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“Thema?”
“That’s a little on the nose, don’t you think?”
“What about Grace?”
“Too...Western. Nala?”
“Like the lion? I don’t think she’d appreciate being saddled with that.” Silence fell between them as they peered down at their days-old little girl, sleeping soundly in her crib, “We should probably get some sleep.”
“I can’t just go to sleep, Buck. Not when our baby still has no name,” Shuri murmured softly, leaning against the crib as she peered in, “Maybe if we stay here...something will come to us,” she sighed, “I thought I would just know as soon as I saw her, but nothing seems right.”
Bucky nodded, flopping back onto the plush nursery rug with a yawn, “I thought it would be like that, too, but-”
“ How am I supposed to just...name a complete stranger. Bast, we don’t know anything about. What if five years from now it turns out her name doesn’t fit? What if...what if in twenty years she goes to university in the states and grows to resent her parents because they gave her a Wakandan name that nobody can pronounce? What if-”
“Sugar, you’re spiralling,” Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle, eyeing the rocking chair that sat next to the crib, “Come here,” he said, shimmying far enough forward to rest against her knees, head in her lap, once she’d finally taken her seat, “You’re worryin’ too much. Look at her. She’s home. She’s healthy and beautiful. That’s all that matters. The right name will come. And if it doesn’t...we can always name her after one of our mothers.”
Shuri stifled a laugh, her eyes sparkling as her fingers combed through his hair. As she did, her head lulled as she watched the sleeping baby. Then realization and inspiration struck. “You know, before Nceba was born, I remember Nakia showing me her list. There was one on there that I liked. I thought it might pair well with your mother’s name. How do you feel about Amara? ”
He paused then, forming the word over and over without sound, trying it on for size, letting it roll over his tongue, “ Amara Winnifred Barnes. ”
“I think it sounds regal.”
“Perfect for a little princess,” he agreed, a contented smile spreading across his lips as he rose onto his knees before heaving himself to his feet so that he could peer down on the little girl once more, “What do you think she’ll be like?”
“I don’t know,” Shuri sighed, joining him, “I do hope she grows out of the snoring, though.”
Bucky was the one having to stifle a laugh then, as Shuri rested her head against his shoulder. They began to lose track of time, then, whispering overtop of the baby while watching her every movement intently.
“She will be alright, you know; if you decide to sleep. She isn’t going to go anywhere,” Ramonda murmured, pausing at the threshold of the nursery, fixing the new parents with a mothering stare, “You must sleep; both of you, or you are going to exhaust yourselves.”
Bucky closed his eyes with a bashful smile, but Shuri turned back to the crib, letting her chin rest against the edge. She couldn’t help the tired smile that spread across her face, “Just one more minute,” she said, catching herself mid-yawn, “I don’t want to leave. She’s so perfect. ”
“She is,” the Queen Mother agreed, “And she will be just as perfect tomorrow after you’ve both slept,” she insisted, “Go now, both of you. I’ll be here.”
Reluctantly, Shuri pulled away, followed by Bucky. Leaning in one final time to get a last look, she murmured for the first time, “Goodnight, Amara.”
And much to her relief, it fit.