"Such as?," Brom prodded, curious now.  He’d thought Bette and Tina had been exemplary parents, much more hands-on than many other parents he knew.

"Spanking," Bette answered. "Tina and I were spanked as children, and we agreed that as parents, we wouldn’t resort to it when disciplining Angelica."

"Oh, but I can’t imagine our little angel needing discipline, Bette," Brom said with a smile.

Bette rolled her eyes, then turned to face the man at the front desk, who’d returned with some tablets and a cup of steaming tea.

"Merci," she said, as she gratefully accepted the items.  They remained by the front desk as she opened one packet, popped a couple of the pills in her mouth, then blew on the tea, inhaling the soothing aroma first before taking a sip, which helped her swallow the pills.

Brom tugged gently at an elbow to steer her towards the comfortable, overstuffed couch positioned in front of a crackling fire.

She relaxed into the cushions on one end of the couch, continued to sip on her tea, and crossed her legs.  Brom took a seat beside her, sank against the back of the couch, and stretched his long frame out, resting his legs over the low slung surface of the table in front of them. They fell quiet as they observed the fire, enjoying the play of sparks and fire tongues leaping out of the core of the fire.

Bette was halfway through her tea when Brom resumed their conversation, "It can’t be easy for you and Tina, huh? I mean, not everyone understands the whole concept of two women, married, raising a child…"

Bette smiled as she blew on her tea, and recalled the soul-sharing session she, Tina, Luke, and Brom had recently gone through in Luke’s apartment.  They’d dropped by Luke’s place following the brothers’ defense of Bette and Tina against obnoxious remarks directed at them by a pair of haughty women who were insisting that two women couldn’t possibly get married.  

The incident had occurred during the annual charity gala the brothers hosted for cancer research, and that the Skinners had invited them to, to be their special guests.  For the most part, it had been an unexpectedly fun evening.  Bette and Tina had initially dreaded going, particularly since it fell on the same night of the day when the east coast had been slammed by an early winter storm, which had shut down cities from Maine down to Washington, DC.  Once they got there, though, the brothers’ warm welcome and embrace, and enthusiasm in introducing them around soon brought smiles to their faces.  Then the only problem the women struggled with had been remembering various names and faces.