The Irish Tattooist

Chapter 44

This is the last chapter my friends, we are finished after this. 

Thank you all for your support through this story! It ended up being more than a story about Ripper and Corin, and became more about her family and what they meant to her. 

Thank you for going on this journey with me, I love you all :) 

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Ripper was at the door when I opened it, a heaviness in my heart linked to all the anger I had been feeling for years on end. He took one look at me, calmed the fury in his gaze and pulled me gently against him, holding me in his arms. I dropped my guns on the ground outside, burying my face into his hard chest as silent tears tracked rivers down my face. 

I had wanted them. Wanted them to want me. But no matter what I did, or who I was- they wouldn't have wanted me. It was something I realized now. They only ever wanted what would help them, and would be willing to do anything to get it. 

Ripper's hands stroked my back, his lips pressed into my hair as he comforted me- even though I knew he was angrier than I was. Everything in him probably wanted to stalk in there and rip Warwick's throat out, then do the same to my mother. 

If anything, this experience had made me realize what I would do anything for- who I would do anything for. And in contrast to my parents, it wasn't myself. It was the love of my life, my son, my father, my best friend, my one-eyed protector...Everyone who had given care to me, I would give my life in return. 

"We're not going to beat them Ripper. We're going to leave them alone. Gervais will talk to them later, after they've...recovered." 

He grunted, bending down and picking up my guns, then tucking them in his back pockets. "Let's go home, sugar."

And right now, I was more grateful for that than anything in the world.

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I went and visited dad the day after, knowing he was more than anxious to see how I was. No doubt, he had been filled in on everything that had happened during the night since I had a hidden camera attached to a ring I wore. One that Teddy had made for me. 

Ripper pulled up in front of his house, immediately grabbing my hand as we walked inside. I knew it was for both of us- I needed his touch to feel secure, and he needed mine to calm down. Seamus burst open the door and ran down the steps, coming to stop in front of me with a worried look all over his normally icy face. 

He exhaled when he found nothing then crushed me into a hug, relief written all over him. I smiled into his hair, hugging him back just as fiercely. I would never leave this boy again, because he was forever in my heart. My son. The door opened behind him again, and Dad walked out, his big strong body tense. 

I let go of Seamus after kissing him on the cheek and walked to my father, tears pricking my eyes. He saw them, face softening, before gathering me up in his tree-trunk arms. I held him tight, crying for the loss of my false family, but most of all, crying for all the time I had lost with my dad. 

All those years, I had been wandering around, never really knowing what I wanted to do, never really having a plan because I only had one person to care about. I had done a lot of bad things, received a lot of bad things- gone through endless hours of pain and self-loathing because of my sins and past. 

But now, I had a real family, a home, a life that I wouldn't give up for anything. I had a dad who loved me and wanted to protect me, I had people in my life who would keep loving me for a long time. I had people who weren't afraid to love me like I was them, I had people who stood with me and trusted in my decisions.