What’s In A Name?

She slowly became aware of the slightly antiseptic smell around her. She knew she was in a hospital. She wondered why.

Then she remembered the enemy, the fight, the searing pain. Her hands immediately went to her belly. She began to shudder as she felt how flat it was. It had been a long time since she’d felt it that way. She’d become so accustomed to the firm roundness of the life their love had created, her trim figure was a distant memory.

But now it was back. She no longer carried that new life. It was too soon, she thought. It couldn’t survive outside her.

The pain?!

She began to sob.

She felt the bed sag beneath a newly added weight. She felt strong arms encircle her, pulling her into a familiar warmth. Normally, those arms, this embrace, would bring with it total contentment. But not today. She could feel his hand gently stroke her hair. The whisper of his voice as he tried to comfort her.

"It’s okay."

Okay? She wanted to scream. How can it be okay? We’ve just lost life’s greatest gift, and you tell me it’s okay? But her throat ached too much from her sobs for her to get the words out. Everything ached. But nothing so much as her heart.

His voice was choked with emotion when he spoke again. "There’s some…"

She shook her head violently. She didn’t want to hear him say it, confirm it. Her entire body was shuddering with the power of her grief. Strangely, she thought, his wasn’t.

Her eyes snapped open as she heard a soft whimpering echo her own. It wasn’t him. It came from across the room. As soon as it started she felt his arms slip away. The bedding shifted as his weight was lifted.

"Shhh," she heard him whisper. "I know, I don’t like to hear her cry, either."

Her glassy eyes followed the sound of his voice. She let out a tiny, involuntary gasp. He was cradling something impossibly small in his arms. Humming to it, soothing it, with a surprisingly mellow and musical tone. It settled, borrowing into his chest in much the same way as she had.

He noticed her stunned expression and smiled warmly. "As I was saying," he began as he walked towards her, gazing down for a moment at the tiny bundle in his arms, his dark eyes shining, before returning his attention to her. "There’s someone here who wants to meet you."

"He’s okay." She whispered in awe as she reached tentatively for the bundle.

His smile deepened. "SHE’S fine." He said as he deposited the bundle in her arms. He pulled back the soft blanket to reveal a tiny face. Soft silken hair fell across her eyelids, almost tangling with her long curved lashes. A tiny contented smile curled her mouth. Her perfect little nose twitched as a frown creased her forehead. She began to sniff, nuzzling the neck of this new, yet familiar being that now held her. Content that this new being offered no threat, she snuggled in under her chin. She could feel the tears brim her eyes again, but for a totally different reason.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" He whispered.

She looked up at him. She couldn’t find the words to describe how she was feeling, so she just smiled. He sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her. She snuggled up to him as they both gazed in rapture at their daughter.

"What are we going to call her?" She asked softly when she finally found her voice. Given his family tree, she’d been so convinced they’d have a son she hadn’t even thought of any girls’ names.

"I’ve got a suggestion," he said, "if you’re in agreement." Tearing her eyes from the infant sleeping peacefully in her arms, she looked at him for a moment.

"What?" She asked.

He brushed a curl from his daughter’s eyes. A tiny hand wrapped itself around his finger. He chuckled as it was immediately pulled to her mouth. "I think," he said as she began to gum his finger, "it’d be nice if we named her after my mother."

She looked at the tiny face, now even more content as she slobbered all over her father’s finger. By their people’s tradition, a girl-child was always given a hyphenated name, sharing the suffix with her mother. She smiled as she rolled his suggestion around in her head before speaking it aloud.

"Lara-Su." She smiled. "It does have a nice ring to it."