'Alexis? Petra? I'm heading out!'

Alexis looked up from where she was nursing Petra in her favourite armchair, saw Shane coming down the hallway of the apartment. Her heart gave a nice little thumpity-thump when she saw him in his cashmere jumper and pressed jeans. Th scent of his date-night cologne caught her nose and she felt the little trickle of warm in her belly.

'Ooo, looking sexy Doctor Weaver,' she told him with a sly grin, and Shane grinned right back.

'Mmm, Petra better behave tonight because when I get home...' Shane trailed off, laid his lips near to Alexis' ear so she felt his breath on her skin. 'You and I are going to have some time just for us.'

'Oh Shane-'

'Baby, I know you're feeling all loose and jelly-like still,' he cut her off, using her own words from that morning when she'd gotten out of the shower, 'but trust me, Alexis, you will never have to worry about whether or not I still find you sexy now that Petra is here.'

'Really?'

'Damn right.' Shane winked at her, making Alexis smile.

'I know it's ridiculous because my mom and Meredeth, Lanie and Lili and Sloan and all of them have gone through it and they have more than one child too.'

'Exactly.'

'Still doesn't stop me from feeling like crap about my body though.'

'So we do what we've always done.' Shane waited while Alexis switched Petra to her other breast, then took her hand in his so their wedding rings clinked. 'We work through it together. You've already shrunken down six weeks post-birth and you can wear your rings again. That's a positive, right?'

'For sure.' Alexis wiggled her fingers proudly. 'The scale says I'm back down to one forty-one already. That's four pounds off from breast-feeding alone since the birth.'

Petra gave a gusty little sigh which made both her parents' hearts melting, Shane adding on, 'Yeah we are talking about you sweetheart. What have my favourite redheads got planned for tonight while Papa is out with the boys?'

'Oh it's a wild scene here. We are having Lindsay and Sloan and their little ones over while you, Jeremy and Adam are out for strippers and drag racing.'

'Strippers, no, but you're not far off with the second one. We're going drag queen bingo.'

'Oh I've heard of that, it's a fundraiser for a charity of the celebrity caller's choosing, right? Who is doing the calling?'

'Eric Samson, one of the stars from Dallas, Lieutenant Eve.'

'Oh nice.'

'Who is he?' Shane asked, only watching the show when Alexis did as he was more into classic crime stories like Sherlock Holmes versus the sci-fi leaning HBO series that Alexis and many others of their family loved.

'He plays Baxter, the smooth-talking detective who trains the yummy eye candy Troy Trueheart played by Murdock Fenton.' Alexis paused while she adjusted Petra so she was sitting on her knee, Alexis' hand bracing her neck and head so Petra could be burped. 'If you get a chance to say hi, tell him I thought episode four of the Portrait Killer was his best yet, because we got to see him fully realize his role as a big-bro for Trueheart.'

'Will do.' Shane looked at his watch, whistled. 'Alrighty, Papa's heading out girls. Gimme kisses.'

He leaned in to give Alexis a peck, and was inches away from Petra's face when he heard the pop of her burp, saw bubbles form on her lips which made him kiss her forehead instead. 'I'll call when I'm on my way home.'

'Stay safe and have fun. Love you.'

'Love you too.'

Shane was pulling on his coat as he hit the lobby, saw Jeremy and Adam both there admiring the new car. 'Pet it all you want guys,' he called out to them, 'doesn't make it any less real.'

'I can't believe you got a new set of wheels from your folks,' Adam told him incredulously. 'Seriously, how loaded are your parents, Shane?'

'Just enough that eight years of premium quality higher education including medical school wasn't an issue and not enough to have some weird delusions that I could have whatever I wanted,' he replied honestly. 'So, taxi or subway to get to the bingo hall?'

'Subway, it's right near Barney Q's of Amsterdam,' replied Jeremy.

'How come you and Sloan didn't come together?'

'Because she has some surprise she's giving Alexis and she needed a little time to get it ready so I fetched you first.' He patted his friend's shoulder, then gave it a friendly squeeze. 'Gimme your phone.'

'Why?'

'Because you are not going to spend the entire night being tempted to text Alexis about the baby, that's why.'

'But-'

'Dude, we know you,' Adam told him, 'and as two dudes who have already gone through it, trust me when I say you can talk a big game but it will hit you like a freight train, like 'holy shit, why am I getting to go out and have fun, and my wife who was pregnant for nine months is still doing all the heavy lifting'. I was at the movies with Ryan and Espo when that happened to me and trust me, it was not pretty.'

'So we are going to be your support group, your Daddies-Anonymous sponsors, if you like,' Jeremy told him as they headed down the stairs into the Twenty-Third Street Station. 'You're allowed three moments tops. This is meant for you have a break from being a dad so you can be a better one because you're not burned out on baby. So you're going to have some beers and two-for-one wings and watch some drag queens pull their balls. Sound good?'

'Yeah,' Shane laughed. 'Sounds good.'