A/N: I had a ton of fun writing this chapter so I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did. Also, give me name suggestions and I promise I will do my best to put in as many as I can in the next chapters, since this is very much not decided.

Names, baby

Sunday night, Rory walked out of the shower as Jess watched her from the bed, a smile playing on his lips. Glancing at him, she smiled as well, putting her hair up.

"Something wrong?"

"Nope. Why?"

"You're staring at me."

"I'm allowed to stare at my wife."

"It's not your usual stare."

Shrugging, he pointed to her abdomen. "I like it."

"The bump?"

"Yeah." He waited for her to get in bed next to him before wrapping his arm around her.

"You only like it because it's still small and cute." Rory ran her fingers down her bump, looking at him. "Wait until I turn into a whale, then you won't like it so much."

"I wouldn't bet on that." He laughed, kissing her neck.

"I will remind you of that comment when I'm the size of a small country."

"Think you may be exaggerating slightly?" He flipped them over, holding himself up with one arm while the other hand started drawing lines on her stomach.

"No, not really." Rory laughed, looking at him.

"And, as caveman like as this may sound, I like knowing that it's my kid that's in there." Ducking down, he kissed her bump quickly.

"Barefoot and pregnant in your kitchen, huh?"

"Something along those lines." Jess smirked, looking up at her. "It's a nice thought."

"I like knowing it's your kid." She ran her fingers through his hair, smiling.

"I'd be worried if you didn't. And possibly very jealous."

"You know better than that. Or should, anyway."

"I'm still allowed to be jealous." Kissing her bump again, he moved closer to her, tightening his grip on her. "Mine."

"Yours." She agreed, laughing. "Both of us."

"Good."

"So…" She drew out the word, trying to assess his mood. "Can I bring up something baby related?"

"Sure." He looked up at her again.

"Names."

"Do we have to do this before we know if it's a boy or a girl? That's what…a month away?"

"Yes. But it will probably take us ages to decide and I don't know…I want to have options for both. Plus it's fun." She grinned, ruffling his hair.

"You have odd ideas of what fun is."

"Humor me, will you?"

"I usually do." He smirked, moving up on the bed, his hand still tracing small circles on her bump.

"Where do we even start?" Rory looked into his eyes, biting her lip.

"I'm going to assume somewhere in that book you've been pretending you're not reading." He glanced at a book on the bottom of the stack of books on the nightstand, making her smile.

"Thank you!" She clapped her hands excitedly, picking up the book carefully. "Also, we need more bookshelves in our next place. This is getting crazy."

"Noted. No random apostrophes in the name and nothing that will require us and the alien to constantly spell it."

"Ok." She nodded, smiling.

"What's on your list so far?"

Opening the book to the first bookmark, she grinned. "Anthony."

"Too long. Give the kid a fighting chance."

"How is it too long?"

"Seriously? You want to name him Anthony Richard Mariano? He'll never go to recess if he has to write that on the board."

"It's a bit long." She agreed, biting her lip. "So we're cutting every first name that's longer that 5-6 letters?"

"Not if they have an acceptably short nickname."

"We could call him Tony."

"Don't like it. Next."

"George?"

"Costanza?" Jess chuckled, shaking his head.

"Off the list." She smiled, kissing him. "How about we go for your favorites and see if any match?"

"Will you hate me for it?"

"Oh, great…which one?"

"Brett." He smirked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Think about it before you crush my hopes and dreams."

"Jess, we cannot give our daughter a boy's name!"

Taking the book out of her hands, he flipped through the pages until he found it. "Unisex."

"Seriously? How are we going to explain it to the poor kid when she asks why she shares a name with at least one little boy in her class? And that sports guy!"

"Dad's a Hemingway buff and mom really, really loves him?" Jess chuckled, kissing her.

"Not so much at this moment, I must say."

"We can give her a very girly middle name and, if she hates Brett so much, she can go by that."

"We can have Brett as a middle name."

"No one uses those." He pointed out, making her laugh. "Also, I have two more arguments for you: Brett Somers. Brett Butler."

"Fine, you found two more women with that name. That doesn't mean…"

"I know. I just think it's a cute name."

"Ashley. Girl's name and still uses the same character."

"Ugh." He grimaced, smirking. "Too valley girl."

"Yeah, there is that."

"Plus, Brett would help her rock the leather jacket your mom got for Christmas."

"No one would know she's a girl." Rory pouted, looking at him.

"You can put her in ever dress imaginable and add bows to her hair. And if she looks like you, and let's hope she does, she'll be far too pretty to be confused with a boy."

"Oh, smooth."

"I know, right?" He chuckled, kissing her. "Just think about it."

"I'm not promising anything."

"It's fine."

"I can't even think of a middle name that would work with that."

"Ashley?" He chuckled, making her pick up a pillow and smack him with it.

"Now you're pushing it."

"Always."

"Grandma would hate it." Rory realized, looking at him.

"Added bonus." He smirked, taking the pillow from her and kissing her. "We can use Lorelai for a middle name."

"But if we do, then she will never be able to go by her middle name if she hates Brett because there's already too many of us."

"Two middle names?" Jess offered, chuckling.

"But heaven forbid we name him Anthony because that's too long!" Laughing, she kissed him quickly. "I'll think about it."

"Thank you."

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to use Brett for a boy?"

"Nope." He shook his head. "It's a girl's name."

"Only in your head." Rory stuck out her tongue, messing up his hair. "Any other names you'd like to use?"

"If you're horribly opposed to Brett, how about Catherine?"

"Jess, I said I am considering it, but you have to get over your Hemingway obsession."

"Why?" He grinned, placing quick kisses on her lips, making her laugh.

"Because."

"Good argument, flawless logic. Go on, what else is on your list?"

"Boys or girls?"

"Boys. It's easier to pick if we have a middle name." He shrugged, sitting up on the bed and picking up the book.

"Michael? Nice, classic, not out there…"

"Won't get us on any horrible baby names list. I hate Mike, though."

"We don't have to use Mike."

"No, but he might want to." Rubbing her bump, he smiled.

"Ah! Next you're going to tell me it's going to have a personality." She laughed, looking at him.

"I hope not, this parenting thing sounds difficult enough without the kid getting in the way."

"What's on your boy list? Let me guess…Robert? Jake?" She made a face, making him chuckle.

"You forgot Frederic."

"No, I didn't." Shaking her head, she sat up as well, leaning over to him and kissing him. "So? What names do you like?"

"David?"

"David Richard Mariano. Sounds…oddly nice." She smiled, looking down at her bump. "Should we talk about Lucas?"

"Naming the kid after one relative is more than enough. We'll save that for the next one."

"Oh, so now we're having another one, are we?"

"Maybe." Jess smiled, kissing her. "We'll have to do it right at some point-you know, actually plan it and stuff." Leaning closer to her ear, he placed a small kiss on it. "Plus, I believe I've made it clear enough that I think you're incredibly hot when pregnant."

Smiling as well, she pulled back, looking into his eyes. "What if we suck at being parents?"

"Then we're sending it to boarding school. See? Easy solution."

"Jess…" She laughed, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him. "I love you, crazy man."

"Are you opposed to having another one?" He ran his hand over her bump, still smiling.

"Ask me again when I've forgotten all about morning sickness, ok?"

"Ok." Nodding, he kissed her, his fingers playing in her hair.

"Garden of Eden!" She exclaimed, pulling back.

"Fuck."

"Thought I wouldn't figure it out, did you?"

"I had hopes." Jess chuckled, lying on the bed again. "But you have to admit it's a good name."

"I will consider one Hemingway name, not two."

"Oh, go on, it's a good name. Just…ignore the Hemingway connection."

"Edward."

"After the fucking Twilight explosion? No way. Plus Ed? Ugh." He grimaced, shaking his head.

"But Rochester!" She tried to argue, making him shake his head harder.

"See my previous argument. Allen."

"Don't like it. Jack?" She suggested, tilting her head to the side. "Works well with Richard."

"It's short enough."

"I'll add it on the maybe list." Picking up a pen from the bedside table, she quickly wrote it down on a post-it, attaching it to the front cover.

"I'll assume that means David's a no go then?"

"Um…" Hesitating slightly, she added the name to the list. "It's a good name."

"Thank you." He kissed her, smiling. "Henry."

"I don't think it works for a little boy."

"We'll give him a ridiculous nickname. Call him Sport until he turns 15."

"You're insane."

"And you're sane?"

"I'm…saner."

"Sure." He laughed, pulling her down on the bed next to him. "Anaïs. Middle name for the girl."

"No one will know how to pronounce it."

"Because they're idiots."

"I'm not disagreeing." Rory laughed, placing quick kisses on his lips. "With or without the umlaut?"

"If we're ruining her life, might as well go completely. Plus, middle name argument again. No one actually uses them."

"You're only saying that because you don't have one."

"Well, Lizzie was too bored to come up with more than one name. So?"

"Brett Anaïs." She smiled, looking at him. "I like the way it sounds."

"You're starting to like Brett, aren't you?"

"It's growing on me. She'll never live up to that name, you know that, right?"

"We'll try our best."

"Jacob?"

"See Twilight comment."

"What about Sophia?"

"Or Sophie?"

"Both are nice."

"I think I like Sophie better." Jess shrugged, smirking. "Brett Sophie."

"No." Rory suddenly shook her head. "BS?"

"Didn't think of that." He chuckled, shaking his head as well. "No."

"Rose?"

"Too Titanic."

"Like you've ever seen that!"

"Too many people have. No way."

"She'll hate us if we name her Anaïs."

"She'll hate us anyway." Jess laughed, moving back down and kissing her bump.

"I hope not."

"Fine, she'll just hate me then."

"She's not allowed to hate you either." Rory smiled, running her hand through his hair. "She'll need someone to run to when I'm being unreasonable and mean."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause I am clearly going to be on her side when she decides she wants to jump on some bus and go see a boy in New York."

"Jess…" She laughed and he shook his head.

"Locked in her room until she turns 18, I'm telling you."

"Which will just lead to her not telling us anything about her life. I refuse to be Emily and Richard to her."

"Well, good, because that'd mean we'd have to change our names. And it might be confusing."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do." He looked up at her, more serious than before. "We'll try our best."

"You'll take her down the stairs at her debutante ball?"

"If she wants to. I like to think that she'll mock the hell out of the concept of coming out into society, but you know…"

"So you wouldn't wear a tux for our wedding, but you'd wear one for your daughter's coming out."

"I would have worn one if you had insisted. However, you do have to admit it would have been a bit too pretentious for our wedding."

"Maybe. And the trade was worth it."

"What about Dominique?" He smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You're giving me a Rand name?"

"You're considering Brett, I might as well do the same."

"It's too long and French. Dagny?"

"At least one normal name. Seriously, we might as well go for Ayn."

"You say that like it would be the worst thing in the world."

He shook his head. "No."

"Oh, go on, consider it."

"I have. No."

"For more than two seconds."

"No. Everyone will think we're demented political nuts."

"Oh, sure, 'cause she's that famous."

"No, but anyone who knows who she is will think that."

"There is that."

"So?"

"Fine, Ayn's off the list." Rory sighed, shaking her head. "Damn you, Catherine's starting to grow on me as well."

"More than Anaïs?"

"I'll have to ask mom's opinion on that one, it might be a bit too out there."

"What, she has to approve of our name choice?"

"No, but she's not a book nerd. Ingrid!"

"No." Jess shook his head, kissing her quickly. "Also no on Ilsa."

"Fine." She sighed, trying to pout. "Audrey?"

"It's cute. Oh, shit that'll make her initials BAM."

"And?"

"Makes me think of Bam-Bam from The Flintstones."

"That takes Anaïs out as well."

"We gave it a good try."

"June?"

"She's a horrible character."

"Henry Miller loved her!"

"Sure, 'cause he always made great decisions. No. Also, you don't seriously want our daughter's initials to be BJ, do you?" He laughed, kissing her.

"I really did not think of that. However, Henry's starting to really sound better and better to me." Rory smiled, running her fingers over her abdomen.

"Really? Because I'm more partial to David."

"What about Jack?"

"Weren't we discussing girls?"

"We've moved on."

"I need coffee to keep up." He chuckled, sitting up on the bed. "Want some?"

"Yes, please." She stood up, picking up the book again from the bed and started walking towards the kitchen. "Nicholas?"

"Isn't Nick too Hemingway for you?"

"Not overbearingly so. Ugh, Little Nicky."

"It's official, movies have used every single good name out there." Jess smirked, starting to clean the coffee pot. "What about Maria?"

"Hm?" Rory kissed his shoulder before putting two mugs next to the coffee machine.

"For a girl. Feeds both my alleged Hemingway obsession and your Ingrid Bergman love."

"Holly. Feeds my Audrey love and has nothing to do with Hemingway. Or we could just call her Audrey Brett and call it a day, since you don't like it for a middle name." She grinned, sitting down on and watching him as he walked around the kitchen, getting coffee ready. "Maria is a copout middle name. Like Anne. People use them when they can't think of anything better."

"But it's girly enough. And it's not a bad name. Plus, I think Mary is the fits-all name."

"What about Holly?"

"Nope. Went out with a Holly once, she pissed me off."

"Oh, is this the time I find out details about your dating life?" Rory laughed as he dropped two mugs filled with decaf on the table.

"No." He shook his head, smirking. Crouching down in front of her, he put his arms on her knees, looking up into her eyes. "Remember last time you started questioning me?"

"Did not go over well." She grimaced, running her fingers through his hair.

"You don't actually think it will go better now, do you?"

"Probably not." She shook her head, leaning down and placing a quick kiss on his forehead. "Thank you for the coffee."

"No problem. Where were we?"

"I was getting ready to throw things at your head for convincing me Brett is a good name for our daughter." She laughed softly, as he pulled a chair closer to hers, smirking.

"It is a good name."

"You're biased."

"Yes." He admitted, chuckling. "We can just debate boy names until you've made up your mind on whether or not you like it enough to stick to it."

"Ok." Looking over the list stuck to the cover of the book, she added two more names to it. "So we agree on Jack, Henry, David and Nick. Oh, Alex!"

"Too many of them. I know at least three."

"And you think Jack is less popular?"

"Probably not, but I like it more."

"Ok." She smiled, squeezing his hand. "Any other names you like?"

"Not really, but I haven't thought about this that much."

"You haven't though what you'd like to name your son?"

"Girls name their future kids, guys don't."

"Jess, you've known about our baby for almost three months!"

"Yes. But it's not like it's been the only thing on my mind." Pointing to her ring, he smirked. "There was the minor issue of getting married to occupy my brain with. And dealing with you."

"Oh, forgive me for having been so impossible that you didn't have time to think about anything else." She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Ror, you know that's not what I meant." Sighing, he tried to put his hand on her knee but she jerked it away. "Don't be mad. Please."

"Why? Will it give you more arguments on why I'm unreasonable and impossible to deal with?"

"Rory…" He pleaded with her softly but she just shook her head.

"I'm sorry this is so hard for you. I'll make sure I'm a freaking ray of sunshine from now on to give you time to think about things."

"Things like how the hell this night got derailed by a fight?"

"Things like whatever you have that's so important to think about!"

Exhaling loudly, Jess ran his hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair, his eyes never leaving her. After a few minutes, she looked back at him, smiling weakly.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

"I swear I'm not crazy."

"Yeah, you are." He chuckled softly, leaning over and kissing her. "Better?"

"I have no idea what happened there." She rolled her eyes, laughing as well. "But yes, better."

"Are we going back to talking names?"

"No." Rory shook her head, standing up and taking his hand. "I'm tired and I've missed sleeping in our bed these past two weeks."

"What about the coffee?"

"Decaf sucks anyway." She grinned and he stood up, hugging her close to him.

"I didn't mean to make you mad."

"I don't think it was you." Kissing him, she smiled, running her fingers through his hair. "Let's go to bed."