CHAPTER 9

Leaning into Elsa's touch, he succumbed to her silent request and moved to lie next to her. He supported himself on one forearm and reached his other hand to gently brush a strand of stray hair away from her face, before he lowered his head to plant a kiss on her forehead. Then he pulled back and looked at her, a small smile playing on his lips.

"You know," he said quietly and took her hand in his, kissing it softly and resting it on her belly together with his own. "Now that we know it's a boy, we can choose a name for him."

She cocked her head to the side and frowned slightly, regarding him with a mild surprise. "Isn't it a bit early? I mean, there are still three months to go," she reasoned. "Besides, I haven't given it any thought yet."

"I have," he declared eagerly.

"Really?"

He nodded and she watched with curiosity as he turned around and shuffled closer to the edge of the bed. He stretched out his arm to flip the switch of the bedside lamp and she winced at the sudden brightness. She blinked a few times and, when her eyes adjusted to the light, she observed him reaching into the drawer of his bed stand. He took out a thick, paperback book and she gasped softly when her eyes landed on the title – Baby Names.

Intrigued, she pushed herself into a semi-sitting position as he re-assumed his place next to her.

"I've been reading through this," he said excitedly and handed her the book.

She looked at the cover – it was decorated with a drawing of cute stuffed animals on a pale yellow background with the letters of the title written in different bright colors. The book looked to be a new edition but the state it was in suggested it had been browsed a good number of times.

"When did you buy this?" she asked, glancing at him.

He shrugged. "Shortly after you told me you were pregnant," he replied matter-of-factly and moved to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

She stared at him, her expression a mixture of amazement and a hint of embarrassment. She had no idea when he'd found the time for it but apparently he'd been reading through baby names for about five months, while she'd barely even thought about the fact that eventually they would have to choose one.

Shaking her head, she shifted her gaze back to the book and opened it at a random page. Her eyes examined the contents – each page consisted of two columns of alphabetically sorted names, one column for girls and one for boys, and opposite of each name sat a short description of its meaning.

She skimmed through a few pages, noting that some of the names were underlined.

"So…" she spoke, her eyes still on the book. "Have you picked out any names that you like?"

"I have," he drawled and grinned. "All the ones underlined are names I've considered," he explained. "But there are two I really like."

He paused and, after a moment of silence, she turned and looked at him expectantly.

"Are you planning to tell me which ones?" she asked impatiently.

He chuckled and pressed her closer to himself. "Well," he continued. "If it had been a girl, I would have loved it if we called her Charlotte."

She turned the pages to the letter 'C' and scanned the list. Finally locating the name circled in pencil, she read the description. "Charlotte… It means 'free'. Such a beautiful name!"

His smile widened. "That's what I thought too," he agreed and kissed the side of her head. "Since it's a boy," he added and used his free hand to navigate through the book to the list beginning with 'L', "I was thinking maybe this one."

She focused on another circled name, situated right above the tip of his index finger. "Lucas," she whispered. "Bringer of light."

A/N: Have some fluff :)

As usual, many thanks for the reviews, favs and follows!

I would like to point out that 'Lucas' and 'Charlotte' are the names that my friend WickedgreenPhantom and I came up with for our version of the Jelsa kids (a version we've agreed to share). So, half the credit for the names goes to her :)

Also, a little side note for any of you who are following Give It a Chance - I've started working on the next update and I'm hoping to post it soon. I can't give an exact time frame but stay tuned.

Guest reviews:

Guest: You're sweet! I love you too, stranger, but I can't answer any of your questions without spoiling something :P