The Constellation of You [tms - lamb]
“Did you know that you have a million freckles on your shoulders?” Bradley asked, it was more a thought said out loud than an actual question.
Maggie just hummed, as Bradley used her impromptu question as an excuse to leave a few kisses on Maggie’s shoulder.
It was unusual that they would be just the two of them, it was even more unusual that Bradley would be the one holding Maggie, but Bradley had asked, and Maggie would never say no to her.
“I do recall you all having the same freckles as I do.” Maggie said, her hand tangled in Bradley’s hair and she pulled her into a kiss.
“Yeah, we do. But they’re yours, aren’t they?” Bradley asked, curious.
Maggie let herself lay on Bradley once more. She thought back on when they started showing up on her skin. Alex had just started doing The Morning Show, and so her face was everywhere in New York City, it truly was difficult to avoid it. Laura was miles away, in the middle of a war or something. Maggie didn’t look at those news a lot, she felt scared for Laura, and nobody could know about it. Maggie decided to go away for some time. And so she did. Sunny California was far removed, but she could still do her job there.
Every day Maggie would see Laura’s tattoo on her body and would silently pray to a Goddess or two that Laura would come back safe. Every day she would trail the C-Section scar on her body, and would cry silently for the child Alex had and she only knew through gossip magazines. Every day she would trace the scars on her thighs, hoping that wherever her unknown soulmate was they would be doing well.
Maggie would be lying if she said she didn’t do it on purpose. She did not put herself at risk, though. She had guessed that just like her mother and her brothers, she too would start having freckles if she went regularly to the beach. It was her small way of being with her soulmates, even if they didn’t want her, even for the one she still didn’t know. They had marked her own skin; it felt only fair they would have something to remind them of her.
“Yes, they are mine. How did you know?” Maggie asked, ready to hear Bradley’s theory about it.
“I don’t know, I just… They look better on you than they do on either of us.” Bradley said, gently kissing another freckle on her shoulder. Maggie smiled. She wasn’t sure she was ever going to tell her soulmates about it, but in Bradley’s arms she felt herself ready to retell all about it.