Page 132 of Leave a Mark
“Sweet. Congratulations.”
If he’d thought he was proud of her a year ago, it was nothing compared to how he saw her now. At Evelyn’s suggestion, Wren had started volunteering at Acadiana Recovery Center two or three times a month. She’d worked up the courage to do it about a month after her friend Curtis had been discharged. Although she was scared to meet the kids at ARC at first, the experience supported her compassion therapy like little else. Helping kids who were dealing with addicted parents made it so much easier for Wren to recognize herself in their suffering.
A lot of them had experienced abuse like hers.
Working with these children was painful for Wren, but it healed her, too. And Lee knew that the drawing projects she did with them could only help to heal the children as well.
“What did you draw?” he asked softly.
Wren’s eyes never left her work, but he saw the light in them.
“I drew a picture of Laurie, and he drew a picture of his mom.”
“And how’s his mom doing?”
Wren shrugged. “He’s there every Saturday I go, so I’m guessing she’s doing okay.” Wren gave a sigh and looked back at him. “Her therapy is court-mandated, and she’ll lose him if she doesn’t complete the program, but I’m hopeful.”
So damn proud.
“You’re amazing.”
She tried to hide her smile and failed. “Okay…” She sprayed and wiped his shoulder one more time. “…are you ready?”
“Hell yes,” Lee said, sitting up.
“Wait. L-let me get the mirror,” Wren stammered, a nervous look claiming her face. She peeled off her gloves and grabbed the hand mirror from her cart, but she held it against her chest at first, eyes wide. “Promise me you won’t freak out, okay?”
Lee frowned. “What’d you do? Put a skull in my tree?” He reached for the mirror, but she pulled it away.
“Promise.” The sternness in her voice was a cover. She was nervous. She didn’t have a reason to be. Wren had done nothing to give him any regrets.
Nothing to his body and nothing to his heart.
“I promise, my love, I will not freak out.”
At his words, Wren’s eyes visibly calmed, but she took a deep breath and let it out before handing him the mirror.
“Let’s see what you’ve done,” he teased, taking the mirror from her.
He aimed it at his shoulder and found his two wrens. Lee saw they were unchanged, but then he spotted the new addition. A nest on the branch below them, woven and rough, just like any bird’s nest. And inside of it was a small, tawny, speckled egg.
An egg.
Lee swallowed, and his eyes flashed to Wren’s. She stood before him with her hands clasped over her mouth.
“Wren…?” Was this new tattoo a promise for later? Or now? He scanned her from head to toe. Were there signs in her body he’d missed? The look on her face could only mean one thing. Lee leapt off the table and caught her in his arms. “Really?”
She nodded before planting her face into his chest and sniffling. Lee’s joy was so massive he burst out laughing.
“How long have you known?” Had she been to a doctor? Was she feeling okay? Was she ready for this?
“A week,” she said proudly, looking, by all accounts, ready for this.
Lee’s eyes went wide. “You’ve kept this a secret for a whole week?!”
It was her turn to laugh. “I know, right? It was the hardest thing to do, but I had to get my stencil ready,” she said, pointing to the nest tattoo.
He gripped her shoulders. “You had to draw a tattoo before you could tell me I’m going to be a father?”
