Marina Comfort and Love Oneshot

Picnic at Dusk Part 1

"Carina, I'm home!" I said neatly tucking away my shoes at the front door. I placed down my work bag on the bench and walked to the kitchen. The layout of our new home was very similar to the old apartment. The space was open but instead of white walls, had more colour. Our kitchen was accented with sage green, it went so well with the fresh vegetables that Carina would hang in her copper pots. I emptied my water bottle into the kitchen sink and waited to hear if Carina was going to respond back. Our house was small, you could hear someone in the front room from our bedroom. That's where I was assuming she was. Maybe napping, maybe she had a long day at work.

I walked down the hallway towards our bedroom. I slowly opened the door to not disturb her if she was sleeping. "Carina," I whispered. I opened the door more and was surprised to find an empty bed. Where was my wife?

I thought to check the last place, somewhere where she couldn't have heard me. I slid open the back patio glass doors and began walking to the garden. There she was on her knees, wrestling with some tomato plants. Her hair was in a thick braid with her curtain bangs hanging in front of her face. I don't know how she could see. She seemed frustrated, letting out a grunt. I didn't want to interrupt her focus, but it's also weird to just stand here and watch her.

I bent down closer to her. "Hi," I said tilting my head to the side as she glared at me. Immediately her facial expression changed. Her face softened as she looked into my eyes and I saw her pursed lip turn into a small smile.

"Ciao bambina," she let out a sigh. She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead and tucked her bangs behind her ears.

"What's wrong my love?" I asked

"Look Maya, look at my poor tomatoes" I scanned them carefully as to pick up what Carina was noticing. The tomatoes were red and plump. Nothing looked wrong with them. I looked at Carina's eyes quickly to try to find her line of sight. She was looking at the leaves. My eyes darted back to them and then I saw it. The leaves had small bites taken out of them. Something was eating our tomato plants!

"Do you know what's eating them?" I asked her while I rubbed my hand up and down her back.

"I don't know what they're called in English Bambina, the uh-, the green worms with the spikes on them," she let out a huff, "I need to find it or else it'll only get worse," she kept looking under the leaves and on the stems of the plants. I sat down beside her and began to search. Out of the blue, I was face to face with a massive green worm.

"Uh Carina," I kept my eyes locked on the beast in front of me.

"Si?" she asked, her eyes also pointed towards her task of finding the worms.

"I think I found one," she quickly turned towards me. Her gardening shovel was in her hands, her fingers gripping it a little too firmly for my liking.

"Where?" she responded.

"Right here," I pointed towards the bug. "You're not going to kill it are you?" I wondered, hesitancy seeping through my voice.

"Bambina, it's a worm," Carina said matter of factly.

"But you said, that if I was a worm you'd still love me. You're going to kill it. What if I was that worm?"

"Bella, you're not the worm. This worm will kill our tomato plants. Something you would never do, right Maya?" she looked accusatory.

"No! No Carina, I would never hurt the tomatoes," I had to make my side on this matter clear.

"Va bene! Then it's decided" She took her shovel and plucked the worm off the stem and onto the ground.

I looked away. Today was not a day that I wanted to see worm guts. Carina got up off her knees, wiping the dirt off her jeans. I followed suit. We both went inside and she poured us a glass of water.

"Thank you Maya," she said

"For what?" I was confused, not sure what I did to deserve a thank you.

"For finding the worm. I was out there for thirty minutes looking for it. I was starting to think that it was all my imagination,"

I nodded my head. I should not be thanked for sentencing a worm to its death. But if it meant Carina was at ease and not outside in the boiling heat, I guess it was worth it. My mind kept going back to if I was the worm. Carina said that she'd still love me if I was a worm, but after today, was that really true?

"Bella, I can hear you think," Carina moved from across the island towards me. "You're not still thinking about the worm thing are you?"

"No," I lied looking down at my hands. Carina saw right through it.

"Maya DeLuca-Bishop, you are not a worm. I love you for who you are. This whole if I was a worm thing makes no sense. I don't get it. It is not physically possible for you to ever become a worm, so don't worry." she tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and kissed my cheek. "Now, I'm going to shower the sweat off me. You can join if you'd like," she walked away.

I couldn't help but check out my wife's body as she walked away from me. Her hips slightly swayed and her hair bounced on her back with her step. It was making me quite hot and bothered, a cold shower would definitely help cool me down.