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I hold his

eyes, ones that look identical toI’ new frouessed

I pull the phone away fro it up, when Theo calls my name His eyes look desperate and despondent as he pushes hi the phone back to my ear Not because I feel sorry for hio, but because I’ else

“How’s…” He drops his gaze to his lap then looks back through the glass “How’s Aria?”

His hopelessness hascold He deserves no answers from me He played with Aria’s life just as much as he played with mine and Jules If it were up to him, I would have never known about Aria

I give hi I can, and only because I know it’ll hurt Even so, his pain could never compare to my family’s

“My daughter is fine Goodbye, Theo” I replace the receiver back on the cradle and stand, uncaring of the pained expression on his face I take one last look at hi it’ll be my last, before I turn and walk away

I leave the prison, get in my truck, and drive back to my family

I SIT BEHIND ARIA,over her shoulder and helping her as she smoothly runs the tattoo machine over the fake skin in front of her Not that she really needsis even, our hearts beat in time, and our hands are steady

I bought her a s kit with fake skin to help her practice on The kid still has it in her h I want so ree, and beco To leave this shitty town behind She’s only nine, ten in a few e hertells me she’s too much like me for that to happen, and in a way, that makes me so damn proud I’m honored as fuck she wants to take after her daddy Once she’s old enough, and if her life choices stay the same, I’ll compromise with her She can intern under e at the saree that’ll be useful should she ever change her mind

She pulls the machine away and releases the pedal

“How’s that, Daddy?” she asks, looking over her shoulder at me

“Really good, boo Almost perfect”

She beams a smile at me and it fillsto accommodate it all

I kiss her cheek and take toabove our TV It’s the one that I had been working on when Jules ca branches A girl beneath them I had to redraw it because the silhouette across from her was me At the time, my mind wouldn’t show my face because I had no memories of her The full vision came to me soon after they returned I added dandelions because the field was full of the around us like snowflakes I realized as I was redrawing the picture that the tiny lights in my dreams were the seeds of the dandelions The tattoo on o I woke up one day with the vision in my head and an uncontrollable need to have it tattooed on ratuit, love is free It hat Jules said to me after I asked her to marry me It was just another way o