It's an Old Lady Name

"Has anyone ever told you that you fixate on things?"

"Hmm?" Tom managed, looking up from where he was seated on the floor of his and Liz's apartment - that was still a concept he was wrapping his mind around, officially sharing the space with her - so that he could piece together the crib that they had bought.

"You've been at that for two hours now. Before that you had your nose in a parenting book, and-"

"There are worse things to fixate on, Liz," he grumbled, reaching for a piece of the crib.

"I'm not knocking it, just observing something I already knew." Her lips quirked up at him. "Someone might think you were excited or something."

Tom grinned, despite the way his leg twinged as he shifted. He was going to regret the way he had been sitting, but as long as the crib was together, ready, and safe, a little discomfort was well worth it. "Couldn't imagine that, huh?"

Liz set her magazine down and stood from the couch. Tom stopped what he was doing long enough to watch her take a careful seat with him on the floor, reaching for the instructions. "Are these in German?"

"The ones in English weren't very good. That's why I've been at it so long. This shouldn't have taken as long to put together, but... Why are you laughing at me?"

His fiancé rolled her eyes and shook her head, the smile not fading. "So, you were bugging me about names last week."

"I wasn't trying to bug you. I just mean that we should probably talk about it. At least have a few that we both like."

She hummed softly and he shifted so that he was up and balanced on his left knee. "Could you hold this steady?" he asked and she reached forward.

"I think Samuel, if it's a boy."

"I like that," he answered, a small smile. "Any thoughts if it's a girl?"

"If we have a girl she's going to have you wrapped around her finger from the second she's born," Liz teased.

"You may be right." He glanced over at her. "Any names?"

"I was thinking Agnes."

Tom nearly dropped the screwdriver. "Agnes?" he echoed in disbelief. "Babe…"

"What? It was Sam's mom's name."

"Let's keep thinking."

Liz straightened a little where she was sitting. "I like Agnes. Give me one good reason why not."

"It's an old lady name."

The woman he loved burst out laughing. "Okay, you taught fourth grade, so I know that you know that old fashioned names are coming back around." She paused and he tried to ignore the way she was studying him. "Is there another reason you don't like it?"

Tom huffed, finally giving up on the section he was working on and taking a hard seat back on the floor. Liz was leaned back, hands behind her to brace herself, and waiting. She wasn't going to let it go. "I bounced around the system like crazy as a kid. I think I moved five times in one year once-"

"What the hell did you do?" Liz laughed.

He shrugged. "I wasn't quite used to faking it for people yet, I guess. They didn't like me and I didn't like them. Anyway, they put me in a group home for, uh, difficult kids, I think was the way they put it. All of us little delinquents." His voice was light, but he could tell he wasn't fooling Liz. She watched him carefully and he loosed a breath. "Agnes… Miller, I think was her name? She had to have been ninety. Couldn't hear worth anything, but she knew the second before you screwed up." He chuckled and shrugged. "She was just a hardass."

"And you gave her hell, didn't you?" Liz asked with a smile, scooting closer to him.

"Oh yeah."

"Was she terrible?"

"Not particularly. I think she thought she was going to fix me."

"What happened?"

"She had to retire, actually. I used to joke that I was the one that finally did her in."

Liz shook her head, a soft laugh escaping her and she leaned her shoulder against his. "Well, you like replacing bad memories with good. Maybe naming our daughter Agnes will make you love the name."

Tom snorted and turned to press a kiss against the side of her head. "I love you, you know that?"

"Enough to help me get off the floor?" she asked teasingly. "I really didn't think this through."

"Me either. Pretty sure my leg is so stiff it'll give the second I try to put weight on it."

"Ha. We're a pair, aren't we?"

He grinned, flopping back so that he was laying out with his still-healing leg straightened out, pieces of the cradle surrounding them. Liz's smile hadn't faded and she eased herself down with him, careful of his shoulder as she laid her head against his chest. "We're going to be parents," she murmured.

Tom loosed a long breath through his nose, relaxing and enjoying the closeness. "I know. It's not exactly like you always wanted, but we'll get there."

"The important things are all there."

"What are those?" he asked lightly.

"You and me and him or her. We'll figure out the rest."

"Look at you being all optimistic."

She laughed a little at him and her fingers were playing with the edge of his t-shirt idly. "Can't imagine where I would have picked that up from." She shifted a little against him. "I love you."

"Love you too."

"Promise me you'll think about the name?"

Tom chuckled and ran his fingers through her dark hair. "I promise I'll think about it. Are we just staying right here?"

"I'm pretty comfortable. You?"

"More than," he murmured, eyes drifting closed. It wasn't often in their crazy lives that they could take a few minutes without people shooting or Reddington interrupting. Even if it was just for a few minutes, he was glad to have them, and he certainly would be the last to argue.

Notes: This one is for Akarensilla, because she's the awesome person that reminded me that I wanted to write this after it got sort of shoved back in the queue. :D