Tina hugged Bette to her, wrapping her up in her arms and holding her tight. There were no tears this time, but Bette held on to Tina for dear life. Her head tucked into the warmth of Tina’s neck, she felt anchored, secure.

“I am so sorry that happened to you Sweetheart, so sorry you had to go through that Baby…” Tina leaned up to rest her head on her elbow. She looked down at Bette and kissed her softly, sweetly. Her lips trailed on Bette’s, whisper light.

“Tina this is what I have been trying to tell you. That wasn’t the worst part. At least then I was noticed, I got a reaction from her. It’s the silence, the indifference, when I felt irrelevant that was the hardest for me to deal with. Being ignored, shut out…don’t you see, Baby?”

And then it hit Tina like a thunderbolt. Like a sniper shot, a kick to the gut. She drew back slightly without thinking about it as her heart lodged itself in her throat. She felt physically sick. She gasped, “my God…oh Bette …”

She looked at Bette, horrified. A single tear escaped her eyes and traveled slowly down her cheek. Then another one followed and another. Bette met them with her lips, catching the tears with her mouth. Tina spoke quickly, processing as she talked.

“You have…. you have been trying to tell me. I shut you out after the baby died…you were going through so much at work, and I shut you out. Frozen. It was all about me, what I needed. I wouldn’t even cry in front of you, I had let you down and you seemed so stoic, so in control. I misread that. Bette…the night of, my God Bette. The night of the opening when you were crying in the shower…. I rushed you to be ok, I dried your tears and I hurried you to get dressed. I didn’t give you a chance to tell me… to talk to me…oh Babe…oh my Love” Tina could not bear to look at Bette, her heart pounding in her throat. She pulled Bette to her and buried her head in her wife’s neck.