Since the boys' arrival, Dempsey, who acknowledges the newborn phase isn't his specialty ("Certainly for the first four or five months, the husband is really kind of a houseboy"), has enjoyed an even closer bond with his little girl. Photo by: CHRISTIAN / BORIS / Bauer Griffin
Daddy's Boys| Birth, Patrick Dempsey
In fact, the long hours required by Grey's have been challenging for Dempsey, who had to get right back into McDreamy mode the day after the twins' birth. "What are you going to do?" he says of the speedy turnaround. "The show doesn't wait, and you have to put your life on hold." The family has the help of a nanny, notes Dempsey, which "makes a huge difference."

Although the new little guys – their parents haven't bestowed any McNicknames because "it's so widely used now," says Dad – are too small to receive many visitors at this point, Dempsey's Grey's colleagues "have been very supportive and loving," says the actor. "Ellen [Pompeo] calls daily to find out when she can come meet them." And Justin Chambers, who plays Dr. Alex Karev on the show, has offered his own two cents as both a twin himself and the father of twins. "He said, 'They're weird – twins are weird. Take it from me,' " Dempsey says with a laugh. He also got advice from the twin actors who played conjoined twins on an episode of Grey's this season. "They were like, 'Give them their own rooms!' " recalls Dempsey. "I think the thing is to support their individuality and not lump them together."

For now, though, the boys happily share a crib. "They will latch onto each other's arms; it's the most beautiful thing to watch," says Jillian, a makeup artist and hairstylist who met Dempsey in 1994 when he turned up at her L.A. salon for a haircut. But close as they are, the boys' emerging personalities couldn't be more distinct. "Sullivan will probably read this article in 20 years and say, 'What did you say about me?' He's sort of the grumpy old man," says Dempsey. "And then Darby is very much the peaceful, quiet little Buddha."
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