My sister propped her phone against my dresser and started a video call.
A woman’s voice answered.
“Hey, Steph.”
Then she opened my jewelry box.
Stephanie smiled.
“Hey, Terry.”
I didn’t know a Terry.
But what she said next made me stop breathing.
“Did Bev finally go down?”
“Hey, Terry.”
“Eventually,” Stephanie said. “She always fights sleep on Fridays. She thinks it’s our special night, so all the rules go out the window.”
Terry laughed softly.
“She’s ten. You’re lucky your daughter still lets you tuck her in.”
Stephanie didn’t correct her.
She touched my necklace.
“She always fights sleep on Fridays.”
“I know. She’s getting too old for me.”
I grabbed my keys.
Then Terry asked, “Have you decided if you’re going to try again?”
Stephanie sat on my bed.
“I don’t know.”
“She’s getting too old for me.”
“You’re already a good mom, Steph.”
Stephanie looked toward the door.
“I just wanted Bev to have a sibling.”
I told my supervisor I had a family emergency and ran for my car.
***
Stephanie had been Bev’s favorite person almost from the day she was born.
“You’re already a good mom, Steph.”
My sister had always wanted children. She went through years of treatments and two failed procedures before finally saying she couldn’t do it anymore.
