Lindsay sat in the doctor's office, gripping Danny's hand, anxiously waiting for the test results to come back. It was one of those things where she couldn't decide whether she wanted to know or not. It almost might be better not to know, she thought, because if she didn't know she could just pretend that it was Danny's baby. If she test results came back negative, meaning that her child belonged to Mark, she didn't know if she'd be able to stand it.
Danny glanced over at his wife, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring look. It truly didn't matter to him who the child belonged to, but just watching Lindsay made him uneasy. He knew that she'd be devastated if Mark had fathered the baby. There was a tiny thought in the back of his brain about what it would be like to raise another man's child. And, the poor kid! Would he have the guts to tell him or her that they were a child conceived by rape?
The door opened with a squeak and both of their heads shot up to see a nurse walk in, a clipboard in her hand. 'She has that look on her face,' Lindsay mused, 'The "I'm so sorry to have to give you this news" look. The same look I have when I'm talking to a victims family.'
"The tests came back positive," the red headed nurse said, "Mr. Messer, you are the father of this baby."
Tears of relief clouded Lindsay's vision as her husband took her into his arms and held her tight. The nurse, wanting to give them some privacy quietly slipped out of the room. Danny planted kisses all over Lindsay's face telling her how much he loved her. "Oh, Danny, I'm so happy!" she said through her tears.
"Me too, baby, me too."
A little while later the delighted couple walked out of the office hand in hand. As they strode to the subway station neither of them could wipe the incredibly proud, yet relieved, grins off of their faces.
"Have you thought about names at all?" Lindsay asked later that evening while they were making dinner.
"Ah, a little bit. I mean, when you told me about the baby one of my first thoughts was that we were gonna have to name it."
Lindsay laughed. "Yeah, that's kind of important. I mean, I wouldn't want to give my child a name that would be a burden to carry around for the rest of their lives, like Delfina or Eugene."
"Delfina?"
"Yeah, there was a girl who moved to Bozeman my senior year in high school named Delfina. She went by Fina but some people called her Delfi or even worse Delfi the Dolphin. She was a really nice girl though."
Danny chuckled, "Well, if it's a girl, promise me we won't name her Delfina."
"I promise," she gave him a peck on the lips before going back to stirring the pasta. "You know, for a girl I kind of like Olivia or Brooke or maybe Adrienne."
Danny raised his eyebrows. "I'm a girl!" she laughed, "Girls are constantly thinking of names for future children!"
"Okayyy."
"So…what do you think? Do you like any of them?"
"Brooke. Olivia's ok, but not Adrienne…it's kind of…I don' t know, fancy."
"Yeah, I see what you mean. It's kind of long, too. What about boy names?"
"All I've got is Samuel…after your dad."
Tears pricked Lindsay's eyes. It was so sweet of him to think of something like that. "Yeah, I'd like that." She said, "Unless you think of something you like better." She added hastily, not wanting him to pick that name if he didn't really like it.
"Well, I'll think about it, but I really do like that name." He smiled at his wife.
The next day Danny came home with a surprise for his wife.
"1,000 Names for Your Baby" she read. "Oh, Danny, you didn't have to!"
"Yes, I did." He said kissing her. "I want our baby to have a name that he or she can be proud of."
"The Messer last name should make them proud enough," Lindsay giggled as Danny lightly swatted her on the back.
That night they both sat curled up on the couch thumbing through the book. "Leatrix? Ledell? Lefty? Honey, do you think Lefty is a boy's name or a girl's name?" Lindsay asked, laughing.
"It's a boy's name, babe…don't you see the little blue M next to it? M is for male, Linds." He teased. She punched him in the arm and went back to scouring the book.
"I say no to M names." Lindsay said as they reached that section in the book. "With a last name Messer I just think that it'll be a mouthful. You know like, Matthew Messer or Madelyn Messer…. just too much M."
"Yeah, I see where you're coming from." He agreed.
The rest of the night was spent laughing at ridiculous names and taking note of the few they actually liked. 'This is what planning for a baby is like,' Lindsay thought, 'I think I'm going to like this.'
A/N I have a few things to say…
I know that's a lame ending to a chapter, but I couldn't think of anything else. Sorry
I have NO IDEA whether it is possible to prove the paternity of a child while still in the womb. However, this being CSI we're talking about, I decided anything is possible.
Yes, Lefty and Leatrix and Ledell really are names
I want to know your opinion….what should Baby Messer be named?
