what's in a name?

Boyfriend sounds too juvenile. It brings up images of bubble gums and six-packs and torn jeans and carefree days.

Lover, on the other hand, is too... for lack of a better term, sultry. It conjures images of oysters and champagnes and torn lingeries and wild nights.

Husband is just plain inappropriate since we are not married after all. And although it speaks of security and stability, it's also a tad boring in its staidness.

So, B is my partner. And mostly because ours is indeed a partnership, equal in its terms, helping each other out, consulting each other, crying on each other's shoulders, and laughing at and with each other. The proverbial partners in crime. But also partners in love. And life. Raising a beautiful daughter together.

We make a good team, the B and I. Even before we got together as a couple, we were already quite an efficient team: I did the work, he got the credit. ;-D But seriously, during our days in the university, we would divide our work between us in such a way that we capitalized on each other's strengths and minimized each other's weaknesses. And, every now and then, picked up after each other's mess. An efficient working relationship that is now helping us run our household.

So, what's in a name really? Nothing and yet everything. B is a partner. But he's also a carefree boyfriend and a passionate lover. Sometimes, he's as boring and as staid as a husband. But, most important of all, and perhaps one of the best reasons why this relationship is working out, he's my best friend.

Now, how many married women can say that about their husbands?