A/N: (gasps) Wow! It's not a Munch fic!...Just kidding. I'm perfectly capable of writing a fic that has nothing to do with Munch, I just don't normally like to. :sarcasm:...anyways...yeah. I was bored, and on a baby names website, so I started thinking (which isn't always a good thing) and this is what I came up with.
And SVU's not mine.
They'd been stuck together on a project for their English class. It only made sense that they were partnered off, really: the assignment was to find out what their names meant. Supposedly, it went along with what they were reading in the textbook, but both of them had been quite hard-pressed to find a connection. So they'd put it off, until the last possible moment. It was due first thing on Monday morning; it was already Saturday, and neither of them had done any of it.
"We should've done this a while ago." Elizabeth looked up from the notebook she was trying to organize and rolled her eyes; Dickie gave her a look.
"I'm serious," he said. "Quit doing that for a minute and come help me. This is your project, too."
"All right, all right. I'm coming." Closing the notebook, Elizabeth rose to her feet and walked over to where he was, standing among the nonfiction books in the library. "Do you have any idea what we're even looking for?"
"We're supposed to be finding out what our family's names mean," Dickie replied absently, glancing at the bookshelf in front of them. "And then we're supposed to say whether or not we…"
"Think our parents and their parents picked those names specifically or whatever," said Elizabeth, cutting him off. "Let's just get this over with, all right? I don't want to spend forever on it."
"We're not going to," Dickie told her mildly. "We're only going to spend about an hour and a half on it, because we decided to blow it off."
"Whatever," Elizabeth said again. "Let's just find what we need and do this." She turned and walked off towards a different row of books; he rolled his eyes and followed.
"I don't see why you've got such a problem with doing this," he remarked. "Why wouldn't you want to know what your name meant?"
Elizabeth scowled. "Maybe I don't want anything to do with my name right now." She didn't have to elaborate. He knew what she meant, even if he didn't like it.
"You don't have a choice until you're married," he said dryly. "Might as well deal with it."
"Don't tell me what to do." She shoved a book at him and walked off again; he looked down at it, relieved to see that it was the one they needed, and followed her.
"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded when he saw she was headed towards the computers. "This isn't just mine to do, Lizzie."
"I have to look up something for another class," Elizabeth said vaguely. "It's not that hard to look up names, is it?"
"I can't believe you. First you blow it off, and now you don't even want to do it? What is that?" Dickie asked in reply.
"I didn't want to do it in the first place," said Elizabeth. "It's not that hard, all right? Just do it."
"This is why Mrs. Cameron shouldn't have stuck us together on this," Dickie muttered sarcastically, moving to sit beside her. "You're going to have help me do the rest of it yourself once I'm done looking this up."
"What else did we have to do?" Elizabeth asked, without looking at him. "I heard something about whether or not we represented what our name meant…"
"You can hear. It's a miracle. And for the record, yeah, that's exactly what we're supposed to be doing, and no, I can't do that for you."
"I never said you had to. I just need you to look up what the names mean. You can do that, can't you?"
Dickie ignored this and opened the book, setting it on the table beside the computer Elizabeth was on. The girls' names were at the front of the book, which made it easy enough, especially because they were alphabetical. Flipping towards the 'E' section, he looked through the first few pages until he found what he was looking for.
"Elizabeth," he read out loud, making her jump. "Of Hebrew origin. Means 'consecrated to God'."
"What does consecrated mean?" Elizabeth asked, finally turning away from the computer screen to look at him.
"Look it up," he replied. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the computer.
"I don't feel like getting up," she said. He gave her a look of mock annoyance and tugged the mouse away from her, clicking on the address bar and typing in a web address. An online dictionary popped up on the screen.
"You don't have to," he said. "It's called an online dictionary."
"I'm not stupid," she said, glaring at him, "I can read." She typed the word into the search box and hit the return key; a few seconds later, a definition popped up.
"To dedicate solemnly to a service or goal." she read. "I don't get it. What does that have to do with me?"
"Nothing, really, unless you plan on becoming a nun," Dickie replied. "I think it's saying your name means that you're dedicated to serving God."
"Wow." said Elizabeth, shaking her head. "I definitely haven't been living up to that one. We haven't even been to church lately. Why do you think Mom and Dad picked that name?"
Dickie shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe they just thought it sounded good."
"Thanks," Elizabeth said dryly. She pulled a notebook from the backpack on the floor and flipped it open, writing down her first name and its meaning before looking back at him. "You find my middle name in there yet?"
"Yeah, it's right here." He looked down at the pages he'd turned to and started to read again. "Makenna,"he said, "Derivative of McKenna, meaning 'son of Ken or Kenna'."
Elizabeth wrote this down and then tugged the book out of his grip. He gave her a look.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "I'm supposed to be looking them up, remember?" She shrugged.
"I changed my mind," she said. "I want to help." Dickie rolled his eyes, but took the notebook and pen from her in order to write things down.
"Whatever," he said. "Which name are you looking up?" Elizabeth glanced over at him, grinning.
"Yours," she said. "Let's see if you've been living up to your meaning."
"I doubt it," he replied mildly. She ignored this and flipped back to where the boys' names were. After a few minutes she spoke again.
"Richard," she said, "Of English origin. Meaning 'powerful, rich ruler'." She looked up and laughed.
"Yeah, right," she said. "You're thirteen. I'd love to see the day you live up to that one."
"I should live to see the day you become a nun," Dickie retorted, smirking as he wrote. "This is ridiculous. It doesn't even have anything to do with what we're reading."
"Yeah, but it's interesting," Elizabeth replied, flipping to the front of the boys' names section. "I think I've got your middle name."
"Fine," he said, "What does it mean?"
"Um…." Elizabeth paused for a moment before relocating the name she'd been looking for and starting to read. "Christopher, she said, "Of Greek origin, meaning 'Christ-bearer'." She looked up and shook her head. "Guess that means both of us are supposed to be dedicated to serving God."
"Mom had better start taking us to church, then," Dickie replied, pushing the notebook back towards her and motioning towards the book. "Let me have that." Elizabeth pushed the book back at him and turned to the computer screen again, making a face.
"I really wish she'd quit sending me this stupid newsletter. Like I give a care about what's going on in this school." she muttered.
"What name do you want me to look up?" Dickie asked, ignoring this remark. Elizabeth shrugged.
"Doesn't matter," she said, "But we've got to have all six of us, so…" She trailed off, distracted by the task of deleting the junk mail from her email account and he sighed, flipping back to the girls' names.
"Kathleen," he said. "Of Celtic or Gaelic origin. Meaning 'pure, virginal'."
"That's her in a nutshell," Elizabeth said, grinning. "I can't think of anyone to better describe that meaning."
"Yeah, but we also have to figure out why we think Mom and Dad picked that name for her. It's not because they want her to be a virgin for the rest of her life."
"Only until she gets married," Elizabeth said, laughing. "Seriously, though. What does Eliane mean?"
"Haven't looked it up yet." Flipping back up to the 'E' section of girls' names, Dickie fell silent for a few seconds before answering. "Eliane," he read. "Said to be a French form of a Latin family name. Meaning 'sun'."
"Seeing as Kathleen's the only one of us that's managed to stay even remotely cheerful through all of this," said Elizabeth. "Not to mention the fact that she's a blonde."
"You're blonde too," Dickie pointed out, "And there's no way you're a little ray of sunlight."
"Never said I was." said Elizabeth. "What'd you say the origin was again?"
"It's a French form of a Latin family name." Dickie replied. "Are you looking up Maureen, or am I?"
"I'll do it." Elizabeth took the book again, and flipped back towards the 'M' section. "Here it is." She pushed a stray lock out of her hair before continuing. "Maureen," she said. "Of Celtic or Gaelic origin. Meaning 'dark'."
"Dark?" Dickie asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"Not dark as in being goth or something," said Elizabeth. "I think it's supposed to refer to skin tone or something."
"Well, even then it still doesn't describe her." said Dickie. "What does her middle name mean?"
"Alethea," Elizabeth read, without looking up, "Of Greek origin. Meaning 'truthful one'."
"That," said Dickie, "Is definitely Maureen…for the most part, anyway." Elizabeth snorted.
"For the most part," she repeated. "You mean only when she knows the truth is going to serve her purposes."
"There's a fine thing to say about our sister," Dickie remarked dryly. "Give me the book." She handed it to him and turned back to the computer.
"Did you write any of what we just said down?" she asked. He nodded absently.
"Yeah, I did," he said. "Where'd the pen go? You've got to write this stuff down."
"I've got it," said Elizabeth, bending down to pick it up off of the floor. "I'm ready."
"Katherine," Dickie read, struggling to keep a straight face. "Of Greek origin. Meaning 'pure, virginal."
"Weird," said Elizabeth, looking up from her writing. "Mom's name means the same thing as Katie's."
"Well, Kathleen was named for her; I'm not surprised." said Dickie. "Are we supposed to look up Mom's middle name or maiden name?" Elizabeth shrugged.
"I didn't hear that part," she admitted, "I don't think it matters, though." She typed a phrase into the search engine; a few seconds later, a list of websites giving information on surnames popped up. "Just look up her middle name."
"Fine." Dickie flipped a few pages before reaching the section he was looking for. "I think this book's going to be worn out by the time we're finished with it."
"It's already worn out," said Elizabeth, "You find what Mom's middle name means?"
"I just found it, hold on." Dickie glanced back down at the page he'd stopped on and started to read. "Claire. Of French origin, meaning 'clear, bright'."
"Mom hasn't been clear about much of anything lately," Elizabeth said dryly. "Any ideas on why her parents picked that name?"
"We'll do that part later." Dickie shoved the book back at her and glanced at the computer screen. "What'd you look that up for?"
"Look what up?" Elizabeth asked. He motioned towards the screen.
"Last names," he said.
"We have to have that too, genius," Elizabeth replied dryly. "Who wasn't listening now?"
"I was listening," Dickie shot back. "I just forgot. Are you finished yet?"
"No, I haven't even started. What time is Mom supposed to be coming to get us?"
"We've got twenty minutes, but she's gonna want to see what we got done, so will you hurry up?"
"Well, excuse me for not being able to find stuff as fast as you. I've got it." Elizabeth retorted. She paused for a minute before shaking her head.
"Elliot," she read, "Of English origin. Meaning 'the Lord is my God'."
"I'm starting to think religion is more than just a theme now," Dickie remarked, trying not to laugh. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"You think?" she asked. "This is going to end up being harder than we thought."
"We've already got most of it done. Don't quit on me now."
"I wasn't planning on it. All we have to do is look up Dad's middle name and then we're done with this half."
"So are you going to do that, or not?"
"Calm down, will you? I've got it already." Elizabeth twirled a second pen through her fingers as she read. "Matthew," she said. "Of Hebrew origin. Meaning 'God's gift'." She closed the book, smirking. "Religion is definitely more than a theme here."
"Well, at least we've got the easy part over with," said Dickie, "Now it's the hard part we have to worry about."
"You mean figuring out why we got the names we did?" said Elizabeth. "That's easy. You got yours because you're gonna end up being some CEO and I got mine because I'm going to be a nun."
Both of them laughed, attracting the attention of several other library patrons, who cast them annoyed looks that they ignored.
"I doubt that's why Mom and Dad gave us those names," Dickie said finally. "Maybe we should ask them."
"If we can get them into the same room without having them at each others' throats," Elizabeth muttered. "This is exactly why I didn't want to do this."
"Let me look something up, huh?" Dickie asked, changing the subject. Elizabeth moved away from the computer and let him take her place. He typed something in and waited as she started sketching in the notebook. A few minutes passed by before he pushed at her foot.
"Look at this." he said. Elizabeth moved so that she could see over his shoulder, and shook her head, smirking.
"Stabler," she read. "From Old French estable and from Latin stablis; Meaning: steadfast, firm - literally: able to stand."
Able to stand. The two of them exchanged glances then, neither of them saying anything. If anything, that was the most ironic meaning of all the names they'd looked up for this project. They might have been physically standing, but emotionally…
"We already know how we got that name," Elizabeth said finally. "You think that's the one we should be worrying about?"
"Considering that that's the name pretty much everyone knows us by, I would say so," Dickie replied, still eyeing the computer screen as if doing so would make the meaning change. Elizabeth glanced at him and shook her head.
"I don't think it should be so hard to meet that standard," she remarked. "We're already there."
"Most of the time, anyways." Dickie closed the notebook as he finished writing in it and rose to his feet, handing it to her as he picked up one of the two backpacks on the floor. "Mom's here."
"She's early," Elizabeth said, frowning. "Log me off, will you?" Dickie nodded absently and hit a few keys; a few minutes later, the computer was back to the original log-in screen, and the two of them were heading towards where their mother was.
"You two manage to get anything done?" Kathy asked as they walked outside into the rain that had started only minutes before.
"Yeah," said Elizabeth, "We did." She slid into the backseat of the car and Dickie followed; Kathleen was already sitting in the front, and the music was loud enough that no one would be able to hear them.
"Hey, Liz?" Dickie reached across the seat, poking at Elizabeth as she sat there, staring out the window, and she turned to face him.
"What?"
"I'm starting to think I know what people mean when they say it's all in a name."