I should also point out as an aside he has been doing a lot of work around the house... fixing my car (saved me a buttload of money), found me a new fridge (the old one was one the fritz) and surprised me when the kids and I returned from camping with my parents (had to get away for awhile) by installing the new fridge and cleaning the house from top to bottom... it was a nice gesture, no matter the motivation behind it. And I made a point of not reading too much into it.
A few weeks ago he took off his wedding ring. A while back I took off my engagement ring (but not my wedding ring) and I squirreled it away, with H's wedding ring, in my jewelry box. When I got back from camping to a new fridge and a clean house, I was surprised to see both rings hanging up with my necklaces... suspended by a necklace THAT HE GAVE ME WHEN WE WERE DATING. My addled brain slipped into "stupid-hopeful" mode but I didn't mention it right away. I was just telling myself not to be silly about it when H apologized for listening to a message on the answering machine when he was cleaning. I asked "Why should you be sorry for that?" He responded "Because it's not my message machine, it's not my place."
I felt air run out of me, like a balloon.. so I brought up the rings. "Why did you hang out my engagement ring and your wedding ring with the necklace you gave me when we were dating?"
"I just thought that you would like that. Just thought that you wouldn't want to lose them."
"Yes", I responded "But you dug them out of the jewerly box and hung them up for me to see... that feels very..." Cautiously now.. "... romantic."
He was instantly panicked and very quiet. "It wasn't meant to be... sorry...."
