Author's Note: Warning; you may want Christmas to come faster or want cinnamon rolls after reading this!

(The Lorax and The Once-ler do not belong to me. They're Dr. Seuss' and Illumination's. Same goes for his family shown in the film. Marie is mine!)

Chapter 11

Eleri or So and So

"Eleri?" asked Once-ler. He had been quiet for a minute after Marie had said the name. He had moved upright at Marie's idea. She had smiled seeing how he had liked her names. She had just felt confident about it. "No really, what's the name Marie?"

"I'm serious," said Marie. Her voice matched her words. "I like the name eh-leh-ree. Eleri. I think it's a great name."

"Eleri," said Once-ler slowly. He had never heard it before. He sucked on his lower lip. "It's…interesting."

"Is there a problem?" asked Marie frowning.

"Nnooo," lied Once-ler. "I said it's interesting."

Marie pursed her lips, and then sighed. Interesting wasn't always a bad term, but his description sounded wrong. He had to be lying. She crossed her arms before investigating.

"What's interesting about it?" she asked. Once-ler's eyes wandered and he said nothing. She sat upright and stared him down. It looked like she'd be raising three children.

"Nothing," said Once-ler slowly.

"If you don't like it then just say so."

"I don't hate it-"

"You obviously don't seem too happy about it."

"I am happy. We named our girls tonight, erm this morning really."

"You said nothing about what you think of Eleri."

"I said it was interesting," Once-ler said in a strained tone. "Interesting means something."

"Willard Edmund Once-ler…the truth," said Marie as she stared into his eyes. She used the full name; that meant business! Once-ler rarely heard his first name so it was almost a shock to hear it. He went by Once-ler so much it felt like that was all his name was. He sighed in defeat.

"Alright, you forced it out of me. I think it's really weird."

"Well, it's not common, but I still like it," said Marie. At least he had been honest. "In fact, I love it."

"Why?" asked Once-ler. "It makes Grizelda sound common."

"It does not," said Marie feeling offended. She took a breath. They were his babies too and they were there partially because of him. "If you don't like Eleri then what else do you have in mind, other than Serena, Melissa and Karen?"

"Isabel," he said giving a small smile after a pause. Marie frowned, feeling suspicious of why he chose Isabel. "You know, in honor of my mom."

Marie's brows furrowed seeing she had been right to be suspicious. There was no way in the world that she was going to have a child named in honor of any family members who were terrible.

"Oh no! We are not naming any children of ours after your mother!" Marie snapped her hands to her hips and shifted on her side.

"Why not?" said Once-ler now offended. "It's because you don't like her?"

"She's unbearable," confessed Marie. "I prefer Eleri."

"Well, I don't. I think we can do better. There are other names I like; Sierra, Mara, Ella, Lilias…"

"Sierra or Lilias don't even sound like real names!" Marie was getting frustrated with Once-ler sounding like a baby name book.

"They are real names. I heard those in soap operas Mom would watch."

"Soap operas," scoffed Marie. "They always have stupid names."

"Not all the time," grumbled Once-ler. "I like Grace and Esmerie too." Ironically, Grace was the name of one of the aunts he never knew.

"They usually do Once-ler! I've never even heard the name Esmerie. Sometimes you have too much creativity."

Once-ler looked hurt. Neither had raised their voices, but it had been a disagreement. He looked down and Marie felt bad of what she said. Usually his creativity was a great thing. She took his hand softly.

"I didn't mean that," she said apologetically and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry. I don't want to disagree on Christmas of all days." Marie sighed. "All this over a name suggestion I made."

"Eleri sounds…too weird Marie." Once-ler drew his knees up and wrapped one arm around. "Why do you love it?"

"It's spelling and meaning," Marie began. Her voice sounded near cracking due to emotions. "If I wrote it out for you, you'd see. It has the last letters of your name and I thought that was special. What other name has that? And the meaning is relevant."

"It means 'Once?'"

"No," said Marie as she shook her head. "It means 'river,' and it made me think of our first night here as scary as it was. That's why!"

"Oh," said Once-ler understandingly. He still didn't like the name, but why she liked it made sense. They were silent for another minute. "The reason I like Esmerie is because it sounds like your name."

"It does," said Marie slowly. She still wasn't sure about how they were going to work their new problem out. One had to give in. "So at this rate Chloe may not have a middle name." What a story it would be to tell her one day. Tell her how long it took to choose a simple thing like a middle name.

"She will," reassured Once-ler. "I don't know what, but she will."

"So how do we decide?"

"Do we have to choose a name now? I know we're on a roll, but we don't need to have all the answers."

"No," said Marie as she rested against Once-ler's lanky form. "I still love the names Chloe, Natalie and Viola. I'd like those to stay."

"Me too," Once-ler agreed. At least they agreed on one thing for the girls. Once-ler swallowed back a yawn knowing he was tired. It had been a long night and day.

"Help me up?" asked Marie who was tired too. Once-ler gripped her hands tightly and helped her stand. When she was on her feet he planted a kiss on her head. "You wouldn't mind if I wore my present tonight?"

"Please do," said Once-ler getting them for her. Marie was smiling instead of frowning and she immediately changed out of her heavy clothes.

Oddly, even though they had an indoor bathroom, neither bothered having privacy when changing. For Marie, bathing was one thing, but putting on something in front of Once-ler wasn't an issue and with how he had stripped down in front of The Lorax and animals that one morning the feeling was mutual. Both crawled in bed, desperate to rest. Marie stuffed the Thneed under her side for support like a body pillow. She heard the soft click of the lamp turning off and then stillness. It was a silent night, until she decided to put an end to their disagreement.

"I have an idea on how we can compromise," she said.

"What?" asked Once-ler half sleepily. "Two middle names?"

"When the twins are born," said Marie. "We'll find out if their identical or not. So if they're identical then I'll pick Chloe's middle name and if fraternal then you'll pick."

"Sounds fair," said Once-ler after a pause. He lifted his arm to hers, clasping their hands together. "We'll wait then."

"I still love you," whispered Marie. She felt him press against her backside and kiss her shoulder. "You still love me right?" It was practically rhetorical.

"I always will," said Once-ler and he nestled his face into her curls. They still smelled of tree blossoms since he had been thrilled to find that her soap and shampoo were sold in Greenville. "I'll always love you."

What awoke Once-ler was the feeling of warm light on his face. He blinked multiple times to adjust to the sun rays. He let go of Marie and yawned seeing there was still snow outside, colored by the stain glass window. He pulled back the tangles of blonde hair over the face he loved with a soft kiss. He stared at one of the clocks they had and saw it was nine-thirty. It was Christmas morning and despite the disagreement from hours earlier it was still better than the Christmases he had before.

He crawled out of bed and felt the cool wood under his feet. It might as well had been tile with the temperature. He tied on his apron and got out some dough from the refrigerator. He and Marie had made it earlier for breakfast because they had planned for cinnamon rolls for a Christmas meal. After washing his hands, quietly for his wife to not stir, he went through each cabinet for a bowl, a baking pan, cinnamon and sugar. Thankfully, no Bar-ba-loots had eaten any butter sticks for a long time so there were none lacking.

Christmas for Once-ler had been lonesome during his childhood. The few good things about it was when he and his brothers went downstairs to open presents, always a tiny amount compared to most children, and they had sugar cookies for the day. After meeting Marie, he had her Christmas parties to enjoy and baked more often. His mother scoffed at how he knew how to bake, but it was her loss. She never got to lick the spoons. It was better than drinking rum and watching television all day like the rest of the family. Once-ler was too young to drink, but he'd be able to in less than three months. He didn't care for drinking. He didn't need alcohol to have a good time, but perhaps his only excuse would be opening a foaming bottle of champagne to celebrate his twins' arrival.

One day, he'd be able to do cooking with the girls (as long as they didn't touch anything too hot.) Once-ler had numerous pictures of the twins doing something. One was of them standing on little stools in the kitchen and eating cookie dough. Another picture was of them playing with yarn as he knitted. The other was of them running over the grass with flower chains and crowns in their blonde curls. One thing for certain, he wasn't going to tell the differences between the possible identical twins by having them wear their sleeves differently. That was how Brett and Chet were identified. Oddly, he would've thought that his mother would've been able to identify her own sons. Once-ler had always been able to see that Brett's arms were a little thicker and Chet's were ganglier.

Once-ler had the sugar and cinnamon blended when he heard Marie roll over with a grunt. Moving in the small bed required strength with her size. She still slept, but she wouldn't be by the time breakfast was baking. Sure enough, her dream was interrupted by the savory scent. Also, the quick clinking of silverware against glass woke her. She craned her neck to see her husband stirring a thick icing. She stifled back a laugh seeing his pink apron and rabbit pajamas in a ridiculously adorable combo. She thought of something looking at the yellow-orange critters against the blue fabric.

"Well Merry Christmas," said Marie stretching her arms. She looked down to see her new pajamas. They had been comfortable and smooth over her skin. It was refreshing to be covered better for bedtime. Once-ler's shirts for bed made her legs and thighs feel overexposed. Not that her husband would've minded.

"Merry Christmas," said Once-ler who lost no time to rush over, pounce on the bed and kiss her. Marie noted that he had some powdered sugar on his lips. Obviously, he had sneaked a teaspoon while making the glaze. It had disappeared when they departed mouths. He placed two kisses on the biggering bulge for their children.

"What?" giggled Marie. "No pancakes? Will you live?"

"I don't eat pancakes every day," protested Once-ler. "I eat other things."

"I know, but I'd say out of the days of a year you eat those most," chuckled Marie.

"Very funny," said Once-ler moving off the bed.

Marie swung her legs off the mattress and stretched out the kinks in them. After being heaved up, Marie pulled back one of the tent windows and saw the morning had become grey. The sky had darkened while Once-ler had baked. It was freezing cold with a quick breeze coming in and she set it back. The sudden cold breath from outdoors was warm again from the cook stove. Marie hoped they wouldn't go anywhere too far because the idea of snuggling in their cozy home seemed more appealing.

She turned from her view, glanced at Once-ler and thought of things. Pleasant and exciting hopes came to her. The small cottage was filled of twins who looked like her sitting on the floor with little dolls and torn wrapping. Another thought was of one clinging on Once-ler's legs and the other waddling to her. Two blonde haired girls, Natalie and Chloe, seemed more real than before. Oh, how Marie hoped the girls had their father's freckles! If they had his smile, his stretching, adorable smile, then that'd be a bonus. Triple bonus if they had his robin's egg blue eyes. As much as she was touched that Once-ler imagined the girls looking exactly like her, she loved the idea of them having little pieces of him. She wanted to see a part of him in them. She tried to imagine two tiny voices talking since Dr. Helms had said that twins had their own language.

With thinking of the girls she had been distracted. All the dreams of their daughters had filled her mind and her heart swelled twice as much with love. She placed both hands on her front. Right on cue, she felt a kick. Automatically she looked down with misty eyes. She smiled feeling one of the girls. It was like the little one was trying to be a butterfly. Another quickly copied, a bit stronger. Was it Chloe or Natalie who kicked her there? Whoever it was usually strived to be tougher with moving within her. Perhaps she was demanding to be fed.

"Alright," thought Marie. "I'll feed you bunnies." She hadn't told Once-ler her idea for a nickname.

"Once-ler, the bunnies are hungry." She stifled a laugh. She had to stifle it even more when she saw Once-ler look at her, a finger in his mouth. He had snuck a taste of the roll glaze.

"What?" asked a confused Once-ler.

"Natalie and Chloe," explained Marie. "They're our bunnies."

"Where'd you come up with that?" chuckled Once-ler obviously amused. Marie came up to him and walked two delicate fingers up his arm. Her nails lightly stepped over the certain pattern on the soft material.

"Where do you think?" asked Marie grinning.