Fifteen minutes later Carter was back, something clutched tightly in his fist. "If I didn't love you," he said. "Would I still have this?" He trust his hand towards me.

**************************(FLASHBACK - SIX YEARS EARLIER)

"Hey, look at this." We were walking along the lake, skipping stones when I spotted something among the pebbles. I bent down and picked up a perfectly white rock. It was shaped like a heart but the edges were rough and cracked.

"Wow," Carter said, examining the rock.

"It'd be better if the edges were smoother," I said.

Carter shook his head. "No. It's rough around the edges . . . just like us."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "You're such a sap." I pulled my arm back. "Let's see how this one does."

Carter closed his hand over mine. "No, don't," he said. "Not this one."

I looked at him. "Why not?"

"Because . . ." he said, taking the rock. "It can't just be a coincidence that we found this here. We can't skip it."

I looked at him quizzical. "You're insane," I said.

Carter grinned. "I know."

"But it'll skip so well," I complained.

"Tell you what," Carter said. "If I ever stop loving you, I'll come down here, skip the rock, and then tell you how well it did."

****************************(PRESENT)

"I can't believe you still have this," I said, taking the stone from his outstretched hand.

"I told you I'd keep until I stopped loving you."

I looked up at him, the stone grasped tightly in my hand. "This baby could be . . ."

"The future president of the United States?"

"Carter, be serious," I said, sitting down. Carter followed me.

"I am being serious," he said. "We could be the new Kennedys. My brother and I even had the same names as the first generation of Kennedys. John and Bobby."

I smiled weakly. "No child of ours will ever be normal enough to run the country."

"When was the last time we actually had a normal president?" Carter asked, opening my hand and taking the rock. "Lincoln?" Carter held the rock up between his thumb and forefinger.

"Any problems that come along we can handle," he said. "If the kid is bipolar we'll just mash the meds up and sprinkle them in his applesauce. That's the point of the rock, Abby," Carter said, turning it over in his hand. "Nothing's ever perfect. But it'll be OK. Because we love each other and that's all that matters. As long as we're willing to make it work it WILL work."

"I love you," I said, tears filling my eyes.

"I love you too." Carter leaned forward and kissed me. "And I want to marry you." Carter held out the ring again. I let him put it on my finger.

"I don't deserve you," I said, resting against him.

"No, you don't," Carter agreed.

I smacked his leg. "Don't push your luck," I giggled.

***************************** (FOUR MONTHS LATER)

"Marianne?"

"Are you kidding?"

"What's wrong with Marianne?"

"Nothing, if you live in the 1960s," I said, picking up another baby name book.

Carter stuck out his lower lip. "You don't like any of the names I like."

"Well, that's because you don't like any good names," I said.

"I like Jenna," Annie said, appearing from her bedroom.

"You only like that because that's your teacher's daughter's name," Carter said.

"Nu-uh," Annie said. "It's a good name."

"What if it's a boy?" I said, pulling Annie into my lap.

She placed her ear against my stomach. "It's a girl," she said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"She told me," Annie said, looking up at me.

I laughed. "Did she, now? Well, we better pick out some boy names . . .just in case."

"Blake," Carter said.

I wrinkled my nose. "No," I said. "Too macho."

"See!" Carter said. "You don't like anything I like!"

"Kaden," I said.

"That's not bad," Carter said, thoughtfully. "Until you combine it with Carter. Kaden Carter."

I groaned. "Not fair! All the boys names I like sound stupid with your last name."

"What other names do you like?"

"Cale, Casper, Catcher . . ."

"Catcher!?! You've been watching 'Down With Love' again, haven't you?" Carter asked.

I giggled and nodded. "It's a good name though."

"Michael."

"Too normal."

"Zeke."

"To yuppie."

Carter groaned.

"Binker!" Annie cried. "Name the baby Binker!"

Carter laughed. "I'm not sure that's a good name for a child, Annie," he said.

Annie scowled. "Bobby?"

"That'll be his middle name," I said.

"It will?" Carter asked.

"Sure, why not?" I said, smiling.

Carter shrugged. "I never really thought about it," he said. Then he smiled. "But it's a good idea."

"Andrew," I said. "Andrew Robert."

"That's good," Carter said. "But how is Andrew less normal than Michael?"

"I dunno," I said. "But I like it."

"Jason, Benjamin, Thomas, Matthew," Carter said, reading off his list.

I read off mine. "Grace, Mackenzie, Rylie, Savannah."

"We're never going to agree," Carter said.

"Noah, Abraham, Theodore," I suggested.

"Lily, Molly, Jasmine," Carter rattled off.

"Lily's not bad," I said. "I like Grace best."

"Grace what?" Carter asked, making a note.

"Grace . . .Kelly!" I grinned. "The kid will be pre-destined to be gorgeous. Grace Kelly Carter."

Carter smiled. "All right," he said. ""We have our girl's name picked out. Now for the boy's."

"Jacob? Jacob Robert Carter? We could call him Jake."

"Um, Abby?" Carter said. "Isn't Jake the name of the lovely, slightly aggressive man you used to date?"

"Oh yeah," I giggled. "I forgot."

Carter rolled his eyes. "James?" Carter said.

"Are you kidding?" I said. "James Carter? Jimmy Carter?"

Carter laughed. "Guess not then."

"Daniel, Aaron . . . Aaron! Aaron's good."

"Aaron Carter," John said. "Isn't he the little brother of that blond Backstreet Boy?"

I groaned. "Backstreet's back, all right!" Annie sang to herself. I giggled.

"We could name him after a singer," I said.

Carter shook his head. "No son of mine is going to be called Elton," he said.

I stuck out my tongue. "What about Christopher?"

"My best friend at boarding school was Christopher." Carter said.

"Max?"

"Dog's name."

"Justin?"

"Timberlake."

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!"

Carter laughed. "Frustrated?"

"Just a little," I said. I scooted across the couch until I was in his lap. "Can't we just name him John Truman Carter IV and be done with it?"

Carter shook his head. "No way."

"Evan?" I suggested. "Kevin? Samuel? Heath? Ooh, Dustin!"

"Kevin Spacey, Samuel L. Jackson, Heath Ledger, Dustin Hoffman? Naming all your favorite movie stars?" Carter asked.

I shook my head. "No, that'd be Jack, Morgan, Robin, and Tom."

"Nicholson, Freeman, Williams, and Hanks?" Carter asked.

I nodded and nestled my head against Carter's shoulder. "I really like Kaden," I said.

"Me too," Carter said, rubbing my back. "Kaden Carter doesn't sound too horrible, does it?"

"Kaden Carter, Kaden Carter," I repeated. "Not too horrible." I kissed Carter's nose.

"So it's set," Carter said. "Kaden Robert Carter."

Response to reviews -

Kattybaby2318 (chapter 32) - Thank you. I hate doing dishes. Although it's better than cleaning the bathroom.

Vkh214 - Interesting . . . yeah. LOL, seriously, I love your reviews.

Jackie - You trust me? Wow. * tear * Yeah, everything

Carbybubbles (chapter 31) - Jake sucks. But I'm glad you like it!

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Hyperpiper91 - hehehe, I'm evil.