"You can hold him, you know."

Teddy dragged his eyes away from the tiny, squirming baby boy currently trying to get the bottle to give him his breakfast faster. It had been two days since the twins, his sons, had been born, and while he managed to stroke their little noses and let them curl their fingers around his pinky, he still hadn't actually picked them up.

"I know," he said quietly, running a finger along one pudgy arm. "I will."

"When would that be?" Carlos asked. "When they're in college? Come on, brujo. Get up here."

"I don't want to break them," Teddy said, climbing obediently onto the bed next to his soon-to-be fiance. Just as soon as the ring got there.

"You're not going to break them," Carlos said, sitting up a little higher in the pillows with a grunt. He looked so much smaller without his huge belly preceding him, almost fragile against the bulk of the hospital bed. "Hands out, just like the nurse showed you."

Putting his hands out, Teddy opened his mouth to argue only to find them unceremoniously filled. "Oh," he said, cuddling the baby to his chest without a thought. It was the older twin, Theodore, grumbling crankily as he settled. They really were going to have to figure out a different nickname for him, maybe William or Billy, just to avoid confusion.

Not right now, though. Now, he was going to marvel over how strong and heavy such a tiny, fragile thing could be. This baby that had grown from nothing inside the most beautiful man he'd ever met. This perfect gift he was never going to be able to repay.

"What are you thinking, brujo?" Carlos asked, picking up another bottle and offering it to León, waiting patiently for his turn with happy burbles.

"I don't know how to repay you," he said.

Carlos laughed, rolling his eyes. "Don't let anyone hear you say that."

"Not a good idea?" Teddy shifted slightly, smiling when the baby glared at him. The nurses kept saying his eyes would probably darken, but Teddy didn't think they would. He could picture his son, full of Carlos' sarcasm and strength, charming everyone with those sharp green eyes. They weren't planning on doing the blood tests to find out if the twins were alphas or omegas, but same-sex twins, even identical ones, tended to be alpha/omega pairs more often than not.

He would love to see his boys grow into an omega with his father's fire and an alpha with a dreamy view of the world. Or an alpha with a protective streak a mile wide and a quiet omega with his head in the clouds.

However they turned out, he'd love them.

A camera snapped. "That was a good one," Kurt said, sauntering into the room with a bouquet of balloons that bottlenecked in the doorway with a plastic squeak. "That's going on the wall."

Teddy blinked at him. "When did you get here?"

"Plane landed an hour ago. Would have been here sooner, but I had to get through to this guy." He batted the balloons out of the way, reaching around the door frame to drag a muscle-bound omega into the room.

"Cody, you're alive," he said dryly.

The omega flipped him off. He was still in his fatigues, clean but obviously exhausted, and sporting a thick beard. "Nikolai is on his way, so be prepared for that."

"So, you're the Cody," Carlos said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't look like a shrink."

"I like to surprise people," Cody said. "I'm going to get washed up. Do you mind?" He gestured to the tiny bathroom but didn't bother waiting for a response.

"Are all the guys here?" Teddy asked, catching the bottle as Theodore dozed off in his arms. Little brows, always so angry, furrowed as the nipple pulled away, but he just grumbled and settled down to sleep.

"Of course," Kurt said. "Brendan's talking to your doctor, and Luke and Jay are watching the kids, but they'll be over later. Marcus had to run to the gift shop for something, but he'll be here in a minute." He smiled, snapping another picture. "Look at you, holding a baby. Did he tell you he's terrified of them?" he asked Carlos.

"Yes," Carlos said dryly. "I'm working on it."

There was a commotion in the hallway, and Marcus stuck his head around the door frame. He had a mustache, which was different and didn't suit him at all. "Kurt, can I borrow you for a moment?" he asked, smiling tightly. He looked stressed, not unusual, but he barely glanced at the babies, and unlike Teddy, Marcus loved babies.

"What's wrong?" Carlos asked, curling his arm protectively around León.

"I want to see my son," an angry voice filtered into the room from the hallway, and Teddy's hands went clammy.

"Here," he said, passing the sleeping baby carefully back to Carlos. "I'd better..."

"Oh, no you don't," Carlos snapped, grabbing Teddy's shirt with two fingers until he'd have to disturb the babies to get up. "Is that your mother? She can come in here and deal with the both of us. If she wants to make a scene, I'll show her a scene."

"I like him," Cody said, appearing in the bathroom doorway. He propped his shoulder against the door and yawned. "Up to you, Teddy, but we're not going anywhere if you need us."

Warmed through, Teddy settled back against the pillows.

"Get out of my way," his mother said, her voice shrill enough to make the babies stir. "I don't care what kind of ward this is."

"I can't imagine where you get your social skills from," Kurt said, cheerfully snapping pictures.

"Let her in," Teddy said, sticking his tongue out at his frat brother.

"Theodore William Connelly," she said as soon as she marched in the door, her head held high. "I had to hear about my grandchildren from Elizabeth Stockton. Do you know how humiliating that is?"

"Mom, this is Carlos, my fiance," Teddy said calmly. The ring was in the building now. That counted, right? Maybe not, given the look Carlos slanted him under his eyebrows.

She didn't even glance at him, her eyes going to the babies bundled up on his chest. Teddy instinctively moved to block her gaze. "Are those them? My grandchildren?"

Given that there were no other babies in the room, Teddy would have thought it was obvious, but her possessive tone raised the hair on the back of his neck. He wasn't about to agree to that.

"These are my sons," he corrected. "Since you disowned me six months ago, I don't really think they have anything to do with you." Marcus winced, but Cody was watching the interaction steadily, so Teddy didn't think he crossed any lines.

"How dare you?" she shrieked, and Theodore woke up with a wail of complaint.

"What's going on in here? Oh heavens, there he goes again. Such nice strong lungs," Nana said, pushing her way into the room. "He gets that from me, you know." She didn't hesitate to scoop the crying baby up and sway him in her thin arms.

"Mother Connelly," Teddy's mom said, barely respectful. She watched the older woman with narrowed eyes as the baby slowly quieted.

"Yes, I know. This is all so crude and uncomfortable, this whole life thing, isn't it? It's okay, darling. You'll feel much better about it all when you realize it has chocolate." Completely ignoring her daughter-in-law, Nana continued to dance around the room whispering nonsense to the baby until he was asleep against her chest. "Go home, Victoria," she said finally. "You've burned your bridges one too many times, and now you'll have to deal with the consequences."

His mother had lipstick on her teeth. He could see it as she opened and closed her mouth, shock on her face. "They're my grandchildren," she said, but her voice was softer now, the protest a reflex.

"That's one of those things people always forget," Nana said, setting Theodore in Cody's arms without a word. The omega startled, staring at the baby even as he cuddled him close. "You have to be a parent before you can be a grandparent. Go, Victoria, before I lose my temper. You don't get to steal other people's happiness just because you can't seem to find your own."

Snapping her mouth shut with an audible click, Victoria Banker-Connelly stormed back out of the hospital.

"Thank you, Nana," Teddy said, sliding off the bed to take his son back from Cody.

"I used to feel sorry for her," Nana mused, "but she brings it on herself." She glanced around at them. "Now, now. Why all the serious faces? This is a birthday party."

Teddy laughed, hugging his son as the noise made him grumble. "Is that what this is?"

"Of course," Nana said, producing a paper hat from somewhere and setting it on her white curls. "Where is that...Ah. Come in, come in." She waved vigorously at the doorway until Theresa shuffled nervously into the room, a stack of paper in her hand.

It turned out to be a banner she bullied Kurt and Marcus into hanging. "Happy Birthday Ramírez-Connelly Twins," it read in glittery letters. Underneath, in smaller letters, had been handwritten, "Chito and León."

"Chito?" he asked Carlos when everyone was sipping apple juice out of wine glasses, and the babies were tucked away in their cribs after an exhausting day of being held.

"It's a pretty common nickname. If you hate it, I can think of something else, but I'm not calling him Billy."

Teddy tucked him tighter against his side and thought about that. "It's perfect," he said, looking around at their family and friends. "Everything is perfect."

"Hey, look, Chuy. It's a party. Do you think there's cake?"

"Shut up, idiot. Give them the teddy bear."

Throwing his head back, Teddy laughed.