"We are NOT naming our baby Sage!" There was annoyance in Emma's tone as she rolled her eyes at her husband. "You tried to push that name for Henry and my feelings on that name remain the same." It was nighttime, and they had recently crawled into bed after tucking their almost-two-year-old son Henry in for the night.
"I never pushed it," Baelfire retorted. "I just thought I'd… throw the option out there again because I really like the name..."
"Well stop 'throwing it out there'; like I said when I was carrying Henry, it's not royal-sounding. Prince Sage of Mist Haven doesn't - it doesn't really roll off the tongue. And for the LAST time, I just DON'T like the name!" She placed her hand on her belly as she tried to think of more names.
Bae and Emma had been married for two years and were currently expecting their second child and even though Emma was only five months along they were already deciding on what to name their child. There was a name that Emma was contemplating on suggesting and she decided to finally just say it. "What do you think of Bayern?" she tentatively asked as she cast him a side-ways glance.
"Bayern?" From the expression on Baelfire's face Emma could already tell that her husband was not fond of the name.
"Yes… you don't like it?" her green eyes were round with disappointment when she looked at him.
"No, it's not that, it's just…" he trailed off; he didn't want to hurt her feelings - that was the last thing he ever wanted to do - he continued: "You don't think it's too close to… well, my name?"
"Well, I mean… maybe a little bit…." if Emma had to be completely honest that was one of the reasons why she liked it so much. That, and because when she was little she had accompanied her parents on a trip to another kingdom called 'Bayern'; she loved the place and, quite frankly, she wouldn't mind at all naming her child that. Too bad she hadn't thought of the name before Henry was born. "But if you really think about it, Baelfire and Bayern don't sound alike at all; and even if it did, is that really a bad thing? It would be neat! Baelfire and Bayern."
Baelfire shook his head in protest. "I don't think so." Bae had never been too fond of his name, he always thought that it was rather eccentric, and he didn't want their child to feel the same way about his name as he did his own.
"Oh come now," she whined. "Prince Bayern of Mist Haven sounds so fierce and regal!" She suddenly felt her unborn child kick, causing her to grin. "See? Even Baby thinks it's a good name!"
"Or maybe Baby is kicking in protest because he disagrees with you. Did you think of that?" his tone greatly reflected his disapproval in the name 'Bayern' and Emma sighed; he was obviously going to be rather difficult about this choice of name. "Fine," she gave in. "Have it your way."
"Besides," he rolled so that he was on his side and lovingly placed his hand on Emma's baby bump. "What if she's a girl? You can't name a girl 'Bayern'; it'd be cruel…" he scooted downward to her belly where he delivered a gentle kiss. "Isn't that right, Ivy?"
"Ivy?" Emma raised her eyebrows at his suggestion.
"Yeah!" he scooted back up to his pillow and propped himself up on one elbow as he looked at her. "I think it's pretty; a name suitable for a little princess as beautiful as her mama…" he leaned in to plant a sweet kiss on her lips, while Emma grinned and lazily kissed him back.
"A princess, huh?" she asked. "Interesting. And what makes you so sure that this one's a girl?"
Baelfire shrugged in response. "I just know; she's a girl."
Emma rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. When she had been expecting Henry, Bae had hoped for a daughter and she was pretty sure she had noticed a look of brief disappointment flash across his face once her midwife had announced 'it's a boy' after Henry had finally slipped out of Emma's body. Regardless of his disappointment, Emma had tried to tell him that she knew they were having boy; when asked how she knew she had explained how, as a little girl, she had come across her mother's locket (which was given to Snow by Charming's mother) and, out of childish curiosity, had held it near her stomach. Well, when she had heard that the locket could predict a baby's gender before a woman was even with child she had no idea that it could actually predict it WAY before! Before she knew it that stupid thing started swinging north to south and of course her mother happened to walk in at that moment. 'Awww! You're going to have a little boy someday, Emma!' she remembered her mother had said that with so much excitement in her voice while she just sat there all red from embarrassment. Anyway, that is how she knew Henry was going to be a boy but when she had explained the story to Bae he had just laughed it off as 'gypsy nonsense' and still went on hoping for a little girl. Then the day came for little Henry to enter the world and sure enough, Snow White's locket was right; which had caused Emma to grin victoriously - that is, she grinned victoriously after she had recovered from the initial shock of squeezing a six-pound baby out of her body. So, yes, Baelfire had been disappointed at first by their baby being a boy but he quickly got over it (Emma had no doubts about that whatsoever - Baelfire loved their child with all his heart). But now, as they were expecting another child he was at it again, hoping (and probably praying too - which wouldn't do any good… the baby was already what God wanted it to be at conception and there would be no changing that) for a girl. Emma didn't really care though, she found it rather cute.
"And what if you're wrong - AGAIN - and it's another boy?" she scooted down into a lying down position and once she had gotten herself comfortably under her covers she snuggled as close into Baelfire as her five-months pregnant belly would allow.
He pulled her a little closer and kissed her temple. "I won't be wrong; I know it's a girl. And I think we should name her Ivy. Since she'll be born in November the name's perfect because ivy is what we use to decorate for Christmas, you see."
Emma thought about that for a moment; he had a valid point, and it was actually a very sweet idea. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. "That is… that is adorable. And Princess Ivy of Mist Haven does sort of roll off the tongue nicely. But…" she paused and drew little circles on his chest with her index finger.
"But what?"
"But what if I'm right and Baby's a boy?"
"We'll think of something…" he answered sleepily.
"Hold on, I've got a proposal!" she propped herself up on her elbow before she continued.
"Which is…?" Baelfire sighed. By now he just wanted to go to sleep.
"If you're right and it's a girl, her name's Ivy." she paused and grinned deviously. "But… if I'M right, and it's a BOY, then his name will be Bayern. And no one will give me any lip… is that a deal?"
Baelfire looked up at her and thought about it for a moment. There was really no point in arguing with her, the girl would always fight to get what she wanted - and she always won. He sighed. "Fair enough." he finally answered. With that Emma grinned a wide, victorious grin and settled back into bed. Little did she know though, that in roughly four months' time, the name Bayern would lose the bet; for the child inside of her was Mist Haven's tiny future princess.
The End
