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By Daniella Gray
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Two young siblings from Virginia were the first to out the genders of their newborn twin sisters before anyone else.
In a reel on Instagram posted by their mom Anne Cole, 37, (@annecolehowell), Maclin and her brother Shafer were greeted by their dad, Nate Howell, 39, who knelt down to ask the question that had been building for nine long months: "What do you think, guys? What do you think they're gonna be?"
Maclin, 7, predicted girls, while 5-year-old Shafer thought they'd be boys. What came next melted hearts online.
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When Nate told them they'd had twin girls, the siblings' eyes widened and then Maclin's face lit up.
She turned to her brother and asked, "Are you happy?!"
Anne told Newsweek that it was the "biggest surprise" for the family, especially after suffering four losses prior to this pregnancy.
"As soon as the tech looked at the screen, she was silent and just looked at us with this look like, [oh my gosh!] We were like, what? And she said there are two," she said.
The news left both her and Nate speechless. "We were in such shock, I don't even think we could get words out," Anne said. "It really felt like such a blessing."
After having Maclin and Shafer, the couple had always planned to wait until birth to learn the gender of their third child, but with the unexpected twist of twins, Anne said they decided to stick with the plan.
The mom of four described the moment in the delivery room as "so awesome," especially since Nate got to announce the genders himself. "It was just so special," she said.
Rather than tell friends and extended family right away, Anne and Nate made a deliberate choice to involve Maclin and Shafer first.
"We wanted to tell my son and daughter first so that they could announce to the rest of the family and give them a special job," Anne explained.
As for the reactions? "My daughter thought it was two girls the entire time so she was super excited but as you can see in the video, she wanted to make sure little brother was OK with that too," Anne said.
The reel has been viewed 4.8 million times on Instagram and the siblings' reaction has melted hearts on the platform.
"I cannot handle this," one user wrote.
"I love that big sister wanted to make sure big brother was happy before she celebrated. What a sweet girl!" another said.
Now a family of six, Anne told Newsweek the adjustment has gone smoother than they imagined.
"Honestly, I can't picture life without two more girls now that we know," she said.
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