Tina was in her seat on the plane letting the week’s memories overwhelm her when she was jostled again as Angie shifted in her seat trying to color in her book, she’d been cranky since take off. She was woken up earlier than usual because they had a very early flight, even Carmen couldn’t get her to calm down on the way to the airport. But after takeoff she had a bit of a nap and now she was wide awake asking Tina the same question nearly every ten seconds. But at the moment she was preoccupied Tina couldn’t stop the garbled flood of memories that made her smile and ping-ponged her emotions all over the place. She’d absentmindedly bit her lip and began to stroke her shoulder just above that sensitive, erotic spot Bette had inadvertently bit down onto just a few nights ago.

……………………….

“Oh so you’ve found your funny bone.” Bette said taking Tina’s leg into her hands and raising her foot high. She kissed along Tina’s calf while tickling her foot. Tina squealed and tried to push Bette away. “Are you going to tell me or are you going to…”
“Ok, ok, alright I’ll tell you.” Tina laughed and squirmed as Bette skeptically watched her, slowly she began to lower her leg. “Come here.” Tina said holding up the sheet coaxing the nearly naked woman back up towards the head of the bed with her. “I can’t think of anything else, babe I’ve told you everything.”
“There’s always something Tina, now spill it.” Bette’s voice was soft and muffled, she was lightly brushing her lips over Tina’s shoulder and running her tongue over it.
Tina opened her mouth to say something, instead she bit down on her lip and moaned as her eyes involuntarily sealed tight. That spot was tender and it felt good having Bette do that again. In her mind she meant to say something but she couldn’t think at the moment. Tina leaned away from Bette and quickly turned around to face her, “I’ve told you everything baby, there really is nothing else to tell you. The whole family won’t be there just us. There maybe a few other people there, like Uncle Kwame and Auntie Edie but everyone else lives out of state. It’ll just be us, I promise there’s nothing you need to worry about.”
“I don’t know. Maybe what I’m feeling is just nerves, but I feel like we’re subjecting ourselves to all of their judgments and scrutinizing opinions. Almost like I’m willingly throwing myself into the fire.”
“I wish I could tell you that they’re not like that.” Tina brushed back Bette’s mused hair away from her face. During their passionate and uninhibited moments Tina loved plunging her hands into Bette’s hair and pulling it between her fingers. “But the truth is baby, I don’t know. I’ve never been in this situation before, so we’ll have to endure the heat together.” Bette closed her eyes, she was disappointed, she truly was. Part of her wanted Tina to tell her a lie and tell her that they were open and her presence was going to be embraced whole heartedly. But that was only part of her, the true part that she relied on for her true instincts prepared her for their inevitable judgments that were sure to be personal and spoken with malice. “We’ll be together, and to be honest with you, I don’t know if I like going there without you.”
Bette sat up immediately she tilted her head to the side and looked at Tina with a creased brow. She’d never heard that before, she was certain that Tina never mentioned anything remotely like that. “Since when?”
Tina smiled and pulled Bette back to lay down with her, “The last two trips I’ve made out there. I know they were for work, but seeing Trish and Aaron can put me on edge. I really wanted you there to talk to and bounce these crazy thoughts off of.”
“Tina you know you could have called me. I had Angie the last time, we could have talked more about you than the baby.”
“If I’d started down that path I would’ve been a mess throughout the entire trip. I was there to work not to focus on my personal life. Besides I like talking to you and having you here, to look at when we talk.”
“…Mommy?”
“Yes, baby?” Tina knew the subject of the question coming her way, but she needed to entertain her child anyway.
“How many horsey’s are we, are we going to see?”