Family Name
by
Owlcroft

A/N: A previous story, 'Development', is referenced herein.

Chazz was doing his homework on the kitchen table as his mother peeled potatoes over the sink. He frowned at his paper, erased a word, thought hard, then looked up and said, "Mama, why am I Chazz? You said I was named after Grandpapa, but his name is Charles."

Lydia plopped the last potato in a pot of water and dried her hands. "You are named after him, honey. Chazz is a kind of abbreviation of Charles. You see, when people signed their names a long time ago, they would shorten them sometimes, and people named Charles would sign C-H-A-S instead of Charles." She pulled out the chair next to her son and sat down. "It came to be pronounced 'Chas' or 'Chaz' and we – your Papa actually – put an extra 'z' in so it would be different from other people named Chaz." She gave her eight-year-old a loving smile. "So you are named after Grandpapa but it's less confusing than if there were two Charleses in the family. Okay?"

He nodded, looked at his homework again, then back up at his Mama. "Why did you name me after Grandpapa? You named Beatie after Papa, didn't you?"

She nodded. "Over his strenuous objections – that means he really didn't want me to. But I needed to name our baby, our first baby, something close to his name. So she's Beatrix, which shortens to Beatie, which sounds as much like Beetle as I could get." She cocked her head at him to see if he understood.

He did, but was still curious. "But Papa calls her Trix."

"And that's for three reasons. The first is that he didn't feel like he deserved a child to be named after him. Papa can be pretty stubborn about some things, you know. And he still feels that way, to a certain extent."

Chazz frowned at that. "What's the other ones? The other reasons?"

"Well," she pushed her chair closer to her son and put an arm around his shoulders, "the second is that it's a little joke because he used to play a lot of tricks on people. But the main reason is that if he's the only one who calls her that, then it's a special name between the two of them." She paused and checked his expression to see if he understood and to make sure he didn't feel slighted by that. "You see, we wanted children, really wanted them, but we were told we couldn't have them because we're not the same. You know – I'm human and Papa's a ghost. One doctor said that 'the human/ghost interface was not productive' and I thought it would break Papa's heart." She stopped and bit her lip, remembering her husband's years-long guilt and despair. "So when we did finally manage to have Beatie, she was the baby we thought we'd never have and Papa wanted to make sure she knew she was so very special to him."

"Oh, okay." He nodded his wheaten head. "Makes sense."

"But, honey, you're just as special to us. I want to make sure you know that." Chazz's Mama dropped a light kiss on his hair. "We thought Beatie was going to be the only child we could have and then you came along. I was so surprised! You can't imagine how I felt and when I told Papa – he was . . . well, he was so happy, he cried."

"Papa? Cried 'cause of me?" Chazz was unsure if he was more astonished or dismayed.

"People do cry sometimes because they're so happy they have to let it out somehow. And he was so much more than happy. He was –" Lydia thought back to that evening. "He'd already been upset that day because Beatie had been naughty and he'd had to speak to her about it." She paused when Chazz turned an amazed face up to hers. "Yes, really. She teased Monster's dog after we'd told her not to, and your Papa had to go and get her and have her apologize for it. Then, when they got back home, I told him we were going to have you and he . . . well, he could hardly believe it at first, and then he was just so very happy. And so was I!" she hastened to add. "You were our second miracle."

The homework was pushed aside and Chazz turned to his mother, still within her embrace. "And you named me after Grandpapa instead of Papa because Beatie already was."

"Mm-hm." Lydia had no trouble understanding that statement and the feeling behind it. "But I thought we should also name you in a way that honors Papa so we gave you a special middle name. You know that Beatie's middle name is the same as mine – Marie – and that's because your Papa insisted she be named after me as well as him." She waited for her son's nod to continue. "So your middle name is Antony." She waited to see if he would make the connection. "It's not a family name, but can you figure out how it relates to Papa?"

Chazz thought, lower lip pushed out just a little, looking more like his father than ever. "Antony," he repeated slowly. "Chazz Antony Juice."

"You're the only son of the family, and it was important to me that your name should reflect and honor Papa and his family and their traditions. Think about their names, okay?" Lydia waited and, in only a few seconds, saw her son smile.

"Ant!" he said proudly. "I'm Ant Juice!"

"Yep," she smiled back at him. "Because Papa's family has names like that and I wanted your name to show that history and to give you something to be proud of." She watched his smile grow bigger. "So that's okay with you? You like your names?"

"Oh, yeah. I always liked being Chazz." He leaned his head against her arm comfortably. "Ant, huh? I still like Chazz better, just used to it, I guess. But Ant – just like Papa and Grammy and Grampy." He stopped then, and the smile diminished. "But Uncle Donny? Why's his name different?"

Lydia chuckled and said, "When your uncle was little, a lot younger than you are now, he couldn't say his name properly and it came out Donny. His name is actually Dragonfly Juice. Do you see how a very little kid might have trouble with that?"

"Yeah," said Chazz pityingly. "It's a lot better name than Donny. Poor Uncle Donny."

"Well, I think we've all gotten used to it anyway." She put her other arm around him and snuggled him a bit. "So you are happy with your names?" He nodded and she went on. "It's important to me, and to your Papa, that you understand why you're named what you are. Part of it's tradition, and part of it's a way of honoring the people you're named for: the people we love the most. And Grandpapa and Papa are two of the people I love the most. Can you guess who the other two are?"

Chazz snortled, sounding just like a higher-pitched Beetlejuice. "Gosh, Mama! You ask such hard questions!"

She laughed along with him at that, and let him go. "So you finish up your homework and then go find Beatie and you two can set the table."

"Okay," he said happily. "Almost done already."

As Lydia turned to the stove, she heard him murmur, "Ant, huh? Ant! Just like Papa." And she smiled.