Shane relished in the feeling of an honest smile. Having to force them for so long, she appreciated the real ones when they came, and she had a feeling she’d be smiling a lot more often.

“Here she is.” Bette said softly as she brought in a sleeping Angelica.

Ohs and Aws rang out in the quiet living room and the women crowded around the new born.

“Oh babygirl she’s just beautiful.” Kit commented quietly and she kissed her sister on her temple.

Bette smiled proudly and looked around at her friends… no, her family. Each and every one of those women there were her child’s aunts and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She glanced over to Shane to find her staring intently at the sleeping baby. “Shane?”

“Yeah?” she looked up into Bette’s warm eyes.

She didn’t say anything, instead she held out baby Angelica to Shane. She knew that Shane didn’t know much about baby’s and up until recently, Shane had been like her and Tina’s adopted daughter.

Shane looked at the baby and looked at Bette quickly, unsure if she was ready to do this. She had held Angelica at the hospital but at that time she was in a different head-space. She nervously looked around at the gang of girls she called family, all of whom were smiling at her reassuringly.

“Go on honey we can wait our turns.” Kit said in a loving manner.

Smiling nervously, Shane gingerly took the baby from Bette and cradled her in her arms. “Wow. She’s so tiny.”

“Most baby’s are Shane.” Alice joked. “Except for those elephant baby’s, MAN are those things huge. I read this one article where…”

“Shhh!” Everyone responded in unison.

“Sorry!” Alice mouthed as she watched Shane with the baby.

Carmen stared at Shane intently as she bonded with Angelica, a small smile on her face. It amazed her how she looked so content with the new born yet she could tell by her creased brow that there were many thoughts running through the green-eyed woman’s head right then. ‘I wish I knew what she was thinking. I wish she would tell me about things like that tattoo on her back.’ She sighed lightly and ran her fingers through her silky hair. ‘One step at a time Carmen.’