Alice coughed dramatically and began to read, “Melvin is never home but how can I tell him that I’m very lonely and desperate for his company. The baby is due in December, it’s less than a month away and I hope that my dear husband won’t come back by then. Why? Because I’m frightened at what he might think about the baby. I need to see what the baby looks like first.”

Alice turned to another page, “Okay, skipping some…okay, here she writes again… ‘We have a beautiful baby girl. I named her Elizabeth and she is absolutely beautiful. Melvin wasn’t able to come home for her birth…he was detained on one of his business trips as usual but I think it was for the best. She is adorable and Katie’s already in love with her and plays ‘mommy’ every day’.”

Alice stopped again, turning to another page, “And here comes Johnny…I mean George… ‘George came to visit the day after Lizzie was born. He was such a gentleman, so attentive, polite, and simply wonderful. He brought a new painting as a present for the baby and a wonderful bouquet of flowers. I’m amazed at how he was able to achieve so much. He told me his story one evening when we went to the annual County Fair in March. Melvin was away again and George, being such a gentlemen and Melvin’s friend, offered to take me out for some entertainment. I know people were staring at us since George is black but they all knew that George was a free man, a talented artist and Melvin’s friend. They worked in the gold mines together and after educating himself George became an artist…I’m finding a lot of comfort in his company…after the Fair he took me to a little cottage he was renting so we could have some dinner. It was the most beautiful and romantic night I have had in a long time’.”

“I think it was the night the Bette was conceived,” Alice chuckled. She looked at Tina and stopped smiling, noticing that Tina didn’t find that remark amusing.  

“Well, I’ll be damned…ain’t this a sweet story,” Kit said sarcastically, “Seems that everyone in my family has some skeletons in the closet and the history just keeps repeating itself over and over.”