Cynthia was at home searching their basement for a book her grandmother gave her when they got married. It was a book of meanings of baby names. She really had no idea where to start and this was as good a place as any. After digging into four boxes, she found the book. She walked up the basement stairs and turned out the light and went into the kitchen to sit down and write down some name choices. She browsed the book and noticed that almost half of the girls' names that began with 'C' meant "pure." What was that all about? It was a challenge for Cynthia to find names that had meanings she liked as well as names that she liked. She wrote down Casey, which meant "brave," Channing, which meant "wise," Clarissa, which meant "brilliant," and Cora, which meant "she knows." She got up and poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter, thinking. Since their potential daughter would have Roger's mother's name as her middle name, she wanted a few name choices to honor her own mother for the first name. Her mother liked literature and history, so she went into the living room to grab an American history book and sat down on the couch to peruse it. After finding that there weren't many women's names in it by browsing it, she closed it and thought again for a while. Then, it dawned on her….her mother's interest in women's rights. She opened the book and looked up the suffragettes who her mother admired and found Carrie Chapman Catt and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. So, she went back to the kitchen and added "Carrie" and "Cady" to her list. Much of the rest of her day was spent organizing the house, since she was stir crazy from her first day off from work.
Roger spent the rest of his day working on his summary report for the real estate deal and capped it off reading up on medical malpractice law. He arrived at home at 6 pm that evening to be greeted by Cynthia making dinner in the kitchen.
"A man could get used to this," he said.
She looked at him askance without saying a word.
"Just kidding," he said, walking up behind her and putting his arms around her very pregnant waist.
"How was your day?" she asked.
"Pretty boring, except that Marcus says we're going to have to start working on a medical malpractice case," he said.
"Oh? Who's the defendant?" she asked.
"Don't know yet."
"What's the accusation?" she asked.
"Operating while drunk."
"Well, that's a pretty serious charge, but not improbable," she said as she began serving up dinner.
The two sat down and ate and talked about the malpractice case and their days in general, and afterward, washed dishes together, and then retired to the living room.
Roger picked up a book off the coffee table. "The Sheltering Sky?"
"Yes. I've been meaning to read this for a while. I actually got some reading done today."
"That's good," he said with a smile as he put his arm around her.
"Did you come up with some names today?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," he said, producing a folded piece of paper from his shirt breast pocket. He unfolded it and handed it to her.
She read aloud, "Raymond, Ronald, Richard, Randolph, and Russell." She paused and thought for a bit. "Those are all very strong names. How did you come up with them?"
"Well, of course, you know that I'm a movie buff."
She replied, "Yes," though, she couldn't remember when they last went to one since both had been so busy.
He said, "I went with Raymond Massey, Ronald Colman, Richard Burton, Jane Randolph, and Jane Russell."
"Jane Randolph and Jane Russell?" she asked in a perplexed tone.
"Yeah. I thought some surnames would work for boys' names."
"That they do. Just curious about your choices," she said with a smirk.
"Well, I picked Jane Randolph because you look a bit like her," he said.
"And Jane Russell?" she asked.
He squeezed her tighter and gave her that giant Parsons smile.
"I'm sure your future son would like to know you named him after a curvaceous Hollywood starlet," she said.
"Yeah. You're probably right. I'll scratch that one. What do you think of the others?"
"I like Raymond, Ronald, and Richard equally. I'll let you choose."
"Hmmm. You're not going to make this easy, are you?"
"You're in charge of the boys' names. I'll go with anything you decide," she said. "I don't know what could make it easier for you," she said with a smile.
"Well, did you come up with some names today between reading and snacking on Bon Bons?" he joked.
She cocked her head at him, "Yes. I came up with six names." She retrieved her list that she was using as a bookmark and read him the names. "Casey, Channing, Clarissa, Cora, Carrie, and Cady," she said and then waited for a response.
"Let me see that list," he said and she handed it to him. "Clarissa seems like a big name for a little baby," he said.
"You think so?"
"Yes." He continued, "and Channing? That sounds more like a surname."
"I kind of liked it because it was unique and meant 'wise.'"
"Casey's a boy's name, like the baseball player in the famous poem."
"What poem?" she asked.
He looked at her and said, "nevermind." "I like the other three: Cora, Carrie, and Cady. I think they'd sound the best with 'Joanne'." He continued, "How did you come up with those?"
She replied, "Cora means 'She knows' and I got that, like a few of the others, from the meanings of baby names book my grandmother gave me when we got married. The other two are named after suffragettes my mother admired: Carrie Catt and Elizabeth Cady Stanton."
"Ooh….I always admired Stanton."
"Me too," Cynthia replied.
"I suppose one good turn deserves another. I've given my opinion but I'll leave the name of our girl up to you," he said.
"Sounds fair," she replied.
"So, after the baby is born, what are your plans?"
"I don't have any set in stone for now." She continued, "I think I'd like to go back to work a year after the baby's born, but on a limited schedule. I'll think I'll be able to manage that."
"We'll probably need a nanny since I'll be working full time," Roger said.
"Yes. What I was thinking is I would work only a few full days a week or only half-days or something like that, at first, probably until he or she is school-aged," she said.
"Sounds reasonable," he said. "How would you feel if I wanted to start my private practice around that time too? I plan on staying at the hospital while you are on your limited schedule because it is such a stable position to have, but after, I'd like to start up my own practice."
"That sounds great. Of course, this all depends on various unknowns, such as, if we have another child between now and then," she said, looking at his face for a reaction.
He just smiled back at her and said, "Of course," and kissed her gently on the lips.