Chapter One-Hundred and Forty-Nine

Dominic finished up John's tattoo, placing some plastic wrap over the new art in John's skin and taping it down. "Alright, wash this up tonight before you go to bed, and put some lotion on it. It'll itch like hell in a couple days."

John looked at the tattoo, running his finger over it as it started to feel as if he'd gotten a sunburn. "You finally got to draw on me…"

Dominic chuckled, remembering the last time he'd tried to get John to let him tattoo him. "Doesn't feel as bad as those burns, huh?"

"Looks a hell of a lot better too." He smiled, pulling his hoodie over his head and placing two hundred dollars on the counter to pay his cousin. "Paul and Thomas are making barbeque for dinner tonight, if you and Jade wanna come." He smiled at his cousin, flexing his fingers around the key at his neck. "Sweets misses you."

"We'll be there." Dominic walked with John to the waiting room, noticing that his old Harley was sitting in the parking lot. "You got cleared?" He asked, hardly able to believe that his cousin was finally driving again.

"They cleared me right before they let me out of the hospital. I just got my license renewed this morning." John swung his leg over the motorcycle, pulling his helmet on before he started it. "I'll see you tonight."

John rolled into the driveway, parking his bike behind Claire's car. "What the hell are you doing out here?" He chuckled, walking over to Clarissa as she sat in her chair beside the pool.

She looked up from watching Amelia and Jessop play in the pool. "Where were you?" She asked, noticing how he was being more protective of his left arm than he normally was.

He chuckled, taking his hoodie off to show the tattoo on his arm. "Went to see Dom."

"Johnathan Kurtis!" She gasped, taking his wrist in her hand to see the tattoo better. "You got a tattoo?"

He nodded, combing the fingers of his free hand through Amelia's soaked hair as she came to see. "I needed to talk to Dom and I figured a tattoo would take longer than a piercing." He kissed Amelia's head as she reached toward his arm.

"Johnathan." Clarissa huffed, noticing that his skin was irritated from the tattoo. "Why do you do these things? Riding that motorcycle, getting a tattoo…"

John smiled, kneeling in front of the woman who'd become like his mother. "Mom, I'm still your little boy. I just need to make sure I don't lose myself at the same time." He rested his hand on her arm, letting Amelia climb into his lap and kissing the child's head.

Clarissa shook her head, the image on John's arm standing out like a beacon against his skin. "I just wish you had really been mine." She whispered, brushing her fingers though his hair.

He breathed a laugh, remembering how horrible it had felt when the thugs had defiled him and knowing that his father had always been a sick bastard and remembering the screams his mother had made during the forced act. "You wouldn't have liked my conception."

Amelia touched his tattoo, drawing her hand back at the heat of his inflamed skin under her fingers. "It's hot."

"It's just new." He smiled, poking her stomach as she cuddled into his bare chest. "Wanna help me take care of it?"

She nodded, jumping up and rushing to the house. "Come on!"

He shook his head, picking at the tape around the plastic that protected the new tattoo. "Get some of Claire's lotion from under the counter."