Work Text:
It was early on a Sunday morning, their internal clocks refusing to let them get up anytime after 6:00. However as their usual alarm had yet to officially wake them up, Wes and Laurel were still in bed, using the little bit of extra time to toss around yet another set of baby names.
“What about Ava?”
Laurel immediately crinkled her nose.
“Veto,” she said with a shake of her head. “Ava Braverman was the girl who made my life a living hell all through high school. I don’t want to think of her every time I look at our daughter.”
“Okay, fair enough,” said Wes, stretching his arms above his head. He thought for a moment. “How about Emily?”
“Emily Galvin was Ava Braverman’s best friend.”
Wes laughed as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and relishing the fact that they actually had extra time in bed before the chaos of their day began.
“Okay. But if we don’t come up with a name soon, this poor kid’s gonna be going to kindergarten without a name.”
He had a point. Ever since they found out they were having a girl they had been tossing names back and forth, but none of them seemed to fit. They knew the middle name, but were lost when it came to the first. Every name Laurel offered reminded Wes of an awful foster sibling and every name Wes thought of was the name of someone who had worked with Laurel’s father. Or was a bitch in high school, apparently. They’d asked everyone else for name suggestions, but that didn’t help either. Connor and Oliver both only liked names with crazy complicated spelling, and Asher’s suggestions were all too white, too cutesy for their taste. Michaela’s suggestions were all the names of her favorite CEOs and politicians, and Laurel was not about to name her child Condoleezza (“But you can call her Condi!”) Gibbins-Castillo.
So here they were, eight months pregnant and nowhere near close to having a name picked out for their little girl.
“I still like Sofia,” said Laurel thoughtfully, running her hand over her belly.
“Sophie was the name of my foster sister who threatened to kill me with a butter knife,” Wes reminded her.
Laurel sighed.
“Right.”
They tossed out a couple other names, but to no avail. Laurel was just about to suggest they table it again when the sound of little footsteps caught her attention.
“I think our alarm clock is finally up,” she said, smiling over at Wes. Sure enough, the door to their room opened the tiniest bit to reveal two sleepy little eyes and a impish smile.
“Mama? Are you awake?” she whispered.
“Yeah, Mija,” Laurel fake whispered back, “Come here.” She smiled as she waved her daughter in.
Josie needed no further instructions, taking a running start and jumping on the bed, rousing a laugh out of both Wes and Laurel. She nudged her way in between them and got under the blankets before looking up and addressing her parents.
“Buenos dias, Mama. Buenos dias, Papa,” she said, accepting a kiss from both her parents before leaning over and kissing Laurel’s very visible bump. “Morning, baby.”
Laurel looked up at Wes and jutted out her bottom lip, the cuteness of Josie kissing her sister almost too much to handle.
It never ceased to amaze her how well Josie had taken to being a big sister. For six years she had been the only baby, the only one vying for not only her parent’s attention but the rest of the K5. She had all of them wrapped around her finger the moment she was born, and she knew it. So Laurel had been a little nervous about introducing the idea of another kid. But as soon as they told Josie she was going to be a big sister it had been nothing but “Do you think the baby will want to play this with me?” and “Can we buy this for the baby?” and telling every stranger she met, “Did you know my mama’s having a baby?”.
To say she was excited was a bit of an understatement.
“How’d you sleep?” Wes asked as Josie snuggled into his side. “Any funny dreams?”
Josie immediately launched into a story about a dancing dragon, with Wes acting as fascinated as if she’d discovered the cure for cancer. Laurel tried to listen, but her thoughts immediately wandered as she continued to think of more possible names. Now that it was on her mind, she couldn’t seem to think about anything else.
Josie had been easy. Once they found out she was a girl they knew her middle name would be Rose and Laurel’s Abuela, her mom’s mom and one of Laurel’s favorite people in the world, was Josephina. As soon as she mentioned the name Wes had latched on, and that was that. Josie she was.
“You know what,” said Laurel, running her hand through Josie’s hair as she looked up at Wes. “There is someone we haven’t asked for suggestions from yet.”
Wes’ eyes widened in understanding.
“True,” he said slowly, thinking about how to approach the subject. He turned his gaze down to Josie, who was looking up at them with mild curiosity. “Hey Jojo?”
“Yeah?”
Wes glanced up at Laurel, who nodded her approval, before continuing, “If you could pick a name your baby sister, what would you name her?”
Josie gasped as her eyes widened, her expression identical to the one Wes had given Laurel moments ago. She may have had Laurel’s tiny frame but her face was all Gibbins.
“Can we call her Tiana?” she asked hopefully.
They should have seen that one coming. Michaela had introduced Josie to Princess and the Frog a couple months ago and now it was all about Tiana in their house. Josie had even been Tiana for Halloween (so of course Laurel and Wes had dressed up as frogs).
A laugh escaped Laurel’s mouth before she could stop herself.
“That’s one idea,” she said, smiling at Wes over Josie’s head. “Do you have any others? Just so we have some options.”
“Options?” Josie asked, confused.
“Yeah, like choices.”
“Oh,” said Josie, nodding in understanding. She sat up and thought for a moment, biting her lower lip in concentration.
“What about Isabel?”
“Isabel,” Laurel repeated, letting the name linger on her lips. She had to admit, it was cute. And, judging by the look on Wes’ face, he thought so too. “I like that.”
“Me too,” said Wes, his goofy smile appearing on his face. “Where’d you come up with that one, Peanut?”
“My friend Alex’s sister’s name is Isabel. She’s really cool. She lets us play with her even though she’s in third grade and we’re in first,” Josie replied with a shrug.
“She does sound pretty cool,” he nodded.
“Wait,” Laurel backtracked, looking from Wes to Josie. “Did we all just agree on a name?”
“I think we did,” replied Wes.
“Uh-huh,” nodded Josie, her and Wes smiling identical smiles.
“So that’s it? Her name is Isabel?” asked Laurel, an air of excited finality in her voice.
“Yeah,” smiled Wes. “Isabel Grace.”
Isabel Grace. The more Laurel thought about it the more she loved it.
“Thank God,” she said, relief washing over her.
“Hi baby Isabel,” cooed Josie, once again leaning over and talking to Laurel’s belly. Once again Laurel’s heart melted watching Josie interact with her sister.
“You wanna feel her kick?” Laurel asked, her eyes sparkling with both excitement and relief at finally deciding on a name. Josie nodded, causing Laurel to take her hand and place it right where the baby was currently kicking up a storm. Josie’s eyes lit up as she felt the baby move under her hand.
“This is so cool,” she exclaimed, wonder filling her voice. Once again Laurel looked up at Wes to see him watching Josie with the exact same excitement.
“Yeah it’s pretty amazing, huh?” said Wes. He leaned closer to Josie and put his hand on top of hers.
“You think she’ll look like me?” asked Josie.
“Maybe,” Wes replied.
“I hope so,” said Laurel, “Then I’d have two beautiful girls who look like their Papa.”
Josie looked over at Wes, smiling his smile. “I’m glad I look like you, Papa.”
“Thanks Peanut,” said Wes, kissing her on the cheek before lifting her by the shoulders and propelling her off of the bed. “You want some breakfast?”
“Mm-hmm,” Josie nodded, landing on the floor with a small thump. “Can we have pancakes?”
“You got it,” said Wes, swinging his legs off the bed and lifting himself up. But before he could get too far, Laurel grabbed his hand.
“Hey,” she said. He turned around, a surprised grin flickering onto his face.
“Yeah?”
She squeezed his hand and returned his smile.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, babe,” he said as he leaned over and kissed her forehead, “Love you too.”