Perfect Dad

Meeting Her

It was double the effort keeping his attention on the road. Juan thought belatedly how he should have taken his colleague's offer to drive for him. But, he reminded himself, it wasn't really a life and death situation. And the fact that his son actually even had the audacity to make jokes told him Julian was okay for the most part.

He made a beeline for the reception desk once he got to the hospital.

"My son was brought to the emergency," he began.

"Name?"

"Juan Pablo Muñoz."

The nurse on duty typed on the keyboard and moved and clicked the mouse for a few seconds before turning back to him.

"There's no patient by that name here, Sir."

He was about to panic until he realized there was some misunderstanding on his part.

"No, no." He shook his head. "I meant Julian Muñoz. The patient's name is Julian. I thought you were asking for my name."

"Ah." Once more, she click-clacked on the keyboard, looked up and gestured toward his right. "Bed number 4. That way, Sir. There are signs along the hallway to point you to the emergency."

He shot off even before she was done giving instructions.

"Paps." His son saw him before he saw them.

"Hey." Juan was immediately by Julian's side. "How are you?"

"I'll live." The imp gave him a cheeky smile.

"Mr. Muñoz?" He turned toward the direction the voice came from and almost gasped.

The first time he heard that voice on the phone, he was reminded of the fuzzy warmth brought about by a steaming mug of cocoa with marshmallows on a cold, rainy night. Sweet and calming.

"I'm Paula, the school nurse." She smiled and offered her hand. "We spoke on the phone."

He just stood there and stared at her, taking note of the smooth skin above the neckline of her scrubs, the graceful curve of her neck, the slight indentation on her chin. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail which offered him an unobstructed view on the rest of her face--the pert nose, slanted eyes, the aristocratic arch of her brow.

And...did he mention the eyes? She had such expressive eyes that a man could drown in. Her lips were the color of pink roses. He wondered how soft they would feel against his.

"Mr. Muñoz?"

Juan blinked furiously to snap himself out of his reverie.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." He reached out to grasp her hand.

Her fingers felt small and delicate against his roughened palm. He had no doubt, though, of the strength and capability in them. She was a nurse, fer cryin' out loud. For sure those hands have cared for and healed countless pains.

"This is Doctor Borja," she went on to introduce the man beside her who he had successfully ignored until she gestured to him. "He's the attending physician."

"Doc." He acknowledged the introduction with a handshake.

He wanted to give himself a head slap. He was there because his son needed medical attention, dammit. What the hell kind of a responsible father gawks at a beautiful nurse instead of giving his full attention to his son?

His son who, despite the pain he must be feeling, had a strange, naughty smile on his face.

"Julian's injury," the pretty nurse spoke once more, "as I mentioned to you, isn't severe."

"If you would step this way." Doctor Borja guided him toward a backlit panel on the wall that held Julian's x-rays. "I can explain further."

Juan tried to absorb as much as he could from the doctor's explanation about what actually happened, what was going to be done, what time frame they were looking at with regards to the healing process, expectations. Hours later, with Julian's arm in a cast, they were finally headed home.

"Thank you for being here," he turned to Miss Jugo as they walked toward where he parked his car.

"It's no biggie." She smiled up at him. "And please, call me Paula."

"Uy! You have twin names." Julian piped in.

His head whipped toward his left.

"'Di ba, Paps?" the kid continued. "You're Juan Pablo, and Miss Jugo is Paula. Bagay."

It may have been dark, but he caught the wink his son gave him. The cheeky smile was there too, for the two adults to see, of course.

"I, uh," Paula cleared her throat. "I'll leave you two and head back to the lobby."

He semi-panicked. "Wait, how are you getting home?"

"I'll get a taxi. Or Grab."

"We can drop you off." Julian once more. "Right, Paps?"

"Oh, absolutely," he agreed. Yes to more time spent with Paula.

Paula. He liked how his lips and tongue formed the sound of her name.

"Where do you live, Miss Paula?"

She shifted her gaze from father to son. "I actually just moved into your building a couple of months ago."

It was almost embarrassing how his son's smile made it appear he had just given him the latest PS console complete with state-of-the-art sound system.

"That's no trouble, then." He smiled too. Only not as geeky as Julian's. Right?

"It's fine." Paula waved off the offer. "I need to go back to the school to get my car anyway."

His mind worked overtime. Juan did not want to say goodbye just yet. There was just something about her that was compelling him to want to know more.

"Tell you what," he began, slowly. Carefully. He deliberately lifted a hand to look at his watch. "It's early yet. I say let's go home and have dinner. I have some meatloaf ready for the oven."

"Meatloaf as in Spam or Ma-Ling?"

"No, it's homemade."

"You cook?" She stared at him in awe.

The look on her face was adorable. Like a child's first time seeing Disneyland. If it weren't for Julian's presence, Juan would have caught Paula then and there and kissed her heartily.

If she let him, of course.

"Paps makes the best meatloaf ever."

"After dinner, I can bring you to Reeves to pick up your car."

He held his breath, waiting for Paula to make a decision. When she spoke again, he almost yelped for joy.

"Sounds like a plan."