The Name of Love

Short one-shot inspired by a post on tumblr.

It didn't happen often that David Crane was at a loss for words. His mouth stood open wide; just like his big blue eyes.

"Aw, David doesn't even know his mother's name!" A boy standing close to David teased him. That's how it all started, with a simple question. What's your mom's name, they had wanted to know. And David was so good with questions! He was as smart as his dad. Everyone told him that. This however was a question he had to think about. They had been talking about names in their social studies. Then everyone had started going on about who they were named after or how their parents had decided on their name. David had kept quiet, because no one had ever told him anything about his name. He had never bothered to ask. And now he felt stupid. Not just because of that, but because of the question that had followed:

"Hey David, what's YOUR mother called?"

They all knew his mother was English. She was something special and many children were surprised when she talked in her native accent. For David it was normal, but he couldn't deny that it felt good when everyone was amazed by his mother. As for her name, though, he didn't know. Names didn't interest him much. There were so many different things that always ran through his mind. Why did he need to know his mother's name? She was simply 'mom' and he was only five years old. He knew he couldn't say that. All these boys were older than him; David was smarter, though. That was all he knew.

David also knew that his mother had a name. Just like his name was David. His hands began to sweat. They kept staring at him, waiting for him to say something. They were waiting for him to admit he didn't know. Being his father's son, he knew he couldn't give them that satisfaction. He searched his mind, trying to remember what his father always called her. Or his grandparents. With all those eyes on him, he couldn't concentrate. He couldn't think of anything. One of the boys grinned and then David knew. He suddenly remembered what his father always called his mom!

"My love." He said proudly. No one said anything. All the other boys just stared at him, before they finally started laughing. David's own smile faded. He didn't understand it. That had to be her name, because his father constantly called her 'my love'. He could recall so many occasions. 'David is tired, my love', 'dinner is ready, my love'. David heard his father's voice like a piece of beautiful music. Granted, my love wasn't a typical name. Most of the other boys' mothers seemed to be called Tracy, Cindy or something like that. But none of them were as special as David's mother. And of course she came from England. David hadn't yet met anyone else from England. He didn't know what kind of names they used there. It all made sense – to him.

"That's not a name, doofus." One of the boys told him.

"It's her name!" David yelled. He knew he was going to start crying soon and he didn't want to do that in front of them. He felt angry; with them and with himself. He couldn't be wrong about this. David hated being wrong.

"It's not. Look, there she is," the boy pointed to David's mother, who was walking towards them. She was smiling and David felt like running towards her, but he was afraid it would look childish.

"Let's just ask her."

"No!" David yelled and before anyone else could stop him or make fun of him again, he ran away.

"Hi mom!" Quickly, David took her hand and led her away. He was afraid one of the boys would come over.

"How was school today?"

"Fine. Mom, your name is my love, right?" She stopped walking suddenly.

"What?" There was amusement in her voice, but David was too young to catch it.

"Your name. Like I'm called David. You are called my love. That's what daddy always calls you." He smiled proudly at her and Daphne crouched down to his level.

"That isn't me name, honey. That's just something your dad calls me. It's a term of endearment," David looked at her, confused, "like a nickname." Daphne added and David nodded slowly.

"Me name is Daphne." David tilted his head and it felt like he was looking at her for the very first time. He seemed to see someone new. Someone who was familiar, but who he hadn't previously known. There was suddenly a new layer to his mother and he wasn't sure how to deal with it. For the second time that day, David found himself speechless.

"I have an idea. Let's go home, have some ice-cream and talk about names." David nodded.

When Niles entered his apartment, he didn't expect his son to jump at him. He hugged him tightly.

"Hello Niles." His son greeted him with a toothy grin. And left Niles completely stunned.

"David! What did we talk about?" Daphne walked in from the kitchen, holding a dish towel.

"Sorry, dad," David said shyly, "Mom taught me all about names today." David's smile returned. He couldn't wait going back to school and telling all the others what he had learned.

"Apparently." Niles ruffled his son's hair and smiled at Daphne.

"I wrote it all down. I made a family tree! I left it in my room." The boy ran upstairs without another word.

"What brought this on?" Niles asked, taking Daphne into his arms. She relaxed against him.

"Your son was under the impression that my name is actually," she couldn't help but giggle, "my love."

"What?"

"They talked about names at school today and when the kid talked about it, David told his friends that that was my name."

"Well, it should be." Niles said and kissed her softly.

"Niles, that's not a name." Daphne said against his lips.

"But you love hearing it." The shred of doubt in his voice made Daphne take a step back and look deep into his eyes.

"You know I do."

"Good… my love. Because I'm planning on calling you that for the rest of our lives."

THE END