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“Oh, please, you big baby. That didn’t hurt.”
After our emotional warfare yesterday, we’d had a quiet dinner and snuggled in bed, watching movies all night. Neither one of us had the energy for make-up sex. I didn’t even remember the last half of the movie, only being held against his bare chest with the melodic beat of his heart lulling me to sleep.
The husky laughter behind me cleared the rest of my cloudy head. “Still not a morning person, huh, princess?”
I closed my eyes and pulled the covers over my head. “Why do people call at such ungodly hours when they don’t have a boss? Faith is the boss.”
I held the blankets tighter as he worked to remove them. After getting a good handful of blanket away from me, he jerked it down to my waist, and I took in his amused eyes and crooked grin. “Seven a.m. is hardly ungodly. So, whose balls are in the line of fire now?” I watched as he dropped his head into the palm of his hand with his elbow propped beneath him. He twirled the ends of my hair around his index finger.
“Julian, we’re having a baby,” I blurted out, deep in thought.
“If you’re trying to shock me, you’re about six months too late.”
“Ha-ha, very funny.” I smirked. “The baby will be here soon, and Faith reminded me we haven’t talked about names.”
He remained quiet for a moment, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Well, if it’s a girl, I think the obvious choice is a tribute to the child’s gorgeous parent.”
I lowered my head. “Julian, I can’t…”
“Julia,” he said with a definitive nod of his head.
“Julia?” I drew the word out, my mouth accentuating each syllable. “Gorgeous parent, huh?”
He released my hair and flopped onto his back, grinning. “Well, I don’t want to toot my own horn…”
“But you will.”
“Hey, Chatter feeds don’t lie, baby. My public polled me against your precious Channing Tatum.”
“And?” It was all I could do to hold in the giggle.
“Magic Mike needs some new tricks, princess. I kicked his ass by sixty-three percent of the vote.”
I couldn’t hold it in, I full-on belly laughed with tears and ugly snorts. Calming, I rested my hands on my belly. “Yeah, but Julia?”
“What’s wrong with Julia? It’s classic.”
“Nothing, but if it’s a girl, I want her to have her own name.” Not that I didn’t love Julian’s family, but I envisioned something unique.
“All right,” he said thoughtfully. “This will be the only time you’ll ever hear these words without a fist behind it, but what if you have another penis inside you?”
“I honestly have no clue.” I grimaced.
“What about honoring your mother?” When I gave him a strange look he grabbed my hand, entwining our fingers. “What about Ryan?” I pulled my hand away from him as if I’d touched fire. “Phoebe? What—”
“No!” I yelled, not necessarily at him, but at the suggestion. “I don’t want this baby having stigma from my family attached to it. Not even from my mother. It’s a curse, Julian.” It wasn’t until I’d stopped yelling that I realized I’d started shaking. Julian wrapped his arms around me and kissed my temple.
“I understand. No family names. I wasn’t thinking. It’s fine. Cletus will have a name all his or her own.”
Pausing mid-sniffle, I turned my head and stared. “Cletus? Excuse me, Cletus?”
He rewarded me with a wide grin. “Well, since we haven’t known for a long time what this little one is, I, uh, I kind of nicknamed it Cletus the Fetus.” He bit his lip sheepishly.
I wrinkled my nose and snorted again. “Oh my god, that might be the dumbest, most adorable thing I’ve ever heard. I fucking love it.”
The chuckle deep from his chest made me grin. “Honestly, Phoebe, I don’t care what it is. But if it’s a girl, I hope she looks like you.”
“Me? I thought you were the poll destroyer here, Magic Julian?”
