Tina finished with a cracking voice and tears brimming in her eyes.  She looked out the side window to try and compose herself.

Bette looked over at Tina and saw her pain.  She reached over and took Tina’s hand in hers and gave her a sweet smile.

“Tina I am honored that you shared those things with me.  That must have been so hard Tina, you were so young, and so f—ing brave.  Can I ask you a question?”

“And you’re calling me brave.”

“Very funny.  Well, how come…, I mean why did you choose that path?  I’m surprised it wasn’t your parents pushing you into it.”

“Bette, are you sure you want to hear all this? 

“Absolutely”

“Okay, if you’re sure here goes.  Let’s see, Joe and I had been kind of secretly dating for about three months when I decided that I was ready to sleep with him.  I was crazy about him, who wouldn’t be , he was handsome, smart, athletic, sweet, shit Bette, he was, and still is, ‘the poster child’ for the ideal man, husband, father.  I well… I wanted him to be my first.  Well, I did it right, I went to the doctor, I got on the pill, but I guess I rushed things a bit and one month later I was late.  I went to the doctor’s and had a pregnancy test and indeed I was pregnant.  I told no one for a month after that.  I knew for sure at that point that I couldn’t have an abortion and I was pretty certain that I couldn’t give my baby away.  I had pretty much decided that I would figure it all out somehow and raise the baby on my own.  I figured I had to tell Joe first and to my complete surprise, he was shocked but overall thrilled.  He said that he already knew what he wanted and I was definitely who he wanted and he definitely wanted children, so what if they started a little early?  He actually got on his knees, said he loved me, and proposed right then and there.  What else could I say?  I really liked him. He really was a great guy and frankly at that moment I loved him.  So I said I loved him too and that I would love to marry him.  We got married 3 weeks later, the day after my high school graduation.”