I knew it was a mistake. I wasn't going to be gone long, though, and I really wanted Jim and my mom to be able to get along -- how much trouble could they get into in the time it took me to run down to Collette's for some fresh bread?

Of course the moment I had that thought, I picked up the pace -- who knew what they might get into?

As I reached our floor, I was relieved not to hear the sound of violence, not that I really thought they would come to blows, but still...

But as I opened the door, two crusty French loaves tucked in the crook of my left arm, I heard something even worse.

"He was just so cute, everyone at the commune thought so, and full of boundless, bouncy energy..."

"Sticking his twitchy little bunny nose into everything too, I'm sure."

"But of course!"

"Mom!"

"Oh hi, sweetie! I was just telling Jim --"

"Mom!"

"What is it, Bunny?"

"Shut up, Jim. Naomi, I can't believe you told him about that!"

"But you were such a sweet baby, honey!"

"I'm sure you were, Bunny."

"Shut up, Jim. I knew it was a mistake to leave you two alone together -- this is even worse than the baby pictures!" I glared at the both of them, but Jim just laughed.

"Oh sweetie, I don't know what's so bad about it -- 'Bunny' is such a cute nickname!"

Jim laughed again. Bastard.

"Mom, I really don't think my image needs any extra cute added, thanks."

"It could be worse," Jim offered. "You could have been, oh, I don't know, Caterpillar, or... Moonface, or... or... Peacebottom."

"Peacebottom?!?" We both looked at him like he'd lost his mind, which apparently he had.

Suddenly Jim just fell apart laughing, great rumbles of laughter coming from deep inside of him. I couldn't remember ever hearing him sound so uninhibited and just, well, happy -- sure, he laughed, but never like this. I couldn't help but smile at him.

When he finally wound down, Jim reached for the bread that I was still holding.

"Come on, Peacebottom, let's get supper ready."

As I followed my now relaxed-looking partner into the kitchen, I realized that while yes, there was a worse nickname than Bunny, I hadn't really made a mistake after all.