Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Plus, being able to work with flowers the way I want to is so much more enjoyable. After Brick proposed to me, I never went back to work at Greener Thumb. I called Abigail and quit in the most polite voice I could muster. I never enjoyed working there, but I also didn’t have any desire to yell at her. Brick had brought so much happiness into my life, and I was riding that wave. Any animosity I had toward my former boss wasn't really a factor anymore.
Surprisingly, Abigail wasn't terrible about the whole thing. I mean, she still had her standard Abigail-ness, but she was trying. It was the nicest end to our working relationship possible. I still sometimes go to Greener Thumb to purchase flowers. Soon after I quit, Abigail hired another assistant. She looks a lot less ragged than I did on the job, so I'm guessing Abigail has become a lot nicer.
I hold up a white camellia. I’ve been toying with the idea of including them in the display. I laugh, thinking back to all those years ago when I wanted to be on that reality show. It was going to be my ticket to the big life. What a crazy idea! But it’s the reason Brick and I found one another, so I’m glad I made those plans. And I’m grateful that sometimes things don't go as planned. In fact, not a single thing went as I’d planned, but I wouldn’t change any of it. Not for all of the money in the world.
I haven’t completely given up on my dream to have my own flower shop, though. In fact, I've been thinking a lot more critically about that dream. So much has changed in my life; it makes sense that my dreams have followed suit. But I've put all of that on hold so that I can enjoy my new family life. Spending time with my baby and my husband is more than enough for me right now.
And I love being a stay-at-home mom more than anything. Spending every day with Harlow – watching her grow and experience the world – has made me happier than I could have ever imagined being. Everything seen through the eyes of a baby is brand-new. It's like I'm rediscovering everything with Harlow. Which is part of the reason why I am fussing so much over these flowers. I want my child to grow up feeling as much love as she possibly can. I want her to only absorb positive energy. I know that’s not entirely possible, but I can do my best for her.
My daughter is the light in my life. And Brick is such a good father. We were both so nervous before she was born. Having your first kid will give anyone a scare. We had a million questions and no way to know if we were getting the right answers. I really thought parenting was going to be one long panic attack. At one point, we had three different cribs in our house. Brick's rationale was that the baby might reject the bed. I was also doing some silly routines myself, so there wasn't a whole lot of room for me to judge. But once she came into the world, we all bonded immediately. Everything else just kind of fell into place after that.
The easiest thing in the world was loving her.
“Tammy?” I hear Brick call for me as the door opens.
“I’m in the living room.” Brick comes to where I’m sitting and places a gentle kiss on the top of my head.
“What are you doing, baby?”
“I’m trying to figure out how the display will look for Harlow’s birthday.”
“Weren’t you doing that yesterday?”
“Maybe,” I sigh. I've been working on this for a bit longer than two days, unbeknownst to Brick. I've put way too much energy into this project, but I can't help it. “I just want everything to be perfect. It’s the first time we’re having people over in our new house.”
When Brick found out we were expecting, he thought a new house might be better. We raised Harlow in his apartment for a while. Since it was close to his work, he could be home at a moment’s notice. But as she got older, we thought it would be nice to have more room and a yard. His other house felt much too big and not very child-friendly, so together, we found something that would work for our family.
“My parents are also coming here for the first time,” I continue. “It’s like the beginning of a new chapter.”
After the huge argument with my mom and dad, Brick and I didn’t talk to them for months. Brick continued to pay my dad as if he were still on staff. Since there was no formal resignation, Brick Productions treated my father’s absence as a prolonged vacation. Eventually, the news that I was pregnant reached my parents, and we were all able to come together and have an adult conversation about what happened. I apologized for lying, but not before my parents said they were sorry for the way they had reacted. We all realized our relationship was changing and that it wasn't getting worse, just different. Which makes sense because I'm an adult now with my own child. It was such a healing experience, and we are all better for it.