Pregnancy had its moments. If someone had told Mary that she would have days where she just simply enjoyed it, she would have told them they were crazy and sent them on their way to someone else who was more gullible. Except today, she loved being pregnant. Her appetite was strong, her boobs looked amazing and she couldn't stop being affectionate towards Matthew. In return, Matthew couldn't keep his hands off of her. She still had a few months of pregnancy left and from what she read; it was going to get harder. Today, that wasn't the case. Today, she was sitting in the rocking chair of the nursery as Matthew insisted on putting up the floral wall décor himself. As he worked on adding the flowers to the blue wall, Mary rocked slowly and reviewed a book of baby names. She really didn't know what name she liked. Two days ago, she swore she wanted to name her baby Nora or Hailey. She finally convinced Matthew to consider Hailey, but by the time they talked about the middle name she had moved on. It wasn't the right name. It was beautiful, but it just wasn't the right name. She had a feeling the name she and Matthew chose would be more classic and elegant. Matthew had stepped out to grab a beer as she turned the page in her book. Abigail. It meant joy of the father and to be honest, it would have probably been a bit fitting when it came to Matthew. Still, it wasn't the right name. Ada. Adalynn. Addie. Adelaide. They were pretty names, but she still didn't have anything sticking out to her. When Matthew walked into the room, she looked up and smiled. "Agnes."
"No." Matthew said almost as quickly as she suggested it, sitting his beer on the changing table. "That's not her name."
"Right?" Mary groaned, rocking in the chair. "I feel like her name should just stick out once we see it. This has to be the third book. My baby is just going to be known as 'baby' and she's just going to have to like it."
"She'll have a name." Matthew walked over, his hands moving to the arms of the chair, before giving her a kiss. "And when we discover what it is, we'll never want to stop saying it."
"Ainsley." Mary whispered against his lips.
"No." He kissed her again, his lips lingering against hers. "Not the name."
"You taste like beer." She giggled, biting at his lip. She pulled away, her hands moving to the collar of his shirt. "Not like me anymore."
"Dirty girl." Matthew teased, removing his hands from the chair and standing back. "You are too much today."
"I am a bit risqué today." Mary laughed as he walked back to the changing table, reaching for some of the wall decals. "Where are you putting the first one?"
"Well this one looks like it's meant to be a corner piece." Matthew put his hands on his waist, standing back. "What about the corner by the closet."
"It's up to you as long as you choose to put it in the corner by the crib." She smiled, rocking slowly back and forth.
"You're also feisty today." Matthew chuckled, walking back over to her and picking up the book from her lap. He looked down at the page she examined, then back up at her. "Alexandra? Aliana?"
"No." She sighed, taking the book back. "I wanted to get her name printed on something, but I'll just have them print 'Baby' and be done with it."
"She doesn't need to have a name until she's here." Matthew rolled his eyes, taking the book from her lap and sitting it on the side table. "Alma?"
"Not the right fit." She replied as he reached for her hand, pulling her up from the chair. Matthew moved his hands to her hair, his thumb stroking her cheek. "God…."
"What?" She whispered, her hands moving to his shoulders.
"You're so beautiful." Matthew shook his head, before pressing a kiss to her lips again. "You are really the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
"You're too nice to me, Matthew." Mary couldn't stop smiling, before pulling away and walking to the changing table with the wall decals. "Focus. I don't want to risk her coming early. Her nursery needs to be done like we spoke about."
"She's not at risk to come early. She's perfectly healthy." Matthew replied, knowing the doctor told them both that things were going very well. The doctor had just advised that if something felt wrong or felt like too much, she needed to ease up or give her a call. Everything was fine. She knew that deep down. "But her nursery will be done."
"Okay, so this one can go up near the crib." Mary turned around, picking up a piece of the wall decal. "Corner."
"Yes, darling." Matthew smirked, smacking her bottom as she walked over to the side of the room with the crib.
Mary took the decal, holding it out in front of her as she tried to envision the decal in the corner of the room. She closed one eye, trying to get a good idea of what it would look like. She nodded as she felt him step close behind her, his hand moving to her back. "Matthew."
"I'll put it on the wall." Matthew promised, taking it from her hand and tossing it into the bare crib. He then moved his hand under the back of her shirt, sliding his cool hand along her skin. "In a few."
"Why in a few?" She breathed, feeling his other hand move down to her bottom and push at her waist line. "Matthew, not in the nursery again."
"I'll be quick." Matthew chuckled, moving her hair to her side. "In and out."
"No…" She giggled tiredly, turning around and her hands ran through his hair before she slammed her lips into his. "Bedroom…or shower again."
"Not the shower again." Matthew shook his head, pushing her lightly against the crib, his lips moving to her neck. "You almost slipped."
"You caught me…" Her head fell back as he slid his hand down the front of her pants. "Oh…"
"Not risking it again." He whispered, his hands moving to the top of her leggings.
"Matthew…bed...or somewhere other than the baby's room." Mary demanded breathlessly, pushing on his chest. When he pulled away, Mary bit her lip. "We've done it too many times in here already. I refuse to tarnish the innocence of my daughter's bedroom now that it's becoming more…personalized. Not in here. Not yet."
"Alright." Matthew pouted, reaching for her hands and pulling her towards him. "Come on…"
"Wait." Mary moved a finger over his lips, shaking her head. She wanted him, but she had already had him today and she would make sure they had each other later. Right now, she wanted to get to work on this nursery. She wanted to take the things they had and get them in order and then plan for the rest. His mother was coming over in the morning to nail down the rest of the décor and then they would get the rest of it in place. "But first…"
"Really?" His shoulders dropped as if he already read her mind. She let out a little giggle, kissed his lips and stepped back. "But we were doing good…"
"Let's put the decal's up and then we can spend the rest of the night…naked." Mary promised, reaching into the crib and grabbing the piece that they were working with. She handed it to him, before walking back over to the chair and dropping herself into it. Matthew walked dramatically around the room, making pouty faces at her as she giggled and reached for the book of baby names. "Poor Matthew."
"Yes." Matthew rolled his eyes and pulled the step louder out so that he could put the decal in place. Mary laughed, looking down at the book and resuming her search of the names. Allison. No. Alodie. No. Alyssa. It wasn't right. "Olivia."
"What?" Mary looked up, only half listening.
"Olivia." Matthew stepped up before looking back at her. "It was one I saw the other day on the train when I was looking up names. I wasn't going to mention it, because I figured you already saw it in a book."
"I have but…Olivia." Mary said softly, her hand moving to her stomach. "Olivia."
"I just thought it was pretty." Matthew shrugged. "Call her Liv or Livvie. We could even call her Ollie."
"I like it." She whispered with a light smile appearing on her lips. Matthew carefully resumed his work on the nursery wall decal. Olivia. Olivia. Olivia. Livvie. Liv. Olivia. Mary kept repeating the name in her head, loving the way it rolled off the tongue. Olivia. It felt so natural. She had seen it plenty of times when looking up names, but when Matthew said it, it made it stick out. Maybe it was due to the idea that she wanted something they both loved. She wasn't sure that this was the name. Maybe he was just suggesting this gentle name and he wasn't even that set on it. Perhaps he saw it, figured he would mention it to read her response before carefully considering it himself. Except as she repeated the name in her head, she kept stroking her stomach and it seemed like the little girl in her stomach knew that this was her name, because she was doing little flips. This little girl seemed to fit the name that Matthew suggested and her response was sweet.
