“Come on, sweetheart.”
I pull open the door and walk into the familiar shop. I’ve spent many painful days in this place. It’s so fucking nice to be here for something I want instead of a feeling I need.
“Jones!” I hear Paul shout. “What’s up, man? Long time!” He walks over and stops in front of Emma and Collin. “What’s up, little Jones?” He gently pokes his stomach with a finger. “Jesus, if that isn’t your kid, I would suggest hitting Maury Povich up for a paternity test. He looks just like you!”
“Paul, this is my wife, Emma, and son, Collin. Emma, this is Paul. He’s done one hundred percent of my tattoos. I won’t let anyone else touch me.”
“Wow. Well I have to say you did a fantastic job on his back. I’ll have to send you some of the pictures I took a few weeks ago,” Emma says with a huge smile.
“Yeah, send ‘em over. I never thought he’d finish, but it turned out pretty badass.” He turns his attention back to me. “Give me minute. I’m transferring your stuff now.”
“I thought this was an impromptu stop?” She spins to face me.
“Yeah, I totally lied.” I shrug but can’t wipe the smile from my face. “Oh and Brett and Jesse should be here in about five minutes to pick up Collin.”
“What!” she screams.
“Oh and we’re go out to dinner afterward.”
“What!” she screams again.
“And I packed him his pajamas and enough bottles to get us through ten o’clock. So after dinner, I’m taking you home and fucking you against the wall, maybe on the stairs, and definitely in the kitchen. ”
“What.” This time she breathes the word as heat floods her eyes.
“Come on, Emmy. I knew if I’d asked you about this, you’d have said no. I haven’t been alone with you since he was born. I packed his bags and dropped them off with Brett this morning after the gym. It works out for everyone. I get to have loud sex with my wife without fear of waking the baby, and Jesse gets her baby fix for the week.”
“I don’t know…” she starts, but the door opens and Jesse comes skipping into the shop.
She addresses Collin first. “Hey, cutie!”
“Jesse, I don’t know about this,” Emma says as Jesse plucks him from her arms.
“Em, it will be fine,” Brett says as he joins the group.
“Oh and the best part. I was worried about the whole car seat switch, so Brett’s just going to take the SUV and leave us the BMW.” I smile eagerly.
“Be careful with my baby, asshole,” he snaps as he hands over the keys.
“I could say the same.” I look down at Collin, who’s giggling while Jesse blows raspberries on his cheek.
“Come on, sweetheart. It will be fine,” I urge.
She finally relents. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll text lots of pictures,” Jesse promises, using Collin’s hand to wave over her shoulder as they walk away.
Emma’s eyes look a little teary as the door closes behind them, so I pull her into a hug. After pushing her hair off her shoulder, I place a wet kiss on her neck. She immediately relaxes into my arms.
“He’ll be fine. He loves Jesse.”
She nods, biting back the tears as Paul comes out from the back.
“You ready, man?”
I turn to Emma and ask, “We ready?”
“Did you draw it?” she asks, referring to my soon-to-be new tattoo.
“Yeah. I did.”
“Then I’m ready.” She stands on her toes and pecks my lips.
Two hours later, I finally stand up and look in the mirror.
“Holy shit. That is gorgeous!” Emma gasps when she sees my newest additions.
I had the word Stolen filled in with green ink—the same color as the bird’s eye. I didn’t need that word anymore, but I wanted to keep it as a reminder of how I got here. In a grey section at the tail of the bird, I had the word Reborn added in sky-blue ink—almost the exact shade of Emma’s and Collin’s eyes. But my absolute favorite part is the addition of their names. On the left side of the bird’s body, I had Emmy added vertically in black script, and on the right is Collin.
“What the hell are you going to do if we have more kids?” she asks from behind me as she inspects every inch of my new markings.
“Are we having more kids?” I ask with a laugh.
“Well yeah, eventually.” She steps around in front of me.
“Okay, two more, but that’s it. I like to keep things symmetrical,” I say, and she stands on her toes to kiss me.
“I love it. Like a lot. Maybe even more than I love you,” she teases, kissing me again little deeper.