"Chain My Name" by Polica

"So who are you going to name the baby after this time?" Mom asked, putting her hand on my stomach to see if the twins were kicking at all. They weren't, they were sleeping peacefully. All of the kicking seems to happen in the middle of the night so that they can keep me (and subsequently Murphy) awake all night.

"Very funny, Mom," I rolled my eyes. Noah was on the floor playing with the triplets, who were all just delighted that Grandma and Granda were there. "But honestly, I have no idea. I've used most of the family names at this point."

"Oh, what about Tyler's name?"

"Eh, Tyler's a very common name."

"Noah?"

"Dina's middle name is Noah," Noah gave Mom a stern look. Ever since he had learned Dina had his name as her middle name, she became his little princess. Of course he loves all of the kids, but she's the one that's usually with him when he's around. It's very cute.

"Fine," Mom rolled her eyes. I laughed. As much as we fought when I was a teenager and a young adult, I'm a lot like my Mom. "What?"

"Nothing," I said, struggling to stop laughing. "I'm just really your daughter sometimes."

"We know," Murphy and Noah said in unison. Mom and I stuck our tongues out at them.

"Oh! Frederick!"

"Bless ye?" Murphy said, looking up at me in confusion. I had gotten too excited and pronounced it too quickly.

With a wave of my hand, I explained: "It's Tyler's middle name. Frederick."

"That's not terrible," he agreed. "What about Rocco for a middle name?"

"You're a genius," I smiled.

"I wouldn't go that far," Noah muttered as Dina handed him one of her toys. "Ye're a genius though! Take after yer Ma."

I bit back a laugh while Murphy rolled his eyes and scowled. "You are smart, Murphy."

"True love, that is."

"Thank ye, love," Murphy said, ignoring Noah's rebuttal.

"What about the girl?" Mom asked.

"What, you want me to pick right now? It's like nine o'clock."

"I'm sorry, you have something better to do at nine at night on a Friday?"

"Yes, I have important sleep to catch up on," I pouted. Mom patted my leg and then stared at me.

"Girl names. What about Margaret?"

"What? No. That sounds like an old lady's name."

"She could go by Maggie."

"I don't think that makes it better."

"Do you boys have any suggestions?"

Murphy and Noah stared at Mom like she was nuts.

"You're right, why did I ask?"

Kelly and Declan walked in and Mom looked immediately excited.

"Oh, you might have some ideas. What do you two think about names for your baby sister?"

The twins shared a look before looking at me for a gauge of what they were walking into.

"Grandma's trying to help us pick out names." Translation: Grandma is pushing us to pick out names. Kelly's mouth twitched into a smile, clearly picking up on the subtext. Declan looked a bit confused by decided to let Kelly take the lead, as she usually does.

"Well, not Catharine. There's a Catharine in our class and she's not very nice," Kelly sat down next to me, her arm linked with Declan's to force him to also sit down before he could run away. He looked like he would be perfectly happy returning to his video game. I don't blame him. Maybe I could leave Murphy and take Decs back into the basement-Murphy shook his head at me, clearly recognizing my I'm-about-to-leave-all-of-this-to-you face.

I huffed and settled back into the couch, giving Declan a look that said I had tried. "No Catharine. I couldn't see having a Cathy around."

"What about Vittoria?" Declan offered. Kelly squinted at him.

"Where'd you come up with that?"

Declan mumbled something so that only Kelly could hear it. She looked exasperated.

"A video game?"

"Yeah, but it's a cool name," Declan said defensively. Murphy couldn't help but laugh, causing Declan to turn a bit pink.

"No, you're right, that is a cool name," I said thoughtfully. I narrowed in on him. "Do you have another cool name stashed in that wonderful brain of yours?"

"I kind of like Clara. It's a kind name."

"It is a kind name. Vittoria Clara. I like it. Murph?"

"Sounds pretty."

"Frederick Rocco and Vittoria Clara. Done. Those are the names, no ifs, ands, or buts."

Mom thought about it for a few minutes before shrugging and agreeing that it was a good name. And at this point, I'm just tired of picking out names.

The twins chatted a bit with the grandparents before getting up to leave again. I called for them to wait a second. "Don't forget we have to get up early to go in town to the courthouse tomorrow."

"Right, name change day," Kelly said brightly.

"Are you getting your name changed, ma?" Declan asked softly. I thought about it. I had been planning on getting my name changed, but I wasn't honestly sure if I would.

"Of course she is," Mom said but then noticed my face. "Aren't you?"

"Well, I don't know. It's so," I tried to find a polite term, "traditional."

"Well, then why do I have to change my name?" Declan questioned before Mom could be appalled.

"Ye don't if ye don't want to," Murphy answered for me. "Same thing I told yer ma."

"You can always change your mind at any time, same thing your dad told me," I agreed, smiling at Murphy and then Declan.

"Then I don't want to change it."

"But you'll be the only one with Mom's name," Kelly said, surprised. "I don't want my name changed either, then."

"You can change your name, Kel. We're still twins even if we have different names."

"Nope," she shook her big, curly red hair defiantly. "Same name. I can change it later if I want to apparently."

Noah chuckled while Mom looked confused. The twins grinned, concluding that their job was done, and started to run off together.

"We do still have to go to the courthouse though," I reminded them, referencing adding Connor and Murphy to their legal papers.

"Yes, mom," they said sweetly.

"Kids," Murphy smirked at me. I rolled my eyes but smiled back at him and stood.

"Okay, bedtime for the little ones. It's nine-thirty."

Mom and Noah kissed them goodnight. I took Dina while Murphy grabbed Conan and Matteo. The kids looked properly tired from a long evening of playing. Tyler and Smecker should have an easy morning tomorrow with them.

After we got the kids to bed, I stretched and started heading for the bedroom. Murphy bit back a laugh and pulled me into a hug, kissing my temple.

"I'll clear the living room. Ye go get ready for bed."

I leaned up and kissed him. "My hero."