Summary: Chrom and Robin discuss baby names over late night food cravings.
Rating: K


"Hello."

Robin turned around to face her husband, a spoon dangling from her mouth. She took it out. "Hello."

"Night cravings?" Chrom asked, taking a seat at the old wooden kitchen table laden with various fruit tarts, several muffins, and a wide variety of cured game meats.

"Night cravings," Robin confirmed, returning to her custard and sitting down.

Six months into her pregnancy, Robin (ever the night owl) had been waking up in the middle of the night with sudden cravings for the oddest assortment of foods. Later in the evening, Chrom would reach for his wife in his sleep, find no one, and then (grumbling) begin his evening search for her. He once found her in the royal library with a scone in one hand and a book on ancient Elibean warfare in the other. Another night, she was sharing apples with the horses in the stable. But luckily for him, most nights he could find her in the kitchen on her quest for food. The palace cooks had taken to baking extra pastries and pies for their queen, lest she deplete the supply of quail eggs and venison... again.

"The maids think it may be a boy." Robin said thoughtfully, swirling her spoon in the bowl. "Because of all the game meat I've been craving."

"A boy would be nice," Chrom said picking up a blueberry muffin.

"I think so too."

"What would we call the boy?"

"We could always name him after you. Chrom the Second. Frederick would probably take to calling the boy Lord Chrom the Younger. It would be very cute."

Chrom rolled his eyes and Robin giggled behind her bowl. "Maybe not."

"How about Finlay?"

Chrom shook his head and began picking the blueberries out of his muffin. "I knew a Finlay as a child. He was very boorish and rude."

"Marth then."

"Perhaps," Chrom said. "Quite honestly, there are so man Marths in my family the boy would be Marth the Fifteenth at least."

"Fechin?"

"Fechin is quite a fetching name."

Robin laughed. "No, I changed my mind, not Fechin."

She scraped the last dredges of custard from the bowl. "Maybe the baby will be a girl."

"A girl," Chrom said thoughtfully. "A daughter as beautiful, kind, and intelligent as her mother."

"You flatter me, husband," Robin said, a blush creeping on her cheeks. Three years of knowing Chrom and two years of marriage would never quite settle the butterflies that fluttered inside her when he looked at her like she was the sun and stars. "A girl would be wonderful. But..."

"But what?"

"Daughters leave. Daughters will leave their families for their husband's families and I already know I'll have... difficulty letting go."

"That will be years and years away, Robin," Chrom said. "You worry too much. It is possible for a tactician to plan too far ahead."

"I'm not sure it is."

"Robin," Chrom said, an edge of worry in his voice.

Robin sighed. "I'll save my concerns for another day."

They're quiet for a moment, the fire in the hearth crackling merrily, the flames dancing in yellows and oranges.

"Are you going to dissect your muffin or eat it?"

Chrom tossed his muffin to Robin, who bit into it immediately. "Catarina for a girl, maybe?" she asked through a full mouth.

Chrom said nothing and averted his eyes from his wife.

"Did you know a Catarina too?"

Chrom mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"A Catarina pushed me into a fountain during finishing school," Chrom said quickly.

Robin's warm cackle echoed in the kitchen. "Catarina's off the table then."

"What about after you? Little Robin. Little Bird," Chrom said, a grin spreading across his face.

"No," Robin said flatly.

"Little Bird and Mama Bird?"

"Chrom."

"Yes, Mama Bird?"

Robin flicked a blueberry at Chrom, but he catches it before it can stain his nightclothes.

"Peace, my queen. No need for another war," Chrom said, chuckling. "What about Ragnell?"

"After the Radiant Hero's sword of legend?" Robin asked. "Children will be so mean, Chrom. They'll tease her."

"Alright, Alondite?"

"I don't want to name our daughter after a sword, Chrom."

"Reginleif."

"That's a lance."

"Murgleis."

"Nor a bow!" Robin said. "You're exasperating me, husband. Why not name the child Falchion and be done with it?"

"Actually..."

"No, Chrom."

Chrom leaned back in chair and looked up at the thatched roof of the kitchen. He could just see a bit of the night sky peaking out through a tear in the roof. He'll have to have that fixed before the next rainfall.

"I like Lucina," Robin said.

The legs of Chrom's chair hit the stone floor with a soft clack. "Lucina?"

"Do you not like the name?"

"No, no. I do" Chrom assured. "Lucina was my mother's name."

"Oh," Robin said. She thought briefly of Chrom's complicated relationship with his father. Robin knew very little about the royal family, save for memories of Emmeryn, her friendship with Lissa, and the occasional odd peek into their collective time with their parents. The late king was never a favorite subject of Chrom's; Robin had gleaned that although the man was a caring father, his constant absence from Ylisse and wartime atrocities far outweighed any personal affection he had for his children. Chrom's mother never came up at all.

"If you don't want to name our daughter after your mother. I understand completely."

"Gods, no," Chrom said quickly. "Robin, I loved the woman. She was taken from me and my sisters too soon. It would be a great honor to name our daughter after her."

Robin smiled at her husband who returned it. "Lucina. Lady Lucina of Ylisse. I love it."

"She'll be amazing. Like her mother."

Robin shook her head. "The late hour has made you silly, Chrom. I'm going back to bed."

Chrom stood and drew his wife to him, holding her in his arms. "Allow me to join you."

He leaned down and kissed her gently. Robin wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Chrom's hands tangled themselves in Robin's silky hair. His wife tasted like summer berries and sugar.

Robin broke the kiss and looked at her husband with wide eyes.

"She kicked! Did you feel that?" she said, moving one of Chrom's hands to her belly.

"I suppose that means she approves of the name," Chrom said with a laugh. His lips brushed Robin's forehead. "We should go back to sleep, it'll be morning soon."

"We still haven't decided on a boy's name," Robin said, lacing her fingers with Chrom's, as the two made it back to their bedchambers.

"Robin, trust me when I say... Nidhogg."

Robin snuggled into her husband's side. "I surrender, my liege. If it's a boy, you can name him after whatever ancient weapon you see fit."

"Lord Excalibur of the Halidom of Ylisse it is."


Author's Note: Can you just imagine that the some of the only parts of ancient history Chrom remembers are the names of weapons? Particularly, weapons from Magvel just because my heart goes out to The Sacred Stones, my first Fire Emblem game.

I don't like the title of this piece. If you have a suggestion, please leave it in your review!