Matt and Rodney both nod, and Ashlyn looks back and forth between me and them before clutching the baby closer to her chest. “I’m going with them,” she says. Then she looks at the cops and says, “I’m going with you.”
“Ashlyn, I don’t know if–” I start to say, but Matt cuts me off.
“If she wants to go to the hospital, it’s fine with us.”
“See,” she says. “It’s fine with them.”
Matt and Rodney head for the door, but I turn to Ashlyn.
“I’m sure the cops can handle it. It’s late and–”
“I’m going,” she says as she looks down at the baby who is fast asleep on her chest. Then her eyes flash up to mine. “I think you should come too.”
“Me? I’m not sure why I should–”
“Because the baby might be yours,” she said, and I snort.
“Allegedly,” I say, and the look she gives me is enough to burn my eyebrows off my face. “Okay, that’s not what I meant. It’s just…all of this is kind of a long shot. A baby on the doorstep? An explanation letter that felt a little more like an accusation. I just…it’s a lot…and we don’t–”
“If there’s even a chance the baby is yours, don’t you want to know?” she asks, and I stop, looking at her and then at the baby in her arms.
“Let me get a shirt on,” I say.
* * *
“I could have done this at home?” I ask as I fill out all the paperwork.
“Yeah. With less accuracy,” Ashlyn tells me.
“And less cameras,” I say, glaring at a nurse as she takes a photo of me before stuffing her phone into the pocket of her scrubs and walking away.
“A home test wouldn’t be accepted in court,” the nurse, who has the personality of a bear that missed the hibernation memo, says.
“What makes you think I’m going to court?” I ask, and she snorts out an unamused laugh. “You’re getting a paternity test for a mystery baby.”
My eyes narrowed, but Ashlyn is smiling. “As charming as you are, is there maybe another nurse that could do the test for me?” I ask.
“I’m not thrilled to be putting up with you either, sweetheart. You’re no Jett Navarro,” she says, and my eyes widen. “You know what? I think I’ll just make an appointment with my doctor,” I say, but as I turn to leave, Ashlyn grabs my arm.
“We’re already here,” she says, coaxing me down the hall with the nurse.
We go into a room that smells like rubber tubing and old air conditioning. The Queen of Charm asks me to sit up on the bed.
“Is this going to be invasive?” I ask, and she turns around with a long cotton swab.
“Define invasive.” She says, and my expression drops.
I look at Ashlyn and then the nurse smiles. “Your mouth,” she says.
“What?”
“I think she’s saying the swab goes in your mouth,” Ashlyn says.
“Ding, ding,” the nurse says as she walks over. “Two points for the new girlfriend. And speaking of that, I may be a Navarro fan–”
“You mentioned that,” I say.
“But the two of you know how to entertain,” she says. “Which I appreciate. Gives me something to do on my lunch breaks.”
