Her hand landed on Serena’s thigh, staying there. Serena shuddered at it’s feel. Bette noticed.

“Deal the cards, Alice,” Shane said.

*****

“What you doing all the way over here?” Tina asked Evan.

As the conversation during the poker game heated up, Evan had walked away from the table not wanting to hear intimate details about the girls relationships. And losing all of her chips was also a factor.

“Looking at the stars in the sky. Never get to see them at home,” she smiled.

“That’s true.”

Tina sat next to Evan in the window seat and looked up.

“You know, when your mother and I first got in engaged, she drove me down to New Mexico to celebrate under the stars.”

“I remember that. I wanted to go…”

“But you were just getting over a fever. We left you with Alice that night and told her to call if it came back.”

“And I took the phone when she fell asleep and called you.”

“You wanted your bedtime song,” Tina smiled.

“Bedtime song? I don’t remember that.”

“I don’t see why not. I sang you that song almost every night for nine years,” Tina chuckled.

“Sing it now,” Evan begged.

“Maybe later.”

“Please, Mommy.”

“Ohhh,” Tina laughed, “you figure that if you use that little girl voice, I won’t be able to say no.”

Evan just smiled. And Tina couldn’t resist those big brown eyes. The Porter charm.

“Like I can say no to my baby. C’mere.”

Tina switched places with Evan in the window seat and pulled the girl into her chest. Evan relaxed in her mother’s arms and sighed contentment.

“Comfy?”

“Hhmmm,” Evan answered snuggling deeper into Tina’s embrace.

As Evan rested her head against Tina’s shoulder, her mother nestled her chin on top of the girl’s crown.

“Mom, how do you know when you’re ready?” Evan asked forgetting about the song.

“Ready for what?” Tina asked stroking the girl’s hair.

“To be with a woman,” Evan said candidly.

Stopping in mid- stroke, clearly Tina wasn’t prepared for that question. Tina’s first instinct was to ask if Serena was pressuring her but when she chanced a look at Serena, she found the woman looking back with a lovingly smile. Serena hadn’t pressured Evan before, trying to keep her distance from the girl early on, why would she push her daughter now? She wouldn’t.