Chapter Six: Something to Talk About
"Ooh, Mom's playing matchmaker," Baron cooed. I shrugged.
"What else are you going to do with two people who are hopelessly falling for one another but to blind to see it?" I asked. Eva raised her eyebrows at me. "That was a rhetorical question," I finished.
"Well, if they were really in love, wouldn't they have been able to see it eventually?" Leala asked.
"Yes, of course, but the key word there is what?"
"Eventually," Eva noted with interest. "So you figured that you might help speed the process up by getting them together?"
I nodded. "Something like that."
Noah stirred and stretched beside me. "Mommy, I'm hungry," he said with a little yawn. Greg came over to the couch and picked him up, carrying him into our kitchen.
"Why don't we all eat?" he suggested. The remaining three children and I got up from the couches and stretched, relaxing our tense muscles. I roamed around the kitchen, finding some food to eat. It was hard to believe that we were still in the midst of a hurricane. And the kids weren't even fighting, which was probably the most amazing part of it all.
Baron chewed his bread thoughtfully. "Mom, in school we had a project where we had to find out what our names mean. What does my name mean?"
I smiled and recalled when I was pregnant with my second-born. Greg and I had flipped through baby name book upon baby name book to find a name that was just right for our first son.
"Baron," I said with a smile, "was something that your father picked out. Your name means 'noble man' and it's German. We figured that you would eventually become a man of noble character. Or, we hoped," I added with a smile. Baron grinned. I think that he liked the idea of being noble.
Leala perked up. "What does my name mean?" she asked with curiosity.
I smiled broadly. "I picked your name out. It was suggested to me by one of my old roommates in college, who had brought me a baby name book with unique names in it, and we found this one. Leala is French for 'loyal'. So, we knew that we wanted our little girl to be loyal." Leala beamed and ate her sandwich with more pride, it seemed.
"Hey, you can't leave me out!" Eva said with a pout.
Greg smiled. "Of course not. Eva was a name that I had really liked for a daughter. It's Hebrew for 'giver of life'. So, we found that appropriate to name our first born daughter, since you are the first one that will give life someday. Once you are married, and are a good age, mind you," Greg said with a laugh. Eva nodded her head.
"And Noah?" Baron asked curiously.
"Noah means 'rest' or 'peace', which I think it suitable since he seems to love to sleep," I said with a chuckle. The children laughed as well.
"Hey, what do your names mean?" Leala asked. She had her head tilted, as if she was studying Greg and me. I looked at Greg and he returned the glance.
"Your mother's name means 'grace and beauty'," he said, taking my hand. "And I think that her name is fitting, don't you?" Ah, it's no wonder that I fell in love with him.
"And Gregory means 'vigilant and watchful'," I replied. "So, you can see why your dad was a good CSI..and a darn good flirt." Greg let out a laugh.
"Alright, now that we are all full, I think it's time for some more stories," Leala said with contentment. I sighed.
"Are you sure that you still want to hear the rest of it?"
"YES!" they echoed in unison.
"Why are you so interested in the stories?" I asked curiously. I have to admit, at that moment I was quite confused. My kids barely wanted to acknowledge that I existed in public (though I am positive that it was because I was their mother), but now they were at the edge of their seats, trying to get me to finish stories of my life. My life: their mother's tales.
"They're so interesting," Eva admitted. "I never knew that you had done so much stuff in your life. I mean, I always thought that you had always been a teacher, so this is exciting to listen to!"
"Yeah," Baron added, "I think it's awesome that you and dad used to solve crimes. I feel like my parents were super sleuths!"
"Plus," Leala concluded, "we will be able to tell our children that our parents had the coolest jobs ever."
Greg and I turned to each other and realized that our children may nag, may fight, may cause us trouble; but they were worth it all when they acted like this.
"Okay, let's move back over to the living room though," I ended up saying, finding myself a bit more enthusiastic to tell stories that my children were interested in hearing. I had to pause a moment once we were in the other room to think of where I had left off.
"So, do Danny and Lindsay ever get together?" Eva asked with excitement bubbling as if she was watching her favorite TV drama unfold before her eyes. Baron rolled his eyes at his sister.
"I don't care about that...what other cases did you solve? And what happened to the dead middle-school kid?"
Leala chimed in with her two-cents. "Well, I think that the most interesting parts are when Mom talks about all the people she met. Tell us more about all the people, Mom, please?"
I looked at my three children—the three who were awake, that is—and nodded along with their comments.
"All of those things will come into play sooner or later," I concluded. "Everything that you guys liked about the stories was a part of my daily life in New York. I dealt with it all. And dealing with everything made me who I am today. So, that being said, I think we need to continue on with this tale of mine, don't you?"
"Yes!" Leala chirped.
I smiled. "Alright now, let me think a moment. I believe that Stella and I had hatched some plans, but none of them ever came through. But, then, in mid-January, my 24th birthday was approaching fast. And that is where a plan began to form…"
