And the feeling was consistent, even as they touched back down at home. She’d run down the escalators to Angelica, dropping her things to hold her little girl a little tighter than the girl might have liked in public. But Angelica was incredibly glad that her mother was back, squished with another hug from Bette before they went to get the bags. Victoria was spared any real details, but she was glad to hear the honeymoon had been paradise.

They were all just glad to be together again – and Bette and Tina especially glad to see Angelica on a daily basis. They had both missed her.

After settling in – having sold her house – Bette found she had so much more time to spend with both Angelica and Tina. And it seemed so effortless, that they were all living under one roof. It was amazing to her, feeling so close with them.

Sometimes she forgot she hadn’t raised Angelica from birth. And that feeling warmed Bette like nothing else, often times just watching the girl sleep – if she could stay up late enough to do so. Angelica seemed to need less sleep than Bette or Tina most nights, even when she was sent to get some sleep. She could be seen in her bed, reading until all hours of the night; she was a night owl.

Still, when she was totally asleep, Bette very much enjoyed watching the way Angelica would collapse there in her place, the book tucked under the child’s fingers. There seemed to be something so different about the little girl when she slept – like she was just as young as any other kid her age. Just as naïve. But Bette knew different, often placing Angelica’s bookmark in for her, and covering her up, even knowing the covers would be on the floor by morning. She would kiss Angelica’s forehead and be off to bed on her own, slipping in next to Tina who had gone to sleep just then.

And when Angelica was even older, at fourteen, she was often up later than either Bette or Tina could manage. But then, Tina would often get up in the middle of the night to check on her, knowing that if her little girl would wake up, she would become frustrated she’d fallen asleep as she had like a child – unexpectedly. She liked very much to be in control – a trait Tina knew had likely been passed down.