Now it was my turn to tear up. Mika was a derivative of Michael. "You gave him his first name, and I gave him his middle name."
He nodded. "He's part of both of us."
"All fingers and toes accounted for," Dr. Ostref said, returning with Jett, who was swaddled in a blanket. "Name?" He asked, pretending he didn't hear us bickering.
"Jett Michael Mears." Gabe took Jett from the doctor and leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead. "Welcome to our little family. Are you ready to meet your grandma?"
I was surprised Mom had lasted this long without busting down the bedroom door. As though summoned, she and my sisters ran into the room. Mom hugged the doctor while Rachel and Faria tackled me. Then, it was a blur of hugs, cheek kisses, and fawning over Gabe and Jett. Thankfully, Mom had told only our immediate family, including Jerry, who hung back with tears in his eyes until Mom dragged him over to sit opposite me beside Gabe, where he cooed and grinned down at the newest member of the family.
Eventually, we would have to introduce little Jett to the entire meerkat community, but for now, it was just us.
21
GABE
It wasstrange to be back here, holding a baby close to my chest and hand in hand with my fated mate. The bright neon letters flashed overhead, spelling "Tattoo" through the fog. We ducked inside the concrete alcove, damp with condensation, and into the bright interior of the shop.
"There's the machine that changed my life." I pointed to the coin-operated monstrosity that had kicked out lucky number thirteen for me. The thirteenth flash tattoo on the wall was now an otter holding a flopping fish in its hands.
"Look who's here!" Keith's gaze hooked on mine for a moment, but then dropped to Jett. "Oh, wow. What an adorable little one."
"This is Jett," I said, bobbing his clenched fist on my finger in a wave. "And this is Mika."
"The man of the hour," Keith held out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you in person."
Mika frowned. "In person?"
"Sorry. I had a dream about a meerkat shifter looking for his fated mate. The next morning, I drew up the flash piece, and you know the rest." He turned to me with a grin. "Did you learn all about meerkats?"
"More than I wanted to know." I made a show of rolling my eyes before grinning at Mika.
"We don't get many shifters looking for ink," Keith said. "Before you mentioned it on the phone, I'd never thought of using henna."
Mika must have made a face behind me because Keith backpedaled quickly. "I mean, I worked with henna a lot at art school, but here, we specialize in permanent ink."
"Gabe's the one who thought of it," Mika placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "I had a bruise that looked like a meerkat once. He wouldn't let it go."
"What can I say? It was sexy." I couldn't see Mika, but I sensed his glare trying to bore through my skull. "Don't look at me like that."
"I've got some designs for you," Keith said, leading us into his cubicle. The walls went all the way to the ceiling, but it reminded me a lot of my workspace in the courthouse. Between the drafting table and massage chair sat an adjustable stool on wheels. Keith rolled it over to the table and motioned Mika to sit in the chair. I sank onto the padded guest chair by the door. During my tattoo, I'd daydreamed of a boyfriend sitting in the chair, waiting for me to finish so we both could drool over my new ink.
This was better than I'd ever imagined. Mika's tattoo wouldn't hurt. When we went home, we still had an evening to ourselves before the party tomorrow. After putting Jett to bed, I planned to take full advantage of my sexy inked mate before he became my husband tomorrow. Tonight, we would already be mated in ink.
"What do you think?" Mika pointed to the bust of a meerkat above two peony blooms. "Flowers are wedding-ish, right?"
"It's pretty," I said. "Perfect for a wedding." The best part was the curious meerkat's face, which looked just like my tattoo.
Once Keith laid the stencil, the application took an hour. I watched in rapt attention as Keith followed the lines with the dark green ink.
When Jett grew fussy, I fed him and changed his diaper. Already, his eyes could focus on the cool sketches hanging on Keith's walls. He studied them until he drifted to sleep again.
"All done," Keith said, placing the thin brush down on the implement tray and stretching his arms over his head. "What do you think, Gabe?"
I shuffled Jett to my right arm so I could stretch my tattoo next to Mika's ink. "They match!"
"As they should." Keith laughed. "I've only dreamed of one meerkat, so all my sketches are of him."
He helped Mika stand and walked him to the three-way mirror at the end of the hall of cubicles. "What are your thoughts?"
