The Way We Were

The Way We Become a Teen

Maddie felt so special as her friends wished her a happy birthday. "Thanks, guys."

"What are you going to do now that you're a teenager?" Sarah Grayson hoped it was something exciting.

"I want a tattoo." Maddie proclaimed proudly.

Nancy Beecher raised her brows. "Who are you trying to keep up with?"

"Marcy has over twenty tattoos."

"Marcy's also an adult."

"As of two weeks ago!" Which was true. The sisters' birthdays were fourteen days apart.

"She was born an adult." Nancy waved that away.

"Nan...!" Maddie pouted.

"What?!" The golden eyed mixed girl raised a brow.

Maddie just looked at her.

"You want me to get a tattoo?! Are you crazy?! My mom would flip out!"

"Your dad would understand." Calvin Beecher Sr. was half Native American and had his own tribal tattoos.

Nancy hated how her best friends could talk her into anything. "What kind?"

Maddie shrieked happily. "Yes!"

W.W.W.

"Thank you, Marcy!" Maddie kissed her big sister's cheek before bounding out of the car.

"Oh no, you don't. I'm coming in to see what you get." Marcy unbuckled herself.

"Marcy...!" Maddie whined.

"Nope. You're not putting anything on your body."

Maddie pouted. "We have a design."

"And I'll make sure it goes right."

"You trust Bonez."

"What if Bonez isn't here?"

Maddie had no more excuses. "Fine!"

Marcy rolled her eyes as she turned down the radio and put the top up on her Beemer. She and the other girls got out and she locked her doors (the Heights was no place for expensive things).

They went inside the brightly lit shop and looked around at the funky decor. It turned out that Bonez was in fact not working that day but the guy there was very professional.

Marcy oversaw the tattoo which was an interlocking triangle with their first initials in them. Their favorite colors would be shaded in the black shapes to make the letters stand out.

Nancy bit her lip the whole time while Maddie took deep breaths. Sarah cried.

Marcy smirked. She really liked the idea of friendship tattoos (Maddie had talked her into talking everyone else into sibling tattoos) so she'd definitely be talking to her friends.

W.W.W.

"And you want us to get the Cheyenne word for siblings and the number eight?" Laura wanted to make sure.

Maddie nodded.

"Were you a big girl when you got the first one?"

Maddie nodded again.

"She was very brave." Marcy was proud of her little sister.

"We're breastfeeding!" Quinn bit off.

"And?! Don't do it for a few days!"

"I don't want my babies on formula!"

"It's called a milk bank, blondie."

Mercedes cut through their fight. "Is this the only tattoo we're getting? I'd rather get it done all at once."

"No! I want a sister tattoo, too!" Maddie said excitedly.

Laura huffed.

"Brother tats?" Marc looked at Mike and Mal, who shrugged.

Marcy poked Mal in his rock hard belly. "Want married people tats? It's been five years."

He grinned smugly. "Brand you? Oh yeah."

Quinn stomped a foot. "I want a married tattoo!"

Mike raised a brow at Quinn's innate coveting. "We can get a married tattoo."

"We can?" Mercedes raised a brow at him.

He kissed her briefly. "Yup."

W.W.W.

In the end, they each had the Cheyenne word for "sibling" along with the word for "eight"; Marc and Laura got '09 tattooed on their left ring fingers; Mike, Mercedes and Quinn got a (small) tricolored flag tattooed on their ribs, Mal and Marcy got a flame tattooed on the back of their right shoulder blade; Marc, Mike and Mal got the Swedish word for "brother" across their right knuckles while Laura, Mercedes, Quinn, Marcy and Maddie got the Italian word for "sister" along their left shoulder.

Marcy barely had any room left to keep it classy and Mal was right behind her. Marc and Mike were behind them, especially Mike with his back covering Chinese dragon. But they were satisfied.

Especially the birthday girl.