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“Doesn’t hurt to try,” Bruiser said.

“Fine.” Uriel reached for his travel case. “Fenn, can you handle the doctor consult by yourself?”

Fenn rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

“I’ll listen out for anything suspicious,” Bruiser said. “If you sound like you’re in distress, I’ll step in to help.”

Fenn nodded. Then the nurse called his name, and he disappeared into a room with his baby.

“He still hasn’t told me why he kept Mellie a secret from me,” Uriel grumbled.

Bruiser shrugged. “Maybe he has his reasons.”

“Yeah, and not too long ago, you would’ve bitten off my head if I had said that to you.”

“I’m biased,” Bruiser said. “But you already knew that.”

It was nice, seeing this side of Bruiser. Uriel leaned lightly against Bruiser’s arm; Bruiser pressed closer. “Thanks for watching Cassie, earlier.”

Bruiser gave a tiny grin. “You trusted her with me. I’m grateful for that.”

Somehow, Uriel had trusted him on instinct, and he hadn’t even been aware of it. “I’m... Yeah.”

“Besides, you were very hot, throwing yourself out of the car and flying off in the same move,” Bruiser murmured, skimming his lips over Uriel’s ear. “I’m glad you gave us a warning so you weren’t doing that in the middle of traffic.”

Uriel shivered. “I have a baby to watch out for. I can’t just put myself in danger willy-nilly.”

“Good.” Bruiser kissed his ear again, and Uriel’s heart fluttered. He ducked his head to focus on his magic-erasing spell.

Fenn was out of the exam room before Uriel was even halfway through the spell; it was a long, complicated thing. Fenn looked relieved and happy though, so Uriel relaxed. “Everything okay?”

“Looks like Mellie and I are both fine,” Fenn said. Then his face grew pinched. “Um, I didn’t ask about the costs though. Do you think they’ll let me pay in installments—”

“I’ll pay for it,” Uriel said, at the same time Bruiser pulled out his own wallet. Uriel swatted Bruiser’s hands away. “No, me.”

“You’re working on your spell,” Bruiser said. “Me, I have nothing else to do.”

Uriel gave him a threatening glare. Bruiser raised an eyebrow and made his way to the payment counter.

“Damn it!” Uriel scowled at the spell sheets on his lap. They were keeping him down so he couldn’t run ahead of Bruiser without making a mess.

Fenn snickered. “You two are hilarious.”

“Are not,” Uriel grumbled. Fenn had already known that Bruiser was Cassie’s other dad—he wasn’t in Uriel’s Cartfalls friend groups, so he had been a safe person to tell. “But Bruiser, he uh. We might be having another.”

Fenn’s eyes grew wide. He glanced from Uriel to Bruiser, and back. “So you worked things out?”

“I think so,” Uriel mumbled, feeling horribly self-conscious. He and Fenn had seen the worst of each other, but this was what made Uriel’s face burn. “He became a lot nicer after he found out about me.”

Fenn beamed. “I’m happy for you.”

“It helped that Uriel was the one who got away,” Bruiser said dryly, returning to their seats. “I tried to track him down after the first time, but I couldn’t find him.”

“Awww!” Fenn’s gaze softened. “I wish—That is so sweet.”

Uriel squirmed, unaccustomed to being at the center of attention. “You wish...?”

Fenn scrunched up his mouth. “Nothing.”