AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The perfect name for my baby?”
“Yeah.”
Maybe his suggestion would be a good starting point. Maybe it would be the perfect name. With a little luck he wouldn’t suggest Tweedle Dee. “What is it?”
“Sir Tiberius the Twenty-Fourth.” The way Maddox announced the name, it sounded regal. Serious.
He couldn’t be serious.
Where to even start? “That would imply there were twenty-three other Sir Tiberius’s before him,” I said.
Maddox wrinkled his nose. “Nah. I say we rewrite that rule, and make it the year he was born instead.”
“Sir implies knighthood, at least in this instance. And what if it’s a girl?” Why was I arguing? I didn’t have a better idea. I didn’t want—
Damn it.
“Then Dame Tiberius the Twenty-Fourth.” Maddox navigated us through city streets with ease.
I wasn’t naming a baby Tiberius anything. Or Janeway. Next thing I knew, he’d suggest The Sisko, like some sort of title. “No.”
“Baby?” Maddox asked.
This was ludicrous. Why was it making me feel better? “You want to name a baby Baby?”
“Lots of people are named Baby.”
My huff of a laugh slipped out in spite of me. “Name two.”
“Baby Spice. Baby from Dirty Dancing. Bonus round, Emily Browning’s character in Sucker Punch.”
He had me there. I was out of arguments, but I was going to push him to keep suggesting names because this distraction was so much better than being stuck in my own head.
The rest of the trip, Maddox’s suggestions ranged from Daenerys to Bluey. By the time we reached our destination, we were laughing.
The instant we walked into the office, Maddox’s expression went serious, as if a switch had been flipped. “Sit. I’ve got this,” he said.
I was surprised enough I didn’t think to argue, and instead picked a pair of chairs and claimed one.
“Hi.” His greeting to the woman at the front desk was a wicked combination of smooth and firm. “Two-thirty for Alys Riddel.”
She gave him a warm smile, checked her computer, and handed him a clipboard. “Of course. Have her fill this out, and we’ll be right with you both.”
I never understood why I had to fill all the information out online for a doctor, and still write it by hand on a piece of paper once I arrived, but I did it anyway.
The entire time, Maddox was still aside from the occasional squeeze of my knee. It was more comforting than it had the right to be.
By the time my name was called, I couldn’t think about anything but what I was hoping to hear. Was I pregnant? Wasn’t I?
Why didn’t I know which I wanted? Still?
Not that it mattered. It would be what it would be, but I should know. I should at least be leaning in one direction or the other.
Should I ask Maddox to come with me or wait here?
There was a new thought.
It was a decision I didn’t have to make, because he was on his feet before me, offering me his hand, and staying by my side as we were shown back to a room.
