Tina lets out a soft laugh, lifting her coffee. “Oh yeah? Who else do you know in the neighborhood?”

Alice smirks. “Somebody’s nosy this morning.”

Tina rolls her eyes, reaching for a piece of fruit. “Mm-hmm.” She gestures lazily toward the seat Alice just claimed. “You do realize Bette’s going to make you get up when she gets out here.”

Alice waves that off immediately, leaning over to steal a strawberry from Tina’s bowl. “We’ll cross that Porter when we get to it.”

Tina smiles despite herself. “What are you really doing here?”

Alice sits back, suddenly serious, well, her version of serious. “I came by to go over some ground rules for drinks with Tasha tonight.”

Tina pauses mid-bite, then bursts out laughing. “You? Of all people? Laying out ground rules?”

Alice scoffs, narrowing her eyes. “This is serious business, TK. I really like this girl. She does not need to know all my dirty little secrets yet. So just…shush up about’em.”

Tina wipes her mouth with her napkin, still smiling. “Alice, I barely know your dirty little secrets… I could probably tell her a little story about Lisa, the male lesbian…”

Alice narrows her eyes and shakes her head. “Will you people ever…let that go, it was a bazillion years ago…”

Tina laughs and shrugs. “Doesn’t make it any less amusing…” She then pauses and shrugs. “My point is that I don’t know very many of your current dirty little secrets….”

Alice considers that. “…You may have a point,” she admits, then shrugs. “Maybe this visit is more for Porter.” She glances toward the house. “Where is she, anyway?”

“Getting ready for work,” Tina says. Then she pauses, nodding slightly toward Mickey. “And preparing her mind to interact with…you know who.”

Alice winces. “Oof. What’s going on now?”

“They’ve got an interview this morning,” Tina says. “One of the top preschools for Mickey.”

Alice nods slowly. “Ah. So, in other words… Porter’s in a mood.”

Tina smiles knowingly. “Right….” She then pauses and smirks as she eats a blueberry. “Although I admit her mood is slightly better than it was when she first woke up…”