Tears began to drop from her cheeks at recalling the incident.  Bette wiped her tears at first, then cupped her face between her palms.

“Well…my heart was broken, T….,” she murmured.

Tina nodded wordlessly, and then leaned her head forward towards Bette, who drew her into a warm embrace.

“So was yours,” Bette whispered, stroking the blonde’s hair, and kissing it, rocking her as Tina sobbed.

After a few minutes, Tina drew back slightly, her emotions settling down. She circled her arms around Bette, and rested her head on the brunette’s shoulder.

“It was hell.  But we made it through, baby,” she said, quietly.  Bette gently picked up Tina’s left hand, and gently laid it on top of her own.  Their rings glinted in the moonlight.

After a few minutes, Bette told Tina about Jason’s other mom passing from breast cancer, and how Jason was still looking for her from time to time.  And that his other mom was quite depressed, given to bouts of tears. "Christy says we should think about what to say to Angie, since she and Jason have grown quite close, always playing together at playgroup.”

Tina nodded silently. She couldn’t imagine how the surviving mom of Jason was feeling right now – coping with the loss of her partner, and figuring out how to move on with their son.  It was certainly something that sometimes made her think long and hard about their circumstances, she and Bette, and how close they were now, particularly given the potential for Bette’s heart condition to flare up, if she wasn’t careful.

They remained silent for a few minutes longer.  Bette was caressing Tina’s hand reflecting on the import of the events Kit had just told them about.

“With that ring, I wed you,” Bette said, in reflective tones, as she contemplated the blonde’s ring finger, and the rings that bore so much significance to her; to them.

The weightiness of it always gave her pause.  Married. To Tina.  Now.  Forever. Eternally. Her wife.  I can’t believe it.  Heaven only knew what it took to get here.  The journey had extracted more than its pound of flesh from her.  And from Tina.

She slowly pushed that hand to her lips to kiss it, and the rings deeply.  Re-promising her love, her fidelity, her life, to Tina.