Bette had finally let Tina see her cry that night.  Tina just held her close, then led her to the bedroom that they had shared for seven years.  She had sat Bette down on the bed and helped her undress.  Tina leaned in and kissed her in a way that told Bette that she was there for anything she needed, whatever that might be.  Bette just wanted to sleep, and wanted Tina to stay with her.  Tina obliged, snuggling up against Bette on Bette’s side of the bed.  Both of them slept better than they had since Tina had walked away from their life together. 

The next morning, Melvin was back to his stubborn, grumbly self.  Except that when Tina crossed the room to leave for work, Melvin looked up at her and said “Hello, Tina.”  Both Bette and Kit had reeled at his words, but Tina just smiled.  Bette realized at that instant that Melvin had been lucid when he asked Tina to take care of his girl.  It was before he had started hallucinating.  From Tina’s reaction, Bette guessed that she had figured this out, too.

Bette was sure on further reflection, because when he called Tina “Maxine,” he asked her to stay with “their little girl,” not with “his girl” as he had said earlier.  In that moment, Bette knew she had finally earned the last bit of her father’s approval that she had been fighting to achieve for 40 years.  She walked Tina to the door, hand in hand, and they shared a quick kiss as Tina left for work.  Bette lost her father that night.  Everything else was a blur to Bette until she and Tina got back from their check-up with Dr. Wilson. 

Still lying next to Tina, Bette smirked a little, realizing that their appointments with Dr. Wilson usually led to meaningful events in their relationship.  She had never made that connection before.  When they arrived back at Bette’s house, Bette started the torturous process of setting up the birthing tank.  Much to Bette’s disbelief, Tina made a joke about carpenters, and teasingly apologized to Bette for the “throwback.”  Bette knew then that Tina had forgiven her, but would probably never forget.  Just having Tina’s forgiveness was all Bette could have asked for, though she was still not ready to forgive herself.