Zamora

When August did roll around, I found myself on the couch with Teddy on my laptop one night, working on my classes for the semester. I was so close to finishing the stupid degree that I might as well do it soon.

It was late, and J.D. wasn't home yet. He sent me a text around four and told me he would be late. I was a bit worried now since it was almost ten at night, and usually, he wouldn't be this late.

"Where do you think daddy is, Teddy?" The small dog leans his head onto my lap and covers his face. "Let's call him."

No one had claimed Teddy in the past three weeks that we had him, which really was sad if someone abandoned him, but great news because we rescued him, and he was now legally registered to us.

I called J.D. and didn't receive an answer, he had been acting a little strange the last couple days, just preoccupied really, he had mentioned how busy his work was and how two guys had quit to move out of state, so he was definitely doing more than usual, but he was acting distant more than anything.

My mind began to wonder, and I cringed at my deepest fear. He wasn't like that at all. He was good to me, so I shook the thoughts from my head.

Around eleven, the door unlocked, and he walked into the house looking exhausted.

"Hey." He smiles gently at me. He walks over and places a kiss on my cheek and sighs. "I need a shower." He mumbles, walking past me to head upstairs.

"Tough day?" I say quietly.

"Yeah." And just like that, he was gone.

Now, normally, I would be understanding of him being tired and letting him do his thing, but a few problems made me irritated. First, he was hours late with no explanation. He didn't kiss me like he usually does, and then he just walks away. One worded responses really pissed me off.

It had also been almost two weeks without any sex. Which happens, I guess, but the longest we've gone without sex was the time he was in California.

The honeymoon phase was over.

I sigh, telling Teddy to go to bed. He had finally learned that he had to sleep in his bed downstairs and guard us. He did as he was told, and I walked upstairs to the bedroom, walking in to see that J.D. was already in the shower.

I had already showered for the night, so I sat and waited on the bed. Tomorrow was Sunday, and he wouldn't be working. At least I hoped he wouldn't be working.

Once he was out, he walked into the bedroom and put on some shorts. He sits on the edge of the bed, drying his hair with his towel and then tossing it aside. I crawl over to him, gently kissing his shoulder. We didn't need to have sex but these past few days, there had been a lack of affection. I missed him holding me.

"I know you're tired, but that doesn't mean no goodnight kiss." He turns to me and puckers his lips. I gently give him a kiss. When we pull away, he looks down at his hands. He looks...guilty. That feeling turns in my stomach again, and I begin to feel weird. "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head, "Nothing." He murmurs. "Tired."

I look at his face, but he just lays down and covers his head with the blanket. I lay down beside him and sigh.

This mood, It had started after we had a random tornado warning a few weeks ago. Neither of us knew what to do and had a bit of a panic attack since we were born and raised in California. I had heard the warning sirens every month for three years, but nothing was scarier than a real warning.

When the storm cleared, he began searching for something, and as the last ten days went by, he seemed to get more agitated and sad.

"J.D. I know work has been stressful, but you've been acting weird, and I trust you a lot, but it's not making me feel very secure right now the way you've been acting." Communication was key, and if he wasn't going to tell me what was bothering him, I would have to tell him how I feel.

He tugs the blanket off and looks at me with a confused look. "Secure? Like you don't trust me?" I look away. "Baby, I'm not cheating on you or doing drugs or doing illegal shit if that's where your mind is." He takes a deep breath and lays flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. "I'm sorry I'm making you feel like that. I fucked up and I lost something that is really fucking valuable and I cannot find it in this house or at work and I'm stressed out because your father is going to murder me."

I stare at him for a while, confused. "What?" I ask. "What did you lose?" Why would my father be upset?

He sits up and curses, putting his hands on his face. "I can't tell you. You'll hate me."

My mind wonders and I can't think of what he could be talking about. "Okay... maybe I can help you find it?"

"It's small... I put it in a baggie, and then I put it in the closet in... fuck I can't tell you!" I can feel the sadness in his voice and it was scaring me.

I place my hands on his, he looks up at me and relaxes. "Was it valuable?" He nods. "Was it...money or something?" He shakes his head. "Okay when did you have it last."

He thinks for a moment. "I got it in June, then I moved it to my safe, but when we had that tornado warning I took stuff home and I kept it here in the closet with our stuff, it was in a little yellow envelope in a bag. I checked through our stuff but I don't know where the fuck it could have fallen or something."

"Okay...after the warning was over you cleaned, maybe it fell behind the dresser, or under the bed?" I stood up and crouched down under the bed to look, he stood and told me he had searched everywhere.

Whatever he lost, must have been important, why he couldn't tell me was beyond me. "I cant believe I did this." He shook his head.

I walked over and kneeled in front of him, gently combing my fingers through his hair. "My love, whatever it is that you lost I'm sure it can be replaced, you didn't mean to lose it." I put my hands on his face and gently wiped a single tear from his eyes.

"It's not replaceable." He took a shaky breath, "your dad gave me your moms engagement ring... to get it cleaned. I lost your mom's ring, Zamora, I'm so sorry."

I let out a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding in. "Oh my god." I put my head down and feel so guilty as I start laughing.

"Why are you laughing at me?" He sounds so sad.

My eyes widen and I quickly stand, my hands touch his face gently and I want to cry. "James... I have the ring. I thought it came in the box of my mom's stuff and it had fallen out or something. The clothes you brought me from California I thought her ring had been in there and I hadn't seen it, but you were acting so strange, so I didn't show you."

I stand and walk over to my stuff, I had a jewelry box on a vanity he had gotten for me when we first moved in. The jewelry box, one I've had since I was a little girl, held my mother's emerald engagement ring inside.

I pulled it out, and he looked so relieved. "You had it, thank god!" He wraps his arms around me and picks me up. When he sets me down, he looks down at the ring and then at me with a look of fear. "I can give it back to your dad now."

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh well, he might want me to have it." I shrug. "I can take it to him on Monday and ask."

"No!" he says a little loud. "I mean, I already had it for too long. I can give it back. He uh... loves it, wears it around his neck. He didn't ask you to get it cleaned because he wanted to keep it."

I stared at him for a while and nodded. "Okay, kind of weird he told you all that." I laugh. "Okay, just be careful with it. My dad proposed to my mom with this ring in front of this cathedral in Mexico."

"Cathedral of Zamora." He whispers.

I gasp, "Did I tell you that story?" I giggle. "it's an emerald because my mom was born in May, and the gold around it is engraved." I smile and show him the faded 'always and forever'.

"I will protect it with my life. Let's go to bed now." He takes the ring and places it in his dresser. He jumps into bed and pulls me to his chest, wrapping his arms around me. "I am so sorry that I've been such an asshole. The guilt was eating me alive." He confesses.

I wrap my arms around him and snuggle up close. "Don't do that again, I missed you. Even at night, you would sleep away from me." My hands began to touch him everywhere, feeling his skin against mine was something my body had craved.

He kissed the side of my neck and up to my ear, "I'm so sorry." He turned over to climb on top of me and kissed me softly. His weight on top of me was like heaven. Our eyes met, and he seemed to be thinking about the same thing. "I love you so much... the thought of disappointing you was ripping me apart."

"You couldn't disappoint me. Even if you did lose it, I would know you would do everything to find it." He nods and presses his lips to mine. my hands move to his face as I kiss him soft and slow, our tongues intertwining, and our limbs tangled under our blanket. "Make love to me." I spoke just above a whisper against his lips.

Tired as we were, he did make love to me, slow and sensual, soft and delicate. He undressed me, taking off his clothes and holding my hands in his as he moved above me. When our eyes met, he smiled at me in such a sweet way.

*

Things went back to normal after that. Suddenly, it was the end of summer, and things had been completely the opposite of what they were last year around this time.

My phone rings in my hand as I make my way into the pharmacy. "Hello?"

"Hey Z, it's me."

"Hey, how's the apartment search coming?" I ask my brother, grabbing a basket. Today was the anniversary of when J.D. and I bumped into each other, and I was going to get him a little basket of goodies.

"It's going, I don't know it's looking like the nicest place I'm going to afford is going to be a room in someone's house."

I laugh, "Well, that's California for you."

"Yeah, but the new job is good, so there's that." He said a little more enthusiastic. "What are you doing?"

By this point, I was in the candy section of the store getting a few of J.D.'s favorite snacks. "I am grabbing a few things from the store for my man." I bend down and look at the candy. "It's our 'meet cute' anniversary, so I'm getting him some stuff from the pharmacy where we met."

"Lame, do you think be remembers that anniversary. I doubt it." He teases. "Speaking of J.D. his sister hit me up last week, says she will be in California soon, and wants to hang out."

I was listening to my brother when, from the opposite end of the aisle, I see a familiar man kneeling down, filling a basket. "Hey, listen, I have to go. Do not sleep with that girl."

"Oh my god, I wasn't -" I hung up and walked quietly over to where J.D. was and noticed be had a few things in his basket. My favorite candy, a small bear, and a card.

"Hey, cutie, you have a girlfriend?" I asked, touching his shoulder.

He flinches from me for a second and then smiles when he realizes who I am. "Oh my god! What are you doing here?" He stands and wraps his arms around me. "This was supposed to be a surprise!" his hand grabbed the back of my neck and gently pulled me close to him to kiss me.

I laugh and show him my basket, "well the surprise is ruined for both of us." He looks in the basket and smiles, kissing me again. His hand moves to my shoulder, and we walk together to the counter.

As if traveling back in time, the same cashier sits and reads her magazine, looking up at us. "Hey Melissa, how's Ben?"

She looks between us and smiles, "about to go into fourth grade." She looks over at me. "Cash or card?"

*

The last chapter is after this, and it's a good one.

Thank you for reading. Xx