Three days later and many tears along the way she peered at the house on the end of the street in the small North Carolina town double checking to make sure she had the right address before pulling into the drive way of Rachel’s home.

The long drive to North Carolina had given Tina plenty of time to think and she quickly realized that in her condition she would not be able to continue to work in the movie business after moving here because it would not be long before she would be unable to travel. That meant finding another career. Something flexible enough to allow her the time necessary to enjoy the child she was now carrying inside of her once it was born into the world.

She had been going to tell Bette this wonderful news the night she discovered the affair. Eight weeks ago she had scheduled an appointment with Dr. Wilson to perform the insemination using Marcus’ sperm in her office. She had planned to tell Bette once she passed the dangerous stage of pregnancy for possible miscarriage.

5 Years Later

Tina and Angelica Elizabeth Porter Kennard had become comfortable with the life they have built in this small sleepy North Carolina town. The counseling to help her move on with her life without Bette and resolve the feelings toward the family who had disowned her because she fell in love with Bette Porter was a life saver for her. She discovered she wanted to help others who had found themselves in similar situations.

When Angie was 6 months old she began taking classes at Columbia University during the evenings after working all day in a busy insurance office. Thanks to Rachel she got a paid maternity leave in her benefit package when she was hired with the insurance firm because it was owned by a friend of Rachel’s. She was also hooked up with a great sitter for Angie and graduated with honors two years later thanks to her previous degree and then she accepted a position at Mountain Lake Hospital as the lead resident psychiatrist.

Mountain Lake is a hospital that specializes in the rehabilitation of drug and alcohol addicted individuals. It is an elite rehab center and most of the patients or their families are wealthy. In other words they gladly pay the expensive cost of treatment for a loved one.

Life was good but it was lonely. She had dated since Bette but she always made sure her heart was well guarded from possible heart break again. The few one night stands when need demanded it was nothing more than that. Angie was her world now and this fall she would start first grade. Her baby was growing up. Angie had begun to ask questions a few years ago about her family and Tina had explained about different types of families to her. She went on to tell her that she was special because she had two mommies that loved her very much although one mommy did not live with her. Tina explained that one day she hoped that Angelica could meet her and her name was Elizabeth too.

The anger she held toward Bette for the affair was released during her therapy sessions years ago. Her mind often wondered to Bette when she would witness a similar character trait in their child or see a brunette who resembled her on the street or in a store. She wondered if she was still the “titan of the art world”. Had she found happiness with another lover? Although the internet would have provided her with the answers to her questions easily enough she never bothered to Google Bette because maybe she really didn’t want to know.

As the years passed since beginning her new career she had developed the reputation among her colleagues as the “lady who could reach the untouchables.”

Tina didn’t know if this was true however, with the help of a good doctor she had developed clarity and understanding of her own troubled past and why she made the choices she had. This understanding of self had enabled her to have insight

and empathy for her patients pushing her to the top of her field rather quickly guaranteeing the most difficult patients admitted to Mountain Lake would be assigned to her case load.