left the law clinic it took me almost two years to get my office back,” Lily said sharply, a reference to her suspension for an alcohol-related incident over three years ago. The anger in her voice seemed to come from nowhere.
Anna didn’t dare chalk it up to hormones—at least not aloud. “Honey, I wasn’t saying I thought you should. You know you can do whatever you want and I’ll back you a hundred percent.”
“Mom!” Andy called from the family room.
Lily threw the dishtowel onto the counter and muttered as she walked away, “Why don’t you stay home with the baby? At least you can be gone as long as you want and still come back as the boss.”
As Anna absorbed the tirade, she weighed her options. Something told her it would be best not to go chasing after her in order to smooth things over, as that might only prolong the quarrel. Instead she went into the family room to play with Andy, who had already emptied the contents of his toy box onto the floor.
“Is Mama mad at me?” His sad voice almost broke her heart.
“Of course not. She just isn’t feeling well right now, but she’ll be better soon.”
After thirty minutes of playtime, they straightened the room and went upstairs to find the door to the master suite closed. Anna helped Andy through his bath and into bed, but held off on reading his bedtime story.
She found Lily sitting on the bed, still fully dressed, paging through a stack of old magazines. “Andy was worried that you were mad at him. I thought you might want to read him a story just to let him know things are okay, but if you’d rather not I’ll go back in there and do it.”
Wordlessly, Lily tossed her magazine aside and walked out of the room. It wasn’t a gracious response, but at least she was making amends with Andy. Anna returned to the family room and cruised the television offerings before settling on the Lakers game.
Soon after, Lily appeared in the doorway. “I did it again, didn’t I? Flew off the handle over something silly.”
Anna was glad for the admission, since sweeping it under the rug made it more likely to happen again. She wondered how much of it was hormones, and how much was resistance to staying home once the baby was born. “It isn’t silly to want to go back to work. This is your career and you’ve worked hard to get where you are.”
Lily slumped in a heap at the far end of the couch and swung her legs up so they intertwined with Anna’s. “It wasn’t even about that, really. I was just picking a fight because I was in the mood for it. If it hadn’t been work, it probably would have been something else.”
“That’s really unusual for you,” she said teasingly. “Could it be that you’re…I don’t know, pregnant?”
A gentle kick was her answer. “How come you don’t ever lose your temper?”
“I’m perfect. Haven’t you noticed?”
“I have. It’s very intimidating.”
“Come here.” Anna held out her arms and Lily backed into the embrace, resting against her chest. “We’ll manage just fine if you want to go back to work. Hiring a full-time nanny to keep the house and be here when Andy gets home from school is probably a good idea.”
Lily sighed. “Do we really want nannies raising our kids?”
“We’d still raise them. We just have to find someone who understands our values, somebody Andy really likes.”
“I don’t know, Anna. Maybe it isn’t fair to the kids for both of us to work all day. We’ll miss half their lives.”
She couldn’t tell if Lily was truly conflicted or still in her contrary mood, but now was just as good a time as any to air their thoughts. “Your mom worked full-time, and so did mine. We turned out okay.”
“That’s not a fair comparison, though. My mom was a teacher at the same place where I happened to go to school, so I was with her all the time. And you grew up at the car dealership. I can’t very well take the kids down to my office.”
“Okay, so you could go back
Anna didn’t dare chalk it up to hormones—at least not aloud. “Honey, I wasn’t saying I thought you should. You know you can do whatever you want and I’ll back you a hundred percent.”
“Mom!” Andy called from the family room.
Lily threw the dishtowel onto the counter and muttered as she walked away, “Why don’t you stay home with the baby? At least you can be gone as long as you want and still come back as the boss.”
As Anna absorbed the tirade, she weighed her options. Something told her it would be best not to go chasing after her in order to smooth things over, as that might only prolong the quarrel. Instead she went into the family room to play with Andy, who had already emptied the contents of his toy box onto the floor.
“Is Mama mad at me?” His sad voice almost broke her heart.
“Of course not. She just isn’t feeling well right now, but she’ll be better soon.”
After thirty minutes of playtime, they straightened the room and went upstairs to find the door to the master suite closed. Anna helped Andy through his bath and into bed, but held off on reading his bedtime story.
She found Lily sitting on the bed, still fully dressed, paging through a stack of old magazines. “Andy was worried that you were mad at him. I thought you might want to read him a story just to let him know things are okay, but if you’d rather not I’ll go back in there and do it.”
Wordlessly, Lily tossed her magazine aside and walked out of the room. It wasn’t a gracious response, but at least she was making amends with Andy. Anna returned to the family room and cruised the television offerings before settling on the Lakers game.
Soon after, Lily appeared in the doorway. “I did it again, didn’t I? Flew off the handle over something silly.”
Anna was glad for the admission, since sweeping it under the rug made it more likely to happen again. She wondered how much of it was hormones, and how much was resistance to staying home once the baby was born. “It isn’t silly to want to go back to work. This is your career and you’ve worked hard to get where you are.”
Lily slumped in a heap at the far end of the couch and swung her legs up so they intertwined with Anna’s. “It wasn’t even about that, really. I was just picking a fight because I was in the mood for it. If it hadn’t been work, it probably would have been something else.”
“That’s really unusual for you,” she said teasingly. “Could it be that you’re…I don’t know, pregnant?”
A gentle kick was her answer. “How come you don’t ever lose your temper?”
“I’m perfect. Haven’t you noticed?”
“I have. It’s very intimidating.”
“Come here.” Anna held out her arms and Lily backed into the embrace, resting against her chest. “We’ll manage just fine if you want to go back to work. Hiring a full-time nanny to keep the house and be here when Andy gets home from school is probably a good idea.”
Lily sighed. “Do we really want nannies raising our kids?”
“We’d still raise them. We just have to find someone who understands our values, somebody Andy really likes.”
“I don’t know, Anna. Maybe it isn’t fair to the kids for both of us to work all day. We’ll miss half their lives.”
She couldn’t tell if Lily was truly conflicted or still in her contrary mood, but now was just as good a time as any to air their thoughts. “Your mom worked full-time, and so did mine. We turned out okay.”
“That’s not a fair comparison, though. My mom was a teacher at the same place where I happened to go to school, so I was with her all the time. And you grew up at the car dealership. I can’t very well take the kids down to my office.”
“Okay, so you could go back
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