"She's so cuuuute!" Nene cooed, rocking the baby in her arms.

"Nene, be careful! She's only a day old," Linna cautioned, looking like she was gonna jump out of her skin at how hard Nene was rocking my daughter.

"Give her here," I said, holding out my arms. Nene gladly handed her back to me, and I kissed her as I got her nestled against my bosom. "Hi there."

"Priss, she's just adorable!" the redhead squealed. "Makes me wish I had a baby!"

"What's stopping ya? Mackie's right over there."

"He's..." She flushed. "No. I don't see him being a dad."

"He's not a teenager with his hormones on fire anymore. I'm sure he's matured," Linna assured her.

Nene sat down next to me. "You still haven't told me her name."

"She doesn't have one yet."

"Why not?"

"Haven't come up with a good one." She opened her mouth to start spitting out suggestions at me, but I stopped her. "Don't gimme any more suggestions. I'll think of one myself."

"Ok, ok." She leaned down and admired my daughter. "I'm surprised at how dark her skin is. I've never seen a baby that dark. I mean, she doesn't look black, but her skin has an almost...Hispanic look to it."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. But it's pretty. And I like her hair too. It's the same color as yours."

I kissed the baby on her forehead. "Yeah, just a little darker though."

"I wonder what color her eyes will be?"

Not the color of her dad's eyes, I hope...

"We won't know for a few weeks," Linna said, sitting next to me opposite Nene. "But she already has pretty, dreamy eyes as it is."

Dreamy, huh?

I smiled as I remembered the recent dreams I'd had, about a baby floating before me and waving, laughing. A baby that looked amazingly like the one in my arms right now. Had that been her introducing herself before she was even born yet?

Naaah.

"Yume...Yumeko," I whispered.

"Huh?" Nene said, looking at me.

"Yumeko. That's perfect."

"Is that what you're going to name her?" Linna asked.

Nene looked from me to the baby. "Hmm...Yumeko. Yumeko Asagiri." She looked at me again, grinning. "Yeah, that suits her just fine! I see it!"

"'Yume' for dream, and 'ko' for child," Linna mused. "How'd you come up with that? It is a pretty name."

"Welcome to the world, little Yume," I said softly, brushing a wisp of hair from her eyes.