South-Side Renascent || c.g.

The Name Game

Cailee

Just as we'd cleaned ourselves up and got our clothes back on, Franny toddled down the stairs making a face.

"Poop!" Franny whined.

"That's all you, Uncle Carl," I laughed.

Carl tossed Franny's diaper bag my way. "No way, Aunt Cailee!"

"Fine," I grabbed the bag. "But it's your turn next time."

I got Franny changed and situated in the living room in no time. Debbie and Hunter had been gone a little over an hour, which was a good sign. Carl was in the kitchen making the three of us food while I entertained Franny.

"Food's ready," Carl called out.

"You ready to eat?" I asked Franny. Her smile grew and she ran into the kitchen. Carl picked her up and put her in the high chair. I took a seat in the chair closest to the back door and Carl placed a grilled cheese in front of me.

"Grilled cheese for you," He sat another plate in front of Franny, "And PB&J for you."

"Thank you, baby. Say thank you, Franny!"

Franny took a big bite out of her sandwich. "Thank you!"

We finished eating and Franny went back to playing with her toys. Carl and I sat back and watched her.

"This is gonna be us every day soon, with the baby," I looked at Carl.

"I'm getting tired of calling her 'the baby', though. She really needs a name..."

"Indeed she does," I agreed. "Any ideas?"

"And thaaat's where I'm stuck," Carl sighed. "My name is boring, so I want hers to be cool."

"Well, she's gonna be stuck with it, so I don't want it to be too ridiculous," I giggled. He shrugged, agreeing with me. Before we could discuss it further, Debbie came through the door. She waved goodbye (to Hunter I assumed) and shut the door, leaning up against it with a blush covering her cheeks. Carl and I stepped into the living room with smirks on our faces.

"I'm guessing you two had a good time?" I asked the redhead.

"An amaaazing time," she sighed dreamily. "It was perfect."

I nudged Carl, "See? I know what I'm doing."

He rolled his eyes playfully at the statement, "Yeah, yeah."

"Hi, Franny!" Debbie cooed, picking up the toddler. "You have fun with your Aunt and Uncle?"

"Yeah!" Franny exclaimed, making me smile. She was adorable and made me excited to have the baby.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself here! Even though there was an adorable little girl you could've played with at the restaurant. Her name was Cody!"

Carl and I's eyes met immediately. "That's it!" we said excitedly in unison.

Carl

A Few Days Later

I woke up before Cailee. The sun was rising over her shoulder, casting her pretty shadow on the wall opposite the window. I rubbed her cheek with my thumb which made her stir. Her light brown eyes fluttered open.

"I'm sorry baby, didn't mean to wake you," I apologized. She snuggled her body closer to mine and I grabbed her waist.

"No, it's okay. Time to get up anyways."

"Well good morning baby," I pecked her on the lips. "And good morning, Cody," I smiled as I rubbed her tummy. Cailee smiled lazily and kissed me again.

Cailee sat up in bed. "I don't think I'll ever get used to how adorable that is."

"Me either, baby," I got out of bed, stretching. "I'm nervous about this interview."

Cailee came over and grabbed my hands. "Hey, you're gonna do great. They'd be lucky to have you," Her encouraging words were all I needed to hear. As long as she believed in me, I believed in myself.

Cailee

I dropped Carl off at his interview and made my way to school. It was gonna be a busy day. I had a quiz, Hunter and I's project, and a couple of other things to do. Hunter and I still had a lot to write about, so we met up immediately after class to discuss what we needed to.

We were sitting outside at a table with all our papers spread out on top of it. I was enjoying the fresh air, just breathing it all in. Hunter basically had his head stuffed in his notebook, going over everything he'd written about my summer. I decided to break the comfortable silence.

"Sooo, how was the date last night?" I inquired. Hunter's expression lit up before he even looked at me.

"It went fucking great. I'm so glad you introduced us. Last night was the first night I hadn't thought about my stupid ex, I just had fun."

"I'm glad I could come to your rescue," I grinned.

"I'm gonna see her again Friday. Taking her out to the movies."

"Ooh! She looooves chick flicks," The table started to vibrate, courtesy of my phone. Carl was calling. "Excuse me for a second," I stood up and stepped away from Hunter and the messy table. "Hey baby, how'd it go?"

"I got the job!"

"Eek! I'm so proud of you!" I squealed, earning a chuckle from him. "When do you start?"

"Right now, actually. I was too excited to wait on telling you."

"Oh wow, you'd better get to work then. When do you get off? I could swing by and pick you up."

"I get off at 6, but it's okay, I'll just take the L-"

"No," I cut in. "I'll be there when you're off."

_

I pulled up outside of the huge parking structure Carl was gonna be working in. I sent him a text, letting him know I was there.

Carl came strolling out of the building, a grin on his face when our eyes met. "Hey beautiful," he said after getting in the car.

"Hey baby," I blushed. "Well, don't you look adorable in your uniform!" I tugged at his shirt collar.

He rolled his eyes playfully, "Please, I look like a dork."

I kissed him sweetly, his green eyes piercing into mine afterward. "The hottest dork I've ever seen."

♡

A/N: I'm pressed because I can't go to ScamP and Ethan's event is there :/