Two years later
Shelby was five years old when she finally became a big sister.
There was an educational cartoon that came on PBS featuring two lions named Liam and Lulu. Shelby loved that show, and the instant we told her we were going to have a baby, she began asking us to name it one of those two names.
We knew we'd use a family name like Michael for my father or Alex for Gray's grandfather. (We liked Alex for a girl or a boy.) But Shelby asked for the cartoon lion names consistently during my whole pregnancy.
I let her down gently and thanked her for her input, but I assured her that her father and I would end up choosing the name. Yes, Shelby thought of Gray as her father. She began calling him 'Dad' as soon as we got married, and he thought of her and talked about her like she was his real daughter.
We most certainly honored the memory of Seth, and never tried to keep his existence from Shelby in any way, but for the purposes of our daily life, she and Gray embraced each other as if they had been together forever. This was a wonderful, best-case scenario for me since I wholeheartedly loved them both.
Now, there was one more person in the world who I wholeheartedly loved. Gray sat next to me in the hospital bed as we stared at our new little perfect bundle of joy.
I had already taken care of the feeding, and now our precious baby was swaddled and sleeping soundly. The door opened and Shelby came into the room with one of the nurses.
"Your mothers are both anxious to come in," the nurse said quietly. "But I told them you wanted Shelby to meet the baby first."
I nodded, thanking the nurse, and she bowed graciously. "Just call when you're ready," she said as she turned to leave.
Shelby was so precious and she approached the bed on her tiptoes with a wide-eyed stare straight at the baby.
"Is it a boy or girl?" she asked, unaware that the blue blanket was a clue.
"A boy," I said, feeling like I wanted to cry just from saying the words.
"A baby boy?" she asked.
Gray picked her up, settling her on the bed with us so that she could stare down at her new brother. She reached out and touched the blanket.
"He's sleeping," she whispered.
Seeing her made me want to cry. I couldn't help it. She looked so grown up compared to her baby brother. She was adorable, and I loved this moment so much that my eyes stung and watered. I had to blink.
"Yes, he is," I said.
"What's his name?"
"We were just looking at him and trying to figure that out," Gray said. "We know his last name is Kennedy, but we didn't know if he looked more like a Michael Kennedy or an Alex Kennedy."
"Why does his last name get to be Kennedy?" Shelby asked. "I thought it was gonna be Bishop like me."
I glanced at Gray, asking for a little help.
"Your mom's last name changed to Kennedy when we got married," Gray explained. "So, he'll have the last name Kennedy. Your last name's Bishop because you were born before we met."
"Why did mom get to change hers?" Shelby asked.
"Because I married Gray," I said. "I took his last name, Kennedy, when we got married, remember?"
"Then, I'll marry you too," she said staring straight at Gray.
He knew exactly what she was getting at so he said, "If you want your last name to be Kennedy, Shelby, all I have to do is adopt you."
"Okay, you can adopt me," she said easily.
"Do you want your last name to be Kennedy?" I asked.
She nodded and looked straight at Gray without taking her hand off of her baby brother. "Of course I do," she said, looking way too precious. "Shelby Kennedy is a good name and plus, then I will match you guys, huh?"
"Yep," I said, my eyes still watering.
She leaned in to stare at her baby brother and I glanced at Gray. He was a soldier and a warrior in every sense of the term. He was not a crier. I had literally never seen him cry. But as he sat there watching Shelby stare at her baby brother, his eyes glazed over. I knew how much he loved both of them, and it brought me true joy.
"What's his name gonna be?" Shelby asked after what must have been a full minute of quiet contemplation.
"Liam," Gray said.
I turned to look at him, thinking he might have misspoke.
"Liam Michael Kennedy," he said.
"What?" Shelby asked, utterly stunned. "Did you say Liam? I always wanted a baby brother named Liam!"
"You did?" Gray asked, looking surprised.
"Yes, I did! Liam is my very favorite name for a baby brother!"
Gray looked at me with a somewhat apologetic smile, but I returned it with one that said he had nothing to regret.
"Liam Michael Kennedy is the best name for a baby brother I could ever think of," I said. "That is the perfect name for this baby."
Shelby fake passed out onto Gray's chest like the whole thing was too much pleasure for one day. "We gotta tell Shug and Doozy and Nana and them about this. They're not gonna believe it. I told them I wanted a baby brother named Liam."
"I can't believe it either," Gray said. "I can't believe I get two new Kennedys in one day."
"Am I one of your new Kennedys?" Shelby asked.
Gray nodded.
"Me and Liam?" she asked.
Gray nodded again.
"That's good," she said.
And she was right. It was good—the best, really.
Gray smiled and leaned in to kiss me, and tears of joy streamed down my cheeks as I kissed him back. I felt nothing but love, peace, contentment, and thankfulness. And what's more is that I really thought our baby looked like a Liam.
The End
(till book 4)