I know I have said it before, but every day isn't perfect.
There are days even this far along since both Marcie and I lost our significant others where we have one of those days. I have written before about Marcie having a few of those. The times she gets in "her bubble" are not as frequent as they used to be. They do still catch me by surprise though. I appreciate the fact that now that I live with her, I can tell right away, and we can work through it to an extent.
We don't argue that much either. Part of the reason is because we both have that appreciation of life being short and that a trivial thing isn't worth being angry about. It is a refreshing thing to be involved in, given that both of us had previous marriages. Although we love our departed spouses, it was kind of like we worked out some of our preferences with them prior to us starting our lives together.
When I came home from work that day, Marcie was in the dining area. She had a glass of wine partially filled as she sat there. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first. I started to approach before I heard her whisper.
"Phone."
When we were dating and at different houses, it was easy to tell when the bubble was up. She would usually send a text to warn me. Usually, it consisted of a few emojis. Lately, however, I have been lax in checking my phone when I arrived home. When I saw the emojis as we used to do, I felt my heart sink. Because of my laziness, I couldn't take any action to bring dinner home. I looked at her and saw her face as she looked at me. In that moment, I acted.
The first thing I did was go to the refrigerator to see what I could whip up for dinner. I saw salad fixings as well as some starter ideas in there. I also saw that there wasn't much protein that was defrosted. I knew I had the option of getting something delivered, but there was a part of me that didn't want to. This felt like a chance to prove that the two years of marriage and our courtship was not wasted by a lack of paying attention.
I spied the chicken nuggets in the freezer. It was weird that it was in there until I remembered that there were times her nieces and nephews would visit. I grabbed a box before looking at the instructions prior to turning on the oven. I also set up the rice cooker to start some rice while I started to brainstorm. During this time, I was concentrating. I turned around and saw the hint of a smile on her face before I noticed the wine glass was almost empty.
I poured her a glass of water before dropping in a few ice cubes. After setting it in front of her, I poured a half glass of wine. In my mind, I wanted her to stay hydrated. I also wanted her to be comfortable as well. I then put the nuggets in the oven before I went back to the refrigerator.
It was during this that my phone rang. I looked at the display and saw that it was Aubrey. As I was ready to pick it up, I saw Marcie's face. I chose to let it go to voicemail just to make sure I was able to get dinner done. In my mind, if it was work related, it could wait. It was then I remembered that we had some frozen egg rolls in the freezer compartment. I grabbed the box and looked at the instructions to determine when to put them in the oven after the nuggets.
By the time I was almost finished, I had some rice, chicken nuggets mixed with sweet and sour sauce, and eggrolls. As I plated, there was a knock at the door. I looked at Marcie before I walked towards the door. When I reached it, there was Aubrey and Wes on the other side. I bid them to come in. Without warning, Aubrey went straight to Marcie and held out her arms. Marcie paused for a moment, then she pressed in for a hug. Wes gave me a look and all I could do was shrug.
