Naming

"I'll leave you alone if you need to sleep," Bert whispered as he nuzzled his wife's neck.

"You know I sleep better with you here," she replied drowsily.

"All right but don't worry about the baby, I'm right here."

Their beautiful daughter had just come home with them, and Mary was indeed quite tired. The girl lay sleeping in her bassinet, and her parents were resting in bed. Bert still couldn't believe they were back at home with their little miracle. They might have been home sooner were it not for all the arguing over what to name her. It had all started to fall apart when they realized that Mary had birthed a girl…

"What about Mary? I think she should be named after you," Bert had said, smiling.

Mary rolled her eyes at him, "We've already discussed that, we're not naming her after me. It'd be far too confusing and you'd regret it later. She'd probably also blame me for it."

"All right, all right, then what about Elizabeth?"

"Not my middle name either," Mary sighed.

"Fine, fine. We won't name her after you at all," Bert harrumphed, but his smile told Mary he wasn't truly upset about the matter.

"What about Wendy?"

Bert wrinkled his nose. "I wasn't fond of it either," Mary said. "You'd think we would have come up with one before now."

"You were busy nannying for most of your pregnancy, and then we sort of just, forgot to pick one?" Bert shrugged. "What about Genevieve?"

"Too much," Mary stated.

"Constance?" Bert tried again.

"Not likely."

"Primrose?"

"Too dainty."

"Lilian?"

"Closer…"

Bert and Mary sat in the hospital bed, Mary resting against the pillows and Bert sitting beside her, both stumped at what to name their child. She'd been taken away by the nurse to get cleaned up and properly taken care of, to check that all was fine. Mary had held her for a moment, but she longed for her to be back in her arms. Perhaps if she had her once more she could think of a proper name for the girl.

"Perhaps Gemma? No, that's not it either," Mary said to herself. She was tired from all of her hard work, but she couldn't drift off until she saw her little girl again, and she had a proper name.

"I have an idea," Bert said, his eyes lighting up. "If we can't name her after you, I think we should name her after the stars."

"Oh Bert, isn't that being a bit grandiose?"

"For the daughter of Mary Poppins? I hardly think it is!" Bert laughed.

"It has to be something she can live up to! Being my daughter will already be trial enough," Mary said pointedly.

"I'm just saying that she's beautiful like the stars, and she should always reach for them. The stars are a reminder, and they're what we used to dance under when we met on the rooftops," Bert said with a grin.

"All right," Mary conceded, "but which one?"

"Well to be honest, I only know a few star names. The popular constellations," Bert blushed.

"I know them quite well, but we must be careful of her namesake. I'd hate for her to turn out like her star counterpart," Mary smiled, her eyes dancing. She knew the stars well, and didn't want any daughter of hers to take after the more wayward ones. "Let's see, there's Rana, Chara, Meissa, Electra…"

"Hmm…" Bert said, wondering aloud. None of those seemed to fit their little girl either. "Perhaps if we gave her a name that meant star, or something like the heavens."

"I suppose…"

"There's Juno, who's the queen of the heavens, I know that one," Bert smiled. "That's not it though," he said, his brows furrowing in thought.

"I think I've got it!" Mary said suddenly. As she did so the nurse returned with her daughter, the perfect little bundle was close to falling asleep and in her arms once more. Mary's smile could light up the whole world just looking at her precious baby.

"Her eyes are amazing," Bert said, looking into her slowly closing lids. "They're yours, except with a hint of violet. Much darker."

"They're perfect," Mary smiled. "Just like your name, Iris."

"Iris?!" Bert shouted, which prompted a loud shushing from the nurse and Mary.

"Mmm hmm, Iris Elizabeth."

"Oh so now you've agreed to put in Elizabeth," Bert said, rolling his eyes. "But where did you get Iris?"

"Iris was a goddess, a messenger, who rode rainbows from heaven to Earth to deliver the gods' messages. And now she's been delivered to us," Mary smiled.

"I like it," Bert smiled. "Little Iris. Delicate like the flower and strong like a goddess. Just like your mum."

"Oh Bert," Mary sighed, her cheeks turning red at his comment.

"And her middle name is the same as her mum's," Bert smiled proudly, watching his darling wife hold their child.

Mary let out an exasperated sigh, "Yes, she's named after me, I hope you're happy."

"You have no idea how happy I am love," Bert smiled as he placed a gentle kiss on Iris' forehead, and then one on Mary's cheek.

"I think I do," she purred, as the little bundle in her arms finally drifted off to sleep.

A small gurgle came from the bassinet and Bert was shaken out of his reverie. Mary was very close to falling asleep, relaxed as she was, but the baby's noise made her eyelids open fully once more.

"I've got 'er love," Bert said quietly, and Mary's head rested on the pillow once more. Bert made his way over to the bassinet and found that Iris was awake and with a smile on her face. The gurgle had been a happy one. Bert plucked her out and took her over to the bed, where he carefully laid down next to Mary. Holding the happy baby in his arms he smiled at his wife. She smiled in return before closing her eyes again.

"Your mummy won't sleep unless you're close so we'll just spend some time in the big bed with daddy ok?"

Though Mary's eyes remained closed she smiled and it didn't take long before she finally fell asleep.

"See Iris?" Bert whispered lovingly. "You've already delivered your mum some sweet dreams. And just between you and me, daddy already has a nickname for you. I'm going to call you Liza-"

"No," Mary murmured from her slumber. Iris gurgled a happy giggle.

"Your mum is too magical for her own good. Listening to people's conversations while she sleeps," he tsked. Iris giggled again. "I can see that you're going to be no help."

Mary smiled again in her sleep and Bert had to stifle a chuckle. Instead he focused on his little girl in his arms and smiled as well. Maybe one day she'd answer to Liza, when Mary wasn't around to stop him. With any luck though, Bert hoped that wasn't for quite some time, and her nannying wouldn't take her away for a long, long while. For right now, they were too busy being a happy family.