Tina laughed, “Don’t look at me. I thought she should be a painter – she’s wonderfully artistic.” She put her hand on Angelica’s head. “Right baby?”

“I’m not good, Mom.” She crossed her arms. “You say that because you think you have to. You’re my mom.”

Bette smiled, “Maybe I can see your paintings someday.”

“Let’s watch the movie,” Angelica whined. “Please?”

“Yeah, please?” Bette added as Tina reached for the remote.

“Oh no. Not both of you.”

Bette laughed as Tina pressed play, and she put her arm over the back of the couch without really thinking about it. Angelica didn’t seem to notice, and Tina seemed shyly comforted by it. And still, there was another expression on Tina’s face – a sort of guilt and motherly love. Bette was starting to understand why Tina was so closed off – she just wanted to keep her daughter as happy as she could, and she hadn’t figured that dating would be possible under the circumstances. Tina appeared to be quite self-conscious about how precious she was with her daughter.

Directing her attention back toward the movie, Bette found herself enjoying it. And when she looked over at Tina for what was likely the tenth time, she couldn’t help but smile – Tina had fallen asleep in her spring dress, and the view was so adorably tempting that she had to ignore it completely.

However, when Angelica realized it, she groaned. “Mooooom,”And she shook Tina’s arm as her mother jolted from her light sleep.

“Sorry baby,” Tina started, just realizing she’d drifted off.

“You always fall asleep,” Angelica insisted, leaving Tina to feel terrible in front of her date, just sitting and playing with her little girl’s hair. Angelica liked that, and was captivated with the movie again as Bette tried not to be sad for Tina – she looked so tired, and her neck looked stiff.

Everything about Tina screamed out for attention and relief, and Bette hated that she couldn’t be the one to give it to her. Not with angelica present, at least.

Thankfully it wasn’t much longer until angelica went to sleep after the documentary credits rolled.

Bette smiled and commented on how smart angelica was, and how interesting that she liked dolphins so much. Tina shrugged, thanked her, and smiled back. She said she was proud of angelica too, and she put the movie away with so much fatigue written all over her that Bette just came up behind her, slowly turned her, and gave Tina a big, enveloping hug. She closed her eyes and smiled with real happiness when Tina’s head gently rested on her shoulder. It was such a tender moment, her arms supporting Tina, her breath on Tina’s neck.
Bette enjoyed the comfort, and drifted her hands gently over Tina’s back. She loved the soft material of the dress, breathing into the blond hair as Tina slowly pulled back. And Bette loved the look on Tina’s face – she looked aroused. It was obvious that no one had touched her intimately whatsoever in a very, very long time.