"Hey, Luke?" Samantha asks.
"Yeah, Baby?" Luke says, making the table for breakfast with bowls for oatmeal.
"I've got a little bit of news."
Samantha stutters, nervously.
"Yeah?"
"I'm... Pregnant." She holds out a pregnancy test.
"You- you are?" Luke smiles lightly, standing from his half-bent position. "Sam," he says. "Oh... My god. A baby..."
Sam's arm drops. "I love you, Luke."
"I love you, too." He says.
----------------------------------------
"Congratulations," Dr. Clifford says. "You have a baby girl on the way."
"Girl." Samantha says. "Good."
"I'm gonna have a baby girl..." Luke says, happily. "A perfect, precious baby girl. My sweet angel." He crouched in front of the bed in the doctor's office and whispers towards Sam's stomach, "Love ya, baby girl. How ya doin' in there?"
"So what do you think her name should be?" Samantha rubs her stomach and leans back in her seat, putting her feet and swollen ankles on a foot stool.
Millions of names swished through Luke's head and he blurted out, "Jade." It was a beautiful name. A gem. Teel. Green. Blue. Beautiful.
"Well... I dont know about that..." Samantha says. "I was thinking more Destiny or Georgia or Hailey. You know, more... Traditional."
"She's not traditional. She's unique. She sticks out. Of not Jade, Raelynn or Juliette or something sweet like Melody or Amber or Ember or whatever."
"Our child will not be cursed by a stupid name she'll be teased for, okay? I refuse to let her."
"Well, guess what? She's not traditional, she's unique. She needs to have a name that fits her. She needs to have a unique name. You can't curse her, and do you really think I would ever do anything like that to hurt my baby? That's my first kid. My first blessing."
"Whatever. But don't say I didn't say I told you so. Because I did."
"Don't whatever me. Whatever is a word no child should ever be taught. Wahtever is word no child's ears should ever say or their mouths should ever speak. Whatever is rude and disrespectful and stupid, okay? So don't whatever me."
"Look, I don't want to get into this right now, okay?" Samantha retorts. "Because no matter what you say, I'm gonna say whatever, and no matter what you say, I'm gonna name our child an original name, so just stop. Stop and walk away." She stomps to their room and a door slams behind her.
Luke rolls his eyes and falls into the couch. "Why me? Why does this always happen to me?" He says. "I don't get it. Am I the ruby of bad luck? The ember of enemies? It just doesn't make sense!"
Seven months later...
"Ahh!" Sam screams in pain, holding her house she calls a stomach.
"Push!" Dr. Clifford says. "You've dilated to ten. You have to push!"
Just twenty minutes later, a baby had been born. "Well," Dr. Clifford says. "Say hello to your 7 pound 2 ounce 19 1/2 inch baby boy!"
"Boy?" Samantha says. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" She huddled together. "Get that... That thing away from me!"
