Everything Has Changed: Book Three

Chapter Eight: News

Chapter Eight: News

"Lauren." I suggest.

"No. Rachel?"

"No." I shake my head.

"Quinn?" He asks.

"No. Amber?"

"Nope." He says. "What about Julia?"

"No. Juliette?"

He hesitates. "That's cute but I think that should be the middle name."

I hesitate, shifting my head on his side.

"Juliette." I repeat. "Alright. Do you want to spell it J-U-I-L-E-T or J-U-I-L-E-T-T-E?"

"J-U-I-L-E-T." He says.

"Alright." I nod, circling the name in the magazine. "What about Marissa?"

"No." He says. "Opal?"

"Eh. No."

"Okay." He sighs. "Mariposa?"

I open my mouth to say no and then I close it.

"Mariposa." I repeat slowly. "We can call her Posie."

"That's cute, right? I think we should name her Mariposa."

"Mariposa Juliet Grey." I mumble. "Danny, that's the name."

"You think so?" He asks.

"I do. Posie."

He sits up excitedly and rolls over, kissing my belly.

"You know, when you lay down I can kinda see a bump." He tells me.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah." He nods. He puts both hands on my belly. "Hi little one, it's Daddy." He murmurs. "I know you can't hear me yet but Mama and I decided we're going to call you Mariposa. Did you know Mariposa means butterfly?"

My stomach growls and Danny asks.

"She kicked!" He exclaims.

"Babe, that was my stomach."

His smile falls.

"Well stop it, this is between me and my daughter."

I swat at him and he smiles, kissing my belly and then moving to kiss my lips.

I hear the doorbell ring and then the front door shuts, causing both of us to get up and walk to the balcony. Caleb and Beatrice left yesterday to get here before Christmas and I see them in the living room.

Danny takes my hand and we go downstairs together.

"Hey guys." He says. We exchange hugs. "How's it going? How was the drive?

"It was alright." Caleb smiles, but he looks tired.

"Where's Micah?" Beatrice wonders.

"He's at school." I say, bouncing with excitement.

I want to blurt the news.

"Can you guys help us move everything in the truck into our storage unit?" Caleb asks.

"Yeah okay, we need to talk to you guys though." Danny says, completely disregarding what his Dad just said.

He walks to the kitchen.

We wrapped a gift with our little secret inside.

"Okay, but can it wait?" Beatrice asks. "We just drove eight hours. I had to tow my car behind Dad's truck and he had to drive a giant U-Haul."