Caleb and Jonah turned one during a small backyard party. Just family and a handful of close friends. Everett grilled burgers he mostly overcooked. Laughing every time Naomi teased him about it.
Ruth from the nonprofit came too, bringing a gift bag stuffed with secondhand toys. "Twins are expensive," she said, waving off any thanks. "Let an old woman spoil them a little." Caleb immediately claimed a stuffed dinosaur from the bag. He refused to put it down for the rest of the day. It slept in his crib every night after that, worn thin within a year.
Renee came to that party too, the first time she'd spoken to Everett since the divorce. She brought a pie, apple, made from Naomi's mother's recipe. "Truce," she said, handing it to him at the door. "Truce," he agreed, and meant it.
Renee's three kids chased Caleb and Jonah around the yard for most of the afternoon. The twins couldn't keep up yet, but they laughed themselves breathless trying anyway. Naomi watched from the porch steps, something in her chest finally loosening after two hard years. "They're going to grow up as cousins," she said to Everett. "Real ones. Not just in name." "Good," Everett said. "That's exactly what I want for them."
