Page 25 of Loving London

Sarah sets the table for two. She places a glass of ice water in front of me as I take the first bite of my pizza slice.

“So, I’ve finally narrowed down the list to my top name choices,” Sarah says excitedly.

“Good. You’ve been working hard on that list.”

“I know. I’ve gone back and forth through the boy names more times than I can count. But I finally have a concise list. Now, I just need you to help me choose.”

“All right, let’s hear them.”

“Okay!” She reaches back to the counter to grab the piece of paper that she’s been writing on and pushes her plate to the side. “Remember, this is my final list. So, any of these names would work. I really want your opinion.”

I force a smile. “I’m ready.”

“So, of course, we still have Henry and William on the table. Then, I also like Wyatt, Grant, Evan, Andrew, Jax, Stephen, Jacob, Roman, Evan—oh, wait, I already said Evan. I must really like that one if I wrote it twice.” She laughs to herself. “Then, I have Kline, Luca, Gunnar, Xander, Reese, Lawson, Kyler, Trystan, Creed, Kace, Grey, Rowan, Garrett, Dax, Bowie, Beckett, Kale, Jace, and Chandler.” She stops and pulls in a breath.

“Oh, wow—” I start to say.

She halts the rest of my thought. “Wait, I’m not done. I also like Kyler—oops, said that. So, we also have Lucas, Grayson, Mitchell, Logan, Madden, Landon, Sullivan, Jameson, Fordson, Zachary, Broderick, Corban, Roan, Hendrix, Ryan, Camden, Raine, Asten, Asher, Carter, Brody, Jagger, Kingston, Kohl, Ramsey, Reaves, Rhys, Saxton, Noah, Cooper, Eli, Elijah, Dean, Samuel, Connor, Braeden, Thad, Brant, Colby, Crosby, Garth, Ivan, Coulter, Kelby, Kirk, Fitz, Jameson, Knox, Langdon, Paxton, Prescott, Smith, Stone, Teague, Vaughn, and Walker.”

I wait, expecting more name diarrhea to explode from her mouth.

But, instead of saying another name, she expectantly looks at me. “So?”

“Holy hell, Sarah. That’s your final list?”

“Yeah,” she answers innocently.

“And you don’t think you could have narrowed it down at all?”

She seems offended. “I did! Like, a lot. I probably had, like, four times that at one point.”

“What’d you do? Just copy down every name in the book?”

“No,” she huffs. “I thought long and hard about each name and narrowed it down to my favorites.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing for ya.” I shrug.

“What do you mean?” Her eyes widen.

“I mean, I can’t even remember one name you said because you were rattling them off faster than I could take them in.”

“I’ll read them again.” She lowers her face to the paper.

“No. Please don’t.” I hold up my hand. “Let me know when you’ve narrowed it down a little more, like when your list totals two or three.”

“That’s, like, impossible!”

I place my hand on Sarah’s. “Calm down. You have time. You’ve accomplished much harder things in your life than picking a name. It’ll be okay.”

“But this is the most important thing I’ve ever done, Loïc. I’ve failed at everything. I can’t fail at this.” Her voice falters as her eyes fill with tears.

“Sarah…” I start to say.

“No, seriously…” A tear falls down her cheek. “We had the shittiest of childhoods, Loïc. I want my baby to have the best. I’ve already failed by not doing it the right way and giving him a father. He needs a strong name. It has to be perfect.”

“Hey”—I lean in and pull her into a hug—“listen to me. There is no such thing as perfect, Sarah. Your life will have more ups and downs, and that’s okay. The main thing that children need is love, and you’ll make sure he feels loved. Everything else will work itself out.”

I lean back so that I can look into her big blue eyes. “Whichever name you choose will be the right one because you chose it, his mother, who loves him more than anything in the world. Okay?”

---