Bette finally kissed her back.

“Babe, are you okay?” Tina asked hesitantly.

“Yes, I was just letting thoughts of our life together enter my heart and soul and it felt so amazing… I never thought I’d ever be in your arms again, but here I am… We have a new baby girl and an amazing son… We have our family, T”, Bette replied with teary eyes.

Tina’s eyes now teared up and she gazed into her wife’s eyes again. “Yes, we do… we have our family, the one we always dreamed we’d have. We’ve both been down a hard road, but I think it all happened for a reason… I feel so much more like the real me now and I want to work so hard to get this right with you so that we stay together for a very long time. I love you to a depth I’ve never felt before.”

“Yes, you’re right; we both had to experience what we did to make it out the other side a better person for ourselves and then for each other. My walls are coming down so quickly, and my love for you grows stronger moment by moment. Thank you for our sweet baby girl. She’s so precious…” Bette shared with her, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“When I realized what I had done to you out of my anger… oh my gawd, I hated myself. I lost you…I couldn’t believe that I had reacted so badly and I could only blame myself. I’m sorry that I didn’t share my past with you, as it only created a monster over time. I’m so sorry for hurting you so deeply.”

“T, I accept your apology, but we both didn’t act like the mature adults we were supposed to be. When we lost the baby, we were both coming from sadness, anger and fear and acted inappropriately and almost selfishly, pushing the other away instead of coming together to grieve. We should have gone into counseling then to help us through that instead of pushing each other away. We both make bad choices and decisions that caused the other harm. I’m so sorry, too.”

“Yes, I guess you’re right… I was so lost with my depression that I couldn’t see, think or act clearly or appropriately. I was such an emotional mess.” Tina replied quietly.