***

Bette awoke an hour and a half before the hotel room alarm clock was set to go off. She had also set the alarm on her cell phone for 15 minutes later in case she slept through the first one. She used the bathroom and then picked up her cell phone to disable the second alarm. Bette went back to bed and lay down. She still had almost an hour before she had to get into the shower. She was clearly awake so she just rested and let her mind wander.

She wasn’t sure why all these memories were suddenly taking over her thoughts. This was all ancient history. All was forgiven but her mind wouldn’t let it go. As she stepped into the hotel shower her mind again took her to that place right after Angie’s birth.

When they’d planned for their family it was decided that Tina would be the “stay at home” mom for the first year and Bette would be the provider. A couple of weeks before Angie’s birth Bette was fired from her position as the Director of the California Arts Center and for this reason the paradigm had shifted.

Tina had a job that she loved. She was making a difference as the Director of the WEHO Youth and Family Center but it was never her intent to be the sole support of her family. However once the baby was born Bette was in a position where she could be a full-time mom and although she hadn’t considered it before once she experienced it she loved it. In all their discussions about raising their family the option of Bette being the “stay at home” mom never came up. Tina was the first to voice the concerns when Angie was 3 months old …

Tina’s maternity leave ended 6 weeks after the baby was born. She worked a reduced schedule for two weeks after that then settled into the job part-time. She had decided that she would work part-time until Angie was six months old then she would feel better about putting her in daycare full-time. Bette was doing freelance consultative work but Tina fully expected that she should be looking for a “real” job.