Together, We Rise

Chapter Seventeen: Name Picking

"That's because you're lame," Laura said.

Susie jumped off of Evan's lap and sat down in a small, empty space beside me . "Melody," she said in her usual playful voice. "What baby are they talking about?"

I sighed, not really wanting to explain to Luke's little sister about my situation. "Well......." I began slowly. "Your brother is going to be a daddy."

"Lukey?" Susie asked. "How?"

"It's complicated," I said.

"Can I see the baby?" she asked.

Reluctantly, I nodded. I did get a picture of the ultrasound and I kept it in pocket of Luke's sweater that I constantly wore. I pulled out the picture and showed it to Susie. "These small things are the babies," I told her.

"There's two?" she asked. "Where are the now?"

"That's hard to explain," I said. "But right now, we should watch your brother play basketball."

Lakemoat High did infact win once again, but this time only by four points. They were still in the competition, luckily. If they lose one game, they're out.

I got off the bench and walked over to Luke. "Congrats, Luke!" I said, giving him a hug. "You were great!"

"That's because my good luck charm was watching," Luke said.

I smiled. "You always know what to say to me," I told him before pressing my lips softly against his.

"Luke," Briggs said, causing Luke and I to pull away from each other. "I don't mean to interrupt, but you're coming to celebrate with us, right?"

Luke scoffed. "Yeah, right. And get in trouble?"

"Hey, I was the only sober one that day," Briggs said. "I'm not stupid enough to drink during the National competition."

"Well, I have other things to do," Luke told Briggs.

Briggs raised an eyebrow. "So, you'd rather hang out with your girlfriend than celebrate a win with your team?"

"Yes," Luke replied honestly.

Briggs sighed. "Alright, fine. But we are going to do something for your birthday."

"My birthday?" Luke asked.

"Of course," Briggs said. "It is coming soon, isn't it?" I tried my best not to laugh. Briggs thought Luke's birthday hasn't passed yet. Little did he know....... "How many days again?"

"Three days," Luke said. "Ago. My birthday was three days ago, Briggs. And the whole basketball team, besides Matt, forgot which is why I'm going to leave now and hang out with my wonderful girlfriend and family who didn't forget." Luke didn't wait for Briggs' reply as he grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Briggs.

We didn't say anything until we got in the elevator to go to my hotel room. "Did they really all forget your birthday?" I asked.

Luke sighed. "Yeah. After years of being on the same team, they just completely forget my birthday. But I don't care that much. At least the people I loved remembered. Even John did. Well, then again, I told him about it the day before, so......." We reached the floor and got our of the elevator.

I, admittedly, was happy that Aunt Celia went back to Vermont. I couldn't handle her constant disapproving glares and hateful words. She was going to hate me all my life, I was sure of it. It was weird, though. She was always there for me, then one thing happened and suddenly, it was like we were never close. I always went to her for my problems, Now I couldn't.

"So," Luke said once we walked in my hotel room. "Did you pick any names yet?"

"Nope," I said. "Laura just asked me the same thing and gave me a suggestion."

"What would that be?"

"Laura."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "She wants one of them to be names after her? You said no, right?"

"John told her that I'm not going to," I said. "Which is true."

Luke nodded, then smiled. "I have an idea." He pulled me to the kitchen, where his laptop was sitting at the table. He turned it on, then gestured for me to sit beside him. I did as he typed something into the laptop. "We are going to search for baby names."

"Don't you mean a baby name?" I asked. "You already have one picked out. By the way, I want to know the name."

Luke shook his head. "It's a surprise."

"But what if I don't like it?" I asked.

"You will," Luke said. "Trust me."

Luke clicked on a page, then we started looking at the names. It was tough choosing. We couldn't even pick one name for a boy or a girl. Plus, it really irked me that Luke wouldn't tell me the name he picked. How would he know if I liked it or not?

"Luke," I said. "Can you please tell me the name?"

"It will be a surprise," Luke said. "Besides, we don't know for sure if one of them will be a boy."

"Please?" I asked, giving him my famous puppy-dog pout. Luke even had to look away, not wanting to give in. "Luke! Please?"

"Mel........" Luke siad "Don't give me that look. It won't work."

"Please?" I asked again. "I just want to know........" For an extra effect, I sniffed and let fake tears roll down.

Luke faced me and sighed. "Jeremy."

I blinked a bit. "W-what?"

"The name I picked if one of them is a boy is Jeremy," Luke said.

I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. "How did you know.....?"

"I asked Matt," Luke said. "I thought it would be the perfect name."

I wiped away some real tears that started rolling down my cheek. "It is," I said in what came out in a whisper. "It really is."

"And I was thinking that if we get a girl, she can be called Massy," Luke told me. "Massy Luna Cosgrove. Well, unless you want your last name."

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around him. "You're the best, Luke. I'm so happy you're in my life."

Luke hugged me back with no sign of letting go. "And I'm happy you're in my life," Luke said.

"I definitely want the babies to have your last name," I told him. "And if we do get a boy, we'll have to name him Jeremy Jordan Cosgrove. If we get two, then.......I have no idea. Thank you for picking those names out for me. It means a lot."

"Of course," Luke said. "I wanted at least one of them to be named after your parents. And if we get a boy and a girl, then it will be all sorted out. Your parents' name for the first name and our middle names for the middle name."

I nodded in agreement. Luke thinking all of this out only proved how much I meant to him. "I love you, Luke," I told him.

"I love you too, Mel," Luke replied before giving me a kiss.