Free Secrets and Lies by Joanne Clancy

another. It's not easy. Sometimes I wish he was here more often so I could just talk to him face to face or have him deal with the girls for a change. Of course, he spoils them when he's home and I don't think he's ever disciplined them; he leaves all that up to me and I'm left looking like the bad guy. I don't know how I'd cope without your help. I'm so glad you live next door, but I know I depend on you too much sometimes and you must be sick of listening to me rattling on.”
    “What else are sisters for? I know it must be tiresome for you at times,” Maura agreed with her sister. “You're also very lucky to have plenty of money and be able to stay at home full-time to raise your daughters. Most of the women who work with me would give anyth ing to be in your situation. They hate leaving their babies at the creche from early morning until late in the evening. I couldn't leave my child with strangers for so long. I'd feel like they were bonding more with the child-minders than with me. It must be very confusing for the children, but most women don't have a choice, both incomes are needed.”
    Kerry stared ston y-faced into her coffee. She was sick and tired of everyone telling her that she was lucky and that Conor was so wonderful, just once she'd like someone to see that her life wasn't quite as perfect as it seemed.“I came here for some tea and sympathy, sis, not a lecture,” she finally spoke.
    Maura looked startled. “Oh, I'm sorry. I certainly didn't mean to offend you. Sometimes I let my mouth run away with me. Tell me, what's really wrong?” Maura smiled apologetically at her sister.
    “It's Saoirse.”
    “Is she ok?” Maura asked, sounding panic-stricken. Maura had not been blessed with children of her own so she absolutely adored Saoirse and Emer, spoiling them completely rotten. She loved both her nieces dearly but had a special soft spot in her heart for Saoirse. Kerry had suffered terribly from post natal depression for months after Saoirse's birth. She couldn't bear to even cuddle her new baby and spent days crying in bed. It was Maura who had mothered the tiny girl until Kerry had begun to recover and so it was that even the thought of anything being wrong with her beloved niece struck fear into Maura's heart.
    “It's ok, calm down,” Kerry soothed her sister.
    “Tell me what's wrong,” Maura insisted.
    “Remember “the terrible twos”?
    “How could I ever forget?” Maura grinned ruefully as she recalled the almighty temper tantrums that both Saoirse and Emer had experienced when they were toddlers.
    “Well, I think Saoirse is experiencing “the terrible teens.”
    “Oh dear,” Maura laughed involuntarily, relieved that it wasn't anything more serious. “It's been rather sudden. She slept over here a few weekends ago and was her usual sunny self then. What awfulness has she been inflicting on you? Surely she can't have changed so dramatically in such a short space of time?”
    “It has been sudden,” Kerry agreed, running her hands through her hair, something she always did whenever she was feeling particularly stressed. “She went to bed on the eve of her thirteenth birthday as my wonderful, loving baby daughter and woke up the next morning full of attitude and cheek.”
    Maura opened her eyes wide in disbelief. “So what's she said or done?”
    “It's not what she's said exactly, it's more about what she's not saying. I'm lucky if I get a grunt out of her these days and her attitude is appalling. She treats me like I don 't know anything and that I'm the most uncool, dumbest person on the planet.”
    “She'll grow out of it, I'm sure.”
    “There was a new development this morning,” Kerry continued slowly. “She dyed her beautiful blonde hair the most unattractive shade of neon pink.”
    “She didn't!” Maura exclaimed, clutching her mouth in an effort to stifle a giggle.
    “What's so funny?” Kerry asked, glaring indignantly at her sister.
    “I think it serves you