Two days later, Lily Rose Taylor Saracen went home with her parents. She seemed to be completely unfazed by her new surroundings. When Matt opened the door, Julie's parents called out, "Surprise!"

Matt immediately dropped all the bags and the "It's a Girl!" balloon he'd been holding. A bunch of balloons had been tied around the house, a stork was in the yard, and a giant banner that said Welcome Home, Lily was in the doorway.

Matt glared at his relatives and said, "Coa-Eric, you know I hate being surprised like this!"

Coach Taylor said, "We know."

Gracie said, "Where's the baby?"

Matt said, "Julie has her."

Julie walked in with Lily and said, "Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Hi, Gracie!"

Coach Taylor said, "I'll give you your reward for keeping your mouth shut." He handed Julie a ten-dollar bill.

Matt said, "You knew they were going to be here? Why didn't you say something?"

Julie said, "Because I just made ten dollars. And I like to torment you."

Matt looked at Coach Taylor and said, "I've come to a conclusion about you. You're a sick man."

Gracie said, "No. Daddy's not sick."

Matt sighed and said, "What I mean is that he's sick in his mind. Everyone who does not live here, out!"

Once the Taylors left, Matt and Julie decided to introduce Lily to Teddy the dog. Teddy looked at baby Lily and immediately tried to lick her face.

Julie pulled Teddy away and said, "Well, that went well."

Matt said, "At least he's not growling at her or trying to bite her." The new family then decided to just spend time together.

As the days turned into weeks, they soon found that, despite being novices when it came to babies, they were naturals with Lily and soon fell into a routine. Every few hours, Julie would wake up and nurse Lily. After the early morning feeding, Matt would strap Lily into the baby carrier and take her and Teddy out for a walk. During these walks, Matt would talk to Lily about football, life and just about anything.

As the weeks became months, Lily began to wake up, personality wise, and would often "converse" with her dad during their walks. Her eyes changed from baby blue to chocolate brown, the same color as her hair. When Lily was about six months old, Matt made a decision to delay his return to football a year and get his strength back.

At Thanksgiving, Julie's family came and marveled at how big Lily was. Tami said, "I can't believe she's already eight months old!"

At Christmas, Lily showed more interest in tearing the paper than in her presents. Matt joked, "I guess that baby-size 'Go Herd' T-shirt was a waste of money."

Julie joked back, "You're cruel! Already corrupting our baby!"

Matt said, "Well, I don't want our daughter to be a prissy little diva."

Julie smiled and said, "Matt, there's no chance of that happening."

As Lily happily crawled around, Matt picked her up and spun her around. Lily giggled, as she always did when her dad played with her.

Julie kissed Matt and said, "Merry Christmas, honey."

Matt replied, "Merry Christmas to both my girls." Lily babbled and even Teddy barked. It was a Christmas they would never forget. They were now a family.