Bette felt her phone vibrating in her pocket as he did so.  She fumbled for it, and thumbed the glass screen.  Tom.

Bette mouthed to Zak, “I’m taking this call.  Can you please help me look for something for Tina, then?”

Zak nodded at her and smiled, “On it.”

“Did you change your mind?” she asked Tom, after she clicked the call on.

“Not a chance,” Tom responded quickly, and then laughed, “Oh, did you mean about whether I regretted not having you accompany me to the clinic yesterday?”

“Yes,” Bette responded, with a smile.  After a slight pause, she added, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.”

Tom laughed again, “Been so long since I heard that phrase.  That’s such a New York, Seinfeldian line.”

“Just trying to ride over the slightly uncomfortable topic of…”

“Spanking the monkey?” he asked, with a light laugh, acknowledging the awkward topic.  He continued quickly, “Really, Bette.  Friends have been making donations like this for their female friends for decades, right?”

Bette smiled, and bit back a smart retort.  Instead, she said, after a beat, her tone changing, “Seriously, thanks, Tom.”

“Don’t thank me too, soon!” he responded warmly.  “Let’s make sure this’ll work first.”

After pausing further, she asked, “Are you sure we won’t get to see you today, before you leave?”

“No.  Sorry, about that, Bette.  I’m already enroute to JFK, in fact.  They want me there so quickly I couldn’t wait for a military flight scheduled to fly out to Hawaii tomorrow morning.  Have to fly out now.”

“Well …,” Bette started to say.

“Listen, sorry, Bette.  I have to make a couple of calls yet.  Including one to mom,” Tom cut in, hurriedly.  “If you and Tina can, as we talked, why don’t you all come visit me in Hawaii?  Angelica will love it.  Maybe later this summer?  We can talk and spend more time, then.”

“Alright.  But we’ll be in touch before that, for sure, right?” Bette asked, and paused before continuing, “Okay, I won’t keep you.  But, thanks, again, Tom, both for the invite, and the …”

“Bette,” he said solemnly, “As I told you and Tina in the restaurant the other day, it’s my honor and privilege to be a part of this.  I said the same thing to Mike, who’s the only one I’ve told outside of my family, when he called me this morning, to wish me luck with the new assignment in the Navy.  And he was blown away about all this when he heard about it.  He said it’s probably the best decision I’ll ever make.”