Jonah and Dylan walked ahead of her, proudly carrying Melanie’s lunch. Cameron couldn’t help but remember bringing them to the hospital when they were babies. They both had stayed at the hospital’s daycare until they started school, which Cameron was thankful for. She loved having her babies in thesame building as her and being able to check in with them anytime she wanted.
They took the elevator up to the labor and delivery floor as Cameron’s eyes scanned the nurses’ station for Melanie. She smiled and waved at Palmer, who bumped her hip against someone’s shoulder who was sitting at the desk. Melanie’s head looked up around the computer, breaking into a huge smile as she saw Cameron and the kids.
“Hey!” Melanie rounded the desk, pulling Jonah and Dylan into hugs. “What are you all doing here?”
“We brought you lunch,” Jonah handed her the bag of food. “It wasmyidea.”
“Aww, thank you, Jonah. That was very sweet.”
“I paid,” Cameron chimed in. Melanie laughed as she put her arm around Cameron and kissed her softly. “Hi.”
“Hi. Thanks for lunch.”
“You’re welcome, babe.”
“Babe,” Palmer snickered but Cameron knew she was just teasing her and Melanie. Mostly Melanie. “God, you two are so cute together. I can’t deal.”
“Shut up.” Melanie rolled her eyes at her friend.
“Do you have any patients right now?”
“Nope,” Melanie sighed with relief. “I had a delivery a few hours ago, but everything went great and she’s up in postpartum now.”
“So you’re a free woman for a lunch date.”
“With the prettiest girl in town.”
As Melanie kissed her again, Cameron felt her smile spreading on her lips. It felt so freeing to be able to kiss Melanie whenever she wanted. She didn’t care who saw them or what they thought. Cameron was in love with Melanie and didn’t care who knew it.
“Aunt Mel, can we go look at the babies in the nursery?” Dylan grabbed Melanie’s arm as her eyes pleaded with her. But Palmer stepped in.
“I’ll take you, Dill.” Palmer came around the desk and smiled at Dylan. “We can let Mel eat while we see some babies. You want to come too, Jonah?”
“Sure.”
“Here.” Palmer fished a few dollar bills out of the pocket of her scrubs and handed it to him. “You can grab us three sodas on the way.”
“Thanks!”
Cameron watched as her kids headed down the hallway with Palmer. Melanie took her hand as they walked into the breakroom tighter. They sat at one of the small tables as Melanie began eating her lunch.
“Thank you so much for this.”
“You’re welcome.” Cameron watched Melanie happily enjoy her food before telling her about the conversation with the kids. “So, I talked to the kids about you moving in.”
Melanie’s eyes went wide as she sat her sandwich down. “What? Really? What did they say?”
“They’re both on board. Dylan might be more excited for Hank and Lucy to move in more so than you, though. Just as a heads up.”
“Totally fair,” Melanie chuckled. “What about Jonah?”
“Jonah wants to know what they should call you now.” Cameron watched as her words slowly registered with Melanie. “I told them I didn’t know but it would be a good question for them to ask you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Hey, at least you’ll be prepared for them to ask. It caught me off guard. Jonah made the comment that you weren’t their aunt anymore.”
Melanie clutched her chest. “Ouch.”
