Shay and Jordan were to go to other dinners and had left while Tina and Bette were talking to Jeanette and Paris. Helena had her driver come pick up the Peggy Peabody painting while she and Dylan drove back to Malibu. Helena was not particularly good at expressing gratitude in words. But the second hug of the day convinced Tina that she was more than grateful for the painting.

Helena:  Tina, you know I think that you have topped anything I could possibly do for you with this gift. Thank you.  Bette? Thank you for that lovely dinner. One of the best I’ve ever had. Tell Spencer and Juanita that we won’t need them before tomorrow morning. And we will see you at the wedding.

Bette: Goodbye Helena. Thank you for coming.

Dylan:  You have a nice home here Bette. You and Tina did well. Fantastic dinner and see you Saturday.

Bette hugged Helena and Tina hugged Dylan and they were off.

Shane came up to give her goodbyes.

Shane: So, we are now past Thanksgiving. How are you two horndogs doing these days?

Tina: Shane?

Bette: This is Shane honey. We talked to her about this during the summer, after we visited the doctor and again in the fall. She’s just getting an update on the information she already has.

Tina:  Yeah, yeah, I know. The truth is that we have slowed a little to more normalized frequency. But our orgasms are still almost life threatening.

Bobbie: Life threatening?

Bette: Yes, in that they deplete our air supply and energy that it takes some time to even talk and a couple of hours before we can move very much. So, all night sessions are more risk than benefit. So, when our bodies say enough, we bow to their wishes. We believe we will live longer.

Tina: Yeah, I believe that summarizes it. I would say that in a way, I enjoy our sex life more now than when I was younger. Its more meaningful. It’s more loving, more sincere and better for our relationship.

Shane: Well, that sounds promising. You are saying menopause is not that bad.

Tina: No, I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying that changes in your body occur which must be dealt with and the only way to do that is communication, cooperation and understanding. You do not have the same body you had 10 years ago and in 10 years you won’t have the same body you have now. So as these changes occur, you have to make adaptations. And these adaptations will either bring you closer together or it will drive you apart. We have chosen to face them as they happen together. And that helps the other with things we cannot change.  Brings us closer to each other. Makes us stronger as a couple. Menopause is one of those things which is a whole lot easier if you have a partner who is facing those changes with you, rather than keeping secrets from you. For some things there may not be a given resolution, but knowing that your partner understands what is going on will help. Otherwise, you are facing the problem alone and that is not why you got into the relationship in the first place.