I thought about the whole money tree argument all night, and while I understood Sophia’s concerns, it still didn’t sit well with me. Dub’s words from his note echoed in my head. “Financial freedom to pursue your dreams,” he said. I knew she preferred to live a simple life, but didn’t she have bigger dreams than just being married to me and raising our children? I heard the TV on, so I got up to address the topic again. My goal wasn’t to change her mind—though I hoped she would—but to present my case coherently. I was blinded by the simoleons I didn’t even have yet and failed to put a counteroffer on the table. If she could hear my thoughts, maybe she could see it in a different light.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Have you ever seen this show? It’s so fun!”
“Uhh…no. Can we talk?”
“Of course,” she said, turning off the TV. “What’s on your mind so early?”
“I want to revisit the money tree situation.”
“Okay. Sure.”
“You presented your reasons for limiting its use, but I don’t think I did a good job explaining why I think we shouldn’t, and I’d like you to hear what I think.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “So, what’s up?”
“You said it would be an insult to return the gift, but I think it would be an insult to ignore Dub’s wishes.”
Her eyebrow went up a little bit, but she was still tracking with me, so I went on.
“I understand your hesitation, but we don’t have to let the money change anything about us. We can be ourselves, but with peace of mind and more opportunities. I think maybe your childhood is influencing how you’re seeing this, but so is mine. I’m gonna tell you a different part of my story so you can see where I’m coming from.”
“Sure.”
“Okay…”
I took a deep breath and hoped my story would work some magic.
“You’ve been around my parents enough to know my mom is the one with the money.”
“Yeah. That’s obvious.”
“Right. She spoiled us…she still does, heh. But we weren’t spoiled brats. We had everything we needed, and a few things we wanted, but we didn’t live extravagantly. We went to public school, wore regular clothes, and lived in a middle class neighborhood. For a long time, my mom had an office job. And even now, she still works her candle business. We weren’t rich by any means. We were comfortable. I know this because when we went to my dad’s house, it was not comfortable. He came home tired every day and didn’t have the energy to spend time with us. He never took us anywhere, and there was nothing to do at his house-“
“But that’s not what-“
“Wait. Let me finish. I haven’t made my point yet.”
“Okay. Sorry.”
“My grandparents bought my mom a little house and gave her a chunk of money when she moved out so she could have peace of mind and time to explore the world and figure out what she wanted to do without the pressure of bills and working a job she hated.”
Sophia nodded and smiled, giving me hope that my story already inspired her to change her mind.
“When we moved out, she did the same thing for us…except for the house, of course. It wasn’t a ton of money, but I could have gotten a cheap apartment if I wanted to.”
“Or a tiny house,” she said, gesturing vaguely.
“Ha! Yeah, I could have afforded this. She’s still taking care of us. I keep telling her she doesn’t need to keep doing things for us, but all she says is when I have a child, I’ll understand.”
Sophia nodded.
“Yeah…I remember hearing her say that in Tartosa.”
“Yeah… I may not have a child yet, but I do want to give it every opportunity I had and then some. I don’t want it to worry and feel how we felt at my dad’s house.”
“I get that. I don’t want that either.”
“And what you said about your parents. They were older when they adopted you because it took forever to save the money. If we want to send off our children with a little something, we have to start saving now. We can’t wait until a week before they’re gone to start harvesting the tree. Maybe we don’t take from it every day. Maybe just once or twice a week, or whenever we think about it. But just leaving the tree alone until we need it? That’s not gonna give our children the kind of future I want them to have. I want to continue what my grandparents started. I don’t think we should waste this opportunity.”
She sat there, nodding and staring at me like she didn’t realize I was done. But then she turned away, stared at the floor, and sighed.
“Wow… Your family history is filled with so much love and support.”
I grabbed her hands, hoping to seal the deal and provide a little comfort.
“Yes. And you’re part of that family now. I just want to continue the cycle. That’s all. I don’t want to start wearing labels and buy a big house in Del Sol. I just want to spend time with my family without consequence.”
“I can’t argue with that. I’m still not letting you give up on yoga, though.”
I laughed. “I didn’t expect you would.”
“And to be clear,” I continued, “I’m not gonna give up. I just don’t want to be in a position where I’m still hustling and missing everything going on at home. You’ll be here, so I know everything will be fine, but I want to be here too. I want our children to have all the benefits of living in a two-parent house.”
“That’s beautiful, Luca. I see the whole picture now. I’ve just decided I’m definitely not to going back to work.”
I beamed at her.
“Really?? That’s awesome! I love that for you.”
“So, what do you think you’ll do?”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t want to give up on teaching just yet, but I’ll probably spend more time on SimTube. I have time to figure it out, though. Speaking of the hustle…I gotta go. I love you, Sophia. I love our life, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”
“I love you more!”
