Prompt: Suggestions
Rating: K+
It was only a matter of time before the subject of names came up.
Having expected the first question to come from either his mother or her sister-in-law, Jess and Becker were surprised when Emily brought it up, over a rare team lunch in the break room on what was thankfully a quiet day at the ARC.
"Have you given any thought as to what you will call your child?" Emily asked, a little out of the blue since the previous conversation had been about the potential new funders for the ARC programme that Lester was busy sweet-talking in a conference call. "I understand you do not wish to know the gender but you must have thought of names for both?"
Jess and Becker exchanged a look before shaking their heads. "We've not really discussed it," Jess answered honestly. "There's so much to organise and prepare in advance… It's on the to-do-list," she added when Emily arched an eyebrow and Abby looked at her in surprise. "But the to-do-list seems to be getting bigger and bigger instead of smaller and smaller so…"
"Our kids names are already picked out," Connor spoke up with a grin. When Abby turned her surprised expression to him, he shrugged. "The future, remember? James and Jess. Though," he added with a frown, "it might be confusing with two Jess's around so maybe Sarah can be her first name instead, yeah?"
Abby shook her head slowly. "We'll talk about it when the time comes," she said instead of agreeing, catching a glimpse of Jess's surprised expression. "I take it no one told you what our children were called in the future?"
"No." Glancing at her husband, Jess frowned when he wouldn't meet her gaze. "You told me they had children but you never mentioned their names?"
With a sigh, Becker met her gaze. "They called their daughter Jessica because you died, Jess. It's not something I really want to think about."
Understanding dawned in her eyes and she reached out to take his hand, lacing their fingers together. "That timeline has been changed," she reminded him softly. "You saved me, remember?" Lifting their joined hands, she moved them so they were resting against her ever-growing bump.
Clearing her throat, Abby gave Jess a soft smile when the younger woman glanced over at her. "Back to the original question, have you any ideas about names?"
"There's a few I like," Jess hedged, not really wanting to reveal them until she'd spoken to her husband. "Any of you have any suggestions?"
"I always liked the name Edward for a boy," Emily answered immediately, earning a knowing smile from Matt. "It was my father's name, and it would be nice to honour him."
Abby smiled again. "I have always liked the name Sarah," she admitted, "because of our Sarah and my grandmother."
"Is it your grandmother you're named after?" Jess wondered. "Your middle name is Sarah, isn't it?"
"It is, and yes." Abby nodded. "I was named after both of my grandmothers, Abigail and Sarah."
"I like the name Luke for a boy," Connor piped up, his mischievous grin staying in place when they all groaned.
"And Leia for a girl?" Becker teased, rolling his eyes when the scientist only nodded. "What about you, Matt? Any names you're fond of?"
The team leader shrugged. "I can't say I've really thought about it. Though I suppose…" he added, on seeing a slightly downcast expression on Emily's face, "I like classic names, I guess. Traditional names."
"Like what?" Intrigued, Emily tilted her head.
"Like Edward," he said with a grin that made her blush. "And Elizabeth and Charlotte."
A sweet smile graced Emily's lips. "Charlotte would be nice," she said quietly, remembering her late friend fondly.
After a moment of silence wherein they all found themselves thinking about friends and family they'd loved and lost, Connor turned to Becker. "What about you, Action Man? You haven't contributed any names so far and it's your kid we're talking about."
"All I know is if we have a son, we're not calling it Hilary," Becker answered without missing a beat.
"Aw, Hil." Jess gave him a sweet smile. "There's nothing wrong with your name, you know."
"I know," he shrugged and tightened his hold on her hand momentarily. "And while it's a family name, it's not the easiest one for a bloke to live with in this day and age so the answer's no. We're not naming any son we have after me. End of story."
Jess pouted playfully but didn't argue. She knew it hadn't be easy for him growing up with what many now saw as a girl's name, even if traditionally it had been used for boys, too. The thought made her nervous, though, reminding her how changing times could mean any name they chose for their son or daughter might be outdated by the time their child was an adult.
"Picking names is harder than you think," she said with a sigh. "Kids can be cruel so you've got to be careful you're not giving your child a name other kids could pick on them for. And then you've got to consider how it goes with your surname, whether it's going to be too popular – I don't want our child to be one of five boys or girls with the same name when they start school – and then there's all of the abbreviations and nicknames to think about and –"
Becker kissing her softly cut off her rambling tangent. "You're over-thinking it," he told her when he pulled back, grinning at her blush while obstinately ignoring the smirks of their teammates. "We'll settle on a name when the time's right so stop thinking about it."
The time was right almost a week later.
Having been unable to get the conversation out of her mind, and having since had the same conversation with both his family and hers, Jess had compiled a shortlist of names she liked for their future son or daughter. Over breakfast one Sunday morning, she slid the list across the table to her husband, watching out of the corner of her eye as he set down the newspaper he'd been reading to see what she'd written down.
A grin curled the corners of his mouth and he got up from the table, returning a few moments later with a pen so he could make some amendments of his own.
When the list was pushed back across the table towards her, only four names remained. Two for a boy, two for a girl; the first name and middle name for the future addition to the Becker family.
End.
... Am I little bit mean for not revealing the names? *g* I've had them picked out since before the start of this story and I can't wait to share them with you when the time comes!
Apologies for the lack of updates recently - things have been a little crazy and when I have time to write, I'm trying to focus on original fiction. I've set myself a goal of finishing the third in a trilogy of fantasy novels by the end of summer this year after realising that I started the first one nine years ago in August. I keep telling myself that once those are done, I can let myself relax and drift back towards the familiar world of fanfic :)