Moving ever so slightly to the left, a familiar fair skinned blonde maneuvered herself closer towards the center of the bed. Under the fading light of dusk Bette Porter sat in bed marveling at the beautiful sight that was peacefully sleeping beside her, watching as the fragile body nearby steadily fell and rose accordingly in rhythm with every breath she took. Laying there in silence the brash brunette found it hard to imagine that just three years ago, her existence seemed to be in a separate state of utter chaos. Back in those days her personal life was a mess, there were problems with her career, her friends didn’t seem to understand her and most of all she threw away what she thought of as the most important thing in her lifeand because of all these factors Bette couldn’t help but feel so lost and empty in the process.

Yet everything changed when Katherine came along, the person who Bette referred to as the second love of her life. Blessed with flawless supple skin, an angelic face and soft yet piercing hazel brown eyes, there was no doubt in her mind that Katherine or Katie as she fondly liked to call her, was nothing short of beautiful… In her there was a certain charm and innocence that Bette couldn’t help but be captivated by, oddly enough though it was the same kind of warmth that reminded her of someone she found herself drawn to a long long time ago… Nowadays the lovely Miss Porter was happier, less controlling and calculating than she used to be come to think of it she was more mellow and grounded than she had ever been in her entire life. With this in mind Bette gently traced a finger along the surface of Katie’s cheek as if to thank her for making everything in her life better, noting that even in her sleep, the blonde’s lips always seemed to curl into the same heart-warming smile she always wore.

Up until now Bette never thought that luck would be kind enough to smile upon her twice, or at least not like this. With a deep breath she put the book she was reading by the bed stand, thinking to herself that right until this point she never thought she’d have the capacity to let herself love another human being as much as she did that very moment… well maybe except for the way she loved Tina.

‘Tina Kennard.’ Bette sighed at the mere thought of her name, but then again Tina always had that effect on her. It took a few good moments for Bette to be conscious of what she was doing, and for the longest time she just sat there, frozen… wondering what life would be like if things went differently between them. What if she pushed Tina harder, or forced herself on her as if to make Tina feel like she had no choice? What would’ve happened if she didn’t let fate run its course, if she just kept insisting for things to happen her way?

Bette closed her eyes as if to perish the thoughts that were slowly filling her mind. She didn’t want to keep doing this to herself to look back and think of what might have been was far too painful for her to try and bear. The important thing for her was that she knew that Tina was happy, after that” all the past inadequacies between them didn’t seem to matter No one will ever live up to the way she loved Tina, even the way she felt for Katie was different… Actually for a while Bette was convinced that things would turn out differently between her and Tina, but apparently life had a plan of its own… Knowing this, a smile graced her lips as she pulled the covers over Katie’s shoulders, looking at her slumbering form reminded Bette that she too was happy… and that Katie was the result of her destiny… Carefully she repositioned herself onto the bed brushing Katie’s blonde hair away from her face just in time to hear a soft voice coming from behind her.

“Hi.” came the unmistakable tone Bette had been waiting to hear all day.

“Hey you’re home.” Bette greeted, her tone was hushed but nonetheless she still managed to sound excited.

Standing by the door dressed in a form fitting top and a pair of sleek vintage pants, Tina Kennard gave Bette a simple smile before she slowly made her way towards the bed. The room was quite dim now that the sun had gone and looking at the sight in front of her, she couldn’t help but think how adorable Bette looked beside their daughter.

“Careful, she just went to sleep.” Bette warned as Tina approached them.

“How is she?” Tina inquired, her voice sounding more cautious as she sat herself by the edge of the bed, taking the time to look at Katie before giving Bette a small kiss on the lips.

“She’s doing fine.” Bette assured, “Her fever finally subsided a couple of hours ago.”

Tina placed the back of her hand against her child’s forehead just to make sure. “What time did you get here?”

“Around 3:30, something came up and Kit couldn’t stay long so…”

“But didn’t you have to do something important at work today?”

“Yeah but you know our daughter comes first… plus it was nothing I couldn’t get myself out of.”

Tina turned her attention away from Bette for a second and focused her eyes on the small bedside table, a copy of Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat laid there in plain sight. She smiled inwardly at the thought of Bette reading Katie the story with her best cartoonish voice, thinking how funny it was that at the beginning people never really saw Bette as a motherly figure… perhaps it was because Bette projected a certain air of arrogance and self-absorption about herself that caused people to assume that she wouldn’t be any good with children. Tina on the other hand saw it differently… she stood firm on the belief that Bette would disprove all her critics when the time came, and sure enough there they were three years later” a family and a very happy one at that. Through the years Bette’s personality had softened, and the vulnerable side of her that Tina occasionally got a glimpse of in the past was now becoming noticeably more frequent.

Certainly after all this time a lot of things were different, but in the back of her mind it didn’t surprise Tina in the least that she and Bette would inevitably end up back together. In fact she knew from the moment Bette held their daughter in her arms that nothing would ever be the same again… and with this thought in mind she recalled the day Bette finally got to meet Katie…

THREE YEARS AGO:

“Bette? Where are you?” Alice called out while she peeked her head into hospital’s waiting area. The view from the door’s threshold was vague, and from where she was standing it seemed like no one was in sight.

“I’m in here.” Bette said, switching from a somber expression to a more alert one. She had been sitting in the far left corner of the room, anxiously waiting there for the past two hours… her face, though still impeccably beautiful, was now showing visible signs of strain through her eyes. “How is she?” she asked meekly.

Alice gave Bette a concerned look before settling beside her, as if to console her. “She’s sleeping right now…”

Bette breathed deeply… Seeing her sink deeper into her seat, one might think that she was the personification of calm, but the reality was: She was scared as *****. Earlier Tina’s delivery didn’t go as smoothly as everyone had expected it to be, in fact upon that time Tina encountered some minor complications. Soon after everything was through, the hospital personnel were hauling her back into a private room, and it was then that Tina’s doctor advised all her friends as well as Bette to give her some time to rest. What followed next a series of restless pacing and killing time… all that anybody could do was wait for Tina to wake up. “Can I see her?” Bette asked without even thinking twice.

Alice just nodded her head and smiled, “Sure… I think you should get in there anyway… She needs you.”

Wordlessly Bette stood up and headed towards Tina’s room. As she walked in she was once again greeted with all kinds comforting words from her friends, and gradually they shuffled out one by one, giving Tina and Bette some much needed space. In the middle of the room was Tina, lying in bed with her eyes still closed. Bette approached her quietly… soundlessly dragging a chair from behind her and positioning herself near Tina. It took her a while but soon enough she gathered enough strength to hold Tina’s hands and intertwine their fingers together. Sunlight was filling the room, and inside Bette was contentedly waiting for Tina to stir and sure enough she did.

“Hey.” Tina said in a raspy voice.

“Tina…” Bette was getting a little teary-eyed, she was glad to see Tina was finally awake. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice.” Tina squeezed Bette’s hand as if to reassure her that she was fine.

“How long was I knocked out for?”

“About two hours…” the sun-kissed beauty beamed, this moment was certainly worth the wait. “T I was”” Bette began but something caught the corner of her eye.

Standing by the room’s entrance stood a kindly looking nurse, “Miss Kennard, I thought you’d be awake by now.”

Tina gave Bette a smile before addressing the nurse. “Yes, I just did actually, is doctor Wilson coming in?”

“I think she’s coming by later to check up on you.” the nurse cheerfully replied, “In the meantime would you like to see your baby?”

Tina didn’t even have time to answer because Bette took the liberty to speak on her behalf, “We would like that very much.”

In a matter of minutes the nurse came back carrying a healthy infant into Tina’s room, carefully placing her into Tina’s arms before she left. “Oh god she’s beautiful.” Tina said lovingly, showing Bette the baby.

“She looks like you.” Bette stated watching as the baby’s body wriggled under her blanket. “What should we name her?”

“I don’t know. I had a few names picked out but I kind of like the sound of Katherine… Katherine Elizabeth.”

“Katherine Elizabeth sounds perfect… she can be our little Katie.”

“Well would you like to hold her?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” gingerly Tina handed Bette their child, not fully realizing at the time she was opening the door to a brand new life.
________________________________________________________

Back to the present Bette stood up and walked to the other side of the bed, “I should get Katie into her room. she said scooping Katie’s sleepy body up and making sure not to wake her completely.

“Okay baby I’ll just get dinner ready.”

“Yeah this is great! I can’t believe that tonight we finally get to spend some quality time together.” and with that Bette disappeared out of the room with a very sleepy Katie in her arms.


To be continued……………?