Thea changes into her pajamas and gets in bed too.
“We should talk about baby names,” she prompts, grabbing the baby name book off the side table.
She picks it up and flips to a page. “I lik
e Arielle for a girl.”
“Like The Little Mermaid?” I wrinkle my nose.
She rolls her eyes. “That’s Ariel.”
“Hate it.”
She sighs. “Moving on. What about Aiken for a boy.”
“Are you going in alphabetical order?” I joke.
“Yes,” she sighs. “It’s easier. I have them all marked that way.”
“Aiken is a no,” I say. “It sounds like Anakin.”
“Oh.” Her lips part. “I didn’t even notice that. Okay, girl name … Brielle?”
I raise a brow. “Do you have a thing for names with elle?”
“Apparently so,” she laughs. “Boy name, Caleb.”
I shake my head. “It’s not bad, but it’s too plain. I can’t see us as Xander and Thea with a kid named Caleb.”
She crosses Caleb off her list.
“Eh—never mind.”
I grin. “What was it?”
“Elle,” she tells me, amused at herself. “Okay, what about Finley for a girl?”
“Eh.” I wave my hand back and forth. “That’s the best so far but I think there’s something better out there. Something more … us.”
She presses her lips together thinking.
“Do you have any suggestions?” she asks, handing me the book.
I take it from her and flip through it. “What about Hank for a boy?”
Her mouth parts, horrified, just like I knew she’d be.
“Xander,” she hisses. “We can’t name our potential future son something that rhymes with stank, bank, tank, and God knows what else.” She gestures wildly with her hands.
I laugh. “Okay, Hank is out. It was just a suggestion.” I play like I was serious about the name.
I flip through the book and land near the end of the alphabet.
I scan the names and grin to myself.
“That for a girl, and that for a boy,” I point to the two different names on the same page.
She looks from the names to me, and back again with wide eyes. “Those are perfect,” she breathes.