“He sent me two dozen roses for that opening.”

“I know and you gushed about them. I told Kit it was better not to tell you why he sent those roses in the first place. Kit agreed. I was surprised he didn’t tell you what I said but at the same time I wasn’t surprised because that would mean he would have to take ownership of him not attending in the first place.”

“You told my father to go fuck himself?”

Tina shrugged.

“More or less.”

Tina shrugged again.

Bette shook her head and smiled. She wished she could’ve seen the look on Melvin’s face. She wished she could’ve seen the look on Tina’s face. 

“Your turn. Last one.”

Bette kept staring at Tina. Tina waited. She didn’t want to rush the woman in her arms. Tina needed Bette to find her way back to her…in her own time…in her own way. And she would wait. She would wait for as long as it took for Bette to look at her the way she used to look at her. 

Bette gazed deeper into Tina’s eyes. She needed her to hear what she was about to say. Tina braced herself. 

“I didn’t want kids before I met you.”

Bette watched what she had just said register on Tina’s face. 

“You didn’t? Wait. Wh…wha…what…what do you mean?”

“I mean the thought of being a mom was never a consideration for me before you.”

So many emotions sprinted across Tina’s face. Confusion. Sadness. Shock. Disbelief. Sadness. Devastation. Bewilderment. Sadness. Anger. Sadness. Anger. Sadness. Sadness. Tina’s face settled on sadness. Her grip loosened around Bette enough for Bette to notice but not enough for Tina to drop her. 

“But…” Tina started and stopped. 

“But what?”

Tina sighed. 

“But…but we discussed it. We discussed starting a family.”

“We did.”

 “We interviewed donors. We collected sperm.”

“We did.”

“We went to doctor’s appointment after appointment after appointment.”

“We did.”

Tina sat up a little straighter still holding on to Bette. Bette kept looking at Tina’s face. Her eyes changed from hazel to a dark emerald glistening from the tears that welled up inside of them.

“You were the one who mentioned us having a child in the first place.”

“I know. Why are you so upset?”