i'm in a famous egyptian river
“I'd say it was a silly thing to refuse, but I can understand it. Back when Mari was on the way, I was against any names that were too plain or common. If you wanted to go with a French name, even if it's just for the middle name, I won't mind. Something to tie you to your roots. As long as I can pronounce it fairly easily, though.” That was her only condition. “I know. I feel like it needs to be said sometimes, though. To remind us both that I'm not always an evil harpy.”
“Analeigh has a nice ring to it.” Leah herself didn't suggest her own mother's name, both because she'd never been fond of it and she had the secondhand name aversion, so any name she suggested wouldn't be one shared by someone else in her family. It was easy to agree to Evan's suggestions because she liked his choices and she wanted him to be able to have the chance to name his daughter, just as she'd had the same chance years ago. “At least I'm an honest ball of cheese.” She said it with a straight face, but the humor was still in her eyes.
A very good, if ridiculous, point. “That,” she said, raising her eyes to the ceiling, “is an extreme case of heartburn that I never want to experience.” He threw a wrench into the plan and she shook her head as if disappointed. “Really. Where's a volcano when you need one? There was talk about a moat once, I think. But then they decided on the medieval spike pit. More grim but more effective than a moat with water.”
She swatted at him with her hand. “Still firmly denying any such thing I felt back then. It was always fun seeing how quickly you jumped when I kicked you, though. And now I'm going to make up this story in my head about how you only knocked me up so that you could get me back for all the times I abused you. Shame on you for using your daughter that way.” Shame on her, too, for not being able to manage a straight face while saying any of that.
She was well-aware of the saying versus believing issue, but it wouldn't stop her from trying. “Now you really are starting to sound like me,” Leah teased. It was something she always said, being a pessimist and expecting the worst, then being surprised when things went well. Better than hoping for the best and being disappointed. “Maybe that's the ability you got. You're turning into me. You might want to start checking yourself for a baby bump.” She patted his stomach. Concern kept her tone from being completely humorous, but she hoped the lightheartedness would help in putting his mind at ease. “It's okay to worry some, just don't let it take over your thoughts completely. It'll hinder your focus.”
A look passed over Leah's face that could only be described as her 'yay face' when Evan insisted that he didn't mind going to the trouble for her. She could've been content with whatever was already prepared in the mini-fridge, but being able to satisfy her craving was unexpectedly exciting. Which was silly, she knew, but it couldn't be tamped down. She didn't even mind that he was teasing her about her appetite. “You should consider yourself lucky I'm hungry, then. Sending you out and making you cook for me is sure to wear you down enough for you to get some sleep.” A mutually beneficial plan, as far as she was concerned. “Gotta appreciate a man willing to cook fish for his lady this late at night.”