"Holly? Emma? Emily? Lola? Megan?" Iain suggested as he scrolled through a list of names on his phone.
"Lola Dean sounds like a stripper" Rita screwed her face up in disgust.
"Okay, so, let's leave girls names for a while, Daniel? Jake? Matthew? Oliver? Toby? I like Daniel"
Rita sighed and shook her head as she stroked her swollen stomach, her 20 week scan was creeping closer and she and Iain had started thinking about names for their son or daughter, something that seemed to be a lot more difficult than she remembered it being with Jack. "Daniel Dean? Really? In fact…" she shook her head, "I've given up alcohol, I'm not going to the park and shouting for Jack and Daniel."
"Oh yeah" Iain laughed, "I didn't think of that but I erm, I thought the baby would have your surname like Jack."
Rita shook her head, "I mean, they can if you want but I erm, I'd like them to have your surname."
"I'd love that" Iain smiled, gently kissing Rita's lips, "as long as you're sure."
"I am" she nodded, "it's your baby as much as it is mine."
Iain kissed Rita again, "I love you."
"I love you too" Rita smiled happily before glancing at her phone, "we should probably go and get Jack, he might have some suggestions?"
Iain nodded, "you know that means we'll probably end up naming the baby after one of his friends at school."
"I know" Rita laughed, thanking Iain as he passed over her shoes, "that's what's putting me off, like Megan's a nice name, but you've seen that Megan in his class…"
"Ah" Iain chuckled, "yeah, I know what you mean" he said, thinking about the girl he'd had the pleasure of meeting when he and Rita had accompanied the class on a trip to a local wildlife sanctuary, the girl who'd cried and thrown a tantrum at absolutely every opportunity.
"Jack" Rita smiled as he sat between her and Iain on the sofa that evening, "we're trying to think of a name for the baby, can you think of any names that you like?"
"Jack" he beamed, "like me."
Rita smiled and kissed his head, "We can't call the baby Jack darling, it would get all confusing, imagine at Christmas, you wouldn't know which presents were yours and which presents were for the baby."
"Oh" Jack frowned, "don't call it Jack then, erm…" he scanned the room as he thought, Rita knowing exactly what was coming next when his eyes settled on his toy train, "Thomas" he nodded, "call it Thomas."
"Thomas Dean" Rita tried out the name.
Jack frowned, "Is Dean going to be the baby's middle name?"
"No Darling, it's going to be the baby's surname, like you're Jack Freeman."
Jack's frown grew, "but I want the baby to have the same name as me" he pouted.
Rita sighed softly and ran her fingers through Jack's hair, "don't worry about it Darling, Daddy and I will talk about it once you're in bed, we'll work something out."
They kept talk away from the baby for the rest of the evening, not wanting Jack to worry about anything, and, like always, Rita curled into Iain on the sofa once they'd tucked him into bed and read him a story, "you can use your surname for the baby" Iain told her, "I don't mind, I'd rather the baby had your surname and Jack was happy."
Rita sighed, "I want the baby to have your surname though" she began to play with his tshirt as she thought, looking up at him a few moments later when she had an idea, "what if Jack had your surname too?"
Iain frowned, "what?"
"When the adoption's finalised, we could change Jack's surname to Dean, then the baby would have your surname as well as having the same surname as Jack."
"Rita, I…"
"I know we'd have to mention it to Jack first, but I'm sure he'd love to have the same surname as his Daddy, if you'd rather not though, if you want him to have my name then I'd understand" she whispered, cursing her hormones when she felt her eyes fill with tears, a little voice in her head asking why on earth Iain would want to give another man's child his name. Of course he wanted the kids to have her surname, he wanted to make things easier for himself when she eventually messed up and pushed him away.
"No" Iain kissed Rita's head, wanting to calm her down, "you're right, we need to talk to Jack about it first, but if he wants to use my surname then of course he can."
Rita smiled softly, "I love you."
Iain kissed her forehead again, "I love you too" he said, holding her closely as he asked, "what about you?"
"What about me?" Rita frowned, tilting her head to look up at him, her tears wet on her cheeks.
"Oh Rita" he wiped at her eyes with his thumb, "what about your name?" he asked, "it's hardly fair that you do all the hard work giving us a family and I just take all the credit by giving both our kids my name, when we change Jack's name, why don't we change yours too?"
Rita frowned, "you want me to change my surname to Dean too?"
"Yeah" Iain stroked her back, "if you want to." He'd thought several times about making things official, especially since they found out she was carrying their child, but he knew that after Mark, she'd probably be reluctant to get married again, maybe her changing her surname to his was as close as he could get.
Rita shook her head, "I don't want to change my surname to yours" she said, Iain felt his heart sink as Rita's voice dropped to a whisper, "not unless we were married."
"You, you want to marry me?" Iain asked, not sure he'd heard her right.
"Yeah" she nodded, "if it's what you want too."
"It is" he kissed her lips, "I just assumed that after Mark you wouldn't want to get married again."
"You're not Mark" Rita said softly as she stroked his chest, "I know that, I know you're different, that you'd never hurt me like he did."
"You're right" he kissed her again, "I'd never hurt you, I'd never hurt you or our babies."
"I know" Rita smiled.
"So are we going to get married then?" Iain asked cheekily.
Rita laughed, "is that a proposal Mr Dean?"
"No" Iain laughed and Rita felt her heart shatter, "if I'm going to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me, then me and my boy are going to make sure it's a moment you remember for the rest of your life."
Hearing Iain call Jack his boy was too much for Rita and she clung to Iain as she began to sob, "I love you" she whispered as she cuddled into him, as close as she could get, "I love you so much Iain."
He smiled softly and kissed her hair as he gently rubbed her back, "I love you too Reet, and I always will."