Forever Yours: Broken Promises

Chapter 21

Tahleea's POV

My conversation with AJ a few weeks ago lit a fire under me. That night, I sat down and wrote down some promises to myself. I was determined to bounce back. There were so many things that I loved to do that had been buried with the real Tahleea. The first thing on my to do list was to set up a family photo shoot.

Everything had been planned with several outfit changes including the trio's sport jerseys. Hair stylist and makeup artist for me and Tahlese were also booked. I was so excited. I also decided that our parents will join us. This would be the first time we'd have pictures taken with them. Of course I'd already purchased everyone's outfits. We were going all out with this photo shoot.

I also planned a barbecue at my house for our family and friends to come together. All of our children were now teenagers, so I only needed to make sure the pool was open and ready. Dre made sure that part was handled. Even he seemed excited about the pictures and our family gathering. We had so much to celebrate and be thankful for. After the planning, there was only one thing left for me to do, and that was to try something new. I decided to cut my hair. I've always had long hair and either wore it straight or in a curly fro. I found a cute cut that would still allow me to wear my natural hair but didn't require a lot of time to style.

In the chair of my stylist, she was shocked to hear my request. She's been doing my hair since I returned back home. She prepped me for the change. A few hours later, she turned me towards the mirror. At first I sat there speechless. She thought I didn't like it.

"Oh Tee! You don't like it? Please say something."

Her hands are blessed. This cut was just for me. I loved it.

"Girl you did your thing. I love it!"

She let out a deep breath and I laughed at her.

"Relax. It's just hair. If I didn't like it, there's always wigs."

We both started laughing. When I left the beauty salon, I went to the boxing gym close to my office and joined. I've always wanted to add boxing into my exercise regimen and joining the gym close to the office will allow me to go either during my lunch break or right after work. I told myself that I can't depend on anyone to make me happy. Being happy is a choice that I have to make. It's not up to Dre or anyone else's responsibility, it's up to me.

I walked into the house with a pep in my step. Hair done, nails done, toes done and a better view of my life. As I entered the kitchen, Tahlese was walking from downstairs towards the kitchen. She looked at me with surprise written on her face.

"Mom! OMG! I love your hair! That style looks good on you!"

She then called Drew downstairs. He walked into the kitchen about to fuss with her for bothering him, then he looked at me.

"Mama, you cut off your hair?"

I couldn't read him. For a second I kind of regretted cutting my hair if my family didn't like it. But I quickly pushed that out of my head. I did this for me!

"I like it, mama. Now you're going to be walking around looking like our sister instead of our mama."

"Wow Drew, does it make me look that young?"

"You've never looked old, but the new style looks good on you."

Getting the compliments from my twins made me feel good. I thanked them for the boost of confidence. I told them I was going to shower before starting dinner so we all made our way upstairs. As I entered my room, I got a call from Jaxon. He was all excited and congratulated me. I didn't know what he was congratulating me about.

"What's going on Jaxon? Why are you congratulating me?"

"Tee, have you not read your email?"

"No I haven't. I spent the day pampering myself."

"Pull up your email now!"

I told him to hold on as I went to the second floor to go into my home office. I opened my laptop to check my email. As I was scrolling through, I stopped at the email titled Congratulations Fortune 500. I read the email. My eyes widened as I read that TDL Logics will be featured in the Fortune 500 magazine as well as I was being recognized as a female minority business owner with a very diverse staff. I started screaming. This is the best news I've received in a long time. We've received several recognitions, but Fortune 500, that's definitely an amazing accomplishment.

Then there was another email titled Honored Guest. Redstone Arsenal MICOM has requested me to be a keynote speaker at their annual leadership conference. I started screaming again. In the midst of my dark clouds, God was allowing a ray of sun to peek through.

The twins ran into the office, most likely thinking something was wrong. I started jumping up and down and shared the news with them. Drew grabbed me up congratulating me as Tahlese stood to our side jumping up and down. I was so glad to be able to share this piece of happiness with them and I couldn't wait to tell AJ and Dre. After the twins settled down, I got back on the phone with Jaxon and apologized for all of the commotion.

"Baby girl don't apologize for that. I'm so proud of you and I know your family is just as proud. I'm going to let you go so you can celebrate with them. Call me later so we can discuss the conference. I'm one of the speakers as well."

I squealed again. My friend will be part of the panel. He's so smart and has a wealth of knowledge. I learn so much from him. Those interns will be able to learn so much just from him alone. I ran up the stairs carrying the biggest smile on my face and thanking God for His favor that He's showered upon me.

After dinner was prepared, me and the trio sat at the table and enjoyed our dinner together. I told AJ about the recognition and the invite to the Leadership Conference. He too was proud and happy. Drew wanted to go out and celebrate, so we decided to go to our favorite little bakery. As we were getting ourselves together, Tahlese came into my room.

"Mom, have you talked to daddy?"

I told her we'd text a few times earlier that day but I hadn't actually talked to him. She grabbed her cell phone from her pocket to call Dre. As soon as he answered, she was asking him a million questions. I could tell she was getting irritated by whatever answers he was giving her. She soon ended the call by letting her dad know she loves him. I wasn't even interested in whatever he told her, so I didn't ask. I'm so full of joy right now that I didn't want it smothered by his lies. I needed to celebrate with my babies and that's exactly what we did.

When we arrived at the bakery, we each ordered a slice of cake, and sat on the patio enjoying our sweet delight and each other's company. It felt good to sit and talk to my trio. I found out that AJ has a friend that he's not calling a girlfriend right now. Drew told me about his future plans and as far as Tahlese, she's just like I was in high school; focusing on grades and volleyball. I told her it was ok to add a few friends to her busy schedule. She just shook her head and said, no friends, no drama. It's true, but we all need a friend or two to help one another through this journey called life. My friends have definitely talked me off of a few ledges, figuratively speaking, but people need people in some way or another. I hope that she finds her crew. I'm thankful that I found mine.