“I’ll get the peach cobbler.” Bette said as she noticed that Tina was close to being a puddle on the floor. Tina was still standing at the counter with her head down and her eyes shut tight trying to will her body to settle down enough to get through the rest of the night with her family. Bette smirked to herself as she walked out the back door with a distinct swagger in her step.

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Tina walked out of the shower in her robe towel drying her hair. She noticed that their bedroom door was open and she didn’t see her wife’s silhouette in the bed. She leaned over the railing and saw the glow from the underneath the kitchen door. So she quietly crept downstairs and into the kitchen in time to see Bette take a forkful of cake into her mouth.

“You didn’t wait for me.” Tina said walking into the kitchen. Bette smiled with her mouth closed and pushed another plate with a piece on it towards Tina.

“I knew you’d be down here soon.” Tina accepted her plate and dug into her piece. She took a bite and looked over to Bette who was just putting down her glass of milk. Tina smiled at the kid like ’milk mustache’ on her lip. Her quiet laughter gained Bette’s attention, “Babe you’ve got some…”she trailed off by pointing at her lip. Bette just smiled as she watched Tina lean forward and run her thumb across her top lip.

“Better?” she asked.

“Better.” she stated with a smile sticking her thumb into her mouth. They finished their cake and like a ritual they’d ended up outside on the back porch holding hands looking up and out at the vast number of stars that surrounded them. Being home in L.A. never provided this kind of view for them, they always found themselves somewhat overwhelmed by the sight of such natural beauty.

“I wanna start.” Tina said still looking out to the sky. Again she captured Bette’s attention with her vague and open ended sentence. “As soon as we get home I want to start the adoption process with you.”

Bette felt the breath in her throat leave her in a huff. Here they sat under an encasement of stars and pure nature just like when they were teenagers and she felt just like a kid back then. Tina amazed her and this latest confession just empowered her desire to love her even more.

“Really?” Tina nodded her head in a waving motion as she kept her eyes ahead at the sweeping motion of the grass across the way in the field.

“I love the mother in you.” Tina said as she placed one hand on one of Bette’s. She knew she couldn’t look at her just yet, because she would undoubtedly start crying making it even more difficult for her to explain her reasons. “ I can’t get over it, you amaze me everyday.” Tina cracked a half smile feeling warm and light with her confession. “I think it’s a thing of beauty the way you hold this family together and the loving way you embrace our babies when they need you. It makes me…” she had to swallow back a lump to continue. “Makes me want this even more with you. The faith I have in you and me, and in our family lets me know that is the right thing to do. I don’t want to wait anymore, I know in my heart that we’re ready to start this next step in our lives. I want to share your love with more children.” she finished looking at Bette’s face and wiping away a lone tear rolling down her cheek. Bette’s face was so lost on her confession that all of emotions were splayed out in her eyes making it easy for Tina to see the astonishment in her. Bette grabbed Tina’s hand close to her face and kissed her palm softly bringing it back to hold her cheek with a smile. Bette couldn’t let go of her hand and she watched the slow descent back onto the porch between them, with her eyes now at their hands resting one on the other, she pulled on her hand and brought it around her waist bringing Tina forward to her lips. She held Tina’s face with her other hand as she kissed her slowly and softly. That night they made love and held each other, in bed they both shared what they wanted their family to grow into.

　

　

　

TBC…………………………………