"Alright, let's have you hold him like this," The photographer tells her husband, switching his hands under their newborn son.

With the infant held nose-to-nose with his dad, their favorite photographer, Mia's brother Liam, snaps pictures from every angle; front, side, over both shoulders, even from lying on his back under them. "Oh that's good," Liam smiles, looking at a preview of the pictures on his camera. "Look, Mia," He says, crossing the room to his sister.

"Oh, those are beautiful," Miyana sighs, tears coming to her eyes.

"Aw, babe, don't cry," Byron says, going to his wife and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm not, it's those stupid hormones," she laughs, wiping at her eyes.

"Do you want to do some with the two of you now?" Liam asks.

"Yeah," the parent's nod.

"Okay, go make yourselves comfortable on the bed," he directs.

Liam had taken over their bedroom in their apartment. Lights, props, and cameras were everywhere, and despite the mild fifty-degree weather they were having at the end of October, it was swelteringly hot in the room, so much so, a window had been cracked.

Once again, pictures were snapped, lights flashed, poses and angles were shifted. The baby was handed off from one parent to the other and eventually placed across their laps. Through it all, he was so good, so patient; he didn't cry or scream like some of the babies Liam had photographed in his time.

"This is the one," Liam says, after one particular shot.

"Let me see!" Miyana says eagerly, holding out her hands.

"No way, I want it to be a surprise," her brother says.

"Liam! That's not fair!" Mia whines.

"Life's not fair," he retorts.

And, for the first time since their photoshoot started, the infant let out a loud cry. He'd had enough and was done with being posed and passed around. He just wanted his mommy.

"See? He agrees with me," Mia says, looking down at her son, sticking in his pacifier, hoping to hold him off just a few more seconds.

"Sorry, little man, you're gonna have to wait," Liam responds, shaking his head and rubbing a hand over the baby's hair. "We're gonna go check on the girls," he says, looking to Byron, who nods. "And give you two a few minutes and then finish up, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Liam. For all of this; I really appreciate it."

"Always." Brother smiles at sister and the two men leave the room.

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Outside in the living room, over the cartoons playing on the TV, two older sisters excitedly waiting their turn to have their pictures taken were shouting and shrieking and laughing as they played chase on the furniture in the room. Liam, camera still around his neck, took some candid pictures of the scene, including one of Byron scooping his youngest daughter off the arm of the couch where she had been jumping off and face-planting onto the cushions. Emilia howls with laughter as her dad holds her upside down and blows raspberries onto her belly.

"No! Aba! No!" she laughs, gasping for air.

"I'll save you!" Liam cries, taking Emi and tossing her back onto the couch. She looks up with a giant smile on her face, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Do me next, Uncle Liam!" Jaycee shouts, arms raised.

"Okay," Liam grunts, picking up his niece. "Watch out, Emi." And as soon as she moves, Liam tosses her sister into the spot she had just been. Jace squeals through the air, landing with a soft 'umph', and a peal of giggles. The game continues for a few more minutes before Liam stops them.

"Sorry guys, I'm tired," he explains to his nieces. "We'll do it again later, okay?"

"Aba? Will you throw us?" Jaycee asks, hopeful, turning her brown eyes on her father.

"Nope, sorry," Byron declines, shaking his head. "Throwing little girls is a job for Uncle Liam."

"Okay," Jace pouts. But her mood doesn't last long and soon she is off in a corner playing Legos with her sister. The two men steal the tv and flip between the football games being shown, yelling at the refs when they make stupid calls on their team. Before long, Miyana texts her husband that is is safe to come back into the room.

"Come on girls," Byron says, standing, "let's go finish getting our pictures taken." The sisters jump up, leaving Legos strewn all over, extremely excited for it to finally be their turn.

"Eema! Guess what? Uncle Liam threw us onto the couch and he spun me and I landed like this," Jaycee says, bursting into her parents' bedroom and throwing herself onto the bed at her mom's feet.

"I heard. You guys sounded like you were having a lot of fun," Miyana laughs.

"It was really fun," Jace nods, crawling up to sit next to her mom.

"Can we do our pictures now?" Emilia asks, tugging on her dad's hand.

"Yes, right now," Liam answers. "Go sit next to your mommy, I want a few pictures of just you girls."

Emi happily climbs up the bed and settles herself into Mia's other side. She looks between her mom and sister, then down at her own pink and white striped legging and finally at her brother, realizing that one thing in this group doesn't belong. "Abba, come get Calvin, he's not a girl," Emilia instructs.

"Yes, ma'am," Byron says, laughing with his wife and brother-in-law, taking the baby from his mom, letting his daughters wriggle closer to their mom.

"Oh, that's so good!" Liam grins, starting to snap pictures. "Jace: look at Emi." More snaps. "Mia: tilt your head a little. Yes, just like that!" A few more. "Okay, daddy? Ready to come in?"

Byron sets the baby in his crib and joins the girls. More pictures; looking this way and that, holding different people, even one where the kids end up sitting on their dad's shoulders that makes everyone laugh until their sides hurt. And finally the baby joins their family, and another set of photos is shot.

"Okay: mom and dad, you need to leave," Liam says, changing out his memory card.

"What!? Why?" Miyana asks.

"Because I want a few with the kids and what we do in here is a surprise," Liam explains.

"Yeah, it's a surprise, Jaycee agrees.

"Fine, fine, we're going," the parents relent, glancing back at the kids every step of the way.

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For the next two weeks, Miyana tried to get information about the secret photo shoot out of her daughter's, but they kept their lips zipped. Except for one afternoon when she was this close to getting Emilia to crack, had even bribed the girl with ice cream and a new toy, when her sister, having just returned home from school, quickly squashed any reveal by slapping a hand over her sister's mouth and reminding her of the promise they made to their uncle.

"Okay, I get it," Miyana says to the retreating forms of her daughters as they run off to play. "I'll wait."

Finally, at the end of the second week, Liam returns to their apartment and is immediately bombarded by his nieces to continue their game. So being the good uncle he is, Liam tosses the girls onto the couch a few times until he stops the game with the announcement that he had brought them all a surprise.

Once everyone is settled, Liam brings out his bag. He first hands over a flash drive of the entire photo session for Mia and Byron to keep on file. "Okay," he starts, pulling out a wrapped package. "When the kids and I did our part, I asked them which picture they liked best, and they liked a lot of them," he chuckles. "But this was the one they agreed on that you two would like best." he hands over the present and watches as his sister tears off the tissue paper and flips over the framed picture. The sobbing gasp that comes out of her mouth is words enough.

It's black and white, shot at a high angle, with both girls surrounding their baby brother. Jaycee and Emilia's heads are touching and their legs meet at a point out of frame that gives their small forms the impression of forming a heart.

"Oh my god! It's beautiful! Thank you, Liam," Miyana cries, getting up to hug her brother.

"You're welcome," he smiles.

"But Uncle Liam! Where's our surprise?"