AN - Hello there! :D "And so with all things: names were vital and important."
I'm here with a not-so-popular-pairing, Arthur/Hope. I dunno why people don't write about them more, they're so cute! I know I'll write about them more from now on :)
Anyway, on with the story :)
Disclaimer: Don't own the 39 clues.
(-+-)
"Michael."
"No. Kyle?"
"Ugh, Arthur! No! Mason?"
"Hope, seriously, no. Adam?"
A sigh. "No. Brandon?"
"No. It's just... Doesn't... Fit, you know?"
"Yeah..."
"Arnon?"
The young woman bent over on the couch and quickly smacked her husband on his shoulder with a notebook. Her golden-red curls were in a messy bun, and she was dealing with a very serious mission: trying to find her soon-to-be son a name. And there was her husband, fooling around.
They were sitting in their living-room, curled up on the couch. Arthur wore his sweatpants and held a cup of coffee in his hand, yawning and sleepy. It was ten pm, and from some unknown reason Hope had insisted to choose a name for the unborn child that day, that hour, that moment, after a whole day in which he was teaching. Pregnant women were a mystery for him, really. The big window across the room reflected a dark night of a November night, and the air held an unknown scent of flowers. Or maybe he was starting to hallucinate from exhaustion.
Hope glared at him and crossed her arms over her six-month-big pregnant stomach. "Ha-ha, so funny. No."
Arthur frowned and rubbed his sore arm. "You are abusing me, Hope."
"Well, you're fooling around! Be serious!"
"I am serious."
"Arnon? Really?"
"Okay, so I wasn't serious with that one. But -"
"Mommy? Daddy?"
The couple looked down. Standing next to their grey old-looking couch was a three-years-old redhead girl. She was hugging a huge teddy bear that was almost half the size of her, and her jade-green big eyes were red and puffy. "Couldn't sleep, mommy. Scary voices."
Hope's beautiful face instantly softened, and she laid the notebook on the wooden-table besides her, next to all kinds of things - such as pens, a globe, and a kid's painting. She shifted a bit in her place so she could hold Amy, and reached out a pair of hands, picking her daughter up to her lap. "It's okay, Amybear. There are a lot of very scary voices out there. It's okay to be afraid." She buried her head in her daughter's auburn hair, hugging her close. "You're safe here, with me and daddy. Right?"
Arthur nodded, a little unsure of himself - Because after all, how can he promise his three-years-old daughter that she's safe when she's a Cahill? - But put up a brave face and stroked her hair.
"We were just thinking of a name to your baby-brother, sweetheart," he smiled at her, knowing how excited she was about having a brother.
"My baby-brother!" Amy exclaimed, her face and eyes lighting up instantly, forgetting all about nightmares and scary-voices. "Ooh, mommy, can I touch him? Pleasie-please?" She dropped the teddy bear - Mr. Teddy - on the floor, and met her mother gaze with pleading puppy-eyes.
Hope smiled broadly, taking the toddler's tiny hands in hers. "Of course you can, Amy. Here," she said, guiding Amy's hands to her big swollen stomach. "How does he feel?"
Amy smiled, and suddenly bent down and hugged her mother's stomach. "Hi, baby-baby. I dunno your name yet, but when I'll know, I'll tell it to you, 'kay?" She paused for a second, like she was listening, and then faced her parents with a completely serious face. "He said it's okay. And that he loves me. Oh, and you, too," she added quickly.
Hope couldn't help but to smile at her daughter, and send a meaningful look at her husband. "You know what, sweetie? I'm sure he had. And I know he loves you; I don't need to hear him say it."
Arthur grinned and mouthed 'Well done' at her, while Amy's eyes flooded with happiness tears. "Really, mommy? You think that?"
"Of course, honey!" Arthur said, pulling her from her mother's embrace and tickling her cheerfully; Amy was the only reason he would stay awake now. "Why won't he love you? You are perfect, baby-girl."
The girl giggled loudly and struggled to make her father stop tickling her, jumping off the couch. She picked up Mr. Teddy and hugged him tightly to her. "I'm going to my room, mommy. Okay?"
Hope blinked, staring at her little redhead. "But... But I thought you were afraid from the scary voices, Amybear."
Her daughter raised her big green eyes at her, and Hope practically melted. Those eyes were full of everything childhood should have; innocence, happiness, calmness, love. The only thing she felt like doing was scooping up her tiny treasure and never let her go, never let her get hurt by the world, or her family, or the 39 clues hunt. She wished Amy - and her still unnamed little-boy- would never have to worry about such things.
Arthur was confused, too. He got off the couch and knelt down next to his daughter. "Yes, I thought that too. What's with it, sweetiepie?"
Amy blushed and hid her head in her teddy bear. "W-well, now I'm not afraid anymore."
Hope frowned and looked at her. "What do you mean, sweetie?"
The little girl turned around and started walking, and then, when she was at the beginning of the stairs, she said: "You will protect me. And I need to be brave for my baby-brother, too."
And then she disappeared up the stairs, her footsteps making a soft noise.
The couple looked after her, their eyes soft and loving.
"She's such a great girl," Hope whispered, and Arthur nodded, wrapping his arms around his wife's shoulders. "Indeed she is. And she's so much like you, really."
The young woman beamed at him, laying her head on his shoulder. They sat there for a while, and Arthur had the faint hope that maybe his wife gave up on the name-calling for that night and she'll let him go to sleep, when suddenly she said out of the blue: "Don't think I forgot, Arthur. We're going to name this boy. Am I understood?"
He sighed. And maybe not. "Of course, dear."
Note to himself: Never let your pregnant wife drink too much coffee three months before the birth, or you might find yourself sleepless.
(-+-)
"Nathan?"
"No. Connor?"
"Ew. Benjamin?"
"Ah, no. Jayden?"
"I don't think so. Austin?"
"Noah?"
"Robert?"
"Nicholas?"
"Anthony?"
"I give up."
Hope pouted. "No! You can't give up! We only have barely a month and a half more!"
Arthur sighed, laying his head on his palms and sipping his coffee. "Hope, we're struggling to find this boy a name for over a month and a half. Maybe it's time to give up. I'm sure your mother would find a beautiful name, if we just ask her to."
Hope wrinkled her nose, laying her hands on her huge stomach. Here they were again, on the same couch, with the same cup of coffee and same notebook, keep crossing out names. They just couldn't reach to a compromise. The window across the room now showed a December night, and besides a new carpet and a few more pounds to her weigh, nothing changed.
"Mommy! Daddy!"
And here comes their little treasure.
"Yes, honey?" Hope looked up, seeing her daughter running down the stairs, Mr. Teddy dragging behind her. "Had nightmares again?"
Little Amy kept running, stopping just in front of her parents' couch.
"No, no!" She had a thrilled look, and her eyes shined. Mr. Teddy was thrown over again, and Hope could swear she saw a hurt look in his plastic-eyes. Or maybe the late hour was getting to her. "I had a good dream, mommy! A very-very-very good dream!"
"What dream did you have, sweetie?" Arthur put the cup aside on the table, and scooped Amy up to his lap.
Amy took a deep breath to calm herself, and then started to babble. "See, I was in this pretty-pretty-pretty green forest -"
"A forest?" Hope frowned, and Arthur just shrugged at her.
" - And there was no one there, and I was a little-little scared, but then I saw there was a boy sitting on the grass -"
"A boy," Arthur repeated, looking completely lost.
" - Yea, a boy, and he had this shiny dark-blond hair and green-eyes, just like mine! And -"
"He had... Your eyes?" Now the parents were completely confused.
"Well, yeah, stop interrupting," the girl said, a little upset. "And then he said he was my brother! And you know what his name was?"
"What?" The parents' confusion now turned into curiosity.
"Dan!" She called out, looking at them back and forth. "...It's a pretty name, isn't it?"
But their attention wasn't there anymore.
Hope gazed into Arthur's eyes. "Dan... Daniel Arthur Cahill."
Arthur nodded, his smile spreading hugely over his face. "Dan. Just Dan. Dan Cahill."
(-+-)
The art of calling names is complicated and tiring, but if you do it right, it might affect your child for his whole life.
And now, they had to thank Amy a million times.
-Fin-
AN - Well, hope you like it. :)
I think the other entries were better, but - oh, well, who cares! I write for fun, not for the winning! :)
Please point out mistakes. Thanks! :)
~ IJCC