Chapter 60

It’s Saturday morning in the Kennard-Porter household and everyone is up and about after breakfast. Bette, Angelica and Giraffe have dropped off the weekly dry cleaning and are continuing onto the neighborhood playground. Tina is finishing the laundry and starting to pack for Walt Disney World. She’s already changed all of the bed linens and cleaned up the kitchen after breakfast. She’s made the Costco list that they’ll use on their errand later today. Tina takes a moment to call Julie; she hasn’t spoken to her since she completely moved to New York last month.

Julie: Hello.

Tina: Hi Julie, its Tina; Angelica Mom.

Julie: Will you stop saying that. I know who Tina is without the qualifier. How have you been? When is the big move?

Tina: Actually things have accelerated and I moved here a few weeks ago. We sold the house to Bette’s sister and her fiancée.

Julie: Wow, that’s awesome. Welcome to New York.

Tina: Thanks. We’ve been on the go since I got here. We spent Memorial Day out on Long Island. Came back to receive our things from LA then went back at the end of the week. Bette has a business trip to Florida later this week and Angelica and I get to tag along.

Julie: Well there’s a nice perk.

Tina: Our court date for Bette’s adoption petition is on Tuesday. Bette has been really nervous. She went to see our attorney again this week just to understand things a bit better.

Julie: Meredith did the same thing with Zoey. Tina they are under so much stress in this process. I can tell Bette loves Angelica just as much as you, yet she has to prove to strangers that she’s worthy of being her mother. You and I could be awful people, yet we’ll always be the baby’s parent. Hang in there with her, she really needs you now.

Tina: She has me 24/7. I’m there for her and she’s there for me too. We are really doing well these days.

Julie: Have you planned a celebration for after the hearing? I’m sure things will go her way.

Tina: I’m actually still working on that.  The one thing I have planned is getting a family portrait taken that day. We have a wonderful studio right down the street from our apartment.