Choosing Life

Chapter Twenty Eight

In fact the first time Harry had done it, Uma half expected the question to come from Mal as some way to check up on her. It wasn't until the third visit where Harry had asked the same question that it had dawned on Uma that the question hadn't been coming from Mal but from Harry himself.

She'd told him he didn't have to ask every time, that the doctors would likely tell them if there was something they needed to worry about. But all Harry would say was that he lost his mom and the Smee kids lost theirs after giving birth due to unforeseen issues—and he wasn't going to lose his wife the same way. The fact that she was a Godling be damned.

Gods she loved her husband. Even if sometimes she wanted to throw him into the ocean for annoying her though lately Ben had been really good at helping prevent Harry from sticking his foot in his mouth. The wisdom of fatherhood, she guessed.

"Hmm," Facilier said as he took a bite of beignet. "Well...as long as the baby's healthy, that's the most important thing. It is just one baby right? No signs of twins like the royal babies?"

Uma shook her head. "No, thankfully. It's just the one for Harry and me."

"Have you thought about names?" Freddie asked.

"Oddly enough we have," Uma nodded. "If the guppy's a boy, well...we want to name him 'Antony Hayden'. After two of the best male figures we had in our lives."

"Hayden for Lord Hades?" Celia asked. "But...who's the Antony for?"

"It's for dad, isn't it?" Freddie asked and Uma nodded. Not many people knew Facilier's first name was 'Anton' considering he went by 'Dr. Facilier' after all.

Facilier couldn't help but smile as he heard that but cleared his throat so none of his daughters could hear the slight emotion in his voice. "And if the 'guppy', as you put it, is a girl?"

"We've decided on 'Helena Harriet'," Uma said. If she noticed her father's eyes shining, she didn't make any mention of it.

"Okay I know the 'Harriet' part is obviously after Harry's sister but where the hell did Helena come from?" Celia asked. "Also, why does the kid get to share a first letter with Harry and not you?"

Uma shook her head. "Do you know how hard it is to come up with a decent name that starts with a 'U'? Auradon and their naming practices, I tell you. Mal gave us a book of baby names and 'Helena' popped out to us as a good one."

"Harry didn't want to name the kid after his mom?" Freddie asked.

"He said he wanted to save the name for Harriet to use," Uma told her sister. "After all, she's trying to get pregnant as well and even though everyone knows how much Harry loved his mother, Harriet has clearer memories of Milah. It would mean more for her to be able to use the name."

"You know Harriet wouldn't call dibs on a name, she'd want Harry to use it if he wanted to."

"Maybe if we have another daughter but for right now it's reserved for Harriet to use." Uma said with a small shrug. "But I don't think dad called us here to talk about my and my husband's choice of baby names or Harry's reasoning for not using a certain name."

Facilier shrugged. "I won't lie and say it's my favorite topic but I do like hearing about what's going on in your lives, girls."

"You were always one of the better parents on the Isle," Uma told her father.

"Wonder if he's figured out when my birthday is yet?" Freddie muttered, her voice just soft enough for Uma to hear and she nudged her sister in the side. Whatever their father had invited them over for, it didn't deserve to be made awkward.