Page 96 of The I Do Over

“I noticed you said he,” she murmured.

“We need to call him something. Referring to our baby as ‘it’ just feels wrong. Maybe we should think of a name to use instead.” Then his eyes lit up. “This is the perfect time for you to come up with one of your crazy words!”

“They’re not crazy…”

“They’re crazy and everybody knows it. So…come on. Pick a name!”

“Knox…”

“Nope, we’re not going with a junior,” he teased.

Groaning, she leaned back in her chair. “Why are you like this?”

“If you’re not feeling creative…”

“Okay, fine.” She paused. “I did just like how you called him bean.”

Nudging her playfully, he said, “I noticed you said him.”

“Knox!”

“Sorry. Go on.”

“Bean or Jellybean,” she began. “Squishy…”

“Squishy?”

“Shh…I’m thinking. Hmm…Squirt, Boo, Peanut, Weeble…”

“Now you’re not even trying to be creative…”

“Maddie Christopher?” a nurse called out.

They looked at each other and grinned. “This is it,” Knox said, squeezing Maddie’s hand in his. “First look at our baby.”

“Let’s do this!”

It was almost three hours later when they were pulling into her mother’s driveway. Maddie still had their ultrasound pictures in her hand and he had to admit, it was hard to keep his attention on the road because he wanted to look at them too.

A baby.

God, how did I get to be this lucky?

A few months ago, Knox was satisfied with his life. But now that he was back with Maddie and they were starting a family, he felt like he was beyond blessed.

He parked the car and gently took the grainy photos from her hands and looked through them, grinning like a loon. “I know we can’t tell much from this picture, but I can already tell that this is the most beautiful baby in the world.”

Beside him, she giggled. “I’d like to say you’re being crazy, but I have to agree.” She paused and looked at the pictures with him. “And you still don’t love Boo for the name?”

“Uh, no. That just sounds ridiculous and I’d be opening myself to a crap-ton of mocking from the guys.”

“I don’t see why they get a say…”

They’d been talking about this all morning and still weren’t any closer to a name to call the baby for the next seven or eight months. “Come on. Let’s put that on hold for now and go visit with your mom.”

Nora greeted them at the door with a big smile and a thumbs-up, which meant they were going to finally be able to have the conversation they wanted to have.

Knox stood back and let Maddie and her mother have a moment to themselves before joining them. The look on Mrs. Christopher’s face when she recognized him—really recognized him—was simply a myriad of emotions.

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