Family Time

Elena had forgotten that picking out a name was hard. She rubbed her rounding belly, sighing as she leaned back in her seat. She wanted to be the one to pick out her daughter's name, though Nate had come up with some good ideas like Katarina. He had even suggested some names from a few video games they both liked. A small chuckle left her as she watched Alex play with his toys, obviously acting out one of the many adventures of his parents. Though Elena wondered where the ninjas came from, or where her son learned about ninjas. At least he was keeping himself occupied. She worried about what she would do when she entered the feet swelling and aching stage of pregnancy. Elena's stomach growled and she sighed. This was still new for her; she hadn't been constantly hungry when she was pregnant with Alex.

Alex soon tugged on her pants, "Momma, I'm hungry."

Elena smiled, "I was just thinking the same thing myself. How do you feel about sandwiches?" She laughed at his eager nod and took hold of his hand. "So what kind of sandwich do you want?"

"Peanut butter!" he cried, "Can we watch a movie?"

Another chuckle escaped her as she nodded, "Sure."

Three sandwiches later Alex was tucked up against Elena's side, one of the blankets from the back of the couch wrapped around him. He eagerly watched the dancing mushrooms on the screen, quietly giggling every now and then. She smiled with him. Fantasia had always been a favorite of hers when she was a child, and she had practically run straight to the theater when the second one came out when she was a teen.

"What we watching?" Nate said as he came out of hiding. Alex was quick to shush him before returning his attention to the movie. Nate laughed lightly before moving onto the kitchen.

Elena smiled as one of her favorite sections started (which also signaled the end of the Nutcracker suite portion). It grew a little more when Nate joined them on the couch with a large sandwich of his own. She felt Alex move and glanced down to see Alex tug on his father's arm to draw him closer. Nate of course started to play dumb and offered up his sandwich, and then started trying to lie on top of his son, which then led to a very quick tickle fight. Eventually, Alex found his way into Nate's lap just before the second half of the film.

Alex, at some point during the middle of the movie, had fallen asleep in his parents' laps. Neither of them minded of course. Elena had her head resting against Nate's shoulder, a hand resting on her belly, the other gently stroking Alex's hair while Nate had an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"He's gonna miss his favorite part." Nate commented softly as 'The Dance of the Hours' began.

"You wake him up, you get to deal with a cranky toddler later, not me." Elena replied, giving him a mock-glare. Nate chuckled and nodded, watching as ostriches pranced around on the television.

Elena smiled and then felt something. A soft gasp left her when she realized what it was. Nate looked over at her, wondering what she was gasping about. He watched as the hand on her belly splayed out, his brain quickly making the connection. He gently placed a hand next to hers' and felt himself smile as he felt a tiny push against his palm. It wasn't a practically strong kick, but it was firm. Nate let out a quiet laugh as Elena pushed back slightly.

"I was wondering when she would let us know she was there." Elena whispered.

He nodded, "You remember what your folks said. Not all pregnancies go the same way."

"Still couldn't help but worry. It's been six months, and Alex started kicking barely a week after five."

"Maybe she's been trying to be nice and not kick the crap out of your insides like he did?" Nate offered, making his wife laugh. They both grew quiet as they felt another kick.

"Whatever the reason, it's always good to feel them move about." She sighed. "Does that sound weird?"

He shook his head. He had been a little worried too, about whether something had happened since the last ultrasound or not. But the firm, tiny movements were enough to comfort his fears. "Have you come up with any names that you like?"

Elena frowned and shook her head. "Nothing's suck out for me and I refuse to give her a cheesy name."

"You'll find something that you'll like. If all else fails, you can just come up with the name in the delivery room. I'm sure that's what all the celebrity mom's do."

"Under the influence of those fabulous pain killers, no doubt."

There Ain't Cookies in That Cookie Jar

"That's a nice piece." Alex commented on a small jar as he looked at the items on the mantel in Joel's house.

Joel smiled slightly, if a little sad. "That's mom." He replied. Alex stiffened a little, not really sure what to say. He didn't want to offended or make his best friend upset. Joel seemed to notice his friend's hesitation. "She really liked pottery."

"How long ago…?"

"I was pretty young. But I remember Mom being covered in clay all the time. I remember when me and Dad went to her will reading, that she may want her ashes 'spread across Middle Earth'."

Alex stared at Joel in disbelief. "Spread across Middle Earth?"

Joel laughed, "Yup, she was a Tolkien fan. But she said in case that wasn't possible, to find the next closest thing to it. But Dad and my grandma couldn't come to an agreement I think. Something over the cost to get to New Zealand. I just remember saying that I want to be able to say talk to her when I could."

"So she'll always be able to keep an eye on you and be a part of everything?" Alex commented.

"More or less. Of course, when the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were re-released, Grandma had the 'brilliant' idea of going down to New Zealand and spreading her ashes there. And since Grandma couldn't travel at the time and Dad had to go down there for a business trip anyway, I was dragged along to say good-bye to Mom once and for all. But of course when we got there, we just couldn't do it. So Mom's going to stay on the mantel until Dad passes away. That's the plan at least." Joel said.

"I take it your grandma didn't like that." Alex said.

"Grandma doesn't know."

They stared at one another, and it took Alex for a moment to realize that his friend was serious. "What do you do when she comes over?"

"We hide Mom in the Tardis cookie jar on top of the fridge." Joel answered, "We never really use it, and Grandma just thinks it's part of our Doctor Who collection that Mom started so she doesn't mess with it."

"In the Tardis?"

"Because it's bigger on the inside." He said with a wry smile. There was silence for a few moments before both teens started laughing.

"I'm sure she's happy with that."

"I hope so." Joel muttered, still smiling.

"Do you… do you talk to her sometimes?"

"Every once in awhile. I like to think she happy being able to be here for me and dad."

Alex nodded in agreement, both of them giving a small smile and moment of silence to the small urn of ashes on the mantel before they began working on their newest assignment for their English class.

So fun story! I discovered that my own dad was suppose to spread my late grandfather's ashes into the ocean, but he didn't. So now they sit on top the fridge. So we hide him in the Tardis cookie jar we have when we have relatives over. He was the one who introduced my dad to Doctor Who when he was a kid, and when we first got the Tardis cookie jar, he always made jokes that there was extra cookies hiding in the Tardis's library. So now whenever we place him inside, we tend to go "Don't worry Grandpa! It's bigger on the inside!"

But in less slightly depressing news! I have a tumblr account for news and stuff related to my fanfictions! The url is kirika-hime fanfictions . tumblr . com
Be sure to remove the spaces! I'll most likely use it to answer questions (for those of you who wish to stay annyonmous and such) and it'll probably become a place where I post my sections/chapter ideas that didn't make the cut. I hope you check it out!

So until next time! And as always, thank for the reviews and I look forward to new ones!