Chapter 23

"What about Andrea for a boy? It sounds great, doen’t it? Andrea Portland?"

"No way. It’s going to be a Kennard. You have the fun in the beginning, but I am the one feeding and carrying the child for nine months, I am the one giving birth to it, so it gets my name."

"But Tina, isn’t it a nice tradition to give your child the father’s name?"

"It’s retarded and it doesn’t make sense, just as it doesn’t make sense for a woman to take her husband’s name after they married. Why do they even do this in the USA? They don’t do it in Europe."

"Well, that’s your choice. How about Portland-Kennard?"

"That’s just because you know they’ll shorten it to Portland. And think about your child, Jesse. Portland-Kennard is too long. And even if we combined our names, it would be Kennard-Portland."

Jesse sighed – his girlfriend was one stubborn woman. They hadn’t told anybody about their baby, Tina wanted to wait until she was over the three months mark. Every day he prayed that nothing would go wrong in this crucial period. He had never prayed before.

"I’m going to have a herbal tea and then go to bed," Tina said. He looked at her worriedly, the tone in her voice had changed. She sounded really tired, despite it only being 7 PM. He was glad that he wasn’t the one being pregnant. Granted, feeling your child inside of you must be wonderful, but he didn’t think he would be able to bear the pain.

He looked at Tina and his heart seemed to grow. He couldn’t wrap his head around how much he loved this woman and knew that the second she would leave him – for another man, or by dying – a part of him would die. The most important one, the vital one. He wouldn’t survive that. He was a very modern man, but he enjoyed traditions. Admittedly they had broken one by moving in together before marrying, but it was only wise to do that. He still wanted to get married before they had the baby. He had tried to brush the subject with Tina, but she had quickly started about something else. Maybe she just needed more time. Maybe she just wanted to focus on giving this little child inside of her life. He would try again later. He walked to the bedroom and helped his girlfriend, even though she didn’t need it. When they were both lying down, he suggested something.