Advised by her doctor, Stevie mostly stayed in bed, having over a month of pregnancy left. Lindsey tried to adjust his schedule, so he would be working in the mornings and he could come home around noon, because that was when Stevie would become restless, wanting to at least do something, besides watch TV or read in the bedroom.
Since it wasn't very long until they would welcome their baby, Lindsey was pestering Stevie about the nursery. She knew they obviously needed it and it was about time he started working on it, but because she didn't want to know if they were having a boy or a girl, there wasn't much he could do. It was clear that it would either be pink or blue, the room wasn't going to be neutral.
Coming back from work a little past 1 pm, Lindsey couldn't find Stevie downstairs, so he jogged up to the second floor and went to their bedroom, knocking on the doorway, as the door was open. "Hey there."
"Hi." She smiled, putting away the TV remote.
"How are you feeling?" Lindsey approached the bed and lay down beside her.
"Fine. Just like any other day really, piling on those pounds."
"Oh, stop. You're supposed to get bigger." He said, bringing a hand up to her belly. "There's an actual human being growing, you know."
"Well, yes, in fact I do know, because it's not you, who has to feel that actual human inside of you! Seriously, last night, I couldn't fall asleep. She was having too much fun kicking me."
"She?" Lindsey stopped stroking her belly and looked up at her.
Shrugging her shoulders, Stevie nodded. "I don't know... I just, sort of, have a feeling."
"I hope you're right. Of course, all I'm praying for is that our baby is healthy, but you know... We have Will, I'd like if we had a little girl."
"We have Will?" Now it was Stevie's turn to pick something out.
"We, yes. He's never really had a mother before you. I had to be everything he needed me to be for years. Even if he's a boy, a mother is still such a very important person in his life. He might not show it by coming to you every day after school, hugging you and kissing you on the cheek, saying how much he loves you, but, well, he's been my son for fourteen years - I know he loves you."
"That means a lot. Because sometimes, I still think of myself as an intru-"
Lindsey pressed a finger against her lips, silencing her. "I'm going to stop you right there, Steph. You're the woman I love and you're the mother of my child. You're a member of this family."
Smiling a little, she took his hand away from her face, placing it over her middle, covering it with hers. "Okay. I'm sorry."
Changing the subject... "So, then a girl, right? How do you feel about shopping for the nursery?"
"I'd love to, but we don't know for sure yet."
"I trust your senses."
"Lindsey, you're crazy." She laughed, as he shrugged.
"Yeah, well."
"You're serious, aren't you?" She eyed him skeptically.
"Deadly." As he just smiled sweetly at her.
In about an hour, Stevie was dressed up and Lindsey was assisting her to the car, which she had some trouble getting into. He drove them to the nearest mall, where they were sure they would find a store of all baby things that they needed. Slowly they made their way inside and without any rush began looking. Since she never got to do this before, Stevie was mesmerized by everything. If it was up to her, she would have gotten one of each item they came across. But of course, there was Lindsey by her side, constantly reminding her of what they were actually there for.
Not wanting for her to get too exhausted, Lindsey suggested they should leave, once they bought the primary things on the list, as they still needed paint for the walls. Thankfully, they weren't presented with ten different shades of pink and they chose the one they preferred relatively quickly.
Once they were back in the car, Lindsey glanced at Stevie, as he was pulling out of the parking lot, when she started breathing heavier. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired." She calmed him down and opened a bottle of water, taking a big gulp.
They drove in silence for a while, before Stevie said. "What do you think about Jasmine?"
Briefly taking his eyes off the road, to look at her, Lindsey thought for a moment. "I think it's beautiful."
"You're not just saying that, are you?"
"Trust me, honey, no matter how much I love you, but if you were suggesting a name for my daughter that I don't like, I'm not going to say that I do, so my poor baby has to go through her whole life with it."
Laughing lightly, Stevie added. "It's associated with love, well, at least the flower anyway, and I mean... what's more important than that, right?"
He took her hand, bringing it up to his lips, as he nodded. "Exactly right."
