Hahahah, cut off your name! waterunderthebridge, who finished her brilliant story Better Off As Lovers. If I may say so myself, it was a beautiful story and I am truly impressed that you made it happen. I love you always, and thank you for all the kind and adorable things you said about me in your journal. I dont know why, but this is definitely fate. ;) Thanks kids, that is all. RR & M
“First tattoo?”
I nodded, swallowing nervously as I lay back on the leather couch. I felt like a little kid going to the dentist to the first time, as I held still ready for the needlepoint instead of a large drill. I felt the cool airbrush over the normally unexposed skin, as the man’s hand approached my hip. My t-shirt was pushed up, exposing my midriff, while my velvet track pants had been pushed down a little so that my right hip was perfectly bare.
“Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine,” Teddy beamed at me, giving my hand a good squeeze. Though I don’t know how he still had any feeling in the hand, I had been clenching it for a good ten minutes in complete fear. I guess he was especially tolerant of pain.
I swallowed again, trying to smile for him.
Just as I began to feel the needle on my skin, I gasped aloud at the sudden pain. A burning sensation replaced the immediate shock of having a needle repeatedly enter my skin. I squeezed Teddy’s hand hard, my eyebrows creased in pain. I felt my body tense as the needle glided over my skin.
“Oww,” I said, making my fiancé chuckle a little. He brought my hand to his lips, making me shiver against the warmth of his mouth.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“Yeah, ow,” I flinched at a particularly uncomfortable part.
“Do you have any tattoos?” The man who was working on mine with agility and speed asked Teddy.
“Yeah, same place,” Stryker nodded towards me.
“Nice – the same image?” He asked, ignoring my flinching pain, and carrying on a conversation with Stryker.
“No, not at all, actually–”
“OWW!” I screamed, choking his hand. The tattoo artist and my fiancé shared a look and laughed, making me scowl. I didn’t know how people could just get tattoos with out flinching – it was so painful.
“I’m sorry,” Stryker apologized, trying to laugh as he saw my expression. He brushed back my bangs, stroking my face gently. I breathed in deeply, while also trying to hold still for the artist to continue working.
It was done in a relatively short amount of time, though the pain had made it seem longer. I tried to focus my attention on the handsome person sitting next to me, and after a few attempts, the distraction worked.
“That’s it,” The artist announced, wiping away the last of the ink from my very sore hip. I rose, wincing slightly at the pain, as the skin stretched.
I angled the hem of my track pants down, revealing my new ink as I looked on in the mirror. Teddy stood just behind me, his eyes wide and gleaming.
Starting at the very tip of my hipbone were delicate, alluring swirly lines that lead to gentle hands. The hands very daintily held a heart between them, with the swirls extending on either side. The heart itself had a small crown atop it, completing the Celtic sign. We had chosen this for numerous reasons, and the fact that it was now on my body – an official part of me – was absolutely thrilling.
The image had a real name, the Irish Claddagh Ring, because it dated back so far in time. Each part of the image had a symbolic meaning. The heart stood for love, the hands for friendship and the crown for loyalty. The symbol was used for marriage thousands of years ago, and I thought it fit perfectly for me. It also went well with the Celtic like wedding ring that Teddy had bought me. Of course that wasn’t the entire symbol because there was no crown, but it carried the same meaning.
The beauty shone through the symbols, and by putting it on my body, I felt he would understand that. Teddy loved me enough to get raindrops, and a whole damn storm tattooed on his body, so it was important that I showed him my devotion as well.
“Woah, it’s…”
“Amazing,” Teddy finished, reaching out to touch it delicately. I smiled, watching as he mirrored my grin.
“Happy Birthday,” He cooed, moving his arms up to embrace me normally. He kissed my cheek, and I smiled brightly. The warm tingly feeling swept over me, making me almost forget that it was my birthday altogether.
“So, what you do think?” The tattoo artist, who had been giving us some space, asked sincerely.
“It’s fucking amazing,” I assured him, “Thank you so much,” I reached out for a hug and he reciprocated it genially.
“Yeah, no problem,” He shook hands with Teddy after we paid, and then we were gone.
“How do you feel?” Teddy asked as we scurried towards the car in the cold wind. I reached for his hand, as we crossed the street, opening the car doors and getting in.
“Great! I’m so excited that I actually went through with it!” I smiled, giggling a little, “And I love that you were here with me, and that you encouraged me to get it and everything!” I leaned over, kissing his cheek repeatedly, until he finally turned his face towards mine. He pulled my lips to his, kissing me deeply, locking our lips and letting my tongue slid into his mouth.
“Is it birthday sex time?” Stryker asked huskily, one hand in my hair, the other on my untattooed hip as we pulled apart momentarily.
I giggled in response, leaning back in to kiss him. I could feel the playful tension in the air and I soaked it up. Just as I moaned against his lips, I heard my phone begin to ring.
“Mmph!” I finally pulled away from him, sifting through my purse for my blackberry. Stryker made a frustrated noise as he sat back in his seat, running a hand through his messy hair.
“Hello?” I answered. I too sat up a little straighter, using Teddy’s leg for leverage, realizing I was a little short of breathe.
“Raine?!” Seth’s frantic voice met my ear.
“Seth? What’s wrong?” I asked. All traces of elation and love were slammed out of me as I began to worry. He sounded scared out of his mind.
“Is Teddy with you?” He demanded. Teddy nudged me, trying to figure out what was going on. He took out his phone, finding a few missed calls.
“Yeah, why? Are–”
He cut me off, “Bev’s just gone into labor! Raine, I need to take her in right now and the kids are at home and I–”
Seth was practically having heart palpitations by the sound of things. I wasn’t sure if it was him or Beverly that had gone into labor. Either way I knew they needed my help.
It was my turn to cut him off, “Seth, listen to me. Go, take her right now. Teddy and I are out, we’re maybe 15 minutes away. Can you get someone to come over until we get there?”
I knew he couldn’t very well take two small children with him to the hospital while his wife was about to give birth.
“Uh, yeah, I think our neighbors are home – yes. Oh god thank you, I’ll tell them you’re coming, shit – I have to go!”
“It’s okay, Seth, just stay calm, okay? Everything’s going to be fine.”
I tried to use the calmest voice I could, but I could hear the tension in his throat. His nerves were spreading to me as well. I felt the flutter of excitement as the building anticipation had finally peaked.
“Okay, thank you – talk to you soon!”
It must have been the shortest conversation I had ever had with someone before. I dropped my phone back into my purse and took a deep breath.
“What happened?!” Teddy asked me, clearly unable to put two and two together.
“Beverly just went into labor, and Seth needs us to go over and stay with Ash and Jesse,” I explained, starting up the car and pulling out of our spot along the curve.
“Right now?!” Teddy asked, just as surprised as I had been.
“Yeah, and I think he tried to call you–”
“Yeah he did, just in like the last five minutes, when we were…” I blushed, making him laugh.
“See the trouble you caused! Poor Beverly needed to get to the hospital!” I scolded him lightly, as I merged onto the freeway trying to take the quickest route to their neighborhood.
“I’m sorry, it’s just all your fault,” Stryker said wickedly, making me scowl, “You came onto me!”
“Are you excited?” I asked him, changing the subject, focusing on the pressing event.
“Hell yeah! I was at the hospital for both Jesse and Ashlyn’s birth!” He told me excitedly. I smiled at the thought of him holding a baby. Somehow the thought appealed to some part of me.
“Oh my gosh, what if the baby is born tonight and then we share a birthday!” I just made the connection, thinking about just how exciting that would be.
“Damn! I didn’t think about that!” Teddy smiled, “Oh, baby, what about the birthday sex?”
The look of half disappointment and half curiosity for my reaction made me laugh. I waved off his question, shaking my head.
“We can have belated birthday sex tomorrow, right now, I have two kids to entertain,” I reminded him.
“What do you mean ‘I’?” He asked, just as I turned onto they’re street. I quickly parked in their driveway, and turned off the car.
“You need to go to the hospital,” I told him flatly, pulling out my jacket and heading towards the front door. He followed me, and waited quietly as the doorbell rung.
A moment later, a teenage girl opened the door.
“Hi,” I smiled, “I’m Raine,” I introduced myself. This must have been the neighbor’s daughter.
She bared her braced teeth, “Hi, I’m Stephanie. Come in,” She opened the door for us, and I entered the familiar room, spotting Ashlyn and Jesse on the couch in the den.
“Do you live next door?” I asked, as I kicked off my shoes. She nodded, “Thanks so much for staying with them,” I motioned to my to-be niece and nephew.
“No problem,” She smiled sweetly and bid the kids ‘goodbye’ before departing.
“Ducky! I didn’t know you were coming?!”
“It’s Aunt Ducky!” Jesse corrected his sister, and she stuck her tongue out at him. I laughed at them, explaining that I was going to be sleeping over. They took the news rather well.
“You guys, give your Uncle Teddy a hug and then run upstairs to your parents room, okay?” I instructed them, after having promised that they could watch a movie with me upstairs.
“Are you leaving, Uncle Teddy?” Jesse asked him.
“Umm, I might be,” He answered, shooting me a look.
Once the two of them had made it up the stairs, I stood up from my kneeling position and faced Teddy. I leaned up and kissed my fiancé.
“You need to be with your brother right now,” I said firmly, looking straight into his chocolate eyes, “You’ve been there for him before, and it’s not like you to not be there now. Take my car. Go.”
I saw the indecision in his face, as he wrapped his arms around me, drawing me closer. Teddy sighed, knowing that I spoke the plain truth.
“But it’s your birthday…”
“You’re going to love me just as much tomorrow as you do right now, right?” I asked, draping my arms around his neck and pecking his lips.
“Yeahhhh,” He rolled his eyes.
“Then you can make up for all of it then, okay?” I didn’t wait for an answer, but instead kissed him again.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay, by yourself?”
“Unless there’s an uprising, I think I’m safe,” I poked fun at him, running a hand through his hair. I looked up into his caring eyes, loving every thing I saw there.
I saw he was still torn, and that he needed reassurance that I was okay with what he had decided, “Babe, if it was me, about to give birth to a baby, you would not want to be sitting out there in that hospital lobby alone – Seth would never let you. You know where you need to be right now, so do I.”
Finally he chuckled and nodded. He hugged me tightly, squeezing me against him. I buried my face in his chest, breathing in the axe and dropping kisses along his collar. His head bent, as he whispered, “I love you, and I’ll text you all night, okay?”
I smiled, “Okay.”
We both leaned in for one final kiss – our lips almost refusing to part from each other’s – and then he departed.
