Inked

by Everly Drummond

  “Okay, follow me.” Avery waited until Parker and his cousins were holding hands before attempting to lead them through the overcrowded restaurant. Leaning down, she kissed Parker on the cheek and whispered, “You ready to go, little man?”

  Parker looked up at Avery and smiled. Even he couldn’t resist the lure of video games and an oversized talking mouse.

  I wasn’t until they neared the table that Avery saw her sister talking to a well built man with dark, rain slicked hair and tight fitting jeans. Avery didn’t need to see his face to know exactly who it was. Oh God, he’s already here. She quickened her pace, almost dragging the kids behind her as she maneuvered through the dining room. Her sister was already curious enough about Brody’s identity, and she had a knack for sweet talking answers out of people, so the two of them talking without a buffer could only lead to disaster.

  Avery approached the table cautiously, craning her neck in the hopes of overhearing the discussion, but the screams of children at play drowned out all sounds.

  “There you are,” Chloe said, grinning up at Avery. “I was just introducing myself to your friend.”

  Avery anxiously glanced from Chloe to Brody, praying that he’d kept his mouth shut about being Parker’s father. She sat down and settled Parker into the seat beside her while Chloe and the twins, Steven and Stephanie, sat across the table.

  “Scott better get here soon,” Chloe cursed under her breath.

  “Who’s Scott?” Brody asked nonchalantly.

  “Scott is Chloe’s husband,” Avery answered while her sister tried to calm the twins with promises of video games if they finished all their dinner.

  “He’s going to be missing his favorite appendage if he doesn’t get here soon.”

  “I can take the kids to the arcade until the pizza get’s here,” Brody offered.

  Chloe looked at Brody like he had tentacles growing out of his head then looked at Avery quizzically, silently asking if this guy was some sort of a perv or just out of his mind for offering to watch three kids in a Chuck E. Cheese.

  Answering her sister’s unspoken question, Avery turned to Parker and asked, “Do you want to go and play a few games before dinner?”

  Parker looked from the arcade to him mom and shook his head yes.

  “Do you want Brody to take you?” After the confrontation she and Brody had in the hallway, Avery half expected Parker to say no, so she was caught off guard when Parker nodded his consent, slid off the chair, and offered his hand to Brody. But Avery hadn’t been the only one shocked by Parker’s actions. Chloe sat there, openly gawking at the two of them as Parker took Brody by the hand and started leading him towards the nearest row of video games. Avery was about to dig into her wallet for money when Brody produced a handful of preloaded game cards.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.” He smiled and cast a wink at her over his shoulder.

  Avery and her sister stared after Brody as he led all three kids in the direction of the arcade.

  “Okay, where in the hell did you meet him and why haven’t I met him before?” Chloe blurted out, but not before Brody was out of earshot, because the corners of his mouth quirked up into a know-it-all smirk, telling them that he’d heard every word.

  “He’s an old friend.”

  “Old friend my ass! Friends don’t look at friends the way he looks at you. So spill the beans. I want every juicy detail.”

  The waitress appeared at the table, giving Avery a temporary reprieve from Chloe’s questions, but no sooner did the waitress leave did Chloe jump right back into her inquisition.

  “Well, are you going to tell me or do I have to ask him?” Chloe jerked her head in Brody’s direction.

  “Fine,” Avery conceded. “I met him a few years ago when he did my tattoo.”

  “He’s a tattoo artist?” The surprise was evident in Chloe’s voice. “I figured you for the geeky intellectual type, not the bad boy in tight jeans type. And you trust him with Parker?”

  “Explicitly,” Avery replied honestly.

  Chloe sat back in her chair and sipped at her diet soda as she watched Brody play a video game with the kids and get his ass kick by Steven, the older of the twins. “You know, they could almost pass for father and son. The resemblance is uncanny.”

  Avery froze, not even daring to breathe.

  Chloe slowly turned around in her chair, her eyes wide and knowing. “Oh my God! Brody is Parker’s father, isn’t he? It all adds up. You got that damn tattoo just before you found out you were pregnant. But you said that Parker’s father wasn’t even from Boston, that he was some foreign student from Germany. Why would you lie about something like that? Does Brody even know that Parker is his son?”

  Avery stared down at her hands, unsure of how to answer her sister’s question. There was no sense in denying it. The truth was out in the open, and if Brody was going to be in Parker’s life, she might as well lay all the cards on the table. “Yes, Brody knows. He showed up at my apartment a few weeks ago and knew that Parker was his son the second he laid eyes on him. I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t think Brody would want anything to do with him. What guy wants to be burdened down with a kid after a one night stand?”

  “That one,” Chloe replied bluntly, and pointed towards the Skee Ball machine.

  Avery looked in the direction of the arcade and her heart leapt in her chest. Parker wasn’t being his typical shy and quiet self. Instead, he was laughing and playing and grinning at Brody with a mile wide smile plastered across his face. He looked… happy. It took every ounce of Avery’s strength to not run over and scoop Parker up into her arms while she smothered him with kisses. Spending half an hour with his father had done him more good than a dozen trips to the psychiatrist’s office.

  “I think they’re fond of each other.”

  “Who’s fond of whom?” Scott asked as he bent over and planted a kiss on his wife’s cheek.

  Before Avery could tell her to zip it, Chloe answered Scott’s question, “Parker and his dad.”

  Scott gaped at Avery, shell shocked by this sudden and unexpected announcement. “Parker’s dad is here? Now?”

  “Yep!” Avery replied matter-of-factly, and three sets of eyes settled on Brody, Parker, and the twins, who were in the midst of a rambunctious game of Skee Ball. It wasn’t until the waitress returned to the table with their pizza that the three of them pried their gaze away from Brody and the kids.

  Seeing the waitress hovering around the table, Brody ripped the strip of tickets from the machine and led the kids over to the prize counter to cash in.

  “Aww, but we still have credits left,” Stephanie whined. “Can we please play one more game?”

  “We can play again after you eat. You don’t want cold pizza, do you?” Brody laughed silently to himself. Who would’ve thought… him, the voice of reason?

  Plastic toys of every color and stuffed animals decorated the display case and the wall behind the counter. Steve settled on a rubber snake and Stephanie’s eyes were immediately drawn to the glittering tiara—which was okay for the older kids—but Brody recalled the woman’s words of caution about age appropriate toys. Quickly scanning the display case, he decided on an oversized pair of bright yellow sunglasses for Parker.

  Dinner was an uneventful event. The twins begged to play more games while Scott and Brody droned on about football. Parker, on the other hand, sat there quietly and ate his pizza, smiling up at Brody between bites.

  With the guys attention now focused on the upcoming hockey season, and the twins bickering over the last of the soda, Chloe leaned across the table and whispered to Avery. “Look at the way Parker looks at him. Do you think he knows?”

  Avery glared at her sister, willing her to shut the hell up. Now was not the time or place to be having this conversation, but Avery knew how nosey and relentless her sister could be, and the only way to shut her up was to answer her. “No. How could he possibly know?”

  “Are you going to tell
him?”

  “When the time is right I will.”

  “I meant Brody, not Parker.”

  Avery cast a dubious glare at her sister then looked in Brody’s direction, making sure that they hadn’t been overheard. “Can we please drop this? We’ll talk about it later.”

  “Talk about what later?” Scott asked, his attention now drawn to the girl’s conversation.

  By some good grace, Avery was granted another temporary reprieve when the waitress appeared at the table holding a birthday cake festooned with sparklers and a large, red candle in the shape of the number five. The group spontaneously broke into song.

  Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Parker. Happy Birthday to you.

  Brody, who was sitting closest to the waitress, took the cake from her and placed it on the table in front of Parker. “Make a wish, buddy.”

  Avery’s heart melted at the sight of Brody helping his son blow out the candle. And for the first time in a very long time, Parker looked ecstatic.

  When the last slice of pizza had been eaten and the last piece of cake devoured, Brody retrieved the plastic games cards from his shirt pocket and waved them up in the air. “Who wants to use up the last of the tokens before we leave?”

  “I do, I do,” the twins screamed in tandem.

  “I’ll take them,” Chloe offered, and snatched the cards out of Brody’s hand. “You and Avery finish your sodas. Scott, you take Parker and I’ll take the twins.”

  The smile faded from Parker’s face as Scott took him by the hand and led him towards the arcade, but it quickly returned when he turned around and saw Brody waving at him. Parker raised his hand and waved back, not once taking his eyes off of him until they were around the corner and out of sight.

  “He’s a great kid. You’ve done a good job raising him.”

  “Thanks,” Avery replied nervously, and fidgeted with her napkin.

  “Scott’s cool, but I don’t think your sister likes me much.”

  “Chloe likes you well enough,” Avery replied. “She’s still just a little shocked that you’re Parker’s father.”

  “You told her?” Brody gasped. “What did she say? She must think I’m a total douche bag.”

  “I didn’t tell her, she guessed. It’s not that difficult to figure out. The two of you look a lot alike. And why would she think you’re a douche bag? If anything, she’s mad at me for not telling her the truth about who Parker’s real father is.”

  Brody was going to ask Avery what she’d meant by lying to her sister, but decided to leave it for another time. Right now there were more pressing matters at hand. Wordlessly, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and produced a small white envelope, setting it on the table between them.

  Looking curiously from the envelope to Brody, Avery asked, “What’s that?”

  “It’s a birthday present for Parker.”

  “But you already gave him a gift.” She motioned to the plush, green frog sitting on top of the stack of birthday presents.

  Now it was Brody’s turn to be nervous. “Just open it, would you?”

  Avery picked up the envelope and turned it over in her hand, examining it. When she was satisfied that it gave no clues as to its contents, she slide the tip of her finger under the lip of the envelope and tore it open. Inside was a folded slip of paper. She tossed the discarded envelope onto the table and carefully unfolded the rectangular piece of paper. Printed across the front in bold letters were the words: Pay to the Order of Avery Carmichael, Twenty-five Thousand Dollars.

  “Is this some sort of twister joke,” she demanded, staring at the cheque in utter disbelief.

  “No, it’s not joke,” Brody assured her.

  Avery sat there motionless, fixated on the piece of paper in her hand and trying to interpret its meaning. Did Brody think she was some sort of charity case that needed handouts? Because if so, he was poorly mistaken. Whatever his reasoning, Avery wanted no part of it. She’d done fine on her own up until now, and she’d already told Brody as much. Without giving it a second thought, Avery handed Brody the cheque. “I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this.”

  “What do you mean you can’t accept it? Damn right you can. And you will.” The agitation on his face was clearly visible.

  “No, I can’t. And how on earth can you even afford this? You’re only…” Avery stopped herself before she actually said the words out loud, but it was too late. The look on Brody’s face told her that she didn’t need to say anything else for him to understand her meaning.

  “I’m only what, Avery, a lowly tattoo artist? Do you think that because I work in a tattoo parlor I can’t afford to contribute to my son’s upbringing?”

  The seriousness of Brody’s tone caught Avery off guard and she faltered with her response. “No, I…” she began, but her shoulders went slack as she quickly tried to think of a plausible excuse for her inappropriate comment. “I never meant you any disrespect. Being an artist is a very reputable profession.”

  “Just like I never meant anything by giving you that money,” Brody countered. “I thought that you could use it to start an RESP for Parker, or maybe use it to pay for private school.”

  The cheque weighed heavy in her hands. Did she crumple it up and throw it in the trash, or did she keep it and use it towards Parker’s education? How could she cash it in good conscience knowing that this money was probably every last cent of his life savings?

  Brody could almost sense what Avery was about to say, and so he interjected. “You don’t have to cash it right away. Hold onto it for a while and think about it. I did some research and I know that a decent private school doesn’t come without a hefty price tag. I only want what’s best for Parker.”

  “We both do, but this is too much money.”

  “Please promise that you’ll at least sleep on it.”

  Avery hesitated and examined the cheque once more for good measure. Having researched them herself, she was equally familiar with the cost of private schools. Would taking the money be such a bad thing? Brody was, after all, Parker’s father. After a brief internal struggle, she finally conceded. “Fine, but I’m not promising that I’ll cash it.”

  “Fair enough.” Brody breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that becoming a permanent part of Parker’s life was going to take a lot of time and work, but this was a step in the right direction. Deciding to strike while the iron was hot, he lunged right into his next question, the one that had been eating at him all day. “Have dinner with me?”

  This time she didn’t hesitate with her answer. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

  Somewhat surprised by her response, he blurted out, “Why not?”

  “I think we should take things slow. I don’t want to confuse Parker.”

  “You’ll share your bed with me but you won’t have dinner with me? And how would his parents going on a date confuse him? He’s only five years old.”

  Avery glanced over her shoulder, checking to make sure that they hadn’t been overheard. Sitting in the middle of Chuck E. Cheese was not the best place to discuss sharing a bed. Luckily, Chloe and Scott chose that moment to return to the table. Avery lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned into Brody. “Can we talk about this later?”

  “Talk about what?” Chloe asked as she took her seat.

  “Nothing,” Avery replied sharply, earning her a disapproving scowl from Brody.

  Brody stood up from the table and fished his keys from his jeans pocket. “I should get going.”

  “So soon?” Chloe asked. “I was going to invite you to join us for drinks at my place.”

  “Thanks. I’d love to, but I have to get to work.”

  “Maybe next time then.”

  “It’s a date.” Brody stared at Avery as he emphasized the last word, and after saying his goodbyes to Scott, Chloe, and the twins, he knelt down so that he came eye to eye with Parker. The urge to hug his son was almost unbearable, but it
was too soon for that. He didn’t want to frighten Parker or cause a scene in front of Avery’s family, so instead, he settled for a simple farewell. “Later, buddy. I’ll see you again soon.”

  Brody stood up and brushed the dirt of his knees, but as he turned to leave, two little arms hugged his leg, holding him tightly.

  “Bye Bwoodie.”

  The sound of Parker’s boy-ish voice and the feeling of having his son hug him for the first time caused tears to prickle the back of his eyes. At risk of crying in front of Avery and everyone else sitting at the table, Brody leaned over and kissed the top of Parker’s head then quickly made his exit.

  “Well, that’s something you don’t see every day,” Chloe declared.

  “What?” Avery asked absentmindedly as she watched Brody disappear out of sight, secretly hoping that he’d turn around and come back.

  “You didn’t see it? It took every ounce of that man’s strength not to burst into tears right here in the middle of the restaurant.”

  “Yeah right,” Avery scoffed. “He wasn’t crying.”

  “Wasn’t he?”

  When the last of the soda had been drank and the last present unwrapped, Avery retrieved her purse from the back of the chair and slung it over her shoulder. “I’ll meet you outside as soon as I can find the waitress and pay the bill.”

  “Scott, you take the bags and I’ll take the kids,” Chloe ordered. The twins grumbled their complaints and dragged their feet as Chloe led them unwillingly out of the restaurant.

  Avery’s frustration deepened when the waitress by-passed her for the fourth time, ignoring all attempts to get her attention. When the waitress passed by for a fifth time, Avery lost what little patience remained and followed her to the opposite side of the dining room.

  “Excuse me,” she huffed as the girl stared at the computer screen and continued to ignore her. “I’d like to pay my bill now.”

  Turning around, the waitress acknowledged Avery for the first time. “What bill?”