Chapter 402 - Names (2)

"Look what we caught!" said Cole excitedly as Neal walked past him and went straight to stand in front of the hearth. 

"That's interesting!" said Daryn. "It is so cold, and yet you guys found a salmon!" 

"You bet!" Cole hopped towards the small kitchen at the end of the cabin. "I will dress it and make a great recipe for you all." 

Neal shook his head. "I won't go fishing with him again." He sounded pretty angry. "He practically took the boat in the middle of the river to get that salmon. We were in that chill for more than an hour before he got his first fish. And then he wasn't satisfied because the damn fish was less than six inches. He threw it back in the river and then hooked a fresh bait to fish another one!" Exasperated he kept his hands on his waist. "Out of curiosity, this stupid boy was about to fall in cold water when that salmon caught the bait. I had to lunge to save him from falling!" He looked up towards the kitchen. "I will never go fishing with him!" 

"You will!" came Cole voice back mixed with a chuckle. 

"To hell with it!" Neal cursed and then sat on the fur. He picked up a cheese cube and said, "So I heard something about boy names?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. 

Dawn shuddered. "Don't you start with that again. Daryn is such a bummer when it comes to names." 

"But I got a lovely list, Dawn!" 

Dawn rested her hands at the back to support her bodice and looked at him with renewed interest. "Tell me about it." 

"So I did a lot of research with boy names. The reason why I didn't go for girl names was because I feel that Brantley should be given an option to decide her name…" His lips tipped up. "But I leave it to the parents to come to an agreement with that thought of mine." 

Dawn shifted with unease on the fur. She crossed her legs and looked away. 

"Here's my list: John, Tom, Harry, I don't like Dick, Lorean, and Greer." 

"You researched for those names?" asked Dawn, as she looked at him incredulously. 

"Yes!" Neal replied with a grin and patted his shoulder. 

"Those are lovely names!" Daryn supported him. "I also don't like the name 'Dick'. In fact I suggested Loud as a name, but Dawn didn't quite like the idea." 

Neal jerked his head back. "Man! Loud is a fantastic name. Why couldn't I think of it?" 

The two men marveled each other as Dawn opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. 

Cole came out of the kitchen while wiping his knife on the apron. "Are you guys insane?" he said. "Dick is a nice name!" 

"Not really, Cole," Daryn countered. 

"Yeah! I don't like it," Neal butted in. "It sounds like your penis. You know how it would sound if someone says – what a dick you are!"

"Ah!" Cole could only agree. "But I like the name, man!" 

Dawn gritted her teeth. Not able to bear their discussion, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "Shut up! Will you?" 

The three stopped speaking. They looked so hurt. 

"Don't think about names," she said through her clenched teeth. Clearly they were terrible in this line. "Leave that part to me, okay?" 

"But I suggested—" Neal whined. 

"No! Geez!" she rolled her eyes. 

For the next one hour, even though Dawn was fuming with every suggestion, the men couldn't help themselves. By the time Cole came back with his fish preparation, they had about twenty more names, each worse than the last. 

Moon on the outside was growing bigger as it rose over the horizon, and spread its warm milky glow across the sky. Moonlight brought the much needed comforting loveliness to an otherwise inky night. While the folks in the cabin laughed and joked and ate, somewhere in Yorkshire a vampire was on the loose. 

They all returned back to Silver Mansion past midnight. These days everywhere Dawn went, there were werewolves guarding her. When they were in the cabin, dozens of werewolves were lurking around to guard their Luna. So when she stepped out of the cabin, she wasn't surprised to see that five of them had immediately emerged from the shadows and fell into walking closely a few feet behind them. They escorted them to the mansion and were stationed right beneath the terrace of Dary's room. The last encounter with the winged demons had left them pretty shaken. 

Cole was extremely tired and he walked to his room lazily. Neal was about to leave but before leaving he said, "Lily's health is deteriorating. I think you should visit her."

Dawn gulped. Even though Lily was her Grandmother and recently she had been passive, Dawn didn't really feel anything for her. Had she grown so cold? "I will," she said quietly. 

"Also, I have the information that they will open applications for bidding for Starfish in two days. Do you want to fill it?" 

"Yes!" Dawn breathed. Even though she wasn't as interested in it, as she was in the beginning, Cole was pretty excited, and she knew that he really wanted it back. 

"Great, in that case I will come back with more details," said Neal. Then suddenly he asked, "How is Caleb?" 

Daryn pursed his lips. "I don't know… And I so wish that he is doing fine…" 

"I hope he is," replied Neal. "Okay! See you tomorrow," he said and waved them goodbye. 

Dawn held Daryn's hand and walked upstairs to their bedroom. After she had changed into her nightgown, she asked Daryn, "Have I become emotionally apathetic?" 

"Why do you say that baby?" he asked as she rested her head on his arm. 

"I— I don't feel like visiting Grandmother…" 

He stroked her hair. "No baby, it's her apathy towards you that is coming back. She never invested her time in developing a healthy relationship with you because she was only into weaving conspiracies one over the other. I would be surprised if you felt anything for her." His heart ached with pain when he thought of the hardships his woman encountered. "If I were you, I would have killed her by now!" 

Dawn chuckled. Her mind was at ease now. She turned towards him, pressed her face in his chest and went off to sleep. Later in the night, she turned back on her back. It was not easy to sleep sideways. 

Two days later the government website opened for inviting applications to be filled for Starfish Refineries. Cole didn't go to the school as he overlooked how Dawn filled the application. He assisted her in every possible way. Neal was present along with them. The bidding was a rushed affair and was supposed to take place beginning of the next week. 

"Why have they rushed the bidding?" Dawn asked with a frown after they finished submitting the application. It took them almost two hours.

"I wonder why, but I do believe there could be some vested interests," Neal said dryly. 

"Don't tell me that there would be many interested parties to buy it," she chuckled. 

Neal shifted in his chair. The girl had a long way to go in business dealings.