Oswald fumbled with the buttons on the vending machine, grumbling angrily when the 'sold out' light flashed at him. He pressed two more buttons with the same results until finally the machine gave a deep humming noise and a soda bottle fell into the slot at the bottom. He stooped down to get it, but a voice made him stand up hastily in surprise.

"Oswald?"

Oswald shot up and spun on his heel, nearly unbalancing and putting a hand back against the machine to keep him standing. There was a woman with dirty blonde hair pulled into a messy braid standing in front of him, dressed in jeans and a light sweater. Oswald had to stare at her for a moment before he recognized her.

"Dr. Carter?" he asked in disbelief.

"No, at the moment I really am just Jenna," she answered with a cheerful smile. "My shift just ended. What are you doing here? Please tell me it's not Lewis."

"No, our friend Kate's having her baby," Oswald said, smiling at her comment about Lewis.

"Oh that's great," Jenna said brightly. "Well, I wish her luck. It was nice to see you again."

"Yeah," Oswald said distractedly, his mind racing. Jenna gave him a wave and began walking away. "Jenna, wait!" he suddenly called. She stopped and turned back to him and Oswald hastily cleared the distance between them. "I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to – well – hang out some time. Maybe have lunch or something," Oswald said, stammering nervously.

Jenna seemed momentarily surprised but then she smiled again. "That sounds great," she said. "I was starting to wonder if you were really interested."

Oswald was taken aback. "You were actually expecting me to ask you out?" he asked in confusion.

"I don't give my personal number out to just anyone," Jenna said with a mischievous grin. Oswald felt his ears go red and he smiled in response.

"Hey, you know, we're all just sitting around upstairs right now," Oswald started. "Me and Lewis and Drew and Eugene. You could come up and hang out with us for a bit if you wanted. Unless you have other plans or something."

"That sounds like fun," Jenna said. "I think I could come up and socialize for a while. I don't need for be home for a few hours anyway. I'm sure you boys need something to distract yourself anyhow." Oswald grinned and the two of them headed back up to the maternity ward.

Drew looked up in surprise when Oswald approached with Jenna at his side. It was at that moment that Oswald realized he'd left his drink in the bottom of the vending machine. "Wow, Oswald," Drew said. "When you said you were going to get a drink, I expected you to bring back a Coke."

"I'm the new Jenna-Cola," Jenna joked, slipping into one of the chairs.

"You're Lewis' doctor, aren't you?" Eugene said, surveying Jenna with a curious eye.

"I was, yes," Jenna agreed. "Speaking of Lewis, where is he?"

"Back with Kate," Drew answered. "The nurse says that she's finally gone into labor. Guess Lewis got trapped in there." He grimaced at the thought. As much as he wanted to be there for Kate, he wasn't sure he could endure actually being in the room while she was giving birth.

"Ooh," Jenna said sympathetically. "Great, I'll likely end up tending him for a broken hand now. I'm not sure I could handle that." The men chuckled appreciatively. "I'd have thought the father would be the one who would want to be in there with her, though," she said, glancing around the group. It was clear she assumed one of them was the father.

"It's none of us, if that's what you're thinking," Drew said hastily, reading her expression.

"Kate's not exactly sure who the father is," Oswald murmured. Jenna nodded and smiled, but to his surprise she didn't seem to have any problem with the concept.

"So, the baby, is it a boy or a girl?" Jenna asked interestedly. Oswald could tell she was trying to keep the conversation going and he was grateful for it since all of the men were worried about Kate. The distraction stopped them from thinking about it too much. Jenna made sure to stoke the conversation up again every time it started to fade off, and the men never realized how much time had passed until much later. About a half hour after Jenna had arrived, Drew's cell phone went off and he hastily explained the situation to whoever was on the other end. This turned out to be his girlfriend, Abi Mitchels, who arrived ten minutes after the phone call and berated Drew for not telling her sooner, before she joined their small group.

Lewis had completely lost feeling in his hand and he was starting to wonder if he would ever get it back. There was no possible way to escape Kate's grip, but even if he could Lewis knew that he couldn't leave the room. As uncomfortable as he felt being there, the desperation in Kate's voice when she'd begged him to stay was too much for him to combat.

He had absolutely no idea how much time had passed while he'd been in there, but he did know that he had been standing long enough to make his ankle start to ache, although this pain was slightly dulled by his hand. He concentrated on talking to Kate, keeping his voice steady and soothing, and encouraging her.

The sound of the baby's cry had been almost as much of a relief to him as it had been to Kate. He watched as the doctor's cleaned up the baby and wrapped her in a towel before handing her to Kate. Kate held the little girl against her chest and even though her face was red and soaked with sweat, she smiled at the sight.

"What are you going to name her, Ms. O'Brien?" one of the nurses asked. She was poised to write it down on what Lewis assumed must be the birth certificate.

Kate gazed down at the little girl for a moment and then answered in a hoarse voice, "Leslie Marie O'Brien." The nurse nodded and wrote this down.

"Leslie," Lewis repeated, as he leaned over to look at the little girl. Her crying had quieted now and she was making soft gurgling noises. Lewis' hand reached out and he brushed his thumb against the girl's cheek. The little eyes opened to a squint at the contact and Lewis found himself staring at a pair of almond-shaped green eyes. The small cheeks creased with a sleepy yawn.

He instantly fell in love.