Tina watched as Bette served the food and smiled.  ‘I could get used to this’ she thought.

“What’s with the silly grin” Bette asked as she sat down beside Tina at the table.

“Oh, nothing… just happy to see you and see dinner…this looks really good Bette. I really appreciate you cooking tonight” Tina said as she started to eat.

Bette had made shrimp scampi over noodles, a salad, and garlic bread. She had made a mess of the kitchen but at least there were no calls to the fire department.  They felt a comfort and warmth between them that had been missing for some time and the conversation came freely and they had a wonderful meal together.

“I’ll load the dishwasher. Why don’t you get us some wine so we can relax in the living room and talk” Tina stated as she got up with their plates and headed to the kitchen.

A little while later they were seated in the living room facing each other, Bette on the couch and Tina on the love seat. Taking a deep breath Tina started the conversation that had been started between them, at least physically, a few days ago.

“I’m just going to say it”  Tina started speaking softly “but you’ll have to just let me finish before you say anything. Ok?

Bette nodded. ‘Here we go’ she thought.

“Bette…” Tina paused then continued “I fucked up and then I fucked off. I feel sometimes that I don’t deserve another chance…  but you and I have something… something so special together that it cannot be ignored… I want you Bette… I know that when we were at our worst that you did not feel that I wanted you but I do truly want you and I hope that you can feel it… I want you as my lover, my friend, my equal… without you my life is not complete.  There is no one I would rather grow old with and raise a family with than you” Tina looked deep into Bette’s eyes finding love and she felt the strength to continue. 

“When we first attempted to reconcile I hadn’t in my heart forgiven you for the affair… we moved to fast, got too comfortable in the past, and lost each other in the shuffle.  I lost you. I lost myself. I was just plain lost… my hormones were all over the place. Instead of reaching out to you I reached for a nice, safe, boring man… I was so wrong to do that to you, to him, to Angie. Looking back I know I did that to punish you Bette……  Can you ever forgive me for giving up on us?”  Tina finished on the verge of tears waiting for Bette to respond.