One Direction Baby Series

8. Name

Harry: Harry came up with a brilliant idea for picking names, or at least you thought so.  One day, he came home with a dart board and gave one dart to you and kept one for himself.  He instructed you to neatly write out all your possible names on slips of paper as he set it up on the back of your bedroom door.  “Alright, Haz.  What are we doing?”  He looks at you straight in the eye and says, “I’m sick of arguing about it.  We throw the darts and then we pick the best arrangement.”  You each throw a dart and then approach the board to see which names you have.  “I’ve got Carter,” Harry says.  You read your slip aloud and it says, “Jacob.  I say Carter Jacob.  What do you think?”  “Perfect.  Such strong name for my strong little guy.”  He kisses you gently, a soft hand on your growing tummy.

Liam: Liam strokes your bare tummy from where he’s sitting next to the bathtub.  He had finished getting ready for bed and you were still in the bathtub, enjoying the first time in months where your back hasn’t hurt.  “So, a little girl, huh, angel?”  You giggle and nod and say, “I was thinking about names the other day…what about naming her Scarlett.”  You see Liam bite his lip and look down, and instantly you know that he doesn’t like it.  “I don’t know, I kind of wanted a classic name for her.  I don’t want to be the celebrity couple that names her some weird name because we can.”  You take offense, Gone with the Wind being one of your favorite books, and the name Scarlett one of your favorites.  “But…that IS classic!” you argue.  Liam looks at you and sighs, seeing your point.  “Okay, fine, Scarlett.  I’m picking the middle name…Isabel.  That way, we both get what we want.”  “It’s perfect, Li.  One last thing though, can you help me up?”  He chuckles and nods and says, “Of course, my love.”

Louis: It’s been quite a fight with Louis, mostly because you, under no circumstances, want to name your son Tommy.  You’re laying in bed, Louis kissing your neck cheekily, when he pulls up and says.  “Tommy.  Please, love.  I’ll never ask you for anything for the rest of my life if we name our son Tommy.”  You sigh and scoot away from him.  “Absolutely not.  In fact, I came up with a name on my own the other day, and if you continue to bother me about the name, I will simply tell the nurse and that will be that.”  The look on your face is completely serious, and Louis knows you well enough by now to know that you will get your way on this.  “Alright.  Lay it on me.  What is this perfect name you’ve come up with.”  “Sawyer Matthew Tomlinson.”  You state it bluntly, and Louis creases his forehead in concentration.  “Hmm.  I…actually like it.  That’s good, sweetheart.  Why, I’ve married a genius!”  You roll your eyes and kiss him lightly before saying, “Okay, we’ve got it, now can we sleep please?”

Niall: You two sit down at the kitchen table one morning and pledge not to get up until you have one full name picked out for each gender.  You decide to reverse the rolls so that you are picking the boy name and Niall is picking the girl name.  Going into the process, you’ve come up with one main guideline: It must be a normal name that doesn’t immediately stand out.  This baby was already going to be different from his or her peers because of Niall, and you didn’t want to add to the pressure by giving them a crazy name.  It’s been silent for over two hours besides the sips you’ve taken from your tea and Niall’s munching when you hear the lid of Niall’s laptop shut.  You close your own, content with the name you’ve chosen, and you slide the piece of paper that says, “Declan Oliver” over to him.  Simultaneously, he slides a piece of paper that says, “Harper Grace” over to you.  You fall in love with the name, and you see his face light up when he reads the clearly Irish name off your paper.  “Princess, we’ve done good.  Now how about a celebratory dinner?”  You laugh out loud and go to your bedroom to start getting ready.

Zayn: You’ve decided to let his sisters pick your daughter’s name, with the guideline, like Niall’s, that it not cause your child to be picked on.  You two cuddle up in your bed and open Skype, ready for the unveiling of your little girls name.  Their faces pop up on the screen one by one and they say, “So, we’re gonna play a little game of hangman to give you the name.”  Safaa quickly draws up the playing board and flashes it on the screen.  You and Zayn decide a strategy of vowels first, and get most of the name.  However, when it comes to consonants, you run out of luck fast and lose the game.  Doniya and Waliyha laugh and say, “You still get a prize, though!  Our new niece’s name is…”  Doniya writes the letters in a big, artistic font and holds them up to the camera, “…Anna Eloise.”  You think it’s beautiful, so beautiful that you’re speechless and tears come to your eyes.  Zayn wraps you tighter in his arms and says to the camera, “I think this means she likes it.  Thank you girls!  We love you!”  The camera clicks off and Zayn places the laptop on his bedside table.  “Our little Anna.  Anna Eloise.  They really did well, didn’t they?”  You eagerly nod and kiss him before resting your head on his chest and nodding off.