KINGSTON, Jamaica— When 24-year-old Odane Watt told his best friend that he was going to be a father, the last thing he expected was for his friend, Brandon Green, to announce the same.

Green, 27, was still getting used to the idea that he and his wife Timmoy were expecting their first child, so the news that his best friend was also becoming a parent was a double shock.

“I was surprised because it’s not like it’s something that we have discussed, having kids close in age,” Watt told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Watt and Green have known each other since childhood, growing up in the same community in Kingston. They have been present in each other’s lives for some of the most important moments.

In 2017, Watt was front and centre as Green proposed and later that year he stood beside him as his best man during the wedding.

“Every time there is something that shows up Brandon’s blessings or shows him that he’s worthy, I’m always happy for him, I don’t know if anyone else is happy for him but I am,” Watt said.

Both men knew that they wanted to be fathers, they discussed as much; that when the time came they would step up and be good fathers. However, they had never discussed or planned to have children close in age.

So when a regular Sunday afternoon conversation turned into dual pregnancy reveals, both were shocked but very excited.

“I told my mother first then I told Brandon and then he told me that Timmoy was also pregnant. It was crazy,” Watt said OBSERVER ONLINE.

“To see this happening, at the same time, I never expected it and I was so surprised,” Green added.

For Watt, it was another reason to be happy for his friend.

“That same Sunday when he told me, we were texting and me just mek him know seh me proud a him, me ago always proud a him and me happy fi him,” Watt said.

“And me mek him know from there seh a me a Godfather,” he joked.

Having gotten used to the idea that they were both becoming fathers, the best friends were shocked again when they learned, they were both becoming ‘girl dads’.

Watt was the first to learn the gender of his child and then a week later Green found out.

“When I saw that he was having a daughter, my mind was on a son, at first,” Green admitted in an interview with OBSERVER ONLINE.

“Then it gradually changed until I said a want a daughter too. Then, a week later I found out. And we said wow, they’re gonna be best friends like me and you,”

Watt said even though was he was originally ‘team boy’, he was thrilled to learn it was a girl, especially after Green was also expecting a girl.

“I was even more excited because my daughter get a girl bestie,” he said.

While Green and his wife were told beforehand that their daughter would be delivered early via a caesarean section, Watt and his partner, Tammianna Brown, were caught off guard when she went into labour.

After several hours in labour with no progression, the doctors decided it was best for both Brown and the baby, to deliver via an emergency caesarean section.

Baby Azalea Watt was born in the early hours of June 4.

Three days later, on June 7, baby Arihanna Green was born, also via a caesarean section.

“We were shocked by the dates because neither was due on those days,” Watt said.

“It’s like they coordinated,” Green joked.

As for the similarities between their daughters’ names, both men said that was pure coincidence.

“We were talking about baby names and I didn’t know they already chose a name and they didn’t know that we already chose a name,” Watt said.

“Then we realised that they were ‘As’. I guess these two girls, Arihanna and Azalea, they were meant to be,” he added.

The families also never paid much attention to the similarities between the girls’ birth stories until much later, when they had a chance to reflect.

“Is after everything settle, and we start to look back and say wow, there’s so much similarities.

It was like they coordinated, it was really something,” he said.

Overall, Green and Watt said they are thrilled to be able to enter fatherhood together. To be able to learn from each other, to confide in each other about their insecurities and to hold each other accountable for being the best fathers they can be.

“It helps a lot because if one person is going through something, then that person gains experience, so when the time comes for the other person, you’ll be there with advice. We can always lean on each other,” Green said.

As for who is going to be the fun uncle, they agreed that Green will most likely be the fun one while ‘Uncle Odane’ acts as the disciplinarian.

However, they both hope that the girls will be able to confide in them and appreciate each other as they grow.

“I just want them to be the best they can be, that’s all I want,” Watt said.

“And I want them to be able to rely on each other and be best friends,” Green added.