Free Tattooed Moon by Tiana Laveen

told you it would help.”
    She smiled and shook her head, then handed him the sketch. He opened it up, nodded and tossed it to the side.
    “Now, do you wish to keep the design as is?”
    “Yes, I believe so. I really like that.”
    “This is for the rest of your life, so be sure.” He walked away from her and locked the door, tugging on it for insurance’s sake.
    “I thought you wanted my business? I thought you wanted me to be relaxed?” she joked. “I know it’s permanent. You’re making me want to rise up and bolt right on outta here.”
    He looked over his shoulder at her and cracked a grin.
    “Don’t do that. I just don’t want anybody doing something they regret. Obviously I like tattoos. Look at me.” He rolled his shirtsleeves way up to his shoulders, exhibiting a tapestry of images he’d collected over the years.
    “Those are really nice, Julian. I like that one, right there.” She pointed to the silhouette of a baby with clouds all around him.
    “Yeah.” He looked at it. “That’s one of my favorites, too. It is of my son.”
    He couldn’t believe it, but he saw a glimmer of something reminiscent of hope leave her face. As if, wielding a large pin, he’d let all of the billowy air out of some magical dream she was fostering. He normally didn’t discuss the matter, but felt compelled to at this point.
    “I was very young when I got married, only eighteen.” He moved towards his supplies and slowly revealed them from the silky material. “The marriage only lasted a year. We’re still friends. She’s getting married again, actually, I think like next week…a destination wedding. At the time though, neither of us should’ve been married. This is a tribute to what she and I created.”
    He witnessed a perplexed look come across Milan’s face.
    “Our son didn’t make it. She lost the baby, seven months pregnant. It was a hard time, for both of us. We weren’t mature enough to handle that sort of loss.” He swallowed, and collected himself. He hadn’t discussed it in quite some time, and never with a customer.
    Milan’s eyes now held something he’d seen one too many times—a look of regret, of discovery mixed with smidgens of sorrow. She appeared to withdraw within herself, on the hunt for the right words.
    “Oh, Julian, I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, as if afraid to even speak.
    He shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ve had years to process what happened, to grieve and move forward.” At least, that was what he told himself. “This happened, you know? It was part of my life. I married my best friend. She and I went to high school together, we loved one another, but we weren’t a good couple,” he explained. He wasn’t even sure why he was laying all this heavy stuff at this woman’s feet, but she seemed to need to hear it, more than he needed to hold it close, keep it hidden. Besides, there was nothing to conceal and every time he thought of his son, he smiled a bit on the inside, too. This was good, he surmised, for now; this discussion meant that someone else in the world knew his baby, too… That made his child all the more real .
    “We had this experience, and it bonded us together. I’ve endured all sorts of losses, Milan. That’s one reason why I can empathize with you, you know? I lost my father to a motorcycle accident just ten months ago. I can’t show you, it’s on my back, but I have a tattoo in his memory as well.
    “Two of my really good friends also perished in the last three years. It’s been one loss after another. If it wasn’t some disease, it was an accident or some act of nature.” He folded his hands across his chest, clad in a white T-shirt. “I understand that, for me, death is just another level of life.”
    Milan remained quiet, but her eyes spoke a whole lot. He was feeling rather talkative with her, believing somewhere deep inside of her, she needed to hear what he had to say, as much as he desired to share it.
    “I don’t believe our