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It was a chilly fall evening, so you made some soup while waiting for Sonny to come home from work. While cooking was more his thing, it made you happy to do something special for your husband. You’d only been married less than a month, but you’d already grown accustomed to your new titles, husband and wife. That magical feeling from your wedding day still hadn’t quite worn off yet. Which you knew was ridiculous since nothing really changed that day. You’d already pledged your love for each other long ago and lived together for many years before tying the knot. But nonetheless, you bore the name Mrs. Carisi with pride.
You turned around when you heard the door click, greeting Sonny with a smile. “Hey, sweetheart, how was your day?” You looked over your shoulder as you continued to stir your pot.
“Eh, you know, the usual.” He sidled up beside you and kissed your temple. You leaned into him, trying to capture some of the warmth radiating off of him. You’d always call him your own personal space heater. A blessing in the colder months, but a curse in summer due to the amount of cuddles required to keep him happy.
“Fighting crime? Saving lives?”
He groaned at your remark. “More like interviewing creeps and filing paperwork.”
Sonny went through his routine of hanging his coat, locking up his gun, and pulling his phone out of his jacket. He snapped his finger as he realized he’d almost forgotten something. He rummaged through his pocket and fished something out before walking over and handing it to you.
You opened your palm to see that he’d given you his wedding band.
You stood there puzzled, staring down at the shiny thing. Confused about why he wasn’t wearing his ring, but even more so why he handed it to you. You racked your brain for some kind of logical explanation but were coming up blank. “Um…what’s this?”
Sonny looked at you incredulously. “What do you mean? It’s my wedding ring.”
You furrowed your eyebrows at his brilliant answer. “I can see that, silly, but why is it in my hand and not on your finger?” You asked as your eyes darted between him and the ring in your hand.
Sonny made a sour face as flashes of his earlier case raced through his mind. Even the delicious aroma of your soup wasn’t strong enough to overpower the memory of the smell. “Was at a gnarly crime scene this morning. I took it off to scrub my hands when we got back to the station. Rubber gloves aren’t 100% effective, ya know.”
Your husband, the germaphobe. He held his left hand in front of you, and you finally understood what he was wanting. “Oh, you can’t be serious. You’re asking me to put your ring back on?” You knew Sonny was a sentimental sap with a heart of mush, but this was next level, even for him.
“You’re my wife. I’m pretty sure that was in our vows.” He still had his arm extended in front of you as he nodded towards his hand trying to encourage you to put it back on.
You covered your face to stifle your involuntary giggles. “I don’t remember ‘putting a grown man’s ring on whenever he takes it off’ as part of the gig.”
“Should’ve read the contract more closely, doll.” He tsked at you as he shook his head. “And I’m afraid—” He grabbed your left hand and pointed at your own ring. “There’s no returns or exchanges on this deal.”
You couldn’t help yourself but smirk at his reasoning. You humor the poor man with an overdramatic huff, returning his wedding ring back to his ring finger. “So I guess I’m gonna be doing this forever now, aren’t I?” Your voice raised sarcastically.
Sonny brought your hand to his face to kiss your matching band. “For all the days of my life.”
All the days of my life.
That was a part of your wedding vows. You internally rolled your eyes at how disgustingly cheesy this all was, but you couldn’t help but stare at this man in wonder. You couldn’t believe how lucky you were to have found someone who loved you so much, so completely, that he wouldn’t feel right if it wasn’t you who was putting on his wedding ring.
The symbol of his love and commitment to you.
Well, you did promise for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. You supposed you could live with putting Sonny’s ring back on for you the rest of your life.
And from then on, you did just that. Every single time, you slipped Sonny’s ring back on his finger each time he took it off, no matter how silly the reason. Like whenever he was mixing ground meat to make fresh meatballs for spaghetti night. Or when you were packing to move to a new apartment and he didn’t want it to get scratched. Even when he was worried about getting electrocuted while trying to fix the light switch.
“What, you wanna be a widow already, doll?”
Then there was the time Sonny had acute appendicitis and needed emergency surgery. He woke up groggily in a hospital room, not completely remembering why he was there. Through his haze, he looked around the room, trying to put the pieces together when he noticed you sitting beside his bed. You gave him a warm, familiar smile, and he immediately felt more at ease.
“Hey, tough guy. How you feeling?”
He mustered up all his strength to groan out, “Tired.”
“I bet you are.” Your 6’ tall ‘superman’ looked so fragile lying in that bed, hooked up to various wires and tubes. A brutal reminder that he wasn’t, in fact, an indestructible superhero. But a mortal human whose life could vanish in an instant. “I have something for you.” You reached behind your neck to unclasp the necklace you were wearing. You fiddled with the chain and pulled off a ring.
His wedding ring.
You’d kept it close to your heart when he was in surgery, ready to give it back to him when he woke up. You took his left hand and returned the ring to its rightful place. He looked up at you with dopey, puppy dog eyes, his heart completely filled.
“What, did you think I’d forget?” You asked with a wink.
“Thank you, doll.” He looked down at his ring and gently squeezed your hand. “For always putting it back on.”
“And always will. All the days of my life.”