Page 5 of A Wedding in the Bay

“What about Samuel?” Alissa Taylor laid a card down on the kitchen table and smiled at her husband Dane, lifting a brow in question.

They were playing cards together after dinner. It was a beautiful winter evening, and the moon was casting blue light on the snow outside, causing it to glisten. Inside their beautiful home, it was cozy and peaceful. Alissa had brewed them both cups of ginger and turmeric tea, and her mug was warm and steaming in her hands.

“I knew a guy in middle school named Samuel, and I couldn’t stand him,” Dane said, making a face. “Veto.”

As soon as they’d started trying to choose a name for the baby, they’d decided that they would each have the power to “veto” the other person’s suggestions if they didn’t like the name. So far, the only names they’d been able to add to their list of potentials were names that neither of them liked very much.

“My favorite cousin is named Samuel, and he’s the nicest guy on the planet,” she protested.

“I’m not saying they’re the same person.” He laughed, taking a sip of his tea. “I’m just saying I don’t like the name.”

She sighed. “We’re never going to be able to decide on a name for this baby.”

“Of course we are.” He smiled encouragingly at her as he laid down another card. “Besides, now we know that he’s a boy, that’s lowered our options considerably.”

“True.” She smiled and laid down a card.

“What about Calvin?” he suggested.

She wrinkled her nose as she considered it. “No, I don’t think so. I just don’t click with it. Veto.”

“Maybe we won’t know until we meet him,” he said, smiling sentimentally in a way that made her feel warm inside.

“Maybe not,” she agreed.

“Is he still behaving himself? Not making his mommy nauseous anymore?”

She laughed. “Oh stop, it’s not like it was his fault! And no, I haven’t been nauseous in a while. I’m feeling great now. My energy has been fantastic—of course, it also helps that my arm is no longer broken.” She held out her arm, which had been broken several months earlier, and sighed in satisfaction. “It’s so nice to be able to move without a sling, even if it’s still a tiny bit sore sometimes.”

“You’re an absolute champion,” he said, reaching across the table to give her arm a gentle squeeze. “Dealing with morning sickness and a broken arm all at the same time.”

“It wasn’t all that bad.” She grinned. “I’ll admit, the broken arm was rough, but that led to getting closer to Johanna, which led to us convincing her to move here, and as far as the nausea goes—well, he’s more than worth putting up with a little nausea for.” She placed her hand on her stomach, feeling a rush of love for their little one.

“You know,” he said slowly, and she knew he was about to make a joke from the way his lips were curving up at the corners. “We could always name him Nauseous.”

She threw a card at him, crowing with laughter. “Oh, that’s terrible! At this rate we’re going to have to wait until he’s eighteen, and then he can pick his own name.”

He laughed. “What if he picks a name we both hate?”

She groaned, leaning her head down onto the table. “You tell us, baby,” she said to her stomach. “What do you want to be called?”

“Maybe we can ask for suggestions at dinner tomorrow night,” he suggested, still chuckling. “I know my mom will probably have some good ideas, and I bet our other guests will as well.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” She clapped her hands together excitedly. “Of course, we’ll have to make sure they don’t feel offended if we don’t take their suggestions.” She laughed. “Now I’m even more excited about this party. I’m sure Caitlin will have great ideas for names. She’s mentioned that we should chat about names at some point, but she’s never given me any formal suggestions.” Caitlin Lewis was Alissa’s twin sister, and she had a darling eight-year-old daughter named Pearl.

“Michael probably will too. He must have heard all kinds of good names after hiring all those teenagers at Tidal Wave Coffee over the years,” he joked. Michael O’Neil was Caitlin’s fiancé, a handsome surfer who also ran Blueberry Bay’s most popular coffee shop, Tidal Wave Coffee.

“Oh, good point. And Marsha and Willis have lived long lives and met all kinds of people. They’ll be a great group to ask about names.”

“What do you know about Marsha and Willis’s guest?” he asked curiously as he set down another card.

She shook her head. “Basically nothing. They just asked if they could bring someone else along, and I said that any friend of Marsha and Willis is already essentially a friend of ours.”

He smiled. “I can agree with that. They’re two of the nicest people we know.”

“We have everything we need, right? An additional guest isn’t going to require any extra purchases before tomorrow?”

“We should be good,” he said, staring at the ceiling in a way she found adorable as he ticked off items in his mind. “We already bought extra food and snacks, and we already have extra dishes. We’ll need an extra chair, but there’s that one in the attic we can bring down.”

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