Dr. Daddy

It all started with a picture taken at the hospital shortly after the birth of our twin girls. Livvy and Catherine were a Caesarean birth, and as I was in the delivery room, I had to be outfitted in full surgeon regalia: scrubs, hat and mask. Afterward, one of the nurses asked if I’d like a picture with my two new daughters, and I agreed, sitting in a rocking chair with a tiny twin in each hand.

The picture sits on the mantelpiece of the girls’ room. They never noticed it until one night when I had to convince one of them at bedtime to take some cold medicine. She refused, saying that it taste...