On Matters of Names

Posted on Fri Sep 6th, 2024 @ 7:23am by Captain Maho Takahashi & Commander Keisuke Takahashi 'K.T.'

1,191 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Captains and Contraband
Location: Takahashi Quarters

One of the best ways for Maho to unwind was to hand Keisuke the cooking duties. When they had first met, Keisuke wasn't the best chef- barely able to make serviceable bachelor food, but in the time they had been together, Maho had helped him improve his cooking. Keisuke had since likened his culinary journey to his street racing career, having gone from an angry delinquent who could barely drive to a racing legend said to be capable of giving his own brother a run for his money, and the same was true for his cooking. While he still believed he wouldn't win any awards for it, he was now confident that he could cook a satisfactory meal for his growing family.

As tonight's Yakisoba meal was nearing completion, Maho was drawn to the kitchen area of their quarters by the heavenly scent.

"Damn those noodles smell good." Maho sighed. "And to think there was a time I wouldn't trust you to make them."

"Well, as long as our baby girl is enjoying daddy's meals, that's what matters." Keisuke responded, flashing his wife a smile. He kept his opinion on his wife's pregnant body to himself most of the time, so Maho only knew that he thought she was absolutely beautiful whenever she was bemoaning having to wear her maternity uniform or when she wanted him to make love to her. But the truth of the matter was that was the way he felt about her at all times: Maho already was sexy as hell as she was, but pregnant Maho was a whole different level of hot. It was a shame that in about two months' time, she would be cursing his name and threatening him bodily harm. But for right now, Keisuke was going to enjoy every moment of Maho's ultra sexy state.

"Oh, speaking of baby girl..." Maho said, stroking her belly. "We are getting closer to her arrival, so we really should start thinking about naming her: Do you still have the list I gave you?"

"I do; what about it?" Keisuke asked. He had reviewed the list of all the possible names his super hot wife had come up with, but the fact of the matter was, he didn't like any of them. As much as he loved her, Maho unfortunately shared her mother's penchant for non-innovation, and the names that spoke most to her were the ones that ended in 'ho', like hers, her sister's, and her mother's names. Keisuke had talked her into taking Maho Jr., Miho Jr., and Shiho Jr. off the list, but the remaining names were still frustratingly uniform:

"So, I've been giving it some thought, and baby girl here has, too:" Maho explained. "And we're thinking either Kiho or Naho... Either of those names sound appealing?"

Keisuke shut off the burner and moved the meat and vegetables off the heat as he began the process of adding them to the noodles and tossing everything together.

"No." He responded. "In all honesty, I haven't paid your list much attention since I amended it to recommend we don't name our child after you, your mother, or your sister, and that's because I have a serious problem with your list: It's all... Uniform. All the names are close to your own or your family's names. I didn't know you Nishizumi folks had a penchant for sticking close to an established pattern."

"Much as I don't like her, my mom is going to want to hold her granddaughter at some point:" Maho admitted. "And she won't be too pleased if I've departed from tradition."

"Tradition that might I remind you she set up?" Keisuke pointed out. "Look, not to throw shade at her mother, but why did she name you and your sister similarly to her?"

"She says my grandpa had a love for patterns." Maho explained. "Though, she and dad had already settled on my name when he passed. Miho, on the other hand..." She trailed off.

"Look, babe:" Keisuke said as he handed her her bowl of Yakisoba and they sat down to eat. "I thought we had discussed at length many times that your mom needs help. You've done so much to break the cycle she set you up to continue, and yet you're falling back into those trappings, anyway."

"I suppose some conditioning is just hard to override." Maho sighed. "I don't suppose you've been coming up with alternatives, then?"

"As a matter of fact, I have." Keisuke said as he took a moment to take another bite of yakisoba. "I've been thinking, and I wanted to ask you what you thought of the name Kyoko: It's similar enough, but it stands out from the previous two generations of Nishizumi."

Maho felt a kick from within her belly.

"Any particular reason behind the choice?" Maho asked.

"Well, there was this one girl I knew..." Keisuke explained. "Dated is the wrong word, because we never got to that point: I was too selfish. I saw the list of cadets that the Tokyo rescued from Gamma Zednor Station, and noticed her name was among them. I guess her name's been at the forefront of my mind since then. I mean, Kyoko's a very pretty name, and I think she would be honored if I named my kid after her."

Another kick... Or maybe it was a punch? -at the mention of the Kyoko name.

Maho sighed.

"So, let me get this straight:" She said. "You just spent the last five minutes critiquing my decision to continue my mom's naming convention, and the first alternative you suggest is to name her after an old sidepiece of yours?"

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds despicable, doesn't it?" Keisuke sighed. "Well, forget I said anything, then. Maybe we could give her an American name? Even though she'll likely be less American than you are. Maybe Katy or something like that?"

"I wasn't saying I didn't like the Kyoko name." Maho said as she felt another punch. "In fact, I think it's kinda sweet that you want to name her that."

"Hmm... So, it's not a terrible name, then?" Keisuke asked.

"Not at all." Maho said, setting her utensils down and rubbing her belly. "In fact, she seems far more enthusiastic about that name than any of the others I can come up with."

Keisuke raised an eyebrow, he found it cute that his daughter was practically selecting her own name.

"Well, shall we work with Kyoko as a tentative name, then?" He suggested.

"I don't think there needs to be anything tentative about it." Maho surmised, resting her hand on her belly as her daughter's tiny hand from within tried to meet hers. "I think she's quite happy with that name; aren't you, Kyoko?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting it to be that easy." Keisuke said. "Or to have such a unanimous verdict."

Maho smiled. For a woman who didn't smile much, when she did, she was sexy as hell for it.

"I suppose that's the way it goes, sometimes..." She remarked.

Posting by

Captain Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer

Keisuke Takahashi
Second Officer

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