“Who knows?” Lorenzo said with a shrug. “I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.”
* * *
“So,uh… Have you thought of any baby names yet?”
Lorenzo stirred in bed and peeked an eye open at me. After considering my question, he hummed in thought and crossed his arms over the comforter. “Maybe.”
“Really?” I leaned in. “Gabriel asked me about them earlier today and I said we hadn’t thought of anything yet.”
Lorenzo smiled. “Well, I wanted to hear whatyoursuggestions were before I told you mine, but if you really want to hear them…”
“I do!” I exclaimed. I laid over his chest, resting my chin on his sternum. “Come on, tell me.”
“If you insist… For a girl, I was thinking about Charlotte. For a boy, how about Robert?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Robert? What is he, middle-aged?”
Lorenzo pouted. “Hey, it was just a suggestion!”
“Charlotte… I like that one,” I said. “I’m sure we can think of a better name for a boy, though.”
“Why don’t you think of one from your culture?” Lorenzo suggested. “I’m sure it would be more interesting than any name I can think of.”
I hadn’t considered that before. I pressed a finger to my temple in thought. “Hmm… Maybe.”
“Hey,” Lorenzo said suddenly, “what if we added your parents’ names onto our baby’s name?”
“How so?”
“Well, if if the baby is a girl… Charlotte Kali Drakinus. She can use whichever name she prefers.”
“Huh. Interesting,” I said. “And for a boy, Robert-Eka?”
Lorenzo frowned comically. “I thought we vetoed Robert.”
I grinned. “We did. But yeah, I like that idea. Now we just have to think of a boy’s name before the baby’s due. One that isn’t Robert.” As I said that, the baby kicked me. “Ow!”
With a groan, I rolled onto my side. Getting comfortable in any position was getting more difficult by the day, with how much my belly had swollen. Lorenzo knitted his brows in sympathy and rubbed my belly.
“Not much longer now. Less than three months to go before you’re free of this,” he soothed.
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “But also, that’s when the real challenge starts. I mean, I’m obviously looking forward to meeting our baby, but not the sleepless nights and everything else...”
“At least babysitting Noah gave me a taste of what we’re in for,” Lorenzo said with a smile.
“Good.” Mischievously, I added, “And if our baby’s ever being too annoying, I’m hoping we can leave it with uncle Dante and Gabriel and they can return the favor.”
Lorenzo scoffed. “Theybetterreturn the favor after all the diapers I’ve changed at this point!”
I chuckled and curled into the space between his arm and chest. The gravity of the upcoming events were exciting, but also tiring. Sometimes I just wanted a moment alone to rest against Lorenzo while he held me.
“The wedding is coming up fast, huh?” I said. “The second wedding, I mean.”
Lorenzo stroked my hair. “Yes. We’ve already made preparations for your family and the travel is all booked. All we can do now is wait. Are you ready?”
“Hm… For some reason, I’m more nervous about this one than the first,” I admitted.
Lorenzo smiled. “I think it’s because you were anxious for the first one to be over, but you’re actually emotionally invested in this one.”
