Page 18 of Inked Soul

“He came around in the beginning. He was more this weird uncle that always brought presents,” he replies as the sound of my tattoo gun fills the room. “But I was never worried. I wouldn’t do anything to keep a man from spending time with his kids, you know?”

“How’s your wife feel about all that?”

He chuckles and I almost fuck up a line. “Sorry,” he says. “I told her if she wanted to go back to him all she had to do was say so and I would step aside. Family is a big deal to me and all. She told me to fuck off. Said if she was done with me, she’d find herself a pretty little wifey, something nice to look at.”

I shut down the gun as my entire body wracks with laughter.

“Sounds like quite a woman.”

“I’ll bring her around next time.”

****

Twenty minutes afterAlistair left, Hailey still can’t reach either of them. Steven has left with the little script tattoo he wanted, and I am stressed as fuck. Of course, I don’t have Abigail’s cell number so I can’t call her.

When the door swings open and she walks in, a sigh of relief falls from my lips. She stares at me in confusion before heading to the diaper bag and digging inside. She pulls out her cell phone, quickly scrolls, and dials.

“Dr. Novak, please. This is Dr. Robins.” She waits impatiently, tapping her foot. “Hi, Emma. Sorry to call out of the blue. I’ve sent some friends your way with their pit bull. He has a spider bite.” She listens to the other woman speak. “The owner says she saw the lump last night. I don’t have a practice set up yet, so I gave him some water for dehydration. He’s around eighty pounds.”

She listens once more before turning to me. “How old is Tyson?”

“Three,” Hailey chimes in when I take too long.

“He’s around three years old. I don’t have any other medical history, but I do know he’s a rescue. They should be there in the next ten minutes. Thank you so much.”

She ends the call and pockets her phone before facing me. “Why are you half naked?” Her brow arches with the question.

“He wouldn’t stop crying.” Her gaze swings from mine to Hailey’s before she bursts out laughing.

“I’m sorry I took so long,” she replies after her laughter dies out. “I’m not fully acquainted with Franklinton yet and I wasn’t paying attention when we drove there.”

“I should’ve warned you.” I nod, placing her son in her waiting arms. “Letting Skye drive is a little...”

“Scary,” Hailey adds.

Abigail shakes her head with a smile as she helps me undo the scarf before putting a sleeping Tyler in his stroller. I watch her closely, looking for her previous sadness but I don’t see it. Is she happier around me and my crazy extended family or is she just hiding it better today?

---