we should move after all.”

She chuckled. “Not a chance. If Jae has kids, you can threaten him with the same thing. You know, like that time you both got arrested for grand theft auto…”

“Damn, he told you?”

“That and soooo much more.”