It was one of those afternoons where a sense of mischief and trouble were in the air and unfortunately for Bette and Tina, troubles name was Liz Kentor. Bette had decided to work from home today since Tina was feeling slightly under the weather and after picking up Liz from day care, Bette had Liz settled in the living room with videos to watch and lots of things to play with to keep her entertained. Tina was taking a nap and with the house in a calm state Bette felt it would be okay to get some work done so she spread everything out on the kitchen table, making sure to face the living room so she could keep a good eye on Liz.

Honey you okay in there?

Yes mommy

Liz was happily watching her current favorite Disney video and playing with some toys so Bette said a silent prayer and dove in to her work. She knew that Liz had been up to lots of crazy mischief lately but she made sure to take every precaution to keep Liz as detained as possible. She had brought Bobs cage out to the living room so that Liz could play with him if she wanted and she made sure to keep all pens and any sharp objects well hidden from Liz. She put Lizs markers up on a high shelf in Lizs room and she brought out every toy she could think of that Liz had shown interest in anytime within the past month. Bette had been working for about half an hour when Tina woke up and came trudging into the kitchen looking for something to eat.

Babe do we have any more chicken soup?

UmI dont knowhere sit down and let me check

Bette got up to check the pantry while Tina sat down at the kitchen table and relaxed. Bette couldnt find any so she offered to go get some if Tina watched Liz for a little while. Tina agreed, she was feeling sick but she wasnt seriously ill and she thought Bette fussing over her was kind of cute, so with a very short checklist Bette grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Twenty minutes later she returned with soup, jello and ice cream all for Tina and after feeding her and sending her back to bed Bette settled in again to get some work done.

Liz had been playing very nicely for a few hours and she was getting BORED. She got up and wandered into the kitchen to see what her mommy was up to. She went over and crawled onto Bettes lap almost knocking over Bettes cup of tea she had next to a stack of paperwork.

Hi Lizwhats wrong?

Nothing mommycan I work with you?

Oh honey not today okay? Mommy has a lot of work to dodo you think you can play nicely for a little while longer? Then maybe I think we can find some ice cream or something yummy to eat.

Liz beamed in agreement and she went back to Bob and her videos without hesitation. Bette breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Liz entertain herself and she hoped she could keep this up for at least a few more hours. She could hear Liz talking to Bob and she thought it was cute that Liz was able to play like that and she had to admitLiz had one ***** of an imagination.

RING RING RING

Bette Porter.

Hi Bette its James

What?

UmFranklin just asked about some of the print outs you brought home and he wants to conference with you for a little bit about those

Bette sighed loudly and gritted her teeth. She told James to only call her under emergency and somehow she imagined this was not a real emergency. Nonetheless she needed to take this call so she got up and went outside to finish the call.

With mommy outside and her other mommy fast asleep Liz had the house all to herself and she was suddenly very interested in snooping around. She wandered into the kitchen and saw Tinas purse sitting on one of the chairs. She crept up to it and was just about to go through its contents when Bette came back inside.

LIZ?

Liz snapped her head around with her most innocent smile on her face. Bette just grinned at her like she caught her doing something sneaky and she laughed to herself about how much of a character Liz was.

BETTE?

Tina was calling for Bette who just shook her finger at Liz and gave her a youd better not look as she went to check on her wife. Liz noticed that Bette had set her cell phone down on the coffee table and so she went over and opened it like she saw Bette do. She wanted to play pretend so she pushed a few buttons, not really knowing what she was doing, and to her surprise she heard a ringing sound.

RING RING

Hi Porter

Whos this?

Huh? Bette what are you talking about? Its Aliceyou called me for Christs sake.

HI AUNTY!!!

Liz got all excited at the prospect of talking to her aunty and Alice was cracking up on the other side of the phone. She had a good feeling Bette didnt know about her daughters dialing abilities. She was going to just play along but the adult in her somehow kicked in and she thought better of it. After all she didnt want either her or Liz to suffer the wrath of Bette Porter.

Hi Lizhey does your mommy know youre on the phone?

No.

Okay well I think maybe youd better hang up. She isnt going to like it

Okay auntybye.

Liz hung up the phone and set it down just as Bette and Tina came out of the bedroom laughing about something. They headed into the kitchen to get some Jello and Liz just watched them with a guilty expression on her face. She noticed that neither of them had noticed her look of guilt so she smiled and grabbed the cell once again this time shoving it into her pants pocket. Tina wandered into the living room to see what her daughter was up to while Bette went back to work and tried to get through her mound of paperwork that she had brought home with her. Tina smiled at Liz.

Hi babywhatcha doin?

Playing mommywanna play?

Sure.

Tina sat down with Liz and she played with her for a little while until it was time to make dinner. Tina told Liz to behave as she went into the kitchen to get dinner started. Liz had to go so she went up and tugged on Bettes arm.

Mommy I have to go potty

Do you want help?

No I can do it

Okayyou sure?

Liz just nodded yes as she went into the bathroom. She pulled the little step stool over to the toilet and climbed up on to the seat. She pulled her pants down and at that exact moment the cell phone slipped out of her pants and right into the toilet. uh oh, thought Liz as she stared at it. She knew she was going to be in big trouble so she decided to cover it up by fishing it out and drying it off. She forgot about having to go as she went back out to the living room. She put the cell phone down on the table and right as she was setting it down Bette looked up.

Liz leave that alone

Liz looked at Bette with wide eyes. How did she know? thought Liz as she picked the phone back up and went over to Bette who had her hand extended waiting for the phone. She set the wet phone in Bettes hand and Bette looked at her strangely.

Liz why is my phone wet?

Umm

LIZ..

I dropped it mommy

Where?

The potty

WHAT?!?!

Bettes voice startled Liz and she jumped a little before starting to cry softly. Tina turned around when she heard Bette raise her voice and from the looks of things Liz had done something wrongagain. Tina went over and put an arm around Liz.

What happened?

She dropped my phone in the toiletthats what happened.

Bette its okaywe can get you a new phone tomorrow

Tina hugged Liz who looked so sad while Bette just glared at her, obviously very upset. Bette took a few VERY deep breaths to calm down before addressing her daughter again. This time her voice was strained with anger but controlled nonetheless.

Lizyou cannot play with mommies cell phone okay? Its very important. Mommy needs this for work. Do you understand?

Liz nodded yes and Bette felt her heart tug just a little. Still she was pissed so she sent Liz to her room and told Tina just to bring her dinner in there. She also told her that she wouldnt get to play with Bob for a few days as punishment and Liz looked absolutely devastated. Tina took Liz to her room and after explaining how upset Bette was and how that was wrong she quietly closed the door behind her and went back into the kitchen to find Bette back at work. Tina sat down next to her and put and arm on Bettes.

Babeare you okay?

Im fineits just a phone Tbut dammitLiz should have known better

How Bette? Shes youngshe doesnt understand these things

Well I hope she understands now

Tina just sighed as she stood up to finish dinner. Bette was obviously in one of her moods so she was in no mood to fight back knowing she was fighting a losing battle. After a very quiet dinner Tina showered and headed to bed while Bette finished working. The next morning Bette woke up early and she felt bad about getting so mad at Liz, but she just needed Liz to understand that some things were important. She went out and got breakfast for Tina and Liz before heading into work and she left a note for both girls on the table.

T,

Sometimes I forget how its the simple things that matter. ***** the phoneits no big deal.

Love,
B

And the more important note

Liz,

Honey, I am sorry for yelling. I love you more than anything else, especially a stupid phone. Dont ever forget that.

Love,
Mommy

Tina smiled at Bettes gesture and she laughed at what Bette had bought besides breakfast. Next to Lizs note was a something she had found in the grocery store while getting breakfastsomething that became Lizs favorite new toy. A plastic cell phone.