Ch.3, Part 2: What's in a Name?

(Continued from Part 1.)

You might ask me, did I ever think I'd ever have a big family in my lifetime? Like, did I ever realize that my life would be the way it was?

Well, no. But at one point in my life, all I cared about was, 'how do I hide from the cops?'. You know, before I changed my ways.

The turn of events was rather welcoming. Instead of my heels cooling in jail, they were being clung to and turned into the first section of the human mountain that was apparently I.

And later on, they got bit and eventually turned into scratching posts. No, not Echo in the terrible twos, though that was pretty harrowing in its own way.

I mean the guy we adopted shortly after we moved.

I remember it like it was yesterday morning. Shark and the girls were sleeping, and I'd just gotten up.

I wanted to read the newspaper before I made breakfast, since Shark wasn't telling me if his team won the game from the other night or not.

Even though I got up a bit earlier than usual, I remember it was still kind of dark out, it turned out my newspaper was already being used.

I was a little peeved, I'll admit. Normally my morning paper isn't being used as a makeshift mattress for a cat. The amount of strays had been on the rise, but I didn't think we'd end up having one in our own yard.

At first, I tried to reason with him. I tried telling him, 'Look pal, I'm sure that makes a very comfy bed, but I really would like to read the sports section.' He didn't budge. I then tried shooing him off of it, and the little punk still wouldn't move an inch!

Soon, I had no choice but to carry him in with the paper. You know how to read a newspaper through a cat's ass? You don't. So I just gave up and went to go cook breakfast. I came back with my plate, and he was still there.

I ended up eating my waffles while staring at a cat using a newspaper the wrong way, on the floor. At least, I did until Shark woke up, all ready to go to work.

When that cat saw him, he just jumped up and made friendly with him. I about rolled my eyes. Apparently, the little furball already had a bit of a grudge against me.

But with Shark, he found a new friend. Oh, they cozied up to each other in no time flat. Shark asked where he came from, and I told him, 'from the newspaper usurpers club'. I really couldn't think of any better comebacks.

I tried to explain that he was just a stray, that I should probably put him back outside, but Shark wouldn't hear of it.

After he got off work, Shark got him everything. Cat toys, cat bed, and I kid you not, a cat condo. Which Shark and I had to carry in and assemble.

The damn thing was so big, it took up a good chunk of the main room. And of course, the cat loved it.

Well, at least he didn't ignore it, like most cats do when they get expensive things. He played in that thing until the day he died.

I figured, since Shark was the one that wanted him to stay, he was the one that had to name him. He promised me he would when he took the cat in to get his shots and get neutered. 

And when they got back, I just had to read the name on his name tag. The problem was: I couldn't. The name on the tag was in Japanese letters. So, I had to ask Shark.

He literally said it, "Masaru~" He said it so coyly, and Jade's expression seemed to indicate she knew he'd give it a name like that.

I had to wonder how much anime he watched during that nerd phase of his.

 So the next time I had a chance, I looked up the name on the computer. Apparently, depending on how it's written, Masaru means 'victory'.

When I finally got to my newspaper, it said the Llamas won, which was Shark's team. Consider it an 'aha' moment for me. But, like it or not, Masaru was a part of the family now.

I suppose he and I somehow reached an understanding at some point.

He could play with foil balls, he could have plastic toy balls, he could even have fun with tennis balls. He could bat around any kind of balls he wanted, so long as they weren't my balls!

(I really hope he's talking about the cat...)

As time went on, I got used to the tuna breath, hairballs, and constant meowing. And as if on some coincidental cue, Shark's whole 'paternal instinct' flared up again.

He wanted Echo to have a sibling. And...I did too. But that's not the kicker. When he told me he wanted more kids, he had a specific number in mind.

He wanted five of them altogether, including Echo.

When he said the number, I about choked. Most people didn't want that many. Hell, Echo kept me busy, whenever I watched her. And Masaru, whenever he wasn't otherwise trying to gross me out with his weird cat yoga.

I thought maybe since Shark had been born into a big family, that was why he was wanting a big family of his own. And well, there was that part of me that just couldn't say no to Shark. 

So, we called up the adoption service again, and asked if we could take in another little bundle of joy.

Knowing they came by later with a basket, our question was answered.

 Shark told me I could name this child. He'd already named Echo, and he told me that if he named all our kids, we'd have a bunch of Greek muses running around.

So I had to figure out what to name this child. I wanted to name her after a flower, but names like "Lily" and "Poppy" didn't seem to fit her. So...I was at my wit's end.

While I was thinking, I put on one of my CDs I had back when I lived with Goodwin. He wasn't exactly fond of symphonic metal, but I figured he just didn't appreciate the band I liked.

That, or he was more used to me playing Indie songs. But hey, nothing wrong with something a little different.

So, one of their songs came up. And the singer got to the part about the "Amaranth, in a land of the daybreak".

And I realized, 'that's it! That's her name.' The little girl I was holding was our Amaranth. I told Shark what the name was, and he thought it was perfect.

Of course, I didn't tell him I named her after a Nightwish song. He'd probably think it was weird.

But either way, we had our Echo, and we had our Amaranth.  They were our two wonderful little girls, if not unusually named.

Of course, weird names were probably the least strange thing that happened in this family.

(A/N: End of Chapter 3, Part 2.)