On the Run: The Texas Files ✔

Chapter 34.6: The Soon-To-Be Parents

This is a reminder that this a short chapter about Marissa and Noah's Valentine's Day evening from a third-person omniscient perspective.  

~~~

Marissa and Noah are curled up on the couch, watching a reality show. She moves closer to him. Her feet are tucked under her as she rubs her belly. She's been dealing with the girls moving today, and they're making her uncomfortable.

"I want to name them," Marissa says.

He raises his eyebrows and mutes the TV. "You want to name our daughters? Right now?"

Noah was surprised. He expected her to hold out until they were born and to see what they looked like before making that decision.

She nods. Marissa has been toying with names in her mind, but she can't decide the names by herself, since Noah is the father after all.

"I was thinking we could each name one," she says. "No vetoes."

Noah nods. "Okay. I can get behind that."

Both of them begin to think about names. 

Marissa has always wanted to name her child something warm and happy. Her problem is that she is supposed to name her first daughter, if she has any, after her grandmother, as her mother had done to her. After being disowned by her parents for getting pregnant, she isn't about to stick to tradition.

Noah runs into more issues. He doesn't have any ideas. He goes through names, but all of the names he's coming with are for boys. He likes the idea of a boy's name for a girl, but he doesn't want to enforce any stereotypes on his daughters.

They continue to sit in silence for a long time.

Marissa comes up with an idea. "I think we should name one of them after your mother."

Noah chokes on his soda and coughs a little. "What?"

She puts her hand on his arm. "You don't like that idea?"

He shrugs. "I just didn't expect that. Mom died a long time ago, and I know I should honor her memory in some way, but I don't think naming our child after her will make up for what happened."

She keeps looking at him. "You never told me how she passed away."

Noah coughs. It's not a day he likes to think about. He and Andrew were nine, and they still had their old names back then. Jackie, or Joy back then, was eight. They were sitting in the living room together on a Friday night, arguing over who's turn it was to pick the movie for family movie night.

Mom was late from work, like always. No one thought anything of it. Dad was in the kitchen, packing away the leftovers of dinner for his wife. The phone rang, and thinking it was Mom, Dad had answered.

From what Dad described when he could comprehend what happened, a man with a groggy voice told him his wife was dead, and that was it. The body would be released to him for burial. He never specified to the kids who had called. Dad said it was a car accident and Mom would never come home.

Jackie was sobbing. She sobbed for days. Andrew tried to rationalize it and was calm during the day, but ended up crying himself to sleep for months. Noah never really came to terms with her death. He blocks it out most days, but some days, he's overcome by extreme emotions, like when Jackie went on that date with Tyler. He just starts getting angry and works himself up to the point of tears.

Noah was quiet as he thought about that day. He finally says, "It was a car accident." That's what he knew. He didn't know that this wasn't the case, and he won't for a long time.

Marissa is saddened by Noah's response and how he spaced out for so long.

A lot of things didn't make sense to Noah; getting his name changed, his sister's gift, why he or his brother didn't have one too. He didn't know how to handle it, so he didn't. He never has, and he may never properly grieve. 

"You want to name our daughter after Mom?" he asks after Marissa doesn't respond to how she died. "It's your choice."

"You don't want to name your twin after her?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "And let you pick some weird-ass name like Misty or Spring? Absolutely not." He laughs off the pain he's feeling. His heart sinks, knowing his mother will never get to see her grandchildren. He will never get to ask her for advice about women.

But that's what Jackie's for.

Marissa nods. "Yeah. That's what I'm going to do."

Noah says, "So, you're choosing the name Gabriella Joy?" He stiffens a little when he says Jackie's real name. He hasn't heard it since the night they swore never to speak of it again right when they first move here.

She nods again. "Yes. What a beautiful name."

He thinks harder and harder. The only ones that come to his mind now are names from songs he's heard. Angela, Christine, Roxanne. That was it. "I'm naming my twin Roxanne Krystine," he says proudly.

Marissa raises her eyebrows, and then they furrow in disgust. "Really? That's what you're going with?"

"You can't veto it," he says quickly. "Your rules."

She shakes her head. This poor child. "Fine."

Knowing the names of their children overwhelmed them both. They both started rubbing Marissa's belly, just thinking about what these children could be.

Noah has been fiddling with his pocket a lot. He's torn about asking her a huge question. He knows what he wants to do, but he hasn't figured out the right time. Is there ever really a right time for anything, though?

He takes a huge breath and gets up.

Marissa looks at him, confused herself. "What?"

Noah's breath catches in his throat, but he manages to mumble something. "Will you marry me?" he mumbles.

"I didn't hear you," she says. "What?"

He clears his throat again. "We're having children together. Twins! I don't know if I'm ready to be a father. I don't know anything about raising kids. Andrew raised Jackie after Mom died and Dad shut down. I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can go to college. I don't know a lot of things, but one thing I do know is that I fell hopelessly in love with a girl I met in New York. I thought I'd never see her again, so I told myself I moved on, but I really didn't. Now that she's here, and having our children, our daughters, I know one more thing. I want to marry her. Will you marry me, Marissa?" he blurts loudly.

She's blindsided. She just so happens to know that she loves him too, and this is just what she wanted from when they first met.

"Yes, of course, I will," she says.

He sits back down on the couch and kisses her.

They've got a wedding to plan now too.

Gabriella's engagement ring sits in the ring box on the coffee table. Noah knows his mom would want to meet Marissa first before surrendering her wedding ring, but this will have to do.

They spend the rest of their evening together, watching TV, just like they were doing before. The only difference is that neither of them can stop smiling.

~~~

My heart gushed with joy from this. I won't lie. I mean, it was inevitable, sure, but Noah is known to do some dumb things.

What do you think of their name choices? Comment!