He sits in the chair, not even flinching when the needles go into his skin. Donnie does a little line and then wipes it off, repeating it over and over again, and I can’t wait to see the final product. “I want one also.” My mouth moves before I can even comprehend what I’m saying. Donnie looks up at me, and Jacob turns his head to look at me.
“On my wrist,” I tell them, “right over my heartbeat.”
“We can do that as soon as I’m done with his,” Donnie says, and I just smile at him.
I sit now waiting in the chair for my turn, anxious and excited. When Donnie wheels away from Jacob, and says, “All done,” but before I can see, Jacob jumps out of the chair and walks over to the mirror he has on the facing wall. I get up and walk over to him as I look at the little footprint he has now on his chest.
“It’s so beautiful,” I say, looking at it and wanting to reach out and rub my fingers over it after I kiss it. Instead, I look up at Jacob. “I love you.”
“Okay, let’s get that covered,” Donnie says. “And, you,” he says to me, “can get into the chair.” I hand Jacob his shirt, and he goes over to Donnie, who covers it with a white bandage. “Take it off after four hours.”
“Will do,” Jacob says and puts his shirt on while Donnie comes over to me, and I turn my wrist for him.
“What color do you want?” he asks, and I look at Jacob.
“I want it to match Jacob’s,” I say, and he nods his head and goes to do something and then comes back with the tattoo gun in his hand.
“So is this your first one?” he asks, and I nod.
“Virgin skin.” He jokes with me, and I laugh anxiously. “Everyone is different,” he starts, “the pain could be through the roof or it could be nothing.”
“Okay,” I say and look over at Jacob who sits in the same chair I just sat in and holds my hand in his and kisses my fingers.
“It’s going to burn,” Donnie says, rubbing my wrist with his latex-covered hand. “Here we go.” I wince when the needle goes through my skin.
“Oh my God.” I say at the burning, but then it slowly goes down a notch. “Okay, this isn’t bad,” I say, and my eyes never move from his gun as he writes the date November thirteenth.
“There we go,” he says, wiping it for the last time. I hold it up, and it’s beautiful. He comes back over, getting it ready to be bandaged up. He wraps the white bandage around my wrist three times. “I’ll give you instructions for care,” he tells me, and I get up.
“You ready?” Jacob asks, and I nod, wearing a smile on my face so big my cheeks hurt. We say goodbye to Donnie who tells Jacob he’ll send him the bill.
Jacob’s hand goes into mine as we walk back to the truck. He opens my door, but before I climb in, he pushes me against it. His hands go to my face, and he tilts my head up, kissing me. My arms go around his neck as he kisses me senseless in the middle of the sidewalk. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” he says, and then his thumb rubs my cheek when his phone rings in his pocket. He takes it out and looks at me. “It’s Casey.”
I look at him with worry as he answers, “Yeah.” He looks at me and smirks. “She’s with me. She’s fine.” He then hands me the phone. “It’s for you.”
I shake my head and grab the phone. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” Casey says. “We are having lunch in twenty, and Mom wants you here.”
“Well, then,” I say, looking at Jacob, “set two more places.”
“No kissy faces at the table.” He tries to sound mad, but the snicker that comes out after ruins it. “We’ll talk when you get here.” In his true Casey self, he hangs up without saying goodbye.
“Well, then,” I say, handing the phone back to Jacob, “we are having lunch at my parents’ house.”
“Good,” he says. “About time we had the talk.”
“Wait.” My heart starts to speed up. “What talk?”
“Well, we need to tell them about Gabriel,” he says, “and then we need to tell them that we’re getting married.” He tries to walk away from me, and I grab his arm to stop him.
“We’re getting married?” I ask. My head is spinning, and just like the old Jacob, he walks back to me and grabs my face, knowing it calms me.
“I’d marry you today if you would have me,” he says softly. “So yeah, we’re getting married.”
“Jacob McIntyre,” I use his full name, “this better not be my proposal.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “On one knee,” I say, and he kisses me, “with roses.” He shakes his head and walks around the truck. “Candles.”
“Anything else?” He looks over the hood at me.
“Champagne,” I say, getting in the truck. He gets in after I close my door.
“Small wedding or big?” he asks, looking over at me.
“Small,” I say. I don’t tell him that I planned the wedding when I was sixteen. It would have been the talk of the town, but now just him there with our closest family members and friends would be perfect. Thinking about it, just the two of us would be perfect.
“Outside or inside?”
“Outside.” A picture of marrying him right under our tree by the creek flashes through my mind.
“Good to know,” he says as we turn into my parents’ driveway. He turns the car off and looks over at me. “You ready for this?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Not even close.”
“Whatever happens, I’m going to be right there by your side,” he says, and I look up at the house and see my mother coming out with a worried look on her face.
“Well, here we go,” I say to him and open the door, stepping out. “Hey, Mom.” I put up my hand to wave to her while I wait for Jacob. “Let’s do this.” I put my hand in his, and he brings it up and kisses it, making my heart flutter.
“Hi, you two,” my mother says to us, and I see the smile on her face but also the tears in her eyes. We walk up the steps together, and she hugs me first. “Are you okay?’ she whispers in my ear. I nod at her, and then she goes to hug Jacob. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Thank you,” he says and then shocks us both when he grabs her hand with his. “Thank you for being there for Kallie and Gabriel.” He puts his arms around my shoulder as my mother wipes away tears. “He was in the best hands.” She pats his hand in hers. The door opens, and my father comes out and sees that my mother and I are crying.
“What in the world?” he says, then looks at Jacob. “This is a surprise.”
Jacob just nods at him. “Let’s go inside. I don’t think I can hold off Casey any longer,” he says, laughing. “You ready, boy?”
“Bring it.” Jacob looks at my father as he turns and walks inside, and we follow my parents.
I look up at him when we walk into the family room and see Olivia sitting on the couch with her feet curled under her with a glass of wine in her hand. “Ohhh, this is going to be good.” She smiles at me and winks, then looks over at Casey. “You need to simmer down, cowboy.”