The Bird and the Worm

He wrinkled his nose as he opened the plastic bag, picking up a box of tampons. “I’m not sure I enjoy the sight of these,” he complained, and I laughed, snatching the box from him. “I mean, I know you need them, but they’re just so…they’re just so…” He searched for the right way to describe them for a moment, and then he settled on a groan of disgust. “Yeah. That’s what I think of them.”

“You don’t have to see them, love,” I reminded him, and he pouted. “What?”

“Well yeah, but I won’t be able to, y’know, do stuff, until you’re…done.” He made a face, and I patted his arm. He seemed more put off than comforted, and he took the box from me, making his way up the stairs to put them away in our bathroom, grumbling something about Mother Nature and something else I couldn’t quite discern.

I sighed. Two and a half months of being his wife, and he still tried his hardest to make it like we were still newlyweds. Not that I was complaining, of course, but as sweet as it was, coming to bed with more than just sleeping every night wasn’t exactly working for our ‘let’s wait until Heather’s done with college’ plan.

Deciding to put off putting away the groceries until later, I made my way up the stairs, slipping into the bedroom and carefully navigating the mess of clothes on the floor that I didn’t exactly remember being there before I’d left for class. “Brian? Love? What’s with the mess? It looks like a tornado came through here.”

He poked his head out of the bathroom. “Oh. Sorry about that. I was going to have it cleaned up before you came home. I was uh…looking for something.”

“Looking for something.” He nodded, continuing to shave his chin. I tiptoed into the bathroom, placing my hand on his arm. “Looking for what?”

He smiled sheepishly. “Nothing, really. I just thought I’d lost something.” I raised an eyebrow, and he sighed, slumping a little, giving in. “Alright, alright. I’ll show you after I’m done shaving.” I smiled, kissing his shoulder, and he winked at me. “Love you.”

“Love you too. I’ll be in the living room, reading.” He smiled, and I made my way down the stairs, settling onto the couch with my favorite Anne Rice novel open in my lap. I had to admit, it was a much easier way to pass the time. It had to have been twenty minutes that passed, if not more, considering the number of pages I’d read, before I heard his footsteps on the stairs, and I closed my book,

He sat next to me on the couch, and then he set a small velvet box on the coffee table just in front of me. I glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow before I picked it up, and I felt him rest his hand on my leg as I opened it.

“Brian? What did you do?”

He squeezed my leg affectionately. “I got us new rings.” He paused for a moment. “And then I couldn’t remember what jeans I’d put them in, because I couldn’t remember which ones I’d worn that day, and-“

“It’s beautiful, Brian. It matches my engagement ring perfectly.” I glanced over at him, almost grinning. “I love it.” He was grinning, too, and the twinkle in his eye was so breathtaking. He took my left hand in his, and with the other, he balanced the ring box on his knee before pulling the ring that the chapel had provided from my finger. It was almost stupid, but I kind of wanted to kiss him as he slid the new one on. “You’re amazing.”

He shrugged. “You deserve it.”

“Here. Give me yours, and I’ll put it on.” His smile remained as he held another velvet box out for me to take, and I smoothly removed the awkward golden band from the chapel from his finger, setting it beside mine. Then, I plucked the new ring from the box, making sure to meet his gaze as I slid it onto his finger. “Better?”

He nodded, touching my face. “Much.”

I placed my hand over his, leaning my head into his palm, and he stroked my skin, watching me.

“I was going to wait until Christmas, but I couldn’t wait another three months. The thought of the look on your face was too hard to ignore.” I kissed his wrist, and he flashed my favorite smile. “I’m glad you like them.”

“Well, I guess that’s what we get for getting married in Vegas,” I teased.

“Do you have to use those tampons yet?” A very slick way of asking me if I’d started my period yet. I had to admit, I was proud of him. “Good. Cuz you’re not leaving this couch for a while.” At first I thought he was going to kiss me, but when his nimble fingers began tickling my sides, my eyes widened before I laid back, wriggling beneath him, making futile attempts to get free. Brian, of course, would allow no such thing, and he kept me where I was, laughing at the way I squirmed around on our couch. “Serves you right for being female,” he laughed, and I was concentrating too hard on not choking on pure laughter to say anything back.

My only response was widened eyes for a moment, and he got the hint.

“Then again, if you were a guy, we couldn’t do half of the things we’ve done in the last couple of months.” He seemed amused by this fact. “I mean, I could always call Jimmy and make out with him again, but…”

“Go right ahead,” I gasped in between bursts of laughter. “Just…take pictures. Lots of- oh Jesus!” We fell onto the floor, and he was still tickling me, shifting to hold me down to the floor. This was perfect. It was a great way to earn my brownie points back from having to inadvertently tell my husband that we couldn’t fool around for five to seven days. “Ow Brian! My ribs hurt- oh jeez- I can’t laugh this hard…”

“Obviously you can, love,” he retorted, and he gradually stopped, bending down to kiss me. I was still giggling as I tried to kiss him back, but I had to break it in order to allow another fit of laughter to break loose. He sighed, rolling his eyes. “Did you have coffee this morning, love?” I covered my mouth with both of my hands, trying to suppress my giggles, nodding. “That probably wasn’t a good idea.”

I shook my head in agreement. Past the giggling, I managed, “Probably not, but it’s not my fault my rock star has to tickle me right when I get home from buying more…y’know.” His eyes widened. “Yeah.”

“Really now.”

“Uh-huh. And if you’d let me up, I could show some of it to you.” With a playful groan, he got off of me, offering his hand, helping me up. I stood up awkwardly, still tempted to giggle some more, but I managed my way safely to the bags I’d left at the door when he’d started complaining about my tampons again. “Well come here, you big hottie.” He chuckled, and he walked over to me. “First up is this.” I held up a faded red nightgown, and he smiled appreciatively.

He didn’t think I noticed.

I took it into account, though, and set the nightgown down before picking up the next item. “And then there’s this.” I held up a matching set of black and red undergarments, and his interest piqued a little more. I noticed that too. “And then.” I set the undergarment set down, and then I picked up the last item. “I can wear this whenever.”

His flawless lips lifted into a boyish grin. “Can you wear it now?” I shook my head. “Why not?”

“Because. Zacky and Gina are coming over, remember?” He groaned. “After they leave, I’ll think about it.” I set my burden down, and then I let him take my hand. “Besides. You did earn brownie points by getting new rings.” The phone rang, and I winked at him before pulling my hand from his. “Hide those. I’ll get the phone.”

He nodded, and he stuffed them back into the plastic bag, mumbling to himself as he trudged up the stairs. I shook my head and smiled as I picked up the phone.

“Heather Byrd?”

“It’s technically Heather Haner,” I wrinkled my nose at the way Brian’s last name sounded with my first name, “but you betcha. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Actually, there is. This is Jace.” I blinked a couple of times, and Jace allowed me a few moments to think. “From the studio.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure. What do you need?”

“Well, you called the studio about a month ago, and you talked to one of my secretaries. The powers that be finally decided they had an open slot, so they wanted me to call you back and ask if you wanted to come in sometime next week. They just want me to hear what kind of voice you have so that they can start talks with a band.” I blinked.

“A…a band?”

“Correct. I told them about the performance you gave at the concert I went to, and they seem interested.” He paused once more to let the information sink in. “Mrs. Haner, they want to give you a shot at a recording contract.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“I don’t think so. They wanted me to suggest sometime next Wednesday or Thursday, but my schedule’s free pretty much all week, so you can come in pretty much whenever you want.” I was pretty sure my heart skipped about four or five beats before attempting to work properly again.