~round 1~

Amy Santiago-Peralta took photos of everything. It wasn't surprising that her phone choked whenever she tried to take a new photo. As of this morning there had been 15,472 photos in her camera roll (12,083 of which were screenshots and 15,339 were backed up onto the cloud last night—her phone would keel over but her precious pictures would remain intact).

Jake, however, had only 1,800-ish photos and a good 60% of them were just the ones that automatically saved whenever Amy sent them to him. So believe it or not, he wasn't surprised when he got another 14 screenshots of different websites, each with little red circles around various pink and blue names Amy was fond of.

She'd told him only 57 hours (and 15 minutes)  ago that they were going to have a baby. And here he was, being a dutiful husband and skiving work to reply to her constant screenshots with names he thought could be added to their list.

[Jake would just like the reader to be aware that this was Amy Santiago-Peralta. The 'baby boy names' list was already 8 pages long before her 9th birthday.]

He typed out a reply.

how's Rosa coping with all the baby-talk?

Ps I like Leah ;)

Amy replied almost instantaneously.

She hasn't spoken much. Shall I narrow the search down to Cuban/Jewish names? I have at least 30 ways of spelling the name 'Zoey' and I'd quite like to rule that one out.

Jake felt his lips tug into a smile.

whatever suits. might be asking to much of the website ames, our weird lil mixed race, Jewish kid might have a tough time finding a name that isn't the Hebrew translation of God or something

Gtg, holts getting antsy love u x

He then reluctantly put his phone down, once again smiling when it immediately lit up to say:

Talk later. Love you x

———

Once she got home—her stakeout had dragged out longer than anticipated—she went straight to her camera roll.

"Jake? Babe, I've got every vaguely Cuban mostly Jewish name under the sun, this is it. One of these."

Jake ran at her from their bedroom and lifted her briefly before letting her down and kissing her. "I still can't believe we're having a baby. There's a whole human in there. Can you believe that?" His eyes were wide with bewilderment, his palm on her flat stomach. He noticed her expression. "Yes, yes. Names. Talk to me. Go."

~~~

"I'm still bitter that you're banning any good Die Hard tribute. Nacatomi is a perfectly acceptable name, boy or girl."
"If you can find a similar name that is actually a name then we can add it to the list."
"Challenge accepted."

~~~

2 hours, 28 minutes and 3 bags of gummy worms later, they'd been able to narrow down the list of names. On one side written in green (Jake had said that pink and blue pens would just make the baby adhere to gender stereotypes—Amy had allowed it merely for his use of the word 'adhere') were several boys names, and on the opposite side in orange were some girls names.

Girls
•Leah
•Leonie
•Marnie
•Talia
•Noa
•Attalia
•Mira

Boys
•Leo
•Ezra
•Noah
•Ruben
•Matthew
•Adam

"Nina?" Jake interrupted as she neatly rewrote the list. "Kinda Nacatomi, no?"

Amy reluctantly added it to their list.

"Wait, I can get closer..." By this point, Jake had written 'Nacatomi' on the back of one of their original lists, trying to rearrange the letters to make a name Amy was happy with.

"Naomi?" That's closer, right?"

"Huh," Amy smiled as she did a quick google search. "I actually really like Naomi, let me add it." Jake cheered. "And look," Amy thrusted her phone in Jake's face. "It fits the Cuban-Hebrew thing we're going for."

"Ready to rank those baby names?"

———

Eight long months later, their little bundle snoozed in Amy's arms as they reviewed their list—the list that had been updated a total of 17 times in the last trimester of her pregnancy alone.

"So final 3 in the boys category: Leo, Ezra and Matthew." Jake read. "Knock out round, Amy, eliminate one name."
"Not Matthew," she glanced at her little boy. "What do you think?"
"Ezra, he's an Ezra, look at him."
"You don't have to pick Ezra just because it was my dad's name of choice."
"No, no, I'm not. That kid is an Ezra. Unless you prefer Leo, then he's a Leo."

Amy let out a tired chuckle. "Ezra it is."

"Ezra Charles Santiago-Peralta."

~round 2~

"Listen, Jake, it's just a hunch, but I think this one's a boy as well. We need to update the boys list." Amy rubbed her noticeable bump. They'd waited much longer this time round to pick the name, at least until Amy was into the second trimester.

"I thought it was Leo? That was the winning one?"

She sighed. "I don't know, I don't love it anymore."

Jake moved to sit beside her, knowing she already had another name in mind. "Go on, tell me."

"I was thinking... maybe Mateo?"

He paused, noticing the quiet in her voice. "After your brother?"

Amy bit her lip and nodded. "I wouldn't normally... but, well..." Jake just nodded and put an arm around her.

"Of course, you'll have to teach me to say it 'authentically' with your fancy accent, and you'll be okay with me calling him Matt?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. Mateo-Matt for a boy. Then we're between Marnie, Naomi and Leonie for a girl?"

"Can we rule out Marnie now? Sorry, I liked it but my mom told me a story about one of her friends and I can't subject my daughter to that kind of namesake."

"Okay. Mateo, Naomi or Leonie."

3 year old Ezra toddled over. "Mama, mama! Play!" He balanced a truck over her knee and handed Jake a red car. "I be the airplane, play, come on!"

The two shared a smile at their son.
"Duty calls."

~~~

"And do you want to know the gender?" The doctor smiled at the pair. Jake glanced at Amy, eyebrow raised.

"I know we went for a surprise last time, but I'd quite like to know... but if you don't then that's okay."

Amy smiled and nodded to the doctor. "Yes please."

The doctor looked over the screen again before turning to face them.

"Congratulations, it's a girl."

~~~

Jake held their daughter, eyes glistening. "So Naomi? What about the middle name?"

Amy yawned before answering. "Well Ezra was named after Charles so I was thinking maybe Naomi could be the same?"

"After Charles? Amy he'd be flattered but I don't think Naomi Charles really fits-"

"No, not after Charles, but after someone. Maybe your mom? Or Rosa? We agreed Rosa was the godmother didn't we?"

"Yeah, okay so Rosa? Naomi Rosa?"

Amy frowned. "It sounds forced. Maybe Rose? Naomi Rose Santiago-Peralta."

"Sounds perfect."

~final round~

"Okay, Jake, I can't wait anymore, the baby is due in 3 weeks and we haven't had the name conversation."

"Mateo for a boy, Leonie or Talia for a girl. That's what we agreed... have you changed your mind?"

"Well no..." Amy slowed, "but that was 3 years ago, and I kinda want to finalise it."

Jake came out of the bathroom, a child on each hip. God, the sight of him with the kids never ceased to make her heart flutter.

"I prefer Talia, what do you think Mia?"

"Mommy!" Their daughter squealed, wriggling out of Jake's grip and over to a heavily pregnant Amy. "Baby coming soon?"

"Soon, Naomi. Just a few more weeks." Amy said as Jake set Ezra down.

"It's too many weeks!"

"I know, Mia, but soon. The baby will be here soon." Jake comforted, settling beside Amy.

Amy rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you fought so hard to find a Die Hard-esqe name and you refuse to use it."

He shrugged. "I call her Naomi sometimes." He cooed to his little girl. "Don't I, Mia?"

~~~

"That is the last time I'm ever having a kid." Amy groaned. 3 days. 3 days of labor, emergency care and panic. But he was here. And he was precious.

"I actually agree this time. I don't think I could cope with this kind of hand cramp again." Jake kissed her hair, taking hold of his sons hand gently.

"Oh, Mateo." She lifted him to kiss his cheek. "You are the cutest."

"Still happy with Brooklyn?" Jake asked, running his thumb over Mateo's already thick, dark hair. Amy hummed with approval. "Almost as though we're naming him after the entire precinct. Mateo Brooklyn Santiago-Peralta."

~~~

It was only half an hour later and Holt had dropped off Ezra and Naomi with their parents. Both kids eagerly held their little brother, Ezra gloating over his victory of a soccer buddy, Naomi vowing to play dress up with him anyway 'even if he won't have nice long hair'. Jake beamed as he steadied his excitable daughter on his lap, supporting his newborn sons head, answering every question that popped into his eldest's head.
Amy snapped a picture.

Their family. Their love. Their heart.

[just for a little extra content-pictures obviously not accurate to genetics etc my apologies]