Page 12 of Eternally London

Dixon comes up behind her and kisses her head. “He’s a boy, babe. Boys like dirt. Get used to it.”

“I just did all the floors,” Sarah whines.

“When we’re done eating, I’ll carry him right to the tub. He won’t even touch the floors. Okay?”

“Fine,” she sighs.

“So, should we tell them?” Dixon takes a seat next to Sarah and looks at her with pure joy.

“Ooh, tell us what?” London asks excitedly.

“Go for it,” Sarah says.

“Well”—Dixon’s face lights up with a huge smile—“Sarah and I are expecting a baby.”

“No way. Awesome, man,” I say.

London claps her hands together and congratulates them. “When are you due?” she asks Sarah.

“Not for another eight months. It’s early.”

“What’s the due date again, babe?” Dixon places his hand on Sarah’s knee.

“March 13,” Sarah answers.

I turn to London in question, and she nods as her lips quirk up.

“We’re actually trying right now, too,” I say to them. A wave of pride comes over me.My wife and I are going to start a family.It’s surreal.

“Really?” Sarah grabs my arm. “That’s amazing. So, you could be pregnant?” she asks London.

“Hopefully.” London shrugs with a shy grin.

Sarah’s annoyance has faded into pure squeals of excitement. “Oh my gosh! That would be so great. Our babies would only be, like, a month apart. They could grow up as best friends. Or, if you have a boy and I have a girl, they could be, like, soul mates. Oh…what if our kids got married? That would be so cool. Have you thought about names? Let’s talk names. We obviously can’t have the same ones on our lists.”

“No way, Sarah. We’re not talking names.” I recall the horror of listening to Sarah list thousands of name suggestions for six months as she tried to come up with Evan’s. I slap Dixon’s shoulder. “You get the joy of naming a child with Sarah this time around. Good luck,” I say on a chuckle.

Dixon shoots me a look. “That bad?”

“Oh, it’s bad.” I shake my head. “I’d tell you that I’d be here for you, but that’s not true. This one’s all you.”

We eat dinner as Sarah yammers on about names, and since it’s too early in the pregnancy to know whether she’s having a boy or a girl, we’re fortunate enough to listen to both lists. I have flashbacks to living with her at my house in Michigan when she was pregnant. God, that seems like a lifetime ago.

I glance at London beside me, who is listening to Sarah with fake interest. The smile perched on her face is strained and doesn’t reach her eyes. I know every expression and emotion London’s beautiful face makes.

After dinner, London and I volunteer to do the dishes while Dixon carries a giggling Evan over his head toward the bathroom.

“Oh, I got a new bath bomb for Evan. I’m going to go grab it from my car for bath time,” Sarah says before hastily exiting the kitchen, leaving London and I alone.

London rinses a plate before handing it to me. I place it in the dishwasher.

“Have you thought about names at all?” I wonder aloud. “I mean, girls plan these things from the time they’re little and playing with baby dolls, right?”

London lets out a small laugh. “I was never one of those girls, not really. But I have thought about it a little.”

“And?”

She turns off the water and dries her hands with a dish towel. Turning toward me, she says, “I think it might be nice to stick with names of geographical significance. You know, it’s kind of a theme.”

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