Chapter 7: Baby Names and Mind Blowing Secrets

*ONE MONTH LATER (17 weeks pregnant)*

"What do you think about Guinevere?" I asked as Jasper entered the room.

"Sorry?" He asked.

"Guinevere." I repeated, "If it's a girl - what do you think about calling the baby Guinevere? I want it to be something unique, you know?"

"It's a little...old?" Jasper said carefully. I tilted my head, as if to say 'how so?'. "I haven't heard of anyone called Guinevere since the middle ages."

"Have you got any better ideas?" I asked.

"Actually, I did have a few." Jasper said.

"Okay, you tell me your ideas and I'll tell you mine." I suggested.

"Right." Jasper said, "If it's a boy I was thinking Barnaby or Julius."

"So Guinevere's too old, but you'd name our child Barnaby or Julius?" I asked.

"What are your ideas?" Jasper asked with a slight sigh.

"For a boy?" I asked, "How about Slate?"

"Slate?" Jasper was looking at me with a horrified expression on his face.

"Alright kids, I know how to solve your problem." Emmett said, appearing in the room and jumping over the back of the sofa to sit in between me and Jasper, putting his arms over our shoulders. "You each get three vetos - if you really don't like the name, it gets scrapped. Any names that aren't vetoed go forward into the 'considering round'."

"It's not a game, Emmett." I said.

"Ah, but it could be!" Emmett said, "Alright, take it in turns to say one name each and we begin the elimination round! Alice, ladies first."

"Sacoya." I said.

"Veto." Jasper replied, "Pascal."

"Veto." I said immidiately, "Augusta."

"Veto. Clarice." Jasper suggested.

"Veto." I pulled a face, "Carson."

"Veto. Bertha."

"Veto. Hamish."

"Veto. Joan."

"Veto. Sage."

"Veto. Griffith."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Emmett interrupted, "I don't think you guys get this game! I said you get three vetos each - you've had like five!"

"Veto to Griffith." I said, ignoring Emmett. "How about Sabra?"

"Veto." Jasper said, "Monessa?"

"Where are you guys getting these names from?" Emmett asked.

"Not Monessa. Veto." I said. "Exton."

"Veto." Jasper said, "Ruth."

"I'm sorry, are we having an eight-four year old?" I asked

"Why don't you call it Emmett?" Emmett suggested.

"Veto!" Both Jasper and I said at the same time. Emmett adopted a pout.

"What's wrong with Emmett?" He asked.

"Nothing." I said, "But we're not naming our child after you."

"Fine, but stop thinking of crazy-ass names and pick something from this century." Emmett said. I looked at Jasper.

"He's right. This baby's going to be 18 forever, it's got to have a name that's timeless." I said

"What do you suggest?" Jasper asked.

"I'm going to get a baby names book." I said

"I'm still putting Emmett out there." Emmett said before disappearing. I turned to Jasper.

"We're not calling our baby Emmett." I said.

"I know." Jasper said with a grin.

"But we do need to think of a name!" I said, "I mean, we've only got five months left!"

"Five months is a long time to decide a name." Jasper said, "I'm sure we'll think of something perfect."

"I just don't want our child to end up with something horrible." I pulled a face, "Like Mary."

It was a well known fact in our house that I hated my real name; Mary. I'd gone by my middle name - Alice - for my whole vampire life. Jasper chuckled, "There's nothing wrong with the name Mary."

"There's everything wrong with the name Mary!" I corrected, "But anyway, that isn't the point! Our child has to live with this name for all of eternity and that's a lot of pressure on us!"

"It'll be fine, okay?" Jasper asked, "Relax!"

"Hmmm..." I said. "I'm gunna go have a bath."

I got up and skipped up the stairs to our bedroom. Stripping of my clothes, I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror.

"Jasper?" I called.

"Yep?" He asked, appearing in the room and eyes widening slightly at the sight of me in nothing but my underwear.

"Do I look fatter than usual?" I asked.

"Of course not." Jasper replied instantly; giving the safest answer to give when asked that question by your wife. I rolled my eyes.

"I meant; am I getting a pregnancy bump?" I asked. This time Jasper actually looked at my stomach before answering.

"I think you might be." He said, a smile forming on his lips. He crossed the room and layed his hands on my stomach. "You have a person in here."

I giggled.

"I'll run you that bath." Jasper said, disappearing into the bathroom and leaving me to look in wonder at my ever-so-slightly larger stomach. Suddenly, everything was all the more real. This wasn't just a far off dream or fantasy; this was happening. This was happening now!

"Oh my God, Jazz, we've got so much to do!" I said. I grabbed my clothes and started putting them back on, "There's so much to buy, so much preparation, so much-"

"Alice," Jasper said gently catching my arms before I could pull my shirt on, "You're going to calm down and get in that bath, okay? You need to relax. We've got plenty of time, I promise."

He kissed my forehead gently and pulled me into the bathroom where the bathtub was steaming with invitingly warm water. A few hours relaxation wouldn't hurt, right?

~o.O.o~

A week later, and not much else had gotten done. Jasper just kept trying to get me to relax - which he was pretty good at with his gift and all! We still hadn't thought of a name - though there had been many, many suggestions - and we hadn't done any more preparation for when the baby came. Everyone kept telling me that we had ages to go, but it didn't feel like we did! It felt like time was flying by and if I didn't do something quickly then we'd run out of time altogether!

We were moving house next week, and there was tons to get done. Of course, Jasper was being over-protective again and wouldn't let me lift anything heavy to help with the packing. He wouldn't listen when I reminded him that I have supernatural strength and that lifting a couple of chairs wasn't going to kill me.

Right now, we were having yet another scan. Having a doctor in the house was more than convinient - we'd had ten times as many scans as we needed! It was partly because of Jasper's overprotectiveness and wanting to know the baby was okay, and partly because I wanted more cute pictures to add to my collection.

"The baby's ears have formed," Carlisle said, pointing to part of the sonogram, "That means it will be able to hear you."

"Like, we can talk to it and stuff?" I asked.

"Dana said it would be very inteligent; it will probably be able to recognize your voices. It might even be able to learn what some of the words mean." Carlisle said. We both stared at him.

"So it would understand us?" I asked.

"Maybe." Carlisle said, "With a normal human baby; no. But this is a vampire baby we're talking about! Obviously it wouldn't be able to respond, but..."

"That's amazing." Jasper said, watching the screen.

"So...it can hear us right now?" I asked.

"In theory." Carlisle said

"Hey, baby!" I cooed to my stomach. It had grown a little more in the last week, but I could still get away with pretending I wasn't pregnant if I wanted to.

After the scan, I added the picture to my growing collection and went in search of food. It wasn't until the next day that I really saw the benefits of the baby's hearing...

We were shopping for the baby, as we did so often now, when I came across an adorable blue blanket. I held it up to show Jasper. "Blue?"

He shook his head, "The baby just got mad."

"Really?" I asked, tilting my head. "Hu...hey, Jazz-"

"No I am not coming with you on every single shopping trip so I can tell you what the baby likes." Jasper interrupted. I pouted. If he could use his gift for the benefit of our child, then why shouldn't he?

"What about pink?" I asked, holding up a matching pink blanket.

"Now the baby's happy." Jasper said. I squealed in delight and entwined my hand with Jasper's.

"I just know it's gunna be a girl, Jazz!" I said

"Last week you just knew it was gunna be a boy." Jasper pointed out. I ignored him.

"This is so great! I just wish my stupid power still worked so I could know for sure!" I said.

"You know, it's only two weeks before Carlisle can tell us what it's going to be." Jasper told me as he linked our hands together.

"I know! I'm so excited, aren't you?" I asked, bouncing over to where I'd left the shopping cart and pulling him with me.

"Of course I am." Jasper said with a smile, catching the toys that I'd knocked off a shelf on my way to the cart. For some reason - Carlisle blamed it on the pregnancy - I'd become clumsy recently, which wasn't exactly normal for a vampire!

I stifled a yawn and Jasper shot me a look, "How about we call it a day? You need to sleep."

He ignored my protests; I was going home to sleep and that was that. Damn pregnancy.

When we got home we were met with a surprise; sitting on the couch was none other than Dana!

"Oh my God, Dana!" I gushed, running towards her to give her a hug, all tiredness forgotten.

"Hey, Alice!" She said, hugging me back, "I just came to see how you were doing."

"Amazingly!" I told her, "Everythings happening so fast!"

"No problems with the baby?" Dana asked.

"Nope!" I said with a smile, "Except that I'm tired and hungry all the time..."

Dana laughed, "Sorry about that. But it'll be worth it all, I promise."

"Oh, of course it will!" I said, "I can't wait! We're finding out the sex in a couple of weeks, but I already know it's going to be a girl!"

"How?" Dana asked in surprise.

"She doesn't really." Jasper cut in, "She changes her mind every day on whether it's going to be a boy or a girl."

Dana laughed, "Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see!"

I noticed Rosalie lingering in the doorway, watching us in silence. I turned to Dana. "Hey Dana, can I talk to you?"

"Of course!" Dana said. I led her out of the house and through the forest, to where I knew we'd be out of earshot. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing...not really." I said, "I just...I kind of have a favour to ask."

"Whatever you want Alice; I'll do it!" Dana said with a smile. I decided the best way to say this was to just say it straight.

"Well, I was wandering if you could use your gift again. On Rosalie. She's always wanted a baby and it kills her that she can't have one...it upset her when I got pregnant and she still couldn't! She totally deserves children and I know she'd be an awesome mother...I mean, yeah, she's not the easiest person to get along with, but she'd be different with her own kids!" I said in a rush.

"Alice...I wish I could." Dana said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I can't just use my gift on anyone I want!" She told me, "I think you're right; Rosalie does deserve children, and I wish I could give them to her. But I can't."

"Why not?" I asked, "You made me pregnant!"

"I know." Dana said, "But I had a calling to you; my gift decides who and when I can make vampires pregnant. I have no control over it. Others can control it better, but sadly my gift is weaker."

"So, what, your gift doesn't think Rosalie deserves a baby?" I demanded.

"No, it's not like that!" Dana said, "Maybe, in the future, I will be able to make her pregnant."

"But not right now?" I asked.

Dana shook her head, "Right now, my gift wouldn't work on her. I'm sorry, Alice."

I shook my head, "It's not your fault. I just wish I could help her! First, Bella has Renesmee, and now I'm pregnant too...it must be awful for her. I mean, she's the one who's always wanted children!"

"I'll let you in on a secret, Alice." Dana said, "One that I'm not supposed to tell you."

"What?" I asked eagerly.

"Remember how I told you that these vampire children often have multiple gifts?" She asked. I nodded. "Well usually - not always, but most of the time - one of those gifts is the same as my gift."

"Wait...so my baby would have your gift?" I asked.

"Probably." Dana said, "And it is usually stronger, which would mean..."

"...That my child could use the gift on Rosalie?" I finished.

"I don't want to get your hopes up," Dana said, "There's a chance your child might not have the gift! And even if they do, it might not be strong enough to choose whoever they want to use the gift on."

"But there's a chance it could?" I asked.

"Yes." Dana said.

"That's amazing!" I said.

"Alice, I don't think you should tell the others." Dana said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"How would Rosalie feel if you told her and then it wasn't possible?" Dana asked.

"I suppose." I said.

"And even if it was possible, do you really want Rosalie hovering over your baby as soon as it's born demanding to know when it can use the gift on her?" Dana asked. That was a very good point...and I wouldn't put it past Rosalie, knowing how much she wanted this.

"Okay." I agreed, "Our secret?"

"Our secret." Dana confirmed.

We walked back to the house, chatting about the baby amongst other things, but all I could think about was the possibility that someday, I could help Rose have a child. Dana told me not to get my hopes up, but how could I not? Knowing that my baby could hold that kind of power, and bring that kind of happiness...mind blowing.

Heyy, sorry it's been a while since I updated, but here's the chapter and I hope you liked it!

The poll is now closed...DRUMROLL PLEASE ;)

So, it was fairly close...and I decided to add the responses that I got in reviews as well as the actual people who voted...and the winner is...GIRL!

Will that be what they actually have? You'll just have to wait and see, won't you? ;)

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, or added this story to their favourites/follows list!