Page 80 of Tides and Tidings

We divided and conquered like the well-oiled machine we are. Wren and I tackled decorating the top of the tree—and even rearranged the ornaments on the bottom—while Blythe put out snowmen, Santas, and garland.

“Bee, will you come in here for a minute?” I called out, unsure of where she was in the house.

“Coming!” She yelled back. Blythe stopped in the doorway and took in the tree. “Guys, that looks incredible.”

She walked closer to the tree, taking it all in. “This is the most beautiful Christmas tree I’ve ever seen.”

“You helped, Birdie.” Wren was always one to give credit where credit was due. “We have to put the angel on the top of the tree and I wanted you to see it.”

I hoisted Wren on my shoulders while Blythe handed her the angel. “Be very gentle. That was my grandma’s.”

“You have a grandma?”

Blythe swallowed the lump in her throat. “Not anymore. She gave that to me.”

“That was nice of her!”

“Wasn’t it?” I prodded Wren. “She gifted it to Birdie and now we get to use it in our house.”

“Thank you, Birdie’s Grammy, for giving this to us!” She looked up at the ceiling.

Blythe’s eyes welled. “She would have adored you.”

“Me?” Wren asked from my shoulders.

“You.” Blythe smiled widely at her.

I knew the holiday season was always rough for Blythe, but after her grandma passed away earlier this year, I knew this year would be more challenging. My goal was to help her create new, happy memories to try and replace the old.

Wren started to put the angel on the top of the tree, but Blythe had us pause.

“I want to take a picture to remember this.” She reached for her phone on the coffee table and snapped a photo of Wren on my shoulders, placing the angel atop the tree. She looked at the photo. “I think this is the best picture I’ve ever taken.”

Blythe flipped the phone towards me, and all you saw was an outline of Wren and me because the tree’s light created a silhouette. My heart swelled. I was living my best life.

Blythe

My life has become a literal dream—one I never thought I wanted.

Isn’t that the crazy part of living, though? You think you know what you want and then everything gets flipped upside down. One day, you’re living in Seattle at a dead-end job, not wanting to get married or have kids. The next, you quit your job, pack up your life and move across the country—only to end up opening a bookstore and dating a guy with a little girl you adore. The universe had different plans for me.

As I cleaned up the remaining decorations strewn about the living and dining rooms, Charlie and Wren took care of the dishes. Everything was gathered when a small green box in the middle of the table caught my attention. I had walked by it multiple times and hadn’t even registered it.

“Charlie, do you know what this is?” I held up the small green box with a white ribbon.

He popped his head around the corner from the kitchen, squinting his eyes. “No idea. Is there a tag?”

I rolled the box around, checking for any type of indicator. “Nope.”

“I know what it is!” Wren popped her head around the corner near Charlie.

I cocked a brow at her. “What is it?”

“It’s a gift for you from Grammy and Pop. I picked it out.”

I walked over to Charlie in the kitchen and set the box on the island before us. As we carefully untied the bow and opened the box, the most beautiful ornament appeared—it was a family of three holding hands that each bore a resemblance to each of us. At the bottom, there were three names—Daddy, Wren, and Mommy.

My heart lurched in my throat. They put the wrong name on there. My eyes met Charlie’s in a panic. They must have put Mom on it instead of my name or Birdie.