old soul | matthew gray gubler

49. baby names

the next day, they went to see the house again. they were just as in love with it as they had been when they saw it the last time. the only downside was that there were other applicants, and they couldn't exactly move in until matthew finished filming in march.

they stood on the front porch, having just wrapped up the tour. marilyn hugged them both goodbye once they decided to pass up on the offer and drove back home.

charlotte sighed, taking a seat on the porch swing. "sucks. i really like it here."

matthew hummed in agreement before he took the seat beside her. "i know, charlie. but maybe it's for the best. maybe there's another house out there for us."

"i know, i just want to have something settled long before the baby is ready. i want to have a nursery done, i want to know where things are unpacked. this is stressful. "

matthew put his arm around her and tugged her into his side, "i know. and i know that we want to be out here near my family so we have some support."

charlotte simply sighed again. "i guess we can keep looking between filming. it's just gonna be hard."

he kissed the top of her head, "we've got this, sweetheart."

they shared a look and matthew somehow managed to force onto her smile. "let's go pack. we gotta leave early."

she nodded, "looking forward to being back in bed." she thought for a moment and then perked when she remembered, "and we don't have to go anywhere for, like, 2 whole weeks! no filming, no parties, no nothing. oh, i'm so ready!"

they began to walk to the car and matthew laughed at her. "i'm going to make you breakfast every single morning and rub your feet every single night."

"oh!" charlotte stopped with realization, "and we can finally watch those movies we've been wanting to watch! god, it's like we've been running for so long."

matthew squeezed her hand. then, he opened the car door for her, "it's going to be a good two weeks."

a week later, and their dreams were coming to fruition. each morning, charlotte awoke to various breakfast foods upon the tray in her bed. matthew would make eggs, different types of toast, freshly squeezed orange juice, or smoothies. he was proving himself as a partner and going above and beyond for her.

each night they watched a different movie or show they'd been meaning to watch for months on end now. when sheila was free from her acting classes or from hanging out with the friends she'd made, she'd eat dinner with them or sit on the patio with charlotte as matthew drew or read.

cece, aisha, and kirsten were due to come over for a girls night sometime the following week, and matthew was due to begin filming that monday for the final season. luckily, they didn't have to relocate to vancouver for a few months like they'd done with charlotte. he would just commute between there and charlottes house for two months.

after that, sometime in april, matthew would be releasing his book. they hadn't told anyone about the accomplishment quite yet. they were hoping to keep it a secret, savoring the announcement for a month before it would be released. he had a small press tour arranged for when it would be released, but it didn't involve much more than a few interviews and book signings.

then, the baby would be born. needless to say, these two weeks were the eye of a hurricane.

they were laying on the couch, as they often did during this time period. prune was outside, utilizing his trust doggie door, and matthew was reading beside charlotte. she was half watching the television, half almost snoozing. suddenly, she felt a jolt in her stomach.

her eyes, lazily staring into space, snapped open all the way. she flinched, and rubbed the tips of her fingers against her stomach. the smooth yet jaggery rumple of stretch marks creased her touch. she made a face, but chalked it up to being pregnant and weird things happening to your body everyday. a few moments pass, until;

"woah!" charlotte sat up all the way this time, pressing her fingers back into her stomach. "oh, my god; matthew!"

he had put his book down when she first yelled out, but now he rushed to sit up beside her at the call of his name. "what? what is it? what's wrong, charlie?"

she tugged at his hands, sending his book flying onto the floor. prune, hearing the commotion from outside, ran into the living room with a wagging tail and his pink tongue hanging from his mouth. he licked charlottes exposed belly with an excited grin.

charlotte giggled at the sensation, before wiping it somewhat and sticking matthew's hand there. "just, feel."

matthew was already smiling from prunes reaction, but his face completely lit up as he felt the baby kick at him from the uterus. "oh, my, holy fucking shit!"

charlotte wiped away tears welling in her vision. needless to say, they spent the next twenty minutes feeling the baby kick.

when he stopped kicking for longer than two minutes, they put their excitement to rest and settled back into the spots. matthew kept his hand on her belly, however, just in case.

matthew picked his book off the floor and went back to his page; prune curled up on the couch beside charlotte; and the latter woman turned up the television a few volumes. she set her hand atop of matthew's and sighed, "we haven't discussed names yet."

matthew glanced at her from behind his book, "this is true. have you thought of any?"

she shrugged with a careless expression, "i don't know, honestly. it's intimidating. what if we get bored of the name? what if he hates it?"

"i'm sure he will be fine," matthew snickered. he closed his book again and laid it atop his chest. he rubbed small circles into her stomach. "what about walt?"

charlotte bummed, tapping her finger against her chin slowly in thought. "i dont hate it. it's nice; classic. old timey. maybe as a middle name?"

"i like that idea. but he does need a first name," matthew poked her lightly.

she rolled her eyes play fully. "truuuuue! what about, like, james? wait, i kinda love that."

"james walt gubler?" he pursed his lips. "i don't know. kinda liking it is not good enough, i think."

she hummed, "what about your middle name? gray?"

he sat up a bit, "grayson walter gubler?"

as the words came from his mouth, they both perked up, sharing a glint in their eyes. it was perfect.