But that is only the future I envisioned as I held this tiny girl in my arms. Her hair wet, her nose smashed, and she cries sleepily. Just a moment. I smile at the picture she makes. She is beautiful.

 Her mother looks at me from the hospital bed. Her hair is tangled and her eyes are darkened from the long birth. But she still looks determined. "What should we name her?"

I looked down at the baby. Her mouth opened in a perfect Oh.

 We had argued about a name for days, weeks, even months. Her mother did not want a little girl labeled with a fluffy name like Paris or Lyndsay. But, she didn't want the little girl given a name that would be too old like Helen or Cynthia. We had a list of names, each one of them was not right for our new little girl.

I liked Marie. My grandmother's name was Marie. Or Emma.

"How about Emma?"

"Oh you are hopeless," Iris said. "I have told you over and over that naming her Emma would be like naming her Ingrid."

"Now that's a good name. It would fit with mine-- Harold."

The little one cried. And, once again the name was benched.  When the hospital nurses came with a paperwork, her mother was sleeping so I wrote down Anna Leigh.

 With a name like Anna, she could decide her own future. She could be a girl or she could be strong woman.

"Anna," I whispered to her. She moaned, her eyes twitched.

Iris, her mother, slept.

When Anna's grandmama arrived at the hospital, it was already fate accompli.

Anna this. Anna that. Anna's Grandmama had rushed through the house, the hospital, the room with her usual energy. I leaned against Iris, the baby drinking from her breast. Iris gave me a look, but she was quiet.

She would either agree or yell at me for making such a big decision. This little girl needed a future. Better than the one I saw.

Her grandmama cried when she saw the wrinkled baby. "She is so beautiful. Let me hold her."

I handed her the baby. She cooed. "Anna is a good name."

The baby came home in three days, but Iris stayed in the hospital. I didn't know what to tell Grandmama and the boy, Anna's brother. I could only say that Iris was sick.