Sad that he never got to meet his little boy, he would have been so proud. James had been the one that wanted to name their son Sterling, meaning little star or genuine, while Bette wanted a more ‘normal’ name, Tom or Jack but when, after hours of labor her son was laid in her arms, she named him Sterling James Madden.

She had enough money to pay for the surgery, which was when he was only 3 months old. It cost a lot of money and Bette even began to eat less to be able to have enough money and to keep going to school. When she got her degree, she was 22, and Sterling was 3, she could immediately begin at The Peabody Galleries, as an assistant of the director, Peggy Peabody.

Soon, she had enough money to pay for everything easily. Also for the speech therapy Sterling needed from his 3 to his 6 years.

After the death of James, she never found someone that she felt good with, she was never interested. Not that she had time. Being a single parent to a child that’s somewhat different is not easy and when she got home she wanted to be with her son and sleep. She enjoyed her work tremendously because she got more and more responsibly. When Peggy got a little too old and wanted to enjoy her fortune, she left Bette in charge which made Peggy’s daughter, Helena very unhappy and plain pissed.

Peggy’s son, Julian, didn’t care for art or money and he was a nice man who was now a great friend to Bette and a ‘replacement’ dad to Sterling. Off course, no one could compare to his real Dad.  

Three years ago, Bette decided she wanted another child. Because she never found someone else, she had to do it on her own. She went to a cryobank and searched for a donor that had James’ characteristics for the simple reason that she wanted her second child to look a little like Sterling. Then, Jolene Alexandra Porter was born. She was a perfect little girl. Sterling was and still is so protective of her.

Two years ago, Bette had quit her job at The Peabody Galleries and set up her own gallery which she was very proud of. Her life looked good; she had a nice house, a good job, two sweet kids… The only things she missed where friends and someone to share her life with. Someone to hold her at night and to tell her everything was going to be okay when things went somewhat wrong. If she had the lover and the friends, she would be completely happy.

TBC!