"Surely there's something I can do to help you remember me," the nurse said, staring at him seductively from under her long lashes.
Travis grinned and slid his hand around her trim waist, pulling her closer. He was about to say something when Tonya cleared her throat even louder. Travis dropped the nurse and glared at Tonya. He turned back to the nurse and smiled patiently. "Lunch would be perfect," he said.
"Great," the nurse said, clearly disappointed at being interrupted, but also excited about her date with Travis.
She bundled up the baby, handed her to Tonya and then left. Tonya stuck a bottle in the baby's mouth. Travis wondered why she wasn't breastfeeding.
"You know, Travis," she said, "It's very tacky to try to pick up that nurse when I just had a baby."
Travis shrugged. "It's not my baby. Are you jealous, my former bride?" He winked at her, which must have made her feel better because she blushed and smiled.
"Not by a long shot. I just don't want to see you do what you do. If you don't mind."
"Right," Travis nodded. "I will wait until I'm out in the hallway before flirting with anymore nurses. And I'm going to, too...because did you see that one who came in to change your sheets earlier? With the short, curly hair and that ass?"
Tonya shook her head. "She's not interested in you. I can tell."
"She just doesn't know me well enough, that's all. You'll see."
There was a light knock at the door and Emma came in, dragging Dustin by the hand. "Dustin wanted to see the baby," Emma said, beaming at Tonya.
Dustin wasn't smiling. "I was told that I want to see the baby."
"Oh!" Emma squealed. "Can we hold her?"
Tonya nodded and handed Emily to Emma. Emma in turn thrust the baby at Dustin who had no choice but to hold her in the crook of his elbow. Dustin looked up at Travis in horror.
"Looks good on you," Travis said.
Emma sighed and put her hand on her heart. "You really do look good holding a baby," she said. "Oh, you're going to make such a great father."
Dustin went completely pale and looked at Travis again. Travis just laughed.
Emma turned to him. "Arden's in the waiting room, if you want to take a break and go see her. We'll stay here for a while."
It was Travis's turn to go pale. He didn't know whether he wanted to see Arden or not. There were some really nice nurses here. But Emma took his arm, turned him around and shoved him out the door.
He found Arden in the waiting room, hugging her purse to her stomach and looking shell-shocked. She looked up at him. "I rode over with Dustin," she said. "Your brother does not like me."
"You just now figuring that out?" he asked.
She nodded. She set her purse in the chair next to her, stood and hugged him. When she stepped back she kept her hands on his upper arms. "How are you doing?"
Travis shrugged. "I don't know. Good I guess. I've got a date."
"Oh, you do?" Arden laughed.
"Yeah. You surprised?"
"No. A nurse I suppose. What's her name?" She was grinning at him like she thought it was cute that he'd gotten a date. He was slightly annoyed that she wasn't jealous.
"Name? Uh...I think it was Jamie...or Jenny..."
Arden shrugged. "Close enough. How are Tonya and the baby?"
Travis shrugged again. "No complications. The baby seems healthy. It just lays there, so I don't know how you tell. But it breathes and cries and shits and stuff...so I guess it's healthy."
Arden was smirking at him, still. He wondered what the hell was so amusing. "She, Travis. You call the baby...she."
"I'll call it 'she' when it starts looking more like a human being and less like a squid."
Arden sighed and rolled her eyes.
Just then Travis's nurse came out to talk to another family. Travis's back was to her. Arden stood on her toes and peered over his shoulder. "Is that her?" she asked, an amused glint in her eye.
Travis glanced back. The nurse saw him and smiled. He turned back to Arden. "Yep."
"She's cute," Arden said. "She's coming this way."
Travis turned to meet her.
"Hey, handsome," she said. But Arden came up beside him, slid her arm around his waist and rested her other hand on his chest so that he had no choice but to put his arm around her shoulders. The nurse's smile died. Travis stared down at Arden in confusion.
"Hi..." Arden looked down at the nurse's name plate. "Hi, Jessie. I'm Arden. His fiancée."
Travis's eyes went wide. He looked at Jessie and laughed nervously. She glared pure death at him. "Nice to meet you, Arden," she growled, still staring up at Travis.