Page 166 of Ink Me Three Times
Tonight, everything’s a mess.
Freddie and Timothy are talking.
Or, more, Freddie’s bouncing ideas off Timothy, and Timothy’s just sitting there, chewing on his sandwich casually. The fact that I’m standing here, staring at the wood we’ve been carving for the past few hours, isn’t about to change everything.
I can feel the weight of it. The pressure of what we’re doing. The plan we’ve spent weeks building. My fingers ache from holding the carving tools, and my mind keeps wandering back to Ivy. I keep hearing her voice. Seeing the way she handles everything. All by herself.
Well, not anymore.
I smile at the words I’m carving, excited for Ivy’s reaction.
I want her tofeelit. I want her to see that it’s not just about the words on those signs, or the house we’re going to buy for all of us. It’s about her. It’s always been about her.
I glance over at the signs, now leaning against the wall of the shop. Each one perfect in its own way.
The first one, Freddie’s careful writing:We choose you. Every day. No matter what.
The second one, mine. Clean, block letters, sharp lines:Stay with us. Build this life, with all its mess and beauty.
And the third, Timothy’s elegant carving:Home isn’t a place. It’s you.
It’s a fucking lot to put out there. Too much, maybe. But we’re all in. Every single one of us. And if she’s not? If this is too much for her, too fast, then that’s her choice. I can’t make it for her.
“Mitchell?”
I look up, and there’s Freddie, his face split by that damn smile of his. “You good?”
I grunt in response. “Just thinking.”
“About Ivy?”
I don’t even need to answer. The tension in my shoulders gives me away, but Freddie seems to get it anyway.
“We’re ready, man,” he says, a little quieter now. “I think she’s ready.”
I don’t know if she’s ready. But we’re about to find out.
This isn’t just about us throwing her into something new, it’s about giving her the space to make the decision. Giving her the option to take that leap with us. She doesn’t have to, but we’re making sure she knows we want it.
Timothy looks up from his sandwich and raises an eyebrow. “You nervous?”
“Nah,” I lie.
Freddie laughs. “Sure you are. You’ve been quiet all day. And, you know, you’re usually a little… louder.”
“Yeah, well,” I grunt, my hand tightening around the carving tool. “This is a little bigger than the usual shit we deal with.”
“It’s just a proposal,” Timothy says, his voice a little too calm, as if he’s not seeing the gravity of what’s hanging in the air. “You know, asking her to stay. Asking her to build something with us.”
I glance at him. “This isn’t just a proposal, Tim. This is everything. This is us. I want her to feel like she’s walking into something real. Not just us throwing it out there like it’s some random idea.”
Freddie watches me for a long moment, then his grin softens. “You’re overthinking it. You know she’s been with us through this, right? All three of us. She sees it. Hell, she probably feels it too.”
I nod, but the knot in my stomach doesn’t loosen. I can’t stop the thoughts running through my head. What if it’s too much for her? What if we’re asking her to take on more than she’s ready for?
“What do you think she’s gonna say?” Freddie asks, more serious now.
I pause, my fingers running over the wood grain of the sign I’ve been carving. “I don’t know. She might say no. She might say yes. I think... I think she’ll say yes. But I don’t know, man.”
