Baby Names
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine, I’m only borrowing them for a little while and will return them.
Author’s Notes- I got a request asking about how Kenna and Diavolos decided on names for their babies and this was the result. Kenna’s certainty about the gender of her children is based on my own experience. I had gut feelings each time (and was right), so I decided that Kenna would as well. The last bit of this refers to the events of my story “The Center of His World”.
Pairing- Kenna/Diavolos
Rating- PG
Summary- Kenna and Diavolos discuss baby names.
Words- 1372
Kenna stood at Leon’s grave, freshly dug even though he had been gone for over a year. Lia had recently arranged to have the body sent to her and re-buried at Stormholt where he belonged.
“What do you think about naming the baby Leon if it’s a boy?” Diavolos asked from behind her, placing her hands on her stomach and the bump that was just starting to form.
Kenna turned her head to shoot him a look, “it is a boy, but yes, I think I’d like that.”
Leon hadn’t been a huge presence in her childhood like Gabriel, but during his year as her crown guardian they had grown close and knowing about his love for her mother… It just made her even fonder of him. She still felt guilty, like her naivety and her unwillingness to believe Luther could be right had gotten him killed, but she knew the guilt wouldn’t help anyone. Still, she liked the name of his continuing on. Besides…
“If Leon hadn’t died, I’m not sure I would ever have been able to force myself to ally with your father,” Kenna admitted, “and then we would never have met.”
“Then I owe him a tremendous debt,” Diavolos said, placing a kiss on her head, “because I can’t imagine my life without you.” He grinned. “Plus I’d still be rotting away in the dungeon.”
It was so strange to think that only a year ago she and Diavolos had been enemies and that he’d been her prisoner (even if she hadn’t been aware of it). So much had changed since then.
“Do you have a middle name in mind?” She asked a few nights later as they laid in bed together, his hands resting on her bare stomach.
Diavolos shot her a look. “Do you really want to use one of my family names?”
“Well, we should probably avoid Luther,” she conceded, “but what about Baltair or Seoras?”
Diavolos looked pain and shook his head. “I can’t… It still hurts to hear their names.”
“Ok,” Kenna said, letting it go. She knew how deeply Diavolos grieved for his brothers and she didn’t want to push him.
“My grandfather’s name was Cassian,” he said finally, “My mother’s father. I’ve always liked the name and it was Baltair’s middle name.”
There was a wistfulness in his voice that made Kenna’s heartache for him. She knew she would have agreed to the name even if she hated it, but luckily she didn’t.
“Leon Cassian it is then,” Kenna said with satisfaction.
“Unless it’s a girl,” Diavolos pointed out with a grin.
“It’s not,” Kenna responded confidently.
Diavolos rolled his eyes, “ah yes, I know you have a ‘feeling’.” She glared at him and he threw his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry, you’re right, of course, it’ll be a boy.”
—
“Do you have any other family names you like?” Kenna asked curiously as they lay in bed. “For the baby?”
“Like I said when you were pregnant with Leon, my family names come with a pretty iffy history,” Diavolos reminded her, “and I’d rather avoid those connections. It’s bad enough they’ll have the last name Nevrakis.”
Kenna knew that he was still coming to terms with his family legacy and she chose not to push him. She had insisted on giving the children the last name Nevrakis, mostly as a way of dealing with the few people who had questioned her wisdom in restoring the Nevrakis family to power. She’d argued that this way they were re-writing the Nevrakis family legacy and Diavolos had agreed.
“We could just use Gabriel as a first name,” Diavolos suggested after a moment, rubbing her swollen belly.
Kenna shook her head, “no… I can’t… I’m not ready to say it constantly.”
Diavolos eyes softened and he kissed her head. “I understand.”
“I do like it as a middle name though,” Kenna said after a moment, “we just need to find the right name to go with it.”
“And you’re sure there’s no reason to discuss girls names?” Diavolos teased.
“I was right about Leon,” Kenna reminded him.
“You’re right, I should never doubt you,” Diavolos agreed, “after all you are the legendary Kenna Rys, the uniter of kingdoms, there’s nothing you can’t do.” He paused. “What about Rys?”
Kenna paused, considering it. “Rys Gabriel Nevrakis, I love it.”
—
“I’d like to name her after my mother,” Kenna said quietly, picturing her mother in her mind. Almost a decade had passed since her mother’s murder and the pain had lessened, though she knew it would never be gone, but enough that she felt confident in her ability to hear her mother’s name every day.
“Of course,” Diavolos agreed instantly, as always, his hands were resting protectively on her stomach. She noted that he didn’t even question her certainty about the baby’s gender, apparently, after two successes he was starting to trust her intuition.
“Do you want to use your mother’s name as a middle name?” Kenna asked hesitantly.
“We could,” Diavolos said, but she could tell he wasn’t enthusiastic and she didn’t want to push the idea if he wasn’t comfortable.
“I did have another idea…” She said hesitantly.
“Oh?” He asked, starting to rub circles on her bare stomach.
“I was thinking we could name her after Zenobia.”
Diavolos raised an eyebrow. “My sister?”
“Do you know any other Zenobia’s?” Kenna asked with a laugh.
“Thankfully, no, but I didn’t think you were fond enough of my sister to want to name a baby after her.”
“She’s grown on me,” Kenna said after a moment, “marriage has mellowed her and so has not being around your father.”
They would never be best friends, but against the odds, they had formed a bond and Kenna had grown fond of the other woman.
“I know you have a reluctance about a lot of Nevrakis names and I understand that, but your family is our children’s family and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. Zenobia is a part of their life and ours and you know she adores the boys. I think it’s a good fit.”
“Adriana Zenobia,” Diavolos said, trying the name out, “it works and Zen will be thrilled.”
—
“We never picked a name,” Kenna said as she gazed at her daughter. The daughter she almost hadn’t gotten to hold and the only one of their children to come into the world without a name already decided on.
“I’d like to call her Livia,” Diavolos said quietly.
After his mother? Kenna met his eyes, remembering how reluctant he had been before.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about her when I thought…” Diavolos began and then stopped unable to bring himself to even say the words. “I thought about how much her loss hurt Father, what he became after she died and worried I’d be the same.”
“You wouldn’t,” Kenna assured him, “you are too good a man and you have too many people around you to stop you.”
“I hope so,” Diavolos said softly, “though I hope I never have a chance to find out. Anyway, it just made me think about her and… It feels right to name the baby after her.”
“It does,” Kenna agreed, it had been her first choice but she hadn’t wanted to push Diavolos when he wasn’t comfortable, “what do you think of Annelyse as a middle name?”
Her friend had been a tireless nurse, helping her through the worst of the labor and never leaving her side and Kenna wanted to honor her.
“Livia Annelyse Nevrakis,” Diavolos said, reaching to take the baby from Kenna, “I think it’s the perfect name for our last baby.”
A feeling of sadness and regret flashed through Kenna at his words. Yes… Livia would be their last. The midwife, Annelyse, and Madeline had all advised that she shouldn’t risk another birth.
As grateful as Kenna was to be alive and as happy as she was with her beautiful daughter, she felt a pang of sadness at the idea of never having any more babies. But she pushed that pang aside. This wasn’t the time, right now she should focus on the present and her beautiful daughter.
- End
