Good Neighbors

It was after our chat that morning that I came up with an idea. Unfortunately, being Christmas day, I could not act on it for a day or two. At least I could set the plan in motion. It was after we got up and had breakfast that I started.

"Amor, where do you keep your wedding ring?"

She gave me a strange look.

"It's in my jewelry box. Why do you ask?"

"I had an idea for a very cost effective present if that would be okay."

She was still giving me that strange look.

"You are going to do what with the ring?"

I took a breath.

"The guy I bought your collar from is a professional jeweler. I was thinking about getting your ring cleaned."

She looked at me before she started to drop her guard.

"Just a cleaning?"

"Yes. You can come with if you'd like."

She took a deep breath.

"I think that would be a great idea. It's just..."

She started to tear up. I opened my arms and held her a bit. She looked at me after most of the tears were out.

"I'm sorry, Leo. It's all I have left of him. He was still my husband and..."

"I know, Amor. I'm sorry," I whispered.

I held her for a while longer before we moved to the couch. There we sat holding each other under a blanket while the fire burned, and the music played. It was a quiet set up. I was thinking to myself how I was glad I didn't put the prototype together. The mood created by the simplest things was better. She started to look at me and smile.

"I'm sorry I got emotional. It's just..."

"I get it. I still have all of Missy's jewelry in her jewelry box. I never had the desire to go through it. It just feels wrong to me."

"I have his wedding band in my jewelry box also. It's a small jewelry box. We always tried to keep things simple. It was one of the things that helped us get the house in the first place."

"And pay it off," I added.

She smiled at that.

"He never wanted me to worry about a place to stay after he left. He always said that before the cancer started. He had the biggest heart and took care of me like his princess."

"He did. I admire his tenacity and his practicality."

"Still, it also helped that I didn't want all the fancy stuff. I think the rings combined would only be about a quarter of what you paid for the fancy collar."

I felt embarrassed when she said that. She looked at me and smiled before hugging me closely.

"Not that I mind it. You worked hard to be able to do what you can do, Leo. There's no shame in that."

"Still, I should have thought about that before I bought it."

"No, Leo. You did the right thing. You were going through what you thought was necessary. I appreciate all the effort you did. I felt wonderful when you collared me."

I started to feel a little better.

"I was going to have your ring cleaned and have my jeweler friend measure it in case I wanted to buy you a ring in the future."

"That does sound practical. So, bringing me with you would have ruined the plan."

"No, it's just information to file for the future."

She smiled.

"I love it when you are honest with me, Leo."

"I always try to be, Amor."

We stayed on the couch for a while. It wasn't long until we grabbed the lasagna out of the freezer to start for dinner. As we started cooking, I started to tease her a bit by smacking her butt and kissing her neck. She was enjoying the attention. After it was done cooking, we started to put it together before she had the idea of inviting Aubrey over. I called her on my cell phone, and she was over in a flash.

'I hope my attendance at this dinner isn't messing up anything you have planned," she said.

"No, we just didn't want you to spend Christmas alone," my neighbor said.

I smiled as we started to eat. I was enjoying having Christmas with my girls. It made me smile to know none of us alone on a holiday like that.

After we ate, we went in the living room and snuggled under the blanket as before except I was the one surrounded by them. I felt well-loved. We spent much of the night huddled together talking about life until Aubrey let herself out. All in all, it was a pretty quiet holiday.