Free Web NovelChapter 206: Agreed On The Names
While I helped finish up the food, scraping the last bit of the fried rice from the container, Princess was busy playing games on her laptop. She was taking a break from the brushes and the tape; she said she had been in here since she got back from school, working on the walls and ceiling until her shoulders ached.
Watching her click those controllers, her eyes reflecting the bright colors of the monitor, totally focused on that game, I realized something.
She had earned the right to give the pups the names she wanted. She had earned it a hundred times over.
When she first told me she wanted to name the pups after one of her favorite cartoons, I refused instantly. I threw a fit because I was the one carrying them, doing all the heavy lifting with my body, and they would probably come out looking more like her than me anyway. I told her no, flat out, and we ended up arguing every single time either of us brought it up during dinner or before bed.
But looking around this room, the truth was right in front of me. Princess already had everything planned out down to the very last detail. She always had the pups on her mind, every second of the day. She literally stepped down as president of the school just to take care of me and prepare for their arrival, walking away from all that power without even blinking. I’ve seen her sneakily reading books at the bar counter and watching late night videos about how to take care of newborn babies, learning how to hold them and burp them.
When I first found out I was pregnant, I wasn’t ready. Panic had completely taken over my head, and I even attempted an abortion because I was so terrified of the future. But Princess didn’t panic, maybe she did. She started planning the exact moment I told her about the pregnancy, building a fortress around us.
I may be carrying the pups inside my stomach, but Princess is the one carrying the real weight of this family.
"Babe..." I called out, my voice soft over the sound of the game’s gunfire.
"Hmm..." she muttered, her eyes still focused on the laptop screen, her thumb flicking the analog stick. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"This room looks beautiful... look at the designs and the little moons and stars on the ceiling..." I said, leaning back against a stack of boxes, trying to grab her attention, though her eyes were still locked onto the digital match.
"Wait until you see the finished version. You’re going to fall in love with this place," she said, her fingers moving in a rapid blur against the plastic controller.
"I’m already in love with it... I wonder if Leonny, Ranny, Donny, and Minny will fall in love with their room too..." I said, lowering my voice at the end, pausing to see if she actually caught what I had just said.
She was still playing the game, her fingers clicking rhythmically against the controller buttons.
"Of course they will lov..." She paused mid-sentence. She stopped pressing the buttons entirely, her character on screen getting shot as she completely ignored the game. She slowly turned both herself and the swivel chair toward me, her jaw slightly open. "Did you just call our pups Leonny, Ranny, Donny, and Minny?" she asked, a massive wave of happiness spreading across her face, erasing all the tiredness from her eyes.
My smile widened as I nodded at her, holding the empty food box in my lap.
"Are you fucking serious? Because I remember you saying you’d rather name them after the cardinal directions, which was honestly the worst idea you could have come up with," she said, letting out a breathy laugh, smiling like she still couldn’t believe the words had actually come out of my mouth.
Hearing her bring that up made me cringe instantly, the embarrassment hitting my cheeks.
The day she asked what names I had in mind for the pups, I realized I had been so caught up in the stress that I had never actually thought about names before. So, just to avoid looking stupid and clueless in front of her, I came up with North, South, West, and East on the spot.
My expression changed instantly, my lips twisting into a pout.
"You know what, maybe we should find different names instead..." I muttered, looking away from her.
Princess didn’t even wait. She immediately dropped the controller onto the table with a loud clack and rushed over to me where I sat on the floor, still surrounded by the remnants of the Chinese food. She slid onto her knees right in front of me, her paint-stained overalls scraping the floorboards.
"There is absolutely no need to change them. No taking back your words now," she said, her arms wrapping around me, pulling me close as she started kissing my face repeatedly, her lips warm against my cheeks and forehead. "I already love the names. Leonny Kings..."
"Come on, Grand-Kings, remember? We already decided we’re combining our last names together," I said, my voice sounding a little childish as I nudged her shoulder with my own.
"Yes, yes, that’s right. When we finally get married, our names will change too," she said, her eyes locked onto mine, full of a certainty that always made my stomach do flips.
And yeah, that was true. We had already decided to combine our surnames after marriage... whenever we were actually ready to get married. Or more accurately, whenever I was finally ready to take that step with her.
After Princess finished celebrating her victory, because naming the pups had basically become a full-scale war between us for weeks, so this definitely counted as a massive win for her, she returned to her chair and her game. She said she wanted to play for another ten minutes to clear her head before continuing the painting on the far wall.
As I stared at her back, watching the light from the laptop screen illuminate her ponytail, I wanted to talk more. I wanted more of these quiet moments between us, just sharing things without the club or friends around.
Thinking about school today, about how Sasha and Haley told each other everything without any hesitation, made something stir deep inside me. I wanted that kind of closeness. I wanted to know the parts of her she kept hidden under that calm, cool exterior.
"So babe..." I said slowly, shifting my weight on the floor and crossing my legs. "Why don’t you tell me your dirty secrets?"
