Bette looks at her sister through tears as she shrugs and smiles. ”She had a girl…” she whispers with both happiness and heartbreak in her voice.

”She had a girl….” Kit gently reiterated.

Bette then closes her eyes and drops her head. ”I… I need a minute…”

Kit watches her sister forcefully push the doors open and exit…

***

Table…

Tina watches Bette angrily leave and then drops her head.

Alice takes note of Tina’s reaction but decides not to comment on it. She instead leans over and smiles at Angelica, who’s coloring in the maze she just finished. ”Hey, nice work, kid…you could put a lot of adults to shame with those skills….”

Angelica giggles as she grabs another crayon from the small box.

A few moments later, Michelle steps out of Kit’s office, holding a baby monitor and looking down at her phone as she distractedly walks over to Alice.

”Hey, Al…” She then looks up and scans the room. ”Have you seen Bette?”

Alice smiles sheepishly as she squirms in her chair. ”Hey, Michelle… Uh, I think she stepped outside….”

”She’s acting weird all of a sudden this evening….” Michelle then looks back down at her phone and scoffs. ”Ya know, you stay after hours to tutor one of your students, and it’s still not enough for some parents. I love teaching, but sometimes it really tests my resolve….”

Alice chuckles. ”Hey, I told ya you should have taken that guy up on his offer to star in that commercial last year….”

Tina silently observes the friendly interaction between Alice and the woman who’s obviously with Bette in some capacity. She takes in the woman’s impeccably smooth skin, fresh, flawless pixy cut, and her barely-there waist and long, shapely legs, accentuated by stiletto heels and a form-fitting knee-length pencil skirt.

Michelle finally slides her phone into her purse and looks up for the first time. She glances at Alice and then politely smiles at the somewhat familiar woman sitting at the table. ”Hi….”

Tina returns the polite smile. ”H…. hi….”

Michelle extends her hand to Tina. ”Michelle Adams Porter…. how are you?”

Tina’s polite smile falters. ”P… Porter?”

Michelle smiles and nods. ”Yeah….”

Tina glances at Alice before she turns and hesitantly accepts the woman’s handshake. ”Tina Kennard….”