Fan Fiction
This story has been set to a rating of R. Age verification is required to proceed.
Chapter 4 – Philadelphia – Day 3
Login to add story to favorites
(6 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this post.
Loading ...
Bette: That’s a hard one for me as well. Listen, we need to start the process of obtaining her next year’s housing by Thanksgiving. I haven’t hired a real estate agent yet but as soon as we know what we want, I want to hire one. Preferably before Christmas.
Tina: Yes, that is a good idea. We do not want summer to get here and she have no place to live next year. And we need to think about the automobile situation as well. I think she is going to need an SUV for the winter driving in New Haven. The Fusion is fine for California weather, but it’s a little on the light side for winter snows.
Bette: Humm. Maybe we can give it to Mary. I hate to see a perfectly good vehicle not be used. They can share when Angie is home. We’ll figure it out.
Tina: Well, I’m putting an SUV on the list for Angie for next year. Then there will be furniture and appliances. And there will also need to be linens and towels. And of course, a roommate or two depending on the size of the place.
Bette: I’m just hoping that we can find a place which does not need a whole lot of renovations. And I am in hopes that she decides to go to Yale to law school. If she goes somewhere else, well we start over.
Tina: Yes… you are right. We need to talk to Angie one more time. And I thought we were going to be through most of our rat killing by Thanksgiving.
Bette (laughing): Rat killing? That’s a good one. Unfortunately, rats are rather a prolific species. There is always more after you think you’ve got the situation under control.
Tina: Yes, I guess you’re right. Just comes with having a family, I guess. It’s not that bad…at least I have you to share these duties with. We make a good team, you and me!
Bette: Yes, I think we do too. Why do you think that is?
Tina: We know each other. We know the other’s preferences, the other’s strengths and weaknesses. We know how to share equitably and not to allow our responsibilities slide. We communicate well and often. And most of all we love each other and enjoy each other’s company. Nothing is more satisfying than sharing a joint project with you and seeing it come to completion and knowing we did it together. There may not be any awards or celebrations for what we have done together, but there is something deeply gratifying when I look at it and can say – Bette and I did this. We worked side by side and we did this. And when it turns out better than expectations, well I get happy feet.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Martha, what an amazing trip to Philadelphia. There was so much information regarding Melvin and what they learnt if him and his life. Poor Bette, I think it’s going to be pretty difficult to explain this all to Mary and her sister as it has obviously hit her hearing all this. Tina is such a tower of strength to her, I love how they are so besotted with each other and hold each other up! I love hearing about their plans for Angie and Daniel, they are so attentive to their children and want only the best for them. The way they talk through everything with them making sure they understand .
Finally the love they have for each other, is incredibly. They way they do everything for each other, they just want to be together, all the time. Enjoying being out shopping, visiting museums, enjoying meals or just cuddling up on the sofa. They are, as you said, the other half of each other !
Loving this so much, will continue on….o hope you are also continuing on, with this story….
Take care and Thankyou, for this amazing piece of writing!
Thanks… I have always thought that the relationship between Bette and her father was the most important relationship of her life prior to Tina. I could see that she struggled to love and admire the man who always seemed to believe she never quite measured up to his standards. But in my mind, I always knew that Melvin loved his children with all of his heart. He just didn’t have the ability to show this to them. His thought was to just leave them all his worldly possessions and they would know. But the truth is that until Bette talked to Gabriel Scott and to Harriett Myers, she would never know how much Melvin loved Bette, Kit, Mary, Paris and even Tina.
When Tina points out that if Melvin had told Bette on his death bed that Mary was alive and that she had another sister, Bette would be in shock. But if he told her that he had known for 15 years or more, Bette might have taken a pillow and smothered him on the spot. The truth was there was never going to be an ideal time to tell Bette or Kit about Mary Southerland. And Bette knows this deep in her heart. She also knows that all of this is a part of the past. A past which is done and dusted. And all the what ifs and if onlys are a waste of energy. Melvin and his relationship with Bette, Kit and Tina is what it was and had its impact on their lives. For Bette and for Tina, it explains so much. It explains why Tina is a part of his will. It explains why the final distribution was 18 years after his death. It explains how he found out about Mary Southerland and her daughter Paris. It explains how Paris was educated in England during her teen years and college years. And it gives another dimension to the personality of Melvin William Porter.
Bette is going to explain most of this to Kit, Paris and Mary in a future chapter. And in their own way, they will reconcile the Melvin they knew to the Melvin to the man they found in Philadelphia.
This for me is the most emotional chapter I have ever written… deep in my soul, I feel the loss Bette feels for the relationship she never had with her father and that is more painful than the fact that she had all those years of loss in not knowing her mother and sister. The reason is because Mary and Paris are still around and there is opportunity to have a good relationship with them. But Melvin is gone and there is no opportunity to mend that relationship with him. Such as life. But as Bette Porter and Tina Kennard always do – they learn from the mistakes including the mistakes of others around them. They have learned a lot from Melvin and much of it is what not to do in life.
Thank you for reading this and commenting…. it is rather gratifying to see that someone sees this story as a gratifying piece of entertainment. There are several more chapters to this Volume and it will continue.