A/N: Do my eyes deceive me, or do I really not have a single review for this story? I would really like some....
Anywho, here's another chapter for you to enjoy. Please R&R!!!
This was the first football game of the season. This was important. Mac had to keep debating with himself whether or not it was more important than the extremely distracting phone conversation going on in the background.
"Yes, doctor . . . Yes, I'll make sure of it . . . Yes, of course we will!" Mac was torn away from his football game every time Nancy made another frantic-sounding comment into the telephone. They had been married for about five years now, and Nancy was having a conversation that could very well change both of their lives forever.
A forever that was not going to start until this horrible suspense was over.
Mac decided to calm himself down with his favorite activity: talking. "C'mon, football playing guy, um, make that touchdown! Yeah . . . " Clearly, talking was not going to help him here. He was too nervous.
"Really? ... Oh, yes, yes, thank you, doctor! Thank you!" Nancy was practically squealing into the phone. This sounded good. Mac looked back at her. "Thank you, thank you. Bye." Nancy hung up. When she turned around, she had a nervous smile on her face and her eyes were wide.
Mac didn't even try to hide his excitement by pretending to be absorbed in his football game. "What did he say?" he shouted. "He didn't say no, did he? Man, that would be terrible. Oh, God, he did say no, didn't he? We're probably-"
Nancy cut him off. "Honey, it's okay! The results were positive. I'm pregnant."
Mac grinned, stood up, and gave his wife a big hug. "Man, this is great! This is fantastic! This is- this is just great." He stepped back. "Look, you've already got that special glow! Well, maybe you can't actually look at yourself. But this is great!"
It was at this point that Nancy, without any warning, began to cry. And not happy, new mother tears. Oh no, these were genuinely sad tears.
This surprised Mac. "W-what's wrong, Nancy? Aren't you happy?"
This received a quick nod and a muffled, "Yes, but-"
"Are you afraid you're gonna be fat? 'Cause you know I'll still love you if you are. I remember when Mrs. Jewels was pregnant. Man, she was huge! But I honestly didn't mind. She was still really nice and smart."
"Honey, that's not-"
"This isn't a mood swing, is it? I didn't think they would come this soon. Oh well, the sooner they start, the sooner I'll get used to them, right?"
"Mac!" Nancy shouted. She wiped her eyes and said, "That's not it. I'm just worried. What are we going to name it?"
"Oh yeah . . . " Mac hadn't considered this. He sat back down. "What are we going to name it?"
Now, for any other couple, this wouldn't be an issue. They could just slap their baby with a name they thought sounded nice and not make much of a deal about it at all. For Mac and Nancy, on the other hand, it was a big deal. Their parents had given them both such horrible names (before they had traded, of course), that they would both give anything to save their own children from the same humiliation. They had worried about it their whole lives, and now they were actually staring the problem in the face.
Nancy sighed. "I guess it's really not that big a deal. At least, we have nine whole months to figure it out."
"But don't we want to be prepared?" Mac replied. "What if it's early? We'll be stuck with a nameless baby and then we'll probably accidentally name it something stupid." He put his face in his hands. "Man, figuring this out is going to suck."
Nancy ran her fingers through her long red hair. "I have an idea. How about we both go ask some of our friends for some names that they like? We can choose out of those suggestions. Maybe that'll make it easier."
Mac wasn't sure. "But if we let our friends come up with the name, won't that make it their baby?"
Nancy chuckled and shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Alright, I guess we could try . . . " Mac said. But she didn't hear him. She was so giddy and excited, she was already pulling her shoes on and rushing out the door. "Oh yeah, she's already having mood swings," Mac mumbled to himself.
Mac had spent the entire day name hunting. He was definitely ready to meet Nancy for a celebratory dinner at their favorite restaurant.
They made a toast (Mac with wine, Nancy with water, because wine is bad for babies). "To the baby!" they said before they drank.
Of course, there was only one thing on either of their minds, so, naturally, the first thing Nancy said after the toast was, "Did your friends have any good name suggestions?"
"Oh, yeah, of course." Mac pulled a notepad out of his pocket. "Here are some of the best names I got. If it's a girl: Maurecia, Deedee, Dana, or Bebe. If it's a boy: Terrence, Jason, Ron, or Stephen."
Nancy rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Of course. Your egotistical friends gave you their own names."
Mac knew she was kidding, but he defended them anyway. "Hey, none of them have had kids yet, and they haven't given much thought to baby names."
Nancy laughed. "Okay, whatever you say. Now, my friends didn't have too many suggestions, but I thought that these were really good. If it's a girl, we could call her Kayla or Audrey. And if it's a boy, we could name him Ryan or Layne."
Mac nodded. "Yeah, those are good names." Suddenly, he had an idea. "Hey, wait a minute. Audrey. Layne. Those can both be a boy's name or a girl's name, can't they?"
"Sure . . . " Nancy looked confused.
"No, think about it! Our parents both gave us names that were meant for the wrong gender. That didn't work out too well. But what if we gave our kid a name that was technically meant for the other gender but in reality would work either way?"
Nancy nodded. "Yeah! I see what you're getting at. What you're saying is that if it's a boy we name him Audrey and if . . . "
"... if it's a girl we name her Layne! Yes! Man, that is genius!"
Nancy sighed and cupped her chin in her hands. "Okay, so we've got that over with. Now all we need to find childbirth classes, get ultrasounds, fix a room for the baby . . . " Her face fell and she started crying. "There's so much to do and only nine months left to do it!" She sobbed.
Mac shook his head. "Man, and you said you weren't having mood swings yet."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Btw, Nancy is actually going to get her own chapter later on. I thought she needed to have a larger part in the books.
