Page 64 of From the Embers
“All right. Let’s do it.”
“Umm.” Bree raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “Ya know, I think I’m just going to hang in the lobby.”
“What happened to being here for me?”
“Well, I am. But maybe I can cheer for you from outside.” She crinkled her nose adorably. “Needles aren’t really my thing.”
I’d have given her shit, but even being there was out of Bree’s comfort zone. Chuckling, I dragged her into a hug, careful not to smear the stencil on my chest. “You know this is going to take hours, right?”
“Yep. And I’m here for every minute of it. You need coffee or a riveting chat from outside the door, I’m your girl.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
She tipped her head back and puckered her lips, asking for a kiss I would never be able to deny.
“I love you, babe.”
Her mouth split into a beaming smile that could light even the darkest corners of any room. “Love you too, Eason.”
I spent four hours in the chair, and by the time we were done, we had to schedule a second session to finish up the shading. But the only part I truly cared about was seeing my daughter’s name on my chest.
As I drove us home, dread once again filled my gut. We’d agreed to read the results by the firepit after the kids had gone to bed. It was the logical choice; it was where Bree and I did our best emotional damage control. Almost like neutral ground. Though the minute we pulled into the driveway, from knowing we had to go inside and act like it was just another day and the clock wasn’t a ticking timebomb counting down to my worst nightmare, bedtime seemed too painfully far away.
After parking in my spot in front of the pool house, I cut the engine but made no move to get out.
As always, Bree knew exactly what I needed and quietly sat beside me, her hand locked with mine, while I organized my thoughts.
I scrubbed my free palm on the thigh of my jeans. “I think I just want to rip off the Band-Aid. They deserve more than for me to spend one more night faking smiles with my stomach in knots. I’m just ready for this to be over. All of it. It’s been one punch to the gut after another for too long now. I’m done. I want our problems to be which kitten to bring home and whether Asher makes the pee-wee soccer team this year. Fuck, Bree. I’m terrified that, if we keep screaming into the past, the future is going to become nothing but an echo.”
“I know,” she said, releasing my hand but only long enough to wrap hers around the back of my neck. Leaning over the center console, she brought her forehead to mine. “This is it. After this, they have no more control over us. We read these results and then it’s just me and you and those kids making a life together from here on out.” Suddenly releasing me, she sat back in her seat, lifted the corner of her shirt, and inched the waistband of her jeans down to reveal a piece of clear plastic taped on all four corners.
It was small, but never in my entire life had anything felt bigger.
In black typewriter font was a tattoo of three simple letters divided by two tiny hearts.
A M L
Asher. Madison.
And Luna.
“Bree,” I rasped, raw emotion filling my throat. I reached out to trace the corners, careful not to touch her angry, red flesh. “You got a tattoo?”
“We’re a family, Eason. Regardless of what the email says. Your tattoo is important to you because Luna will always know you love her. Mine is important to me because you will never have to question how I truly feel. Those kids are my life. All three of them.”
My chest got painfully tight as I dragged her into a hug. She’d said that it didn’t matter if Luna was Rob’s multiple times, and I’d believed her.
But this was more.
This was different.
This was indelible proof on her body for all the days to come.
And this meant more to me than she ever could have imagined.
“I love you so much.”
“It’s you and me, Eason. Let’s rip off the Band-Aid, go in there, play with our kids, give them the absolute best life possible, and never look back.” She leaned away, righting herself in her seat, and extended her hand in my direction. “Give me your phone.”
With my heart in my throat, I held her gaze and passed it over.
This was going to hurt.
This was going to absolutely slay me.
But with Bree and her hand in mine, I didn’t feel like I was suffocating under the weight of those results.
“You ready?” she asked, using her free hand to navigate to my email on my phone.
