"I am not naming my kid anything I can't spell," I tell her decisively.
"You're making this much harder than it has to be," says Aeryn.
"Sorry. No space names."
She gives me that Look. You know the one. The one she uses to tell me she just doesn't get it, and she knows better than to try.
"Hey, it's no weirder than not naming her after dead people," I counter.
"It's bad luck," Aeryn says simply. I pause, wondering for a second if I heard her right. "Bad luck?" I repeat.
She looked almost embarrassed for a moment. "It's superstition, yes, but I think it makes sense," she says. "And superstition aside, it's morbid."
I can give her that much. And hey, if that's Aeryn Sun's one superstition... I can deal with that.
I look back down at the sleeping baby in her crib. We've both been staring at her for a while now, just totally amazed by her. She's only a few hours old, hasn't really done much but sleep so far, and she's absolutely beautiful. I think she looks like Aeryn, but that may be because she's got her hair. It's hard to tell, since she's all little and wrinkly and her features will probably have changed by the next time we look at her. Don't know what color eyes she has yet- she doesn't seem to want to open them when we're looking. She's tiny. I didn't realize how tiny babies were until now. To realize that yesterday, she wasn't here, that she didn't even technically exist... That alone is just about enough to blow my mind. And to know that she came from us...
(And by the way, if you're wondering how we got a crib out here, D'Argo and I built it. Okay, he built it. But I handed him the tools. And great timing, it was finished about two days ago. Now I just hope the thing's strong enough not to collapse on the poor kid. D'Argo tells me it's fine, but I'd be happier with a safety commission's answer on that.)
"Okay," I agree. "No dead people and no space names."
"And just what do you consider a space name?" she asks.
"Anything I can possibly hear on Star Trek."
"That doesn't help me," Aeryn says, but is cut off by the baby's cry.
And we both stop.
"And how are we supposed to know why she's crying?" Aeryn asks.
"How should I know?" I say. "You're her mother. You've got those maternal instincts, right?"
"Wonderful defense," she snaps, and carefully leans over to pick the baby up.
She stops crying after a moment, and I'm thanking God that I don't have to introduce Aeryn to the wonderful world of diaper changing just yet. "What did I do?" Aeryn asks me.
"I think she just wanted to be picked up," I tell her.
Her eyes widen. "They cry to be held?"
Aha, and this is where the challenge is going to come in. For all the bonding she did with Talyn, I severely doubt Aeryn's had much experience with kids. Which she can't be blamed for. She was a Peacekeeper commando her whole life, and for the life of me I don't see where in that time she would pick up child rearing skills.
But she's impressing me. A lot. She's fallen so in love with the kid...
"Yeah, they do that. Like to be held," I tell her.
Aeryn smiles. "I can do that," she says, looking down at the baby.
I want my camera. Right now. I mean it. This is the image I want to frame and put on the mantel. Too bad I can't do that. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep this moment forever locked away in my memory.
"How do you know so much about children?" Aeryn wonders, not even looking up.
I shrug. "Pretty common knowledge on Earth."
"Well, I'm glad one of us has some idea of what they're doing," she says dryly.
I smile over at her. "You seem to be doing fine so far," I tell her, still watching her with our daughter.
"Because I haven't had to do anything yet."
"Yeah, that whole birth thing was absolutely nothing," I say jokingly, then turn serious again. "I don't know how you can even be standing right now." (I mean that. Come on, *OW*! Watch me repress a shudder.)
"I'm fine," she says, and if it wasn't Aeryn, no way would I believe her. "I just don't like the thought that *that* was the easy part."
"Well, considering we're driving ourselves crazy trying to name her... The rest is gonna be fun. Can't wait till she hits the terrible two's. Or her teen years." Oh, that's a bad thought. Erase that thought. We've still got a while for that.
"Terrible two's?"
"Uh, I'm going to forget I said that and wait until the time actually comes to scare you," I say. "She isn't even a day old. Let's just deal with now."
"Right now, I have no idea what I'm doing," Aeryn says. She actually looks really worried. I know that's the one thing that's been scaring her about all this. Flying blind on this is kind of a bad thing...
I walk closer to her, so I can look her directly in the eye. "I don't think most parents know. At least at first," I say. "It's just something you have to learn as you go along. I'm in the same boat, pretty much. I know the basics, but once you learn them, we'll both be clueless."
"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" she asks.
"No. I think if we're doing something wrong, the kid will probably let us know," I say, looking down at the baby in Aeryn's arms, who's already back asleep.
"Why don't you choose her name?" Aeryn says.
Didn't see that one coming. I thought we'd probably be fighting over names for the next week or so before we finally decided on something in frustration. "You're putting this all on me?" I say, looking back up at her.
"I had enough trouble selecting a name for Talyn," she reminds me. "And this is not any easier. I'm at a loss."
"So when you don't like the name, you can blame it on me. Sure, fine, nothing new," I say, but I smile so she doesn't start rolling her eyes at me. "So no dead people, and space names will not be a problem."
Everyone's got names they like. Or at least I did. And of course, I can't remember any of those names right now.
This is the name this girl is going to have to go through the rest of her life with, and the last thing you want is to give her a bad name. I remember being on the playground way back when and seeing kids teasing those they thought had funny-sounding names. Not that that will really be an issue right now, but it adds to the pressure. And I want to give her a name that'll fit her.
"What about Rose?" I say. I'm not sure how the name just popped into my head. It just did.
Aeryn frowns. "What does it mean?"
"It's a flower, on Earth. Beautiful, a common favorite. It's a symbol of love." Maybe that's why I thought of it? Suddenly I really like the name.
The frown disappears, taken over by a smile. "I like it," she says. "Was that really so hard?"
"Nope," I say. "We're not even at the hard part yet."
"You're making this much harder than it has to be," says Aeryn.
"Sorry. No space names."
She gives me that Look. You know the one. The one she uses to tell me she just doesn't get it, and she knows better than to try.
"Hey, it's no weirder than not naming her after dead people," I counter.
"It's bad luck," Aeryn says simply. I pause, wondering for a second if I heard her right. "Bad luck?" I repeat.
She looked almost embarrassed for a moment. "It's superstition, yes, but I think it makes sense," she says. "And superstition aside, it's morbid."
I can give her that much. And hey, if that's Aeryn Sun's one superstition... I can deal with that.
I look back down at the sleeping baby in her crib. We've both been staring at her for a while now, just totally amazed by her. She's only a few hours old, hasn't really done much but sleep so far, and she's absolutely beautiful. I think she looks like Aeryn, but that may be because she's got her hair. It's hard to tell, since she's all little and wrinkly and her features will probably have changed by the next time we look at her. Don't know what color eyes she has yet- she doesn't seem to want to open them when we're looking. She's tiny. I didn't realize how tiny babies were until now. To realize that yesterday, she wasn't here, that she didn't even technically exist... That alone is just about enough to blow my mind. And to know that she came from us...
(And by the way, if you're wondering how we got a crib out here, D'Argo and I built it. Okay, he built it. But I handed him the tools. And great timing, it was finished about two days ago. Now I just hope the thing's strong enough not to collapse on the poor kid. D'Argo tells me it's fine, but I'd be happier with a safety commission's answer on that.)
"Okay," I agree. "No dead people and no space names."
"And just what do you consider a space name?" she asks.
"Anything I can possibly hear on Star Trek."
"That doesn't help me," Aeryn says, but is cut off by the baby's cry.
And we both stop.
"And how are we supposed to know why she's crying?" Aeryn asks.
"How should I know?" I say. "You're her mother. You've got those maternal instincts, right?"
"Wonderful defense," she snaps, and carefully leans over to pick the baby up.
She stops crying after a moment, and I'm thanking God that I don't have to introduce Aeryn to the wonderful world of diaper changing just yet. "What did I do?" Aeryn asks me.
"I think she just wanted to be picked up," I tell her.
Her eyes widen. "They cry to be held?"
Aha, and this is where the challenge is going to come in. For all the bonding she did with Talyn, I severely doubt Aeryn's had much experience with kids. Which she can't be blamed for. She was a Peacekeeper commando her whole life, and for the life of me I don't see where in that time she would pick up child rearing skills.
But she's impressing me. A lot. She's fallen so in love with the kid...
"Yeah, they do that. Like to be held," I tell her.
Aeryn smiles. "I can do that," she says, looking down at the baby.
I want my camera. Right now. I mean it. This is the image I want to frame and put on the mantel. Too bad I can't do that. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep this moment forever locked away in my memory.
"How do you know so much about children?" Aeryn wonders, not even looking up.
I shrug. "Pretty common knowledge on Earth."
"Well, I'm glad one of us has some idea of what they're doing," she says dryly.
I smile over at her. "You seem to be doing fine so far," I tell her, still watching her with our daughter.
"Because I haven't had to do anything yet."
"Yeah, that whole birth thing was absolutely nothing," I say jokingly, then turn serious again. "I don't know how you can even be standing right now." (I mean that. Come on, *OW*! Watch me repress a shudder.)
"I'm fine," she says, and if it wasn't Aeryn, no way would I believe her. "I just don't like the thought that *that* was the easy part."
"Well, considering we're driving ourselves crazy trying to name her... The rest is gonna be fun. Can't wait till she hits the terrible two's. Or her teen years." Oh, that's a bad thought. Erase that thought. We've still got a while for that.
"Terrible two's?"
"Uh, I'm going to forget I said that and wait until the time actually comes to scare you," I say. "She isn't even a day old. Let's just deal with now."
"Right now, I have no idea what I'm doing," Aeryn says. She actually looks really worried. I know that's the one thing that's been scaring her about all this. Flying blind on this is kind of a bad thing...
I walk closer to her, so I can look her directly in the eye. "I don't think most parents know. At least at first," I say. "It's just something you have to learn as you go along. I'm in the same boat, pretty much. I know the basics, but once you learn them, we'll both be clueless."
"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" she asks.
"No. I think if we're doing something wrong, the kid will probably let us know," I say, looking down at the baby in Aeryn's arms, who's already back asleep.
"Why don't you choose her name?" Aeryn says.
Didn't see that one coming. I thought we'd probably be fighting over names for the next week or so before we finally decided on something in frustration. "You're putting this all on me?" I say, looking back up at her.
"I had enough trouble selecting a name for Talyn," she reminds me. "And this is not any easier. I'm at a loss."
"So when you don't like the name, you can blame it on me. Sure, fine, nothing new," I say, but I smile so she doesn't start rolling her eyes at me. "So no dead people, and space names will not be a problem."
Everyone's got names they like. Or at least I did. And of course, I can't remember any of those names right now.
This is the name this girl is going to have to go through the rest of her life with, and the last thing you want is to give her a bad name. I remember being on the playground way back when and seeing kids teasing those they thought had funny-sounding names. Not that that will really be an issue right now, but it adds to the pressure. And I want to give her a name that'll fit her.
"What about Rose?" I say. I'm not sure how the name just popped into my head. It just did.
Aeryn frowns. "What does it mean?"
"It's a flower, on Earth. Beautiful, a common favorite. It's a symbol of love." Maybe that's why I thought of it? Suddenly I really like the name.
The frown disappears, taken over by a smile. "I like it," she says. "Was that really so hard?"
"Nope," I say. "We're not even at the hard part yet."