"SURPRISE"
Tobias
Megan sits on my lap, flipping through the photo album from the cruise like she often does. She likes to look at all the pictures and hear the story behind how Tris and I met and fell in love. Sometimes she'll even point to the picture of me and Zeke after we finished our last car rebuild, or the picture of Tris and I on our honeymoon in Hawaii and ask about them too. She even asks about the family portrait of the three of us that hangs on the wall. I always laugh and remind her that she was in fact there for the family portrait, and the picture is proof of that. But when she smiles sweetly and tells me that she likes it better when I tell her about things, my heart gives a little leap. I'll gladly entertain her with all sorts of stories.
I still can't believe she's only six. But I guess growing up the way we did, there wasn't much room for innocence. She is wise beyond her years.
"You're birthday's coming up soon," I say, catching her attention. "Any ideas what you would like to do?"
"Do?"
"You know. Do you want to have a party here or maybe at the park. Or maybe even at Buzz-E's Pizza Circus?" I internally cringe at the last one. We've taken her there a few times for horrible cardboard pizza and cheesy token games. She loves it, even though it's completely awful.
"I…I don't know." She looks up at me with those big, brown eyes, and for probably the millionth time, I'm reminded that she probably never had a choice of what to do, if she had parties at all. Even I had parties.
"Have you ever had a birthday party?" She nods. "Okay. Well, what were they like?"
"Some people would come over, and we would eat cake and I would get a present." Well, she's had at least some semblance of a normal birthday.
"So what are you worried about?" She gives me a tiny smile.
"The park," she says, matter-of-factly.
"Okay. The park it is."
That night after dinner, I'm changing shirts after spilling sauce on myself, when I hear footsteps. I turn to see Megan, wide-eyed in the doorway. I can tell she is staring at what she can see of my tattoo, and I panic for just a second. I'm honestly not sure what to say or what to do, so I turn back around. She's going to see it eventually at some point.
I hear her creep closer, and close my eyes when her little finger touches the tree on my lower back.
"I didn't know you had a tattoo." Somehow it makes me feel guilty for never sharing this with her. I wanted to tell her when Tris told her all about her ravens, but I didn't want to lay something so heavy on her after hearing about how she'll never meet Tris' parents. I pat the bed as I sit, and she hops up. I take a deep breath as I look at her little face, and let it out slowly.
"I didn't tell you, because it's a bit of a long story, and one that's kind of sad for me." She searches my face for a moment before finding my eyes.
"Sad like Tris?" I nod my head. She leans over and gives me a big hug. "You should get happy tattoos."
From the mouths of babes.
Tris and I spend the rest of the evening explaining to her all about Marcus and Evelyn, and sharing the story of my tattoos. She is quiet for the whole thing, only nodding whenever we ask her if she's okay. Tris also shares her Saturn tattoo, and that makes Megan smile. Apparently, that's her favorite planet 'because it has lots of rings', and I can't help but smile at that. Tris also promises to break out the telescope so they can look at Saturn this weekend when the weather clears up. I love it when my girls find more things in common.
"Thank you," I say to Tris as we climb in bed. "It was a lot easier to do that with you helping out."
"She's a curious one, isn't she?" Tris says, smiling. "Sometimes I forget why she's here. She's always so happy."
"Speaking of happy, she said we should get happy tattoos. I think I like that idea. What do you say?"
"Another tattoo?" She ponders the idea for a moment. "I could go for that."
"You know what else I could go for?" I say, smiling at her. She raises an eyebrow at me.
"No, but I think I can figure it out." She reaches down in between us and trails her fingers along my cock; it twitches in my sweats.
"I was just thinking about ice cream in bed," I say. "But if you want…" She giggles and pulls me closer to her, kissing me softly on my forehead.
"I didn't know ice cream turned you on."
"Well, it was what I was licking it off of that turned me on." I swear I can see her eyes glaze over in a cloud of lust, even in the low light.
She tosses the blanket up, ducking under it quickly. I freeze when her mouth lands on me with just a thin strip of cotton between us. She's kissing every last inch of me, and I ache to have her rip my pants off and wrap her mouth around me.
I pull the covers away to see her bright eyes looking up at me, and grin. She smiles a sly little smile, and holy fuck.
"Come here," I whisper, but she just shakes her head and hooks her fingers in my waistband. I lift up slightly; she drags them down so slow, I swear she's trying kill me.
"Tris," I whisper again. She reaches up with a single finger, and rests is across my lips, effectively silencing me. She gives me one last smile, and I involuntarily close my eyes as her mouth closes around me.
I feel her pull away, and reposition herself to be more comfortable before taking me in again. I open my eyes to see her ass in the air, head bobbing up and down, and grin again. I reach out a give her ass a squeeze, feeling a hum in response. She graciously spreads her legs, allowing me access. I rub the outside of her underwear, noticing how easily they glide back and forth already, and she hums again.
I slide a finger underneath her panties, and run it along her, taking in how wet she already is. I swear I'm practically salivating. I'm definitely dying to get her in my mouth.
"Hey," I say, getting her attention. "Panties off."
"Yes, sir," she smirks. She sits up on her knees, and hooks her thumbs, slowly dragging them down the way she did my pants. My eyes never leave them as she pulls one leg out, then the other. When she goes to resume her previous position, I sit up and stop her.
"My turn," I say as I pull my old shirt she likes to sleep in over her head.
I take in her naked body, and drag my eyes up to hers. I love that look in her eye — the one that says she'd like nothing more than to devour me. I imagine I have the same look. She leans forward and kisses me, and I pull her up, and up and up as I lay down, until she's straddling my chest. She raises her eyebrows at me, and I smile as I hook my arms underneath her legs and pull her forward until she's sitting on my face.
I run my tongue up and down every last inch of her, tasting how sweet she is. I look up to see her holding onto the headboard, eyes closed already. Good.
When I finally focus on her favorite spot, she lets out a soft moan, and moves in synch with me.
She is so perfect, and so fucking hot in this moment. I hold on tight when I know she getting close, slowing my rhythm, forcing her to grind on me to reach her peak. Her thighs squeeze my head, and I hold on tight, not wanting to let go. She pants hard as I lick her one last time, sending her squirming to get away from me.
"Sensitive," she says, giggling as I scoot out from under her. She stays on her knees, resting against the headboard. I kiss one shoulder, then the other, before moving her hair to one side and gently nibbling on her neck. She looks over her shoulder at me as she raises up, and now I'm raising my eyebrows at her.
"Closer," she whispers. I waste no time doing what she asked. She starts to lower herself, and I help guide her, letting out my own hum as she lowers herself onto me.
She moves up and down, slowly, looking over her shoulder every now and then. I swear it's not possible, but I get even harder when I see that glint in her eye — the one that promises love and hope and forever. She takes her time, alternating between grinding and bouncing up and down, and Im loving every last second of it.
She lets me take over when she knows I'm getting close. I pull her away from the headboard a little bit, and she bends over on all fours. Fuck.
I grip her hips tightly, watching as I thrust in and out of her. Even in this low light, my dick is practically a mirror she's so wet. I reach between her legs and rub her clit; her hands dig into the pillows. I see her pull one up to her face, masking the noises she makes as she comes. Feeling her flutter around me, knowing that I do this to her, is so fucking amazing. I close my mouth, muffling my own grunts as I come too.
"Fuck, I love you," I say as we settle back into bed, both trying to catch our breath. She pulls her legs up as she lies on her back, and I scrunch my eyebrows at her.
"They say it can help with conception." I smile and roll over, kissing her on the cheek. I wiggle my hand in between her legs and her abdomen, and hold it there.
"Go. Be free and do your job," I say, grinning. Tris snorts and shakes her head.
"Why won't you tell me what the surprise is?" Tris asks as we get in the car. Zeke and Shauna brought Anna over to babysit for a few hours, allowing us an evening of freedom. I just smile at her, enjoying the torment it's causing. I swear I can actually see the cogs turning in that brain of hers as she stares off.
I did so much research over the past week; tattoo artists, designs, ideas. Hell, I even consulted Wikipedia. In the end I called Tori and told her my idea, and she told me to go and see Bud, her tattoo guy. That was good enough for me.
We pull into the generic strip mall and I park a few doors down in front of a thrift shop. Tris eyes it for a moment before getting out. When she reaches for the door, I stop her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and leading her towards the tattoo parlor. I stop in front of the door and she eyes me for a second before reaching out a pulling the door open.
The familiar buzz instantly floods my ears; it is a welcome sound. I never cared about getting another tattoo until Megan brought it up, and now I can't wait to do this.
"You must be Tobias," an older guy with a bald head and plenty of tattoos says. "I'm Bud."
"I am," I say, shaking his hand when he offers it to me. "And this is my wife, Tris."
"Hello," she says, shaking his hand as well.
"So, what can I do for you?" He poses the question to Tris, and it surprises me. When I called and made the appointment, I had told him there was a possibility of us both getting inked, but for sure it was going to be just me. I smile as she chews on her lip, thinking.
"I guess that depends on what he's getting," she says, motioning to me. Bud looks over, a small smile on his lips. He already knows.
"Sorry. That's classified," I say. She huffs and Bud lets out a hearty laugh. I like this guy.
"I'll tell you what. How about I get started on your husband, while you think about it. No pressure if you can't come up with anything. I can always set another appointment." Tris smiles and nods, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the front of the shop. I wink at her just before I turn and follow Bud to his station.
He pulls out a laptop and opens up a program, turning it to me when it's loaded. It's just my tattoo design over and over again, in different fonts. He stands aside as I scroll through.
"These are the ones that tend to look the cleanest," he says. "So whichever one you like." I nod, and after scrolling back and forth a few times I pick one. He prints it out before creating a stencil.
I take off my shirt when he comes back, and he holds it up to my chest. I can see his eyes flitting over to the few places where my tattoo is visible.
"Would you like to see it?" I offer. His eyes have changed; there's a small amount of sadness in them now, and I have a feeling Tori has talked about me with him. He nods slowly, and I turn around.
He is silent for a long time, before muttering a single "Damn". I turn back around; he holds his hand out, and I shake it again. "It's better than I imagined." I smile as he rubs the stencil on me, transferring the design.
The pain is exactly how I remember it; scratching, digging, burning, but tolerable. I close my eyes and let the steady buzz lull me.
"All good," Bud says as he wipes away the excess ink. I stand and stretch out. He points to a mirror in the corner of his station, and I walk to it, taking in the sight in front of me.
"Shit," I mutter. "It looks amazing."
"Glad to know you had faith in me." Bud winks and rubs on ointment before bandaging it. He hands me an aftercare sheet after I put my shirt back on, and we both head back out to Tris.
"Did you make a decision?" he asks. She looks me up and down for a moment before focusing on him.
"I did. I will be getting a tattoo from you today."
"Well then. Ladies first." I smile as Tris gets up and heads towards Bud's station.
It feels like hardly any time passes before she's back, a bandage on her wrist and an aftercare sheet in her hand. She raises an eyebrow at me, and I raise one back, before paying Bud. He shakes our hands one more time and holds the door open as we leave.
She doesn't say much on the ride home. I'm dying to know what she got, but I can't expect her to tell me when I won't tell her. I guess I'll just have to wait through the agony of not knowing.
We visit with Zeke and Shauna while the kids play. It's such an easy night that I almost forget we even went out in the first place. After they leave and we get Megan into bed, Tris looks at me expectantly.
"Alright, alright," I say. "I'll go first."
I pull my shirt off, and she eyes the large bandage on my chest near my heart. I pull at the tape, loosening it. Her mouth hangs open, silent, after I remove it.
"Six, right?" she says, confused. I look down at the roman numerals near my heart and nod.
"It's sort of a two-fold tattoo," I start. "For both you and Megan." She scrunches her eyebrows as I continue.
"The best thing about you Tris, is the way that you love. You love me and you love Megan unequivocally, but the first time I realized just how much love you were capable of giving was when you showed me your tattoo, the one for your dad. I wanted a way to connect all that love to me and to you and to your parents, even though I never met them, and I just sorta felt like Saturn was the way to do it.
"It's different for me, though. Sure, over the years we pull out the telescope, but that will always be you something that you and your dad did, and I didn't feel it was right to take that away from you. So this is my way of representing how we're all connected. Saturn is the sixth planet, so six." She has tears in her eyes, but she's smiling so widely, I can't help but smile too.
"And Megan?" she says, her voice thick.
"Megan was six when she came into our lives. Six for you, and six for Megan." She steps forward and wraps her arms around me. I pull her into me as tight as I can, never wanting to let go.
"She's going to love it, you know. Your happy tattoo."
"I know," I say. "Okay. Your turn."
She wipes an eye and pulls the bandage off. Now it's my turn to stand there, mouth open. She has a roman numeral four on her wrist.
"I know that you aren't 'Four' anymore, but it's still a huge part of your life, and that's who you were when we met. It's who I fell in love with. I wanted it to remind us both just how far you have come."
I don't know what to say.
"Did you know? Did Bud tell you?" I ask when I'm finally able to form coherent thoughts.
"No," she says, a little laugh escaping. "I had no idea, but now it makes sense why he was smiling like crazy."
"Holy shit," I say, laughing now.
"Holy shit," she says, smiling. "It's almost like we know each other."
"Yeah. Almost."
I kiss her again, and look into her eyes when I pull away. She smiles sweetly, and I'm sure it won't be the last time in my life that I'll wonder just how in the hell I got so lucky.
A/N:
Song: Audra Mae and The Forest Rangers - Never My Love
5 years