Disclaimer: We don't own Twilight, but we do have a few tattoos...and there might even be a Twilight one in the mix somewhere.

Removed - Chapter 12

(EPOV)

"It's tat time, boys!" Emmett pounds his meaty palm onto my shoulder before turning to Jasper, shoving him so hard that he nearly topples over.

"Fucking hell, Em!" Jasper rights himself, giving my brother a very pouty bitch-face. Those two are always aggravating the snot out of each other; it's been a source of entertainment for me for as long as I can remember.

"You're excited and you know it, pony porker!"

Oh, yeah, we still haven't let Jasper live down his honeymoon tattoo fiasco. We'll be using that shit to our advantage for years to come.

It's been way too long since we've all gotten new ink together, but I'm just here for the guy time. I've had some ideas floating around on what I'd like to get next, but there's no way I'm letting another needle touch my skin until I'm one hundred percent positive. I refuse to get ink without it having a special meaning and, as thankful as I am that tattooing Victoria's name on my chest lead me to Bella, I don't plan on going through the removal process ever again.

We walk into our usual tattoo studio, Inkubus, and our guy, Sam, greets us with his typical fist-bump and smile. Emmett immediately starts talking about his secret design, so I ask Jasper what he's planning on getting.

As he flips through a book of tat ideas, he says, "I'm thinking about adding to the tats on my left arm, eventually turning them into a sleeve."

"That's awesome, man! Are you going to add something big first or just a bunch of smaller designs?"

"I can't decide. I'd like something that represents both Seattle and music to continue the theme, you know?"

Jasper has a huge acoustic guitar on his bicep, with a red heart wearing headphones on his his forearm. He's a rock star at heart, so his ink represents him perfectly.

"Well, you can always do some kind of plaid design to represent all the flannel," I laugh.

"I got it! I'm going to do the Hard Rock Café logo! You know, like the neon sign they have outside the building? Yep, that's it!" He slams the book shut.

"Don't forget, Jazz, if you need any filler tats to bring everything together for your sleeve, you should definitely use music notes. You can always use horseshoes, too," I say, trying to remain serious.

"Why the fuck would I want horseshoes?" It only takes a few seconds for Jasper to get my joke. "Damn it, Edward! I knew it was risky giving you Bella's number, but Alice insisted you two are lobsters or something. If I'd known that the tat-that-shall-not-be-named would come back to bite my ass so soon, I'd have tried to discourage her. You're lucky I love my wife and want her to be happy."

"No, you're lucky your wife lets you leave the house with your balls intact. I'm lucky I had a dumbass tat to remove."

"Yeah, well, you're right on both accounts, so I'll let you slide this time. Seriously, dude, the pony jokes are getting so old!"

"I hate to break it to you, but you'll never live that shit down. Never! I'd just suck it up and wait for Emmett to do something equally ridiculous so you can rag him about it forever. Speaking of, where is my brother?"

Jasper briefly looks around the room before finding him. "Fucker's already in Sam's chair! Why is he being all secretive?"

"Who the hell knows with that guy," I retort, shrugging.

"Yo, Jazz! You ready, man?" Sam yells. We both look up to see Emmett's already done with his ink and is walking smugly toward us, his forearm wrapped up.

As Jasper walks over for his turn in Sam's chair, I quirk an eyebrow at Emmett.

"Are you gonna show us your new ink or what?"

"Patience, little bro. I'll make the grand reveal later when we're at Kell's."

I'm about to give him more shit for making me wait when I hear Jasper yell over the grunge music playing throughout the building, "I'm not a fucking Bronie! Emmett, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Emmett and I are still laughing our heads off and wiping tears from our faces when the three of us are at Kel's an hour later, sitting at our table. Jasper, of course, is pouting like a baby, so we tell him his drinks are on us tonight.

After we've had a few beers and scarfed down our burgers, I look up and see Emmett practically bouncing in his seat. This is a sure sign that he's about to spill his little secret. Honestly, I can't believe he's held it in this long.

"All right, Em, either go take a piss or tell us what the big secret is!"

"Finally! I've been waiting forever to show you guys!"

"Fuck you, Em!" Jasper says, throwing a french fry at Emmett's face. "You've been dragging it out all night. Just show us your damned tattoo!"

"Well, since you asked so nicely," he replies, picking up the fry and shoving it in his mouth.

Jasper and I both sit up straight and watch as Emmett slowly pulls back the gauze that's covering his new ink. We stare at it for a few seconds, both of us trying to figure it out, then look at each other and shrug.

"What the hell is that thing, some kind of stick figure in a skirt?" Jasper asks.

Emmett just rolls his eyes. "No, you dipshit. It's a symbol."

I look again and try to decipher what this symbol could mean. There is a straight horizontal line at the base of the design with a big 'X' on top. A vertical line goes through the center of the 'X' and there are two small circles on each side.

Nope. I got nothing.

"Okay, Em, I can't figure it out. Can't you just tell us what it means?" I plead, thinking it was going to be something really important, but obviously, it's just some fucking stick figure.

"All right, all right! It's a symbol for 'family'.'"

"Oh, well, that's cool. I still don't see what all the secrecy was for, though," Jasper says, taking a swig from his ale.

Wait just a minute. I know my brother. Yes, he likes to pull pranks and be a general jerkoff on most occasions but, like me, he wouldn't get a tattoo unless it means something deep. I let my mind soak in the word'family'for a bit, before I look up at my brother, my eyes wide in shock and a maybe a tiny bit of horror. When I see him smile so big that his dimples are practically cutting his cheeks in half, I know I've figured it out.

"That's right, Ed! Rosie and I are gonna have a baby!"

A/Ns:

Em's gonna to be a daddy! :) All together now...AWWWEEEE!

Don't forget, we'll be back tomorrow . . . same time, same channel! Next chapter is Edward's final appointment! *rubs hands together* You know what that means!

Thank you SO so much for reading and for all of the awesome reviews you guys leave us!

As always, a big thanks to our rockstar beta, Mauigirl60!