A/N: I was working on the new Unwanted Rings chapter and found this unfinished one-shot in the same document folder. I only have a vague recollection of writing it but I quite like it so thought I'd quickly finish it off and post it! Just a bit of fluff to keep you going until the weekend arrives
…
"I still like 'Beth'." Matthew said softly into Mary's hair, his arm wrapped around her, his palm stroking over the bump which represented the start of their family. He winced as he heard Mary's sigh. He couldn't see her face but could practically feel her eyes rolling at his statement.
"I've told you, Matthew - several times, in fact - that I don't want to call her that." Mary said firmly, sitting up straight to readjust her uncomfortable body on the sofa.
"I know you have." Matthew said defensively. "But I still don't understand your reasons for dismissing the name." His agitated tone was tempered by the hand he reached out to stroke her back as she fidgeted with the cushions behind her, knowing she must be aching.
"Like I said - it has bad connotations for me." Mary retorted, finally settling back against the cushions and cradling the hand which Matthew automatically placed in her lap.
"Because you went to school with a girl called Beth when you were fourteen and she wasn't very nice to you." Matthew parroted the words Mary had said to him numerous times before.
"Exactly." Mary confirmed. "And I'd rather not name our daughter after a gossiping, boy-obsessed teenager."
"So that pretty much rules out the names of every teenage girl who's ever lived." Matthew dead-panned, earning another eye-roll from his pregnant wife.
"Alice is a pretty name." Mary persisted with her preferred moniker.
"So is Beth!" Matthew argued.
"Yes, but remember Beth in 'Little Women'?!" Mary exclaimed.
"I do and she was a loving, caring and gentle young girl." Matthew replied, not understanding how such a beloved literary character was an argument against choosing that name.
"She died!" Mary reminded him.
Matthew couldn't help but scoff at her remark. "Let me just clarify…" He turned to her very seriously, as if settling the terms of a cross-border peace treaty. "We're discounting the names of all girls who have ever gossiped, all girls who have ever liked boys and, now, all girls - whether they be fictional or not - who have ever died?"
Mary glared at him intensely. She was carrying the baby – she was the one who had dealt with the weeks of morning sickness, the back aches and leg pains and wildly unpredictable hormone changes. In short, she was the one doing all the work, which meant she should at least have the privilege of vetoing choices of names!
"Our baby is not going to be called 'Beth'" She said firmly. "There are plenty of other names to choose from." Mary reasoned, her tone signalling that she'd rather not hammer out a decision for their first-born's name right now.
"Fine." Matthew said softly, the almost petulant undercurrent to his voice not unnoticed by Mary. She peered at him sideways as he huffed and began leafing through a magazine. He seemed disappointed - more than she thought he'd be.
"Matthew?" Mary ventured quietly after a couple of minutes of observing him.
"Yes?" Matthew's typically gentle response had an irritated edge to it.
"Why do you like the name Beth so much?" Mary asked. She'd presumed he'd merely heard it somewhere, on the television perhaps, and decided that it was a sweet name. He hadn't mentioned any particular personal attachment to it.
"Well…" Matthew finally looked up from his magazine. "My grandmother - that is, my father's mother - was called Beth. Obviously I never called her that, but she's the only Beth I've known. I didn't get to know her very well…not as well as I'd have liked, at least – but she was always so kind to me." He explained.
Mary's heart contracted as he spoke. Matthew had mentioned his father's mother once or twice before, in passing. Mary knew that she'd passed away when Matthew was twelve years old – seven years after his father died. Beth had been Matthew's last connection to his father, and she'd clearly meant a lot to him. Mary felt terrible for not having taken Matthew's suggestion seriously enough.
"She helped my mother out an awful lot, too, in the two or three years after my father passed away. I never got to thank her for everything that she did." He finished rather forlornly, turning back to his magazine for distraction from the memories he didn't want to revisit.
Mary breathed deeply to prevent the tears which threatened to fall onto her cheeks. It was clear that Matthew wanted to honour and cherish the memory of his grandmother by naming his child after her. Mary certainly wasn't going to get in the way of that.
"We'll name her Beth." Mary whispered, not trusting herself to speak properly in case her voice cracked with emotion.
Matthew looked up sharply, not expecting that response. "Really?" He asked, unconvinced. Mary was a little unreliable lately, what with her mood swings and all.
"Yes." Mary nodded resolutely.
"But you don't like that name." Matthew pointed out needlessly.
"I do now." Mary smiled. "I hadn't realised what it meant to you. But now I know – I know how important it is to you, so now it's important to me too."
Matthew's mouth curled up into a broad smile. "But you like the name Alice." He reminded her softly
"I like you more." Mary replied equally softly, leaning in to kiss him tenderly. Matthew wrapped his arm around her.
"Thank you." Matthew said as he kissed her nose. "I love you."
"I love you too." Mary replied. "And so does Beth!" She added, placing Matthew's hand on the bump so he could feel their daughter kicking happily.
…
A/N: hope you enjoyed! xxx