Nickname

   Everyone in our family has a nickname. All of the kids do from Denise to Carmen. C has a nickname and so do the cats. The only person who doesn't have one is me.
   I decided that this needed to end. C and I have been married for nearly ten years now. I think that it is time I had a nickname of my own.
   The problem is that a nickname is usually given to you by someone else. I've had a few. Motormouth, Poodle, Storytime, Little Boat Girl and Poof. Needless to say none of these were meant to be flattering. No way I was going to reuse any of them.
   Nicknames are sometimes short versions of a given name. There's not a whole lot you can do with Sophie. It only breaks down into "Soph" or "Fee". Not really good nickname choices.
   Still, I wanted a nickname. I wanted to feel more like I was a part of the family. It was unlikely that I was going to be given one. There was a chance I could get one that I wouldn't like. There was only one thing to do. I needed to take matters into my own hands and give myself a nickname.
   Like most couples C and I have pet names that we use for each other. Most of the time C calls me "honey". Sometime he says "honeybee". I like it.
   Honeybee would not work for a nickname though. For starters it's too long. No one would use it. It would also be a little weird for anyone except C to call me that. I'm not even sure it would be appropriate.
   Then it hit me. What about Bee? It's short and rolls nicely off the tongue. Bees tend to be industrious. They like bright colours and sweets scents. They also look good with their black and yellow stripes. The can defend themselves and will sting if provoked. Except for the stripes, it sounded like a good description of me.
  Bee. The more I thought about it the more I liked it as a nickname. There would be a few pitfalls with that name. I could get called "busybee" and the letter 'b' is sometimes used as a short version for an insulting term for a woman.
  I wasn't going to let that bother me. My next move was to try it out. Every week I send an email to my stepdaughter, Elin. That would be the perfect time to try out my new nickname. A couple weeks ago I sent our my usual email and told her that I wanted a nickname like everyone else in the family. I wrote to her that I was considering the name Bee. I asked her what she thought.
   I got my answer a few days later. The beginning of her email started out with Bee. I smiled. She must have liked it or she would not have used it. Now when I sign off on emails to her I use the name Bee.
   Now to introduce it to the rest of the family.......