Where the hell is he?!

It was the only thought running through your mind as you wandered through your house looking for your husband. He hadn't been upstairs, and as you made your way into the kitchen, he wasn't there either.

Leave it to him to finally be home from Japan for a few weeks, and to be just as scarce as if he was still across the world.

The idea of moving altogether to Japan was being brought up more frequently lately, by him. You understood that the majority of his time was spent there so it would be easier, but the majority of your life was in Florida.

Like tonight, in which you and Tama were meant to be at a birthday dinner for one of your best female friends. You were due to arrive there in twenty minutes. The place was thirty away.

With a deep sigh, you looked out the kitchen window into the backyard, trying to think of where Tama would have wandered off to.

And that's when you spotted him, laid out in the hammock that was struck between two of the big trees that were at the edge of your yard. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a black polo shirt. You appreciated that he wasn't in some wrestling T-shirt, especially because the restaurant wasn't that casual. One of his arms was behind his head, the other splayed across his abdomen. You couldn't tell if his eyes were closed, but you assumed they were, based on his relaxed appearance.

Going from the kitchen to the sliding door at the back of the dining room, you pulled it open, stepped outside, and shut it after yourself. Reaching up, you shielded your eyes from the harsh late sun and again observed Tama. He looked to be so relaxed, and you almost hated that you had to disturb it. But you'd promised to be at this dinner, and you did want to be there for your friend.

With a sigh, you went across the patio and descended the two stairs down into the yard. You padded barefoot through the grass, coming quietly up to where Tama was.

"Dude, get up, we gotta go."

"Come over here and make me," Tama challenged, not even opening his eyes to look towards you.

"Seriously right now? We're gonna be late."

"It won't matter," he argued, finally looking towards you. "As long as we get there around the right time, it'll all be OK."

"Well, whatever. Get up."

"Nah," he replied, closing his eyes again and turning his head so it was facing upward again. You sighed, putting your hands on your hips. Why was he being so difficult right now? With a few steps, you brought yourself right to the edge of the hammock. Placing a hand on his shoulder, you shoved him, causing the mesh item to swing.

"That wasn't nice," he replied.

It took him a moment longer before he finally again opened his eyes and looked towards you. Your hands were still on your hips, attempting to appear serious and intimidating. He was still the picture of peace.

"You needa relax," Tama decided. "You look downright fucking beautiful, but you're too tense."

"I'm tense because we're gonna be late!"

"So what if we are? So what if we roll in a bit after the agreed upon time? Not like we won't still be there for a few hours with everyone," he reasoned. "But right now? This moment of just calm and happiness? This won't be forever."

"OK, Buddha, thanks for the input," you stated, causing a slow smirk to come to his face.

"I love your friends, I do. I'm glad you have them when I'm not here. But I'm gonna take every chance to have every moment alone with you while I can."

And with that, he reached out and grabbed your wrist, pulling you closer. It became clear he was trying to get you to join him in laying down.

"TAMA! Don't pull me! We're both gonna fall over!" you exclaimed, attempting to stand your ground and keep him from spilling out of the hammock, or you into it.

"Then just get in here with me," he demanded, tugging again on your arm. His grip was meaningful, and you had a feeling you wouldn't win this argument. Looking him over, and debating in your mind the situation, you finally with a roll of your eyes gave a small nod.

Tama moved one of his legs out of the hammock and planted his foot on the ground, steadying himself. You very carefully sat down in the netting and swung yourself up beside him. It took a few moments of maneuvering before you were eventually lying beside him. Tama moved his arm so it was behind your head underneath your neck. He moved his head just enough to lay a kiss on your head.

Closing your eyes, you absorbed the feeling of him pressed to your side. There were some muted sounds of distant cards, and the wind blowing through the trees. But other than that, it was quite. Calm. Comforting.

These were the moments you missed the most when Tama was far away. These moments where everything was good, happy, peaceful. These moments where just being near him was everything you wanted and needed.

When you'd met Tama four years ago in a bar, you never could have imagined that this would be your life now. He'd been so…free back then, almost reckless. You'd matched his crazy for sure. But somewhere along the way the two of you had realized you wanted more from life, things you couldn't get running around and living at all hours of the night.

And now here you were. Married almost a year. Homeowners. Talking about moving your lives across the world to where his work was.

You knew sometime soon you'd have to really make a decision on that matter, but for now, you wanted to take every happy second you could get with your husband.

"Can we just lay here forever?" Tama questioned eventually.

"Sadly we cannot."

"Why not?"

"Life doesn't work that way," you replied.

"OK, but what if it did?"

"Atrophy, Tama. It would still lead to atrophy," you answered plainly, looking over towards him in time to see him roll his eyes.

"You and your big words," he muttered, causing you to fling your hand over, gently smacking him on the chest with the back of it. "Oof. Easy there, killer." He reached up to take your hand in his, linking your fingers together, keeping them resting on his chest.

"We have to go," you repeated.

"Let's just lay here a little longer. Five more minutes, OK?"

Sighing, you closed your eyes and didn't respond. Truthfully, you weren't nearly as annoyed as you were earlier. Five more minutes of lying in a hammock with Tama sounded fantastic. This felt good, right, needed.

Your friends would understand your lateness.