Roberta: I’ll be back in 10 days

Tina: You’re coming back?

Roberta: We do two home visits per case so you’ll get a second chance though first impressions are hard to overcome.

As she approaches the door she needs help getting the wheelchair down the steps. Alice goes out to move her car while Bette and Tina just sit on the couch not believing what just happened.
Roberta: Help please … move car … HELP TODAY!!

***

Bette and Tina thought it had to be the most disastrous home visit on record but the second visit beat it out. When Roberta came back 10 days later Bette and Tina had baby-proofed the house, they purchased a crib, they had colorful interactive toys strewn around, there was no evidence of controversial art displayed and there was no drugged out Alice.

They didn’t do all this just to satisfy Roberta they actually found that much of it was necessary for their daughter’s safety and development as she got older. Even the whole attachment parenting thing became too burdensome to continue with any consistency. Bette was still passionately unemployed but her finances were solid. They thought they had everything covered as they were even prepared to answer the “man question”.

They’d asked Kit’s son David to come to the house so Roberta could meet and see him interacting with his cousin Angelica to be assured she’d have a significant male in her life. Unfortunately they didn’t have the foresight to tell David why he was there or to get his thoughts on the matter. It was no secret that he was bigoted against alternative lifestyles but being family they just assumed he’d play along to help his aunt and her partner. They found out the hard way that David had no sense of family or loyalty and had no interest in helping out.

Bette had just finished explaining what she needed from him when Roberta wheeled herself into the living room. Apparently some men passing by had lifted her wheelchair onto the porch and the front door was open. David boldly declared that he couldn’t help because he didn’t believe in gay adoptions. His belief was that a child should be raised by a mother and a father or they will suffer later in life. He said he couldn’t lie to a government official. With a smug look Roberta applauded his honesty and convictions while Bette was again horrified at the results.