FOUR YEARS LATER

“Leo. Leo!” I pulled the covers off of him and he let out a grunt. “It’s your turn.”

He let out another grunt and pulled the pillow over his head. His chest was bare, showing off his lion and ragdoll kitten tattoos. I never seemed to stop smiling when I saw that tattoo. He hid it from me about a week, which was surprising since he loved to walk around the house ass naked. And when he did show me ... I was shocked. We had only been dating for about four months at the time but he said he knew deep down I would always be in his heart and in his life. So why not have me on his heart? I thought he was insane, but I knew he was right. I nudged Leo again but he just turned around showing off the giant skull tattoo covering his full back. The skull was broken but had vines and flowers growing around it. Like Mother Nature taking back what was hers.

“Leeeooooo,” I started kissing his back, and that slowly turned into bites. He growled and moaned, most likely getting a boner but I didn’t stop. I knew this was one was not getting what I wanted.

“Stop,” he moaned. “Are you trying to get make me put another baby in you, Mallory Kelly?”

I giggled.

“It’s your turn to drive. Come on.” I moaned, giving him one more bite and kiss before he threw his pillow on the ground, turned around and pinned me on my back with his large cock poking me. His black hair, which was slowly turning silver, draped down and touched my forehead. He let his hair grow out more so he could put it in a bun. His beard was a little bit shorter than we first met but now it had a few white hairs. I loved seeing those white hairs, seeing how we were growing old together.

“Let’s get Tatiana to check up on her?” Leo bit my neck and dry humped me.

“We both know she can't drive. Come on, she's crying harder.”

“Come with me then,” he thrust so hard into me he knocked out a loud moan. He kissed my collarbone and then to my breast. Leo tugged on my nipple piercing like he knew I liked it.

“Fuck. Okay, I’ll come with you.”

Leo bounced off the bed and headed for toward closet. “See, I can get what I want to,” he smirked.

I rolled my eyes and followed him to change. Our style hasn't really changed within the years. I still dressed like “a bubbly modern version of a Tim Burton character” as Leo liked to put it, and he still looked like a hipster daddy trying to impress his kids. But today he wore a pair of black sweats and a blood red shirt that fit him nicely. He had been working out more and he has been going on runs with me, which was nice. I put on some baby weight but he still loved every inch of me. I tossed my shorts on and a baggy sweater over my shirt and followed Leo into our daughter’s room.

“Daisy definitely wants to go on a ride. She doesn't need to be changed or fed.” Leo swaddled her in his arms but she only quiet down a little.

Daisy had my ash blonde hair and Leo’s pure white streak like his mother and grandfather and so on. She didn't have mine nor Leo's eyes; she had a mixture of our eyes, of the ocean and the forest. Her skin was a rich olive color she got from my father and she was tall and slender like her daddy. She was perfect in every way, except when she cried like crazy because she wanted a car ride. It was the only way we could get her to sleep.

“Okay, Daisy. Let’s go in the car,” I used my baby voice, grabbed everything we needed and headed out to the car.

Leo placed his little flower bud in the seat and I fastened her in. She was still crying, but not as loud and I knew after thirty minutes she would knock out, and if that didn’t work then Leo’s story always did the trick. Leo took a seat in the driver seat and looked back at me.

“We got Queen, Led, or some good old Pink Floyd,” Leo scrolled through his phone.

“We both know what she likes, Leo.”

He sighed heavily and played on Thunderstruck by AC/DC. “I blame you for this crap,” he growled with a smile we headed on our usual route.

We always ended up at the flower shop to see what came of it ever since Nico died three years ago. But it hasn’t changed. The glass in the door window was still broken, the inside of it half burnt from Leo’s blackout days and the wood around the windows was rotting. It always looked the same when we passed it but I think it made Leo happy that it did. Because if it was new and fixed, that meant it was gone. That meant that someone has bought it and it was ready to be forgotten as Kelly’s Garden.

I knew ten minutes had passed when we passed our “White Streaks Tattoo” shop, which was going even better then we had plan. Leo was the best artist in the place, after years of practicing and training and he’s now booked solid for the next year. Everyone seems to love his flower tattoos or his weird businessman tattoos with animals/plant heads.

I only had two tattoo’s now, my Sardine and my Dandelion. Of course, my husband drew and inked my second tattoo. Even though he was crazy nervous to fuck it up and ruin my “perfect flawless skin,” he did a fantastic job. I looked down at my right wrist and saw the Dandelion.

A few more minutes passed, but Daisy was still not asleep. She had stopped crying but she was still wide awake. I told Leo to turn off the music.

“She she’s still awake. Tell her the story.”

Leo sighed heavily and moaned. He didn’t like telling the story because he said it was stupid and silly. The only reason he made it up was to see if a story would make her go to sleep and it did, it always did. But he used it as a last resort. I on the other hand, loved his story. If it didn’t put Daisy to sleep it put me to sleep with a smile.

“Leo, please. She wants to hear it and so do I.”

Leo gave in and cleared his throat to get his story voice ready. He spoke soft and began.

“Once upon a time, there was a dark forest. A forest full of dark, mischievous trails, poisonous water and psychedelic food that thrived on pure souls. It was tall, wide and thick, but the forest was dying. So in hopes of luring in animals, the forest decided to expose himself. To let his soul be uncovered in the form of a pure white glowing flower to catch his victims’ eyes. The animals knew to stay away from the dangerous forest, but whenever they saw that bright glowing flower bloom, they followed.”

“One day, a small kitten approached the entrance of the forest. She was white and pure with a soft pink nose, a pink bow wrapped around her neck and bright blue eyes. She was innocent and naïve, so the forest stole her in by opening his flower. The kitten followed the light and stepped into the forest where the entrance behind her was enclosed with vines. Each step she took to the flower, the less it glowed. By the time the kitten had reached the flower, it dried out and turned gray. The kitten didn't know where she was or how she got there, but she wasn't scared. Even though she lost her pink bow and she was tired, hungry and thirsty, she stayed with the flower hoping it will glow once more. She started talking to the flower and told it about her life. She told the flower about her two crazy friends, an orange small bird and a tall brown deer, about her loving aunt and uncle, a thin cricket and a large toad, and about her parents, a purple butterfly and a sphinx cat. She talked and talked and talked but the flower never glowed. The kitten got hungry after a while and started to look for food, but the only thing around was a pile of mushrooms. She didn’t want to eat the mushrooms, but she was starving. And before she could take her first bite the flower glowed. The kitten ran to the flower in hopes to see it up close but by the time she got to it, it had dried out. The kitten sat and watched until she became parched. She wandered away from the flower and went to a puddle of water to take a sip, but before she could, the flower glowed bright once more and she ran to it in hopes to see it up close. But again, by the time she got to it, it had dried out.”

“The kitten was mad at this point. Why was the flower taking her away from food and water? Was it trying to kill her? So again, the kitten wandered, this time looking for her pink bow. The kitten walked around the dark paths but never found anything except for a gold coin. It was shiny and new, but what was it doing in the forest? Maybe the flower knew? So she picked up the coin and brought it over to the flower in hopes of some answers. In hope of the flower to glow and it did glow. The second she dropped the coin on the ground next to the flower it glowed a bright blood red and the ground started to crack. The kitten screamed and cried and swiped the coin away with her tail where it landed in the puddle she was about to drink. And once again, the flower dried out and turned its usual gray color. The puddle, where the coin had landed, was turning black and now overflowing and boiling. The water had reached the mushrooms now and they were growing out of control. The coin was making everything worse and killing the forest rapidly. The kitten panicked and was about to run away until she saw the flower faintly flicker its white light. She didn’t know what that meant, but she knew she couldn’t let the flower stay behind to get eaten up by the mushrooms or boiled in the water. So the kitten ripped the flower out of the ground and ran fast and hard toward the direction of the entrance. The forest was dark and gloomy but luckily for the kitten she could see in the dark. She got to the entrance of the forest, but it was trapped with vines. She tried to escape through the small opening, but she couldn’t fit, her hips were too wide. The flower must have felt her struggle and panic because the next thing she saw was a bright glowing light that burn off all the vines.”

“The kitten escaped just in time before the water and mushrooms reached her, but her flower did not. Her flower had burned out and died in the kitten's mouth. The kitten mourned the death of her flower and buried it a few feet away from the black dying forest in a pile of rich soil. The kitten cried and cried and when her tear fell down on the soil, the earth began to rumble. The kitten looked up and saw white flowers popping out all over the whole ground, except for where she planted her flower. Soon the whole ground around her was surrounded by white flowers. For miles and miles, as far as the eye can see there was only the white flowers and a black forest. The wind started to pick up and it scooped all the white petals together in the air and swallowed the black forest whole. It only took a few seconds before the black forest had vanished and the white petals flew in the wind.”

“The kitten looked at the original spot where the flower once glowed and she saw a snake. A large black snake with one streak of white scales running down its long body, and she knew it was her flower. She ran to him and he slithered to her and they reunited. The snake was three times her size, but she wasn't afraid of him. She wasn't afraid of what he once was, and she jumped on him and let him wrap around her like a blanket as he pressed his head onto hers. They were an odd match but they worked well. So well they got married and had a beautiful baby, Daisy, who would grow up knowing her parents loved and cherish her. The end.”

I sighed blissfully and looked over Daisy who was knocked out.

“I never asked, but why did you make yourself a snake?”

“I once read that snakes represent healing and transformations. I think it’s a perfect fit for me. Or it’s because of my serpent like cock.” Leo chuckled.

I giggled and hugged Leo from behind his seat. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he kissed my arm gently and I leaned back in my chair to close my eyes. I probably closed my eyes for a few minutes until Leo pressed the brakes hard and I jumped out of my slumber.

“What the fuck!” I whispered angrily then looked to Daisy who luckily was still asleep. I looked over at Leo who was death staring his mother shop like he had seen her ghost. I followed his eyes and when I saw it, my heart almost stopped. Between two large building laid a broken down flower shop with a red and white sign in the broken window saying For Sale.