"I have proof now," Everett said. "I need your help to finish this."
Naomi looked down at the baby. Then back up at him.
"Come inside," she said. "You should meet your sons properly."
The second baby slept in a secondhand crib. It sat in the corner of the living room. Everett stood over it for a long moment. Saying nothing.
"Their names?" he finally asked.
"Caleb," Naomi said, nodding at the one in her arms. "And Jonah, in the crib."
Everett reached down slowly. He let Caleb wrap one small hand around his finger. Something in his chest cracked open. He hadn't felt that in over a year.
"I'm sorry," he said. "For all of it." "For not listening." "For believing the easiest lie instead of you."
Naomi walked over and lifted Jonah from the crib, careful not to wake him fully. She placed him gently in Everett's other arm, so he held both boys at once. For a moment, Everett couldn't speak at all. Two small weights, warm and breathing, settled against his chest like they belonged there. Because they did. He just hadn't known it yet, not really, not until that exact moment.
