When We Were Sisters by Emilie Richards

I needed.”
    I tried to sound pleasant, although it was getting harder. “Is that how it works? We get to choose a number? Because some days one is too many.”
    â€œHe’s hostile and rude. Oh, and let’s not forget sarcastic. What’s come over him? Or do you even know?”
    â€œI have some good ideas.”
    â€œHe seems to think he can get away with it.”
    My head was starting to throb again. “I hear an indictment of my parenting skills.”
    He didn’t answer directly. “What are you doing to change things?”
    I swallowed a reminder that the decision to have these children had been mutual. “Truthfully, nothing seems to work. He’s never made transitions well, and becoming an adolescent’s a big one.”
    â€œWe need to set rules and stick to them.”
    â€œ We , Kris?” I sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the jasmine-scented hand cream I use at night.
    â€œWe can figure them out together.”
    â€œAnd I can enforce them.”
    â€œWell, according to your little zinger earlier, you’re not going to be around. What was that about, anyway?”
    â€œDo you really want to get into this now?”
    â€œI have to leave early in the morning, and I won’t be home until it’s time for shivah. So now makes sense.”
    He sounded angry, or rather, controlled, as if he were afraid the anger would erupt in unpleasant ways and he was working to contain it.
    I capped the hand cream and lay down facing his side of the bed, propping myself up so I could see him better. I waited until he changed and got in beside me. All these years of marriage, and I still find my husband attractive. Kris has strong Slavic features that accent wide-set hazel eyes. Despite hours at a desk he usually finds time midday to go to the gym, and he watches his diet.
    I would have preferred a more romantic homecoming, but the only fairy tale in our house tonight was the one Nik was reading down the hall.
    â€œCecilia is coproducing a documentary about foster care with a well-known filmmaker named Mick Bollard. We watched one he did on Ronald Reagan, remember?”
    â€œNo.”
    In truth I had watched it, and Kris had walked in and out of the room with his BlackBerry. I wasn’t surprised he didn’t remember.
    â€œWell, he’s amazing. For this one he wants a celebrity who actually was a foster child to be part of it. Cecilia’s...” I tried to figure out how best to explain this. “She’s come to realize she needs to tell her story. For herself as much as her audience. So they’ll be filming in places where she lived, and she’ll talk about what her life was like there. Of course it’ll all be interspersed with history and facts about child welfare. You know how that works. But she may do a lot of the narration, and her life will be the thread that’s woven all the way through.”
    â€œWhy does that have anything to do with you ?”
    â€œCecilia wants me to be the production stills photographer. They’ll need photos for publicity, and Donny’s already spoken to publishers about a book on the making of the documentary. The right photograph can convey the point of an entire film. It’s an exciting challenge. She showed my work to Mick Bollard, and he’s enthusiastic.”
    â€œThere are a thousand photographers who could do that. A million.”
    I tried not to let him see his words had hurt. “Of course. There may be that many, and, who knows, all of them may even be better than I am. Although if somebody like Mick Bollard thinks my work’s good enough, that’s a pretty good sign I have talent, wouldn’t you say?”
    â€œYou know I didn’t mean it that way.”
    â€œHow did you mean it?”
    â€œThere are other photographers who have the credentials besides you. And a lot of them would probably kill for this opportunity.”
    â€œSo why