March 10, 2002.
The luxurious, private maternity wards on the top floor of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Outside the window, a gentle spring rain was falling in Boston, but inside the delivery room, a warm and cozy atmosphere prevailed.
Beth leaned against the rocking hospital bed, her face showing signs of fatigue and paleness from childbirth, but her spirits were surprisingly high. On either side of the bed were two transparent baby strollers, inside which two rosy-cheeked babies wrapped in soft towels slept soundly with their eyes closed.
Lin Qi sat on the chair by the bed, looking tenderly at the two little lives that had been born less than four hours earlier, then reached out and gently took Beth's hand.
"You've worked hard," Lin Qi said softly.
Beth gripped his hand in return, a weak but sly smile playing on her lips, "You really should thank me. After all, someone swore to me they'd cleared all business trips and team commitments for March to be with me around the clock during childbirth. But what actually happened?"
Beth raised an eyebrow and mercilessly exposed Lin Qi: "Every time I fall asleep during my afternoon nap, someone sneaks out of the hospital and runs back to the New Garden to watch Hill's scrimmage. What, Mr. Lynch, do you really think you can get away with this on your own turf? Don't underestimate me; I'm not alone on that team."
"Was it Margaret who tipped you off?" Lin Qi rubbed his temples helplessly.
How did you guess it so easily?
"That's so obvious..."
Lin Qi awkwardly touched his nose, his aura instantly crumbling, looking like a student caught skipping class by the headmaster.
"Honestly, I only stay for an hour or two at most each time," Lin Qi tried to make amends. "Isn't it because Hill is going through the pains of his comeback, and that old bastard Rick Carlisle is getting impatient? I have to keep an eye on things."
"Alright, boss." Beth gave him a reproachful look, but couldn't help but smile. "Considering you stood guard outside the delivery room the whole time and did a decent job, and the two little ones were good and didn't cause too much trouble, I'll be merciful and forgive your 'absent-hands-off' this time."
It was indeed an extremely smooth delivery. A pair of healthy twin brothers, mother and children are both safe and sound. This finally put Lin Qi's mind at ease, which had been hanging in suspense for the past few months.
"Alright, now that the main characters have all made their safe arrival, let's talk about their names." Beth glanced at her eldest and youngest sons in the stroller. "I've already decided on their English names."
"I'm all ears," Lin Qi said with a smile, leaning back in his chair.
"The eldest is named Benjamin, and the second is named Jonathan." Beth's eyes held a maternal tenderness, yet her tone remained that of a strong woman. "We can call them Ben and Jon in everyday life. As for their middle names, to honor my grandfather and to remind them of their Ireland heritage, they will both use my maiden name— Finneran."
" Benjamin Finneran Lin Qi, Jonathan Finneran Lin Qi..."
Lin Qi murmured the name twice to himself, then nodded in satisfaction. "Ben and Joe. A perfect name, I completely agree."
Hearing Lin Qi's evaluation, Beth smiled with satisfaction. But then, Lin Qi straightened up and cleared his throat.
"However, as a father, and a father of Eastern descent," Lin Qi said seriously, "I also have the right to name them in Chinese. I've already thought of one."
Beth turned her head and looked at him with some curiosity. "Oh? Tell me. Hopefully it's not a word that's too hard to pronounce. You know, I'm still not very good at using chopsticks."
"The pronunciation is very simple." Lin Qi pointed to the slightly older brother on the left, "The eldest son's Chinese Lin Mingjie."
Then, he pointed to his slightly smaller brother on the right. "The second one, his Chinese Lin Senna."
The ward fell silent.
In fact, Lin Qi didn't come up with these two Chinese names by consulting any dictionary—he simply reverse-engineered and transliterated them in his mind based on the pronunciation of the English names (Benjamin and Jonathan) given by Beth ( Benjamin corresponds to " Mingjie ", and Jonathan corresponds to " Senna "). If he were to admit this lazy approach, Beth would definitely laugh at him mercilessly.
Therefore, Lin Qi decided to resolutely deny it.
Although Beth didn't understand the specific meaning of the Chinese, she stared at Lin Qi for a full five seconds, thanks to her keen sense of language and understanding of Lin Qi's personality.
" Lin Mingjie... Lin Senna?" Beth frowned slightly, her expression turning somewhat strange. "Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious." Lin Qi spread his hands innocently. "What's wrong? Doesn't it sound nice?"
"Although I don't understand Chinese, my intuition tells me that these two names either sound like some kind of strange transliteration, or like they were just thrown together haphazardly." Beth looked at him suspiciously. " Lin Qi, you're not trying to fool your sons with your weird aesthetic sense, are you?"
With a shameless grin, Lin Qi leaned down and gently kissed Beth on the forehead.
"Don't worry, I spent a long time researching in the dictionary before deciding on this great name," Lin Qi said with a straight face, seemingly spouting nonsense. " Mingjie means bright and outstanding. Senna means lush like a forest and inclusive of all things. It embodies great Eastern wisdom."
Beth looked at him with some skepticism, but finally sighed helplessly and reluctantly accepted the explanation.
"Alright. Since it's a Chinese name, you decide. As long as they don't get laughed at because of their name when they travel to Asia later in life, it's fine."
"Absolutely not," Lin Qi assured confidently.
The newlywed father and mother smiled at each other.