Page 33 of Finding the Pieces

“I love that this is your hobby, babe, but I don’t do puzzles.”

“Well, that’s not true. You help me with them all the time. Plus, you promised you’d keep an open mind, remember?” I say with a smirk.

Her fingers hover over the pieces as I begin to lay them on the coffee table upside down.

I’m surprised she doesn’t comment on them facing the wrong direction, but she’s focused on another issue. Her brow furrows in confusion. “There aren’t enough pieces here for this to make anything…”

“That’s because you’ll only get a handful of pieces at a time,” I say.

“Ooookay?”

“You’re not convinced, that’s fair. Let me show you.” I begin to arrange the two dozen pieces or so on the table, looking for edges. “These pieces are all from the same section of a larger puzzle. You have what you need to finish a small section entirely. When you’re ready, I’ll give you another section to add to this one.”

“I love you, but you’ve lost me.”

“There are special pieces mixed in with the others,” I say excitedly. “I’m calling them Ellie pieces.”

“Elliepieces,” she says with a heavy dose of suspicion and disbelief.

Yup, she thinks I’m losing it. Shit, maybe I have.

“See? You got it. Ellie pieces. When you come across an Ellie piece—and this is where I’m going to need you to keep an open mind—you have to do what that piece says.”

“Dom.” She laughs incredulously, ready to shut me down.

“Please, I need you to trust me.” The shift in my tone from playful to serious has her sarcastic smile fading, and she quietly nods, giving me space to continue. “I’d never do anything that would hurt you. This is all for you…everything I do is for you and Luca. I know things have been…difficultlately. This whole year has been the best year of my life and maybe the hardest too. I can’t fully understand what you’re going through, but it’s killing me to watch you suffer. I don’t like failing you—”

“Dom, you’re not failing me.”

“I am, Ellie.Pleaselet me do this. Try this with me. If worse comes to worse, it’s just a fun game you can tease me about later,” I beg.

She pauses, eyeing me. A small smile breaks her expression and I release my breath in relief. This is going to work.

“It’sworstcomes to worst,” she says with a smirk.

“Huh?”

“It’sworstcomes to worst, notworsecomes to worse.”

“Oh, honey,” I say, much more confidently than I’m feeling. “I’m so sorry to do this in the middle of something so serious, but we have to add that to the list.” I stand and jog to the kitchen, grabbing the notebook of fucked-up sayings and racing back to her as I say, “You are so very wrong.”

Her laughter lights up the room. I toss the notebook on the table. I’m going to finish my pitch, but then Iwillbe getting my points…I think.

“I’mnotwrong, but stop changing the subject for a second.” She swallows and wrings her hands in her lap before looking at me. “Dom, this is very thoughtful, but you are notfailingme. You are my husband and my partner, but this isnotyour responsibility. This is mine. I need…I need more time to work through what happened, that’s all.”

“Honey, I love you,” I reassure her. “But it’s been over a year. I don’t want you to think I’m not proud of you for how far you’ve come. You went through something terrible, and you’re strong as hell for it. You’re an incredible mother and wife, but you’re not okay. You keep telling me time and time again, and I hear you. I want to help. Please let me help you.”

“You went through it too,” she says softly.

Fear, the ghost of terror that filled me that day, pulses in my temple at her reminder, but I shake my head, willing it away. This isn’t about me.

“It’s not the same, El. Please.”

“So…ifI agree to this,” she says slowly. “What kind of activities are on theseElliepieces?”

I smile like an idiot, knowing I’ve got her. My brave, wonderful wife is hiding in there somewhere, hidden by layers of self-doubt, anxiousness, and trauma. I’m going to dig her out with my bare hands if I have to.

“You’ll get the first one soon. I also asked our family and friends to all take a turn, contributing their own pieces to the puzzle,” I say with a smile. “You ready to play?” I ask, my heart pounding with pride as her shy smile lights up my chest with electricity.

---