“Oh my God T…this is heavenly.” Bette’s eyes closed as a spoon full of fresh blackberry cobbler, with vanilla ice cream on top, disappeared into her mouth. The three women had decided to share a dessert while watching the sun slowly set over Puget Sound. They were sitting on the outside terrace of Anthony’s at Shilshole, glorying in the atmosphere, the company, and the delicious salmon meal all three had consumed.

Tina saw the look of ecstasy on Bette’s face and started laughing…and then immediately groaned. “Ugh..I don’t think I can move. I couldn’t have eaten any faster if it had been a race.” She looked over at Milaine and pleaded with her. “Promise me that if I can’t get out of this chair on my own, that you will help me without it being too obvious.”

Milaine giggled, looking back and forth between Tina and MaBe, thoroughly enjoying herself. At first, she had been watching Tina closely, paying attention to how she interacted with MaBe, but it had only taken about fifteen minutes for her to realized that she could relax…because Tina was as genuine as they came. Milaine knew how to read people. You have to learn how to do that real fast when you are being moved from home to home…never knowing who, or what to expect. And she knew that this woman, who was sitting across from her, groaning and rubbing her stomach, was the real thing. There was nothing sinister about her…not a negative bone in her body. And with every word she spoke, with every hand gesture she made, Milaine could see the undying love she felt for her Mother. That was all that Milaine needed to see from Tina, to approve of this relationship. She already knew the love that MaBe felt for her, she just needed to see for herself how Tina treated her Mother.

Milaine let out a soft sigh, as she smiled over at her Mother, watching her as she captured another spoonful of her treasured cobbler. She knew without a doubt that she would do anything in her power to protect her Mother and her happiness. Milaine felt a fierce loyalty towards Bette Porter. Her and Mama Nica had literally saved her life…and then provided all the love and safety she needed to not only survive, but to flourish in her life. Milaine knew that she had been given the opportunity to live a full and happy life…and one of the major reasons for her good fortune was now also getting another chance at love…and Milaine would help her in any way she could to obtain that. A part of her wished that Nica was still here, because she knew how happy her Mothers had been with each other…but, she was gone…and Milaine didn’t want to see MaBe spend the rest of her life alone. She had too much love to give for that, and it looked to her, like Tina Kennard was the perfect person to receive all that love.

“Don’t worry Tina, I’ll help you up. Just remember though, to button up your pants before you stand!” Milaine giggled again, enjoying being able to tease Tina after only a day of being around her.

Tina pretended to reach out and swat Milaine. “Hey, it’s not that bad! All buttons are buttoned and accounted for! Besides…” Tina pointed to Bette with her head. “Maybe we should be watching your Mother’s buttons, instead of mine!”

Bette was just finishing the last of the cobbler, since her two companions were showing no more interest in it. “Hey…leave me in peace! I’m minding my own business over here…savoring this dessert, that I can only describe as…absolutely orgasmic!”

Tina raised and then wiggled her eyebrows at Bette. “Orgasmic…hmm really now.” She started to giggle, as Bette laughed, trying not to choke on the last bite of her dessert. Milaine held up her hands in mock horror. “Eeewww….hey…no sexual innuendoes in front of the kids!” That sent all three into a fit of giggles, causing the people around them to look over at the noise. Of course, they all had to smile…I mean, how could you get upset when the three women were clearly so happy in each others company?

After they had all regained their composure, Tina decided to share her idea for the next days activities. “Hey you two…I have an idea for tomorrow.”

“Really T, what is it?” Bette smiled, loving the fact that Tina wanted to spend this time with Milaine. It was clear that the two were becoming fast friends, and she sent a little prayer of thanks up to the Universe for that.

“Well, I know you want to go to a lot of different galleries, and I think we should take Milaine to the Experience Music Project, but we…or you, can do that later. So, what if tomorrow we spend the day at the lake, swimming, laying in the sun, going for a rowboat ride…stuff like that? I thought it might be nice to do something totally casual, something that maybe Milaine doesn’t get a chance to do very often in New York.”

Milaine’s eyes lit up. “Really Tina?” She looked over at Bette, and very quietly said, “I’ve never been in a rowboat MaBe. Could we? What’s it like swimming in a lake? Is there a dock and everything?”

Bette couldn’t control the love she felt was going to burst out of her for these two women. She wanted to take Tina in her arms, just for suggesting this to them in the first place, and she wanted to wrap Milaine in her arms and tell her that she would give her the world, if it was in her power to do so. She reached over and took hold of Milaine’s hand. “We can absolutely go to the lake…and I’ll let you in on a little secret…I have never been in a rowboat either.”

Tina looked at them both with shock. “Neither one of you have ever been in a rowboat?!” The two women shook their heads. “Good God Bette! That’s got to be like un-American, or something! Well, that settles it. Tomorrow we will go up to our cabin on Lake Shoecraft, and swallow some lake water, and drag ourselves around in a little wooden boat!”

tbc