Chapter 33
"I still think that name is the best," Henry says, lugging more paint cans upstairs.
Three weeks later, Emma's "family" is hard at work trying to get different parts of the house painted. Almost all the furniture was in place, clothes in the closet and drawers, all of which was now covered in tarps and newspaper, but the walls were off limits until they had a fresh coat of paint. Henry was slightly upset about this because he wanted to hang up his posters and other pictures soon. But once he got to pick the colour for his own room, he was happy and wanted it to be done as soon as possible. Emma and Killian start with the nursery, which is empty now, perfect for painting before they add the furniture. After that, Mary Margret insists on going on another baby shopping trip to pick out at least the necessities including a crib, a rocking chair, and a changing table. The rest would be given to the new mother at the surprise baby shower the teacher was planning.
Everyone had divided into teams to get the painting done. Henry, Regina, and Robin would do his room and the guest room, David and Mary Margret could do the hallway and the bathrooms, Lacey, Aurora and Mey Ling were doing the wall behind the stairwell and front hall, Emma, Killian, and Ruby the master bedroom and the nursery. As for the rest of the first level of the house… that could be a project for another day.
While the teams worked on their designated projects, they discussed loudly on potential baby names for the coming offspring.
"Why not just name the baby Ruby?" the dyed haired friend asks. The art major is hard at work stenciling designs on the wall. Emma and Killian decided on two colours for the nursery; a soft pink for the lower part of the walls and a more peach/cream colouring for above. They planned to add a border to separate the two colours. "By the way, do you want butterflies down here or up higher."
"Higher and thank you for the suggestion Ruby, but we'd rather give the baby her own unique name rather than name her after one of our friends," the blonde explains, painting the upper half of the wall by the closet.
"How about a mother then?" Ruby asks.
Emma turns red and shoots Ruby a glare. "I never knew my mother, remember?"
"O-Oh right, but what about Killian's?"
"My mother's name was Charlotte Jones," the docks man says, carefully painting around the window.
"I like that," Aurora calls from down the hall. "Charlotte Swan…"
"Keep in mind she will likely be called Charlie or Char as well," Lacey points out, coming into the nursery room to grab more paint brushes.
"What about after my mother, Eva?" Mary Margret calls out.
"That's okay," Regina says. "Better than Cora after mine."
"I thought we were saving that name for our baby?" David is heard saying.
"I'm just suggesting it, David," his wife smirks, pouring more paint into a tray for him.
"Yeah, it's not like you have dibs on names anyway," Henry adds.
"Plus, one baby is enough right now," Mary Margret adds.
"What about Lucy, Lexie, Lilla, Lily or Layla?" Lacey suggests.
"Going a little heavy on the L's there aren't you, Love?" Killian asks.
"It could be worse. It could be a name like Ruth, Harriet, Elizabeth, or Martha."
"Those are very old-fashioned names," Emma points out, stepping down from the ladder.
"That was my mother's name," David calls out. "My father used to call her Ruthie for fun…"
Everyone frowns slightly, as nice as the name was, it didn't suit a newborn.
"What about Kathleen?" Mey Ling suggests. "Or perhaps Claire. Or even Ellie?"
"If you want something really unique what about Octavia, Harlynn, Rosella or Odette?" Ruby asks.
"Like after the Swan Princess character?" Emma asks.
"Yeah,"
"No offense but I don't think Emma wants her child to be beaten to death in the schoolyard," Regina says sarcastically. "She probably doesn't want her daughter to have the nickname Octie, or be associated with Harley Quinn or Rose as in the Titanic movie or be called Odie…"
"Beats being named North West," Ruby points out.
"Or Blue Ivy." Mey Ling adds.
"And I can speak for myself thank your Regina," Emma says, having to sit down to rest. "I always thought Mackenzie was nice or Harper…"
"As in the former Canadian Prime Minister?" Lacey calls out.
"And if she has a loud and high-pitched scream, you can call her Harpie for short," Ruby jokes.
Emma glares at her friend and begins to stir some more paint while sitting down for a quick rest.
"Laura?" Robin asks. "Or maybe Jodelle or Alison, those were the names Marian and I were tossing around for Roland before he was born."
"Bianca?" Regina asks. "Nicole, Ashley, Chloe or Madison?"
"Those are used too often," Emma says.
"Who knew picking baby names would be so hard?" David groans.
"Aye, if it was a boy the only real option would be Liam," Killian says.
Emma nods before kissing Killian on the cheek. "Nothing would make me happier than to honour your brother." She then wipes a glob of paint from his cheek.
"If you go, French, it could be Collette."
"What about Kyra?"
"Maria?"
"Crystal?"
"Molly?"
"Riley or Jessica?"
"Leah?"
"Tori?"
"Alexandra?"
"Dana?"
"Bridgette?"
"Jolene"
"Halley?"
"Tara?"
"Melissa?"
"Hannah?"
"Emily?"
"Adriana?"
"Kelly?"
"Amelia?"
"Vivia?"
"Leia?"
Everyone snickers at each other at the space princess's name.
"What about Carrie?"
"As in the horror novel?" Lacey asks.
Emma sighs and rubs her head. She never thought that picking a name for their daughter would be so difficult. Then again, she never expected to get pregnant like this… so soon that is. She wanted the perfect name for the little one kicking under her paint-splattered shirt. She rubs her hand on the place where the Jane Doe and applies some pressure there to respond to the baby's movements. She can literally count the little toes she felt on her hand. The baby was moving less and less each day as her stomach grew to accommodate her. She was definitely going to be much bigger than Henry, and heavier too.
"Not as much room to move around huh?" she whispers to her little one.
"I still think my name is the best," Henry repeats loudly as he holds the bucket of paint up for Robin to reach the higher parts of the wall from the ladder. "It just suits my unborn baby sister…"
"What was it again Henry?" Mary Margret asks.
"Sophie."
A/N: Okay see if you can find your name suggestions here. I took them from Turn for the Worst and from this story. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I'm still not clear on the name yet, but it seems that everyone wants a version of Sophie. If you have any other ideas, let me know in the reviews. Also expect a baby shower and more drama very soon.