Page 24 of We'll Meet Again

“And you’re upset by this because…?”

“I’m not upset about it!” Billie snapped. “It’s just - he’s - well - no one’s that niceallthe time, there must be something wrong with him!”

“There’s something wrong with everyone,” Stevie said. “But you don’t even know him, why is -” She stopped suddenly. “Liam! Put that down!” She sighed. “Just a moment, Bills.”

While Billie waited, she watched Ethan as he slowed to the glacial pace of the elderly woman, without a trace of irritation on his face. Now that she didn’t have Stevie in her ear, she could catch a bit of their conversation as the wind carried their voices.

“And how’s your husband doing, Mrs. Harvey?” Ethan asked. “Still recovering from that fever?”

“Oh, he’s much better,” the woman replied. “Up and walking about like he was never ill in the first place, if you can believe it.”

“I absolutely can,” he said. “With a sweet wife like you looking after him, he oughta get better fast.”

Mrs. Harvey giggled and patted his arm again. “You’re awfully kind, dearie.”

Billie resisted the urge to make a gagging sound, at the risk of alarming her sister. Who the hell was this guy? A star footballer who just helped old ladies carry their groceries and knew his neighbors by name? She remembered when she brought him to his building that first day, and how he’d addressed the woman behind the front desk by name as well. Even with Billie, he had gotten her name before allowing her to guide him to the neighborhood. She wondered where he learned such a habit.

“You there, Bills?”

Stevie’s voice removed her from her musings, and she put the phone back to her ear. “Yeah, have you got my nephew under control?”

Stevie chuckled. “Yeah, Joel’s got him.”

“And Grace?” Billie asked.

“Still down for her morning nap,” Stevie said.

Even at twenty-eight, Billie struggled to imagine that lifestyle. Especially since she had watched Stevie kick ass in the legal world for nearly a decade while she went through school and university. Sometimes, it was like Stevie had lived two different lifetimes - one as the career woman, and one as the wife and mother. Billie had always admired the former. It was a shock to everyone that the latter happened at all. But Stevie took a case for Joel, and when it was over, he asked her out. The rest was history. The two worlds would merge once Stevie finished her second round of maternity leave, of course, but she wasn’t working nearly as many hours as she was before, and she wasn’t pushing to become a partner either. But how changing nappies and wiping runny noses could be more appealing than asserting oneself in the legal field was beyond Billie’s comprehension.

Truthfully, she resented it a little bit. Stevie had the career of Billie’s dreams. And she’d put it on pause for what? To conform to some patriarchal standard? True, Stevie had chosen to step back once she got married, and it was her call once again when the kids came along. But how could she choose that after all the work she put in to get to where she was? Billie couldn’t understand it. And yet, watching Ethan open the door and wait for Mrs. Harvey to shuffle through, she could somewhat see the appeal of a slow, soft life. Somewhat.

“Are you planning on going back to work soon?” Billie asked.

Stevie didn’t answer right away. In fact, she took so long to reply, Billie checked her phone to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.

“Stevie?”

“I’m here,” Stevie said. “It’s just… I haven’t told anyone this yet, and I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it.”

Billie’s stomach turned. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” She trailed off again. “I don’t think I am going back to work. I think I’m going to leave the firm.”

Billie nearly dropped the phone and her groceries. “What?”

“Well, Joel makes enough to support us, and if I go back, we’ll need to hire a nanny or something, and I’d just as well like to raise my children myself,” Stevie said, and Billie could hear the guilt in her voice.

“Is this something you want or something Joel wants?” Billie asked. She was pretty sure of the answer, since Joel was a gentle person and only ever supported Stevie. But she had to be certain.

“It’s what webothwant,” Stevie insisted. “We’ve discussed it a lot, and we think it’s the best choice for our family.”

Billie was distracted for a moment as she tried to work out how to open the door to her building while keeping the phone pressed to her ear and the groceries balanced in her arms. She swore under her breath and decided to just finish the conversation outside.

“This isn’tThis Morning, Stevie, we can have an honest chat about this,” she said.

Stevie took a deep breath. “Alright. I’m a bit scared. I’m terrified of stepping away, finding out I miss it too much, but it being too late to get back in the game. I’m terrified of finding out I’m actually a shit mum, and was better off practicing law. And I’m terrified of when the kids grow up and I’m left with nothing.”

Billie chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, but she wasn’t sure what to say. She already didn’t totally empathize with the path Stevie was choosing, but if it was truly what her sister wanted, she needed to say something encouraging.

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