Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

DECLAN

"Dec!"

Drawing in a breath, I let it out slowly. It was a good thing I was used to my little brother showing up after school. If he startled me while I was in the middle of a tattoo, I could hurt someone. I didn't look up, but he didn't really expect me to. He bounced over to me like he had springs in his shoes, a bright smile on his face.

"First day of school today," he chirped.

"I remember. How'd it go?"

He shrugged, standing on his tiptoes to see the tattoo I was working on properly. The man in the chair was a regular and knew my little brother, so when I pulled back for a second, he shifted so Oliver could get a better view.

"That's awesome. Can we put that on my list?"

Ben, my apprentice, looked up from his tablet, frowning at my brother. "List for what?"

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Ollie's got a whole folder of tats he wants once he's old enough. You're gonna run out of space before you can fit all of them, you know. "

"Not if I'm as big as dad, I won't."

True. Dad was a big dude. A football player in his youth, he fit the build of a defensive linebacker without even trying. I was built more like Mom. Tall and thin. I had muscle, but I wasn't ever going to be built like Dad. I had a runner's build and that never really bothered me. Ollie wanted to look like our dad, but he was only eight, so time would tell.

Ollie always came to my shop after school. Our parents didn't get home for a few hours and they didn't like leaving him on his own. He hung out with me, played with his devices, and it was rare that anyone complained about him. There were a few nasty clients who didn't like kids around, but Ollie had always been popular. He was outgoing and friendly, but perfectly happy to play quietly if I needed him to. I liked him coming here. Our age gap didn't make any difference to me. I'd already moved out and started my apprenticeship when my little brother was born, so to say he was a surprise was an understatement. I volunteered to help my parents when they went back to work and he'd been coming here after school since pre-school.

"Why not design your own?" Carl suggested. He pointed at his tattoo. "This art is something I requested from Declan. You'll want something unique for your own tats."

That made Ollie pause, and he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "But I'm not a good drawer."

I shrugged. "I wasn't always either. I practiced a lot. You don't just start good at something. Even famous athletes have to practice."

"Ollie, c'mere. I'll show you how I practice," Ben said, waving him over. Ollie tore away, hovering at Ben's side, and I shook my head with a grin.

"He's a good kid," Carl murmured, watching my brother with a fond smile. Carl had his own kids, but they were all grown now. I got the feeling he was missing the younger stages of his kids' lives.

"Yeah. Super smart too. He told me he wants to be an astronaut."

"I could see that happening. He good at science?"

Giving my attention back to the tattoo, I smirked to myself. "Like you wouldn't believe. I bring him to the library every week and he devours every science book I put in front of him. My parents are talking about moving him up a grade because he's leagues ahead of his classmates. "

"Damn. Smart is an understatement. Kinda hard to imagine an astronaut covered in tattoos, though."

I snorted. Pretty sure it was an occupational hazard that my little brother would be interested in tattoos since he spent time with me at work. He already made me promise to have my chair ready for him the day he turned eighteen. I'd be smart about it and make sure he wouldn't get anything he'd regret, but I wasn't going to tell him he couldn't. I was his brother, not his parent.

I finished up Carl's tattoo before heading upstairs to make Ollie a snack. It was a little cliche, the tattoo artist living above his shop, but I couldn't afford rent on both the shop and an apartment and this place was a steal. It was a one bedroom, nothing too fancy, but it worked for me. And when I worked late, I didn't have to go far to fall into bed. Ollie sometimes came up here to watch tv if he had a long day and wasn't feeling sociable, but that was pretty rare. He liked being downstairs so he could talk to people.

Warming up some leftover mac and cheese, I opened a can of tuna while I waited. The kid ate like a pregnant woman sometimes. I didn't understand the tuna mac and cheese mix, but he ate it with gusto every time I made it, so whatever. I brought it downstairs when I was finished, set him up behind the front desk, and hung his backpack on the hook while he ate.

"There's a note in there," he pointed out, his mouth full of food. "My teacher said to give it to my parents."

Shoving his head gently, I made a face. "Don't talk with your mouth full, squirt. I don't need to see your food."

Of course because I commented on it, he had to open his mouth wide to show me his half eaten food. Kids are gross. I chuckled, shaking my head as I pulled the folder out of his bag. My parents sometimes forgot to look for notes from the teacher, so I always checked and updated them when they showed up to take Ollie home.

The note in question was a reminder about an email sent over the summer. I frowned at it as I read through it, turning to Ollie when I finished.

"Did Mom and Dad talk to you about this already?"

He shrugged. He probably didn't even read it. From the way it was crumpled, he stuffed it into his folder the second they handed it to him and didn't give it a second thought.

The note was about paranormals joining the school. There would be five of them this year, and the school planned for more going forward if things went well. To my knowledge, Ollie didn't have a ton of experience around paranormals, so I made a mental note to remind my parents to talk to him about it. I didn't need him offending and pissing off a paranormal. He already had issues with bullies. Paranormals could do some real damage.

I was a little biased on that front. My experience with paranormals wasn't great. I had a few witches try to scam me by glamouring a tattoo I'd done and saying I fucked it up so I'd give them their money back. They weren't very tech savvy and apparently missed me taking a picture of the damn thing. When I proved them wrong, they tried to jump me. I had some decent fighting experience under my belt, but it probably wouldn't have ended well if my dad hadn't come to visit me at the shop at the right time.

Still, I didn't want to write off a bunch of kids for no good reason. I kept my opinions to myself and left it alone, getting another tattoo done before my parents showed up.

The front door opened right as I was cleaning up, my parents coming in together. They couldn't afford two cars on a budget, so Mom dropped Dad off on the way to work and picked him up before they came to get Ollie. My family was the definition of blue collar. We worked for a living. Dad worked maintenance at a big company downtown, and Mom was a librarian. It meant some lean Christmases when I was a kid, but with me helping out, Ollie had it a little better. I didn't mind helping now and then, especially knowing it made Ollie's life easier. I wanted his childhood to be easier than mine was.

My parents always looked a little uncomfortable when they came to my shop. I offered more than once to bring Ollie to them, but they knew it'd interrupt my work day and they didn't want to bother me. I met them at the front, lifting my chin at my dad in greeting.

"Hey."

Dad responded in kind, his eyes dragging to Ollie, who was still behind the front desk, drawing on his tablet .

"How'd the first day go?" Mom asked.

"Good. He seemed happy when he got here. Got a note from his teacher about paranormals joining the school?"

Dad grunted, a typical response from him, and Mom nodded her head. "We got the email about that. None in Ollie's grade, but if the tests go well and he skips, I think two are in the grade above him. I talked to the counselor about it when I brought him to the teacher meet-and-greet."

"Does he know?" I tipped my head towards Ollie, who was oblivious to the world around him.

Mom pursed her lips, nodding again. "We discussed it over the summer. He doesn't seem to mind either way."

He wouldn't. Ollie was a friendly kid. If there was a potential for new friends, he'd leap at it. That wasn't why I was asking, though.

"And did they say what kind? Mention anything about topics to avoid? I don't want him accidentally saying something the kids might not like and getting himself into trouble."

Mom didn't look worried, but when I raised an eyebrow at Dad, he dipped his chin once. He was there when the paranormals attacked me. He knew to take my concerns seriously.

"I'll talk to ‘im. Did he eat?"

"Snack about an hour ago. He's still hungry."

The conversation didn't last much longer before my parents were hustling Ollie out the door. He waved from the car, smiling brightly, and I gave him a thumbs up before heading back to my station.

Ben stood by, waiting for me, a deep frown on his face. "I've said it before, but the way they act around you is just weird. It's like you're strangers, not family."

I hummed to acknowledge him but didn't say anything. It wasn't worth repeating. My parents stopped being warm towards me the day I came out. They didn't disown me completely, but it obviously made them uncomfortable. They interacted with me as little as possible and I was pretty sure the only reason I got to see Ollie so much was because letting their gay son watch his brother was cheaper than after school care. I couldn't help but wonder if Ollie was their do over. I came out when I was seventeen. They had my little brother a year later. Seems kind of convenient to me.