TATTOOS ON MY MIND

chapter three

She stands at the door frame, staring at the back of Isobel's head. The little girl was lying on the living room's ground, drawing something in a white piece of paper. Her lips were slightly pursed, and her eyes focused on the drawing. She didn't even notice Karlie's presence in the room until the taller girl walked in and said, "What are you drawing?"

Isobel turns around, caught off guard, and follows every move of the woman walking towards her. The girl stands up, and shyly shows off her drawing to the brunette. Karlie smiles sweetly to her, and kisses the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her slim waist.

"I drew a giraffe and a koala. Mommy kept telling me that when you two were younger, you were just like a giraffe and a koala, so I drew them," she explains with a little smile. Karlie is surprised to feel hot tears knocking at her door, and she clenches her jaw tightly, trying to calm herself down.

"It's beautiful," she half whispers, feeling breathless. She strokes her daughter's blonde hair, and kisses the top of her head, hugging her tightly to hide her tears. "It's really beautiful," she says again, sniffing.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Isobel asks worriedly.

"It's nothing, really," she laughs shyly. "They're happy tears, I promise," she adds. The little girl nods, and nuzzle her head under Karlie's chin, hugging her tightly. Karlie places the drawing next to them, and holds the little girl in her arms and in her lap, rocking them back and forth, as horrible memories of a particular night comes back to her.

She walks in the living room, the room spinning like crazy. It was late evening, and Taylor was not just home yet. She feels stupid, because instead of going to work, she went to the closest bar and drank all afternoon. She knows that when her wife will come home and find her like this, she will be mad at her for at least one week, but she honestly doesn't care at the moment. Isobel is sitting on the couch, looking at some random cartoon on television, and she rudely turns it off.

"Mommy, what are you doing? I was watching it!" the little girl complains, and Karlie sighs frustrated.

"Can you just shut the fuck up one second?" she says, pointing her finger to Isobel. Immediately, the little girl's bottom lip starts quivering, and she starts crying and sobbing. She hides her face under her hands, and brings her legs up to her chin.

"You're not even my child," Karlie laughs out loud, and that's enough to make the little girl cry even harder. "She fucked somebody else to give you birth, because guess what? Two women can't make a baby together," she adds with a humoroless laugh.

Isobel, having had enough of the brunette, stands up, and she runs up to her room, as her loud sobs fill the quiet room.

Karlie starts laughing, passing a hand through her messy and greasy hair. "She fucked somebody else," she says to herself. But as she repeats it again and again, the reality punches her directly in the face, and she starts crying. She's mad, angry, and frustrated she just wants to throw a vase in Taylor's face. Her knees are weak enough to make her fall to the ground, and she starts throwing up on the floor. She didn't care she was getting sick on the carpet, Taylor bought it. She grips the roots of her hair as she cries harder and harder, and her stomach hurts.

Finally, after what seems like hours, she passes out on the floor.

"Girls, I'm home!"

She didn't realize that her and Isobel fell asleep on the couch, and when Taylor walked in, she smiled warmly at them cuddled up. "Kar, Izzie, I'm home," she whispers, now sitting beside them. She places her hand on the brunette's arm, and Karlie stirs at the contact. Isobel stands up quickly, and she hugs her mother close.

"Izzie, go up to your room and play with the cats, c'mon," she says sweetly, and the little girl gladly accepts the offer.

"Hey, you," Taylor shyly smiles. Karlie wraps one arm around her hips, and pulls her closer. She kisses the tip of her nose, and she strokes her cheek softly.

"Hey," she whispers back. "How was work?" she asks curiously sitting up.

"Fine," she replies simply. "How are you, though?"

"I talked with Isobel," she replies. "Well, we didn't exactly talk, but she saw me crying," she explains.

"Crying? Why?" Taylor asks worriedly, placing her hand softly on her right cheek.

"I don't know," she answers dully. "She drew this, though," she changes the subject. She hands over the little piece of paper with the giraffe and the koala, and as soon as the blond lays her eyes on it a smile appears on her lips.

"It's really beautiful," she comments. "Did she draw it all by herself?" she asks. Karlie nods, and Taylor still stares at the drawing in her hands. "Why did she draw this, though?" she asks.

"She said that you said to her about us when we were younger. That we were a giraffe and a koala," she explains. Taylor flips slowly the piece of paper, to see if something is drew behind too, but she doesn't see anything. But Karlie did, and she immediately stops her when she notices a line at the bottom of the paper. "Wait," she murmurs.

"What?" Taylor asks.

"There's something written at the bottom," she says. Taylor flips the paper again, and they take a better look at it. Karlie lets a small gasp fall out of her lips when she reads the line.

I love my two mommies!

There was a smiley face beside it, and suddenly, Karlie's eyes starts to water. "Oh my God," she whispers. Taylor notices her change of mood, and engulfs her in a tight comforting hug. "She loves us," she says, not believing it herself. Isobel never said something like that to them, especially to Karlie. "She loves me, after all I've done to her," she adds breathlessly.

"I told you she loves you, no matter what," Taylor whispers, and kisses the top of her head. Karlie covers her head, as she lets tears stream down her cheeks.

Isobel loves me.

A/N: so I turned this into a story, but it won't have a lot of chapter (maybe, I don't really know). I hope you will all like it, and tell me if I should continue it or not!

Love you