We certainly had a busy life ahead of us, but one day at a time.
Jo sat in the other rocker next to Sam. “Have you named them yet?”
I bobbed my head. “Only two so far. I’m holding Elara. And our son is Orion.” I loved the name Luna, and Sam and I had agreed on that name. But we also wanted to see their faces before we made the final decision.
Sam removed his daughter’s pink beanie. “Whoa! She has a head of black hair like Orion.” He stared at his daughter, who was sucking down the contents of her bottle in his arms. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen violet eyes on anyone except Jo when she’s in vampire mode. But this precious girl has a medium shade of purple. That has to mean something, right?” He regarded his sister.
Jo shrugged, seemingly entranced by her niece. “Like with us, maybe it’s a sign of power.”
Ordinary vampires had black eyes when they turned into full-on scary bloodsuckers with fangs. But not Sam, Jo, and Steven. Jo’s pretty silver eyes morphed to violet, and Sam and his dad had green orbs that swirled to a liquid silver when their beastly sides emerged. The implication of their eye color was strength and power, which included the ability to wield all four elements.
Or maybe my daughter was the one who was prophesied to change the course of humankind that would upset the balance of the world. My heart kick-started in the wrong direction as the hair on my arms stood at attention.
Sam’s head shot up. “Baby doll, what’s wrong? Your pulse just propelled into outer space.”
“Nothing,” I lied. I wasn’t ready to articulate my conversation with my dead mother.
Then I remembered Jo could read minds. If she was listening to my thoughts or however she got into people’s heads, she wasn’t saying anything, which was odd. Normally, Jo was always quick to regurgitate whatever she read in someone’s mind.
But right now, she was tracing her niece’s temple. “This one has mahogany-colored eyes.”
I sighed, relieved that Jo hadn’t taken a hike through my thoughts. Eventually, I would tell Sam about my time with my dead mom, but we were deciding on names, and I wasn’t ready to open up a can of worms. The minute I did, it would become real.
Sam’s attention was still glued to me.
I gave him an award-winning smile to show him I was okay. “The remaining names on the list to choose from for those two”—I nodded at the girls in their arms—“are Luna, Bianca, Phoebe, Danica, and Aurora. Sam, I say we name her Luna.” Jo could weigh in, but she had no skin in our naming game.
Sam beamed at the black-haired beauty in his arms. “She has a Roman goddess of the moon vibe.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Her violet eyes would light up the night sky. Just like the moon.”
“Luna Mason. That has a ring to it too,” he murmured.
I was relieved we had done our homework well before they were born. Otherwise, our children might not have names for a while.
“One more to go,” I said.
Sam rose and got up close to our daughter who was in Jo’s arms. “Maybe this one is a Bianca.” The vampire was pushing for Bianca. Sure, we both liked the name, but I wasn’t convinced.
“I would like to hold her,” I said. “Better yet, I would like to sit in a rocker.”
We shuffled babies around, and I had to laugh because it was only the beginning.
Jo now had Luna. I was in the rocker beside her with our nameless daughter, Ellie and Orion were in their bassinets, and Sam stood next to me.
As I fed my daughter, I stared into her mahogany-colored eyes. “There’s nothing about her that says she’s a Bianca, vampire.”
Bianca was a celestial name and a pretty one. But I couldn’t remember the meaning. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t agreeing to Bianca. That left Phoebe, Danica, or Aurora. “She reminds me of sunshine.” I swore I could see fireballs in her eyes. “My choice is Aurora.”
The last thing I wanted to do was argue, but he hadn’t been fond of the name Aurora only because he felt it wasn’t a strong name like Bianca or Danica.
He stared at Ms. Sunshine.
“What do you think, Jo?” I asked, not that she had a say, but like Sam and their mother, Jo was of the same belief that the celestial bodies exerted forces and exhibited personalities of a person.
She raised her hands. “I’m not getting in the middle of an argument.”
Sam growled. “We’re not arguing.”
