Page 63 of Daigo

"You look like a mother," Tammy murmured as she took the baby from her friend.

"I am a mother."

"You look all soft, cuddly, and contented. Look at you! Look at us, and look at what you and that gorgeous man of yours produced. Which one am I holding?"

"Does she have a mole at the side of her left eye?"

Tammy peered at the baby's face. "Yes. It's so tiny. Good Lord, honey, they're identical and so perfectly beautiful."

"Keira has a strawberry-shaped birthmark on her stomach." Shelby shifted the baby to her other breast, smiling when her tiny mouth latched on hungrily. "The nurses and doctors all agreed that the fact that I'm breastfeeding them for every meal is the reason they're thriving. Even Kai."

She looked up, eyes shining. "He's put on two pounds in the last three days. That's an amazing feat. And he gets to come off the feeding tube today. They're saying that as long as he has bowel movements, we all get to go home at the end of the week."

"There, there, sweetie. All set?" she crooned when the nipple slipped from the baby's mouth. "She's full."

She looked up to see Tammy staring at her. "What?"

"You're a natural," her friend murmured.

Shelby burst out laughing. "I'm learning as I go along."

"Where's Daigo?"

"He had a meeting with some associates that he kept putting off." Carefully putting her daughter on her shoulder, Shelby rubbed her back, smiling in satisfaction when she let out a gentle burp. "I had to threaten him to get him to go. The man is as stubborn as a mule, and he adores his daughters. He's going to spoil them rotten."

"He's great with them." Tammy sighed softly as she cradled the baby in her arms. "She's starting to fall asleep."

"She's fed and diapered, so the next best thing is to take a nap. Ah, Nurse Grant, they're ready for bed."

"And it's time for your evening meal." The woman smiled at her as she approached the bed. "Are you eating with her?" she asked Tammy.

"What're they serving?" Tammy passed the sleeping baby to her.

"I do believe it's roast beef and wild rice."

"Count me in." She waited until the woman had gathered the two babies in her arms and left the room before commenting. "This is like a fricking five-star hotel."

Shelby grinned as she adjusted her bra and did up her buttons. "You should see what I had for breakfast this morning. Yuna was here and shared the meal with me."

Tammy lifted a brow as she stretched her legs out. "She's improved drastically."

"She loves the children. The change in her is amazing. She's here every day."

"I have news."

"Share."

"There's a teenage girl. Her mother is a client of Derek's." She plucked nervously at the lightweight jacket she had on. "She wants us to adopt the child. She's seventeen, and the boy is not stepping up. And she wants to go to college. The mother told Derek that she wants us to be the ones to bring up the baby."

Her eyes watered up. "I originally thought that we would wait a bit. You know, after the wedding, which, by the way, depends on when you can get out of this joint and back on your feet."

"I thought we'd settled on the first week in July."

"Yes." Tammy waved a hand. "So, the girl will be delivering the baby in late August. She's already applied to nursing school and has been accepted."

She clasped her hands together. "We're getting a baby. I know it's happening very fast, what with him getting full custody of the two children, but we agreed that it's something we can do." She blinked the tears away. "Oh God, Shel, I'm scared. It's like all my dreams are coming true at a pace that has my head spinning. I keep expecting something to go wrong."

"Honey, you deserve every bit of happiness. I thought the same way myself. For two years, nothing was happening. I could feel my marriage slipping away from me. I told myself that I was in over my head. I had married this man who was totally out of my league-" She shook her head.