Chapter 4

The empty pizza plates and bottles litter the living room as Bette, Tina, and the girls sit around discussing baby names.

“I like ‘J’ names…how about Jackson and Jillian?” 

Bette looks at Alice, “So they can be turned into ‘Jack’ and ‘Jill’ and be teased relentlessly?  I don’t think so!”

Dana sits up, “You know, when you’re a teacher it’s hard to name kids without having a horrific flashback from a kid you taught in the past.  I like the name ‘Jerry’ but I would never be able to use it after last year’s demon spawn!”

Alice looks at Dana, “You think about having kids?”

Eager to get the focus off of her Dana replies, “No….of course not…I’m just saying for Bette and Tina’s sake.  I’ll bet with Bette’s job there are a lot of names that she can’t use.  Right, Bette?”

The girls chuckle at Dana and Alice’s discomfort.  Shane smiles and says, “Are you thinking that both names should start with the same letter…or have some kind of rhyming sound to it?”

“Yeah, like Matt and Patt? I always thought that was a little odd.”  Sam interjected.  “How about a name that’s androgynous.  You know…like Shane and me?  Our names are pretty cool and people don’t get to make assumptions about us before they meet us.  They don’t even know if we’re male or female until they lay eyes on us.”

Sam and Shane high five each other. 

Helena speaks up.

“I’ve always like the name ‘Alistair’…..it’s very distinguished.”  Sam pulls Helena closer and kisses her on the cheek.

Tina watches them and smiles.  Tina is happy that she has a girlfriend and is settling down a little.  From everything she’s heard, Bette was a lot like Sam until she met Tina.  She has always believed that Sam works too hard.  She’s glad that Sam is letting someone into her heart.

“Are you trying to get our kid beat up every day?  In England it may be distinguished, but in this country it’s a target!  I do like ‘A’ names, though. 

Alice pipes in, “You know, ‘Jacob’ and ‘Emma’ are the #1 names for boys and girls this year.  I did some research for my ‘Top 10 Baby Names’ article for the end of the school year newspaper that’s coming out next week.  The kids are dedicating this edition to TK.  Oh, and you too, Porter.”