Title: Namesake
Author: upsidedownbutterfly
Rating: G
Summary: Casey wonders whether Camille and Jarrod have picked out a middle name for their son.
Author's Note: One of several short, pointless Camille/Jarrod fics that have been sitting on my hard drive because I love them more than anything.
"Casey."
"What?"
"No, no," Camille says with a laugh that's bright and easy and so different from the dark and dangerous tones he'd associated with her in the past. It's happened so gradually sometimes Casey forgets how much she's changed. "You asked if we'd chosen a middle name for the baby. We did. It's Casey."
For a moment he's just staring at her because her words should make sense and yet somehow they don't. The meaning is there but the significance is all wrong like he's missing something or misunderstanding or forgetting some other Casey they all know because why would Camille and Jarrod name their son after him?
"… really so surprising?" Camille is saying when Casey's thoughts catch up with the world around him. "When you saved Jarrod from Dai Shi, you saved both our lives. Everything we have, our life today, each other, our son… it's because of you, Casey."
His mind is reeling at her words because Casey's never thought of it that way before and never even considered that Jarrod and Camille might. All he had done was reach out to a man who needed a friend. It was Jarrod who'd cast off Dai Shi and Camille who'd betrayed ten thousand years of loyalty to help them and the two of them together who'd picked up the shreds of their lives and pieced them back together in the aftermath.
"But you gave us the chance."
"You shouldn't– I mean, you don't have to," he sputters because it's all still too overwhelming and he doesn't know how to convey that he's never thought of them as owing him anything and certainly not this.
"Of course we don't, but we want to."
He opens his mouth to protest further but Camille's giving him a sidelong look now with her head cocked slightly to one side and a half-smile twisting at her lips. "Besides, he's our son and we'll name him whatever we want," she adds and her tone is so imperious that Casey can't help but laugh out loud because she's changed so much over the years and yet sometimes not at all.
He's still at a loss however, astonished and overcome by the significance of their choice and the realization of the degree to which his friends credit their happiness to him. "I'm honored," he finally says because it's the only thing that comes to mind, and Camille accepts the sentiment with a smile.
Then she scrunches up her nose and in faintly puzzled sounding voice adds, "Jarrod also says we should discuss with you the possibility of being something called a godfather."