[June 17, 2024]
Beatrice
"Happy anniversary Mom." I bend down kissing her temple as I bring my plate of breakfast to the dining table. She thanks me as she admires her wedding band, watching it shine on her ring finger. Despite being a widow, my Mom has never taken her ring off for a long period of time. She never wanted to marry again, my Dad was it for her.
She's told me so many times that Dad was the other half of her soul, no one could ever come close to that and it's not up to them to carry that second-place position in her heart. I wouldn't be angry if Mom fell in love again, I want nothing more than for her to be happy but she's the one who promises me that she's as happy as she could ever be.
Jack takes the seat beside me, asking my Mom to tell him the story of how she met her husband. She puts down whatever she was working on and grabs her mug of tea. She crosses one leg over the other and leans in, putting her elbows on the table. Mom tells the story in great detail even telling us what outfits she was wearing that day.
My boyfriend and his brothers are captivated by the story asking further questions and wanting to know more. "And then what happened Kata?" Luke asks, taking a bite of his crepe. "So then he moved with me." she shrugs, pushing her glasses further up her nose I swing my legs over Jack's lap as he listens to every word my Mom says.
He puts his hand on the outer part of my knee, holding it gently. I stab a strawberry with my fork and raise it to my mouth noticing that for once this whole breakfast Jack's eyes are no longer on my Mom, they're on my strawberry. I pause, letting it sit against my lips, and move it over to him letting him have it. He takes my ripe berry and then focuses again on the history of the Jae family.
"And that's enough for today boys, I have to get to work." She scrunches her nose up, takes her tea to go, and walks out of the house. Ellen and Jim took an early bus to the other side of the island so they aren't here to join us but I'm sure they would've loved the story as much as their kids did. "What are we doing today?" Luke asks
They all look at me like I call the shots, pulling a little laugh out of me. "I wanted to get a tattoo today if you'd like to join me." I say, putting more fruit in my bowl. Jack nods his head enthusiastically, claiming he's been wanting to get a tattoo too. "Meh, where are all the girls?" Luke asks and lucky for him I know just the beach for him.
"You're a saint, Beatrice Louise!" Luke yells, running away from us and up the stairs to get ready while Quinn washes his dishes. "I suppose I'll go with him and let you two have a couple's day together." Quinn says, looking at us. I try telling him it's okay but Jack pinches my thigh, silently asking me to not offer and just say thank you.
Jack washes our dishes while I put on some light makeup and look for an outfit. I decide on a green top a long cream skirt with some Birkenstocks, letting my hair hang over my shoulders. Jack takes a look at my outfit and picks his out to match me. He's lovesick and looks better than I do. I grab my tote bag and yell at the boys to lock the door once they're gone before leaving with my boyfriend.
On our walk there Jack swings our hands, pulling his phone out occasionally to take a picture of the view or of me. "What are you thinking of getting?" he asks, squeezing my hand. I pull out a picture of what I'm hoping to get. I watch his smile droop into a downturned smile, finding my future tattoo to be "precious" as he put it.
"Are you going to get a tattoo?" I turn the question over to him, wondering why he nodded like his life depended on it this morning. He shrugs his shoulders dragging out the word, "Maybe," leading me to jump and down at the fact that I might get to witness Jack getting his first tattoo ever.
Once we get to a tattoo shop I know accepts walk-ins and is almost never full we walk up to the front desk grabbing our forms. We take our seats in the empty room, filling out all the information needed before handing them in. Jack asks for a scrap of paper and then hands it to me asking me to try a few stars on the page.
"Why?" I ask, but follow instructions. I hand the paper back to him as he lowers his face down to mine to say, "Because I'm getting them tattooed." He kisses my lips walking away from me when his tattoo artist is ready for him. I sit in my chair stunned at his choice for a first tattoo. "Tris, you ready?" Suki my usual tattoo artist asks, waving me over.
I get up from my seat and take the chair next to Jack. She places my stencil on my forearm after shaving and sanitizing my arm. Jack has his shirt off and is on his side getting the stars I just drew inked onto his skin. He takes it like a champ, only scrunching his face up a few times. Suki starts on me while I'm distracted with Jack.
I make sure to stay as still as I possibly can not wanting to have some fucked up tattoo on my arm. She finishes it pretty fast since the tattoo itself is pretty small. I look down to see "Love Lennon," in his handwriting on my forearm and think it's perfection.
The reason I got another tattoo in his handwriting is because the first one I got was hidden. I didn't want to see it but I wanted to know that it was there, now that I've healed a bit more I want a reminder of him that's more visible. And this felt right.
Once Jack sits up, done with his tattoo he looks over at mine before pursing his lips. He walks backward to sit back in his chair. "I have a question," he says shyly, a bit awkwardly. I nod my head, hopping off my chair once Suki wrapped me up. He pulls me in by my waist, subtly pushing the band of my skirt down to show my tattoo.
"Can I get this on me?" he asks for permission to get my Stargirl tattoo on himself as he runs his finger over the ink. It amazes me that he knows exactly where it is without looking. I sometimes forget where my other tattoos are. My heart swells at the question and I ask why with a smile.
He fiddles with the fabric of my skirt as he says, "Because you mean a lot to me and it feels right." It feels right. I give him the all-clear and ask Suki if she'd do Jack a solid since she already has the stencil on file. I tell her what he wants and they work out the sizing. While she walks away to prep for the tattoo I walk back over to him.
Based on my quietness I think he's interpreting it as nervousness because he says, "From where I'm from it's good to do things that feel right." trying to joke with me, but even though the thought of us having matching tattoos should scare me it doesn't. I'm completely and hopelessly inviting it. "That's weird, I think I'm from there too." I tease to show that the matching tattoo is something I'm okay with.
Suki tattoos my favorite nickname on his forearm, around where I got my newest piece of ink. She wipes it off, moving everything away from her station. I look at it once it's done and shake my head. I was okay with it when it was being said but now I'm wondering if this was a big mistake. What if he hates it in a few years? What if we break up?
He senses my overthinking and pulls me out by grabbing my hand. "Call me insane, but we're getting married. I'll marry you right where your parents got married, Bea. I love you so fucking much." He reassures me over and over again. He swears that he won't regret it and hopes that with time I won't rethink his decision.
We pay, leaving a massive tip before walking to the beach. As our arms swing my eyes droop down to my nickname, finding it more and more appealing after he gave me the reassurance I needed. I still am completely for it, it was just a moment of fear. A sneaky and unwelcome moment.
He lays a beach towel down and pulls the lunch I packed out of my bag. We enjoy the sound of crashing waves and children laughing. They laugh so purely, careless about how they sound. I start talking but cut myself off for a quick moment to think of how to word it. "Would you, uh, actually want to get married there?" I ask him, seriously. I don't even specify because he knows what I'm talking about.
"Absolutely," he says, squeezing my hand. He tries chewing like he's unphased by the thought of us getting married but fails once the sides of his lips keep pulling up making it hard to chew. I kiss his cheek, rubbing where my lips were. "Alright, give it time but we're getting married there." I tell him, sounding very sure that it'll happen.
Once we're done with the beach and ready to go home I remember the other tattoo that he got today. "Why'd you get stars on your ribs?" I ask, watching his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. "That was the first time I felt like you touched me without holding back." He responds, reminding me that it was my birthday and we were in my bed when I started drawing stars over his ribs and told him about myself.
The memory of letting myself go after reading his journal is painted perfectly for me. Mom's stories have really impacted him. The closer we get to the actual streets I hear the soft music pouring out of God knows where on the streets of Greece. I close my eyes for a split second trying to recognize the song.
"It's like the streets of Greece want me to dance with you." Jack smiles boyishly, swinging me into his chest as he sways me back and forth to the song 'I Only Have Eyes For You' by The Flamingos. One thing I would've never guessed about Jack is how much he likes slow dancing. On the beach, in the comfort of our homes, and I guess in lonely streets.
"The moon may be high, but I can't see a thing in the sky. I only have eyes for you." he says along with the music as I tilt my head up to kiss his perfect lips. Congratulations Jack Hughes, you've fooled everyone. You're an angel pretending to be human and you got everyone. The music fades away the closer we get to Mom's house.
From the outside, you can see everyone sitting in the garden the way they were their first night here. As we go in through the garden gate I raise my hand to wave at everyone while Jack gets down to business and yells, "We're getting married!" causing everyone to stop what they're doing. Jesus Christ. "Not now!" I clarified with the same energy, making everyone release the breath they were probably holding.
The conversations around us continue as Jack walks over to his Mom, and he's being so loud I can hear him from the other side of the room. "Mom, I love her, I need to marry her one day. I think it's her or nothing," he smiles, making Ellen hug him tightly. Aunt Meg snaps me out of eavesdropping and pulls my arm.
"What's that all about?" Aunt Meg asks, as my Mom and Aunt Cami huddle around me. I look over my shoulder to look at him, feeling such a strong and all-consuming tenderness when I see an in-love glow painted all over his face. "You're looking at my future husband." I say with an as-of-matter-of-fact tone.
"Do you think he's the one?" Meg asks like she wasn't the one pushing this fact onto me last summer. "For sure," I smile, knowing that if I pulled out a mirror right now I'd have the same glow on my face. Aunt Cami says, "I think so too." wanting to put her very appreciated two cents in. I show them my fresh ink and tell them about his new tattoos.
"Oh he's in love, love," Meg says.
❤️ liked by doubleds and 19 others
beatrix_areforkids got a tattoo today
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doubleds BABE YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL
dorotheadelrey dream girl.
❤️ liked by trevorzyngras and 34 others
firstoverall got a tattoo today
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trevorzyngras what's funny is that i know YOU copied bea.
doubleds YOU MATCHED WITH HER. YOU'RE A BIG SOFTIEEEEE
nicohbicshier okay but tattoo reveal.
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a.n// hello my loves how are you guys doing this fine november 1st early morning? I am sickly in love with this couple. When I thought of Jack getting her stargirl tattoo on Len and Kata's wedding anniversary I felt my world shatter.
You guys! it's not fair. I love them so much!
As I said in the recent chapter of Cardigan I'm trying my best to put all three books on my schedule, but LTLI is my priority since I'm trying to get it out of the way (that sounds mean but you know what I mean.) Even though I miss six updates a day, I'm happy I've slowed down because it means it's taking longer to be over.
I love you guys so so much!
Stay safe, stay kind, and DM me if you need anything!
Love Lottie💐💐💐