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I nodded, grinning smugly, while Yellow said, “Yes. Just now.”
“Wait. What?” Fox leaned past Bella to get a load of Yellow’s ring already on her finger. Then he whirled incredulously toward me. “But you agreed that I could go first.”
With a shrug, lacking all guilt, I said, “I lied.”
“What the hell, man? This whole night was my idea. I only agreed to let you in on it at all because you swore the girls would love a double engagement. But I was always supposed to go first.”
“Hey. Eleven minutes, motherfucker,” I told him unapologetically, feeling no regret whatsoever.
“What?” he snapped, totally not understanding.
“I was born first,” I reminded him. “Eleven minutes before Bella. Ergo, I get engaged first.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Fox cried, his entire face turning a bright, tomato red. “You upstaged my proposal because of your stupid eleven-minute twin rivalry?”
“I didn’t upstage you at all,” I argued. “No one even noticed my proposal. You two were the ones who got all the applause.”
Which was exactly why I’d snuck mine in privately. While Bella had adored the attention, Yellow would’ve been super embarrassed to gain such a show. But she’d loved watching the flash mob as much as Bella had, so we’d both gotten it done exactly how we needed to.
“Just ignore him, baby,” Bella told Fox, taking his arm and forcing his attention to her. “He can have this one. We’ll get him back later. Maybe we can get married before they do.”
I snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
Yellow sighed and leaned toward me. “We’re getting married tomorrow, aren’t we?”
Ah, my love. She knew me so well. “Probably,” I admitted.
And that’s how I got the drop on Fox and proposed before he could.
BELLA
“Eleven minutes, my ass,” my husband murmured with relish next to me. “What do you think of your eleven minutes now, motherfucker?” he went on, taunting my brother who wasn’t even around.
“Fox,” I hissed, cuddling the infant I was holding tighter to my chest and trying to cover her ears. “No cursing in front of the baby. She’s only, like, twenty minutes old. Good Lord. We can’t start out this quickly as such bad influences.”
“Shit, sorry. You’re right.” His voice went hushed as he nodded his agreement. Then his gaze went to his newborn daughter resting on my chest in the hospital bed, and he seemed to melt. “So can I hold her yet?”
He looked so eager and hopeful, I couldn’t say no, even though I felt pretty attached to the little bundle. She was just so warm, and small, and absolutely perfect. I didn’t want to let her go. But I guess I’d share if I had to.
The usual exchange process that probably passed between every pair of first-time parents ensued.
Careful.
Easy.
Do you have her?
I got her.
Okay, good. Just keep supporting her head.
And then Fox was holding his baby girl.
“Hey there, precious,” he cooed, lighting up as he gently tickled a finger across her chest. “Look at you. You’re just so sweet and flawless. I can’t believe I’m your daddy.”
I smiled wearily, beginning to feel the draining effects of childbirth as the adrenaline rush began to wear off.
After crossing the room, Fox sat in a visitor’s chair and gazed down at his daughter. “Your mom said I could be the one to tell you the origin of your name, so here goes. Once upon a time, Grandma and Grandpa Parker had a baby boy. That was me, by the way. And they still hadn’t decided what to name him yet, until Grandpa Ten—don’t worry; you’ll meet him soon enough—said, ‘Why don’t you just ship your two names together?’ And since Knox mixed with Felicity is Fox, it stuck. So when your mommy and daddy tried to come up with a name for you, we decided to follow their pattern. And that’s how you became Bex: a little bit of Bella and a little bit of Fox to make a whole lot of love.”
