Angie did take on a bigger role in her daughter’s life. Every late afternoon she took Fleur out for ice cream…Bette dissaproved cuz of the high sugar intake but didn’t object verbally
as to keep the peace. Peace. It was a delicate peace and Bette loved that the days were not spent screaming at each other. It was sometimes tough….Bette would look at Angie and would
be so tempted to start yelling at her. Angie did so much ***** for the past few years it took a lot of will for Bette to let it go. That was the key she supposed…letting it go. Better to make
some sort of peace than hold grudges or make her heart weaker with more and more stresses. And then there was Fleur. Little Fleur. To her Bette was the mother….Bette knew
Fleur considered her the real mom. Angie was more of a big sister…she was too young to comprehend that Angie was actually really her mother. And yes Bette wanted Angie
to eventually take Fleur and make her own life…but no *****’ way any time soon. Maybe in a couple of years or even more. Bette just didn’t think Angie could handle a child anytime
soon. Bette’s daughter had spent a huge part of her life running away from ***** she couldn’t handle, what would happen if Fleur was suddenly too much?

 Bette’s life was not smooth either…she felt jipped, getting older was supposed to make life easier not more complicated. For one there was Arthur, he was getting more
enamored and in love with her and Bette didn’t have the heart to sit down with him and tell him there was no chance. He brought her gifts and took her out to lunch and chatted
about important things but…made no move, still it made Bette feel bad that she was being somekind of cocktease…or maybe some other kind of tease. She had a hard time believing
a fragile man as old as Arthur could get it up and stay hard. And then there was Vaila. A white woman with hair almost white it was so blond..eyes ice blue. She looked like the extreme
version of Tina..her looks were more sharper though, not hawkish but certianly angular. Extremely beautiful…in her forties. Bette never thought about on her neighbourhood’s residents
in a romantic sense but she was beginning to have second thoughts after noticing Vaila’s attentions. Bette had her reservations for several reasons. Firstly…she was still smarting
from Kirsten’s desertion. Even though that was four years ago Bette really thought that relationship was rock-hard solid….that it was going to go somewhere. Maybe they moved
too fast…maybe she didn’t push Kirsten hard enough to open up…maybe Bette expected too much, especially after such a commitment with Tina. Secondly…she was afraid of opening
herself up emotionally and intimately with another person…it felt so fruitless, what was the point? Bette hadn’t even had ***** for four years since Kirsten left…she was feeling the itch and
Vaila was very desirable…but maybe she was just scared…of something. And then there was Fleur. Bette didn’t want to bring in someone into Fleur’s life because Bette was not going to
go ***** around secretly and she didn’t really trust anyone to be sound enough…good enough…to be around her grandchild. It was all *****’ complicated.