“It’s just a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling.”
                                               ~ Jimmy Buffet.
 

The day had not been a good one. First an entire morning of meetings and then an afternoon of paperwork. Kristin remembered when it really was paperwork, rather than ‘computer work’. Now that everything was done electronically, it seemed that everyone wanted to collect massive amounts of information about everything. Reports which would normally have taken her a couple of minutes now took an hour because the statistics geeks wanted precise information on the whole world. She’d just had enough today. She was ready for a nice relaxing evening.

A pleasant thought came to her mind as she pulled into the drive of the beach house. It was Nathan’s turn to cook dinner. She knew he had managed to actually leave work at a reasonable hour since she’d tried to call him in his office earlier and they said he was gone. Nathan’s cooking was always a treat. She could manage pretty well in the kitchen and Lucas’ specialties were pizza and variations on peanut butter sandwiches but Nathan knew his way around the kitchen. She especially liked it when he got creative. You never knew what he would make but it was almost always delicious. She could use a ‘Chef Nathan meal’ tonight.

Kristin got out of the car and grabbing her briefcase walked up the stairs to the house. She was half-way across the screened-in porch before she heard the raised voices from inside the house.

“You know, has anyone ever told you before that you can be really stubborn?!” That would be Lucas shouting.

Nathan’s voice wasn’t quite as loud but there was no mistaking the firmness of his tone. “The answer is no, Lucas.”

“You know in 10 months...” Lucas yelled.

“In 10 months,” Nathan cut him off, “you can do what you like but for now... the answer is NO!”

Kristin decided that she didn’t want to get in the middle of whatever argument was going on... she’d stay on the porch for a while and listen in. So much for her relaxing evening.

Lucas tried to calm down some and reason with Nathan. “Captain, you’re only delaying the inevitable.”

“Yup,” was Nathan’s short response.

The answer only served to aggravate Lucas. “It’s not like it’s your body!”

Now Nathan was aggravated too. “Lucas, are we having a difficulty with the concept of ‘NO” here? NO! ...EN ...OH” he emphasized.

Lucas tried reasoning again. “I’m not talking major artwork here. It’s only a little thing.”

"No.”

“You won’t even discuss it with me?”

“We just discussed it.” It sounded like Nathan turned away. “No. End of discussion,” he finished in an ominously firm voice.

Frustration was evident in Lucas’ voice. “Captain... don’t tell me you’ve never thought about getting a tattoo.”

“Not when I was sober,” was Nathan’s curt answer.

Now Lucas was really angry. “I can’t believe you! It’s my body... I’ll get that tattoo even if I have to wait 10 months to do it!” Kristin could hear him coming towards the door now. He shouted, “Some days I think you only agreed to be my guardian so you could have someone to push around!” as he came through the doors onto the porch. He stopped for just a second as he took in Kristin sitting in one of the white wicker chairs.

“Hello,” said Kristin.

With a stormy look on his face, Lucas continued towards the stairs, tossing Kristin a curt, “Hi,” as he rushed by.

Kristin watched Lucas go down the stairs two at a time and stomp out onto the dock. She picked up her briefcase and the shoes she had removed and wandered into the house. Nathan had his back to her as he fussed around the kitchen. She could tell he was upset by the tenseness evident in his shoulders and the way he was tossing things around the kitchen a little. She deposited her briefcase and shoes near the couch and went into the kitchen.

Nathan apparently hadn’t heard her entry and started when she put her hand on his shoulder. “Hi there... looks like you’re not having a very good evening,” she said in a calming voice.

Nathan leaned over and gave her a short kiss on the lips. “I’ve had better,” he said ruefully.

Kristin gave him a short rub on the back and turned to inspect the pots cooking on the stove. “Ummm, smells delicious,” she said as she raised a lid to inspect what was within.

“It’s kind of a chicken stroganoff. I just winged it,” he said, his voice still tense.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean that last part, Nathan,” Kristin said as she removed a glass from the cabinet.

Nathan looked over at her, his voice a little calmer. “No, I know. He’s just angry... he’ll get over it.”

Now Kristin was at the refrigerator pouring out a tall glass of lemonade. “You know he’s going to get that tattoo eventually,” she said reasonably.

After a pause Nathan answered. “I know. It’s just not going to be on my watch... when he’s 18 and can sign for himself he can do whatever he likes.” He turned to look at Kristin, “And I’ve got no illusions about it... I know he’s going to get the damned tattoo... probably give it to himself for his 18th birthday. But I’m not going to be the one to authorize it.” He turned back to his meal preparations.

“Dead set against it, huh?” Kristin said as she leaned against the counter.

Nathan stopped chopping up carrots and looked Kristin’s way while still facing the cutting block, “You taking his side now?”

Kristin pushed up off of the counter and came to stand next to his left arm. “Nope, I’m just trying to see why you’re being so stubborn about this.”

Nathan’s face was an unreadable mask. “Because I am,” he said calmly and went back to the carrots.

Kristin put her hand back on his shoulder. “You know some day you’re going to have to tell me what it was.”

Nathan didn’t move. “What what was?”

“The tattoo,” Her hand moved down to the small of his back and she felt him tense up. “The one you had removed.” Her hand moved to a place on his right butt cheek and Nathan started like he’d been burned. “From your butt...”

Kristin had never seen Nathan turn the bright shade of crimson that he turned now. He continued to stare straight ahead and didn’t say a word. She removed her hand and started walking out into the living room.

“Some day...” she said over her shoulder.