Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Logan, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).
Alec knocked at the apartment door and patiently waited for someone to answer it. A few moments later, the door opened and Brin was standing there. "Hey, Brin. I got the book that you wanted to bring with me and I told Normal that I was going to be getting in late to work today. Why is it so important that we choose names today? The baby's not going to be born for almost two-and-a-half months."
"It never hurts to be prepared," Brin said as she stepped aside to let Alec enter the apartment.
"This has got to be one of those hormonal things," Alec muttered. Brin smacked him across the back of his head. "I'd say that was one of them too, but I get smacked like that often enough by Max and Becky and Original Cindy back in the city."
"Will you guys shut up? I'm trying to put on my makeup," Maggie yelled from the bathroom. "I might be a transgenic, but it still requires some degree of concentration for me to put it all on properly!"
Alec shook his head. "Teenage girls. Please let the baby be a boy. Were you like that when you were sixteen, Brin?"
Brin thought for a moment. "Yeah, I kinda was like that when I was Maggie's age."
"I can hear you," Maggie said. "If you want to talk about me, can you have the decency to talk soft enough so that it's out of my range?"
"Speaking of—" Alec started to say, but Brin cut him off.
"Unless you want her to run out of the bathroom and smack you, you should keep your mouth shut," she pointed out.
"Good call," Alec agreed. He handed Brin the baby name book. "Well, here it is. I guess we should get started looking through the thing." He looked at Brin again. "We are having only one kid, right? I know that I am an actual identical twin and from what I've heard, twins usually skip a generation, but you never know."
"We're definitely having only one baby," Brin said. "I can only hear one heartbeat in there." She sat down on the couch and opened the book. "Do you want to choose a boy's name first or a girl's name?"
"I don't care," Alec said. "I guess a girl's name first. Do you want to name the baby after one of your sibs?"
"I don't know," Brin said. "It's something that I've thought of, but I haven't really decided on yet. Do you want to do that?"
Alec shrugged. "I don't know, myself. I guess people like Max and everybody would probably be expecting us to name the baby after Ben if it turns out to be a boy, but isn't that too obvious? I've accepted who my brother was and what he did and I don't hold any grudge at all for his actions getting me thrown in Psy Ops for awhile, and I'll admit it, I do wish that I had gotten to know him and had a real brother-brother relationship with him, but I really don't know about naming the baby after him. I've got a feeling that he probably wouldn't want that." He smirked. "Maybe it's a twin thing."
Brin laughed. "I'll take your word for it. So back to girl's names. Is there anything that you like right off the top of your head?"
"I don't know," Alec said. "I kind of like Gina. And no, she is not the name of a stripper that I saw in a club."
"I might be Max's sister, but I am not Max," Brin said. She looked amused.
"Sorry," Alec said. "I've gotten so used to having her say that kind of remark to me that it's pretty much automatic pilot."
"That's okay," Brin said. "I actually like that name. I guess it'll be Gina if it's a girl. If you don't want to pick out a middle name now, it's okay."
"I never understood middle names," Alec said.
"I'll see you guys later. I've got to go to work," Maggie said. "Another day answering phones and getting coffee and doing whatever for that moron Dr. Dickhead. I know more than he does and I'm only sixteen. That would wipe that smile off of his face."
"It would also get you fired if they knew your real age," Alec said.
Maggie glared at him. "No shit. You'll be into work later, right, Brin? Or is this your day off?"
"I'll be in later. For some reason, they don't need me to come in until noon," Brin said.
"Cool. I'll see you both later." Maggie left.
"You haven't throttled her yet?" Alec asked.
"You just annoy everybody," Brin said. "Maggie's a nice girl. Besides, she'll probably gonna be the one who'll end up delivering the baby. You do know that, right?"
"I know," Alec said.
"Come on," Brin said. "Let's think of a name for a boy."
"Alec, Junior?" Alec said, grinning.
Brin made a face. "No offense, Alec, but I don't like the whole junior thing."
"I was only kidding. I don't like it either," Alec said. He watched as Brin flipped through the book. "Brad?"
"That sound too cutesy when you say it and my name in the same sentence," Brin said. "Brin and Brad? It sounds like I'm the one who has a twin. I vote that we do not choose a name that starts with the letters b and r."
"That sounds reasonable," Alec said. "Casey?"
"No," Brin said. "I hate that name. Carl?"
"That sounds way too dumb," Alec said. "Charles or Charlie?"
"Nah," Brin said. "I never really liked that name, either."
"This is gonna take awhile," Alec said. "I guess you were right when you said that we should pick the names out now instead of waiting until it was closer to your due date." Brin grabbed a pillow and started to throw it at him, but Alec grabbed it from Brin as she was about to throw it and their eyes met for a moment before Alec looked away. "Um..."
"Sorry," Brin said.
"I should get going now before Normal really goes ballistic," Alec said. "I said I was going to be late, but he'll go crazy if I'm too late getting to Jam Pony."
"Okay," Brin said. "It's no problem. We can always finish picking out a name later."
"I'll call you later," Alec said. He got up off of the couch and walked to the door. "'Bye, Brin."
"Good-bye," Brin said.
Alec walked into the hallway and shut the door behind him. He looked at it for a few moments before he sighed and started to walk back towards the elevator.
TBC