"Emily, answer your damn phone!" Derek yelled across the studio. The small space was filled with the chaos of buzzing machines, the radio, and now the shrill ringing of Emily's phone.
"In a minute!" Emily shouted back over the noise. She was in the middle of a very intricate piece and wasn't pleased at being disturbed.
"It's messing up my vibe," he replied, louder still.
"Shut up about your 'vibe'," she scoffed, "Asshole." Her client laughed as Emily winked down at her. She didn't mean it when she insulted him and he knew that.
Derek just laughed, rolled his eyes, and went back to tattooing. "Nerd," he muttered.
She ignoring him. "Where's JJ anyway?" she asked, wetting a paper towel and wiping down her work. "She's supposed to be autoclaving shit for me."
"I sent her to get coffee," he replied. He was really enjoying having an apprentice and using the 'studio bitch' thing to its fullest extent, having her scrub the toilet, take out the garbage, make coffee, and run errands. He'd once tried to convince her to do his laundry, but she'd laughed in his face at that.
Emily groaned. "I need her help here. Get your own apprentice." At that moment, JJ came through the door, arms laden with coffee and lunch for them. "Ah, good, you're back. Can you grab my phone for me?"
JJ hurriedly set down her things and grabbed the still ringing phone off the front desk. "Sorry, ma'am." She only called her 'ma'am' when she wanted to bug her, knowing she hated the formality.
"Don't call me ma'am," Emily said, horrified, making Derek laugh harder.
JJ punched in the voicemail code and put it on speaker so that Emily could listen while she worked.
"Emily, this is Sean – again. It's urgent that..."
"Hang up!" Emily demanded.
"What?"
"Hang up!" Emily nearly shouted.
JJ's eyes were wide in shock, but she complied. The room was dead silent for a few moments, even the machines seeming hushed in the alarmed silence.
Emily's face reddened, blush spreading across her neck and chest. She ducked her head to focus determinedly on her work as she went back to her tattoo to avoid looking into anyone's curious and concerned eyes.
JJ and Derek shared a look over her hunched back, exchanging silent concerns. Derek shook his head, indicating he had no idea what either the phone call or her reaction were about.
Emily looked up and they both immediately looked away and returned to their work as well.
Emily curled her pale limbs around JJ's naked body, resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder, sending hot water lapping at JJ's slightly rounded belly.
"Boy or girl?" Emily asked, sweeping JJ's wet hair aside from her neck so she could kiss it.
"What?" JJ said with a giggle as Emily nuzzled her neck.
"Which one do you want?"
"A girl, I suppose," she admitted quietly, "But I'm sure it's a boy." She rubbed her belly fondly, a small smile eking out in spite of herself and her resolve not to get attached. "I can just tell."
"How?" Emily frowned and felt around her belly curiously, trying to feel what it was that made JJ so sure. The doctor's visit had gone well; they'd heard the baby's heartbeat (though she would never admit it, Emily's eyes had misted over at the sound), but it was too soon to tell the gender without a blood test.
"Mother's intuition, I guess." She shrugged. "Hey, that tickles!"
Emily laughed as JJ squirmed against her, scented water sloshing over the side of the tub as she continued to tickle her sides.
JJ grabbed her hands to stop the tickling, still laughing. She twisted around in her arms to kiss her. "Hey... Can I ask you something?" she asked warily, dotting a blob of bubbles onto Emily's nose.
"Sure." She dabbed bubbles onto JJ's chin, forming a ridiculous bubble beard.
"What was up with that phone call?" She attempted to keep her voice airy and light, afraid of Emily's reaction to her innocent concern.
Emily blanched visibly, but maintained an even voice, "It's nothing you should worry about."
"It sounded important," JJ persisted.
Emily tenderly stroked JJ's cheeks. "Do you trust me?" JJ nodded earnestly. "Then trust me when I say I don't want you to worry about this. It's just something I need to deal with."
JJ looked deeply into her eyes for a long moment, then nodded again.
"Good," Emily said as if that's all there was to it. As JJ settled back against her chest to resume their cuddling, she asked, "Have you ever thought about running your own shop?"
JJ choked a little on the notion. "Are you crazy? I'm not ready to even think about running my own shop, not yet. I'm not even sure I want that. Right now, I'm just focused on learning to tattoo better."
"Right, of course." She shook her head. "But one day?
"I don't know. Maybe. One day way in the future." Something about the conversation didn't sit right, souring the pit of her stomach.
"You could take over this shop," Emily said immediately, as if she'd planned it out. "You and Derek can run the shop together. I'll handle the business aspects until I can get you trained for that."
JJ felt her blood run cold. "Emily, what are you talking about?"
Emily laughed a little, brushing off her concern. "In the future. If I wanted to open a second shop." Then, softer, "I trust you; I don't trust many people, but I trust you with my livelihood."
"I'll think about it," she said slowly, trying to give her the answer she wanted. She'd only just started dealing with the idea of being a single mother to two children and now she was supposed to run an entire business?
"Of course," she said, laughing again. "Now..." she said, smiling friskily.
JJ blushed under Emily's lascivious gaze, squeaking when Emily's fingers landed on her thighs under the blanket of bubbles, all concern effectively vanquished from her mind.
